Angel Little Sister 310

 

Chapter 310 : In Hot Blood

 

*TL: The title for this chapter is 熱き血潮に (atsuki chishio ni) which is also the title of one of the games in Sakura Wars series (Sakura Wars : In Hot Blood 2003). It means blood that is gushing out like a tide.

 

After I was done taking a bath, I went out of the bathroom on the second floor and descended the stairs that were attached to the outer wall of my container house.

I didn’t make stairs connecting the second and the first floor on the inside because the entire second floor was the bathroom. Therefore, I made the stairs outside.

Because of that, I couldn’t help but be exposed to the cold winter wind as soon as I got out of the bathroom and descended the stairs.

「Ugh… somehow the wind felt much colder when you just finished bathing in hot water.」(Mark)

I hurriedly entered my container house through the front door and rubbed my hands against each other to warm myself a little.

There was only Celine in the living room. She was reading a book while enjoying tea.

She was alone. It seemed that Nicola and Ester went to bed while I was taking a bath.

「Welcome back~ You took so long in the bathroom.」(Celine)

「Well, yeah. What’s wrong? Have you been waiting for me?」(Mark)

「No, I was just a little worried that you might get dizzy from taking a long bath.」(Celine)

「I’m fine. Sorry for making you worry. We’ll be arriving at the capital tomorrow, so I was thinking of enjoying the bath for a bit longer. I won’t be able to take out this container house in the capital after all.」(Mark)

「Fufu. I see~ I love to take a bath, but you seem to love it more than I do.」(Celine)

「Nah, that’s not true.」(Mark)

「By the way, I heard that some luxury inns in the capital have bathrooms. Do you want to stay there while we are in the capital?」(Celine)

「That’s tempting, but… It’s not cheap, right? I’ll be just fine without a bath for a while. We’re not going to stay in the capital for long anyway.」(Mark)

「If you say so.」(Celine)

Luxury inns are usually twice as expensive as regular inns.

I do want to take a bath every day, but I don’t want to hurt Celine’s wallet.

I have money, but I don’t want to waste it on unnecessary things. It’s not that I can make money anytime after all.

A cheap room in a normal inn is enough for me.

Besides, Nicola said that she wanted to spend an entire day sightseeing in the capital, so we might spend one extra night. It would cost a lot of money if we stayed in a luxury inn.

While thinking about that, my toe got caught on the edge of the carpet when I took a step forward toward Celine.

「Uwa!」(Mark)

I lost my balance and was about to fall, but Celine quickly kneeled and caught me with her body.

ーPoyon~

At that moment, I felt something soft and warm hit my face. It also smelled nice.

Somehow, I could hear the sound of a heart beating really fast. Apparently, Celine was hugging my head to make sure I didn’t get hurt.

「Ara, ara~ Are you okay, Mark?」(Celine)

「Mmm!! ーPwaah! I’m sorry!」(Mark)

As soon as I realized that my face was pressing against Celine’s chest, I panickedly raised my head and apologized.

「It’s alright. Are you hurt?」(Celine)

「I’m fine. Thank you for catching me.」(Mark)

「No problem…」(Celine)

After replying to me, Celine looked away. Her face turned a bit red for some reason.

Is it because I touched her chest…?

Ugh… This is kinda awkward.

Luckily, Nicola is sleeping. If she was awake, she would have teased me through telepathy…

「A, Anyway, can you stand up?」(Celine)

「Umm…」(Mark)

I tried to step away from her, but she was still holding the back of my head.

Does she not realize it…?

「I can’t stand up unless you release my head…」(Mark)

「A, Aahh!! I-I’m sorry!」(Celine)

She immediately released my head as soon as she realized it.

We both then slowly stood up.

「Thanks again, Celine. You’re not hurt, right? Sorry. I guess I’m a bit sleepy.」(Mark)

「I’m fine. It’s okay.」(Celine)

As soon as she replied to me, I realized there was something wrong with her.

「Ce, Celine… Your nose is bleeding…!」(Mark)

Suddenly, blood started flowing out of Celine’s nose.

Did my head hit her nose…?

No, I don’t think so. I don’t feel pain or anything in my forehead.

「Eh…? Uwaaaahh!! Th, This is… Umm… That’s right! I think it’s because I got dizzy after taking a long bath too! Aahahaha! We both sure love taking baths, don’t we? I have to be careful from now on!」(Celine)

After she panickedly replied to me, she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and covered her nose with it.

Her shoulders were shaking a little, and her face turned even redder for some reason.

She’s acting really weird, but I feel like I shouldn’t ask her about it.

「I, I see… I suggest you don’t sleep too late. It will get worse. Well then, we have to leave early in the morning, so I’ll go to sleep now.」(Mark)

「O, Okay… Good night, Mark~」(Celine)

「Good night.」(Mark)

After seeing Celine’s awkward smile, I went to my room and slept.

 

ーーーーー

 

The next morning, Celine acted like usual. We exchanged morning greetings like nothing had happened last night.

I’m glad that she’s fine.

Normal is the best after all.

After packing up, we continued traveling to the capital.

It didn’t take long for us to reach our destination.

In the afternoon, we could already see the tall wall surrounding the capital from afar. It was much taller than the wall surrounding Fatia Town.

As expected of a territorial capital. Its security was on a different level from normal towns like Fatia.

It wasn’t easy to enter the town. We had to join the long lines of horse-drawn carriages and travelers on foot in front of the gate, waiting for their turn to get inside.

After waiting for about two hours, we finally got our turn.

There were several gatekeepers by the gate.

Before we could get into the town, some of them would check the inside of our carriage, and some others would check us, finding out if we brought something that could endanger the peace of the town or not.

After confirming that we were safe to enter the town, they let us proceed to the entrance counter.

Those who have an identification card can enter the town immediately, but the people who don’t have one, have to answer several questions from the gatekeeper there.

It seems that Adventurer Guild cards and Merchant Guild cards can be used as identification cards, which means Celine and Garrett-san can enter the town without having to answer questions.

Everyone who enters the town has to pay an entrance fee except adventurers and merchants with rank C and above.

Celine is a C-ranked adventurer, so she can enter the town for free. However, Garrett-san is an E-ranked merchant, so he has to pay the entrance fee.

First, Garrett-san, who was leading us, showed his merchant guild card to the gatekeeper and paid the entrance fee.

「Alright, you can enter. Next.」(gatekeeper)

The process was quick because the gatekeeper didn’t have to ask him questions.

The next person was Celine.

When she showed her adventurer guild card, the gatekeeper’s face turned grim for some reason.

「Umm… You are a C-ranked adventurer, Celine?」(gatekeeper)

「Yeah, as you can see on my card. What’s the matter?」(Celine)

「Miss Celine, I have to take you to the guard post as soon as possible.」(gatekeeper)

「Huh…?」(Celine)

 

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