Noticing the astonished looks on the nuns' faces, Anno turned toward them. "What's wrong? None of you brought swimsuits?"
That question immediately made the nuns blush with embarrassment. They ducked their heads and mumbled, "We did, it's just…"
They fidgeted, weighed down by all sorts of worries they couldn't quite voice. Anno, oblivious, just followed her own train of thought and spoke her mind.
"Oh, then go change into them." She smiled. "What, you girls don't like swimming or something?"
The battle nuns glanced at each other. At last, one girl stepped forward and muttered, "We're on a mission this time. If we go swimming, I'm afraid Priest Charles might not be happy about it…"
Anno laughed. "Relax, he won't mind. He brought swimwear too. It's fine."
The nuns were, of course, very clear on how close she and Charles were. Hearing her say that, they finally let go of their worries. One by one, they undid their habits and revealed the swimsuits underneath.
Turned out they'd all already put their swimwear on—they'd just been held back by one concern or another and didn't dare get in the water.
Anno didn't rush to dive in herself. She stopped to admire the nuns' swimsuits, which were varied enough to make her a little dizzy.
Some wore standard school‑style racing swimsuits: black fabric clung tightly to the girls' soft skin, not exposing a single key spot. They looked conservative to the extreme—yet their full chests stretched the swimsuits taut, and their snowy thighs pulled the fabric tight, radiating the fresh, vibrant beauty of youth.
Others wore even more conservative pink one‑piece swim dresses with white floral trim. The pretty skirts came down halfway over their thighs, seemingly hiding everything—yet that half‑covered look only made you more curious about what lay beneath.
There were also some slightly sexier two‑piece suits. Even so, the half‑cup tops still covered most of their full breasts, only leaving a hint of cleavage at the top. Their toned abs and cute navels were bared in the middle, but below that was a short skirt style that hid their rounded hips and the tops of their thighs completely from view.
Before long, all the nuns had shed their habits, folded them neatly, then kicked off their shoes and socks to bare their pale little feet. Their plump toes flushed a soft pink, catching the sunlight with a faint sheen.
They stood on the deck, nervous and excited, a neat row of white, straight thighs forming a forest that was enough to make one's head spin. Anno looked them over and suddenly realized that, out of everyone here, her swimsuit was actually the most revealing and provocative.
Once that hit her, her cheeks flushed. Truth be told, she'd brought more than one swimsuit on this trip. But when she realized, by a twist of fate, that Charles was the only man aboard, she'd changed into this one she'd never dared wear before.
It was just too sexy for her to feel comfortable wearing around other people. She'd assumed these South Harbor girls, with their loud, carefree personalities, would pick even bolder suits than hers—never imagining she'd end up being the boldest one present.
She'd thought she was mentally prepared. Yet in this moment, faced with how much she stood out, she still felt her face burn.
To cover it up, she turned and walked over to the rail, then said lightly, "All right, since we're all changed, let's get in!"
With that, she vaulted over the rail in a smooth arc and sliced into the sea below without so much as a splash—proof her diving skills were impeccable. The remaining nuns laughed and followed her in, one after another, kicking up sprays of foam, shrieks, and rowdy banter.
Before long, only one person remained on the bow deck: the ever‑earnest Nymeria. She stood there, watching everyone else splashing around in their swimsuits below, completely at a loss.
From the cabin, Charles emerged in his own "swimsuit"—if you could even call it that: just a swim cap, goggles, and a pair of black swim trunks. He walked to the rail, looked down with a smile at the girls playing below, and felt a rare, peaceful calm in his heart.
These moments of real downtime were hard to come by…
As he was thinking this, he turned and looked at Nymeria. "Didn't you bring a swimsuit?"
Nymeria's face twisted in dismay. "No one said anything about swimming before we left!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than Hattie walked up behind them, already changed. She wore a white, semi‑transparent, half‑cup waterproof bra and a snug white bikini bottom—and nothing else. She made no effort to hide the smooth pale skin and stunning curves on display, leaving Nymeria burning with envy.
Seeing how flustered the half‑elf was, Charles didn't plan on leaving her out. He turned to Hattie. "You and Theresa didn't happen to bring any spare swimsuits, did you? If you did, maybe loan one to Nymeria?"
Hattie smiled. "I've got one, but it might not be a perfect fit."
She shot Nymeria a glance—at the elf's chest, which was by no means small but still had a ways to go before matching her own—and added, "Think she can squeeze into it?"
Nymeria hurried to say, "It's fine, I'll… be careful."
She was regretting her oversight so hard her heart hurt. All she wanted now was to get into the water. There was no time left to worry about details.
Charles looked back at Hattie. "Take her to change. We're all going in—leaving Nymeria out would just feel wrong."
