Leviathan of the Covenant

Volume 4, Chapter 3 - Sea, Swimsuits and the Mysterious Stone Fragment Part 5

"Then this is from the body of a creature that's the same type as Minadzuki and the others!?"

"More precisely, it should be a body sample from a leviathan's close relative—a creature belonging to the same lineage as Genbu-Ou, Princess Yukikaze's minion," explained Asya to the wide-eyed Hazumi.

They were currently bathing in the open-air bath.

Asya lifted her right hand in the water, holding the black stone.

"Indeed, it is quite similar in color as that giant monster last month."

Orihime nodded. Naturally, she was in the open-air bath as well.

"By the way, is it really fine to bring that stone into the bath? Isn't it quite important? I feel that it might be better to keep it in a safe or something..."

"Don't worry, this is part of the experiment," Asya explained to the visibly worried Orihime.

"It's said that a priestess or shrine maiden who had been serving Hinokagutsuchi returned to her hometown on land with this stone in her possession, so I wanted to try doing the same thing."

"Doing the same thing?"

"That's right. Since it's an item used by an ancient shrine maiden, chances are high that I'll be able to use it as a fellow practitioner of magic. That's why I've been keeping it on me everywhere I go for the time being, observing to see what properties it has. Apart from that, I've also poured magical power into it from time to time."

"Then Asya, have you learned anything from it?" Sitting on the edge of the bath, Luna Francois asked.

Apart from Hinokagutsuchi, all the girls participating in the expedition were present.

The location was the large public open-air bath belonging to a seaside hot spring inn. Built by taking full advantage of the shore's geography, it was a hot spring with excellent scenery offering a view of Sagaminada while bathers soaked themselves in the hot water.

The current time was only slightly after 3pm because they had entered the bath immediately after returning from the beach.

Since the inn's check-in time for today had only just started, there were no guests at the hot spring and open-air bath. It was as though Asya and the girls had the entire place reserved for themselves.

Naturally, all four of them were naked.

Facing Luna Francois, who was showing off her extravagantly outstanding body in the nude, Asya replied, "No major discoveries yet. If nothing else, at least it's very hard."

"Have you tested it in some way?"

"Yes, I've smashed this stone fragment against concrete as a test. Supposing it really is a body sample from a species closely related to dragonkind, this level of impact should leave it completely unharmed."

As predicted, the result of the experiment was that the concrete shattered instead.

The black stone showed no damage at all. Luna Francois smiled wryly in exasperation after listening to Asya's report.

"You're appalling, Asya, still violent as ever. If Harry or I were at the scene, we probably would've stopped you."

"I think so too, which is why I did it alone."

Asya casually dismissed her fellow witch's opinion with a carefree expression.

Ever since she heard the hypothesis proposed by her childhood friend, Asya had been very certain that it was the correct answer. A master witch's intuition allowed her to sense from this stone a presence similar to that super organism—Genbu-Ou.

That being said, it was ultimately nothing more than intuition. There was no proof.

However, Asya's true strength was precisely the fact that she trusted intuition unquestioningly and took action.

During deadly predicaments in battles against dragons with the odds stacked heavily against her, what else could she trust apart from intuition? Although not to the point of conviction, Asya was definitely aware of this mindset. This sixth sense, which had saved Anastasya Rubashvili on countless battlefields, was demonstrating its power on this occasion too.

However, Luna Francois smiled impishly.

"As expected of your style, Asya. Although a bit unrefined for a girl, it's very dependable. I love it, you know?"

"U-Unrefined?"

"Yes, unrefined. Or you could call it rough-and-ready too."

"You should use the description 'undertaking bold action while guided by instinct' instead! A-All things considered, please don't pick on small details like this to criticize me like I'm disqualified as a girl!"

Asya could not help but get worked up, standing up forcefully in the open-air bath.

Completely forgetting the fact that she was currently soaking herself in a bath, she exposed her fairy-like body from the knees upwards.

—If anything, one had no choice but to admit that she was far surpassed by Luna and Orihime on the aspects of volume and curves. Regrettably, she might even be inferior to the fourteen-year-old Hazumi. Indeed, she was painfully aware of reality's harshness.

In spite of that, Asya remained deeply confident.

