Panicked, I pulled her up and pumped her chest with both hands. She spat a stream of water out of her mouth in a cartoonish style, and the almost-drowned body jumped up with a start.
“Y-you! Are you trying to kill me?! N-never in my life have I put my face in water for more than a second!!!”
“S-sorry… But I think even a kindergartner can hold their breath in water for about three seconds…”
“You should have told me we were hiding in the water if that’s what we were going to do—”
Suddenly, she blushed and covered her chest with her hands.
“What’s the matter? Did you suddenly get an urge to hug yourself?”
“N-nothing… Sh-shut up…!”
I saw her now-see-through shirt and understood. I took off my jacket and pulled it over her shoulders.
“Oh…!”
She looked up at me. Our eyes met, and she quickly turned the other way.
“H-hmph!!! I—I suppose you have a shred of decency, though, compared to that lady’s compassion, the difference is as vast as the difference between the Margelines and the rest of the population.”
“Well, thank you very much. I couldn’t be happier. Now let’s cut the chitchat and get moving. It’ll be a hassle if those girls come back, and I have to hide you somewhere since I have to watch over Tsukiori and the others.”
I started walking, and Ophelia took baby steps and followed me.
After suddenly taking an unexpected dive and dip in the pool, the prized vertical rolls in her hair were undone, and she looked different.
Her hair must have been long since she had enough of it to make those rolls.
The soaked blond hair stuck to her neck and shoulders and reached down to her waist. Pulling my jacket up in front of her chest, she walked slowly and looked like a different person.
“Wh-what is it…? Why are you suddenly staring at me like that…? Face front and walk… It’s rude…”
“Seeing you like that, I was just thinking you’re plain beautiful.”
“Huh?!”
Her face turned beet red, and she fluttered her arms, looking embarrassed.
“A c-compliment from a male isn’t going to make me happy! I-I’m the Guinness record holder for the number of times people have told me I’m beautiful. Even now, I’m sure that voices praising me are echoing somewhere in the world, and I’m getting five-star reviews! B-besides, I already have someone special—ngh!!!”
I covered Ophelia’s mouth and whispered, “Shhh.”
I pointed to the end of the bend with my index finger.
Three clan members stood around students they’d restrained with ropes. They were holding claymores and checking their surroundings.
“What is it?” she asked, peeking her head out and jumping out in front toward the bend.
“Don’t!” I grabbed her and dragged her back to where she’d been moments earlier.
“Hmm?”
One of the clan members turned this way.
I had Ophelia in a full nelson as she squirmed and struggled on top of me and finally let go after telling her to keep her voice down.
“You shouldn’t touch a lady’s body like that…”
“Excuse me, excuse me. But please do not jump out where they can see you. We’re on a stealth mission, you see.”
“I—I know that… I was just testing you…”
With her body halfway out into the open, Ophelia examined what was up ahead at the bend.
“……”
After squinting at the enemy, she returned to me with vigor.
“Hee-hee-hee-hee…! This is what the Margelines, elegant at all times, are made of… I did it. I saw the enemy without them noticing…!”
Perfect, Ophelia. The tears won’t stop falling down my cheeks for various reasons.
“So what are we going to do? As a respectable lady, I must save those girls.”
“Please leave this to me, your faithful servant. You needn’t exert yourself dealing with scum like them. Heh! I’ll eventually turn them into the rust on my body as I start to be called the pocket knife of the Margelines.”
“You have a point there… Since I was young, I’ve long been called the star performer, a secret weapon, a trump card, and a pinch hitter who only goes up to bat when it’s two out and the bases are loaded. My mother strictly forbade me from standing out too much.”
Mrs. Margeline, I’m sure you’ve been giving your daughter a wonderful education, but you really need to hire a babysitter.
“But I’ll get rusty if I don’t exercise my skills now and then. So in this case, the two of us can form a team and defeat them at once.”
“S-seriously…? Ophelia, what kind of console do you have…?”
“I have many. Look at this. Isn’t it pretty?”
Ophelia, that’s a marble (smirk).
“Well, then I’ll get in front if you’ll kindly cover my back. And please, if I may ask you not to go too far forward—?”
Ophelia jumped out into the hallway.
“I am Ophelia von Margeline! Ta-daa! Bow down, you evil beings! (Boom!) Heaven and earth may forgive you, but I shall not!!! (Boom!!!)”
I—I couldn’t get enough of her… This was so typically Ophelia; I was afraid I might cum…
Forgetting my presence as I stood there twitching and wavering, she breathed heavily, her hands on her hips like she owned the world.
The three clan members came charging at us, their claymores at the ready—and Ophelia confidently held up her necklace.
“Take this, you villains!”
Flash! Her necklace emitted a little light and was finished.
“Oh?”
“Oomph!!!”
I caught the three blades as our enemies tried to slash Ophelia while the little lady tilted her head in confusion.
“Come to think of it, I’ve had a bad morning today… I wonder if my batteries are dead…”
“Ngh…mmm…!!!”
I grabbed Ophelia in a back hug while catching the three blades, poured magic power into my arms at once, and pushed them away.
“Aaah!!!”
The three villains fell back. I grabbed Ophelia by the shoulders and spun her around behind me.