"Greetings Admiral Igo, my name is Kara Yume. It's an honor to meet you." After settling down, me, Ochi, Kara, and Chie are sitting around a tea table. We are sitting on the floor with cushions on our ass. "If you ever feel your lust riling up then do tell me. We don't want some international accident now, do we?" So she is that kind of person, huh?
"My name is Chie Hayasaka. It's my pleasure to be your acquaintance, Admiral Igo." Her blue short hair waves around as she bows her head. "I heard plenty of you and hope we can collaborate further in the future."
"I can only hope to fulfill your expectation, Miss Chie." I don't know what kind of stories she has been listening to but it's definitely wrong since she has expectations of me. "May I ask about the whereabouts of you two during the meeting before?"
"Hmmm~~ I was in the middle of attending to another special person." There were someone else here? Why didn't I see them? Is it a secret person from the sakuran government that I shouldn't be meeting? "I'm sorry for not being there for you, Admiral Igo."
"No! No! I was just wondering. That's all." I'm not that self-centered, Kara. "I'm sorry for asking but what do shrine maidens do?"
"We attend shrines." Thank you, Ochi. That's very helpful.
"Other than what the head priestess has said, we also perform religious rituals and ceremonies." Thank you for having Ochi's back, Chie. "Every so often, we need to intervene whenever there is a misuse of magic."
"All over the empire?"
"Yes. We have our way of going around, of course." Using the train, right? "I'm in charge of intervening and stopping the misuse of magic. You can think of me similar to the minister of security."
"I assume that it's bad news when you are busy."
"You can say it like that."
"If Chie is the minister of security then I'm the minister of foreign affairs. I deal with relations between the outside world and the Miko village." Kara does sound like she has some experience in that kind of stuff. "We expect some guests from the Dragon Empery soon."
"Can I be honest and say that I don't do well with public relation stuff? I don't know how to compose myself when I meet with an infuriating person."
"Ehehehehe~~ That feeling is universal, Admiral Igo." Oh thank god! I don't want to offend Kara at all. "Thankfully, I have a special technique when dealing with that kind of person."
"Yeah? How?"
"By showing them the door, of course~~"
"Eh? Won't your relationship worsen if you do that?"
"There's nothing to be gained by preserving any relationship with those kinds of people." Chie chimes as she takes a sip of her warm green tea. "A smart person would carefully choose the right people to represent them. Someone that can't do that isn't worth the time and effort." Fair point! Better take a note of that. "They say don't judge a book by its cover but don't you think that's betraying our evolution, Admiral Igo?"
"Eh?"
"Humanity has survived because we can judge what's good and bad for us by their covers. For example poisonous items in the wild. The more colorful they're, the more likely they're poisonous and hence bad for our health." When she puts it that way… She is right. We judge things by their cover and most of the time, it saves us from death. One of the best ways to identify a poison dart frog is to look at its colorful cover. The other way is to throw it at your friend and see if he dies or not. "When it comes to humans, it certainly makes things more tricky. Do you think we can judge people by their covers, Admiral Igo?"
"It depends… I suppose…"
"Indeed. Like most things in life, it's judged on a case-by-case basis. It's unfair to judge people by something that they have no control over. It's not fair to judge someone who loses their arms as a moron when there's a possibility that they lose their arms trying to protect someone." I met some of them! Most of them are pretty fun to talk with and not a bummer. They can take a joke like no problem. "But when it comes to something that the person has one hundred percent control over, I believe it's fair to judge them on that. If they don't try to better themselves then that's a reflection of their inside."
"Hmm… I understand what you're saying."
"Chie~~ You shouldn't start with something so serious, you know? It's going to be hard to follow up on that." I leave that to you, Kara. "By the way Admiral, how's your impression of the Sakura Empire so far?"
"So far it's been a blast but I haven't gone anywhere far though. I have been stuck in the base."
"That's so sad~~" Kara looks so sad and condescending. Just fyi, I have been into an adult mall, okay? I just can't say that. "I can give you some recommendations, Admiral Igo. Of course the main attraction has to be Mount Fuji, no? But there are other destinations that are worth your eyes."