Isn't this... Rather, this should be quite an attractive figure, right?

Unlike the flat and juvenile figures one could find anywhere, she was slim and trim with a suitably bulging chest (applying rather loose standards, of course). The various parts of the body represented by BWH measurements traced out subtle curves, exhibiting dangerous maidenly beauty in the form of nudity.

Look, this could be considered a fine example of sexiness, thought Asya proudly.

As a side note, she had gotten a good amount of sun today at the beach. As a Caucasian, Asya's complexion was pale and clear to begin with, turning bronze instead of a dark tan even with exposure to sunlight.

Not a fiery-red as though scorched or burned, but a color akin to polished metal.

The only exceptions, remaining pale, were the parts that her swimsuit had covered.

"Jeez... I was going to say I've already registered the super popular maiden's trademark of the 'tanned mermaid' for today. Luna, you're totally slandering me with your comments."

"Indeed, Asya-san's tan is very pretty," said Hazumi with a smile while watching Asya complain with arms akimbo.

"So beautiful. I'm jealous of you."

"Why thank you. Hazumi-san, you are a good girl as always~"

Listening to the innocent junior's praises, Asya instantly felt better.

Hazumi's cousin, Orihime, also smiled cheerfully and said, "However, Asya-san's vibes changed after receiving a tan. It's rare to see girls like that nowadays. It's very striking."

"My oh my, Orihime-san, don't you go flattering me too~"

While replying in modesty, Asya happily puffed out her rather thin chest.

"Oh dear, I suppose it's only natural for a girl like me to be striking when walking in the streets... Even though it's not my intention to draw attention, no helping it."

"That could very well be true. Skin-whitening is currently fashionable, so everyone is avoiding suntans."

"Oh, skin-whitening... Bi-ha-ku?" Asya froze after repeating Orihime's words.

Hazumi then said, "Apparently, people involved in athletic clubs at our school have been applying a ton of sunscreen during outdoor club activities. On the other hand, I find girls with tans to be cooler..."

The junior witch, who did not seem very athletic, stared at Asya with admiration in her face.

"That's why I find your current look very cool, Asya-san. Fufufu."

"Th-Thank you... Bihaku—Be hacked?"

"By the way, Asya-san, are you sure it's okay for you to enter the bath directly like this? From what I heard, dipping yourself in hot water shortly after tanning is very painful, isn't it?"

"Oh no, I've never experienced that ever in my life..."

Evidently, due to excellent skin health, she had never been troubled by problems of that type.

Hazumi widened her eyes after hearing Asya's answer.

"Really!? Every time I expose myself under the sun, I get red skin and even a fever sometimes—I'm quite jealous now."

"Hazumi frequently wears long sleeves even in the summer."

Orihime's comment triggered memories to surface in Asya's mind.

Before heading to the beach today, Hazumi and Luna Francois had applied sunscreen all over their bodies. Not only that, they had also reapplied it many times during the day.

Looking back, Asya now realized it was diligent labor for defending their skin's whiteness.

Thanks to that, Hazumi and Luna's skin had remained pale as always despite spending a long time at the beach.

In contrast, Orihime had not taken the issue as seriously as the other two.

Suitably tanned, her body was visible under the highly transparent hot water. Slender with outstanding curves, her nude body exhibited a lovely olive complexion.

Orihime had always given off vibes like some kind of "well-bred princess."

At the same time, there was also an element of sportiness and healthy beauty.

However, Orihime had definitely applied sunscreen once to avoid sunburns. Currently, she was engaging Hazumi in this kind of dialogue...

"Excuse me, Nee-sama, may I borrow some of your shampoo later...?"

"Sure, but why?"

"When traveling, Nee-sama, you always bring a set of your toiletries from home, right?"

"Yes, because the ones provided at hotels and public baths are sometimes business-use brands of lower quality... On that subject, the bathroom here is a bit questionable."

"N-Not to the point of questionable, but my hair is sticking together a bit..."

"Fufu, that's because your hair texture stiffened from swimming in the sea. Of course you may borrow mine."

"Thank you, Nee-sama!"

The conversation between cousins left Asya stunned.

