Chapter 77: I’m still in my growing phase!

The moment Mira stepped into the bathing room, she found the whole place already filled with soap bubbles and a thick, sweet fragrance hanging in the air.

"What the hell is this...?"

While Mira was still trying to process what she was looking at, Elysia suddenly called out to her from inside one of the hot water pools.

"Oh, Mira... You’re here already?"

Mira immediately turned toward Elysia. Her brow furrowed slightly when she saw the girl’s chin covered in foam shaped like a mustache and beard.

Before she could even ask, her gaze shifted to Evelyn, who was busy rubbing a green bar in her palms until it produced foam. Once she had enough, Evelyn plopped it on top of her own head until it looked like a mountain.

"...What are you two doing?"

"Hmm? Ah, we found something interesting on the wall over there. No idea what it is, but while waiting for you, we played around with it." Evelyn said while going back to rubbing the bar even harder. She even had the tip of her tongue sticking out slightly from concentrating so much.

"Look, now I’ve got a mustache and a beard."

Elysia pointed at the foam stuck to her chin with a proud expression.

"It doesn’t taste good, but it smells nice. I like it."

"And I~ am building a foam tower on top of my head! Huhu! Cool, right?"

Evelyn showed off the foam perched on her head with a confident smile.

Seeing the two girls acting like that, Mira’s cheek suddenly twitched. The smile that appeared on her face looked painfully forced.

She knew the two of them probably had never seen the thing they were using before, that it was soap. After all, that thing was created by Aunt Centipede.

Mira could still forgive their ignorance. But seeing the entire room filled with foam like this, it was going to be really hard for her not to get mad.

Mira set down the paper bag containing clothes and towels she had brought on the floor. After that, she walked toward Evelyn and Elysia with footsteps so heavy the whole building felt like it was shaking.

Evelyn and Elysia, seeing Mira approaching with veins popping on her forehead, immediately realized they were probably in trouble.

Evelyn stared at Mira getting closer. Sweat started dripping down her cheek.

"Ah, this looks bad..."

Mira stepped straight into the pool.

*Splash!

"Lady... I think you’ve had enough fun..."

Evelyn immediately turned toward Mira. The girl’s red eyes stared at her so sharply that Evelyn started feeling uncomfortable.

The sweat on her face was pouring even more now. As Mira started getting closer, Evelyn instinctively stepped back while raising both hands.

"Mi-Mira... I’ll stop playing around, okay. So you don’t need to be like this..."

*Thud.

Evelyn’s back finally hit the pool wall. She had no more room to back up.

Mira was now standing right in front of her.

"Hehe..."

Evelyn tried to smile, even though her face looked incredibly awkward.

*Splash!

The sound of water splashing violently inside the pool was accompanied by Evelyn’s screams getting louder and louder.

On the other side, Elysia, seeing Mira busy with her sister, immediately took the opportunity to slip out of the pool. She moved slowly toward the edge, trying to make sure Mira wouldn’t notice her leaving.

But just as she was about to lift herself out, a hand suddenly wrapped around her stomach.

"?!"

Mira pulled Elysia back into the pool, then rested her chin on the girl’s shoulder.

"And where do you think you’re going, Lady Elysia?"

Elysia’s face still looked as flat as ever. But the sweat pouring down her face showed just how panicked she actually was right now.

"I just wanted to step out for a bit."

"Why? Don’t you want to play some more?"

"...No."

"That’s a shame."

*Splash!

Mira immediately yanked Elysia back into the pool before the girl could say anything else. The loud splash of water filled the room as Mira splashed water right into Elysia’s face.

*Gasp!

"Mi-Mira... I don’t want to play any—"

"I can’t hear you~"

*Blurgh!

Before Elysia could even finish her sentence, Mira splashed water into her face again.

Meanwhile, Evelyn, seeing her little sister become a victim too, immediately tried to get away from Mira. Her body broke out in goosebumps watching Mira still smiling while doing something pretty terrifying to the two of them.

Distance was definitely the right choice for Evelyn.

But it seemed she wasn’t going to be able to pull it off.

Elysia, who had just gotten a chance to speak, immediately ratted out to Mira that the whole thing was Evelyn’s idea.

Evelyn was instantly shocked.

"E-Elysia! Why would you say that?!"

She immediately stared at Mira while trying to explain that Elysia was lying and that she had never suggested any idea like that.

But all her efforts were wasted when Mira suddenly disappeared into the water and reappeared right in front of her.

"Hieek!"

Evelyn was so startled she instinctively backed up a few steps. But before she could get away, Mira had already grabbed her waist to keep her from running.