"Eh? Where is that?"
"That's a secret~~" Wait! Didn't you say that you're going to recommend me?! "If you want to know then you have to go on a date with me~~ I'll personally show you some of those wonderful destinations."
"Aren't you the minister of foreign affairs of Miko Village? Can you really leave the Miko Village?"
"It's just a date. It won't take long, no?" That's true. It'll probably take a day or two. "Depending on how much I'll enjoy the date, I might show you some special places."
"You're putting so much pressure on me. I don't exactly know the dating culture in the Sakura Empire, you know?"
"That's the exact reason, dummy~~ I want to experience something new." Something new, huh? "It shouldn't be hard to entertain this lonely cat when you already did it with the shipgirls in Azur Lane, no?"
"Please don't increase your expectations anymore than this. I would like to have a chance of succeeding."
"Ufufufu~~"
"By the way, should I change from my outfit now or is there a specific time for that?"
"Yes, you should." Ochi claps her hand and then instantly, several shrine maidens come in and hand me a neatly flipped cloth. "Please wear this kimono while you're here."
"Where do I change?"
"Here."
"..."
"Ochi, that might be problematic." Please convince her, Chie.
"We shall cover our eyes." That doesn't solve the problem, Ochi. "That also means you, Kara."
"Uncalled for." Please don't tease me too much in front of the head priestess. I don't want to lose control. Stella might actually murder me this time. "Okay, fine~~" Kara jokingly covers her eyes with her hands. I can see her eyes between her fingers looking at me.
"Sigh… Seriously, Kara." Chie stands up and grabs a large white cloth from a wardrobe nearby. "Apologize that you might need to crouch down a little bit Admiral Igo but please use me as a cover for you." Using her body, Chie spread out the cloth to make a screen for me to hide behind. As she said, I'm taller than she is so I kinda need to duck. Nevertheless, it's better than having to do it right in front of the head priestess.
"Chie, don't you dare steal a peek. That's my job!"
"I'm not!" I trust Chie more on this one than I do with Kara so I continue changing myself into the kimono. I was given a navy blue kimono and the belt thingy that goes around your waist. It didn't take long for me to change into the kimono and put the belt around my waist. The feeling of high-grade textile is certainly there on my skin. I guess that is to be expected of a guest's kimono, huh. No one wants to make their guest angry or upset.
"Is this how you wear it?" I walk out of the cover like a newly born baby. "I'm sorry if it's not."
"Ufufufu~~ Let me help you, Admiral Igo." Kara stands up and walks up to me. Her eyes look up and down my body like a tiger scanning its prey. "Admiral Igo, you shouldn't wear a T-shirt inside your kimono."
"Eh? For real?"
"Unless you want to start wearing a bra then you should take off your T-shirt." Instead of obeying Kara's words. I look at Chie with a confused look.
"In the olden times, yes but we're in the modern age, it's up to you if you want to wear something underneath your kimono or not." Thank you Chie! You save me!
"You're staying in the most sacred place in the Sakura Empire, where traditions have been held for thousands of years. Don't you think it'll be best if you play along, Admiral Igo?" I don't 100% trust you Kara so it's now time for Ochi to speak up! I look at the quiet head priestess.
"Hmm? She is not wrong…" The head priestess tilted her head cutely and answered me. "This village has stood for thousands of years." So that's the part she focuses on.
"If that's so then are you following it with your choice of undergarments too, Miss Kara?"
"Ufufufu~~ Wouldn't you like to know?" Kara seductively grabs her kimono but Chie moves quickly and stops her before Kara can go further. "Chie~~! You're going to make Admiral Igo angry, you know?"
"That's my word, woman! Stop undressing yourself!"
"Okay! Okay! I'll take off my shirt so please stop trying to undress yourself!" I quickly pull my shirt off my body to prevent an international incident. "Ugh…" Even though it's summer, I feel weirdly cold after I undress myself. In response to both my shame and the cold, I tighten the kimono around me.
