The cleaning house was little more than a shed wherein the sheets and whatnot were washed and dried. There was an oversized wooden basin—more like a miniature pool—where the ‘washer’ used magic to rapidly swirl around dirty items in treated water; below it was a fire used to heat the water and warm the room to dry the hanging cloth. All this was too rowdy to operate within the hostelry itself.

Lucy had just waved off the other maid, and was staying behind in the otherwise empty shed to organize the sheets on the lines that hung from wall to wall.

So she jumped with a shock when she pulled a dried sheet from the line and saw Hal standing right where it had been.

“H-Hal! You scared me!” she yelped, half exasperated but happily surprised. “Hehe, Hal, I was wondering when you’d catch on.”

“I’ve been caught on for a while,” Hal said, straight-faced. “Are you going to confess, now that it’s come to this?”

“I don’t know~” Lucy said slyly. “It’s more exciting when you might still escape with your life at any moment, isn’t it?”

“I’m more of a ‘get it done’ kind of guy,” Hal said. “No windows in here. No moonlight. You understand, Lucy?”

“I’m tempted to make you confess first, but forget it,” she said, and with a dash forward, she embraced Hal and kissed him on the lips.

Hal wasn’t sure whether he should be more surprised at the kiss, or how her movement outperformed his retreat.

“Now your life is mine. I won’t let any other girl have you, got it, mister soldier? Hehe,” Lucy giggled innocently. She stepped back and looked inquisitively at the shocked Hal. “Don’t be so worried, silly. Like you said, nobody can see us in here, right? Or was that your first… no way, Hal!”

“… No, of course not,” Hal laughed awkwardly. No, she’s only playing it off because she’s in a disadvantageous position here, right? Or was I mistaken after all? Hal’s confidence waned. Werewolves, here? In this peaceful town? Creatures that haven’t been heard of in years? What is the right way to handle this? Should I request backup after all?

“I was wondering when you’d follow me here. Did you notice me dropping hints finally, or was it just a coincidence?” Lucy asked.

“Hard to say,” Hal said. “More of an instinct I got while watching you.”

“Ohh, as expected of a soldier! Those sharp eyes see all sorts of things, don’t they?” Lucy winked.

“I’m still hardly a soldier, you know,” Hal said.

“All the same to a girl like me. Hey, Hal, bolt the door, will you?”

Lucy nodded to the lone entrance door. This could take longer than expected, so it was something Hal was glad to do anyway. He followed her instruction and closed the door fully, since it swung loosely in its frame, and slid the bolt home.

“What’re you doing?” Hal asked as he spotted her through the hanging sheets, pulling off her uniform. “W-Wait—“

“Don’t be shy, Hal!” she giggled. “Come here, I want to show you this.”

When she was wearing nothing but her underwear, she hopped over to the wooden washing basin and dipped her hand in the still water. Hal approached cautiously, but the girl was naturally defenceless. She spilled some water on the stone floor as she pulled her hand from the pool and laughed unreservedly, apparently greatly enjoying this escapade.

“Come on, come on!” she said, taking Hal’s arm and pulling him forward while purposefully pushing her breasts against his arm. Hal let her guide him forward, but she slipped on the puddle of water; Hal had to dive to the ground to catch her shoulders, but they both tumbled into a stack of crates, sending a few crashing into the wall.

“O-Oops,” Lucy said. She laughed it off easily.

Hal was becoming more and more dumbfounded. Was this girl drunk? He couldn’t let his guard down, as much as he was tempted. If this was some kind of act, she’d eventually get tired of it. Just go along with it…

Ignoring the collapsed crates, Lucy checked the fire-pit underneath the thick metal plate that the wooden basin sat on. The stone floor was elevated here for the washing area, but there was a gap in the centre where the stone was inset. Peering down below the metal plate, there was a sooty brick enclave that could be accessed with some stretching.

“You’re not thinking of using this as a bath, surely,” Hal said, to which Lucy just hummed nonchalantly and said “More like a private little hot spring, right?”

She got on her knees and peered into the fire-pit, definitely showing off her butt to Hal on purpose. He would have rolled his eyes if Lucy weren’t so attractive.

“One second, I’ll fire it up a bit,” Lucy said. Hal watched carefully. Lucy held out her hand into the inset area, and as she concentrated, the fire clearly began to blaze more fiercely as a strong, oxygen-rich wind was fed into it. The fire doubled in size, and the smoke it produced escaped through a pipe that led from the pit to the far wall and out into the open air.

Well, that solves that problem, Hal thought.

After all, Werewolves—rather, any non-human creatures—were completely and utterly unable to use magic.

Lucy wasn’t a Werewolf at all.

