Exhausting Night

The moonlight shimmered through the windows of the house. We had finished up cleaning dinner and Tera showed Claire the blankets for the couch. I saw Kale move from the bathroom to his room when he spotted me climbing up the stairs.

"Kota, finished cleaning up?"

"Yep."

I hadn't even noticed until now, but it seemed like Kale had actually left the bathroom after using the bath. He wore No shirt and casually strolled around with just his black pants, a towel wrapped over his shoulders. Can't really blame him since he didn't seem to mind that he wasn't wearing a shirt, I don't think any of us really minded. It's his house.

"Good." Said kale. "Any of the girls help? I asked Lilith to help you with cleaning. How'd she do?"

"Lilith tried to help with cleaning, but I ended up having her clean the stove."

Lilith wanted to help with cleaning dishes, but it just ended up with her actually bending one of the knives she was washing. I couldn't let her continue afterwards even after she apologized. So I just had her scrub the inside of the stove. She's still scrubbing that thing as we speak.

"Hm, maybe I should teach her some more independent skills then." Kale rubbed his chin, looking more in thought now.

I feel like his thoughts are still on the words Lilith said about him. Perhaps it's been bothering him ever since.

"Maybe you should talk with Lilith." I proposed.

"No, I don't want to hurt her feelings. I understand growing attached to your master, but not in the way she is thinking." Kale rubbed the towel on his blonde wet hair. "Honestly, I wish her father was here to fill that role. But that's way out of the case now since he left him and her mom."

I don't think Kale knows yet, but Emmit had seen me and Lilith not too long ago. He's still under the impression that Emmit up and left and never returned.

"You're probably the closest person Lilith has to being a father."

Kale simply waved in dismay. "And I don't want that. I've made it clear multiple times. I'm not ready for that, not for a good while."

"Why's that?" I leaned against the wall. "You're good with us. I don't see how you're bad with kids."

Kale paused for a moment. All things considered, he hasn't done anything bad with me or Lilith. He was pretty good at making sure we knew our way around the kingdom and made sure we were safe when we did our first bounty. What's the issue?

"Look, you guys aren't my kids. It's different, I'm supposed to be watching over you two." Kale pointed a finger at me. "At the request of your father…but also out of fear from your Mother. If I decided to take Lilith in as my kid, tha-My mindset will change with her. You understand?"

I thought for a moment. Was he saying that he'd treat her differently once he accepted the role? Maybe he's seeing it in a more negative light, that's what I'm getting out of it. He's probably thinking it'd affect everything. Training, Knowing what she's doing, always thinking about her.

But…he kinda already does all that. If anything, I feel he's already in that mindset for her. From what I've seen, he's probably done more than Emmit had done in these past months.

"Well…Have you considered that you're already in that mindset?" I finally asked.

Kale looked at me in surprise for a moment.

"I…Did not. I didn't consider that to be possible."

"Keep it in mind then. Lilith cares about you, enough to be a father figure." I looked down the stairs, making sure Lilith was nearby. "We can keep this to ourselves until you manage to figure things out."

Kale rubbed his hair even more with the towel. "Man, can't believe I'm being badgered by a kid right now." As he finished up, he walked towards his door and glanced back at me. "I'll keep it in mind. Make sure none of you guys stay up too late, we need to get up early to get supplies for the trip."

As his door shut, I decided it'd be best for me to hit the hay as well. Everyone else was still downstairs doing their chores, this'll be a good time to change into my nightwear.

I quickly got into my room and noticed that it was messier than it was in the morning. Then I realized that the three girls were in here, so they must've been messing around in here.

Clothes from Amelia were scattered from her bag and the bed wasn't made so it looked messy as well. The basket that had our dirty clothes had some clothes not fully inside of the basket.

Ok…going to have to clean all this up first since it's now annoying me.

About Ten minutes have passed since I began to clean the room. Not much of an issue for me, Just putting clothes back where they are and done!

Placing Amelia's bag off to the side of the room, I tidied up the dirty clothes basket. Looking at the room now, it was much nicer to look at. And now I can get to changing clothes.

As I began to undress and set my new clothes on the bed, a knock came at the door.

Can't I get some privacy or at least some time to myself? The whole I've been with someone, and I need this time.

"Ugh…yes?"

"It's Claire. Can I come in?"

Oh, did she leave something in the room? I don't see anything that would be hers…unless I stuffed it into Amelia's bag. I guess I should see what she wants.