"You shouldn't be ashamed of your body, Admiral. I can confidently say that your body is amongst the most gorgeous I've seen and I've met a lot of people." But you're also a people pleaser, Kara. I don't know if I can trust your compliments. "No man should be ashamed of having this body." The sly cat slither through Chie and come closer to me. She pushed her hand between my kimono and stroked my chest. "I would love to rest my head on these bad boys."
"That's enough, Kara!" Chie once again saved me by grabbing Kara's hand and pulling it out. "He's Stella's partner! We don't want to antagonize her!"
"Come on now~~ He looks like a man who could use multiple partners." How many of that type of man have you met for you to know the characteristic so well, Kara? "You agree with me right, Admiral Igo?"
"I don't know if I'm strong enough to handle more than one partner." I definitely can but I don't want to say it out loud.
"I can change that."
"You won't change anything!"
"Please drink your green tea while it's still warm." To some extent you have to give some props to Ochi's ability to just ignore anything and say whatever she wants.
"Ah… yes…" The 3 of us sit back down and drink our green tea. "I'm sorry if I'm being rude but what will I be doing tonight?"
"I want to know more about you." Are we going on a date? I would also love to know more about you too, Ochi. "I will start first, my name is Ochi Sanae and I'm twenty five years old."
"Ochi, that's an old person's way of getting to know each other." Is it? Don't people usually introduce themselves like that when they first meet? "I really should take you outside one of these days. Don't you think so, Admiral Igo?"
"Having experience is rarely a bad thing."
"Then where should we go, Admiral Igo?"
"Please hold on, Ochi. I can't let you go outside without protection." She is THE head priestess. Any annoying people would just get struck down by lightning. "Any place would need to be searched and secured at least one day before you can go there so give me the list beforehand." Can we not just walk around and see the surroundings?
"A date is a time for the couple, Chie. You'll ruin the atmosphere between the lovers." Kara is not wrong. "Isn't it, Admiral Igo?"
"You're not wrong. If you want to try dating then we could start with a nice cafe date, Miss Ochi."
"Okay. When?"
"Well… maybe after all of this is over." Can't think of the sakurans feeling happy with me taking their head priestess out on a date when the nation is in crisis.
"Deal."
"I'm sorry for interrupting but may I know how the sakuran girls' trainings are doing, Admiral Igo?" Chie wasn't there with us when I told Ochi about Nagato's training so it's understandable if she asked. "Don't be afraid to be honest with me."
"I believe everyone is doing their training diligently. They're good girls after all. I've always seen them working themselves tirelessly everyday."
"That's good." Chie watches her tea cup with a satisfied smile on her face. "If you ever see them slacking off, please tell me." It's nice to have someone who cares so much about you, huh.
"I will."
Our lovely conversation goes on and on for hours almost like there's no end to the variety of topics that we are talking about. I'm glad that I can interact pleasantly with these women considering how important they are in The Miko Village. I get to know these women and they get to know me. Not too deep though. Dunno if I'm brave enough to ask them.
"Ah… It's dusk." Ochi speaks out. She has been playing more of an observer in our talks while occasionally chiming in so we listen to her whenever she opens her mouth. "I believe it's time we take a bath."
"Ah… I'll wait here then."
"No." Eh? "All of us will be taking a bath together."
"Wait a moment!"
"There's several ceremonies that we need to do together." Guh! I can't challenge Ochi now that she brings out the ceremonies. "Let us move to the basement." Think positive, Igo. We're probably going to bathe in different places.
.
.
.
"Guh…" Curse my past self for being wrong. We reached the basement of the castle and in front of us was a door to the bath, or should I say, public hot spring bath. Is it public? It's under the castle so maybe I should say private hot spring bath for Ochi. "It's separated, right?"
"No. Why would we need a separate bath?" Ochi, please never answer my questions ever again.