“Hahaha, stop!” Lucy laughed. Hal was splashing water at her as she ducked behind the opposite side of the basin, though he wasn’t really trying to hit her. His own shirt was already off and his head was soaked, so he was just retaliating in kind.

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What the hell am I doing, Hal wondered. But he continued doing it anyway.

Lucy jumped into the basin and leaped for Hal’s hand, again quick enough to catch Hal off-balance, and she pulled him into the hot water with a great splash.

Lucy found it hilarious, completely unconcerned about the possibility of somebody showing up at the door. To be fair, Hal knew the habits of the maids, and nobody need come here for the next couple of hours unless an emergency occurred.

If he wanted to, he could mess around here for another hour.

“Hal, are you staying awake for the Blackout?”

“Hadn’t thought about it,” Hal answered. “Midnight, huh. I’ll be awake then.” He lay on his side in the water, leaning against his fist, and recalled that lately he’d been staying up much later than that, always deep in thought before he could sleep.

“I’m certain you will. So you’ll be able to keep me company?” Lucy asked. She took off her bra and threw it across the room. It hit into a hung sheet and made it fall in a heap to the floor.

“You sure are carefree,” Hal said. “Is this a nightly thing for you?”

“What are you imagining, mister soldier? All us girls having secret bath meetings out here? Hehe, would you tell on me if it was true?”

“None of my business,” Hal said. “Hell, put it on a poster and you’ll get more customers than usual, don’t you think? ‘Fresh sheets scented by our most beautiful girls!’ or something.”

“Ugh, that makes me shiver,” Lucy said. “You. You owe me warmth, come closer now.”

“Oh, but ma’am, that’s not part of my job description. You’ll have to pay me extra,” Hal joked back.

“Payment, payment, hmmm…” Lucy made a show of checking over herself, as if she’d actually have coins hidden on her somewhere. “Ah, over there!”

She suddenly pointed behind Hal, but he laughed while keeping his eyes on her. “You think that’d trick anyone? I don’t know money to have the habit of floating around.”

Lucy pouted. “That’s no fun. Just do it anyway.”

“I’m having more fun watching you,” Hal said.

“I need you to turn around so that I can take off the rest…” Lucy said, blushing.

Oh, Hal thought. In that case, he couldn’t say no to that. He turned his back obediently, and after a few seconds of splashing and the sound of cloth being handled, Lucy told him to turn back.

She was supposedly fully undressed now, but the steam rising from the water was getting in the way of seeing anything much, to Hal’s disappointment.

“Hehe, your guard is down,” Lucy said, and jumped onto him. Softness assailed him from head to toe. What was this? Ah, he was starting to believe that he could just give himself up to this, just for tonight. All his weariness had been seeping from his body, bucket by bucket, ever since Lucy had proved her humanity. Poured into the basin, become a veil of steam. Like the inside of a dream.

Hal, leaning back against the side of the basin, had his hands around Lucy now, pressed against her smooth back. He moved his hand up her spine, and stopped a bit below her neck.

“What is this? Gruesome scar you’ve got here, Lucy.”

“Oh, yeah, that? Nothing serious,” she said from her spot nestled in his neck.

“You’re tougher than any soldier I’ve met if that is ‘nothing serious’,” he said. “How’d it happen?”

“Gosh, I throw myself into your arms and what interests you is an old scar?” Lucy complained.

“Gotta start somewhere. I thought girls liked taking it slow.”

“Mmm, I suppose that can be nice too,” Lucy giggled. “You wanna know how I got it?”

“I am curious. Chide me for being a typical violent male all you want, but I always want to know the stories behind scars,” Hal shrugged.

“Well, you see,” Lucy said, sitting back up straight. “Did you know? When Werewolves target the same prey, they get really, really possessive. And it can turn really, really messy.”

“… Werewolves,” Hal repeated.

“Werewolves,” Lucy smiled sweetly. “And that’s why we have the unspoken agreement that, when there’s more than one of us together, we don’t make any moves on potential prey. Otherwise it’ll just become a scrap, and that’s no good for anyone! I’m sure you’ve heard of this, right?”

“Yeah…” Hal mumbled.

He tried to leap to his feet, but it was too late to do so, as a thick silver knife was already placed against his neck from behind. He felt a putrid breath in his ear as a power-laden arm pinned down his own behind his back.

“’ello again lad, sorry for tha wait,” the old man said. “Took some time ta’ prepare our next move. Pawn takes knight.”

“… Fuck,” Hal muttered. At least his reaction made Lucy giggle, for what it was worth.

Say, maybe a Werewolf could make a fun partner, despite it all? Was that something Lucy was putting on the table?

Hal chuckled despite himself.