It was as though she had suffered cultural shock within these few minutes. Could this be legendary girl talk revolving around topics such as "skin-whitening, sunburn prevention, UV protection and products for avoiding hair damage"?

This was territory that Asya had never ventured into despite her almost fifteen-year-long life.

Today too, while playing in the water, she had not used the slightest bit of sunscreen.

"Say, Asya, although I described you as very 'rough' earlier..."

By the time she noticed, Luna Francois was already by her side.

"But to be honest, I'm a bit envious. Despite what is clearly dysfunctional maintenance in certain ways, Asya, your beauty level is quite close to mine."

"R-Really...?"

"Perhaps you are actually the strongest in potential, Asya. Well, but even if you mend your ways after the fact, we still have an overwhelming lead."

"......"

After speaking to Asya with what seemed like a bit of frustration, Luna Francois left her.

Asya could sense Luna's refusal to admit defeat, but the blow she suffered was quite devastating. There was no feeling of victory at all. Meanwhile, the Trans-Pacific Shootdown Ace walked over to Orihime's side.

"By the way, Orihime-san, may I issue a declaration of war?"

"Huh, by declaration of war, you mean—What is going on?"

Confronted with the confused black-haired witch, the west coast American girl smiled gracefully.

"I have decided to shoot for Harry's heart, to make him the captive belonging to me, Luna Francois Gregory. So let us compete openly, fair and square. That is what I am proposing."

"Ehhh!?"

"L-Luna-san will shoot for Senpai's heart!?"

"W-W-W-What the heck are you trying to do? Luna!"

Orihime and Hazumi were stunned by the sudden declaration whereas Asya immediately roared.

However, the one who had made the controversial comment remained carefree.

"I mean exactly what I said. I intend to build a wonderful relationship with Harry, which is why I wanted to settle things with you first, Orihime-san, the greatest rival at hand."

"I! I do not have that kind of relationship with Haruga-kun—!"

Perhaps startled, Orihime instantly denied loudly.

However, stopped before she finished her sentence. Her lips parted and closed, looking like she had something to say. This persisted for a while.

Rather than having trouble deciding what to say, she was hesitating whether to say it or not.

Witnessing this reaction that did not match Orihime's always cheerful personality, Luna Francois smiled malevolently.

"Not that kind of relationship? Fufufu, my apologies. It looks like it was a misconception on my part since the mood seemed quite nice between you and Harry."

"......"

"In that case, I shall happily proceed as I please without needing to worry about anyone else's feelings♪"

"L-Luna-san, do you really, umm, like Haruga-kun in that way!?"

"Yes. Besides, I believe that there is no one else in this world more suitable than I am for supporting him in all sorts of challenging situations."

"I-In terms of that—Perhaps you are right, but..."

Orihime was shaken for some unknown reason. Usually cheerful and lively, she was stammering right now. Asya found this very baffling. However, Asya felt that she needed to prioritize Luna Francois as a target for her retorts.

"Hold it right there! What kind of nefarious scheme are you plotting again, Luna!?"

"Oh please, you are making me out to be some sort of evil witch... Now that would be considered slander, you know?"

"Please give up on baseless retorts. You are clearly an evil witch, the genuine article."

Ignoring the enemy's counterattack, Asya continued.

"It's useless for you to keep playing dumb. Given that it's you, I'm certain you're trying to seduce Haruomi again to get your hands on the dragonslaying rune, aren't you!?"

"Dear me, what an unpleasant way of putting it."

Stunned on the side, Hazumi silently listened to the interactions between the master-class witches.

Meanwhile, Orihime suddenly showed a relieved look after hearing Asya's forceful accusation, but Asya decided to overlook it for now.

Suddenly, Asya closed her mouth. Luna Francois did the same.

After making eye contact and using their gazes to exchange messages including "Did you sense that?" and "Yes, of course"—

From the sea's direction—An unidentified entity crawled out of the sea!

Indeed, this was an open-air bath situated by the sea. Sensing the approach of strong magical power, Asya and Luna Francois simultaneously put their guards up.

"Kyahhhhhhhh!"

Hazumi screamed in surprise, probably due to the ominous aura exuding from the crawling unidentified entity.

Everyone was naked. Let alone a small caliber handgun for self-defense, they did not even have a dagger. Asya could not help but click her tongue while raising her entire body's magical power.

