Opening the Door

On the side of one of the enormous doors leading deeper into the palace, there was a small sign with a parasol symbol and, beneath it, another one that read: "Swimsuit Contest".

"I don't know if it's just me, but these contests for earning stars feel way too random…" Hiromi complained, placing her hand on the door handle.

Behind her, Ele and Ruby exchanged a glance.

"Mumu…!" Hiromi groaned, trying to pull the door open with all her strength.

In the end, she gave up and stepped back toward the other two girls.

"It's impossible to open…"

"That's weird…" Ruby commented. "These contests are supposed to be happening throughout the day."

Just then, a group of concubines and harem guests walked past them and opened the door without any trouble.

Sunlight poured in, along with a sea-scented breeze. They barely caught a glimpse of the white sands before the door shut again, leaving the three girls alone in the hallway.

"Hiromi has no grip strength," Ele commented in her monotone voice.

"Obviously it's not that!" Hiromi protested. "That group had one clear difference from us."

"They weren't as perverted?" Ele asked, tilting her head.

"We're not perverts!"

"You two are very perverted," Ele stated, leaving Hiromi with her mouth hanging open.

"Is it because they were wearing swimsuits?" Ruby asked.

"Exactly, thank you!" Hiromi exclaimed, covering her face with one hand.

"That doesn't make you any less of a pervert," Ele continued.

"We're not perverts! Where do you even get that from?!"

Ele looked off to the side, ignoring the question.

"Hiromi, arguing with Ele won't earn you any stars," Ruby said with a smile, resting a hand on her shoulder. "What matters now is getting swimsuits so we can get in."

"Ugh… everything in this city is so expensive. Shouldn't the harem provide stuff like that?"

"They have a 'bring your own tools to work' policy," Ruby replied with a shrug.

"You and Ele are calm because you got a cash prize along with your stars…" Hiromi sighed.

"You'll get an allowance at the end of the month too. In fact, the concubines have the best income in the city," Ruby reassured her, giving a thumbs-up.

"I can't wait a month for every contest, or I'll never make it to the second floor…"

"Mmm… well, you have the ERO System. It probably sells a bikini in its shop, right?"

Hiromi nodded, already feeling depressed at the thought of what she'd have to do to earn more ERO points.

"Perverts…" Ele muttered behind them.

"I'm not doing it because I want to!… Now that I think about it, are you two going to participate in that contest?"

Hiromi looked at Ele and Ruby from head to toe.

One of them had a toned body, still curvy and meaty in all the right places, while the other had a delicate, feminine figure that looked hand-carved.

"I'm not feeling very confident…"

"Pervert," Ele repeated for the third time, wrapping her arms around herself as if to cover up.

Hiromi puffed out her cheeks in irritation, but she noticed the blonde's almost imperceptible smile and realized Ele was messing with her.

"Don't sell yourself short," Ruby said with a laugh. "You have an exotic beauty that's hard to find here, and not only are your proportions ideal, I'd bet you're the softest out of all of us."

"That sounded… pretty perverted," Hiromi said, blushing. Ele nodded behind her.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Ruby protested. "I might have more flesh, but I work out, so my muscles are more toned. And Ele is super skinny, there's not much to grab. So I'm sure Hiromi is the softest. It's just deduction, not perversion."

Did you hear that? She talked about flesh and "things to grab"… We need to be careful with Ruby… In fact, she already came at me inside a barrel once…

Hiromi whispered into Ele's ear, and Ele nodded along.

"I can hear you, you know?! And the barrel thing was an accident… more like the adrenaline of the moment!"

Ruby stomped in exasperation, but a sudden pain made her bring her hands to her hips.

"Besides, karma already got me for that… That's why I say I don't plan to participate this time. I just want to rest under the sun for a while…"

"I want to go, but for ice cream," Ele said.

"Seriously, where does all that food even go…?" Hiromi sighed. Then she placed her hands on her mostly bare hips, a more determined look forming on her face. "In any case, I have no choice but to try after all."

"Pervert…"

"I told you I'm not!"

***

[ERO QUEST: Opening the Door! Or rather… The Floodgates?]
[OBJECTIVE: Find someone to bring to climax!]
[REWARD: +500 ERO points]

…

After lunch in the palace dining halls (but not before Ele was named the cooks' number one enemy), the three girls were exploring one of its many corridors when Hiromi finally worked up the courage to check for a quest in the ERO System.

Her silent reaction, however, left the others curious.

"What's wrong, Hiromi? What quest did they give you?"

Ruby leaned over Hiromi's shoulder, and Hiromi snapped her holographic screen shut at the speed of light. It was more instinct than anything else, since each person could only see their own system.

"Nothing."

