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After finishing our bath—whether it healed or scarred me is another matter—we returned back to our room. It made me quite envious that everyone looked glossy while I alone was dead tired.

We ordered the food to be delivered to our room, so we went and killed the time until then by doing what each of us wanted. I immediately spread the beddings on the grassy floor and sprawled on it.

Unlike with the sleeping bags for encamping at night, the floor here had a faint warmth to it, which wasn’t bad at all. And the grassy scent felt really good, too.

As I lay sprawled with my face down, Michelle and Letina came and leaned on my back.

“Nicole, are you still tired?”
“Should I massage you? I feel like I awakened to it.”
“I refuse with all my might.”

While the two girls straddled me, I reached out to my luggage and took out a certain item to inspect. It was something I took from Matisse’s kidnappers’ hideout. Fortunately, there was no one with the ability to discern items in this room, so I could safely inspect it without minding if it was seen.

I wasn’t able to discern items either, so I didn’t know what kind of effect it held. To find it out, I needed to request someone with appropriate skills to take a look at it for me.

“In that case, I should’ve just asked that white thing to appraise it for me.”

That was still a Goddess, so she should’ve been able to do something like that. But that white thing was unmatched when it came to running away, so she disappeared before I even had a chance to bring it up. Thanks to that, I didn’t know what to do with it now.

Still, luck was on my side today. I was able to make an acquaintance with a merchant on the way here. I couldn’t let go of this chance.

“Bill Wyss, was it? I suppose I could look for him and have him appraise it.”

To appraise an item, one needed a Gift of the Distinction system, or they needed to be thoroughly knowledgeable about such items. Other than that, it was also possible by using distinction Magic.

I could, of course, ask Maxwell to do it, but it would be too suspicious to show him something like this. It was a suicidal act to show an item with unknown origins to someone who was suspecting that Reid had reincarnated.

As such, I decided to go with the merchant we met at noon. Given his occupation, there was a high chance he held some kind of Gift or Skill for it. If possible, I wanted to meet him once more during our stay and get him to appraise it.

“For that… I need to do something about these two.”
“Hmm?”
“Is something the matter?”

After getting a taste of massage with Finia, they were now straddling me as I lay limply and pushing their hands on my back. Letina wasn’t that strong so it was still fine, but Michelle’s hands hurt like hell.

“Michelle, that’s the wrong place. It hurts.”
“Eh, really? I was sure it was here.”
“It’s not something an amateur should do. I have to monitor you properly.”
“But aren’t you an amateur yourself, Nicole?”
“Finia has been massaging me for years, so I have the knowledge for it.”
“So that’s how it was!”

Two girls were on top of my back as I lay sprawled. In other words, we were like a pile of girls, which Finia and Cortina looked at in smiles. That, however, made them notice what I was holding in my hand.

“Oh, Nicole, that’s a nice thing you are holding there.”
“Mhm. I secretly grabbed it when I was leaving home.”

The mansion I lived in also belonged to Lyell and Maria. Many Magic Items that they gathered on their adventures were just lying everywhere, so there should’ve been no problems if I passed it off as one of them. It’s not like they remembered the exact items, anyway.

As long as Cortina didn’t tell the specifics of today’s conversation to Maria, no one should suspect me.

“They left a dagger where a child could reach… I should really talk to Maria about this.”
“Ah, don’t! If you do that, I’ll be the one getting scolded for it.”

Or so I thought, but Cortina suddenly declared that she would tell on it. Well, I should’ve seen that coming.

“I just took this with me for self-defense.”
“But don’t you already have a Katana, Nicole? And quite a fine one at that.”
“Daddy gave that one to me just before departure. I didn’t have any special weapons before that, and since I was going on a trip, I needed to take a knife at least.”
“Ah, that’s how it is. So he missed the timing, huh?”

I obtained a sword to defend myself. But then Lyell gifted me a weapon. Cortina felt convinced that it was due to missed timing. Of course, the reality was different, but her misunderstanding was more convenient for me.

“Indeed, you need a knife when going on a trip. But you shouldn’t take it without saying anything.”
“Yeah, I know that.”
“Well, I know I shouldn’t be nitpicking here over some dagger, given you use Katana like nothing, but…”
“Please just let it slide. I’ll do anything.”
“Did you just say anything… Wait, not that, where did you learn that phrase?”

Cortina was amazed at my wording that I intentionally used to liven up the mood. But she realized that it was no longer a mood for lecturing and let the matter go.

“Ah, well, fine. I’ll keep it a secret. But you owe me one, okay?”
“Kay.”

As she playfully winked at me, I responded back with a thumb of acknowledgment.