Chapter 249: 249 It’s cold, so come closer

As Rin wrung out her water-soaked clothes, the cold moisture trickled down and dampened the stone floor.

Meanwhile, Ian, who had shaken the water from his drenched hair and body, thought of the other two and asked Rin.

“What about Tanya?”

“Tanya wasn’t hurt.”

“So they’re just there by themselves?”

“No, you shouldn’t be worrying about them…. What were you thinking, Captain?”

Rin stared at Ian, pointing out his recent actions instead.

“How could you just jump out like that? You can’t even fight.”

“…Tanya can’t fight either.”

“What are you talking about? Tanya could probably beat you.”

Rin sighed with an incredulous look on her face.

If someone had to get hurt in an accident… well, it was best if no one did, but….

At least the Captain shouldn’t be the one.

However, listening to Ian’s concerns made Rin feel a bit worried about how the two remaining members were doing.

“Those two…. They’ll find their way out, right? There shouldn’t be any monsters if they head back the way we came.”

“I suppose so. Then let’s wait here.”

Ian nodded.

Since they had been swept away suddenly, they didn’t know exactly where they were, and it was too risky to move around recklessly.

They had taken off their wet clothes and shaken off as much water as possible, but the subterranean chill still seeped into their skin, making them shiver.

Rin searched her pockets for anything useful, but most of her belongings were combat items.

Fortunately, the magic lantern she had fastened to her waist was still there.

A lantern that produced light through magic rather than oil.

The output was weak, but it could at least create a small glow.

“Captain, do you have anything to start a fire?”

“No….”

Ian also had a small bag of essentials, but they were mostly for emergency situations during combat.

“Any change of clothes or food?”

“…Nothing.”

When Rin peeked into Ian’s portable bag, she saw it was filled with combat-related items, just like hers.

In the past, Ian had carried everything himself, but since Tanya joined, all such luggage went into Tanya’s backpack.

Seeing that, Rin let out a chuckle.

“…Why are you laughing?”

“You always act like you’re prepared for everything, but it’s funny that you can’t even start a fire when an actual accident happens.”

How was he to know he would need survival tools instead of survival skills?

When Ian made a frustrated face, unable to say anything, Rin burst into laughter at seeing the expression she had always wanted to see.

***

A faint, small light flickered in the darkness of the underground sewer.

Ian and Rin leaned against each other with the small lantern in front of them.

The lantern Rin had was a device that emitted light through magic without oil.

It radiated a very faint heat—better than nothing, but barely noticeable.

Since it wasn’t a real flame, the heat was weak, but fortunately, it could be turned on even when wet.

Since this was the only thing among their possessions that could produce heat, Rin and Ian sat huddled close together in front of the lantern.

“…Next time, I’ll carry fire-starting tools.”

“Just don’t let this happen next time.”

To think he was still carried away by her teasing.

Rin let out a small laugh at Ian’s words.

After hanging their clothes to dry as much as possible and drying themselves, the two sat close together, naked, huddled under Ian’s cloak—which was the only relatively dry item—sharing their body heat.

“It’s cold, so come closer.”

When Ian’s body pulled away slightly, the chill leaked in between them under the single cloak.

Chiding Ian as he kept pulling away, Rin pressed her body tightly against his side.

As the distance closed again, their bare skin touched.

The burning warmth spread as soft flesh met skin covered in the freezing chill.

Sharing body heat through their contact, they instinctively leaned in further, overlapping their skin.

“Phew….”

Rin let out a slightly shivering breath from the cold and stole a look at Ian’s face.

It was a quiet time, where only the sound of each other’s breathing could be heard.

Since Tanya and Mika joined, they had rarely spent time alone like this, so Rin found herself reminiscing about the old days.

“Being alone like this reminds me of the past.”

“…It hasn’t been long enough to call it ’the past,’ has it?”

Staring at the flickering light, Rin leaned against Ian absentmindedly.

The light was only on because it was better than total darkness.

In this place filled with cold, the only source of warmth was Ian’s body right next to her.

Rin instinctively leaned more of her weight onto him, pressing her skin close.

She could feel Ian’s body stiffen and curl up as if he were tense.

He’s doing it again, even though it’s cold.

Looking at Ian with that thought, Rin noticed he was trying to hide something in an unnatural way.

That behavior actually drew Rin’s attention, and she saw that Ian’s member was standing erect, even though he was wearing nothing.

“….”

Feeling Rin’s suddenly awkward demeanor, Ian realized she had noticed.

“This…. I didn’t do it on purpose. It just happens.”

“…I know that much.”