The 4 of us walk into the bath and like the one on Azur Lane, we first enter a changing room and we need to change out of our clothes first. There's a shelf with baskets in them and in the basket was a white bathrobe and it's so much thinner than the kimono I'm wearing.
"Is there a room for me to change?"
"No." Stop answering my question like that, Ochi. You're not making me feel better. "What's wrong with changing here?" Ochi was already undressing herself when she asked that. Nice tits, ma'am. May I hold them for you?
"Admira Igo, I beg of you to stay strong." I'm trying, Chie. I'm fucking trying. I know that any weird movement I get will immediately lead to an international disaster which will end with my head getting chopped off. "Ochi, next time you have any sort of plan, please consult me first like usual."
"But Admiral Igo was going home." You know you could just invite me again the next day and I'll probably go, right? I'm not brave enough to go against the head priestess of the Sakura Empire's will. "I need to ask him quickly." What you need to do quickly is wear your bathrobe! Nice nipples btw. I would love to play them.
"Admiral Igo, do you need help changing?" Kara had changed into her bathrobe but god damn does she not wear it properly. I can almost see her nipples from how loose her bathrobe is. "I can use my bathrobe as a cover for you."
"No! No! No! I'll just turn over and do it quickly." I go into the corner of the room and quickly change from my kimono into the bathrobe. "I'm done. I'm sorry but we might have some trouble communicating since I need to remove my translator earpiece."
"Ah, don't worry~~ I can still communicate with you." Oh, thank god! With the certainty of having a translator nearby, I put my earpiece and kimono on one of the baskets. "Admiral Igo, we're going to take a bath, you know?" Of course I know. "Why are you wearing your boxer?"
"No! No! No! I can't wear nothing underneath!" I have an absolute boner in my boxer and this bathrobe wouldn't be able to hide my dick.
"You went to the bath naked, right?" I mean she is right but I bathe alone. "We are all naked underneath the bathrobes, you know? You don't want to ruin the atmosphere, no?" I don't but still… "There's no need to worry, Admiral Igo. I wouldn't laugh. Ufufu~~" Challenge accepted! "Ah… Oh… Wow…"
"Why did you go silent, Miss Kara?" I pulled down my boxer and like I said, the bathrobe couldn't contain my erected dick. The titanoboa perked out from my bathrobe toward Kara. "Can I have a towel please? For Ochi's sake."
"Ah… Of course…" Kara turns around and talks to Chie before she comes back to me with a white towel. "Can this even do something?"
"Better than nothing." I put the towel around my waist and tied the four edges together behind me. It's as if I was wearing a fluffy white pencil skirt. "I did say that but still…" There's still a considerable bulge on the towel as if I was hiding a water bottle in my skirt. "I think you just need to make sure Ochi doesn't look at me."
"With something like that, she had to be blinded first." It's nice that you regain your composure, Kara. Kara then talks to Chie and Ochi who have changed into their bathrobes. I seriously need to learn another language. "Make sure to follow me closely, Admiral Igo."
"Okay." We walk through the curtain door into the actual public bath. "Oh my God…" Saying this place as a bath is an understatement. It's an entire water park for God lord! There's several small waterfalls, pools, and a flowing river. The air is thick with water steam while the floor is all pebbles. The soles of my feet are getting freaking acupuncture just by walking.
"Admiral, come. We have to wet ourselves under the honest waterfall." The what waterfall? 'Honest'? Did I hear that right? "Come stand next to me." The 3 women walk up to a waterfall and put themselves under the falling water.
Well, Kara said I should so I will. I put myself under the waterfall just like the girl. "Huh?" The water that flows from me suddenly changes its hue to slightly darker. It's not because of my shadow, that I'm sure off.
"I know you are an honest person, Admiral Igo." Kara commented when she noticed that I was confused. "The honest waterfall is used to know how likely a person is to hide a secret." How?! What?! "The darker the water flowing from a person's body, the more secret that person has."
"Is that so?" I look at Kara's water and it's darker than mine. "You have some more stuff you're hiding than me."
