Chapter 167
A situation where everyone’s underwear was showing through their soaking wet clothes.
Yustia’s was a pale yellow like a forsythia, and Hera’s was a light green similar to her hair color.
Yuna and Arian were also wearing red and blue underwear that matched their hair colors.
Setting aside the fact that the designs and colors were all different, the problem was how on earth this had happened.
'I was too careless just because we were wearing clothes.'
They hadn’t even considered that the clothes being white-toned would cause them to become see-through.
But, come to think of it, wasn’t that something the people wearing the clothes should have been careful about?
They were the ones who would be treated as exhibitionists, so they should have been careful themselves.
As for Franz, he suffered no loss whatsoever, so strictly speaking, it wasn’t a problem for him.
But even so, he didn’t feel comfortable. He was the one who had initiated this water play, after all.
“Franz, you just saw my underwear, didn’t you…?”
Yuna asked in a meaningful voice, covering her underwear with both hands.
“This couldn’t be helped…”
Force majeure. It was literally something that couldn’t be helped.
Even so, his voice came out in a low mumble.
“I guess I can’t get married to another man now…”
“As long as I keep my mouth shut, it’s fine, right?”
“So you’re telling me to deceive my conscience and lie?”
“That’s…”
He couldn’t bring himself to argue back. He couldn’t exactly force her to lie.
Though in other circumstances, making a fuss over just showing some underwear might be considered an overreaction, by the standards of this world, it wasn’t something to be taken so lightly.
“Well, I’m supposed to marry the Magic Tower Lord in a year anyway, so it doesn’t really matter to me.”
“I have also decided to dedicate my body and mind to Franz, so there is no particular problem.”
Arian and Hera shrugged their shoulders, supporting Yuna’s opinion.
Arian’s words had omitted quite a lot, and Hera’s words were highly prone to misunderstanding, but they weren’t wrong.
In any case, for Franz, it was a truly dizzying situation.
“Franz, if you say you’ll take responsibility, I don’t think there will be any particular problem…”
Yuna trailed off and slowly lowered the hands that had been covering her underwear.
The red underwear with cute frills was gradually revealed.
'I need to think of something first…'
They say that when a human is too flustered, their mind goes completely blank. Franz is in exactly that situation right now.
It was then.
“W-Who gave you all permission to just talk about marriage, responsibility, and dedicating yourselves…?! I-I also, well…”
Yustia, her face flushed red, spoke in a flustered voice with an awkward posture.
At that, Arian let out a chuckle, pfft-.
“Saintess, are you trying to make the same claim when you can’t even speak properly?”
“U-Ugh…! I can do it too, you know…! With F-Franz…”
“I can’t really hear you…?”
“I want to have a slightly better relationship with Franz! Happy now!”
Yustia clenched her fists tightly and shouted loudly.
Because of that, the underwear she had been covering with her hands was clearly exposed, but that wasn’t the reason her face had turned red.
Not only Franz, but also Yuna, Hera, and Arian were all looking at her.
In the silence where only the sound of crashing waves could be heard, Arian raised her index finger and pointed at everyone.
“B-Bring it on, all of you…! I can’t just stay still either…!”
She had already caused a scene anyway. It was a feeling of 'whatever happens, happens.'
Of course, they weren’t the type to just stay still after hearing such words.
“Right, I didn’t like it either. Marriage or slave: let’s settle this today.”
“I-I was the first one to make a promise with the Magic Tower Lord, you know?”
“He is already the Grand Chieftain of our kin. I would lose face if he were taken by someone else.”
Everyone revealed their hostility and burned with competitiveness.
In the midst of that situation, Franz was just staring at them blankly.
'How on earth did it end up like this…?'
He could somewhat understand up to the point where their clothes got wet and their underwear showed through, but he couldn’t follow the conversation after that at all.
It was the moment Franz was trying to organize his thoughts.
“W-Wait a minute…! I didn’t mean for you to come at me so seriously…! Let’s leave out our abilities and just use physical strength…!”
Splashes of water rose from all directions as the four of them began to fight, tumbling over one another.
No matter how hard Yustia tried, she was nothing more than a commoner compared to the other three, so she just rolled around here and there like a fallen leaf swept away by the current.
'Just what kind of nerve did she have to tell them to bring it on…'
Thinking that, Franz tried to just simply observe the situation, but unfortunately, he wasn’t given the leeway to do so.
An intense magical reaction that made goosebumps rise all over his body was felt from underwater.
