Seiji's heart was somewhat moved when the blonde beauty looked at him in this fashion. However, when he noticed Mika and Shika's expressions as they watched him, he was swiftly able to firm his resolution once more.
"I'll close my eyes!" he promised, succumbing to his fate.
Even if the person herself ambiguously allowed it, in front of two other girls—and an elementary school child—something like watching a lady bathe was too much pressure for him! That would be too embarrassing.
Kaede moved her player piece to the sixth space.
Then, just like Mika before her, Kaede's expression turned blank.
Right after that, Seiji and the others saw Kaede standing next to an onsen hot spring. She was holding a towel, and her body was without a scrap of clothing.
The steam swirling around her covered her entire body, making her the shape of her figure seem like a fairy's… wait, who the hell would believe that!?
Seiji could only see the rough outline of her figure in the steam; he was unable to see either her face or body clearly. This scene automatically came with its own censoring steam!
Seiji felt as if he had been cheated. 'Although I promised to close my eyes, I actually did want to secretly peek a little, but now this happened!!'
It was if he had just been about to witness a long-awaited scene, when a Holy Knight or Priest of Darkness ambushed him. An inexplicable feeling of sad anger washed over him…
Kaede carefully reached out with her foot and tested the water's temperature with her toes.
"It's scalding…" everyone heard her say.
The water temperature was quite high. After trying two more times, she forced herself to step into the water with her right foot, but she quickly exited the water again.
"This water is just too hot for me…"
The scene changed, and everyone returned to Seiji's living room.
"That onsen was too hot, and I couldn't make myself get in, so I failed… I was told that I need to stay at this space for an extra turn," Kaede said with a red face. "Harano-kun, did you see me?"
"I didn't! I couldn't see anything because I had my eyes closed," Seiji said with a straight face.
'Is that really the case?' Mika and Shika's expressions both revealed their doubt.
It was true that he didn't see anything, but that was only because of the steam… thankfully, nobody felt like speaking the truth out loud.
Next up was Shika.
The black-haired girl picked up her die and tossed a five. She landed on a scene of a warrior fighting some enemies with swords!
A combat scene… this was different from the others and seemed like it could actually be dangerous.
"Shikchan, be careful!" Seiji warned.
Despite believing in his adopted younger sister's strength, he couldn't help but worry.
Shika moved her player piece to the fifth space, sending them all to a fantastical place again.
Seiji witnessed Shika putting on an ancient martial arts uniform…
'Wait a moment! Why has she transformed into a boy!?' His eyes bulged in astonishment.
Shika, who stood on the illusory street, was obviously taller than she was in real life. She was wearing a plain white warrior's attire. She had a flat chest, muscular body, and heroic-looking face. It was obvious that she was currently male, not female.
The only parts that didn't change were her hair and face… no, her face had changed slightly as well. It seemed less gentle and more handsome.
She stood there with a sword buckled to her waist, the perfect handsome, sword-wielding warrior!
It made Seiji recall a game from his previous world that was targeted at girls, with the topic of anthropomorphized swords. What was it called again?
At any rate, Shika's current look gave him that type of impression. She was startlingly handsome with a sword hanging on her waist. She was the perfect representation of a sword that had transformed into a handsome boy.
'How did things become like this?' Seiji suddenly recalled the player piece that Shika was using!
There were only three female player pieces, which had been taken by Mika, Kaede, and Reo. Shika was using a male player piece… could this be the cause?
That was likely to be the case. Since Shika was using a male player piece, the board game's spell formation treated her as a boy and gave her a boy's form in this fantasy-illusion!
Several figures approached from the opposite side of the street.
They were six warriors attired in black. They had different appearances, but all of them had blank expressions and hollow eyes, seeming more like zombies than humans.
They approached the black-haired girl… whoops, the white-clad boy, and each of them drew their swords.
Shika also slowly drew her sword, releasing an imposing aura.