"What do you mean, nothing? Your system doesn't have any quests available?"

"Something like that."

"How strange," Ruby commented, a hand on her chin. "I didn't think a system could run out of quests… Maybe it's something specific to the ERO System?"

Hiromi turned to Ruby with a forced smile that made it clear she wasn't taking any more questions.

"Remember how you were talking about the palace baths at lunch? How about we go check them out?"

"Our rooms have their own bathrooms… but you're right, nothing beats bathing somewhere spacious," Ruby replied, hands on her hips.

Ele had been following along with her gaze drifting toward the tall windows overlooking the gardens. She nodded too.

Hiromi let out a tired sigh without the others noticing and started guiding their little group toward the part of the palace where she'd heard the first-floor baths were located.

Since the palace was enormous, they walked for quite a while, and with every step toward the baths, Hiromi's mind ran faster.

And yet her thoughts only kept looping, again and again.

Make someone come? How am I supposed to do that? Does the palace have a place to "service" guests? And am I even ready to do something like that in the first place?

"No! I'm not ready! I don't want to!"

"Whoa! What's wrong, Hiromi?!" Ruby asked, startled at her side.

"Nothing… I'm just thinking out loud…"

"More like shouting, if you ask me… Ah, we're here."

In front of them was a double door clearly larger than the rest. A small sign to one side read: "First Floor Royal Baths".

"Royal baths? Can we go in?"

"Hiromi… if concubines can't enter the palace baths, then who can?" Ruby said. "The Crimson Monarch isn't going to come down to the first floor to bathe."

"Even if we're only concubines in name?"

"That's the only kind there is. Although I imagine the Ten Concubines are closer to real concubines… I think."

"Wait, where did Ele go?" Hiromi asked, looking around.

The small blonde girl had completely ignored their conversation. She had already pushed the double doors open and was stepping across the threshold.

"Ah!"

"Wait for us!"

***

Enormous golden walls held up the towering dome that served as a ceiling. Beneath it, and among the steam, naked women, human or of all sorts of fantasy races, wandered between the baths, trying to find one at the perfect temperature.

By then, the three of them had chosen a round pool that was a bit smaller than the others. Even so, there was plenty of room, since they had it all to themselves.

"Isn't that girl an android? Is it safe to bathe next to her?" Hiromi asked, eyeing another bath nearby.

"That's discrimination," Ruby replied, reclining against the edge of the pool with a towel over her face. "I didn't expect that from you, Hiromi."

"Sorry… it's just that there were no androids in my world. I'm asking stupid questions, aren't I? I mean, it has to be completely safe."

"Well, personally, I wouldn't bathe in the same water. It never hurts to be careful," Ruby said, lifting the towel off her eyes. "Just don't say it to her face, that's mean."

…

Hiromi let out a sigh and went back to Ruby, leaning against the edge beside her.

"Ah! Ele! Don't swim in the baths! It's bad manners!"

"Sometimes you sound like her mother," Ruby said with a laugh.

"She's already an adult woman, but her behavior matches her size," Hiromi said, letting out another sigh. "Seriously, she's a mystery, especially the way her stomach works…"

"Speaking of bodies… there's a theory I wanted to confirm," Ruby said, pressing her bare shoulder against Hiromi's.

"What theory?"

"Whether you really are the softest out of all of us!"

***

[ERO SYSTEM NOTICE]

[Content censored by the Alasta Administration]

[Impact on the plot: None]

[Would you like to unlock the spicy scenes on Patreon to support the novel?]

***

[Quest completed!]
[+500 ERO points]

[------------------STATUS----------------]
[NAME: -------- Shirakiyo Hiromi]
[ALLURE: -------------------------1300]
[TRAITS: -------Exhibitionist Lv.6]
[TITLES: --------------------------None]
[ERO POINTS: --------------------700]

"If I remember correctly, the bikini cost six hundred ERO points, which means I already have enough… I feel dirty…"

"So you did have an ERO quest after all!" Ruby exclaimed, stepping into the hallway behind Hiromi. "Why did I have to be the victim?!"

"You were the one who attacked me first! I just took the opportunity!"

"It was just a little skinship! It didn't mean I wanted to go all the way!"

"Is that so…? The fact that I managed to complete my quest, means you weren't against it at all…"

"That's not fair! It was just a bodily reaction!"

"Perverts."

Ele walked between them with a towel on her head and, without another word, headed back toward her own room.

Hiromi and Ruby looked at each other, unable to say anything to defend themselves.

"I'm surprised my exhibitionism level didn't go up…" Hiromi finally muttered.

[That level of exposure is already normal for the user. She needs to work harder if she wants to earn another level.]

"I don't want to earn that!"