Chapter 214

Episode 214: The Silver Rose

Delphina took a sip of her tea from the small glass cup set before her.

“Ow, h-”

It must have been piping hot just moments ago – judging by her immediate reaction, she quickly set the cup back down with a startled jolt.

For all her apparent gaps and errors, Delphina is a highly capable Silver Tier adventurer, giving her a very human charm.

But right now, there was something more pressing on my mind.

“You want me to… touch you? Me?”

“Hmm, yes.”

This was a first. A situation I never expected to encounter in a café. I thought I’d grown out of overanalyzing every casual remark from women.

Yet here I was, doubting and imagining scenarios again.

Why would she ask me to touch her?

Could she possibly have feelings for me?

Recalling how she approached me earlier, calling out to a handsome man for some of his time…

I’ve made plenty of awkward mistakes in my life, but this seemed like a plausible situation to be skeptical about.

Even in this world where women tend to have more open-minded attitudes, they wouldn’t ask someone they didn’t like to touch them, right?

As these thoughts churned, my throat felt dry. I picked up my tea cup and drank about half of its contents in one go.

The warmth spreading through my body from the hot liquid seemed to make my head spin a little.

“If you’re asking me to touch you, where exactly would that be?”

“Everywhere.”

I was certain now.

This girl liked me.

Had I done something with her that I couldn’t recall? But then, was it really possible she could like someone like me?

I’ve heard that popular people can start relationships after knowing each other for just a day. Was it possible that my recently growing charisma had unconsciously started attracting people?

I never realized I had a talent for charming women.

Delphina wasn’t just any girl – she was quite attractive. Even just sitting with her in this teahouse drinking tea drew glances from several other men.

That someone like her liked me made me feel good, yet also made me question if this was appropriate. I already had Luna in my life.

I’ve decided to live a pure life free from infidelity. This invitation needed to be declined.

“I appreciate how you feel, but I must refuse. You see, I already have someone in my heart.”

“What? Someone in your heart? What does that even mean?”

Delphina arched her eyebrows in confusion, clearly struggling to comprehend her rejection. If the roles were reversed, I might have wanted to deny the truth too after being turned down.

As I was pondering how to gently reject her, Delphina abruptly placed her cup on the table with a soft thud and let out a short exclamation.

“Oh, did you misunderstand me? I wasn’t talking about that kind of touching. I meant a massage for my body.”

“Massage?”

“Yes, I’ve heard your massage skills are rather impressive.”

So it was about massages all along. What a relief.

Suddenly I felt terribly embarrassed. I wished I could make this moment disappear or crawl under the table. But since I couldn’t do either, I could only awkwardly sip my tea instead.

“What? You’re blushing? You’re more innocent than I thought. How did you interpret my request, hmm?”

Delphina poked and prodded at the weak spot she found in my composure, relentless like an adventurer exploiting a monster’s weakness.

Indeed, Delphina of the piercing commentary.

Wielding her slender needle-like dagger true to her adventurer class, she attacked with precision at the openings she found in my defense.

“No, it was just-”

“Thinking about dirty things, weren’t you? Tsk, pervert.”

“Ahem, kind of.”

“But now that I think about it, it’s annoying. You rejected my suggestive request for touching. I’m starting to feel petty about it.”

“I’m busy. Let’s drop this conversation. Let’s talk about the massage you want instead.”

I tried to change the subject to escape this awkward situation.

“Busy? You’ve got time to wait around all day for pink-haired Luna, don’t you?”

With the skill of a seasoned horseman reining in runaway horses, Delphina skillfully brought the conversation back to where it started.

I realized then that Delphina had considerable experience tormenting naive men like me.

Perhaps she had ruled her neighborhood as a tomboy, knocking young boys on the head.

If I let myself get drawn into her rhythm, I’d probably end up mentally stripped and dismembered.

I needed to regain control of this conversation.

“I’ll get up if you keep making small talk. I don’t give massages to just anyone, you know.”

“Really? I was going to offer proper compensation. I heard you’re about to advance to Silver Tier, right? This could be quite helpful for that.”

“What exactly are you offering?”

The Alchemist Guild has many rooms.

Among them are on-duty rooms for night-shift personnel.

Though not much to look at, with just a bed and a few drawers.

“This room will do perfectly, I suppose.”

There was no better place in the Alchemist Guild to give Delphina a massage.

“Come here often?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Delphina responded while casually sitting on the bed.

“Adventurers use doping as standard practice. Plus, we need various kinds of medicine.”

Indeed, a true statement from a high-ranking adventurer. Unlike lower-tier Iron or Bronze adventurers who avoid buying potions due to cost, Silver Tier adventurers earning considerably more can freely apply doping agents and purchase expensive enchanted equipment to protect and enhance their bodies.

Even the leather armor and shoulder guards Delphina wore looked to be in excellent condition. Possibly enhanced with protective enchantments.

How much would something like that cost?

While scanning her with my eyes,

Delphina wrapped her arms around herself and covered her chest.

“What are you looking at? Pervert. Women are pretty sensitive to men’s gazes, you know.”

sh*t.

I can’t let my guard down even for a second.

Every word from Delphina’s mouth feels like it’s cutting years off my life. It’s like an attack that penetrates physical defenses with ease.

But this was a closed massage clinic.

And the authority here belonged not to the client but to me, the masseur.

“Alright then, lie down already.”

“Lie down?”

“Yes, you asked for a massage, right? Let me give you a quick 30-minute full body session.”

“Full body 30 minutes?”

Delphina slightly raised her eyebrows, clearly not understanding what I was talking about.

“Yeah, sure. You can lie down while wearing your clothes, right?”

“You mean it’s okay to keep them on?”

“If you’d rather take them off, go ahead.”

“Hmm, no thanks.”