I walked my way to the door, opening it to face her. She wore a white nightgown that…let's say emphasizes her two assets. Trying to ignore that, I looked her in the eye.

"What…is it?"

"I wanted to thank you for keeping my sister safe today."

…Ok, relax. This doesn't mean anything, just a simple gratitude.

"Ah…well your welcome!" I happily chirped, at this point I realized my shirt was off from changing.

This doesn't look good, seriously. What if someone stumbled upon us like this. You know how much this implies? Wait, does this world not care about that sort of thing? Chris was all over Claire when he first saw her and she didn't mind.

Wait, does this also mean she doesn't mind too? This is weird, even for me.

"Here." Claire removed something from her nightgown, a Brown bag that jingled. "A magical item I've had on me."

I stared at it for a few moments before responding. "…eh?"

"When I was ambushed, almost all of my things were taken. Except this."

Reaching out to hold it, it felt like I was holding a rock.

Actually, it was just a rock. A plain gray. What even was this? something about it was off. It felt way heavier than what a small rock should weigh.

"What is it?" I asked, frowning at her.

"Don't know. My Father gave it to me before I left Ozoth." Claire explained. "I'm certain that it was important. I'm not too keen on Magical equipment…"

"Ok, neither am I. But I'm assuming it's gotta do something." I said, playing with the rock. "I guess I'll take it…"

Kind of a mundane reward, huh. Not that I'm complaining, I wouldn't have expected much from someone who had nothing at the moment.

But now that Claire was here, It clicked to me that I was supposed to ask her something.

"Oh…Claire, I needed to ask you about something." I looked back up at her. She looked concerned but nodded for me to ask her.

"Something wrong with Amelia?"

Claire seemed to be taken by surprise by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Like…Any reason why she's the way she is? Aggressive, compulsive, it's like she's trying to grab attention."

Claire frowned, contemplating something that was on her mind before sighing. "Well…I guess I could assume one thing." She slowly walked her way into the room and sat on Liliths side of the bed and looked at me. "Perhaps she's feeling neglected by us."

I looked at her confused. "Neglected?"

"Not by you or her friends…Rather me and our family." Claire explained. "Our mother passed away when she was young, so it was me and our father that was taking care of her."

"Oh…I did not know that."

"Yes, it was a terrible disease that struck her. Amelia never understood it from her age, I mean she was just barely three years when it happened. Our father was already prepping me to be the leader of our family once he couldn't, I suppose…"

"Your father never really took care of Amelia then."

Parent neglect is something I've heard before in my past life. I've had one friend tell me stories about how he wasn't treated equally as his sister. I never really understood something like that as I was a single child.

Eh…maybe in this world I might experience that. Though I wouldn't be that mad considering how I've been taught growing up here. I'd probably be more happy that they were more strict with my younger sibling.

"Yes, and Amelia saw this. I guess it made her think that she wasn't worth being cared for, which I would presume started her reckless behavior."

"You didn't say anything to your father?" I asked.

"I…Have. When he was able to walk, he always had me around when talking with merchants that brought goods. He seemed more focused on how the business would run, which I never…Objected to." Claire made a somber look as she looked down to her feet. "I'm not much for talks or socializing in the way my father does. That's something my sister honestly has that I don't. But my father never listens. He'd always speak of how the first born in the family must hold the family once he's gone."

"I see. We'll know that I understand Amelia and her…behavior. I wanted to know if there was a way to help her with that." I walked towards Claire.

"What do you mean?"

"Wha-you know, Like maybe help her get over feeling neglected in some other form of way." I can't believe in telling this girl how to find other solutions.

"Oh…" Claire twirled her blue hair as she thought. "Maybe you and Lilith can help."

"No way I'm doing that. Amelia hates me."

"Are you sure about that?" Claire looked with confusion. "She seemed quite relieved you were there with her when she chatted with me and Lilith."

"…Really?" I looked at Claire. "Well I guess the brat has a soft spot then."

"She seemed quite fond of you when speaking of you." Claire smiled as she said that.

Ok, I guess the tsundere thing is something to keep in mind with the girl. Though to be honest, I'm not looking to make a whole…Whatever those isekai dudes do when they see a bunch of hot ladies. I got my eyes sighted on one and that's it. And I'm gonna wait until we get older, at least I hope.

"Oh? It seems someone's at the door." Claire pointed past me. Looking in that direction, I saw that someone was peering into the room.

