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The adventure guild’s trainees — the first batch of seven — underwent the advancement test in Hannes’ Dungeon. In the end, only Lynn and I successfully passed the exam. To celebrate, the guild threw a small party in the tavern under its management, the Iron Weathercock. Our senior adventurers, familiar regulars of the tavern, and even a few drunks who happened to be there joined in.

As expected, it turned into a drinking game halfway through. Both Lynn and I, underage as we are, were encouraged to drink with claims like “You’re both adults now!” and “What kinda adventurers don’t drink booze?!”

Having secretly tasted ale during village festivals and discovering that it actually tasted quite bad, I managed to down the drink with enthusiasm. Lynn, on the other hand, was practically done in by just a single sip. He retreated to his room early.

By midnight, the revelry died down — more due to the innkeeper chiding my seniors with “Don’t make the kid drink too much!” I made my wobbly way to my room on the second floor of the tavern and noticed the light was on.

Huh? Is there someone in my room? I was alarmed for a moment, but then I remembered that starting today, Lynn and I shared the same room. Previously, we slept in the large shared room with the other trainees. But since our training content would now differ with Lynn as my partner, we decided, in our excitement, to rent a private room.

Considering he had retreated to the second floor earlier, I assumed he would be fast asleep by now. I hadn’t expected him to stay up waiting for me.

(…Man, he can be quite the uptight guy. He really doesn’t have to.)

With that thought, I opened the door — and “splotch”, the sound of water dripping greeted me.

“Sorry, I’m la…te?”

My words trailed off as I halted, my hand still gripping the doorknob.

Lynn was in the center of the room, completely naked. A basin filled with steaming water sat at his feet, and with the towel he held, it was clear he had been wiping himself down. He had been tending to his chest when I walked in.

His white skin looked even more glistening under the light of the lantern. His chest, while modest under the towel, was definitely protruding. As I lowered my gaze, instead of seeing the familiar obstruction where it should be, I could see the scenery behind him through the gap between his legs.

—splotch

There was a painfully long pause between the droplets. Lynn, with his damp hair hanging down, looked at me. I was frozen rigid in front of the open doorway, my jaw dropped to the floor.

I think… since the situation was too outlandish for either of us to fully comprehend, we reverted to a casual tone.

“…u-, uhh, I’m sure we agreed to knock before entering?”
“…we did. Sorry.”

I replied, then closed the door as I stepped outside. That was when I heard the sound of water splashing, hurried footsteps, and the click of the door being locked.

Standing dumbfounded in the dimly lit hallway, I took a deep breath, trying to get my brain working.

“DOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH?????!!!!!!!”
“NYOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!”

My scream was accompanied by a weird shriek from the other side of the door.

♢♦♢♦♢

With my now sobered-up brain, I groaned as I tried to think about my next steps before I heard a light knock on the door from inside, followed by the sound of the door slowly being unlocked.

Lynn, who seemed to have finished getting dressed, peeked out.

“—s, sorry. You can come in now.”
“O-, okay.”

Urged, I entered the room again and saw Lynn — the cross-dressing girl, sitting on her own bed, wearing her usual comfortable clothes. The wash basin had been put away in the corner of the room. She looks like a boy like this, but that wash basin was a reminder that I wasn’t hallucinating. Upon closer look, Lynn seems to be putting on a calm front, but her cheeks are awfully red.

“…ah, you know what, I’ll just sleep in the large shared room.”
“W-, wait, senior! I-, I feel like you’re misunderstanding something so let’s t-, talk!”

I grabbed my change of clothes and other items that I left lying on my bed and was about to leave the room when Lynn panicked and stopped me, practically hugging me.

“Uuu…” She looked up at me with the eyes of a puppy begging not to be thrown away. I grunted, then relented. I retraced my steps.

With a sigh, I sat down on my bed and put away my luggage, with Lynn in front of me.

It’s just, I can’t resist those eyes. I feel so guilty I can’t even try to ignore her. Well, it’s also true that it’s because I succumbed to her pestering, we both managed to pass the first exam, so it couldn’t be that bad…

But now I understand why. I’m just…bad with girls. It’s a trait deeply ingrained in me, no thanks to a certain girl I grew up with.

“…erm, well, you know, my bad.”
“Ah, no, I’m also at fault for not locking the door…besides, I’m the one who’s been lying this whole time, so I’m the one who should apologize.”
“I mean, I guess. But, yeah, it just doesn’t feel right if I’m not apologizing, so…I’m sorry.”
“Hwawawa, d-, don’t be!”

As we bowed our heads to each other, we finally cooled down. Once again, my eyes strayed to her chest covered by her clothes. It’s almost completely flat by now; is she perhaps hiding them behind a sarashi¹ or something?

“D-, don’t look at them so much. It’s embarrassing.” Lynn fidgeted when she noticed me staring at her, and that made me want to leave the room. “Also, I’m using the supporter female adventurers wear under their armor to hide them. Using a sarashi would just bruise them…”

“I-, I see…” I squeezed the words out absentmindedly, not even realizing what I was saying.

1. Mab: Long white clothes, usually cotton or less commonly linen, used to wrap around the body.