So Hattie looped an arm through Nymeria's and led her back into the cabin. Before long, the two girls reappeared. The elf had changed into a new swimsuit.
This one was more or less the same style as Hattie's, but in a bright, orange‑yellow hue. The roomy cups covered Nymeria's not‑small‑but‑not‑huge chest, leaving a modest but noticeable line of cleavage down the middle.
Her pale, toned little waist was fully exposed. The bikini bottom over her triangle was a perfect fit, clinging to her skin without any sign of slipping.
Charles took a moment to appreciate her figure. Nymeria, clearly uncomfortable, kept tugging the top of her cups upward every now and then. But her attention was elsewhere—she took a few quick, mincing steps, then leaped straight into the sea. "I'm coming!"
Splash—
A huge spray went up as she hit the water, then she vanished beneath the surface, resurfacing moments later among the other nuns, immediately joining in their play.
Hattie came to Charles' side, slipped her arm through his, and rested her cheek on his shoulder with a soft sigh. "The ocean… it's really hard not to fall for it, isn't it."
Charles turned and flicked her little nose. "Shall we?"
Then he tilted his head back and called, "Theresa, you coming in?"
Up on the second deck, Theresa—now wearing a white one‑piece swim dress decorated with pale blue flowers—looked down, smiled, and nodded. "I'll just dive from here!"
With that, she vaulted out in a smooth arc, her body trailing a streak of light as she speared into the water. Her form was so flawless she made almost no splash at all, drawing awed squeals from the girls in the sea. They gushed over her diving like it was a miracle.
Hattie and Charles climbed over the rail in turn and dove in as well, both of them entering the water with barely a ripple, their swimming technique clearly miles ahead of the other nuns'.
And with that, the big ship above was completely empty. Over a hundred girls floated in the water now. Across the azure surface, their fair skin contrasted with the white hair they'd tied up atop their heads—they looked like a field of tiny white flowers blooming on the sea.
Once under, Charles adjusted his posture at the bottom, then kicked upward to break the surface for air. But the moment he popped up, waves of water splashed into his face. The nuns ganged up on him, laughing as they launched a coordinated attack, determined to see him flounder.
Charles refused to take it lying down. He churned up sheets of water in return, back and forth, until everyone was soaked and disheveled.
Off to the side, Anno saw him dive in and immediately twisted her body, slicing through the water toward him like a fish. She blocked a spray of water for him, then joined his side on the "battlefield," standing with him against the nuns' siege.
"Hold up, hold up! Priest, I've got an idea!"
From the crowd, Nymeria suddenly called out loudly, "Priest, do you know the spell Water Breathing?"
Charles hadn't answered yet when Hattie spoke up from nearby. "I do. Why?"
"Then I've thought of a game!" Nymeria tugged awkwardly at the top of her swimsuit with one hand while waving with the other. "How about we play Griffons vs. Chimeras? We've got enough people, and playing it in the water sounds way more fun than on land!"
Her suggestion instantly won a chorus of approval from the nuns. Charles nodded and was about to agree when the very first battle nun, steady‑headed Carol, raised a concern. "But even if all the sisters can swim, our skill levels are really uneven. Priest, Miss Hattie, and the others—you're all way better than we are. Wouldn't that make the game… not so fun?"
She wasn't wrong. People were land creatures, after all. Moving in water took practice, and depending on how much you'd trained, the gap between fast and slow swimmers could easily be severalfold—turning what should've been a fair contest into something pretty lopsided.
"What are you afraid of!"
No sooner had Carol finished than the most rambunctious nun, Winnie, shot up her hand. "I've got a fix!"
Everyone turned to look at her as she reached into the top of her swimsuit and rummaged around before pulling out a strip of black cloth. "I happened to bring this. Priest, Miss Hattie, Lady Anno—you top swimmers can all wear blindfolds and then try to catch us. That evens things out, right?"
Her blood was running hot now, and she raised her voice. "And we need some stakes. Whoever gets caught has to scrub the deck tonight. How's that sound?"
Charles cast a nervous glance at Anno, but to his surprise, she was the most fired up of all. "I'm in!"
She pinched his arm playfully. "Let's see who catches more!"
Then, as if that weren't enough, she leaned up to his ear, whispering, "Whoever wins gets to be on top tonight."
Without waiting for his answer, she swished away like a fish, her snowy legs kicking as she darted off to Winnie's side to snag a blindfold.
With Anno on board, Charles no longer had any reason to refuse. "All right, sure, let's play. Theresa, hop back up and grab some more blindfolds from the ship."
Theresa flashed into motion like a streak of light and, less than a minute later, came back with over a dozen blindfolds. She swam up to Charles and tied one over his eyes first.
Hattie cast Water Breathing. The spell spread through a twenty‑meter radius, letting everyone breathe underwater as easily as fish.