"Ufufufu~~ I'm someone who has to deal with a variety of people. You know how it is, right? One has to hide some stuff to get along with people." True, I suppose. You can only let out some of your ugliness to someone you're close with.
"Wait! Does that mean you actually don't like me and just try to make me feel welcome?"
"Ufufufu~~" Please don't laugh! "Truth be told, I actually enjoy interacting with you. Believe me when I say you're in my top ten people. I would love for you to stay here with me in Miko village."
"If that happened then the Miko Village wouldn't be an all-girl village anymore, no?"
"That would be the second all-girl establishment that you changed, Admiral Igo." Mhmm~~ I wonder if there's also some girls that I can turn into a sex slave here. "Look at Ochi's and Chie's water, Admiral Igo."
"Huh…" It's no wonder that Chie's water is slightly dark but to my surprise, Ochi's water was almost clear. The clearest of us all. "Ochi has little to hide, huh…" Ochi turns her head at me because she probably heard me calling her name. "You're cute." Because Ochi doesn't understand what I'm saying, she tilts her head in confusion.
"Ufufufu~~ How adorable." Kara then proceeds to talk to Ochi. I hope she said what I said. "Admiral Igo, it's not nice to flirt with a woman if you have no intention of following your advance."
"You're beautiful."
"You little rebel." Don't tell me what I can't do, woman! I'll show you who I truly am! "Come Admiral Igo. It's time for our next bath. And please fix your towel."
"Wha!" I looked down and Kara was right. My towel is slipping down my legs and almost exposing my dick. "Tell me earlier!" I quickly fix my towel skirt and follow the 3 women to a pool.
"Come here and sit next to me, Admiral Igo." Sure. Kara is the only one I can talk with anyway.
I put my foot into the water and was immediately attacked by the coldness of the water. "Brrr~!" What in the fuck?! It's steaming so what's this coldness that is attacking my foot?! It wasn't winter cold but it's still cold!
"Ufufufu~~ Then this means you're not a hot-tempered person." Huh? What does that mean? "This pool's temperature reflects the person that enters it. The more hot-tempered the person, the higher the temperature of the pool for that person."
"I see…" I slowly put myself into the pool and damn… My body instantly started shivering from the cold. "Uuuuhh…" The cold is bothering me. Where's Elsa when you need her?
"Hmm… Maybe this is enough for this pool." Kara pat Ochi's shoulder and talk to her. Talking about Ochi, there's ice flakes forming on her skin. We really need to get her out of this pool before she turns into a popsicle. I don't want to start licking her body to get her out. "Come Admiral. It's time we enjoy ourselves." The 3 women stand up and get out of the deceptively cold pool.
The way the bathrobes hug their bodies are so fucking erotic and it's white bathrobes too! Shits look transparent. The robes emphasize their amazing sakuran bodies, the details of every nook and crannies of their bodies are not lost in the robes. Their fair skin glows even when they wear the robes. It's another way of me saying that they are eye-catching.
"Admiral?"
"Ah, yes!" I can't be having dirty thoughts about them! They're not someone that I can casually fuck around with.
I follow the women and walk past pools until we reach a flowing river. Steam rises from the surface of the river but I don't know if the water is actually warm or not like the last pool.
I carefully put my foot into the flowing river and let out a sigh of relief when I feel the warmth of the water. Thank god this one isn't a fake warm bath. With that confirmation, I hurriedly put myself into the steaming river. "Aaahh~~~" I feel like a newborn baby. Almost every single bad thing on my body was washed away with the water of the river. Every soreness, tiredness, sleepiness, etc. are all gone! It's like magic! Knowing where I am, it's probably magic.
"Do you feel refreshed, Admiral?" I nod my head. "Good. That means the river is working perfectly. Please let yourself go, Admiral. Ufufufufu~~~ There's no need to hold anything in anymore." I have to or you might behead me.
"Sorry for waking you up, Admiral Igo."
"I can perform a personal show just for you."
"An intruder!"
Why is it here?!
"Be my wife."