>

“Oh? What’s this? You can touch the other girls, but you can’t touch me?”

“No, that’s not what I meant...”

But without so much as another word, Rosalind took the liberty of laying herself across my thigh. She didn’t have any obvious protrusions like Iris did, but the way she was pressing into me was incredible.

“Now give up,” she said as she undid the top of her bikini and exposed her back.

If I move... that top is going to come off, isn’t it?

Just when it seemed like I was doomed, Suzuran plucked the bottle from my hand.

“That’s going too far, Mistress. Sir Namidare, please leave this to me.”

“Thanks.”

Suzuran... I’m so glad you’re here.

But then Rosalind cleared her throat in a deliberate manner.

“Come to think of it, Suzuran, you’re rather pale, too. If you go out into the sun like that, you’ll turn bright red. Why don’t you have Rekka put some suntan lotion on you, as well?”

Suzuran’s hand froze just as she opened the bottle.

“...Suzuran?”

“I’m terribly sorry, Sir Namidare. The strength seems to have drained from my hands,” Suzuran said in an unconvincing voice. She closed the bottle tightly. “I’ll have to ask you to do it after all. And then please do me, as well, if you don’t mind.”

“Hey! I just saw you close the bottle, didn’t I? Why the sudden betrayal?”

Suzuran ignored my protest and laid herself across my other leg. Now they had my legs pinned down, and I couldn’t move!

“Now get to work.”

“Yes, please begin, Sir Namidare.”

Rosalind was on one leg. Suzuran was on the other. The suntan lotion was in my hand. And there was nowhere to run.

▽

Afterwards, we all ate the lunch Tetra and Satsuki had prepared for us. But lucky me was forced to eat something Tsumiki made (a “creative” dish, she called it) and got to explore the boundary between the quick and the dead. Beach edition.

“It’s even more poisonous than last time...” I heard Satsuki lament.

“The parts she helped me make were okay, but...” Tetra said.

“Waaah! I just wanted to try making one dish on my own!” Tsumiki wailed in tears.

After some pretty nasty convulsions, Satsuki and Harissa’s healing spells brought me back.

“Ugh... I think I was just looking down on my own body,” I said.

“You were pretty close to leaving us forever, huh?”

R wasn’t joking. I’d been that close to death.

“...Um, sorry,” Tsumiki said, looking down apologetically.

Well, at this point, I was almost used to it. I just laughed and waved my hand dismissively.

“Don’t let it bother you. Thankfully, I was the only one who ate any. But next time, don’t try and sneak it in like that. The shock wasn’t good for my heart.”

“I know that. I guess it’s too soon for me to start making lunches for you, huh?”

Tsumiki started stuffing the dishes Satsuki and Tetra had made into her mouth. It was like she was trying to eat away her problems.

“This is so good... I’m so jealous...” she said sadly between bites.

By the time we were done eating, everybody was a little bit tired. I didn’t feel like going swimming right away, but I wanted to at least get some light exercise, so I decided to take a little stroll down the beach.

The sound of sand crunching beneath my feet. The sound of the waves. The cool, salty breeze. The hot sun. I hadn’t had a chance to relax like this for a while. It felt so good that I couldn’t help smiling to myself. There was nobody around, and it was nice and quiet...

“Rekka, what are you smirking at? Stop walking out here all by yourself and get back to the girls. Go see if maybe somebody’s swimsuit falls off.”

Let me take that back. I had my own personal nuisance right there with me.

“I’m not smirking. And why would somebody’s swimsuit fall off?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know. Girls’ swimsuits get blown off by the waves, or they get pulled off when they trip and get caught on a branch. It happens all the time.”

“I’ve heard swimsuits these days don’t come off as easy as they used to.”

“Would you prefer to see one of them changing then? Let’s go accidentally sneak inside the changing room right now.”

“How do you accidentally sneak inside something?!”

“Knowing the girls here today, I think half of them would probably forgive you.”

“That’s imposs...”

That was impossible. Right? I mean, really... There was no way...

“Rekka?”

“Yes! I’m sorry!”

“Huh? What are you apologizing for?”

“Oh, it’s you, Iris. No, it’s nothing.”