In the faint light of the lantern, Rin’s face seemed to redden slightly.

Although she thought about looking away, she found herself repeatedly stealing glances at Ian’s hardware.

When Ian didn’t say anything further, a contemplative Rin cautiously asked him.

“Um…. when it gets like that, don’t you have to get it out once?”

“…Where did you see something like that again?”

“In a book back when I was in the village….”

There was no way a rural village would have proper books written by scholars or Academy intellectuals.

The only books available in such places were miscellaneous paperbacks left behind at low prices by mercenaries or merchants trying to lighten their load.

And since most of those were novels meant to kill time on the road, erotic fiction made up a significant portion.

In the village, books were like public property piled up at the village chief’s house, and Rin had read most of them there.

So… she knew, at least, under what circumstances it grew larger.

Since there was no one else here, the only one who could be exciting Ian was Rin.

Thinking of that fact, Rin’s face turned a bit redder.

…Should I try it?

Like it was in the books.

As Rin reached out with that thought, Ian’s flustered arm blocked her hand.

“…Should I not?”

Ian, who always answered Rin’s questions without hesitation, met this question with a long silence.

Waiting for an answer with a nervous face, Rin took that long silence as permission.

Rin cautiously reached toward Ian once more, and this time, he did not block her hand as it approached.

Her touch extended slowly along his skin.

With their bodies pressed tight, Rin’s soft skin grazed and tickled his thigh as she reached out.

Pausing briefly before her goal, Rin extended her fingertips with very careful movements.

When Rin’s finger finally touched Ian’s member after what felt like a long time, her cold fingertip sent a shiver through his sensitive skin.

Stimulated, Ian’s member twitched.

“Hic!”

Startled by the sensation at her fingertip, Rin quickly pulled her hand away and spoke to Ian with a panicked face.

“It… it moved.”

“It’s supposed to move.”

“Is this… alive?”

“…This is part of my body too.”

Rin, momentarily flustered by the unexpected reaction, calmed her heart and reached out again.

Her cautiously approaching finger touched Ian’s member, and she gently stroked it with her fingertip, as if petting a cat.

The soft fingertip grazed the sensitive skin, leaving a trail of burning pleasure.

Warmth seeped into Rin’s chilled fingertip.

Having tentatively touched Ian’s part and becoming somewhat accustomed to the sensation of the unfamiliar object, Rin glanced at Ian once and then slowly wrapped one hand around it.

…It’s bigger than I thought.

The object that had only existed as words in books was now in Rin’s hand.

It was larger, hotter, and more… throbbing than she had imagined from reading.

Rin’s soft palm wrapped around Ian’s member.

Having gripped it for the first time, Rin blushed, startled by the sense of size that exceeded her expectations.

Rin could feel a hot pulse overflowing within her hand.

Chilled fingers and a palm still holding a faint warmth.

In the cold of the underground sewer, Rin’s hand, holding a small heat, wrapped around Ian’s member like a cold flame.

Soon, as Rin moved her hand, her palm and slender fingers gently grazed and rubbed against the sensitively heated skin, spreading stimulation.

She didn’t know exactly how hard or how fast she should go.

Lacking such knowledge from the outdated, tattered books she had read, Rin moved her hand very slowly and carefully.

Rin’s hesitant, clumsy movements brushed awkwardly over Ian’s member.

The touch left a ticklish sensation rather than pure pleasure, but a burning heat that melted the chill seeped through the warm skin like ecstasy.

“….”

Without a word, Ian’s arm came up and wrapped around Rin’s shoulder.

Rin’s hand stopped momentarily as she flinched in surprise, but after a brief moment of bowing her head, she leaned deeper into Ian’s embrace without a word.

The subtle distance they had kept when huddling for warmth earlier vanished completely.

Embracing each other, their bodies were now fully pressed together.

Their skin meeting pushed away the freezing air.

A soft, warm sensation bloomed from where they touched, evoking a desire to press their bodies even closer.

As Rin, her face resting on Ian’s chest, instinctively applied a bit more pressure with her hand, she felt Ian’s member twitch through her palm.

Rin remembered that there had been a similar reaction when her finger first touched it.

…Maybe this is the reaction when it feels good?

Rin applied slightly more pressure on Ian’s shaft, and Ian’s hand gently stroked her hair.

…Rin took that as a sign that he felt comfortable.

Warmth seeped from their tightly pressed skin, and the breath flowing from the face leaning close tickled her skin.

We glanced at each other, and our eyes met.

And….

The sound of footsteps echoed from behind.

“…!”

“…Oh my. Did I come too early?”

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