The Former Assassin Becomes a Noble Lady

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I arrived at the bathhouse closest to the Academy in the city. It was quite large, and since it was the nearest location, I heard that Academy students often used it. Since our dormitory only had showers, if we wanted a bath, we had no choice but to step outside the Academy.

“Yeah. It’s a bathhouse. Why?”

That was Anne’s response to my question about what the problem was. Sure, it’s perfectly fine to go to a bathhouse after exercising with friends. Back in my assassin days, I’d often relax in the guild’s bathhouse with my comrades after training. However, ever since coming to the Academy, I had only used the private shower in my single room, rather than the communal shower that was primarily used by four-person dorm students.

It was certainly much more comfortable, and I didn’t have to worry about others watching me. No matter how much my body had become female, and even though I had grown accustomed to it by seeing it every day, seeing other girls’ bodies was a different story. Of course, even if I secretly glanced or openly looked, no one would suspect me. But I’m not shameless enough to just brush it off.

Moreover, the main reason I resolutely avoided using the communal shower or bathhouse wasn’t just about conscience.

“Um… There was a nice café we went to the other day? How about we go there?”

“Really? Then let’s quickly head to the bathhouse and go!”

No, it couldn’t be. In Anne’s mind, entering the bathhouse was already a done deal.

“Isn’t it the same anyway? Whether we go to the bathhouse or not, I still don’t have clothes to change into afterwards, right? So why don’t we—”

“Oh, this bathhouse caters mainly to Academy students, and we have Clean Magic to wash our clothes. So you don’t need to worry about that!”

Yuli immediately squashed my hopes with her reply. Even if Clean Magic is a low-difficulty spell, using it for service in business like this… is this necessary to be considered a decent business in Academy City?

Holding onto my last shred of hope, I turned to Selian.

“You said it doesn’t matter where I want to go, right? So let’s go to the café…”

Before I even finished speaking, Selian shook her head vigorously. The intensity of her shaking was rather alarming. Maybe she shook her head so hard that her cheeks turned red, and in a somewhat excited voice, she spoke.

“No! I… I also feel uncomfortable with the sweat! Let’s go to the bathhouse! Yes!”

There seemed to be no way to escape. As I hesitated, not knowing what to do, Anne grabbed my hand and pulled me into the bathhouse.

*

After paying at the counter, I entered the changing room. I stood close to the lockers to minimize my visibility. Thinking about other girls seeing my naked body made me feel embarrassed as a former male, but then I reminded myself that the body others were seeing was no longer my old one but the body of a girl.

Anyway, I couldn’t just stand there, so I took off my jacket and hung it up. Then I slowly unbuttoned my blouse one by one and took it off.

Next, I moved down. I unzipped my skirt and slowly took it off. Now only my underwear was left.

I had gotten used to wearing and taking off my bra, so I reached behind my back to undo the hook. Then, the two round breasts that had been hidden revealed themselves. It was my body, yet I couldn’t tell if I felt embarrassed by seeing a girl’s body or if I was embarrassed because others could see this body. I could feel my face heating up.

To enter the bathhouse, I had to be completely nude. So, it was a given that I had to take off my last remaining underwear. However, while I easily removed the other clothes, taking off my panties made me hesitate. It wasn’t just because it was embarrassing to be seen by others.

“I’ll go in first!”

“Hik!”

Anne, who was already undressed, lightly slapped my back and swiftly dashed toward the bath area. The contact of bare skin brushed against me, and a sound escaped from my lips unexpectedly. When I turned my head slightly, I caught Selian staring directly at me, appearing flushed, as if she had reacted to my sound.

…It’s embarrassing that I made such a sound.

Anyway, now only my panties remained. Ultimately, I was destined to take them off. However, I had to hide the Master-Servant Mark on my lower belly as much as possible. Maybe due to the effects of the transformation magic, the shape and position of the mark had changed. It had transformed from a simple combination of circles into a heart shape with what looked like wings extended, and it had shifted from around my heart to my lower belly. Thanks to its size and position, which were barely hidden by my panties, concealing it hadn’t been difficult. However, being exposed now was quite dangerous.

