The cramped room was lit by candlelight.
Li Qiuzhi spread the mat the inn had prepared in the room across the narrow wooden floor between the bed and the wooden door.
Lumine sat on the other edge of the bed, the side that formed its width, and rested her left leg, its soft contours outlined by a white over-the-knee boot, on her right knee.
Gripping both sides of the sole, she wiggled the boot from side to side to loosen it, then pulled it off.
With the boot gone, the sheer white stocking that also covered her leg was revealed. The bright yellow lamplight caressed her calf and ankle, and her smooth skin seemed about to spring out through the stocking's fine mesh.
Lumine slowly slid her left leg down from her right knee along the tall boot, finally resting her toes lightly on the wooden floor.
Then she took off her right boot the same way and placed both boots beneath the table a little farther ahead.
After the tall boots came the long sleeves on her arms.
Once she had removed the sleeves, she raised both hands, exposing her snowy-white underarms, and reached behind her neck to undo her dress's ties and take it off. Only then did she suddenly remember there was a guy here.
Although she wore a bra-like undergarment and Lantern Shorts underneath, letting a grown man see them still seemed somewhat inappropriate.
"...Um, Li Qiuzhi."
A hint of hesitation flickered in Lumine's amber eyes as she called out to the young Adventurer.
Li Qiuzhi had almost finished laying out the mat. Hearing Lumine call him, he looked back and asked in some confusion:
"What is it?"
"Uh, well..." Lumine glanced away rather than meet his gaze. Her palms rested on her knees as she