Chapter 262

262nd Episode: Hassan Goes to the Auction – Part 9

The pulse reading of Enya Sarditch was unlike anything I’d encountered before.

Whoosh.

As I sent a faint stream of ki from the tip of my pinky to her wrist, a tingling sensation coursed through her arm, shoulder, chest, and abdomen.

But that was it.

The sensation didn’t reach her lower body.

Her lower half seemed no different from that of a dead person. Sending more energy produced the same result.

The ki I sent to her lower half disappeared, breaking off just below her navel.

Is this even possible? For all intents and purposes, her lower body could be considered lifeless.

Startled, I said, “Could you let me take a look at your legs or feet?”

“My l-legs!? My fe-feet!?”

Enya asked, utterly flustered.

At that moment, the maids standing nearby drew daggers from their sleeves with a swish.

Until then, I hadn’t paid them much attention, as they seemed merely part of the scenery, but now they were radiating such intense pressure that the atmosphere became tense and oppressive.

“You savage, how dare you attempt to spy on our young lady’s body! We won’t tolerate healers who take advantage of chaos and sorrow to commit such indecencies!”

“Your allocated time is up. Put away your sword and leave before we strike.”

Their intent to protect their young mistress sent chills down my spine.

Judging by my intuition, these women might be just as strong as Enya herself. Could they truly be handmaidens entrusted with her protection?

“Hurry, leave.”

“If you stay any longer, we will k*ll you.”

Their declaration was menacing. I felt they wouldn’t hesitate to slice through my neck.

Naturally, she’s a noblewoman, the daughter of a baron. Even back when I met the daughter of a baron, handling a woman’s body left me sweating, and now, meeting the daughter of a count, I feel even more cautious.

As I started to feel the tension creeping in, Enya, who had previously sounded flustered, raised her palm.

“It’s all right. In the Gaia Continent, there is a custom of keeping a woman’s feet carefully hidden, but I’ve heard that such practices don’t exist in the Black Wilderness. In fact, I hear that, over there, it is virtuous to display a healthy body, regardless of gender.”

Enya seemed to have understood my request as a cultural difference between the Black Wilderness and the Gaia Continent. The maids standing nearby frowned as they reached for their swords beneath the fluffy skirts of their dresses.

“To expose the body is a vulgar custom. How could you recommend such things to our young lady? This one will chase you away and have your head removed!”

Despite the maids’ passionate protest, Enya regained her composure.

“Although I am Enya Sarditch, who respects the cultures of those from distant lands, asking to see my feet is quite unsettling, isn’t it? Can you perhaps understand both my unease and my attendants’ reactions?”

Were you asking me?

“I understand.”

“Hotan of Samaria, you seem to know your manners well for a foreign savage. If you understand the implications, why then do you insist on seeing my feet?”

“It’s simply necessary. Important things, after all, are the most important.”

“That, that person! He has no sense! He’s trying to confuse us with such nonsense! A woman’s feet are meant to be seen only by her spouse! How could we ever allow our young lady to show her body to a savage like him—!”

“I’d rather sacrifice my life than let the 200-year history of the House of Sarditch be tainted by this foreign barbarian!”

The maids were furious beyond measure. However, I understood their attitudes.

According to Delphina, asking to see or touch a woman’s feet in this world is even more impolite and lewd than asking to see her chest.

Yet, if I back down now, I won’t accomplish anything. After all, my purpose for coming here into this mansion’s garden was with the determination not to retreat.

I said, “Can you ladies bear the responsibility?”

“What do you mean by that, savage!”

“If failing to show me your feet leads to Enya-sama permanently losing half of her body, or perhaps even endangering her life, can you ladies bear that responsibility?”

“What!?”

“If Enya-sama, the only child and daughter of Count Sarditch, is to continue her family line and bear the next generation, her current condition is not acceptable. This is not only the misfortune of the city but also the kingdom as a whole. If there’s a chance to cure her, and you block that with your trivial norms and etiquettes, can you take responsibility for the consequences?”

“Wha-, what nonsense—!”

The maids were greatly astonished. They had assumed until now that the savage would only respond with monosyllabic replies or remain silent, but here he was, delivering long-winded speeches.

My tongue and lips now felt like they were spinning wildly, as though struck by lightning. Even I was surprised at how such words flowed from my mouth.

