37TH GEAR - HOT SPRING ACCIDENTS CAN NEVER BE THIS EASY

The Speed Battle matchups for this joint training camp ended when nightfall arrived. For the last night of the training camp, I was supposed to be helping the Eaglecrest Guild members prepare the dinner. Lucky me, they did not need my help.

No. Actually, I was kicked out for being magicless. I was never even given a chance to touch any raw ingredients. They cooked awesome food using their culinary magic, and I have no idea how they did it. The result was an extravagant dinner that gave the dining tables an ambiance similar to those of an outdoor 4-star hotel feast.

After the dinner, Captain Tezza gave out flyers for the natural hot springs at the east side of the Sogen Training Grounds, near the foot of the mountain range. Since there are three inactive volcanoes in the vicinity, there are about four hot springs for us to enjoy. It was a perfect relaxing place for Speedmages who gave it their all in the earlier Speed Battles. I heard it also enhances the mana capacity of mages, but of course, that information is useless to me.

I have never tried hot springs in my entire life, so I was kind of excited to try them. I left our club tent and went ahead to the men’s hot springs. It was just five minutes of walking from the main camp, and there were direction signs all over the place so it was easy to find.

There are posters about the guidelines for the “Magical Hot Springs”. We have to take a shower and wash our bodies before plunging into the natural healing warm water. Then we have to be fully naked once we dip ourselves in the water so that the cleanliness of the hot springs is preserved. I did as the instructions told me because I am a law-abiding citizen.

I plunged into the water, and the warmth entered my veins. I know I’m not a mage, but it felt like my energy is being replenished. The natural steam is giving a tad bit of sulfur smell which is quite as addicting as the smell of gasoline.

“Aaaah.” I moaned as I relaxed my legs and arms. I closed my eyes and almost fell asleep when I heard another soft splash on the warm water.

When I looked at the source, I saw a white-skinned male with blue eyes and brown hair. It was the Speedmage Champion, Vincent himself.

“Yo!” Vincent gave a two-finger salute. “Nice to find you here! I thought I was the first one to try this, but you got here first!”

“Did you teleport just to get here? I didn’t hear the bamboo door open.” I asked.

“Of course! What’s the use of a teleportation spell if I’m not going to abuse it?” Vincent laughed.

I envy Vincent and his teleportation skill. It must be handy in almost every situation. He will never be late for school, and he can just forget anything at home and just fetch whatever thing he needs by teleporting back home. Never mind that, if I have a teleportation spell, I would do an instantaneous taxi service!

“Man, I want to cast a teleportation spell too.” I scratched the scar on my chest with a wry smile.

Vincent looked at the huge claw marks on my chest. I think I showed this to him back when we were kids, so he was not surprised.

“That's a decade-long scar, huh,” Vincent muttered.

"Oh, this? Thankfully, it doesn't hurt anymore." I chuckled.

"Good to know. I thought you were dead back then." Vincent said.

There was this one disaster back when I was five years old that I could not remember much. The only clear thing is this claw mark scar that I have been carrying since I was a kid.

I only recall an image of a forest with large trees, the dawn sun rising, a girl crying, and my bloodied body on the ground. On my hand was a wing of a broken toy bathing with my blood. It was a bizarre flashback, and it traumatizes me if I try to recall it. I want to forget that event as soon as I can.

I regain my focus on the current situation. I breathe in the smoke of the hot water and then sighed.

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There were about two minutes of silence between Vincent and me. I stopped talking because I wanted to enjoy the awesome feeling of getting warm. But Vincent seemed to have a better plan in mind to spend their free time.

Vincent went closer to me and then elbowed my stomach.

“Hey, want to do something fun?”

“What kind of gay shit are you getting at?” I cringed.

“Dude, I prefer girls. Anyway, I’m talking about this!”

Vincent showed his hand and materialized a small sword made out of mana. It looks a lot like the sword he uses as the terminal of his teleportation spells in Speed Battles, but this thing is miniature.

“Back on the first day, I sneaked out one of these babies in all of the hot springs. That is right: I also left one at the women’s bath!” Vincent grinned.

I immediately shifted my cringed smile to a menacing one. “Are you thinking about peeping at the girls?”

Vincent nodded with a smile. “I can teleport you in and out of the women’s hot springs! You will not have to worry about getting caught! Just the two of us, twenty-minute adventure!”

