Chapter 16: The Saintess’s Predatory Bath

After a brief moment of contemplation, Eve quickly formulated her words. She then spoke with rapid urgency.

“There’s no problem with bathing,” she began. “But I think it would be quite improper to trouble you, Alice, with such a small matter.”

“You’re already so tired, Alice. Why don’t you go back to sleep first? I can manage bathing by myself…”

“Why would it be a bother at all~”

Alice gazed at Eve, a smile playing on her lips. “Who said only you, Eve-chan, needed a bath?”

“We worked up quite a sweat in the graveyard earlier, and casting magic drains a lot of mental energy. This is the perfect chance for us to relax with a nice soak together.”

Upon hearing this, Eve instantly understood. This Lady Saintess had clearly come prepared, with a scheme already in mind!

Eve had initially intended to struggle a little more, hoping to secure an opportunity for separate baths. However, Alice would never permit such a thing.

Thus, Alice directly cut off Eve’s attempts at persuasion, leading her straight back to the room where they had previously rested.

As the large door swung shut, a crisp ‘click’ of the deadbolt followed immediately, echoing softly down the deserted corridor.

Alice illuminated the luminous stone lamp in the room, then drew the curtains. As if by magic, another scroll appeared in her hand.

With a mere toss, the scroll soared into the air and unfurled itself. A stream of eerie blue magical flame instantly ignited from its base, consuming the entire scroll in the blink of an eye.

An almost imperceptible, faint blue ripple spread outwards from mid-air. After enveloping the entire room, the walls glowed with a pale blue light, only to fade away just as quickly, returning to their original appearance.

“This is a Tier Six scroll that can block external detection,” Alice explained. “For the duration it’s active, absolutely nothing happening within its domain can be seen or heard from outside.”

Alice offered the thoughtful explanation, then pulled a ring from her pocket and slipped it onto her finger. She extended her hand towards an empty space in the room.

The next moment, a rug materialized there. Upon it lay a super-sized bathtub, roughly the size of a bed and seemingly large enough for four or five people.

Beside the tub, a tiered shelf appeared, laden with various bath products and draped with an assortment of pajamas. The setup was incredibly comprehensive.

It was fortunate that the room was spacious enough. Even with the bed, chairs, table, and cabinets, there was still ample space for all these new additions.

Gazing at the fully equipped array of bathing necessities, Eve couldn’t help but exclaim, “…Alice, did you just move your entire bathroom here?”

She knew Alice had conjured these items from a spatial artifact, but this was simply too extravagant!

‘Just how many spatial items do you even carry, Alice?’

‘Between the bracelets and the rings, are you the Lord of the Rings?!’

Alice shook her head. “Not at all. The Holy See actually has exclusive hot spring bathhouses built specifically for the Saintesses.”

“Because of my status as a Saintess, when I travel, I can’t just bathe in any river or use someone else’s bathhouse.”

“Aside from potentially damaging the Saintess’s image and reputation, there’s another reason that might be a bit hard to believe.”

“A small faction of my followers are quite… fervent. They collect my bathwater, treating it as holy water, either to auction off or to drink…”

Eve: ‘?’

‘Holy bathwater, my ass?!’

‘That’s not fervent; that’s just plain perverted!!!’

Eve’s mouth twitched involuntarily. “…Alright, I think I’m starting to understand why you bring so many things, Alice.”

Alice continued, “So, all of these are things I always carry when I travel. Although the scroll can block external detection, it’s still best to avoid suspicion.”

“I even have a tent in my spatial ring, so even if I’m camping outdoors, I can set it up whenever I want to bathe.”

As she spoke, Alice produced another scroll and tossed it towards the bathtub.

The scroll swiftly incinerated. This time, the effect was quite straightforward; Eve didn’t even need Alice to explain what it did.

It acted like a faucet. The magical essence generated by the scroll transformed into water, quickly filling the entire bathtub. Not only that, but wisps of hot steam began to rise.

“Alright~ Now, quickly take off your clothes, Eve-chan.”

Alice had already begun to unfasten her own dress, her gaze fixed intently on Eve.

That look seemed to convey: ‘If you don’t undress, then I’ll just have to help you! Heheheh!’

Eve, instantly alarmed, clutched at her chest and the hem of her skirt, retreating two steps. “Ugh… w-wait! Alice, could you please turn around… or at least, don’t look at me like that. Just be a little more normal, I… I’m scared…”

“Oh my~ Eve-chan, what’s there to be shy about? We’re both girls, and didn’t we often bathe together before? How about I just help you instead!”

‘I explicitly said I was scared! Don’t be selectively deaf, you hear me?! And of course, you’re still plotting to strip me! You female pervert!!’

Eve hastily retreated further. “No! Don’t! I can do it myself!!!”

However, Alice would not let her off so easily.

Eve retreated, Alice advanced~ Eve retreated again, and Alice advanced again~

Until Eve’s back hit the wall, leaving her no escape.

“No… don’t come any closer…”

At that moment, Eve was like a small child cornered by a creepy old man—frail, pathetic, and utterly helpless.

As those sinful little hands, constantly spreading and wiggling their five fingers, grew larger and larger in her vision, Eve’s red eyes began to spiral into dizzying ‘mosquito coil’ patterns. “N-no… don’t… help me…”

Meanwhile, a certain Lady Saintess loomed over her, beginning her “demonic whispers.”

“Eve-chan, what can you do? Can you possibly escape from my grasp? You can’t! Heheheh!”

“A little undead like you was born to be devoured by a Saintess like me~”

“Resist? Resistance is futile! Heheh~”

“With the scroll active, no sound can get out. Even if you scream until your throat is hoarse, no one will hear you~”

Eve: ‘P-pervert!!!’

****

An hour later.

Eve, dressed in loose pajamas with her long hair pinned up, stepped out of the bathtub. She reached up to touch her cheek.

‘So hot…’

She turned her head to look at the mirror on the shelf. Her face remained fair, devoid of color, like delicate porcelain.

However, Eve didn’t dwell on it. She leaned back into the bathtub, and soon after, she lifted out another young woman whose hair was also pinned up.

Yet, in stark contrast to Eve, the other girl’s entire body was flushed crimson, especially her face, which resembled a perfectly ripe apple. She had already fallen into a deep slumber.

Indeed, the girl was Alice.

The one who had been more perverted than anyone else before the bath, she had barely gotten into the tub before succumbing to the overwhelming comfort and passing out. How anticlimactic.

Ultimately, it was Eve who had to scrub her clean, dry her off, and dress her in pajamas.

“Honestly, she said she’d help me bathe, but in the end, I’m the one left to clean up her mess.”