Leviathan, the calamity of the mythical era that was definitely thought to be dead, had returned.
'Damn it…! It wasn’t dead…!'
Franz hurriedly snapped his fingers and pulled everyone out onto the shore.
“Ehh?!”
“W-What…?”
Everyone was flustered by the sudden situation, and Franz spoke to them.
“I can feel Leviathan’s magic.”
“I-I also vaguely felt it just now.”
It seemed Arian, who had high magic sensitivity, had also felt it.
Everyone’s expressions were filled with tension at the fact that the monstrous guy was returning.
Even during that time, the magical reaction was getting closer and closer, so Franz gathered his magic, ready to deploy a spell at any moment.
Soon, a shadow was cast beneath the surface of the water, and Leviathan revealed its appearance while kicking up a splash.
Franz was about to snap his fingers immediately, but…
'What is this…'
He stopped his actions upon seeing Leviathan’s appearance.
It wasn’t just Franz who did so; the girls also had a similar reaction.
[You enemy-like wretches…! I have returned to take my revenge…!]
The massive dragon that used to cover the sky had lost its majesty and taken on a small, cute appearance.
Along with that, its booming voice had also changed to be cute, so rather than being scary, it was enough to make a laugh slip out naturally.
Right now, Leviathan just looks like a slightly large eel.
“Franz, is that Leviathan right now?”
“The magic I’m feeling is definitely it, but…”
Rather than a calamity of the mythical era, it looked closer to just a sea eel.
It looked like it would be perfect if grilled and eaten.
[Who do you think you are standing in front of…!]
Infuriated by their dismissive attitude, Leviathan deployed a spell.
The magic circle drawn in the air was definitely from the mythical era, so there was no room for doubt that the guy was Leviathan.
Soon, a dark ray of light shot from the magic circle and headed toward Yustia, but…
“Ah, that stings.”
Yustia furrowed her brow and rubbed the spot where she was hit by the magic with her hand.
[T-This makes no sense. When did you get so strong…?!]
It seemed the guy still hadn’t realized the fact that he himself had gotten weaker.
“Yustia, you take care of it.”
“M-Me? Well, for now… I understand.”
Yustia, who had initially widened her eyes, flustered, looked at Leviathan and nodded her head.
It seemed she also felt that there was a sufficient chance of winning in its current state.
Soon, she walked over to Leviathan with steady steps and raised her fist.
“I can do it when I need to, you know? calamity of the mythical era or whatever! Prepare yourself.”
[Y-You insolent fools…! How dare you…!]
Leviathan deployed a spell and tried to attack Yustia, but unfortunately, Yustia’s fist was a little faster.
Thud-!
A fist containing the essence of the Goddess Church slammed into the eel’s head.
[W-What on earth is this power…]
Leviathan, staggering in the air, plummeted to the surface of the water.
It was such a futile defeat that it was hard to believe it was a calamity of the mythical era.
“I think I have a talent for this…!”
Yustia smiled brightly and proudly raised her fist.
Rather than her having talent, it was closer to Leviathan being too weak, but there was no need to explicitly say such words.
If she was happy, that was enough.
If there was a problem, it was that such confidence carried over to somewhere else.
“Everyone, bring it on again. Leave out magic, spirits, and the hero’s power too.”
It was a condition practically tying their arms and legs, but surprisingly, the rest accepted it.
The second round that began as a result surprisingly ended with Yustia’s miserable defeat.
She was put in an armbar by Yuna and a triangle choke by Hera.
She at least put up a fierce fight against Arian, but ultimately allowed an inner leg trip and lost.
Franz approached Yustia, who was lying flat on the sandy beach with a deeply disgruntled expression.
“If it’s any consolation, I don’t need it, so go away.”
“Should I really go?”
“…Don’t go.”
“You’ve improved a lot. I could see you put in the effort.”
It wasn’t a joke; she really had improved a lot. If it were the past, she wouldn’t have even been able to touch Yuna and Hera.
Arian just seemed to be born good at fighting, so that couldn’t be helped.
Anyway, as long as her efforts were acknowledged, wasn’t that enough?
“Let’s go eat some fruit.”
“Well, it can’t be helped. It seems like you really want me to eat it.”
Yustia let out a chuckle, pfft-, and raised her body.
Having consoled her like that, Franz snapped his fingers and pulled Leviathan out of the water.
It was drooping limply as if dead, but it wasn’t dead yet.
'If it’s this guy, I might be able to find something out.'
Perhaps it could become the key to moving forward to the next step.