Chapter 27: Girls Learn To Swim And Play

We ate shaved ice and rested appropriately, then started playing again.

“What’s that?”

“This is called a beach ball. It’s very light, so it floats on water. Here, would you like to hold it? Catch!”

“Oh, oh..! Got it!”

With a thump sound, the young lady catches the beach ball and, finding it lighter than expected, grabs and turns it around.

“Wow… this is so light!”

“Amazing, right?”

“Yes!”

The young lady and I go into the water up to our waists and toss the beach ball to each other.

Sometimes we miss, and the beach ball splashes water with a splash! sound.

“Ah, cold!”

“Are you okay, Young Lady?”

“Yes! Mana, catch!”

“Got it!”

We play with the beach ball like that, and when we get tired of it, I bring another toy.

“Ta-da!”

“That’s.. what you called a water gun?”

“Yes! You hold it like this and pull~”

Pshhh~

A stream of water shoots out.

“Wow..!”

“With this~ Here!”

“Kyaa! Me too! Me too!”

The young lady, her eyes sparkling after getting hit by the water on her swimsuit, picks up a water gun and,

“Here!”

She shoots water at my body.

The stream of water hits my stomach with a thwack! sound.

“Wow! You shoot very well!”

“Hahaha! Take this!”

“Here, I won’t lose either!”

We play around, shooting water guns at each other.

Meanwhile, I feel like the water streams from the young lady’s water gun are only hitting my stomach or thighs.

Anyway, for about 30 minutes.

“Haa… haa…”

The young lady was completely exhausted and collapsed.

“Are you alright?”

“…Why aren’t you tired, Mana?”

“I’m an elite maid, you know?”

“…When will I become an elite young lady?”

“I’ll make you one soon!”

I help the sprawled young lady up oof..! and lead her to the bench.

“Mana, you were strong even when you were 8 years old…”

“I’m a bit strong.”

Wouldn’t I be an elite maid for no reason~

I sit on the bench with the young lady and take a break.

The young lady leans her head on my shoulder.

“Mana… I like you.”

“Yes, I like you too, Young Lady.”

“You’re the only one who gives me these experiences.”

“…You’ll have even more enjoyable experiences in the future.”

“…Protect my heart so it doesn’t burst, okay?”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

She seems a little tired.

I pat the limp young lady on the thigh.

“Now, lie down here?”

“…Is it okay? Mana is 8 years old now.”

“Even if I’m 8 years old, I have strong thighs, you know?”

“…Then.”

The young lady lies down on my thighs and lets out a “Haaaaah…” sound.

Cute…

“How is it? Your first time playing in the water?”

“It’s so fun! Exciting!”

“How about we play in the water every summer from now on?”

“Really?! Will you play with me like this every year!?”

“Of course. Playing with you, Young Lady, is always fun!”

“Hehehehe… I like Mana!”

“Kyaa!? Do, don’t bury your face in my stomach!”

“But it’s so soft…”

…Really. She’s so spoiled.

Of course, I find that aspect very lovely too.

The young lady buries her face in my soft belly and catches her breath.

I gently fan the young lady.

“Hehe… thank you. Mana!”

“You’re welcome.”

“Sigh.. it’s so much fun…”

“Water play is fun, right?”

“Yes.. I’m happy..”

“Shall we rest a bit more and then play again?”

“I love it… I can play all day today…”

Oh, the young lady is sleeping.

The young lady’s belly rises… and falls.. and she gradually starts to breathe consistently.

..Perhaps she’s still lacking in stamina.

I used to work for 12 hours a day when I was 8 years old, running around.

She might be naturally less energetic because she’s an albino…

…But well,

It’s okay because she’s cute.

Sniff.. sniff.. I gently stroke the sleeping young lady’s hair.

“Hmm… Mana..”

…The young lady talking in her sleep is very cute.

“Haaaaah..!”

“Did you sleep well, Young Lady?”

“…Eh? Mana?”

“Yes, yes, it’s Mana?”

“H, how long did I sleep..?”

“About 30 minutes.”

“You slept just right.”

“…I see…”

Young Lady, my belly is not a pillow.

I hold the spoiled young lady for a moment and then carefully help her up.

“How do you feel?”

“Yes!”

“I feel great!”

“That’s good, then shall we play again?”

“Yes!”

“What will we play?!”

The young lady’s eyes sparkle, looking for something interesting.

Now it’s time… since we came to play in the water, we should learn, right?

“Young Lady, shall we learn how to swim now?”

“Swim?”

“Ah… shall I show you once?”

I go into the deepest part, with a depth of 80cm.

The water comes up to my chest.

This is just right.

Then, shall I show the young lady what swimming is?

“Swimming is moving in the water like this, moving your body, and even if your feet don’t touch the ground, you move. You push and split the water and go through it, so to speak?”

I use my arms and legs to split the water and move forward smoothly.

“Wow..!”

“Of course, swimming is not an essential element of nobility. Rather, nobles look down on it, and a hundred out of a hundred young ladies don’t know how to swim.

In that time, they learn dancing, beauty, and furthermore, children interested in other things learn how to govern domestic affairs. But.”

With one kick, one stroke, I pass several meters, slightly ডুব into the water, and then rise to the surface again.