My face went red and I puffed out smoke from my nose. The urge of an ultimate virgin like me is irresistible. There are lots of beautiful Speedmages in this camp, like Fluonessia and Ericka. Even Captain Haruka is hot too.

I shook my head. What we are about to do is a crime. If somebody even got a glimpse of my face, my days in the Saint Crusade Academy will end. Heck, I think my life will end if our Prez caught me peeping at the women’s bath.

I spread out my hand and showed my open palms to Vincent.

“No. I may be a degenerate at heart, but I still respect women.” I said.

“You still like to, right? Be honest.” Vincent giggled.

“I may, but as I just said, I-”

“Then off you go!”

Vincent pushed the mana sword to my hand, and then I felt a tingling sensation. It felt like all my molecules were vibrating at quantum levels!

“What the-”

Whoosh! My body disappeared from the men’s bath!

<>

Splash!

I found myself falling a meter above a hot spring, and the warm waters splashed around. I even swallowed some of the bath water and I almost drowned because of it! Thankfully, the hot spring water I fell into was just above thigh-deep. I immediately stood up and coughed out water from my esophagus!

“Coff! Coff! Darn it!” I cried.

“Eh?” I heard a soft voice just in front of me.

I wiped out the water from my face and rubbed my eyes. It seems that I was teleported to another hot spring since the rock formations around are quite different. The water is also way shallower than those of the men’s bath.

And…

Right in front of me, is a beautiful woman with an alluring figure. Pinkish white skin, perfect bottle-shaped body, and round ripe breasts. Combining the long silky-smooth-looking pink hair, blue eyes that looked like mystical gems, and an adorable child-like face, I immediately knew who she was.

“F-Flu!?” I shrieked.

“J-Jon!?” Flu gasped as she blushed.

Time stopped as my mind went speed thinking.

Now, if this is some kind of visual novel, I have four options. Only one of the choices is right, and the other three will get me to a dead end. What should I do?

1. Pretend that I was lost and mistakenly took this as the men’s bath.

2. Tell the truth that I was pranked by Vincent.

3. Compliment Flu’s ten out of ten body by beaming out a smile and giving a thumbs-up.

4. Uwooooogh seeeeeeeegs!!!

I swallowed my saliva and inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm myself. I can already feel sweat racing down my neck and in my armpits. I try not to let the pressure get the best of me, but I seem to have jumbled the choices inside my head. Wait, why is there a fourth choice anyway!?

Knowing Flu, the first choice seemed to be the best course of action. She’s an airhead, and easy to fool. She might believe me if I said that I mistook these hot springs as the men’s bath.

However, lying to her gives a bitter aftertaste to my mouth.

“I-I’m sorry, Flu! I got pranked by a friend, and I ended up here in the women’s bath!” I bowed.

“O-Oh. Got it!” Flu’s sweet voice entered my ears.

“H-Huh?”

I-Is that it? Is that all it took to convince her that it was all a misunderstanding? Now I’m feeling guilty just thinking about lying to her!

I tried to raise my head to look at her. Flu immediately covered her breasts and turned away while being flustered. I realized that looking at her naked is a big mistake so I also turned my back on her.

“U-Ummm…” Flu nervously talked. “You said that you were pranked into going here in the women’s bath, right?”

“Y-Yeah. Do you really believe me?”

“Of course! What kind of friend I would be if I didn't believe you!” Flu cheerfully said.

I gave a deep sigh for worrying over nothing. Anyway, Flu is really a sweetheart that I feel bad for even looking at her bare skin, even if that was accidental. I also feel bad about accidentally touching her breast after her Speed Battle. Seriously, I want to die right now for doing shameful things, even though they are accidents.

“P-Please do not tell anyone that I went here,” I begged.

“Roger that, coach!” Flu energetically said. I imagine her giving a salute to me.

“I’ll be taking my leave then…”

I tried to walk around trying to avoid looking at a glimpse of Flu, but I can still notice her at my peripherals. She’s now dipping her body in the warm waters up to her neck, so it is much safer for me to even have a glimpse by accident. But the fact that I’m completely naked to makes me embarrassed.

However, just before I was able to touch the bamboo door, it opened from the other side!

And the first face I saw was our Prez!