With her hands blacked and face smeared in charcoal. Lilith seemingly blended into the darkness of the hallway, but I was able to spot her with her amber eyes. It was oddly scary seeing her peer into the room like this, how long was she there?

She slowly crept into the room, allowing to see that she has…gotten really dirty from cleaning the stove. Her usual white shirt was stained with charcoal and her silver hair was covered with it. She seemed to be giving me an angry look.

Oh yeah…I asked her to clean it.

"You…look like you cleaned the stove." I slowly said.

"I did." Lilith said in a monotone voice. She just stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time. "What's up with the pants only?"

"Pants only?" I confusingly looked at myself and realized that indeed I was only wearing my pants. Forgot that I was in the middle of changing.

Wait, this doesn't look right to her. I'm standing in front of Claire half naked and Claire's on the bed.

"Hold on…I can explain." I held a hand up towards Lilith. "Claire was only telling me about Amelia. That's it."

Lilith seemed to have calmed down a little bit, but she narrowed her eyes as she looked at herself in disgust before staring at me again. I think she wants me to say something about her.

"Uh…Sorry about having you clean up the stove?" I awkwardly said. That prompted Lilith to march right towards me and grab me by the collar, fiercely shaking me.

"Sorry about cleaning the stove?! My whole face is dirty! You know how long this'll take to remove?! I wanted to wash the dishes!" Lilith's left eyes flickered a very familiar red color as she shook me.

Panicking, I waved my hands in submission. "H-hey! Listen, I can get rid of that Charcoal off of you! Remember, I can do water magic! Agh-Remember, hygiene! You love whatever Claire puts in your head!"

Lilith let go of me and stood in the middle of the room, folding her arms. "Then get rid of it!"

I stared at her. "Like…right here?"

"No, the bathroom! Why-Y-Just get into the bathroom so you can fill up the tub!" Lilith turned red.

"Ok! Fine!" But before I left the room, I stopped for a moment and looked at Claire. "We'll continue our talk later!"

She simply waved her hand. "Yes, yes. We can do that another time. I'll be heading downstairs to accompany Amelia."

Moving my way to the bathroom, I quickly held out my hand above the tub and casted a water spell. I added a bit of fire spell to it just to make it warm.

You know, thinking about it now…I could probably take a quick bath too. I mean, I've fought someone today and I still have some bits of dirt and blood on me. Hmm…maybe a quick dip won't be bad?

Before I could do anything though, Lilith walked in. She was already on the course of using the bath as she tore off her boots and began to unbutton her shirt. It didn't even seem like she acknowledged until she looked up at me.

Wait hold on, I'm still putting water in the tub though. I don't wanna see this!

"H-h-hey! I'm still putting in the water!" I yelled at her. I tried to make eye contact with her, but with her undressing herself, I had to cover my vision. "Seriously, couldn't you have waited!"

"T-then hurry up! I gotta get this charcoal off of m-me!" Lilith stuttered.

"Ugh…" I hastily tried to fill the tub up quicker, ignoring the sounds of clothes dropping to the floor behind me.

"A-Anyways, what were you and Claire talking about?"

"Hm? About why Amelia was the way she was." I said. "Somethings been egging me about her, so I asked Claire."

"Oh…" I felt Lilith brush past me as she entered the bath. I instantly looked away. Why couldn't she just wait?!

"Oh come on! I'm almost done!"

"Warm water doesn't wait for anyone. Besides, I don't mind if you look." I heard the water splash and sputter as she said that. She must already be rinsing herself.

"I mind! Alright, I'm heading out now!" I hurriedly tried to make my way out the door, but I felt a tug on my pants. Water dribbled onto the floor and I instantly knew that Lilith had gotten out of the tub.

"Wait!" I heard shuffling and what I assumed was a cloth being tightened, then forcefully I was twirled around. Lilith had donned a towel that she held tightly with her other hand.

"Ah!" I instinctively covered my eyes. "What?! What do you want? I'm not ready for this! I haven't committed yet!"

I finally realized something. Some time ago, Gerald asked me about Lilith. I recall telling him that whenever she was ready that I'd be ready, something like that. I remember questioning it at first, but I've grown confident in the words I've said. But the moment Lilith tugged on my pants, I realized…

I was not ready. Not in the slightest. Maybe not at this moment since I was completely exhausted from today. But right at this moment, I was fucked.

Gerald, I dropped the ball on you. I'm starting to think maybe you were right about being too young for this stuff. And that's coming from the mind of a…Thirty year old now. Now thinking of that, that sounds even more wrong now.

