Chapter 111: Tender Hands, Tight Armor

Before the morning sun had even risen, I got out of bed and, after a quick wash, washed my hair again, which I had washed the night before.

Normally, I wouldn’t bother washing my long hair twice – once at night and again in the morning – as it’s a pain to dry, but today was a bit special.

“If we don’t want to be late for the preparation time, we’ll have to make do with something like bread for breakfast this morning.”

“Ehehe. It would be fun to have the opening ceremony with a tummy sticking out from eating breakfast.”

Anne’s words were hard to tell if they were serious or a joke. She even pretended to poke my stomach with her finger.

But I feel sorry for Anne, but my flawless body, perfected by TS magic, wasn’t weak enough to be ruined by a mere breakfast.

The fact that I eat less since becoming a woman does have an effect, but even taking that into account, there was no aspect of my body that gained weight compared to what I ate.

“Here, sit down. It’s not good for your scalp to leave your hair wet.”

As I was squeezing the water out of my hair with a towel in front of the shower room, Celian tapped the cushion on the chair she had placed in front of her and called me over.

Following her words, I sat down on the chair, and Celian began to dry my hair for me.

Celian’s fingers, slightly spaced apart, gently brushed through my hair, acting as a comb.

Even though my hair had no sensation, I felt a ticklish sensation as Celian combed my hair, gently pulling at my scalp each time.

Carefully loosening and stroking my hair, as if worried that tangled strands might be pulled, Celian’s touch was very delicate.

The lukewarm wind, not hot, meant that the time it took to dry my already long hair was taking even longer.

I glanced around and saw Yuri diligently polishing my gauntlets, breastplate, and greaves in one corner of the room.

Linne was helping Yuri, so Anne, left alone, must have been bored, as she brought another chair next to me, plopped down, and began to twist the ends of my hair with her fingers, avoiding the area Celian was drying.

“Hmm…. My hair is just dry and rough, but El’s hair is so shiny.”

Anne, twisting my hair around with the index finger of her right hand, was fiddling with her own red hair with her other hand.

Of course, Anne’s hair had less shine and softness compared to mine, but if she had said such a thing in front of other girls, not even the indomitable Anne would have been safe.

Rather, it was amazing that Anne’s hair, which she only shampooed, could be so soft, unlike mine, which had been helped by TS magic.

“That’s because you always wash your hair and don’t dry it properly. Wait a moment, Anne, and go wash your hair too. I’ll finish drying El’s hair, and then I’ll take care of Anne’s hair too. Anne’s hair is also in good condition, so if you just dry and comb it well, it’ll be enough.”

“Really? I’ll be right back!”

Anne, with a bright expression on her face at Celian’s words, jumped up from her seat.

“Ouch!”

“Ah, sorry! Are you okay? Please tell me I didn’t pull it out?”

However, my hair was still twisted in Anne’s fingers, so Anne’s sudden movement ended up pulling my hair.

Only then did Anne, noticing her mistake, apologize with a sorry face as I raised my hand to my stinging scalp with a small scream.

Feeling tears welling up, I touched the painful area and thankfully didn’t seem to have a bald spot. It seemed to have ended with just a few strands of hair falling out.

“Don’t just quickly shampoo and rinse! Use conditioner and even hair treatments properly!”

“Okay! I got it!”

Even with Celian’s stern words, Anne entered the shower room again with a beaming face.

Unexpectedly, Anne listened obediently to Celian’s words, and it took quite a long time for her to come out of the shower room, dripping ambiguously wiped water on the floor.

Still, the timing was perfect, as Anne came out right after my hair was finished being dried and styled, fluffy and voluminous.

When I roughly dried my hair, there were some strands sticking out haphazardly, but my hair, after receiving Celian’s delicate touch, was clearly different from what I knew.

“Okay, then, Anne? Would you like to come over here?”

At the same time as I got up from my seat, Celian invited Anne to sit in the chair I had been sitting in, just as she had done with me.

Anne, fluttering her wet hair, ran over and hopped onto the chair.

“Hehe…. Then I’ll leave it to you!”

Celian, smiling silently at Anne’s cute request, began to dry Anne’s hair as well.

