Liz

The beast carriage came to a smooth stop.

After paying the fare, I stepped into the compartment.

The spacious carriage held only one other passenger—a beautiful girl with golden twin-tails, dressed in a blood-red skirt, sitting quietly like a perfect statue.

Suddenly, as if awakening from petrification, she lifted her gaze from the book in her hands—thicker than a dictionary—and looked toward me.

“Hello.”

Out of politeness, I greeted her, then took the seat opposite.

“Filthy.”

The twin-tailed girl’s delicate face showed a trace of disgust.

“……”

She didn’t need to say it—I had already forgotten.

Right now I really was filthy beyond belief.

The once-gorgeous dress had been torn to shreds by branches and thorns; the originally white fabric was now covered in mud and bloodstains.

My whole body was grimy and disheveled.

No wonder the driver kept giving me strange looks earlier.

The beast carriage set off again.

Thanks to numerous magical runes reinforcing the body, the compartment remained perfectly steady even at high speed—no shaking at all.

Sitting in a carriage like this, for someone who usually gets motion sick, felt unbelievably comfortable for the first time.

“Here.”

The twin-tailed girl suddenly reached into a sleek black space ring that glinted with metallic light and tossed me a vivid red dress.

It was the same style as the one she was wearing—generous, elegant, and clearly expensive.

“This—this is too valuable. I can’t accept it.”

I immediately grew wary of kindness offered by a complete stranger.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

“Take it.”

“Sorry, I really can’t.”

A gift on our first meeting? Who knows what you’re plotting.

“Stinks.”

“……”

When she said that, I sniffed my sleeve—yep, there was definitely a bloody, rancid smell.

“I’ll buy it from you. How much?”

Accepting favors out of nowhere isn’t my style.

“Ten thousand.”

You might as well rob me outright!

“Can I just… not take it?”

“Wear. Or throw.”

The twin-tailed girl spoke in extremely curt phrases, but the meaning was crystal clear: put it on, or I throw you off the carriage.

Of course, that might just be my imagination running wild.

Left with no choice, I reluctantly accepted her “kindness.”

I glanced around—the carriage only had two rows of wide, plush seats.

No dressing room, obviously.

“Could you… turn around?”

“Why?”

She tilted her head slightly.

Her porcelain-white, flawless face showed genuine puzzlement.

I don’t want a stranger seeing my body!

…Though we’re both girls, so what’s the harm, really?

Wait—since when did I start thinking of myself as a girl?

“Ha……”

Never mind.

Better change quickly.

This grimy feeling is unbearable.

“……”

When I tried to remove the dress, I realized—I had no idea how it came off.

Reaching behind, my fingers only found a tangle of thin cords.

Completely impossible to undo alone!

“I’ll do it.”

Seeing my flustered struggle, the twin-tailed girl stood up.

Despite her slender frame, she was nearly 170 cm tall.

With her help, the dress came off quickly.

A sudden chill brushed across my bare skin.

“Stinks. Wash.”

Now at close range, the disgust on her face deepened noticeably.

She retrieved a glass jar filled with clear water and a towel from her black space ring, then swiftly stripped off my undergarments.

“Wait—what are you doing!”

“Wiping.”

“Thank you for the thought, but I can do it myself!”

“No.”

“Don’t come closer—I’ll scream!”

In a way, I genuinely felt threatened.

“Scream.”

Go ahead and scream; no one’s coming to save you, heh heh heh.

For some reason, my brain automatically supplied that interpretation of her words.

“……”

The damp, cold towel slid gently back and forth across my back.

A faint, ticklish sensation prickled my nerves—I nearly cried out.

After some pointless resistance, I was ultimately pinned down and… scrubbed.

Not “friction” in that sense—just scrubbed.

What kind of weirdo is this?

Not only giving a stranger clothes, but personally wiping her down too?

What exactly is her goal?

Or is she just naturally this eccentric?

I can’t figure her out.

“Hands.”

After finishing my back, she moved to my hands.

She cleaned with meticulous care—even scrubbing between every fingernail.

I felt like a puppet, completely at her mercy.

“What’s your name?”

Out of curiosity, I finally asked.

“Lis.”

“Lis, huh? That’s a lovely name. I’m Liv—Liv Shadowsong.”

“Liv.”

She softly repeated my name and gave a faint smile.

Honestly, when she smiles… she’s breathtaking.

I was momentarily stunned.

“Lis, where are you headed?”

This elegantly dressed, obviously high-born beauty had piqued my interest.

Judging from her attire and that extremely high-grade black space ring, she was clearly no ordinary person.

Probably royalty, nobility, or the young miss of some major power.

For someone of her status to travel alone on an ordinary beast carriage—without even a single maid or guard—was highly unusual.

Even if she possessed extraordinary strength, as a superior, one would expect at least some attendants.

“Far place.”

She answered indifferently, then rinsed the towel again.

Grasping it in a big clump, she wrung it out with considerable force.

It was obvious this was her first time doing something like this—she looked a little clumsy.

Who wrings a towel that hard?

I wanted to say it, but seeing how earnestly she wrestled with the towel, I swallowed the words.

“I can handle the rest myself.”

Places I couldn’t reach on my back were one thing—but the front has sensitive areas.

“No.”

Lis squeezed the towel until it was only slightly damp, then slapped it onto my face and scrubbed roughly and carelessly.

Completely different from her earlier gentle precision.

What did I ever do to you?!

After roughly wiping my face and neck, she switched back to gentle mode for my front.

Her touch sent little electric tingles through me—hard to tell whether it felt good or bad.

“Lis, stop—it tickles too much!”

Being stared at so intently while she scrubbed made my face burn.

This is so unfamiliar.

Even though I’ve reincarnated as a girl, having another girl clean me like this still feels incredibly embarrassing.

Ignoring me completely, Lis’s demonic hand suddenly advanced toward paradise—no, toward scrubbing.

“Stop stop stop!”

I instinctively blocked her descending hand.

Even between girls, this is too far!

This is the final line—she absolutely cannot cross it!

But I had clearly overestimated myself.

If I could actually overpower her, I wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.

Her hand slipped past my defense like it was nothing and invaded paradise.

“Ah!”

“Slippery.”

She slipped, you say? Would you believe me if I said it was an accident?

That mischievous glint in her emerald eyes seemed to convey exactly that.

“Like hell I believe you!”

I let my guard down completely.

Because she’d been so cold and aloof, I assumed she was just a stoic with a good heart.

Turns out she really did have ulterior motives!

I felt genuine danger and struggled desperately.

But Lis’s grip clamped down on my shoulders like a vise.

Immense strength flowed from her hands—I couldn’t move at all.

“How is this possible!”

When I finally got serious and focused on her, the status window from True Sight nearly scared me to death.

Almost every one of Lis’s parameters was a question mark.

The only visible number was her terrifying level.

Lis, Life Level: 90