The Master-Servant Mark wasn’t commonly seen. Most people with such marks belonged to shady backgrounds. The most common use was in slave trading, but it was also used quite regularly in the Assassin Guild, which feared betrayal as I did.

If Selian were to find out about my Master-Servant Mark, it would give her enough reason to suspect I was an assassin dispatched to kill her.

So, I quickly held the towel I had brought in one hand to cover myself and swiftly maneuvered with my other hand to successfully yank my panties off.

Worried whether anyone had noticed, I glanced around to see Yuli just starting to take off her panties, so I quickly turned my head. Selian, however, was still staring intently at me, not even having taken off any of her clothes yet. But her expression showed some sort of discontent. Is it really so strange for girls to cover themselves with towels?

However, looking around, I noticed I wasn’t the only one doing this. So, there was nothing wrong, right? Fortunately, there was no indication that she had noticed the Master-Servant Mark.

“Then… I’ll go in first, okay?”

I was sure I hadn’t been caught, but I could still feel Selian’s stare fixed on me as I walked toward the bath. It was okay, I told myself, trying to ignore that gaze as I entered the bath.

As soon as I stepped inside, the typical warmth and humidity enveloped my skin. My sensitive skin reacted even to this.

Was this really a bathhouse aimed at Academy students? I could see many kids who looked like students. I relaxed my eyes to avoid looking at anyone’s body, intentionally blurring my focus. I still wasn’t bold enough or accustomed to openly seeing others’ naked bodies.

In my hazy sight, a small red-haired kid was eagerly running between the cold and hot baths. No matter how much I think about it, Anne wouldn’t act like a kid like that. So, the little red-haired kid in my blurred vision is definitely not Anne.

…I want to believe that.

I let the unknown red-haired child slip away and went to the furthest shower without any partitions to wash my body. I had to place my towel aside momentarily, but as long as I didn’t turn my body, the mark on my lower belly was at very low risk of being seen. Just to be cautious, I lathered some bubbles to cover it up, just in case.

“El?”

As I was focused on washing my hair and body, I heard Anne’s voice behind me. Preparing for one of Anne’s little pranks, I indeed felt her hand probing under my armpit. As I expected, I dropped my forearm to trap her hand between my armpit. I was sure she would tickle me.

However, Anne’s actions went beyond my expectations.

“Hyah!”

Anne’s hand, which had burrowed into my armpit, grabbed my pert breast. Instead of being startled, I was flustered at feeling such a completely different sensation that tickled my whole body compared to when I touched myself. After a brief moment of overwhelm, with embarrassment flushing through me, I pushed her hand away and covered my breasts with both hands.

“What… what are you doing…!”

“But El’s breasts look just the right size and softness to fit in my hand, and I was curious!”

Anne sought agreement from Yuli and Selian, who had also sat beside us.

Yuli and Selian nodded at Anne’s words.

“…Can I touch them too?”

“I-I want to too…”

Rather than stopping Anne, they seemed to be inching closer to join in on the fun.

While their beautiful bodies caught my attention, I couldn’t focus on that at all, as I found their gazes frightening. I wondered if such skinship was natural among girls and looked around to check if anyone else was acting this way, but among groups of friends, I didn’t see anyone behaving like us.

“No… that’s impossible!”

“Ah! Then let’s wash each other’s backs! That’s okay, right?”

“…As long as it’s just the back.”

Unsure whether my breasts would no longer belong to me, I quickly accepted Anne’s suggestion. I noticed Yuli and Selian’s disappointed expressions. Why were they acting like this over my breasts?

Eventually, we started a chain with Anne, Yuli, myself, and then Selian to wash each other’s backs. I covered my lower belly with the towel resting over my thighs, but since we were only looking at each other’s backs, there was almost no risk of revealing the Master-Servant Mark.

As I washed Yuli’s smooth back with a towel, every time Selian’s hand gently touched my back through the towel, I suddenly felt a shiver, wondering what on earth I was doing. How had I ended up in such a situation? Honestly, this was much better than a future where I would have been stained with people’s blood for life. However, my now pitiful mental state was another problem.