Mira then brought her face closer while touching Evelyn’s chin with her index finger.

"So, the mastermind behind this little game is you, Lady Evelyn."

Evelyn stared at Mira with eyes that were starting to tremble.

"Please show me some mercy, Mira..."

She even tried to make her face look completely helpless, hoping Mira would forgive her.

After all, getting dunked into the water out of nowhere really did scare the hell out of Evelyn and Elysia.

But Mira wasn’t fooled by Evelyn’s pitiful expression at all.

"Of course~ I’ll show you my mercy. By..."

*Splash!

Mira immediately pulled Evelyn into the water with a smile.

"Purifying your body."

Watching her sister getting "purified" by Mira, Elysia chose to move away toward the corner of the pool.

’I regret playing along with big sis.’

* * *

After a while, Mira finally felt she’d done more than enough. Besides, Evelyn and Elysia really did look like they regretted what they’d done.

Mira released both of them and climbed out of the pool to clean herself first. She hadn’t actually had a chance to wash up before getting into the pool earlier.

While she was at it, she also wanted to explain what that bar of soap Evelyn and Elysia had been playing with actually was.

The girl then sat down on a small stool that was already there. She rinsed her body with water before picking up the green bar sitting on the wall.

"This is called soap. It’s a kind of cosmetic for cleaning your skin, for both men and women."

"Cosmetic? Why is it in a place for bathing like this?"

"Maybe it’s meant to be used after people finish bathing."

Feeling her sister’s explanation made enough sense, Evelyn nodded while rubbing her chin.

"Ah~ You’re right."

"W-well... There are some people who use it after cleaning their bodies, but after using this, they have to rinse off again."

"So, does that mean Elysia was wrong?"

Hearing Evelyn’s question about what Elysia had said earlier, Mira just wet the soap and started rubbing it until it foamed up.

"Not entirely wrong, but not entirely right either. Basically, soap is used to make your skin cleaner. And it’s best used in the middle of bathing. Like this..."

Once she felt she had enough foam, Mira stopped rubbing the soap between her palms. She then spread the foam over her own body.

"Ahh, so that’s how it works."

Elysia watched what Mira was doing before copying the exact same method. She rubbed the soap between her palms until it foamed up, then used it to clean her body.

Not just Elysia, Evelyn did the same thing as her sister.

Seeing the two girls finally doing what she’d shown them, Mira just let out a small huff with a smile.

"Once you’re done, rinse your bodies until they’re clean."

Hearing Mira’s words, Evelyn and Elysia immediately rinsed their bodies to get rid of the leftover soap still clinging to them.

After a few rinses, both of them could feel their bodies becoming more fragrant and fresh.

"Why does it feel like I’ve been reborn?"

"It smells so good. I feel like eating it myself."

’Didn’t you already know it tastes bad earlier?’

Mira chose to ignore Elysia’s comment. She rinsed her body too before finally getting back into the pool to soak in the hot water.

"Ahh~ The most blissful time really is when you’re soaking."

*Splash!

Just as Mira was enjoying the sensation of hot water wrapping around her body, Evelyn and Elysia suddenly jumped into the pool right beside her. The water splashed straight into Mira’s face.

"You were right... This really is blissful~"

Evelyn said while leaning her body against the pool wall without a shred of guilt.

"I feel like I’m about to melt..."

"You really are melting!" Mira said when she saw Elysia’s body starting to melt and blend into the water.

Seeing Mira’s shocked reaction, Evelyn let out a small laugh.

Realizing she was being laughed at, Mira turned and stared at Evelyn while raising one eyebrow.

"Something funny?"

"Fufu... Sorry. By the way, you’ve got a nice body too, Mira."

Hearing Evelyn suddenly bring up something Mira really wished she hadn’t brought up, the girl could only grimace sourly.

Even though Evelyn’s intention was purely to compliment her, for some reason Mira felt like the girl was mocking her.

Mira knew full well that her "assets" were way smaller compared to the two of them. She was completely aware of that.

’But I’m still in my growing phase! These can still grow, okay!’

Realizing Mira was staring at her own "assets," Evelyn deliberately moved closer with a smile.

"Mira, what are you looking at?"

Mira, startled that Evelyn had suddenly gotten so close, answered with a stutter.

"I-I’m not..."

Before she could even finish, Elysia also moved closer from the other side.

"Turns out you’re a naughty girl, Mira."

"Fufu~ You shouldn’t be like that, Mira~"

Mira, now being ganged up on by both girls, could only grimace sourly while staring straight ahead.

’Big bro was right. The world really isn’t fair.’

* * *