Could my practice of cultivating aura have somehow enhanced my o*al skills? Of course, that wasn’t important right now.

As I was quickly brainstorming how to drive my point further home, Enya, who was sitting quietly in her chair listening to the exchange, spoke up.

“Then, Hassan of Samaria, are you willing to take responsibility?”

I could see her golden-yellow eyes peering at me beneath the black veil. Though her body was emaciated, her gaze was still alive. The will to live is always a powerful force.

“I will take responsibility. It’s a promise.”

Hum, even I thought it was a plausible story. After nodding to myself, Enya laughed heartily under her veil.

“Ha ha ha…”

She didn’t sound like a noble young lady suffering from illness but rather like a commanding general from the battlefield.

Due to her laughter, the maids stopped their grumbling, pulling their hands out of their skirts and adjusting their composure once more.

After laughing for a while, Enya finally spoke.

“I, Enya, am called a prodigy. But I am no such thing. Though, I’m certainly not a fool either. I am well aware that you’re treating me with the utmost respect because of the prestige and the name of Sarditch. That said, I’ve had a knack for detecting lies and treachery since childhood. You, Samaritan, there is no deceit in your words.”

“Ah, Miss, surely you mustn’t—.”

“Very well. Although I received blessings and graces from Lady Minerva, I would be irreverent to say this—but your vigor, Samaritan, brings to mind the same noble authority of Hypnos’ providence. Proceed.”

It’s done.

It seemed my persuasive words had worked. Though I couldn’t tell exactly why—this intelligent young lady likely misunderstood or misinterpreted my words, but in her own way, she agreed.

Of course, someone severely ill often becomes emotionally touched by trivial matters.

This is why snake oil salesmen manage to thrive, and why various medicines and religions gain strength. People who want to survive will put their faith into anything.

And of course, I am not one of those charlatans. I’m the real deal in my own way.

Since she has trusted me, it’s my duty to repay her with an equally worthy favor. She shouldn’t regret trusting me.

With that thought, I knelt before the young woman in her wheelchair and slowly extended my hands.

Then, Enya shivered.

“Uh, still, some level of discomfort is unavoidable. Hmm… Excuse me, could you give me a moment?”

“Of course, I don’t mind. But, if you could walk again, if you could rise above this war’s scars, could you promise me one repayment?”

“Repayment? What kind of—?”

“I would like you to give me the same thing you promised at the end of the war.”

“That— I will consider it.”

Swish.

As I briefly looked back, the doorman observing the inner situation called out to the outside.

“Herbalists! We’ll have a brief pause!”

This way, I exceeded the originally scheduled one-minute consultation by a long stretch. In front of me, Enya continued to take deep breaths, still trembling.

Naturally, she’s nervous. From my perspective, it is akin to being asked to expose your privates for treatment in front of a stranger.

For me, I’ve lost everything except pride, but for Enya, as a noble young lady who has built up a reputation since birth, her hesitation must be doubly intense.

Swish.

Finally, Enya pulled back the blanket.

Revealed were her feet and legs delicately placed on a support beneath the wheelchair. Her meticulously-polished boots caught the light as I gently touched them, and it seemed the maids, who had silently approved until now, let out sighs.

“Lord—.”

“Please, take this chaos away quickly.”

Despite their prayers being long or short, my hands slowly made their way down, grabbing onto Enya’s cold ankle.

“Ugh—.”

Enya responded with a sound as though she had been struck in the abdomen.

“Can you feel it?”

“No, I cannot. But, there’s a strange sensation—.”

“Then, just look at the distant mountains. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Humph, I can’t allow that. I must see everything with my own eyes. Is it wrong to want that?”

“No, not at all.”

Swish.

I casually replied as I removed Enya’s boots. Her small, well-maintained feet, cared for by her diligent maids despite her paralysis, finally rested in the palm of my hand.

Smooth, soft skin, perfectly managed and cared for.

Swish.

I gently enclosed her big toe in my hand.

“Hmmph, ugh—.”

The valiant commander, who had just laughed heartily, was now making a sound as though on the verge of tears. The energy from the maids, who were trying their best to rein themselves in, could literally pierce the skin.

I felt like I was defusing a bomb. A red wire, a blue wire—touch the wrong trigger, and it might explode.

Carefully, precisely, and swiftly.

Pssh.