There was no way I could tell her what I was just thinking about.

“Wh-What’s up? Where’s everybody else?”

“They’re still over by the umbrella.”

“Hmm... I see.”

“Yeah. Everybody’s stopping each other from leaving, so I pretended to go for a swim and followed after you underwater.”

“Huh? Why underwater?”

And why was everybody stopping each other from leaving? No, more importantly, Iris had been in the water, which meant that she was soaking wet from head to toe. Her swimsuit was clinging to her skin, making her amazing proportions even more obvious than ever...

“Erotic, huh?”

That’s right! But please don’t say it! It’ll be really bad for me!

“Come on, let’s go over there by those rocks!”

“Oh, sure...”

I agreed and let her drag me along just to avoid having to look at her any more than I had to.

The beach was pretty empty to begin with, but there were even fewer people over by the rocks. They blocked off our view of the rest of the beach, and vice versa. Once in a secluded spot, Iris spun around towards me.

“Rekka, are you having fun?”

“Yeah. It feels like I get to enjoy summer ahead of everybody else.”

“I see. I’m glad to hear that.” Iris smiled and looked relieved.

She was always energetic, so to see her acting a bit more reserved like this was kind of nice.

“I’m so happy you’re having fun, Rekka.”

“I mean, e-everybody’s having fun, right? This place is great.”

“Hmph... Don’t talk about anyone else right now!”

Iris puffed out her cheeks as she got a little closer to me. When her big silver eyes looked into mine, it suddenly dawned on me that we really were alone. There wasn’t anyone else around.

“L-Let’s head back.”

“Wimp.”

Say what you want, R. I don’t care.

I started to leave, but Iris grabbed me by the hand.

“...Wait,” Iris said in a hushed, weak voice.

I felt like I didn’t have a choice but to turn back around.

“...What?” I asked, my voice unintentionally stiff.

“If you don’t mind, can you give me... a reward?”

“A reward...?”

“Yeah...”

What was I supposed to do? Iris looked really cute. The contrast between this timid girl and her normal, easygoing self was so stark that I felt like I was really getting to see something special.

Wait, what did she mean by “a reward”?

Iris was staring at me silently, her cheeks slightly red. Both of us froze for a moment, but then Iris started stretched up onto her tiptoes, slowly closing the distance between our faces. They were about to touch...

“...go...!”

Huh?

“Iris, did you just hear something?”

“Huh?” Iris blinked and looked around. “No one else is here.”

“But I thought I heard a girl scream just now.”

The two of us quietly moved further down towards the rocks and saw a woman arguing with two nasty-looking men.

“A lover’s quarrel? No... it doesn’t look like it.”

“They might be slavers. This is Berano, after all.”

I was curious about what Iris said, but I had to focus on what was happening in front of me right now.

“Do you think they have any weapons?”

“I don’t think they’re carrying anything I can’t handle. Even if they are, I can take care of both of them easily at this distance.”

“Then I’ll distract them. You take them out.”

“Okay.”

I parted ways with Iris, sneaking around the rocks to get into the water. I swam over to where they were fighting and started to make as much noise as I could in the surf.

“Hey! What are you doing over there?!” I yelled.

All three of them suddenly turned towards me in surprise.

“Hiyaaah!”

When I had their attention, Iris leaped out from behind the rocks and flattened both of the men in an instant.

“Ow! Damn it!”

“We’ll get you for this!”

“Sorry, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Iris stuck her tongue out at the men as they ran away.

I swam back to shore and regrouped with her. We then both went to see if the woman was safe.

“I thought I saw them grab you by the arm. Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes, I’m all right.”

The woman said her name was Marle. The voice I’d heard was probably her shouting, “Let me go!” Anyway, I was just glad she was safe. But then I heard another voice, this time calling out from the sea.

“Marle! What are you doing over there?!”

We turned around to see a young girl with pink hair swimming towards the beach. She must’ve been a... friend... of hers...?

“I-Iris, am I going crazy? Her bottom half looks like it’s a fish.”

“Sorta. She’s a mermaid.

“A mermaid?”

“Yup. Berano is a merfolk planet.”

This was news to me. My mouth had fallen open, and I was too stunned to close it.