The first thing Sawada Tsunayoshi saw when he opened his eyes wasn't sunlight seeping through the curtains, but Tiona and Tione lying naked together in the recovery bath.
"…"
Did I just hallucinate?
He rifled through his pre-sleep memories. He clearly remembered Ais in a swimsuit soaking in the tank. How had one night's sleep turned her into Tiona and Tione? And more importantly—why were they not wearing anything?
In the blink of an eye, Tsuna shut his eyes again.
Have I been living too comfortably lately? Tiona and Tione slipped in together and I didn't notice at all.
With his eyes closed, his other senses sharpened. Their heartbeats—two of them, close together—thudded quick and light, a double rhythm in his ears.
Noticed my gaze, did you? High-level adventurers really do have terrifying senses.
Amazon or not, anyone gets shy when it's time to be shy.
Did they not think about how Ais wore a swimsuit?
The image he'd just seen wouldn't easily leave his head, but pretending nothing had happened felt wrong—especially now that both sisters were clearly awake.
"Ahem. Tiona, Tione—if your bodies ache after training, just tell me ahead of time next time."
"!?"
The sisters' eyes flew open. A flush spread over their bronze cheeks. Amazons weren't shameless by nature. When someone they liked, someone their age, saw something private, embarrassment and anger came bundled together.
Which one wins—anger or shyness—depends on who got an eyeful, and whether he gets punched or let off the hook.
Blushing in perfect sync, Tiona and Tione sprang out of the bath, scooped up their clothes, dressed at lightning speed, and slipped out the door in one seamless motion.
The boy who'd seen was, mercifully, spared.
Only after the door opened and clicked shut did Tsuna open his eyes again. He checked the room—no "special" garments had been forgotten—then exhaled.
I need to be more careful.
If I'm going to set anything up, I should give the frequent visitors—Tiona and Tione—a heads-up. Otherwise, this will keep happening.
He finally realized how important advance notice could be. Sitting up in the bath, he felt the lightness in every muscle and joint and understood the rest.
Right. I conked out because I overdid it yesterday.
He'd been so worn down he hadn't even set a security puppet. In a surprise situation like that, he wouldn't have reacted at all. Besides warning Tiona and Tione, he needed to re-establish the room's safeguards. Just in case was still a necessity.
He dispelled the tanks, washed up, and headed for the dining hall. It was still breakfast time; the place should be lively.
The moment he pushed the door open, the chatter rolled over him.
"Raul, you've got some nerve—not coming back all night."
"We all know where you went, but did it really take a whole day to 'settle' one girl?"
In the center of a loose ring of familia members stood the man of the hour—the same Raul who'd volunteered to leak information two days ago.
Tsuna hadn't heard a peep about Raul yesterday; he'd assumed something had gone wrong with the follow-up. Now it was obvious nothing had gone wrong—Raul had simply failed to resist staying the night at the girl's place.
Understandable.
When you meet a good girl, you don't let her slip away.
Ishtar-kami had arranged for an information "honeytrap": a prostitute—an elf prostitute—but one who was "pure."
Maybe that purity was part of the trap, but the girl's innocence was unmistakable. None of that stopped everyone else from being green with envy.
So many red eyes.
"You really ate well, didn't you—took the meal and the leftovers."
"You went to do a thankless task, and somehow all the benefits landed in your lap."
"On the Pleasure Street you ran into one of the rare elf prostitutes—and she turned out to be pure on top of that… You've feasted too well!"
A chorus of jealous jabs left Raul scratching his cheek. To be fair, even he felt his luck had been absurd.
But then a thought struck him.
"Wait! I went to deliver intel—you all know that, right?
Then how do you know who I met on Pleasure Street?"
"Duh," someone in the crowd said. "We had to confirm you weren't grabbed by the Ishtar Familia. Safety protocol."
"You weren't there to have fun—you were there to pass information."
Raul froze, then nodded. Fair enough.
Someone shifted the topic on cue.
"Raul, how did things go—over there?"
No one knew how the matter with the elf prostitute would end, but everyone guessed Raul wouldn't let her go. Likely, Ishtar-kami had predicted that, too.
Compared to a woman throwing herself into a man's arms, men are more easily hooked by the script of 'saving a pure girl from the world of prostitution.'
"I used my savings to buy a place for Miss Lise near the busy street next to Pleasure Street," Raul said. "Then I went to Ishtar-kami to talk about her buyout."
"It's just… I'm still short on money. But Ishtar-kami promised not to make Miss Lise take clients until I've saved enough."
Hooked.
Everyone recognized the line for what it was—a tidy way to reel Raul in for good and keep the intel flowing. If Ishtar had groomed a pure elf as an information asset, she wasn't about to waste her most valuable leverage and lose the intelligence pipeline.
"Raul, you should talk to Loki-sama," someone advised.
Raul's smile faltered. It was, indeed, a headache.
(End of Chapter)
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