Cupping her foot with both palms, I lifted it slightly before pressing my thumbs into the Yongquan point on the sole of her foot. It’s a powerful spot for stimulation, capable of awakening even the dead, healing the lower part of the body bound by Moros.

Ting, ting—.

As my thumbs became tinglingly aware and strange sensations spread from my fingertips,

“Ah, aaah—!”

I wasn’t the only one; Enya also began screaming in a high-pitched voice.

“Miss, are you all right? Is this savage employing some dark sorcery?”

“B-but my feet feel… itchy, like something is rising from my feet. What is this—what is happening—?”

Good. If the reactions are there, it’s working.

Drawing on what I learned during the days volunteering at clinics, I began channeling powerful energy into the soles of her feet.

Ting, ting—.

Energy radiating from my body traveled through her foot, ankle, and began to ascend her calf.

Shatter, shatter.

“Gyaah—!”

Enya trembled violently, like she was electrocuted, and started to cry out.

Indeed, the sensations coursing through her body must feel much like being struck by lightning, because what I was doing was forcibly breaking through the blockages in her body’s meridians and energy flows.

“Ah, aaaah! Ahh, ahh, ahng, ahh, aaaahhh—!”

Only strange, unintentional sounds escaped from her mouth. The maids watching seemed equally flustered, ceasing to merely watch; they clutched my shoulders and arms.

“Let go!”

“Savage, stop this instant!!”

But my body was brimming with heat. After focusing the energy to my knees, I worked harder to spread it higher, toward her thighs.

“Ahng, ahng, ah, aahng, aaah—! Ahhh…!”

As the red dress below her waist became damp from the growing heat, the maids raised their voices in outrage.

“Miss Enya! This perverted brute, how could he be so strong!”

“Summon help!”

“No, no, if this gets discovered, it will be disastrous!”

I remained undeterred, ignoring the maids who pulled my hair and pinched my neck and shoulders, retreating further into focus.

The energy I pushed up her thighs had now reached her lower abdomen. A little more, just a little more, and this odd paralysis might be lifted.

Grug—.

Finally, as I put all my strength into my thumbs, stimulating the bl**d point as if breaking it, Enya flailed like a fish out of water. She might fall off the chair and take a dangerous tumble.

“Maids! If you don’t want Miss to get injured, grab her shoulders!”

“B-but who dares to command me—!?”

“My body, it, it won’t obey—.”

Did my earnest explanation get through to them? The maids restraining Enya pressed her arms and shoulders down securely into the wheelchair.

Good.

The energy I channeled was now reaching the lower abdomen of Enya, aiming for the vital point known as the Dan Tian. The most crucial place in the human body for storing energy.

I spread my own energy there. A single drop would suffice, like a mustard seed growing into a large plant.

The seed of life that I sowed would surely flourish within her.

“Only a little more left.”

“No, I dislike this— Stop it! Gah, stop it! Please, I’m sorry—stop! This, let go—!”

Realizing her situation, Enya struggled to escape my grasp, but her efforts were futile due to the maids pressing her arms and shoulders.

“Let go! Let go of this, please, aaaah! Aaaah, aaahng!”

“Ah, Miss! Miss— I’m sorry! My body won’t obey my commands!”

“AAAAAAH!”

Crackling—.

Finally, Enya screamed as though struck by lightning, convulsing. The maids holding her arms also screamed and collapsed to the ground.

Poof—bl**d splattered from her nose while my mind cleared.

The usual notification of task completion flashed before my eyes, and Enya, wiping her teary eyes, uncovered her veil to stare at me in disbelief.

“What—”

I addressed her.

“Enya, Enya Sarditch. If you trust me, you’ll surely be able to walk again.”

Swish, swish—.

Enya wiggled her own feet. Seeing movement in her lower body, she questioned in disbelief.

“This, such a thing is possible? Who—exactly who are you?”

Swish, swish.

She soon stood upright, using the wheelchair and wall to steady herself as her legs, long-unused, wobbled like those of a newborn deer.

“My lady—”

“My goodness, my lady is walking again!”

The maids, who had been sprawled on the ground, were astonished. One of them wept, apparently easily moved.

Swish.

Lowering her black veil draped across her forehead, Enya asked again.

“What exactly have you done? Exactly who are you?”

Her golden eyes were deep and clear, no doubt capable of detecting falsehood.

“I— who would you prefer me to be?”

---