WIDERGEBURT Act III: Chapter 26

Lin and Fay both went ridged at Kari’s words. They immediately began looking around as though trying to spot the peeper themselves, but Kari quickly splashed them with water.

“Don’t do anything that would give you away,” Kari said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. “We want to catch this pervert in the act. If he knows we’re onto him, then he’ll just disappear again.”

Her words were enough to get Fay and Lin to settle down, though they still appeared incredibly wary of their surroundings. Lin’s eyes kept darting across the hot spring like she’d find this peeper just standing out in the open. Fay was a bit better. She was staring at Kari with narrowed eyes and a frown on her plush lips.

“What should we do about this?” asked Fay.

“I already know where he is hiding,” Kari continued speaking in a soft voice. “What we need to do first is expose him. Once we force him to appear, we can capture him and make him pay for—I mean, we can take him to Lady Sassa and have her deal with him.”

“This princess would rather make him suffer herself,” Lin muttered.

Lin had not even known what a peeper was until Kari explained the concept to her. Kari was sure that, even now, Lin didn’t really understand what was so bad about a peeper.

The Lamia of the Endless Desert apparently did not wear clothes, which was why it had been so difficult to convince Lin to wear them. Of course, now she did understand the concept of modesty. What’s more, she agreed that the only person she wanted seeing her naked was Eryk.

“I’m going to expose him,” Kari told them her plan. “When I do, I want the two of you to capture him. Fay, use the Flash Step to appear next to him before he can run. Lin, while Fay is keeping this man occupied, I want you to use your whips to entangle him. Do not underestimate this man.” Looking at the other two, Kari tried to impart how serious she was about this through eye contact alone. “This person has managed to sneak into an area guarded by several Spiritualists. He is obviously highly skilled and quite possibly incredibly powerful.”

“We understand.”

“Do not worry. This princess will be careful.”

Fay and Lin agreed with her plan and told her they wouldn’t do anything reckless. Kari nodded and began rocking her body back and forth, activating Spiritual Perception and listening to that unique sound that came from a Spiritualist. She found him readily enough. He was hiding behind one of the boulders several meters to her left. It didn’t look like he had noticed that they had noticed him since he hadn’t moved from that spot.

“Are you two ready?” asked Kari.

“We are.”

“This princess is ready.”

Seeing the pair nod and state their readiness, Kari took a deep breath as she stood up, turned around, and leapt into the air. The two women who weren’t a part of their group gasped when they saw this. Kari ignored them as she channeled Spiritual Power through her body, which flowed into her feet and was projected outside as a platform that she kicked off of. The Flash Step Version 2: Jump Step quickly activated as she flew toward the boulder that the peeper was hiding behind.

“Take this!!!”

Flipping around in midair, Kari didn’t even bother activating her Spiritual Aura or entering the Second State of Spiritualism. She slammed the back of her heel into the boulder. This would have broken the foot of anyone else, but when Kari did it, the boulder shattered into hundreds of fragments.

The two women squealed in fright at the sudden bout of violence. Kari ignored them. She narrowed her eyes as a figure darted out from behind the now decimated remains.

“Now, you two!” Kari shouted.

Fay used the Flash Step to suddenly appear right in front of the figure, who was clad in a pure black outfit that made it almost impossible to discern this peeper’s identity. The man stopped and his eyes widened when he saw Fay suddenly appear before him.

“You aren’t going anywhere, pervert,” Fay said.

The man snorted and, in a voice that sounded very old, said, “I do not know who you are, but do you really think you can contain me?”

“I don’t think I can. I know I can.”

Fay narrowed her eyes at the man, even as a smirk stretched her lips. The man didn’t seem to know what to make of this smirk. However, before he could contemplate it or slip past her, Lin created two whips made of purple Spiritual Power and had them latch onto the peeper. They wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides.

“This princess has you now, pervert!” Lin shouted as she tugged on her whips, tightening their grip on this old person clad in dark clothes.

“Do you really? Perhaps you should check again,” the old man said. However, the voice had not come from the man wrapped in her whips. It had come from behind her.

“Lin! Look out!” Kari shouted.

