A 30 Year Old Virgin (One Who Haven’t Even Interacted with Women) Took an Exam to Become a Wizard.

Chapter 05: Escaping From My Stepmother’s Room

I froze in surprise.

Satou Mari, my stepmother, had come home earlier than expected. She wasn’t supposed to be back for another hour.

At this moment, I must have looked like a stepson sneaking around in his stepmother’s room. In reality, I had broken into her room to add a pair of panties to her collection, but the fact that I was in her room without her knowledge remained unchanged.

I frantically stuffed the panties I had brought into the row of her underwear and closed the drawer, trying to act casual.

I needed to find a place to hide, but there was nowhere suitable. The only potential hiding spot was the closet, but it was too narrow. The best idea I could come up with was to hide behind the open door, a classic move from suspense movies. However, as I pressed myself against the wall, I realized that all the doors in the house opened inward, toward the hallway.

“Whoever designed this house, come out and face me!”

I couldn’t very well shout my frustration, so I did the next best thing: I held my breath and went into submarine sonar mode. I listened intently for Satou Mari’s footsteps, trying to discern her movements.

She had entered the living room.

Maybe it was safe to leave the room now…

No, it wasn’t. The entrance to the hallway was directly visible from there. If the room door opened even a little, I would be spotted. My infiltration would be exposed.

She left the living room.

She was getting closer.

She stopped right in front of the room…

I held my breath even more, willing to stop my heart from beating.

The door opened, and a graceful hand appeared.

It was all over…

Just as I was about to give up, a bag flew past my field of vision. The bag drew a beautiful arc in the air and landed perfectly on the bed.

Satou Mari’s presence moved away. The door remained half-open.

I could hear her footsteps fading, followed by the sound of the sliding door of the bathroom. She had gone to the toilet.

I quickly and quietly escaped from the room and tiptoed up the stairs, my heart still pounding.

“Sighh…”

I returned to my room and exhaled deeply, taking in the fresh air I hadn’t breathed in a long time. My heart was still pounding. I felt like I had stored enough oxygen to last a lifetime, so I kept breathing in and out. My head started to spin—this must be what they call hyperventilation syndrome. It was my first time experiencing it.

Knock, knock. As soon as I heard the knock, the door opened.

The only other person in the house was Satou Mari, so it had to be her. I wasn’t in the mood to face her, but before I could even catch my breath, she poked her head in as usual without waiting for an answer, opening the door halfway.

“Akira-san, are you back?”

She was startled to see me right in front of her, but she quickly forced a smile and continued, “Welcome back.” In the past, I used to interpret this as sarcasm, but now, her awkwardness seemed endearing.

“Yeah, I’m back… Is it weird? I usually come home before you do, Mari-chan.”

“Yes, it is… And, you’re being rude again.”

That’s right. I had forgotten that I had upset her this morning by calling her that. I just couldn’t help it.

“Sorry, I just found you so cute, so I did it without thinking.”

“Cute?! Are you making fun of me again? You’ve been acting strange today, Akira-san.”

“Is that so?”

She glared at me for a while, then puffed up her cheeks and left the room, stomping down the stairs. I could hear her humming as she descended, and a bright voice called from downstairs, “Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes!”

***

Time passed, and before I knew it, quite some time had gone by. Mari and I had become closer, and we often laughed together. My father was still often away on business trips, and there were days when he didn’t come home at all. However, their marital relationship seemed to be going well.

I had also gotten used to school. I seemed to have taken on the role of a mediator in the class. Because I was actually 30 years old, I appeared more mature and calm, and my classmates often came to me for advice. My studies were enjoyable, and every day was fulfilling.

“But what’s the point of feeling fulfilled?!”

It had been over a month since I had traveled back in time, and the one-year deadline was still approaching. I still hadn’t made any progress with Satou Mari, the first target. She still hadn’t worn the panties. I was sitting on the sofa with a textbook open, scratching my head in frustration, when Mari sat down next to me.

“What’s wrong, Akira-kun? If there’s something you don’t understand, I can help you.” (T/N: Kyaa, she refers to him with a kun now.)