“That’s fine then. But you should at least take off your pauldrons.”

“Alright, sounds promising.”

Swoosh, clink.

Delphina removed her gauntlets, shoulder guards, and greaves, then promptly took off the leather armor she was wearing.

Beneath it was a sandy-colored short-sleeve shirt. The slightly stretched fabric suggested it had seen plenty of use, somewhat surprising given her pristine appearance.

And the chest underneath was about the same size as Luna’s – quite appropriate.

Not good. I shouldn’t be looking.

Before Delphina could tease me with “pervert,” I hastily turned away my gaze. However, she just laughed.

“You’re surprisingly innocent. Haven’t you seen a woman’s body much?”

“Is that relevant? Anyway, lie down.”

I slapped my hand on the bed. Then Delphina, grinning mischievously as if about to say something more, simply followed my instruction and stretched out on the bed, face down.

Looking at her now, her body’s balance was actually quite good. Normally, people tend to favor either the left or right side.

“By any chance, are you ambidextrous?”

“How did you know?”

“To be honest, I kind of guessed.”

“But actually, I’m not truly ambidextrous. I used to be left-handed but learned to use both.”

“Is that so? Was your handedness forcibly corrected?”

“Most equipment is designed for right-handers. And most battle formations are calibrated for right-handers too. I used to be in the Falakia Brigade.”

I don’t know what that Falakia Brigade is,

but I could imagine that a left-hander might find life inconvenient enough to train using their right hand, eventually becoming somewhat ambidextrous.

Still, looking at how evenly balanced her joints and muscles were, it must have taken tremendous effort to achieve this perfect equilibrium.

Most top-tier adventurers above Silver rank are workaholics like that.

They have talent and work hard.

Obsessive workers.

That’s why the lower-rank adventurers like me will never catch up with them using ordinary methods.

“Alright, let’s start then. This will be a 30-minute session.”

I flipped the 30-minute hourglass in the on-duty room.

Swish swish.

As the sand began to slowly flow down, I carefully took hold of Delphina’s right wrist first.

“What’s with the wrist?”

“Quiet now.”

Ding!

Name: Delphina Goldseeker Level 32

Condition: Chronic lower back pain

Wow, this was the first time I saw such a clean bill of health. Many high-level adventurers often have numerous debuffs like curses attached to them.

So Delphina must be quite skilled at taking care of her body, right?

Level 32, exactly 10 levels above me.

Speaking of which, wasn’t the level of the Gogriad I defeated around 30? I wonder if I could fight her if she used necromancy.

But the image that came to mind was just of her piercing needle-like blade skewering my heart.

“What are you doing?”

“No, isn’t your lower back in pretty bad shape?”

“Well, it is. But can you tell that just by touching my wrist?”

“Hmm, not really. Anyway, let’s get started.”

I didn’t particularly care where to start. I just thought her slim yet toned waist would be a good place to begin.

Squish.

Though quite slim, her physique felt very well-balanced and toned beneath the thin short-sleeve shirt.

“Aahh…!”

“What, what is it?”

“Just testing. You’re starting with the lower back, I see.”

“Since your lower back doesn’t seem to be in good condition.”

Squish.

Without much consideration of technique, I grabbed her sides with both hands.

As expected from someone who trains hard, despite her slim build, she had quite firm muscle density.

“Guh… Hmm, not bad. Let’s try going in circular motions, pressing upward with the thumbs…”

Delphina evaluated my massage technique almost like a critique. It felt like a good opportunity to study massage techniques as well.

Could she be trying to steal my techniques?

Of course, if she wants to try, let her.

With that mindset, I proceeded to firmly press Delphina’s lower back with my thumbs.

Each time, her tight buttocks contracting was quite a sight. Such healthy reactions.

“Ugh, ah, does it hurt?”

“This will hurt more. This might even break your bones, so relax.”

“Relax?”

With my palm still on her pelvis, I applied strong upward pressure.

Crack!

A sound like a rafter breaking echoed loudly.

“Uuuuughh!!”

At the same time, Delphina, gripping the bedsheet tightly, looked to be in considerable pain. The message “chronic lower back pain cured” appeared before my eyes along with the completion value.

With this, my current completion value reached 255.

It seems there won’t be any occasion to use up this completion value anytime soon. I should ask Luna for a totem when I get home today and aim to level up a bit.

Two level-ups should be possible. With some luck, I could reach level 26 from 24 or 25.

Even without fully mastering aura, it won’t be long until I achieve the Silver Tier-appropriate level 30.

When the pursuit of necromancers eases a bit, releasing some bone goblins into the forest where monsters appear for automatic farming of completion values could be a good strategy.

While enthusiastically spinning the wheel of happiness in this manner,

“Ugh… It still hurts…”

Delphina, who had been twitching after her back adjustment, slowly sat up. Her furrowed brows suggested she was in considerable pain indeed.

The sound had been quite loud, so I imagine the pain must have been significant.

“Your lower back should feel better now, right?”

“Come to think of it, it does seem better… Quite amazing. Though it’s frustrating, I have to admit. Samaritan, speaking of which, could I use the remaining 20 minutes or so for someone else?”

“Someone else?”

“If things go well, I’ll tell you the location of a named monster we’ve discovered.”

Named monster.

One of the things I’ve been most interested in lately has been these named monsters.

Killing them not only secures Luna’s safety but also provides an opportunity to obtain the bodies of powerful monsters.

I’ve been somewhat regretful for not being able to resurrect the body of Gogriad, king of the goblins.

Reviving him could have resulted in quite a maxed-out bone goblin.

So I asked with slight suspicion,

“Isn’t it Elpride?”

[Author’s Note]

Though the quota should be uploaded at midnight, I’m posting it early… And there’s an announcement… I’ll be taking a one-day break…

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