After washing everyone’s backs, I turned around to wash Selian’s back, who had been left out at the end. Unlike Yuli’s back, it was a well-toned back with just the right amount of muscle. I could feel how hard Selian had worked to maintain her physique.

After pouring some water over us, we all climbed into one of the empty small baths located in the corner. Even though I couldn’t put the towel in the water, I managed to lower my body into the water while still holding the towel strategically. The towel wouldn’t block the view of the mark from the rippling surface, so I felt safe for now. I would just have to be cautious when I got back out.

However, thinking I was safe turned out to be a naive assumption. As my chest entered the water, I became comfortable chatting without needing to turn my attention away when Anne dunked her head underwater. Having seen Anne’s antics before, I was just going to let it slide.

“Puha!”

After staying underwater for a while, Anne apparently could no longer hold her breath, as she popped back up and gasped for air.

“How was it? I held my breath for quite a while!”

“Anne. You could be bothering others, so don’t do that in public.”

Selian scolded Anne in a gentle tone. Luckily, since we were in a small bath with only us, it wasn’t a problem, but if there were others around, it would have certainly been disruptive. Still, I knew Anne wasn’t lacking common sense and wouldn’t behave like that around others.

…Right?

While I was caught up in such ridiculous thoughts, Anne tilted her head and spoke to me.

“By the way, El, did you hurt your belly?”

“Uh…? What do you mean…?”

“But it looks like there’s a scar or something on your belly?”

“H-Haha… That can’t be true. You must have seen wrong. If I had a scar, I wouldn’t have missed it.”

What’s flowing down my neck isn’t water droplets but drops of sweat.

“Is that so?”

Fortunately, Anne let it go. I felt relieved that Anne’s straightforward personality was a blessing in this case.

“Then should we get out now? The café might close soon.”

“Ah~ I agree! I agree!”

“Oh? Has the time gone by already? Let’s head out.”

Fortunately, both Anne and Yuli checked the clock hanging inside the bath and agreed with my suggestion as we headed toward the changing room.

Meanwhile, Selian looked a bit displeased, as if she was going to miss stepping out of the bath. However, according to the principle of majority rule, she had no justification to oppose!

Still, just to be sure, I quickly stood up and stepped out of the bath, covering myself with the towel. Selian, who had been looking disappointed, followed quietly without any opposition once I stood up.

Returning to the changing room, when I opened the locker, the clothes I had put inside were nice and dry, thanks to the Clean Magic. The most urgent was my panties. If I could just wear those, I could hide the mark at least. So, the moment I picked up my panties, Yuli, who was changing in the right locker, reached out behind me and, like Anne had done, started feeling my breasts.

“Eh?!”

“Hyah!”

However, unlike when Anne had done it, I was completely caught off guard by Yuli’s surprise attack, and I ended up dropping the towel and panties I was holding. Because the hand reached from my right side, I naturally turned to the left to shake off the touch, but the direction was not great.

To my left was Selian’s locker. Naturally, when I turned, our eyes met, and Selian’s gaze quickly dropped to the towel falling down.

I hurriedly covered my chest with one arm and my lower belly with the other. But no matter how quick I moved, I couldn’t move faster than the eyes. She must have seen it. Of all people, it had to be Selian, who I wanted to hide it from the most.

“…Did you see?”

She must have seen, but I asked in a dying voice, grasping at straws. Yet, Selian didn’t reply. However, the silence told me all I needed to know. Selian had clearly seen the Master-Servant Mark on my lower belly, and she must harbor suspicions and disappointments about me.

I quickly bent down to pick up the panty that had fallen to the floor, shooting glances at her. Since Selian’s gaze was still directed at me, our eyes never met.

What should I say to explain this? How can I make it through? I might be wanted, but should I just run away tomorrow?

Just as a whirlwind of thoughts swirled in my head, Selian finally opened her mouth.

“I also…”

Huh?

“I want to touch it too…”

Thank goodness. She seemed not to have seen it. But that is that—

“Of course not!!!”

This is a separate situation.