It was six against one, and everyone's swords were gleaming brightly…
'Wait a moment! It wouldn't be good for Reo to see something like a swordfight!'
Just as this thought crossed Seiji's mind, the first black-clad warrior sliced at Shika, who sidestepped, dodged, and swung back at the warrior.
*Crack!*
She landed a clean hit on the black-clad warrior, but there was a harsh, blunt sound as if she had struck a log.
The warrior split open and collapsed. However, he didn't bleed, and the part where he was split looked just like hewn wood.
'So he's a puppet. Is it this type of setting?'
The remaining black-clad warriors attacked Shika in unison.
Shika dodged and blocked their attacks, before counterattacking fiercely!
Her white figure seemed like a butterfly as she dodged left and right. Her footwork was graceful and elegant, like a dancer. Every sword swing of hers reaped the life of an enemy.
After five slices, all the warrior puppets collapsed.
The handsome white-clad "boy" slowly sheathed his sword, his back facing all the broken puppets. It was a ridiculously cool scene.
They returned to Seiji's living room.
"Nice job, Shikchan." After praising her, Seiji asked curiously, "Did you feel any different when you turned into a boy just now?"
"Nothing at all," Shika answered. "It felt just like normal."
"Then it was probably only your appearance that changed," Seiji said. "I think that it's because you're using a male player piece,"
"Kagursan is so handsome as a boy!" Mika exclaimed.
"Yep," Kaede added, "you looked especially handsome while fighting. I wish I could have recorded it."
"Kagurneechan was so awesome when she turned into an onii-chan!" Reo couldn't help but remark with sparkling eyes.
Shika didn't know what to say to all of this. And so, the swordfight scene concluded peacefully.
'Shika's opponents were merely wooden puppets that possessed very little fighting skill,' Seiji mused. 'Nor was there anything remotely bloody or inappropriate for children in that scene.'
This confirmed Seiji's suspicions that this was most likely just a board game designed for enjoyment.
The last person to roll for this round was Reo. The little girl tossed a four, the same as Seiji.
She moved her player piece to the fourth space next to Seiji's piece, and everyone entered the fantasy-illusion again.
Seiji found that he was sitting by the lakeside again, with Reo right beside him! Reo was the one with the fishing pole this time.
Seiji's role was to assist her by catching the fish in a net.
A thought appeared in Seiji's mind: 'If she can't catch the fish or if I fail to net it, it will be a failure.'
This was a rule from the game.
If a single person… if one player moved to a particular space, that player would need to singlehandedly take on the event in the space. If there were two players in the same space, then they would need to team up.
"Harano onii-chan…" Reo said uncertainly.
"Reo-chan, do your best in hooking the fish!" Seiji encouraged with a smile.
The little girl nodded. "Okay!"
The fish was hooked successfully. Reo gripped the fishing pole tightly, and her little face scrunched up.
Just like when Seiji had hooked the fish, it struggled mightily and tugged the fishing line everywhere as it swam around in circles.
"Wahh…" Reo let out a sound of frustration as her hands began to tremble. Her face was flushed from exertion.
"Fight! You can do it! Pull as hard as you can when it runs out of energy!!" Seiji cheered her on.
"Wahhhh!" the little girl shouted loudly as she suddenly tugged on the fishing pole and successfully pulled out a large red fish.
The large fish struggled free from the hook in midair and was about to drop back into the lake when Seiji reached out with the net in his hands just in the nick of time. He accurately netted the fish.
It was a success!
Seiji and Reo exchanged jubilant glances and smiled as they returned to the living room.
"It's so fun, Harano onii-chan!"
"Yep, it really is quite fun."
Although it was just an illusion, the fun they had while playing was indeed real. This board game was enchanted with a powerful spell, but it wasn't anything scary—or so it appeared.
The game continued. It was Seiji's turn to toss the die again, and he tossed a two.
He needed to move to the space that Kaede's piece was currently at—the one with the picture of a beautiful woman entering the onsen bath!
Seiji was rendered speechless.