Awakening To A New Sensation

My new assignment was ridiculously far away.

The distance from the royal capital of Rosaria to Gaurea Fortress was approximately 376 kilometers.

That might not have been a big deal in Japan, with its bullet trains and extensive highway network, but in this world, where carriages were practically the only means of transportation, it was an outrageous distance.

I was traveling in a carriage with my assistant, Karan McWell-san, but journeys in this world were absolutely grueling.

Even a car would shake quite a bit when driving along an unpaved road, right?

Now imagine enduring that in a carriage for eight hours every single day.

The roads were terrible, and the jolting of a carriage without shock absorbers was worse than anything I could have imagined.

Every single bump sent a shock straight through my backside and lower back.

The pain had grown worse with each passing day, to the point where I could barely stand sitting normally anymore.

“Is something the matter, my lord?”

Karan-san spoke to me as I continued squirming in my seat.

At first, I’d thought she disliked me because of her distant attitude, but apparently, that had been a misunderstanding.

She was simply a woman of few words who rarely showed any expression.

She seemed to be the type whose emotions never showed on her face.

“I’m not used to traveling by carriage… Are you really not bothered by it, Karan-san?”

“If the pain is severe, I can treat it for you. I am capable of basic healing magic, so please do not hesitate to ask.”

“Really!? Then you should’ve told me sooner! I’m already at my limit!”

In fact, the pain had become so unbearable that it was bringing tears to my eyes.

“Very well, let us begin the treatment. Please lower your trousers and turn the affected area toward me.”

Wait, did she just casually say something completely outrageous…?

“Huh?”

“My healing magic is rather rudimentary. I cannot use it without directly touching the affected area.”

In other words, I had to expose my bare backside right in front of Karan-san?

That was way too embarrassing…

“Th-Then I’ll pass on the treatment…”

“Why? Did you not say that the pain was almost unbearable?”

Karan-san questioned me without the slightest change in her expression.

Well, even if she put it that way…

“I’d feel bad making you look at my backside, Karan-san, and it’s embarrassing…”

“If you insist that treatment is unnecessary, I will not force you. However, you must not allow your official duties to be delayed because of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I would find it most regrettable if your condition deteriorated and we had to waste time in a post town waiting for you to recover. Rather than squander time in such a pointless manner, I suggest you set aside your embarrassment and accept my healing magic.”

Karan-san had this side to her.

She seemed to believe that as long as you achieved your objective, the process didn’t matter.

Still, I couldn’t say I didn’t understand her reasoning.

As I’d already mentioned, traveling in this world was grueling.

Even though we had twelve mounted knights escorting us, there was no denying the possibility of being attacked by monsters or bandits.

It was certainly safer to keep moving efficiently rather than waste time dawdling.

Besides, my body really had reached its limit.

The pain had finally outweighed my embarrassment.

If I just thought of it as showing the affected area to a doctor, it wouldn’t be so embarrassing, right…?

Making that excuse to myself, I asked Karan-san for help.

“Actually, could you use your healing magic on me after all? It hurts so much I feel like I’m going to die…”

“In that case, please place your hands on the bench, turn your backside toward me, and raise it nice and high.”

What kind of humiliating role-play was that supposed to be!?

I looked at Karan-san in shock, but there wasn’t the slightest hint of emotion in her blue eyes.

She didn’t seem to harbor any malicious desire to humiliate me or toy with my feelings.

As far as Karan-san was concerned, she was simply treating an injured part of my body, nothing more.

Regardless of how I felt about it…

“All right.”

Tears spilled from my eyes for more reasons than one.

What on earth was I doing?

I’d arrived in another world, my friends had become heroes, and yet I was the only useless one, reduced to exposing my backside to my own assistant…

“Let us get this over with quickly.”

The only thing that offered me any comfort was Karan-san’s businesslike, utterly monotonous voice.

Resting one hand on the bench where I’d been sitting, I unfastened my belt and button.

Then, taking care not to lower them too far, I slowly pulled down my trousers and underwear.

“You have some terrible bruising here. Is this where it hurts?”

“Eek!”

Her cold fingers touched my backside, making me let out a strange squeal.

But Karan-san paid it no attention.

“Very well. I shall begin casting the healing spell.”

With her fingers pressed against my backside, Karan-san quietly began chanting.

The distinctive rhythm of her incantation harmonized with the rumbling of the carriage wheels, filling the interior with a mysterious resonance.

“Ah…”

A soothing warmth gradually spread through me, and the pain that had tormented me began to gently fade away.

At that very moment, I sensed something unusual happening inside my body.

“Huh? What’s this?”

“Is something wrong?”

“Part of my body is getting really hot…”

“Sexual harassment is most unbecoming, my lord. I can understand why being touched by a woman as beautiful and accomplished as myself might excite you, but…”

“That’s not what I meant! The heat is deep inside my body, just below my navel!”

Wasn’t that somewhere around the area called the lower energy center in Japan?

“Ah, your mana reservoir. That is where the magical energy contained within your body accumulates. Magic is activated by circulating that energy throughout your body.”

We had been taught about that when we first arrived in this world.

That was how my classmates, who had become heroes, had awakened their superhuman powers.

I’d also received instruction in circulating magical energy during our first day of training, but I’d been almost completely incapable of doing it.

“For some reason, I can suddenly feel a tremendous amount of magical energy now.”

“Hmm… Perhaps the wavelength of your magical energy is similar to mine, my lord.”

“Is that why I’m reacting so strongly?”

“I cannot say for certain, but let us experiment. I shall now channel my magical energy into your body. Please accept it without resisting.”

“Hyaaah!”

She grabbed my backside firmly with both hands.

“S-Stop! Please don’t spread them apart!!”

“Please endure it a little longer. This may unlock your hidden potential, my lord.”

No, at this rate, she was going to open the door to an entirely different kind of world!

“Seriously, I can’t take any more! Let go of me, Karan-san!”

I tried to resist, but Karan-san only dug her fingers in even harder.

Wait, had she already seen my most private parts?

Even someone as mild-mannered as me wasn’t going to tolerate much more of this!

“That’s enough alrea… Huh?”

“There it is at last. Just one final push. Surrender yourself to me and cross that final threshold.”

The sight of me inside the enclosed carriage, having my backside gripped by an older woman while exposing my most private parts, must have been utterly surreal.

Well, I’d already gone this far. In for a penny, in for a pound!

I thrust my backside out and accepted the enormous amount of magical energy Karan-san was pouring into me.

“Ah…”

A burst of light exploded inside my mind.

I see. So this was my magical energy.

And this was the power I possessed as a Construction Company…

Amid my embarrassment and confusion, I finally achieved a moment of enlightenment.