“Swimming is surprisingly, once you learn it, there’s no better exercise and survival skill. Of course, you’re a mage, Young Lady, so you don’t necessarily need it.”

“I want to learn!”

“Okay.”

As expected, it was a good idea to show her a cool move.

I carefully pull the young lady, who is clenching her fists, and bring her into the water.

“I want to swim beautifully and gracefully like Mana!”

“Like me?”

“Um…”

“Yes! When Mana swam, it was so cool! I want to do that too!”

“Okay! Then I’ll teach you little by little! We can’t learn everything in one day, though. If you wish, shall I remodel a part of the mansion into an indoor swimming pool? Or I can even make a swimming pool in the backyard.”

“…Can Mana do that too?”

“I’ll need to borrow a little of your power, Young Lady. Now, first, shall we learn how to swim?”

“Yes!”

“The most important thing is not to be afraid of the water.”

“Not to be afraid of the water…”

“Now, hug me, Young Lady?”

“Yes!”

I confirm that the young lady is hugging me tightly, and I also carefully hug her and slowly…

“Now, we’re going to go into the water while holding our breath. Just for 5 seconds.”

“5 seconds!”

“Yes~ Let’s go~”

Slither, we go down under the water.

The young lady instinctively closes her eyes at the first encounter with the water.

But apart from that, she seems very relaxed.

Ah, 5 seconds have passed.

“Phew!”

“You did well, Young Lady.”

“Wasn’t the water scary?”

“No! It’s okay because I’m with Mana! And it was fun!”

“Really? It seems like you’re very close to water, Young Lady! Then shall we move on to the next step right away? Now! You’re going to float on the water!”

“Float?!”

“Of course! You can float on the water too, Young Lady! Like this.. if you relax your body… float..”

“Wow..!”

I show the young lady a demonstration first, and then I float the young lady on the water.

“Now, the important thing is not to worry about falling into the water. I’ll be supporting you from below, so try it, okay?”

“Yes!”

Carefully.. I place the young lady on the water and support her from below, and the young lady slowly.. relaxes her body.

“Okay~ slowly~”

…As expected, our young lady is full of talent.

Slowly.. even though I took my hands away so that the young lady wouldn’t notice, seeing the young lady with her face naturally out of the water, I feel proud, thinking, is this the sense of accomplishment of teaching a disciple?

“Young Lady, you’re doing well.”

“Hehe, because Mana is helping me!”

As expected of our young lady.

After a while, I help the young lady stand up again.

“How was it?”

“Something! I feel like I know what it feels like for the sparkles to float around!”

…It’s a very young lady-like answer.

“Young Lady, hold my hands and slowly lift your feet so that your soles are facing up? You can relax your head.”

“Yes!”

The young lady learns very quickly, no matter what I teach her,

“Now, I’ll slowly pull you, so follow me by splashing your legs~ okay?”

“Okay..!”

Splash splash, the young lady shakes her feet up and down and slowly follows me as I lead her.

“Okay~ You’re doing well~”

“Yes!”

I carefully pull the young lady and we go around the swimming pool in a small circle.

“Okay! Good. Let’s end here for today!”

“It’s harder than I thought!”

“Haa~”

“Swimming is originally very tiring, you know?”

“You’re learning exceptionally fast, Young Lady!”

“Hehe, really?”

“Our young lady is amazing, as expected~”

Pat pat~

“Ugh, only Mana pats my head!”

“I want to pat too!”

“Um… shall we?”

Well, we’re both the same 8 years old now.

Patting each other’s heads is fine.

The young lady and I come out of the water and sit on the bench, patting each other’s heads.

“Mana is good too!”

“Pretty!”

“You too, Young Lady~”

Hmm hmm~ This feels surprisingly, how should I put it, very calming~

The feeling of being loved?

“Swimming is so much fun!”

“Hmm, then shall we do a little more?”

“Yes!!”

So, the young lady and I swam together until the sun went down, ate snacks, threw water balloons, and played until it was dinner time, then we went home.

The bathroom with the young lady.

“What did you like the most, Young Lady?”

“Yes! I liked when we hugged tightly and went into the water!”

“I could feel Mana’s heart beating!”

“Aha~ Like this?”

“It tickles!”

“Wait a minute!”

“Mana~~”

“Kya hahaha!”

What should I do with our cute young lady?

“Kya! Mana too!”

“I’m sorry, Young Lady. You’re so cute, I couldn’t help it.”

“…It’s embarrassing when you compliment me every time.”

“But it’s the truth~”

“…Ugh. Really… Ah, what’s for dinner today?”

“I see. Is there anything you’d like to eat?”

“Hmm… meat!”

“Then how about a hamburger steak?”

“Okay!”

The young lady stares at me and then kisses me on the cheek!

“Young Lady?”

“Hehe, I love you!

“I love you too~”

“Then kiss me too!”

..Kiss!

Slurp… munch munch..

“Why are you sucking again!”

“But I wanted to~”

“…I think Mana is a little weird sometimes too.”

“Hehe, but you won’t hate me, will you?”

“Of course not~”

So, the young lady and I enjoyed a warm bath and came out, and I prepared hamburger steak for dinner.

“It’s delicious!”

“Eat a lot~”

Today was a very, very enjoyable day.