"Ginko, it's just a matter of where I sleep. Do you really have to be this persistent?"
"And I was just saying it as a joke. It's not like I actually want to sleep in a tree."
"Enough with the nonsense. Take this seriously!"
Seriously? Seriously hold back?
Hakuto looked at Ginko, who was falling behind in the match, and swore that he was already going easy on her!
At first, he didn't care about the outcome, but since Ginko insisted on challenging him, the situation changed.
Now, Hakuto was in a dilemma. In the end, to accommodate his client's feelings, he decided to take a loss.
Whether he was holding back or being misunderstood, Hakuto didn't mind. After all, in his book, the client always comes first.
But judging by how things were unfolding, it seemed that everything was not going as he had expected.
What else could he do? He couldn't just surrender outright, could he?
Or should he hold back even more? But then, wouldn't that be no different from giving up?
Besides, it might even hurt his client's pride.
"Ginko, I'm feeling a bit sleepy. How about we take a bath and go to bed?"
"Are you that eager to go sleep in a tree?"
"If you allow it, I'd much rather sleep in a tent."
Hakuto never really cared about these things. It was just that his opponent was too serious about it.
Since Plan A—losing naturally—was no longer an option, he had to resort to Plan B—finding an excuse to back down.
Hearing Hakuto's words, Ginko paused with her piece in hand. She then silently looked up at Hakuto sitting across from her.
"Are you really that tired?"
"Mm-hmm."
To emphasize his point, Hakuto even let out a yawn, looking genuinely sleepy.
Seeing him like this, Ginko put down her piece, thought for a moment, and then spoke.
"I'm only stopping because you're too tired... definitely not for any other reason..."
Watching her act all tsundere, Hakuto nodded. With that, he had successfully backed out of the match.
"In that case, let's go take a bath."
Saying this, Hakuto packed up the board and stored it in his luggage.
"A bath?" Ginko glanced around. They were in the middle of the wilderness—there wasn't even a light, let alone hot water.
"Are we supposed to bathe in cold water?"
"Don't worry! I've already prepared for this! Come with me."
Hakuto took Ginko's hand and led her to the riverbank.
There, by the river, a large iron tub filled with steaming hot water sat before Ginko's eyes.
A bonfire burned beneath it, keeping the water warm.
"It's a bit makeshift, but at least it's hot water."
"Where did you even get this?"
"When I was washing vegetables here earlier, I happened to spot it on the other side of the river. Looks like someone abandoned it."
Hakuto casually waved his hand, completely unaware that he had just stolen from a certain silver-haired girl.
"You can use this, Ginko. I'll go bathe over there with cold water. Don't worry, I won't peek."
After placing some toiletries on the ground, Hakuto left without looking back before Ginko could protest.
After all, he was exhausted from the match and didn't want to get dragged into another debate.
Left alone, Ginko watched Hakuto disappear into the distance. Then, she slowly undressed and sank into the iron tub.
"Ahh..."
As she soaked in the bath, Ginko occasionally glanced in the direction Hakuto had gone, as if expecting something to happen.
Meanwhile, Hakuto had chosen a perfect spot—
A place where he could quickly rush over if anything happened to Ginko, yet not close enough for anyone to accuse him of peeping.
After finding the ideal location, Hakuto removed his shirt and stepped into the stream.
"Good thing it's summer, so it's not too cold."
He shivered slightly at the water's touch but soon adjusted.
Just then, a faint splash caught his attention.
Hakuto froze and listened carefully.
But after waiting for a while without hearing anything else, he muttered to himself, "Am I just being paranoid...?"
Shaking his head, he picked up his towel and prepared to wash himself.
But the sound came again.
This time, he was certain—it wasn't caused by him.
Acting cautiously, Hakuto stopped what he was doing and straightened up, scanning his surroundings.
"From experience, if I can't find the culprit... it's time to use a special method."
With that thought, Hakuto activated his ability. Instantly, the darkness around him became transparent.
And at that moment, he spotted a vague human silhouette not far behind him to the right.
His advanced computation confirmed it—there was a girl leaning against a tree in the shadows by the riverbank, watching him.
Having identified the culprit, Hakuto sighed and deactivated his ability.
As his vision returned to normal, he still had a rough idea of who the person was.
Tomori Nao.
He wasn't sure what she was up to, but she clearly had a purpose for being here.
Just as Nao prepared to use her ability for a sneak attack, she suddenly realized something—
Hakuto's eyes were locked onto her.
"...?? Can he see me?"
Nao quickly checked herself. Her ability was still active.
Refusing to believe it, she shifted slightly to the right.
Yet Hakuto's gaze followed her movement.
Hakuto couldn't actually see Nao, but he could see the ripples in the water. He wasn't blind.
"Did you really come all the way from the other side of the river just to mess with me?"
Realizing she had been exposed, Nao canceled her ability and revealed herself in the water.
"You again..."
"Nice trick—using stolen goods to gain favor."
Before Hakuto could question her, Nao immediately turned the tables on him.
"...?? Is this your new way of striking up a conversation?"
"Do you have any idea how much effort it took to haul that iron tub up the mountain?"
"Huh? That thing is yours?"
"Of course it's mine!"
"Well, you left it in such a random place. I thought the wind just blew it over here. Turns out it was 'Nao Wind' instead."
Nao really wanted to kick Hakuto's smug face at that moment.
"So is that why Kurobane followed you here?" Hakuto pointed toward the shadows where Nishimori Yusa was lurking.
"Huh? You recognized that it was Kurobane?"
"Nishimori wouldn't have followed you here for something like this."
___
Read 20 Advanced Chapters on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics
Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you!
Don't forget to leave a review too~
Check out the other translations too
___