“Huh—kya!”

Lin was given no time to avoid what happened next, and a loud smack! resounded throughout the pool as the man slapped her ass. For her part, Lin’s entire face turned red with shame as she placed her hands over her butt cheeks. Her whips had dissipated thanks to her lack of concentration. Whirling around, she stared daggers at this man.

“How dare you! How dare you touch me there!” Lin hissed, her mouth open to reveal her longer than average fangs. “Only Darling is allowed to touch this princess like that!”

“I don’t know who this ‘Darling’ is, but he has very good taste,” the man taunted.

Lin hissed again as she created two more whips, but this time, they were more than just whips. Both of them more closely resembled a flail—except for one difference.

The ends of each flail was made up of a snake head.

“Now that looks dangerous,” the man observed out loud.

“This princess will show you dangerous!”

“Whoa!”

Lin didn’t bother with subtlety. She threw her flails forward. The man somehow managed to slip between her attacks, which resulted in the ground suffering from serious property damage. The stone floor cracked. Several chunks flew through the air. It looked like several small chasms had formed.

Seeing that her attack missed, Lin hissed in anger as she attacked with even more ferocity. Her flails came in from multiple directions, the snake heads darting around as if they had a will of their own to attack the man at unpredictable angles. Some attacked from behind, others the sides, and still others came in from the front. However, no matter how she timed her attacks or what angles she attacked from, this man slipped through all of them.

He was like air.

“You will have to do better than that if you want to catch me,” the man joked.

“Then how about I join the fray as well,” Kari said from behind the man.

The old man garbed in black turned his head when Kari appeared behind him. His eyes widened. He seemed shocked, but Kari didn’t give him time to respond as she threw a powerful roundhouse kick at his face. She expected her attack to hit. She had the element of surprise and everything. Despite this, somehow, someway that was beyond her ability to comprehend, she missed. No, she didn’t miss. It was like her attack had gone through him.

An afterimage? No, this is different.

“You’ve become quite strong, haven’t you? This isn’t a result of Hellen’s training, is it?” the man said, causing Kari to frown. Why did this man speak as if he knew her?

Kari didn’t let herself get distracted. She put the thought out of her mind and attacked in tandem with Lin and Fay. She and Fay used the Flash Step to zip around the man, attacking him from multiple directions at once. Meanwhile, Lin was using her whips, slipping them through the gaps left in Kari and Fay’s movements to add another layer to their attacks.

Their timing was perfect.

Kari, Lin, and Fay had spent many hours sparring together. They knew each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and how the other two fought perfect by now, which was how they could coordinate their attacks so seamlessly. Even the old man they were attacking expressed his astonishment.

“Impressive! Very impressive! You three are quite extraordinary!”

Despite his words being praise, Kari could not help but frown at how this man not only continued avoiding their attacks, but he didn’t even appear to be winded. What’s more, she couldn’t figure out how he hadn’t been injured yet.

She feigned a kick that the man tried to dodge, but then shifted her feet and punched him in the head. Her fist went straight through his head, however, and so did Fay’s when the redhead launched an attack at him from behind. That said, while he didn’t bother dodging Fay’s or her attack, he did dodge Lin’s strikes, which smashed into the ground with enough power to crack the earth.

What is going on here? Why is he not bothering to dodge our attacks, but he will dodge Lin’s? Is it because she’s using Spiritual Power?

Kari’s eyes widened as she came up with a theory on how this man had managed to avoid all of her attacks.

“Fay! Lin! This man has reached the Third State of Spiritualism! He has a wind element! That’s how he’s managing to avoid getting hurt! He transforms his body into wind just before we attack!”

Fay’s and Lin’s eyes widened in surprise. So did the old man’s, but unlike the others, his were also alight with something other than astonishment.

“Very good! I had no idea you knew about the Third State of Spiritualism, Little Kari.”

Little Kari?

The name struck a chord with her, resonating with a long-forgotten memory. Only one person had ever called her that, but she hadn’t seen him in quite awhile. Could this man be him? She shook her head. Regardless of whether or not this was him, she wouldn’t let him get away with peeping on women like this. In fact, if this man was who she thought it was, then for the sake of all women, she had to punish him!

