I hate everything.

We finally reached port Heiliya yesterday, handed in the incapacitated bandits, confirmed the finished request at the guild and the two Michryans went their way.

Then, the four of us found an inn and spent the night there.

And the next morning…

We woke up the sound of rain.

“Hey, it’s fine… I’m sure it will stop soo-”

DON’T set off a flag, Ignis!

If you say it will stop soon, then it will continue raining for the rest of the week!

“I guess you can’t go sightseeing when it’s like this, can you?”

Yep, rain sucks.

It ruins vacations.

More specifically, MY vacation!

We can’t go to the beach like this!

Ugh…

Alright.

I got it.

Here’s the plan.

I’m gonna walk outside.

Point my sword toward the clouds.

And then unsheathe it.

That ought to disperse them, right?

“Ah well… strolling around is a no, but we can visit some indoor places I know.”

Oh?

Like what?

“I know of a great public bath nearby, it’s a really nice place to relax!”

…

Oh no you don’t!

Don’t think I forgot your secret!

I bet you want to touch our naked bodies while saying ‘it’s okaaay, we are all girls after all!’!

“Oh, sure! That would be really refreshing!”

What?!

Don’t fall for it, Ignis!

It’s a trap!

“Okay… sounds good.”

Et tu, Cana?!

“Meow!”

…

No…

Cats aren’t even allowed there…!

“C’mon Nina! It’s valuable bonding experience!”

Do you think I’m gonna be tricked by that innocent smile?!

I know what your true goal is!

…

“I promise I won’t do anything, okay?”

…

In other words, you WERE going to do something!

Ugh…!

Stop with that sincere smile!

Y-you’re making me fall for your trap!

Argh!

“Fine…”

“Yaaa-…y?”

But…

If you break that promise, there’s a set of claws itching to stab something.

I believe that’s a fair deal.

“Phewwww! This feels nice!”

“Mmm…”

“Meow!”

…

Why are cats allowed in here?

Or rather, why isn’t anyone else in this place?

Did you reserve this place beforehand, Mable?

Just to savor us all for yourself?!

“Come on Nina! If you keep standing there, you’ll catch cold!”

I shouldn’t have agreed to this.

Without the Kat clothes, I can’t even properly fight back if this carnivorous gorilla decides to jump at me.

And I mean…

I don’t need to bathe, anyway!

Thanks to the underwear’s effect, I’m always perfectly clean and sweet-smelling!

…

Yeah, I never bathed after coming to this world.

I didn’t even wipe myself or washed my hands.

…

Doesn’t that just make me sound like I’m some homeless person?!

No, even those occasionally tend to their hygiene, right?!

?!

Wha-?!

I’ve been seized!

“Come in already!”

Why are you holding my arms like that?!

And why is Cana helping you?!

I’m being betrayed by my teammates…?!

Argh, my overreliance on the Kat gloves strength boost is backfiring?!

I can’t escape the grip of these two!

My fate is unavoidable!

Splash.

…

Ahh…

Hot baths are the best…

Even though the weather is mostly warm these days.

Still…

How long has it been since I got to just lie down in a bath like this?

Back at the hospital, I could only have my body wiped.

Mmm…

Silly past me resisting the hot water.

This was definitely worth it!

“And then… a wolf materialized out of thin air!”

Oh, Ignis is telling her life story…

I wasn’t listening all that much.

I was too busy savoring this feeling.

What was it about again?

You were the youngest daughter of some noble family on the fall?

And so you were to be sacrificed… wed to a rich old man, to save your family from breaking apart?

“I thought to scream at first… but then I noticed the wolf carried a letter in his mouth!”

Eh…

Cana is blushing.

Well, we already know this ‘wolf that materialized from thin air’ is… erm, was one of her summons.

“He bent forward and left it on the floor before disappearing again!”

What a roundabout way of doing things.

“And when I opened that letter… I regained my hope… my vigor! My will to live!”

Yeah…

To think you used to be depressed all the time…

You must be exaggerating.

I can’t imagine it.

But I guess it makes sense, considering you were pressured so much by your family and all…

Too bad you went from one crappy manipulating environment to another.

“And so, I wrote a reply to that letter… even though I didn’t even know whether the wolf would come back…”

Oh stop trying to make it all dramatic.

We all know the ending!

“But he did! The next morning, he appeared again and I handed him the response letter!”

Oh boy, this is getting into a Romeo and Juliet territory.

Let me guess, that guy then mystically appeared, and carried you away like a prince charming.

“And right before I was handed over to that old man, he and Cana appeared and took me away!”

Yep, I knew it.

“Oh, how romantic!”

“Y-yeah… except he then cursed me and put me under a charm…”

Truly romantic!

“It was pretty painful… I felt my insides burning… even my hair changed from blond to this.”

Romeo and Juliet has nothing on THIS love story!

…

Man, I know that case is long solved already, but listening to this makes me wanna punch that guy again.

Didn’t he realize that if she’s writhing in pain, maybe his way of doing things isn’t ideal?

“… anyway! Your turn Nina!”

Huh?

What do you mean my turn?

Am I supposed to tell you all my life story?

No way!

I didn’t agree to this!

And anyway, it’s not even all that interesting!

“Come on now! I’ll tell my story after you!”

…

Huh?

Mable is gonna tell us her life story?

Seriously?

…

I’m a little scared about finding out who she really was…

But I’m also really curious…

…

Alright, fine!

Here goes!

My boring story of nothing!

“Umm… I was born in a small city… I had one brother, he was about two years older than me…”

Yep, that brother…

He used to really pamper me and show me a lot of stuff…

“Oh! A brother? I didn’t know you had one! I bet you really love him!”

…

“Huh…?”

I wonder what kind of expression I’m making.

Mable was smiling just a second ago, but now she’s taken aback.

“I… HATE HIM!!!”

“Meow?!”

After all, his kindness only lasted as long as I was healthy.

“I… contracted an unknown disease when I was seventeen… and spent the rest of my days in a bed.”

Yeah, he visited me a few times when all of that started.

But after we had a little dispute, he visited me less and less…

And in the final year of my life, nobody…

Not him, nor the parents who gave up on me long ago.

I didn’t get a single visitor.

Video games and web novels became my only way to fill all the emptiness in me…

But even those were limited…

I was allowed to use a tablet only at set times and I couldn’t even visit the… umm, more ‘exciting’ websites.

“Eh?! But I thought you are sixteen!”

…

I do look like that now, don’t I?

Maybe it’s all intentional…

To give me my body before the illness…

If that’s the case…

I’m not sure whether to thank Kat or to hate him even more…

“He… my brother… he stopped visiting me after we had a fight… instead, he would go on dates… with some random girls he met online… and left me to die… alone…”

I hope he also died alone.

That kind of jerk who only pretends to be nice when it’s convenient for him…

Guh…

Why are you making me remember this?

I hate you guys too!

…

“It’s fine now… don’t cry…”

…

I’m not crying…

You’re… crying…

And stop pretending to comfort me…

I know it’s all an act…

Just so you can get to hug me…

And touch my hair…

“Come here leader… cheer up!”

“You won’t die alone again…”

You guys too…?

I can’t shake you all off without the Kat gloves…

It’s not fair if you team up on me now…

And the stupid tears… won’t stop either…

Ugh…

I hate this…

I hate it…

I hate… everything…