If necessary, she would summon her gigantic partner, Rushalka. She mustered her resolve.

"Kyahhhhhhhh!"

The instant he heard Hazumi's scream, Hal rushed over.

He put down his laptop and sprinted at full speed from the inn lobby to the public bath. The frail underclassman's scream definitely came from this direction.

In contrast, Hinokagutsuchi could not even be bothered to get up.

"I never expected a situation to arise for real. A fool's will can penetrate stone huh..."

She simply sighed rather poignantly.

Hal had no time to bother with her. Without looking back, he ran as fast as he could.

This moment, at the scene of the incident—Right inside that forbidden garden. At an occasion like this, there was no time to waste on anything else!

Hal ran like mad along the corridor and pushed through the curtain labeled "female bath."

First, he stormed into the changing area—No one there. After sliding open the glass door that ought to be called the door to Shangri-La, he stepped into the public bath—However, there was not a single soul.

Neither infant girls, young girls, maidens, women, nor old ladies were present. But voices were coming from outdoors.

"W-What on earth, is this!? Kyahhh!"

"Calm down, Hazumi! I'll save you right away—Nnnnn!"

"Asya! Use my Glinda and your Rushalka to drag it down!"

"Got... it. O-O ancient divine seal of purity!

Familiar girls were yelling outside—The open-air bath!?

Hal left the indoor bath and went to the open-air bath outside. Since it was still three in the afternoon, the sky was still bright and sunny. Even the sound of ocean waves could be heard clearly.

Offering a view of Sagaminada in the distance, this open-air bath was also a hot spring providing beautiful scenery for bathers.

But in the next instant, Hal was greeted by unexpected scenery.

Inside the open-air bath's premises, several white serpents were squirming around—No, wait.

They were not serpents. Indeed, they were extremely similar to snakes and worms in form, crawling all over the floor with slithering trails. However, they were not snakes.

Rather, these were tentacles.

Dozens of tentacles were currently slithering inside the open-air bath.

They were very white in color though translucent. Hazumi, Orihime, Asya and Luna Francois, the four of them had been captured, pulled into that creepy unidentified entity.

Naturally, all the girls were completely naked.

The curves of Hazumi's current figure were already quite attractive. Hal really looked forward to her growth after a few years.

Due to the sun's radiant blessings, Orihime's body was colored with a healthy olive tone. Somewhat different from the last time when he had caught a direct glimpse, her body was radiant with outgoing vitality.

As for Asya—Just skip her.

This would probably be the same awkwardness as when someone accidentally encountered their mother or sister in the nude.

Then there was Luna Francois.

The exploding impression from her bulging chest, a narrow waist that was like a work of art, and the curves traced out from below the waist were seizing Hal's heart with tyranny. Due to Luna's aggressive advances over the past few days, Hal had accumulated a fair amount of frustration inside, thus delivering an excessively shocking impact to him this moment.

However, the four witches were all tied up.

Every girl had six or seven tentacles wrapped around her. The translucent white tentacles were coiled around their necks, shoulders, elbows, arms, chests, under the breasts, waists, thighs, knees, down to the ankles.

Entangled by these tentacles, the various risque parts such as the pink tips of the breasts were starting to flash in and out of view tantalizingly. Amid this crisis, the four girls persisted in struggling their very hardest.

Despite her distraught expression, Hazumi desperately wrested the tentacle off her neck.

Orihime reached out to save her cousin, trying to approach her, but kept getting pulled back by tentacles, preventing her from taking a single step.

Asya and Luna Francois were also immobilized by multiple tentacles.

Even so, the two master-class witches were trying to chant songs of summoning. Two pentagrams, magic circles for materializing 'serpents,' had appeared in the air above the open-air bath.

Under normal circumstances, these pentagrams would immediately turn into leviathans.

But this time was different. The two pentagrams were blinking like a broken light bulb—The tentacles entangling their bodies were suppressing the witches' power!

Hal immediately summoned his magic gun with his right hand.

Using triple burst mode to fire, he pulled the trigger four times.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

Accompanied by deafening gunshots, twelve bullets of red light flew haphazardly in the air. Infused with auto-tracking magic, the bullets of light released by the magic gun penetrated the dozens of tentacles running amok in the open-air bath.

