Vol 1 Chapter 10 – Are You Really Human?

“haaah…!”

“Hot water really is the best, isn’t it? Ever since Al forced me out, this is the only thing I’ve been able to feel good about!”

I stretched my arms and legs out straight in the hot water, relishing the soothing heat.

This is a large bathhouse in the village.

It seemed reserved for the village chief’s clan, but when Alvarado—my incredible benefactor—showed up, it was offered to us as a way to repay his debt.

There, Al and I were soaking.

I love taking baths.

This kind of luxury doesn’t come around often, and it feels amazing.

Of course, back when I was a shut-in, I couldn’t do something like this.

I would have stayed holed up forever… but, well, if there’s one thing I can say I’m glad I ventured outside for, it’s this.

Everything else is total crap.

“Oh, is that so? That’s good.”

“I think being impervious to sarcasm makes you unstoppable.”

Al, too, was just zoning out in the bath.

Unlike me, he wasn’t exactly a bath person.

In fact, he’s astonishingly indifferent to anything that feels good or pleasurable.

All he thinks about is carrying out justice and helping others.

…Being able to neglect yourself to that degree seems, in a way, somewhat pathological.

Man, honestly, I really don’t get feelings.

I’m confident that even if we spent the rest of our lives together, we’d never understand each other.

Well, Al is human, and he’ll die before me, so I don’t really need to understand him anyway.

…But he is human, right? Still, is there really a human out there who could physically yank out a Holy Sword he doesn’t even believe exists?

“hmm…”

I sat on Al’s lap, pressing the back of my head into his chest as I fretted.

Al had tied my hair up, so it wasn’t soaking in the water.

I hate it when my hair gets soaked and becomes ridiculously heavy…

“…Al, you’re so stiff. Can you loosen up more?”

“I’m not exactly training for it, but after all that fighting, I’ve inevitably ended up pretty toned.”

“Do something about it.”

“……”

Because he was spacing out, words tumbled out of my mouth without much thought.

Honestly, I know I’m asking the impossible, but seeing Al clearly struggling is strangely fun.

But it was getting a bit uncomfortable, so I pressed my hips against him to find a better position.

“What… are you… doing…?”

“Oh, Rasha. Sake and fruit? Thanks.”

Before I knew it, Rasha had slipped into the bath.

Though she was still fully clothed, of course.

But her clothes were ridiculously thin… is she trying to appeal to Al?

…Man, Al’s taste is terrible.

As I thought that, I reached for the fruit, but Rasha smoothly pulled it away from me.

…Why?

“Why are you two… taking a bath… together?”

Huh, why is she speaking so haltingly all of a sudden?

And her eyes look terrifying.

She’s all glare, like darkness devouring every bit of light…

She’s just a girl with no combat ability, so why do I feel such a spine-chilling hostility from her?

Feeling oddly terrified, I pressed my body against Al’s.

I—I’m not scared or anything. It’s not like I’m freaking out.

I’m not so weak that a mere human could terrify me.

“You’re snuggling up again…”

“Well, even if you say that…”

As I looped my arm around Al’s neck, I sighed.

Rasha hasn’t quite reached the point of love, but she directs something like admiration toward him.

On the other hand, if you ask whether I have any feelings like that, not at all. I can say that for sure.

There’s not a trace of it—no blush-hiding, no subconscious affection, nothing like that.

I’d almost like to shout at her to just let me go already.

There might be opinions about how odd it looks to be clinging like this, but I’m the Holy Sword, not a human.

I don’t want to be judged by human standards.

Honestly, every time we fight, he grabs me and whirls me around.

We’re probably even more close-contact than this when we’re battling.

So even if people comment on us being so close in the bath, I have no real response.

I feel like an adult struggling with how to explain this to a child.

“W-…I’m completely naked… I’m not hiding anything!?”

“Ah—yeah. Well, that’s true, but…”

I mean… it’s not like I’m some exhibitionist, but I really don’t mind baring my body to others.

That said, I’m not so stupid as to suddenly strip naked wherever people can see.

Honestly, I’d hate it even more if someone licked the Holy Sword all over with their tongue. Sexual harassment!

Also, who’s doing the looking matters.

This doesn’t mean I’m opening my heart to Al or anything like that…

“Al, do you feel anything looking at me?”

“No, nothing?”

Even as I asked while naked and pressing against him close enough for my breath to land on him, he simply tilted his head without changing his expression.

Yes, this is it.

If the person you show yourself to doesn’t feel anything, you shouldn’t feel embarrassed.

It’s weirder for me to feel embarrassed or want to show off when the other person is completely unaffected.

…Speaking of weird, he doesn’t feel anything even when he looks at me.

He genuinely feels nothing when he sees a super-gorgeous girl like me naked, not just being polite.

What the hell is with him…

But him not feeling anything is, in its own way, incredibly infuriating.

“chomp”

“Don’t bite.”

I bit him on the neck in a fit of rage. Serves you right.

I’m the Holy Sword, so it’s only natural that I wouldn’t mind baring my body to humans.

But he is human. …Right, human?