"Whoa, whoa. I get that you're excited, but don't you think you're overdoing it? Calm down a bit."
Everyone turned toward the voice coming from an entirely different direction. There, right next to the parasol where Ryuga was guarding the luggage, stood Anhel. She had set up her own parasol and beach mat before anyone had even noticed she was there.
As she rummaged through her bags, a stunned Melt called out to her.
"A-An?! When did you...?"
"Oh, this? I heard we were heading to the beach, so I put together a little rest area that's easy to deploy. One pulse of magic power, one push of a button, and—pop! Pretty useful, right?"
"No, that’s not what I meant...!"
Melt wanted to point out that she wasn't asking how the gear was set up, but rather when she had arrived—however, the words died in her throat the moment Anhel turned toward them.
She was reminded once again that, in many ways, this girl was simply off the charts.
Melt and Setsuna both took pride in their own figures, but Anhel was on an entirely different level. Even without resorting to the petty tricks Setsuna had employed, her explosive proportions were obvious at a single glance.
Clad in a sporty orange bikini, her look was the polar opposite of Melt’s, who had tried to balance cuteness and sexiness. Anhel had gone all-in on a single path—maximizing her natural weapons. In other words, she had reached the pinnacle of pure sexiness.
"They're... huuuuuuge...!"
"Thanks for the compliment, Melt. Though it’s a bit of a pain; I had a hard time finding a cute swimsuit because of them."
Anhel picked up the words that had slipped from Melt’s mouth and gave a mock-complaining sigh.
It was true that the swimsuit she had chosen was quite plain, but that lack of flair only served to highlight her overwhelming physique. Above all, the design was modest—nothing like an erotic micro-bikini—which meant no one could even call her out for being inappropriate.
It was simple, really. The girl wearing it was just that incredible.
At this point, the initial shock Yugo had felt seeing Melt and Setsuna in their swimwear had likely been wiped from his mind entirely.
Anhel had effectively erased the desperate efforts of her two rivals with a single blow, but she wasn't finished. She began laying out her next move.
"Hey, it's fine to play around since we're at the beach, but you’d better make sure you put on sunscreen, okay? You'll regret it later if you don't."
As she spoke, Anhel poured sunscreen lotion from a bottle into her palm and began rubbing it over her skin.
She started with her neck, shoulders, and arms, but once she reached her chest, the boys—all having various thoughts about the display—immediately averted their eyes.
"Phew... Okay, all that’s left is my back..."
Having finished the areas she could reach, Anhel gave a small chuckle and glanced toward the guys.
Melt and Setsuna instinctively stepped forward to shield Yugo from her gaze, but Anhel didn't call for him. Instead, she addressed the other boy.
"Fee, sorry to bother you, but would you mind rubbing some sunscreen on your big sister's back?"
"Wh-What?! M-Me?!"
"It’ll probably be more effective if it’s applied by a cute boy’s delicate fingertips, don't you think? Or what? Is little Fee too shy to touch me?"
"Hey! Hold it! Stop messing with Fee!!"
Melt and the others hadn't understood why Anhel had picked Fee over Yugo, but the moment Yugo shouted his protest, everything clicked.
If she acted suggestively toward Fee, Yugo would inevitably jump in to stop it. Anhel had predicted this perfectly. As he took the bait, she flashed a triumphant grin.
"Oh? What's this? You mean you'll lend me a hand instead, Yugo?"
"Ugh...!"
With a soft sound, Anhel undid the strings of her bikini top. She lay face-down on the mat and turned a teasing, sidelong glance toward him.
While Yugo stood there speechless, overwhelmed by the sight and her piercing gaze, Melt and Setsuna scrambled to sabotage the plan.
"A-An! We'll do it! We can put the sunscreen on for you!"
"Y-Yeah! We haven't put ours on yet, so we might as well do each other’s..."
"Oh, then you two should go ahead and do that. While you're busy, I'll let Yugo take care of me. It's more efficient that way, right? No time wasted."
"Ngh...!"
Anhel parried their suggestions with ease, steering the situation exactly where she wanted it. It was as if she had simulated every possible outcome beforehand.
To shoot the rider, first shoot the horse. Melt and Setsuna grew increasingly frantic as they watched her execute that proverb to perfection.
(She's going for skin-to-skin contact before any of us! And with that dynamite body right in front of him?! This is bad!!)
(She definitely has a follow-up planned. She's going to stage some lucky lecher accident to rattle Yugo even more...!)
The two girls felt a genuine sense of dread at Anhel's strategy, which combined overwhelming physical prowess with the cunning to use those around her as pawns. They desperately tried to think of a way to break the deadlock before she won the game then and there, but Anhel’s preparation was always one step ahead.
(Give it up, Melt, Setsuna! Sorry, but this stage belongs to me!!)
Anhel, fully aware of her greatest weapons, issued a silent declaration of victory to her rivals.
Melt and Setsuna ground their teeth in frustration, seeing the certainty of triumph in her eyes. It seemed things were going to go exactly as Anhel desired... but then?
"Yugo-dono! Yugo-donooo!"
In most cases, the one who shatters a sophisticated web of schemes is someone who moves with pure, uncalculated simplicity.
And they had forgotten. They had forgotten that among them was a girl who was the ultimate natural-born airhead.
Yugo and the others instinctively turned toward the voice, and the moment they saw who it was, they nearly choked.
Completely oblivious to their reaction, the newcomer began to speak with a radiant, wide-eyed smile.