Not only that, the bullets of light did not stop after the first impact.

Each time a bullet pierced a tentacle, it would then make a rapid U-turn to attack the next tentacle. This scene kept repeating in the next ten-odd seconds. The tentacles in the open-air bath were rendered fodder by the magic gun, smashed to pieces and falling to the ground as countless scraps of flesh.

Moreover, despite being exposed to the rain of bullets, the four witches remained completely unharmed.

Filtering out the tentacles precisely, the bullets of red light destroyed them successively. This amazing feat was exclusive to a magical gun and impossible for ordinary firearms.

Hal exhaled with a "phew" and immediately used Enemy Detection magic.

—No response. The tentacles were all wiped out, apparently.

"Senpai! Thank you!"

"You saved us, Haruga-kun!"

Perhaps out of relief, Hazumi and Orihime suddenly ran over to him.

Thank goodness everyone was alright, Hal could not help but narrow his eyes. Next, he focused his eyes intently as though trying to brand upon his retinas the witches' figures that he might not find another chance to witness within this lifetime—

Hal saw it.

Asya raised her arm in a pose reminiscent of someone about to throw an object.

"You're leering so much that you're stretching your face until it's about to tear! Damn Haruomiiiiiii!"

As expected of the childhood friend. Hal was originally trying to put on as dignified an expression as possible, but Asya instantly read his ulterior motives.

What she launched with an overarm throw was the black stone.

That signpost to the Dragon Palace which she kept with her for experimenting.

Flying at high speed, the stone struck Hal's forehead. Logically speaking, since Haruga Haruomi's body had been enhanced by the Rune of the Bow, even without deploying the imperishable protection which was like a shield, it should be fine because a mere stone would not be able to inflict even a scratch on him.

Unexpectedly, the attack made him lose balance. Adding the fact that the floor of the open-air bath was quite wet and slippery—

Hal slipped and fell backwards.

"Senpai!?" "Haruga-kun!?"

He could hear Hazumi and Orihime's worried voices.

However, what entered his view was not the two girls but the blue sky—No.

At this moment, Hal should be lying face up on the open-air bath's slippery floor, but suddenly, the back of his head was lifted up then cushioned by something soft.

In the next instant, a pair of pale peaks suddenly entered his view that was supposed to be of the blue sky.

F-cups by visual estimate based on their shape, size and elasticity, two breasts tipped with lovely pink. Not only was Hal given a bottom-up perspective, he was also treated to a direct view of this beautiful scenery up close.

"A-Are you alright!? Your head collided with the floor loudly, you know!?"

"Don't worry, this is nothing at all..."

After responding to Orihime's calls, Hal figured it out.

In other words—Orihime had run over to rest his head on her lap. Speaking of which, the sensation supporting the back of his head not only felt soft but also elastic.

Friendly, eager to help others, yet also quite careless, this was Juujouji Orihime.

Forgetting to cover her chest when running over here to care for Hal and even resting his head on her lap.

"H-Hang in there, Senpai!"

After her, Hazumi leaned in too.

Pure as an angel, the junior student was kneeling on the floor, gazing at Hal's face with worry. That being said, she had not neglected to cover her naked chest with her right arm.

Even so—

The valley of a fourteen-year-old's cleavage was still drawing attention vividly before his eyes.

Crap. Staring at curvature that was plenty for her age, Hal warned himself.

All things considered, it would be quite inappropriate for a gentleman to continue admiring the girls' unseemly state of undress in this manner.

Hal shut his eyes tight.

He intended to cut off the stream of visual data by pretending to faint.

"Haruga-kun, pull yourself together!" "Senpai!"

The bowl-like F-cups and the valley disappeared from sight too.

After that, while struggling in a world of darkness against the thought of "I still wanna open my eyes with a slight gap," Hal thought back.

Right before falling down just now, the last thing he saw was—

Luna Francois had hastily picked up a towel to cover up her outstanding figure and glared viciously at Hal. Presumably, exposing her naked body to him was quite a blow to her.

Luna, always so elegant and crafty.

But at that moment, her entire body had been shaking in anger.