I glared at her, thinking that she was the reason for my frustration, but I couldn’t tell her the real reason. Mari had been dressing more casually around me lately. I was glad that we had become more comfortable with each other, but her carefree and revealing outfits were a bit too much. Her tank top showed off her cleavage, and her cotton shorts were so short that her skin was visible depending on her posture or angle.

The Satou Mari I knew from the future was more conservative. Even on hot days, she would wear a half-sleeve shirt and slacks, never exposing her skin. What had changed her?

There was also more physical contact between us. Our arms were touching right now. It might have been a coincidence, but she didn’t seem to mind it and didn’t move away. Her cheeks were flushed. She must have been drinking beer.

The goddess had said that one of the conditions for the wizard exam was not to have any physical contact with a woman other than your mother. But here I was, touching a woman. Did this count as a violation? The fact that I was still here, even with this level of contact, probably meant that the “no contact” condition only applied before the test started… I guess. Damn it.

“Don’t stick to me so close, Mari-nee.”

I had settled on calling her “Mari-nee.” Calling her “Mother” felt too fake, and she got upset when I called her “Mari-chan.” “Satou-san” didn’t sit well with her either, so “Mari-nee” it was.

“Isn’t it fine. We’re family, after all.”

Instead of moving away, she snuggled closer. I could clearly see her cleavage. This was too stimulating for a virgin like me. When she innocently closed the distance between us like this, I felt a desire I had never felt for her before. Just put on the panties and send me back to my own time, please.

“Ah, the bath is ready. Akira-kun, go ahead.”

“You go first, Mari-nee. I’ll take a look at this textbook for another five pages.”

“Okay, I’ll go first. But remember, no peeking while I’m in the bath, or else!”

This woman…

“Hurry up and go take a bath..”

“Yes, yes.”

She patted my head as if to shoo me away and stood up from the sofa.

To an outsider, we probably looked like a close older sister and younger brother. When we went shopping together, strangers would sometimes comment on our relationship. In reality, we had a stepmother and stepson relationship.

Mari did this even when my father was home. Since my father was 40 years old, Mari was closer to my age, which was why she stuck close to me. She was trying to stir up my father’s jealousy to deepen their relationship, with the ultimate goal of getting him to officially register their marriage. That was my analysis of the situation.

While I was interested in seeing her naked, I had no intention of peeking on her batthing. If I did something to upset her, our good relationship might crumble, and my panties operation would be in jeopardy.

“Oh, right, the bath! Why didn’t I think of that sooner?!”

She was in the bathroom, and she would be undressing to get into the bath. Now was my chance to check the panties she’s going to wearr and slide in something that resembles it.

I left the living room and headed toward the bathroom. I could hear the sound of the shower through the accordion curtain. My lower body twitches involuntarily, and I found myself leaning forward—a testament to my youth. I carefully lifted the bottom of the curtain to slide my body through, being careful not to make any noise.

Mari’s alluring naked body was visible through the frosted glass of the bathroom door, but my focus was on the laundry basket. I tried to avoid looking directly at her as I lifted the bath towel covering the basket. On top of her discarded clothes was the panty she was going to wear, exuding the scent of detergent. Underneath the clothes was the pair she had worn today, slightly damp with sweat. I picked up both pairs, knowing that I had to be thorough.

“So, it’s the simple style, huh…”

It wasn’t the sexy style I had expected. In hindsight, it made sense. People usually don’t wear sexy lingerie at home every day. “Sexy lingerie” implies that it’s for special occasions, like a “winning underwear” for important events.

That meant that in the past month, there hadn’t been any such occasions… If I were my father, I would invite this cute woman to bed every day. There was no need to hold back when you were married.

Anyway, the decision was made. I left the bathroom and entered Mari’s room. I opened her drawer to adjust the position of the panties, but something felt off.

“Was this the right spot?”

It seemed different from where I had placed the panties. Unless my memory was wrong, someone had moved them. Who could it be… Well, it had to be Mari. My father respected her privacy and wouldn’t enter his wife’s room. If it were a panty thief, they would probably take the sexier ones, or they would just take all of them and run.

If Mari had moved them herself, it was a big problem. From now on, whether she wore those panties or not depended entirely on her mood. The chances of her wearing them were slim, if not non-existent.

What should I do…?

“I’ll just switch them with the ones she’s going to wear. That’s the only way.”

I held the panties tightly and rushed back to the bathroom.