Now that they knew how this man was avoiding their attacks, Fay and Kari activated their Spiritual Auras. Fay’s aura was a fiery red so thick and powerful that the ground underneath her feet turned red until she reigned it in. Kari’s was a bright gold. The glow of her Spiritual Aura was similar to staring directly into the Sun.

“Not only do you know the Third State of Spiritualism, but you’ve become so powerful too! I am very impressed!”

“You won’t be impressed for long!” Lin shouted as she activated her own Spiritual Aura. Unlike the other two, her aura was dark purple—a combination of the earth and darkness elements, which created a potent poisonous aura.

“I see you Lamia really do all have a natural aptitude for poison,” the man observed.

“You won’t be so calm when this princess melts your face off!”

Lin could not gain power the way Kari and Fay could. She could train all she wanted, but her reserves of Spiritual Power would never increase through training. However, Eryk had found a method of helping her grow stronger through a different means. Even if she couldn’t grow stronger, she could hone the strength she did have by coming up with more creative ways to utilize her Spiritual Power.

Lifting her hand above her head, Lin channeled Spiritual Power through her palm. Purple light gathered above her. Turning into a small sphere, which quickly expanded in size. Like Eryk, she didn’t need to use movements to create her attacks. It was probably because Lamia were nothuman. In either event, the sphere grew from the size of her palm to the size of her head, and then it doubled in size again.

“Take this!”

Kari and Fay flew backward as Lin threw the sphere at the old man, who leapt into the air mere seconds before her attack struck the ground. The explosion that followed was not a typical detonation. There was no fire or intense winds buffeting everything around it. No shock wave followed this explosion. However, an expanding cloud of purple smoke blasted out in all directions. It did not reach the old man, who was now floating high in the air, but when the attack dissipated, it revealed a perfectly smooth crater about the same size as the hot spring they had been using.

“Now that is impressive,” the old man whistled. “I never knew Lamia could attack this way.”

“Do you really have time to be impressed?” asked Kari as she and Fay appeared right next to the man via the Flash Step.

Fay acted fast, moving her hands as her fingers danced in strange patterns. Flames sprouted from her fingers, glowing brighter and brighter, until they were so bright looking at them directly could burn someone’s eyes. She made a swiping motion with her hands. Flames shot from each of her fingers, extending to incredible lengths and wrapping around the man before he could move out of the way.

At the same time that Fay acted, so did Kari. The patterns she moved her hands in were similar but different to Fay’s. The attack she was about to use was not the A-rank Five Finger Flame Whip, which created five whips made of fire that extended from the fingers. She had used the knowledge she gained through long hours of discussion with Eryk on Runes and Spiritual Techniques to create her own attack.

Light Hands, an A-rank Spiritual Technique.

Thrusting out her hand, Kari felt the drain on her Spiritual Power as a massive golden hand erupted from her palm and slammed into the old man. She clenched her hand and the golden fingers clenched around the old man, further pinning him in place. He tried to move, but with two Spiritual Powers holding him, he couldn’t transform into the wind and slip away like he’d done the first time when Lin wrapped her whips around him.

Kari and Fay landed back on the ground, and the man fell down with them. He landed in a crouch, but he quickly sprang to his feet.

“All right. It looks like you three win,” he said in surrender. The three girls looked at each other and smiled, but then the man continued with a giggle. “Or am I really the one who won?”

Kari’s smile quickly turned into a frown. She didn’t understand what this man was talking about at first, but then she felt the warm breeze against her bare skin and realized something.

She and the others were still naked. Lin and Fay had also noticed this.

“Kya!!”

Their screams echoed across the mountain.

***

After the man informed them of their nakedness, Kari, Fay, and Lin quickly got dressed in their robes again. Now they were standing around the man who still couldn’t move. They had made sure he couldn’t escape by constantly having two of them entrapping him with their Spiritual Power, disrupting his ability to enter the Third State of Spiritualism.

“You know I already surrendered, right? I’m not gonna vanish on you,” he said as Kari tightened the belt around her waist.

