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“Eek! Hero! Please sign this!”

“What? Hero? Where? Where?”

I was trying to head toward the place where my friends were, but as soon as I stepped out of the staff room, a wall of crowd blocked my way.

I tried to push through, but there was no gap, and if I went out like this, I would just get stuck in the middle of everyone and be unable to move.

“Huh? I said we shouldn’t keep them waiting, but I didn’t mean to rush over here right away?”

Mariel remarked as she watched me take one step out and then retreat.

Instead of explaining to Mariel, I held her hand and gently tried to sneak her outside the staff room.

“Eek! Saint! Please just hold my hand once!”

“What? Saint? Where? Where?”

As I pulled Mariel who was fidgeting with the hand I was holding, she retreated back inside the staff room again.

“…You know why I came back, right?”

“…Do you think we can get out of here?”

Honestly, I hadn’t expected this many people to gather, and I was surprised they would welcome both Mariel and me like this.

It feels absurd to be caught in a crowd like a castaway stranded on a deserted island.

If there were no promises at all, I might have just sat and chatted with Mariel to kill time, but my friends were already waiting outside.

They were probably wondering when I would show up at the spot we had agreed upon before the opening ceremony.

“Excuse me.”

Just as I was anxiously watching time pass without being able to move in any direction, I heard a familiar voice.

Normally, outsiders couldn’t enter the staff room as it was strictly controlled.

However, whether it was using my identity as a former Hero candidate or because she was my friend, Selian somehow made her way into the tent.

“Ah! Selian!”

I called out immediately in response to the unexpected voice, and she turned her gaze toward me as well.

“I thought I might as well check, but here you are.”

Selian, who walked up to me, glanced playfully at Mariel sitting next to me and handed me an envelope.

With a puzzled expression, I looked inside the envelope I received.

It contained one of Selian’s outfits that she usually wears.

“It’s hard to hide your head, but… just changing clothes should trick the eye to some extent. At least it should be enough to help you escape this crowd.”

“Selian…!”

What a savior! It’s like a lifeline thrown to me when I’m drowning.

“…Here you go.”

In addition to the envelope she handed me, Selian also gave another envelope she was holding in her other hand to Mariel.

“I brought some clothes for the Saint. It’s hard to imagine the Saint in casual wear, so this should suffice.”

Mariel accepted the envelope with a slightly reluctant face and quietly said, “…Thank you.”

“I just couldn’t ignore it knowing the situation. You can keep the outfit you were wearing, so feel free to do whatever you want.”

To anyone who didn’t know, this might come off as flaunting wealth, but knowing the situation and the kind of person Selian is, I found her awkwardly denying it just adorable.

“Well… I guess I can change over there.”

Looking at where Selian pointed, I saw a makeshift changing room set up for the staff.

Since Anne and Yuli were waiting, I stood up to hurry and change.

“Huh?”

But for some reason, Selian wouldn’t let go of my hand.

“Why don’t you let the Saint change first? There’s no need for both of us to change in such a cramped space.”

“It seems spacious enough for two… but, well, I guess I should be courteous since you helped me?”

Even though I was covered by my underwear, with the Master-Servant Mark, I still felt reluctant to change clothes in front of others.

So I thought it was a relief that Mariel was eager to change first, but I also felt a tiny bit disappointed about it.

Just a tiny bit.

Maybe?

“By the way, you could have just taken my clothes since you were already in the room.”

“W-well… it’s not polite to just touch other people’s clothes without permission. So I brought my own. I definitely didn’t have any other thoughts behind it!”

“Come on, it’s just us, you don’t have to worry about that.”

Of course, thinking of it as underwear, even if it was Selian’s… no, it was even more embarrassing because it was Selian, but I felt that touching clothes was no big deal.

Some of the clothes I have were gifts from Selian.

“Huh? But this… isn’t it underwear? I think it’s enough just to change clothes, no need for underwear…”

As I pulled out the outfit in the envelope, I noticed a thin white underwear hidden beneath it.

And it definitely wasn’t mine.

So whose underwear set could this be? Naturally, it must belong to Selian, who was right in front of me.

Even though I wear women’s underwear, feeling embarrassed looking at another girl’s underwear was beyond me.

I didn’t even need to check a mirror to know my face was bright red.

“W-well… I accidentally brought underwear, didn’t I? Since I brought it anyway, why don’t you change into it? You must be sweaty from the opening ceremony, won’t it be uncomfortable to be running around with Anne all day?”

“No, no… no matter how you say it, underwear…”

“I’m not bothered at all! You just said earlier that it doesn’t bother you, right?”