Celian was using her fingers to comb, just like she did with me.

I smiled at the sight of the two of them and roughly threw the towel I had used to dry my hair on the floor and began to wipe away the traces Anne had left behind.

As I stepped on the thrown towel and roughly wiped the floor, watching Anne smiling brightly and Celian with a motherly smile, Yuri, who had been diligently oiling the armor a little distance away, called me.

“If you’re done over there, why don’t you start putting on your armor in advance?”

“But I still have to eat breakfast, it’s uncomfortable to wear it already. Can’t you just remember and tell me later?”

“You said you were just going to have bread anyway. You’re being dramatic when you eat well even wearing more uncomfortable armor than this. Come on, come on. I’ve finished preparing it, so come quickly.”

Without any retort, I walked obediently to Yuri, and she began to put on the armor for me one by one.

It wasn’t full body armor in the first place, just a breastplate to protect my heart, gauntlets to protect my hands and feet, and greaves.

Yuri’s touch was meticulous, checking carefully for any loose spots.

“Ehyat!”

The gauntlets and greaves fit perfectly, so she moved on quickly, but when she was adjusting the breastplate, which was the last thing, there was some space left, and Yuri’s finger came in between and tickled my side.

“Endure it a little, even if it’s ticklish. I’ll adjust it soon.”

If it were a completely solid piece of armor, it wouldn’t have been possible to adjust the size at all, but the design, which emphasized activity over defense, could be adjusted to some extent to fit each individual.

However, contrary to Yuri’s words that she would finish soon, Yuri’s fingers were still fidgeting inside the breastplate for a long time, perhaps because she was awkward at dressing someone else.

“Heuht…!”

In addition to my side, she was tickling various sensitive spots that had become particularly sensitive since becoming a woman, such as my spine, and a groan of stifled laughter escaped from between my tightly closed lips.

“T-t-that…. Haa…. Not…. Yet…? Euht!”

Furthermore, as her hand moved through the narrow gap between the clothes and the armor, I could feel the underwear that was covering my chest inside my clothes slipping slightly due to the rubbing touch.

Fortunately, Yuri was so focused that she didn’t hear my strange moans, but she wasn’t hearing my questions at all either.

“If it’s hard…. I’ll just do it…. Hyaek!?”

And over that, Yuri’s hand brushed past.

In a situation where I was barely enduring the tickling, an unexpected sensation suddenly struck my whole body, and a short scream burst from my mouth.

“…Yuri?”

Celian, hearing my scream, turned her head towards us.

“Hehe…. Sorry. But I had a hard time holding back while watching Celie dry El’s hair.”

“If you put it that way, I have nothing to say….”

What was it about putting armor on me that made her have to hold back?

“Are you okay, El? Are you hurt?”

The only one who was worried about me in the midst of all that was Anne, as expected.

Well…. Even if it’s not this time, half the time Anne worries about me is due to her own pranks.

“N-no. It’s not that I’m hurt…. Um…. I was just startled because I suddenly felt a tingling sensation.”

“Really? It must be because the armor was too tight, and the blood couldn’t circulate. That happens sometimes.”

That feeling of stopping the blood flow to your hand and then suddenly circulating it.

It was similar to the feeling of getting an electric shock, but it was a little more exhilarating, a feeling that ran through my whole body.

Maybe it was because it was close to my heart, so the electric shock felt stronger?

Tang, tang.

“Alright! All done. There shouldn’t be any loose or uncomfortable parts now.”

Whether she had finished adjusting it while I was lost in thought, Yuri lightly struck my chest with her hand and said.

The breastplate was indeed sturdy, and I didn’t feel anything at all from Yuri’s light strike.

“Oh dear, it’s already this late.”

However, because we spent more time drying my hair than usual, and it took longer than expected to put on the armor, it was already close to the assembly time.

“Here, a sandwich. I thought it would be a bit much to just feed you bread, so I prepared it like last time. Eat it on the way.”

Yuri, also checking the time, handed me a sandwich.

“Then I’ll go first. We practiced a lot, so you have to come and watch!”

I left the dormitory and headed towards the street where the opening ceremony was taking place, leaving behind the replies of my friends.