“This princess doesn’t believe you,” Lin spat. “She doesn’t trust you as far as she can throw you.”

Fay nodded. “A lecherous man such as yourself is completely untrustworthy. There is no way we’re going to let you out of those bonds.”

The old man sighed but said nothing.

Now that Kari was dressed again, she walked over to the man as he sat on the ground, crouched down, and studied him thoroughly. He was wearing black from head to toe. Even his face was covered by a mask that kept her from seeing all but his blue eyes and a little of his pale skin. There were some wrinkles lining his eyes, but they didn’t make him seem that old.

She knew better.

Reach out, Kari grabbed the mask that this man had over his face and tugged it off. What appeared before her was the face of a man who appeared somewhere in his middle years with a head of shaggy blond hair. She would have placed his age around 40 or 50, but she understood that he was much older than that. After all, this man was several decades older than her mother.

“It’s been a long time, Grandfather,” Kari said.

“WHAT?!” Lin shouted.

Fay’s eyes widened. “This person is your grandfather?!”

Kari sighed as the old man grinned at her. Despite being completely bound by their Spiritual Techniques, he didn’t seem troubled at all. If anything, this whole situation seemed to amuse him.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?” her grandfather asked.

Standing up, Kari turned to face Lin and Fay. There was resignation on her face, as if she was extremely reluctant to do this. She gestured toward the man seated on the ground.

“Lin, Fay, allow me to introduce you to my grandfather. Herleif Astralia.”

***

I leaned against the lip of the tub, enjoying the hot water surrounding me. Sweat dripped down my face and neck, but I paid it little mind, closing my eyes and releasing a content sigh. These hot springs were filled with minerals that helped combat numerous skin diseases and helped relax the muscles. I could feel them going to work on my tense body. It was easily one of the greatest sensations ever.

Now if only Kari, Lin, and Fay could have joined me, it would have been perfect.

I wasn’t sure how long I stayed inside of the hot spring, but I eventually left when a large group of men arrived. They were being loud, and I wasn’t really interested in listening to them. It got especially bad when they began wrestling in the pool.

After wrapping a towel around my waist, I headed into the lounge.

The men’s hot spring was located in the opposite direction of the women’s hot spring, on a mountain just like the one the women used. This mountain featured numerous types of hot springs, including one that was located inside of a cave, which was the one I had been enjoying until those noisy people came along.

As I walked down the mountain path, I glanced at the large ramparts surrounding the mountain. This hot spring seemed to take their security pretty seriously. There were even guards patrolling the perimeter. I guess they were on high alert after the peeper showed up, or maybe they always had those guards.

The lounge was located at the bottom of this mountain. It was a smallish building, at least when compared to the part of Whiterun Hot Spring Resort that made up the inn. While the inn didn’t have much, the comfortable leather sofas allowed me to relax and cool down after being in the hot water. We were also provided with something called coffee milk. I’d never had it before, but it tasted like a slightly bitter version of hot chocolate.

As I was relaxing, someone entered through the front door. It was not a man. The maidservant who had been catering to mine and the girls’s whims looked around for a moment, spotted me, and came over.

“Sonia,” I greeted her.

“Master Eryk, Lady Sassa has requested your presence.”

I eyed the woman as she bowed to me. “If she’s requested me, that must mean something has happened regarding the issue of the peeper.”

“That is correct.” Sonia straightened from her bow. “Mistresses Kari, Fay, and Lin have apprehended the peeper.”

I perked up upon hearing this. If they had caught the peeper, then I guess that meant our time here was coming to an end. I stood up and gestured for Sonia to lead the way.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect when Sonia led me to Lady Sassa’s room. I mean, of course I had my expectations, but when I entered the room and found a man bound by ethereal flames, purple whips, and a giant golden hand, I could state that this was not what I had been expecting. The man was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. Kari, Fay, and Lin were surrounding him and maintaining their Spiritual Techniques.

The man in question was a blond male who appeared to be around 40 or 50 years of age. He had blue eyes and a handsome face that spoke of a long and noble pedigree. His features were the refined kind only found on nobles and a few rare commoners. Despite being completely bound and unable to move, he didn’t look all that troubled.