“That, that was…”

“You said it, right?”

“I did say it…”

“Well then, just don’t hesitate and change into the underwear too. Got it?”

“U-uh huh…”

No matter how I tried to come up with an excuse, I couldn’t escape Selian’s pressure.

Even though I skipped talking about the underwear, I did say I wasn’t bothered.

“Ta-da! How about it, Hero? Does it suit me?”

While I was struggling with the situation, Mariel had changed and twirled in front of me.

Though it was the same outfit, it had a different charm compared to how Selian wore it.

“With a figure like yours, it’s hard not to look good in anything.”

They say the completion of fashion is the face?

With her stunning looks, Mariel was 200 percent fitting for that statement.

“Hehe… Hearing the Hero say that makes me blush.”

Even her shy little body twist was beyond cute, verging on seductive.

“Come on, hurry and change. Yuli and Anne will be waiting for you.”

Seeing I had been staring too intently, Selian gently pushed me toward the changing room, urging me.

“Ah, sorry. I’ll change quickly.”

“Don’t forget what I mentioned earlier. I’ll be checking on it, you know?”

“…Okay.”

I wondered if she might have forgotten, but Selian was still holding on to it. Well, of course, it had been only a few minutes; how could she forget?

I walked into the changing room holding the envelope.

One by one, I took off my armor and clothes until I was just in my underwear.

I slowly reached into the envelope, took out the underwear.

When I peeked in, it didn’t seem so bad, but holding it in my hands made me feel like I was being perverted.

It’s a bit disgusting to bring this up, but during my assassin days, there were times when people swapped underwear.

Due to tight finances, the distribution of underwear was limited, and inevitably, if you let your guard down, anyone could steal someone else’s.

Of course, at first, I couldn’t understand why people were stealing underwear, but before I knew it, when I was left with only one pair of my own underwear, I naturally started sneaking others’.

Please don’t look at me with strange eyes; it was out of sheer desperation for survival.

Wearing someone else’s underwear like that used to happen plenty of times.

Selian probably felt comfortable handing me her underwear because she thought of me as another girl.

I bet, especially among girls, lending underwear is more common than between guys.

So wearing Selian’s underwear isn’t unusual at all.

I justified my actions and loosened the hook of the bra I was wearing.

I placed the removed bra into the envelope and put on Selian’s bra.

…It’s a little big.

So this must be Selian’s size… Hmm…

Hot!

Good thoughts, good thoughts.

That was just a momentary lapse in judgment. I have no intention of using Selian’s kindness to satisfy my desires.

Calming my excitement, I now directed my hand toward my hips.

Slowly lowering my hand, I put the pair of panties I had removed back into the envelope.

Even though supposedly there wouldn’t be anyone watching, still with my Master-Servant Mark, I felt uneasy and hurriedly changed into the panties Selian brought me.

Fortunately, unlike the bra, the panties fit perfectly.

Oh…

*

When I came out after changing, I felt Selian’s gaze landing squarely on me.

Thinking that the underwear I was wearing belonged to the girl right in front of me, I felt a wave of embarrassment rising again.

As I tried to hide my embarrassment, Mariel, who was standing beside Selian, spoke up.

“Well then, Hero. I’m going to head out first. Don’t forget our promise for the fifth day!”

Waving her goodbye without even waiting for my response, Mariel exited the staff room.

Seeing she didn’t come back, she probably made her escape safely.

“…Promise, you say?”

“I was going to tell you when Anne and Yuli were all together, but it seems the Saint has a promise scheduled for the fifth day. Um… is that okay?”

“Sigh…”

At my words, Selian sighed deeply.

Even though we hadn’t explicitly talked about it, we had an unspoken agreement to stick together, so she was probably disappointed that I had suddenly made another promise.

As I pondered how to lift Selian’s spirits, she spoke up first.

“Well… I figured there might be some confusion, knowing it was you. I’ll persuade Anne and Yuli, so don’t worry about that. More importantly…”

Selian took the envelope containing the underwear and clothes I used from my hands.

Then, she casually opened the envelope to check its contents.

“I have to go back to my room soon anyway, so I’ll carry this for you. Don’t worry, I’ll safely take it to your room.”

Fortunately, Selian’s mood seemed to brighten quickly, and she spoke cheerfully.

“Why would I worry about something like that? Now, come on, let’s hurry back. You’ve kept them waiting too long.”

Before Selian’s mood could sink again, I quickly took her hand and stepped out of the staff room.

Watching Selian smile gently, it seemed she hadn’t caught onto my true intentions.

Phew. My skills as a former assassin really come in handy at moments like this.

 

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