Chapter 53: Bathhouse.
Inside the misty, steam-filled male bathhouse, a dark-brown female body with alluring curves appeared with striking clarity.
Damn it, there's a female hooligan!
In that instant, Eikou froze on the spot.
His mind looked as if it had gone completely blank, yet in reality it was spinning at extreme speed.
First of all, when he came here he had confirmed it several times—this was indeed a bathhouse area reserved exclusively for men.
Then did that mean the other party had gone into the wrong place?!
But the other party looked extremely calm, and his Disaster With Women showed absolutely no reaction at all.
Could it be that the other party just happened to be a well-built guy with extremely developed pectoral muscles and an exceptionally round butt? Aha, if that were the case, then it really would be a body very easy to misunderstand!
"Huh…?"
Within the hazy steam, that person raised a hand and rubbed her soaking-wet white hair.
"You want to borrow the hair dryer? Sure, but don't make me wait too long!"
No, that's not right—although the other party's voice sounded very rough and domineering, it was clearly a woman's voice!
If Eikou's mind had been calm enough at this moment to think properly, he would probably have chosen to turn back into the bathhouse and slowly ask to clarify the situation, or else not think too much and just turn around and run away.
But whenever he encountered something unexpected, his mind would just freeze up, completely unable to react in time!
Meanwhile, the other party had already taken the hair dryer and walked over, and Eikou finally saw her face clearly.
It was a dazzlingly beautiful woman's face, deep blue eyes, dark-brown skin, sharp and spirited facial features, exuding a heroic presence that did not lose out to men at all.
And aside from the bath towel draped over her fragrant shoulder, she was not wearing anything else on her body!
There was no doubt about it—the other party was definitely a woman! And moreover, an extremely sexy beauty!
"A a a…"
All the places he shouldn't be looking at, and even more the places he absolutely shouldn't be looking at, all slammed straight into Eikou's eyes.
His face flushed bright red in an instant, as if it would explode like a super-spicy chili pepper the very next second.
"No no no no no, this won't do this won't do this won't do, it's too shameless, a-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and, it's too too too too too too disgusting—"
Eikou panicked so badly that his words came out completely jumbled.
"What the hell is wrong with you, brat?"
The dark-brown woman with an athletic build tilted her head, and the beast ears on her head tilted to one side as well.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-why are you acting like this is my fault?!" Eikou said blankly.
"Huh? Weren't you the one who asked me for the hair dryer? I hand it to you and then you don't want it—what, is there something wrong with your head?"
The dark-brown beauty asked this with an utterly calm expression, hands on her hips and chest thrust out, not feeling the slightest bit embarrassed about her own situation.
"Isn't there an even b-bigger problem right in front of us…?"
Eikou stammered at a loss, "a very very very very very very BIG one?"
"I can't understand a word you're saying…"
The dark-brown beauty frowned. "Or are you picking a fight with me, bastard? I'm ready to take you on anytime."
How could it possibly be misunderstood in that direction?!
Don't do this—right now even this provocative line made people's thoughts run wild. Just what kind of 'fight' was this supposed to be?! A hand-to-hand fight on the bed?!
Come to think of it, why would a beauty like her enter a male bathhouse and still act so bold and imposing?!
Eikou's head had already started smoking; he had no way to think straight anymore.
"No, first let's clarify the key point—the problem is that you are a—"
Before he could finish speaking, two fierce red lights suddenly flared up in the dark-brown beauty's eyes.
"Hey, brat, before you say the next word, you'd better think it through carefully. I can't guarantee I'll still be able to stay calm after hearing it!"
"..."
Eikou was instantly left speechless.
Even though he had no idea what kind of situation this actually was, his bodily instincts still made the wisest decision: he snatched the hair dryer from the other party's hand, then slipped sideways and darted straight into the adjacent stall.
"Calm down, calm down, Mochizuki Eikou... And Eikou junior too, you calm down as well…"
He muttered to himself, trying hard to soothe his chaotic thoughts.
Thinking about it calmly, it seemed he had seen her before in the lecture hall; she appeared to be a Servant from the Greek Class, her name seemed to be...
[You activate True Name Discernment.]
[You activate Instinct.]
Two dice fell simultaneously.
Fortunately, both checks resulted in success.
[You have seen through the opponent's True Name and background information.]
[Lancer Caenis]
[Origin: Greek Mythology]
[Once a member of the Argo, embarking on adventures together with many other heroes; originally a woman, later transformed into a man by Poseidon.]
[This Spirit Origin manifests in a female form, and the True Name used is also Caenis from when she was alive as a woman.]
[However, the gender she is registered as at Chaldea is unknown, and your Disaster With Women has no effect on her.]
[She harbors extreme hatred toward her female identity; once it is brought up, the consequences will be very hard to predict.]
"..."
Seeing this information, Eikou more or less understood what had just happened.
So it was Caenis from the Greek Class—the hero Caenis who despises her female identity and asserts herself as a powerful man.
A chill ran through his heart.
Luckily, during that sudden encounter earlier, he hadn't said or done anything disrespectful; otherwise, he would probably have been torn into pieces.
One had to know that although Caenis was a Lancer, once a taboo was stepped on, she was even more blindly violent than a Berserker or an Avenger; even a Master could be killed by her!
[You have roughly understood what is going on.]
[For Servants like her, those who do not have a clear awareness of gender or whose gender is undefined, Chaldea Academy usually forbids them from entering public bathhouse to avoid causing disturbances, and instead arranges private bathroom exclusively for such individuals.]
[However, this time, the hotel that you and the Greek Class were assigned to happened to lack private bathroom for Servants with such special genders.]
[Thus, the situation that just occurred came to be.]
"So it's Caenis from the Greek Class..."
Inside the bath stall, Eikou gradually calmed down, pretended as if nothing had happened, and spoke up to ask: "Only coming to bathe at this hour?"
"Huh, this brat suddenly speaks so smoothly now? And even using a conversational tone—do you know me that well?"
Caenis's arrogant voice came from outside, accompanied by faint rustling sounds—she was probably putting on clothes?
Recalling the stimulating scene he had just witnessed, Eikou couldn't help but blush slightly.
"Business is business. Can you answer my question first? Normally you don't come to public bathhouse to bathe, right?"
"Of course. At Chaldea I have my own private bathroom. But this hotel seems to only have male bathhouse and female bathhouse."
"So you just went in like that?!"
Eikou was speechless.
"What's with that tone of yours? But everyone around me told me: [There are reasons I can't explain, but Caenis, you absolutely must not enter male bathhouse; if you do, it must only be at midnight when no one is around!]. I didn't really understand, but I followed it anyway. After all, I don't like men. I didn't expect to still run into you in the end."
That really sounded unpleasant.
In the end, she disliked men's gazes, yet also didn't want to be acknowledged as a woman, so when living together she chose the method of sneaking into the male bathhouse to bathe at midnight?
After drying his hair, Eikou cautiously stepped out of the bath stall.
"Are you done drying yet? Hurry up and give me back the hair dryer!"
What met his eyes was still Caenis's toned, vigorous body.
Eikou's heart instantly skipped a beat.
Why is she still not dressed?! Then what were those rustling sounds earlier—just tidying up dirty clothes? Being this natural about it, she's going to scare me to death!
...