“Eryk.” Kari waved me over. “I’m glad you are here. Look, we caught the pervert!”

“It is a cruel day when my own granddaughter calls me a pervert.” The man sighed before looking at me as I walked further into the room. His eyes picked up an odd gleam. “So you’re the young man called Eryk, huh? I’ve heard many rumors about you. They say you won the Spiritualist Grand Tournament, defeated an A-rank Demon Beast, and were responsible for single-handedly defending Nevaria during the Demon Beast attack three months ago.”

“I’m sure the rumors you heard were exaggerated, but they don’t sound completely inaccurate.” I shrugged his praise off, but only until his first sentence hit me. Then I stopped walking and looked between the old man and Kari. “Did you just say that Kari was your granddaughter?”

“Not ‘was.’ Is. Kari is my granddaughter.” The man puffed out his chest and grinned at me. “The name is Herleif Astralia. It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for protecting Nevaria in my absence.”

“Huh…” I needed a moment to contemplate this knew information, but when I digested everything, all I could do was scratch my head. “I never knew your grandfather was a pervert, Kari.”

Kari gave me an aggrieved smile, as though she had been dreading the moment I discovered this, and I suddenly understood that Kari was well-aware of her grandfather’s perverse antics. Thinking back on it, I recalled Kari apologizing to Catalyna about her grandfather doing something during a party several years ago. She had never specified what happened. However, now I had a very clear idea of what this man might have done back then.

“So the man who was peeping on women in the hot springs was Kari’s own grandfather, the former Emperor of Nevaria.” I crossed my arms. “This is a bit of a problem, isn’t it? What are we supposed to do now?”

Lady Sassa, who had said nothing up to this point, walked forward with her pipe in her hand. Smoke trailed from the pipe and the hems of her robes rustled against her ankles as she walked. Herleif stared at the woman’s heaving bosoms, which made me sigh.

In my previous life, Herlei Astralia had been held up as one of the most powerful Spiritualists of his time.

I felt like my entire worldview of him just shattered in a single instant.

“Unfortunately, because he is the former emperor, punishing him would be quite difficult,” Lady Sassa said. “Even if we could justify the punishment, it would be a light one since sexual harassment isn’t considered a major crime and he’s too important to Nevaria to give harsh punishments to. That being the case, I refuse to let him stay here. I’ll be permanently banishing him from this resort. He’ll return with you to Nevaria, and Empress Hilda can decide on a punishment for him.”

So that was how it was going to be, huh? I looked at Herleif, who didn’t seem all that concerned about what would happen to him and was instead studying me. His eyes held a gleam of intrigue.

“This princess believes perverts like him deserve a harsher sentence,” Lin suddenly said.

Fay nodded. “I agree. I believe castration would be a fitting punishment for a man like this.”

“Don’t you two think you’re being a little harsh here? All I did was see you naked,” Herleif muttered.

The moment I heard those words, I felt an indescribable sensation wash over me. Red filled my vision.

He had seen them naked? He had seen… Kari, Lin, and Fay…. My fiances… naked?

Lin had crossed her arms and Fay was nodding along with the girl. Both of them seemed to be in agreement about what kind of punishment this man should suffer, but Herleif seemed to think differently. Of course, I was no longer paying attention to that since the realization of all this had finally set in.

“That’s right. If these three caught you in the act of peeping, then it means they were naked.” I stared at Herleif, who suddenly broke out into a cold sweat. “You saw my fiances naked.”

“Er… well, I mean, there was a lot of steam, so it was kinda hard to see and…”

“You saw my fiances naked.”

“Uh… erm… I cannot deny that, but… w-wait! What are you doing?! Where did that sword appear from?! I-is that made from the earth element?! But I heard your affinities were water and lightning—where are you sticking that sword?! Don’t! STOOOOPPPPP!!!”

Herleif’s anguished squeals echoed throughout the room as I administered what I felt was a suitable punishment. No one, not even his granddaughter, tried to stop me. I think Kari understood.

The punishment had to fit the crime.