Then the group split into ten teams. The best swimmers—Charles, Hattie, Theresa, Anno, Nymeria, and five other girls—put on blindfolds to play the "griffons." The next‑best ten took the roles of the adult mother chimeras, while the remaining girls gathered around them as the baby chimeras.
Once everyone had picked a side, the game began.
"Priest, come catch us!"
At the call from one of the mother chimeras, Charles twisted around, using a combination of arms and legs, frog‑kicking left toward the direction of her voice.
He couldn't see a thing, but he could clearly hear the battle nuns' laughter and taunts like "Come get me!" mixed with the splashing of water in all directions—the sound of them lying sideways in the water, kicking their legs to dodge around.
He kept his cool, estimating distances in his head—then, suddenly, flipped over, accelerated, and surged right in a freestyle sprint.
The girls' giggles turned to squeals. His sudden change of direction had completely caught them off guard. They scrambled to get away, but for those with weaker swimming, trying to pivot on a dime underwater was a lost cause. All they could do was drift along on momentum—straight into Charles' arms.
Hearing the screams right in front of him, Charles spread his arms wide and lunged forward. His hands closed around two taut, rounded thighs, and he felt a pair of small, kicking feet thumping against his chest.
"Eek—!"
"Ah—!"
Both girls shrieked, trying to squirm away. Charles didn't give them the chance. He yanked them back with both arms and surged forward himself in one powerful stroke, hauling their slick, soft, jade‑smooth bodies right into his chest.
"Whew…"
He let out a long breath, then pulled off his blindfold and glanced down. Two girls floated in his arms, one on each side, faces flushed, every bit of their posture radiating shy embarrassment.
He recognized them—Elena and Yeda—new arrivals to the monastery within the last six months, and freshly class‑changed into Life‑domain pastors.
He could feel their hearts pounding, and even noticed them quietly clinging tighter to his arms.
"You're out," someone called from a safe distance.
The nuns who'd escaped his clutches cheered. "Keep going, keep going!"
He didn't linger. After giving the two girls a moment, he gently let them go so they could sit out on the sidelines, then pulled the blindfold down again and headed back into the hunt.
This time, the nuns had clearly learned their lesson. They gave him a wide berth, making his bait‑and‑rush tactics a lot less effective.
The chorus of splashes around him became a constant blur of white noise. With his sight cut off for so long, he gradually lost his sense of direction, unable to tell north from south—or where exactly he was in the water.
Fortunately, the girls kept making noise, their taunts doubling as beacons to help him home in on their general positions.
Then he heard water surging from behind him and instinctively assumed some mischievous girl was trying to sneak‑attack. He whirled and lunged backward, arms out.
"Ah!"
He collided with something soft and springy pressing against his chest—not swimsuit fabric, but bare flesh. A familiar voice squeaked in surprise. He'd caught Nymeria.
Charles reached up and tugged off his blindfold, only to see the half‑elven girl in her own blindfold, apparently having drifted into his area without realizing it—and now, he'd grabbed her good.
Well, that was awkward.
He struggled to keep a straight face as the nuns in the distance burst into raucous laughter. "The griffons are fighting each other!"
Their teasing went on and on. Charles was just about to let Nymeria go and resume the game when he heard her whisper, "Don't."
He froze mid‑motion, looking down as she ducked her head, her cheeks blooming with a fierce blush. "M‑my top slipped off…"
Charles glanced down and understood instantly. Because the top of her swimsuit hadn't fit quite right, their earlier collision had knocked it loose.
Now her full, perky breasts were pressed straight against his chest, flattened into two round disks, the cleavage between them squeezed into a narrow line.
If he really focused, he could even feel the faint brush of two soft, pink buds.
Yeah, this had definitely gotten awkward. This wasn't a bathhouse; if she actually ended up baring herself in front of this many nuns, this not‑yet‑fifteen‑year‑old moon elf might never recover from the shame.
Realizing all that, he held her a bit closer and whispered against her ear, "Let's dive. I'll cover you. Get it back on, quick."
Nymeria gave a tiny nod, her face red as blood. They both took a deep breath and slipped under at the same time.
Charles kept his arms around her as she fumbled frantically, yanking the cups back up over her chest to cover the plump but still delicate breasts. Only once they were in place did she finally relax.
When they resurfaced, Nymeria's cheeks were still flaming. She murmured a quick thank‑you, then immediately turned and shot away through the water.
Charles' own heart was beating a little fast. Nymeria was a true elf. The feeling of that lithe, supple body in his arms was unlike anything any other race had ever given him.
Off in the distance, the nuns were already calling for him to hurry back and keep playing, so he forced down the restless thrum in his chest, turned, and went back to his role as a chimera‑chasing griffon.
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