Life was a continuous stream of the unexpected.
If I had to describe the half of a lifetime I’d lived until now, this was probably how I’d describe it. The things I was convinced would never happen occurred all too easily.
Like now, for example.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“…I’m not hurt, but I certainly feel awful. Okay, I’m willing to thank you for catching me and all, but could you let go all ready?”
Whoopsie, I was still holding the two of them in my arms. Their bodies…how could I put it? While it felt like Sis was holding me tight, the sensation of their bodies against me made me want to protect them at all costs. The two were short and delicate, with chests on the smaller side—sheer cliffs, really. And…
“Did you say something?”
“N-nope, not at word.”
The Saint was glaring at me.
“Forget that, Master. What’s that thing?”
Nanami’s remark left me all jumbled up for a moment. Hm? Nanami?
“Huh? Is that a school? Or something like it?”
I immediately looked over when I heard Katorina say this. She was right; the building standing over there resembled a school.
I unconsciously let out a sigh. Of course, I knew full well what kind of school this was. I also knew that we had to go over there, since passing through was the only way forward.
Before that, though…
“Um, Saint Stef, Katorina. Thanks.”
Regardless of how things had turned out, they had jumped into the magic circle in order to help me. All I’d managed to do in return was to catch them and ensure they didn’t get hurt in the process.
“Tch. I guess I worried for nothing.”
“Exactly how much trouble do you need to cause before you’re satisfied?”
“Sorry…”
“This does not appear to simply be a school, Master,” Nanami chimed in.
I’d been thinking about it, and I could understand why the Saint and Katorina were here. While I didn’t want to understand, nor did I want to face the reality of this situation, I could comprehend it.
Here was the question, though: Why was Nanami here, too?
“I just had to get in on the latest craze,” she said, appearing to guess what was on my mind. Were you here to copy the latest viral dance or something?
I spoke quietly to Nanami to prevent Katorina and the Saint from hearing me as they investigated the school gate.
“It sure sounded like you were sending me off with a good-bye, you know.”
“Master, please think carefully for a moment. You have Miss Katou and Miss Stefania with you. I cannot imagine a funnier…er, a more difficult combination than that, so as your maid, I had no choice but to come and help you.”
You said what you were really thinking, Nanami! Though if I’d been nothing but an onlooker here, I would’ve understood where she was coming from.
“Just kidding, Master. That was a maid joke. More pressingly, Master, everyone else might be worried about us, so we should get out of here as soon as possible, yes?”
Ah, yeah. She was right. Ludie and Yukine had to be concerned, so I wanted to get through here fast.
I headed over to the Saint and Katorina, who were discussing something.
“Want to head inside for now?” I asked.
We all entered the school through the grandiose gate before us.
In the front entrance were ten large shoe lockers and a blackboard for bulletins and news. Some instructions were written in chalk on the board: CHANGE INTO THE CLOTHES INSIDE THE SHOE LOCKERS AND CONTINUE FORWARD.
Yup. Clothes, huh?
The Saint went up to the shoe locker, took out a box from it, and removed the lid. Then she took out the piece of fabric.
“Hmmm. Looks like an average school uniform, doesn’t it…? Wait, wh-what is with this stuff…?!” she said, her voice quivering as she held the piece of fabric.
The outfit in her hand consisted of an extremely short school uniform top and a skirt that, without a shadow of a doubt, left one’s ass on full display. There was also a pair of underwear that would perfectly show off one’s contours in the sexiest way possible.
After flipping the outfit from front to back, then back to front again, the Saint stopped moving as if time had ground to a halt.
Had her brain overheated from trying to process it all? This was her first erotic dungeon, so it was unavoidable, really.
That aside, the Saint in lewd underwear? This sort of underwear had an almost sacred aura about it, so it matched her surprisingly well. Not that I would ever say this to her directly.
After the Saint stood frozen there for a little while, her hands began to tremble. Her face also convulsed as she tried heading down the corridor on her own. However, she was blocked by an invisible wall and couldn’t continue on any further. Slamming her fists against the wall and letting out the sort of enraged cry that was unbecoming for a Saint, she chucked the underwear in her hands at the invisible wall.
Watching this, Katorina also went to a shoe locker and took out a separate outfit. She trembled with fear just like the Saint, before the idea to take out a magic escape stone seemed to come to her.
Needless to say, nothing happened.
“Tch… Is this magic stone broken or something?”
Nope, it wasn’t. The only thing broken here was the mind of the person who had come up with this place.
“It appears that escape items cannot be used in this dungeon. If what is written on the blackboard is true, then our only option is to wear these clothes.”
Nanami’s words were a death sentence to the two of them.
“Hey.”
The Saint came up to me with an intense look in her eyes, taking steps that were several times more forceful than usual. The panties she had just thrown at the wall were back in her hand.
“Y-yes?!”
She showed me the piece of fabric she was holding. Yup, that was one sexy pair of underwear, all right.
“U-umm, so, err…”
“What is this?”
“S-something you wear to protect your most important areas!”