"Kota, what are you yapping about? I want to ask you about the trip!"

"Huh?…Oh…" I looked at her blushing, confused as well.

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "What? What…W-what were you thinking i was asking?" Lilith looked down at herself and then me. It took her a moment to register the scenario and she instinctively covered herself as well, her cheeks reddening. "No, Kota!"

"Hey, you can't put the blame on me! I'm talking to the one who threatened me to make a hot bath, and forced me to wait as you undressed!" I pointed a finger at her. "You could've at least let me finish the water!"

"I…Erm…" Lilith Grumbled. "…Sorry. It's just…I wanted to get the dirt off myself, I was in a hurry!" She then began to pout, sitting herself on the edge of the tub.

Great, now she's doing this. Now I'm starting to feel bad….Ok Maybe I overreacted right then. Safe to say that Lilith doesn't have any dirty thoughts in her mind, at least yet. It's partially my fault for even thinking like that…

Ok, I think I've calmed down enough. I'm retracting what I thought of moments ago. Gerald, I misread this situation.

"Sigh…It's ok, Lilith. What'd you want to talk about?" I sofltly asked her.

"…About the trip." She looked up at me. "Are we going to meet that pink haired guy?"

"Of course, I mean he's hunting Amelia and Claire now."

"Mmm…." Lilith then slowly pulled herself backwards into the tub. She lazily laid in the tub with her towel still somehow clinging to her. A few moments passed as she seemed to be in thought, I watched as she twiddled her fingers in the tub. She then opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Can I kill him?" She asked that in such a gentle manner that it threw me off.

"Wha-Huh? Kill him?" I hesitated. I still wasn't comfortable with the killing, besides those monstrous things I killed. I guess I'm my view, they were just that. Monsters. But we're talking about killing another person that looks human.

"That person is coming to take those two somewhere, right? Taking them into Slavery for a noble. It's either we kill him or he manages to take those two somewhere much worse…It's like when we were stopped on the way here to Prusha."

"Yeah, that group of bandits who almost killed me."

"See, if I didn't kill them…You'd be dead." She looked at me. "Who knows what'll happen afterwards, but…I just know I couldn't live with that."

Hold on, is she saying she would've lived while I died? Actually, I could see that happening. Still, kinda gloomy when she says that.

"I want to do the same with Amelia and Claire as I did with you. To protect them."

"Huh, you don't really mind killing." Lilith tilted her head in confusion when I said that.

"Those that deserve it should, like my Father. If the Pink haired guy is going to kill us to get to Amelia and Claire, I won't hesitate to go full force." She had a stern look on her face. Now I know she's being really serious.

I can't really fight that logic in this world. Here in this world, it's live or die.

"If you have to, then I guess we'll have to." I said. Lilith nodded in agreement, sinking lower into the tub.

"Mmm…That's all I had for questions." She murmured before lifting her hand to wave me. "You can go now….Ugh, my hair is still stained with charcoal."

Upon looking at it, her silver hair was indeed smothered by a black coloring.

Wouldn't it be nice to lighten the mood here with some fun? I'd rather not think about the killing thing until it actually begins.

I slowly raised my hand over her and watched as she looked at me with confusion before realizing what I was about to do.

"H-hold on Kota! Don't pour the water directly o-Mmph!" She couldn't finish her sentence as I casted a water spell, cold water poured over her head.

"That'll wash it, Heh." I chuckled, I watched as Lilith sat in the tub as the cold water ran through her hair. The charcoal slowly being removed as I continued.

Once I saw that it was all off her hair, I tried to deactivate the spell. But when I tried to, I noticed that Lilith's hand was wrapped around my wrist.

"Lilith? You go-Mmph!" Suddenly, Lilith twisted my wrist, aiming my palm right at me. The cold water blasted into my face as she held my wrist in place.

"Hehe, have a taste of that cold water!" I heard Lilith say.

Yeah, this water is cold as fuck. It blasted my whole face and torso, soaking up even my pants before I managed to deactivate the spell. I was left sprawled on the floor, gasping for air as Lilith laughed.

"Haha!…Thanks for lightening the mood, Kota." Lilith laid her head on the edge of the tub, looking at me.

That night, I ended up having to clean the bathroom as well. Lilith ended up finishing her bath right then and quickly found herself in bed as I finished up.

At least I was able to rinse myself with cold water.