Chapter 37

After giving Blitz a rest in the town of Battingen, we spent three days traveling 100 kilometers south along the Reinga Road. Our destination for today was a town called Bugendorf.

“Is it there…? Does it feel good there?”

“Ahh… Senpai, I can never leave you now…”

Fiene watched with a blushing face as I massaged Yoshioka’s shoulders.

I first gave Yoshioka a massage three days ago as a way of saying thanks for various things, but since then, he’s begged for one every time we finish a day’s travel. Apparently, it feels incredibly good. Maybe Golden Fingers is actually my strongest skill.

“Alright, I’m doing your legs next, so roll onto your stomach.”

“Yes…”

Just by placing my thumbs on his calves, Yoshioka let out a sigh of pure ecstasy.

“I feel like… I’m watching something I shouldn’t be seeing,” Fiene muttered, though she didn’t look away. She seemed strangely excited. Is she some kind of closet fujoshi?

“Want me to give you a treatment too, Fiene?”

Her face turned even redder as she shook her head vigorously.

“No, it’s too scary! Watching is plenty of fun for me.”

“You’re missing out. Senpai’s fingers are the best. Come on Fiene, feel the bliss with me,” Yoshioka urged.

“I-I’m quite alright, thank you!”

If you only heard the conversation, it sounded incredibly suspicious. It wasn’t just Fiene, though; Clara-sama had turned me down too. I suppose for a young woman, being touched by a man is just too embarrassing.

“Excuse me, this is a temple. Please refrain from such… strange conversations.”

A priest who happened to be passing through the hallway scolded us. We were staying in the temple’s large communal room again. Besides us, there were four other travelers staying here tonight.

Still, I couldn’t help but notice a woman who had been staring at us for a while. She looked to be in her late twenties. Her eyes had a bit of a sharp edge, but her slightly full lips were strangely sultry. She had a slender build, but her rear was perkily upturned—my eyes kept drifting there despite myself.

“Does it really feel that good?”

Oh, she’s the one talking to us.

“Hey, ‘Senpai-san,’ would you do me next?”

Is this okay? Is this really okay?!

“Of course, I don’t mind. Are there any particular spots that are tired?”

I desperately calmed my heart so she wouldn’t realize how excited I was.

“I’ve been walking all day, and my feet are absolutely killing me.”

“Understood. Then please lie face down on the bed.”

I tossed Yoshioka aside and started on the lady’s massage. Her name was Elke, and she said she was traveling toward the city of Bremen.

“So, Senpai-san, I hear you’re a nobleman’s attendant?”

“That’s right. We’re in the middle of a journey to the Royal Capital.”

I massaged her while engaging in light small talk. She had quite firm, toned calves. They were muscular, without a hint of wasted fat. Had she been on a long journey?

However, she didn’t seem very relaxed. Actually, when I use Golden Fingers, I can sense exactly how tense the other person is. Maybe she couldn’t fully let go because a man she didn’t know was touching her.

I raised the skill level from 1 to 2. Golden Fingers has levels from 1 to 5. The effects and the pleasure provided change depending on the stage. I’d only ever used up to level 2 on Yoshioka, so even I didn’t fully understand what level 3 or higher would do.

“Haa… fuu… It really does feel wonderful… By the way, which noble do you serve, Senpai-san?”

Her sighs were erotic. This was way more fun than doing it for Yoshioka.

“A Knight Bachelor from Ebba-berg Village, further north from Bremen.”

“Is that so… haa~”

Phew, she finally seemed to be relaxing. I stimulated the pressure points behind her knees and then pushed the lymph behind her thighs upward. If I went any higher, I’d definitely be crossing a line, right? The eyes of the people around us were reproachful.

But it really is more relieving if you loosen the muscles above the hips too, I told myself as an excuse. Farewell, lovely hips. If I’m reborn as a chair in the next life, let’s meet again.

Reluctantly, I finished the massage.

“How was it?”

“I feel completely refreshed. Why don’t you quit being an attendant and do this for a living, Senpai-san?”

“I’ll consider it if I’m ever fired.”

It was a pleasant moment. Fiene called me a lecher and a pervert later, but I found that quite unfair. I didn’t have a single millimeter of indecent intent!

Pretending to be nonchalant, I stepped out into the hallway, where a male companion approached Elke.

“How was it?”

“No, she’s a rural Knight Bachelor from the North. Not the Baron we’re looking for.”

The man let out a breath of relief at Elke’s words. It seemed the noble staying at the temple tonight wasn’t the target they were hunting. With that confirmed, the man’s posture relaxed.

“By the way, you looked like you were enjoying that quite a bit. That wasn’t just an act, was it?”

“Don’t be stupid. Of course it was,” Elke snapped, turning her back to cut the conversation short.

She did so because his observation was half-right. And that was exactly why she didn’t want to talk about it.

Elke’s job was brutal. Sometimes it required her to be held by men she despised, coaxing information out of them in the heat of passion. But no matter how rough, how kind, or how persistent they were, Elke never forgot her mission. The cries echoing in the bedroom and the gasps intended to please men were all calculated performances.

But what was that just now?

At first, she thought it was just a skilled massage. But then, it changed instantly. For a fleeting moment, Elke felt her very soul being unraveled and put at ease. It was the first time she had ever succumbed to such a sensation in the middle of a mission.

He had the face of a goofy dog, but he might actually be a dangerous man. That was the impression Kota Hinoharu left on her.

While I was preparing dinner in the temple’s communal kitchen, I started hearing a commotion. It went on for a bit, and then a priest came scurrying toward me, looking pale as a ghost.

“Attendant, please! I need you to relay a message to the Knight Bachelor immediately!”

I’m in the middle of cooking and a problem pops up? “What happened?”

“Well, a noble who just arrived is demanding to be given a private room.”

What kind of selfishness is that? If I recall, the two private rooms were already occupied.

“And what am I supposed to do about it?”

I assumed he wanted to negotiate a swap, but that was a lost cause. Clara-sama hates that kind of underhanded behavior. If it were a sick person or a frail elderly traveler, she’d give up her room in a heartbeat, but she wouldn’t budge an inch for a spoiled brat.

“The noble who arrived says he will settle the matter himself, so he’s demanding that the Knight Bachelor be brought to him.”

Okay, that’s just absurd. “Do you really think I can relay a message like that?”

“No, I know it’s an unreasonable request, but…” The priest bowed his head low in apology. Now I felt like the bad guy. He was caught in the middle, and I actually felt sorry for him.

“Hey! Is it done yet?!”

A high-pitched voice rang out, and a man with a face like a rat appeared. Judging by his clothes, he was an attendant like us, but he had “small-fry” written all over him.

“How long do you intend to keep my master waiting? Hurry up and call that country knight out here!”

Oh? What did this little rat just say?

“Excuse me, what did you just call her? Did you just refer to my master as a ‘country knight’?”

This is a world where a commoner can be whipped just for speaking ill of a noble. This guy was being incredibly reckless. The realization seemed to hit him, and his tone dropped a notch.

“M-my master is the Baron of Kammerstett, Lord Pech!”

What a funny name. Since nothing else about him was interesting, I decided to ignore him.

“Hey, go get your master, now.”

“And why exactly should my master follow your orders?”

The rat’s face turned bright red. “No, it’s my master who is giving the order!”

That made even less sense. People usually think of titles like Duke, Count, or Baron as a simple hierarchy, but the nobility in the Kingdom of Saxens isn’t that straightforward. You can’t just assume a Baron outranks a Knight Bachelor across the board.

Think of it like Japanese feudal society. Could a middle-ranking retainer from the Kaga Domain just order around a lower-ranking samurai from the Sunpu Domain? Not really. Family prestige and which higher noble you’re affiliated with play huge roles. What this guy was saying was incredibly rude and ignorant.

“Tell me, is your master really trying to command mine?” I stared him down coldly.

“Well, I… that is…” The rat seemed to realize his blunder.

“What is taking so long?!”

A needlessly loud voice boomed, and a man accompanied by four hangers-on strutted toward us. It looked like Lord Pech had made his entrance.