He Didn't Want to Be the Center of Attention, Hence, after Defeating the Demon Lord, He Became Guild Master Chapter 15

Ma.s.sages and the girl of the attic

I was the fifth member of the expedition issued to exterminate the Demon Lord.
As I watched over my comrades, I had to face quite the number of problems.
One of them was that even though I was accompanying probably the most powerful people in the world, their young bodies couldn't withstand the harsh journey, so we had to take some breaks to let them rest.

Back then, Yuma was nine, and Mylarka was eleven. Neither of them was used to walk for long, so I often had to carry them piggyback.
If their legs were to hurt so badly that they couldn’t move the next they, the party would have been weakened drastically, so, as I kept doubting my adventurer score, I ended up taking care of everyone’s conditions.

Cody was way st.u.r.dier than both of them, to the point that we started to joke about it.
'Cody the cold repellent', that's what we called him.

Aileen’s body was so strong that she wouldn’t have lost even after an army of men. She gave only to me the privilege to call her 'girl of steel', even though I never really started to use that alias.

Anyway, in order to keep my comrades at their best conditions, I had to polish a lot of skills.
The result was a mix of Healing Magic, Support Magic, and other techniques: Seitai Magic1.

"Aaah… Nnnh… d.i.c.k, you’re so skilled… It’s been a while since you went so deep…"
"Seems like the effects of my magic reached your core… but please, refrain from giving a commentary. Furthermore, my name is Sebas."
"B-But… calling your real name makes me feel more at ease."
"Oh well, it is not a problem as long as the others didn't hear that. I will try to make you enjoy this, since you always accept difficult requests. Do you want to be ma.s.saged somewhere in particular?"
"…I don’t, really… maybe my arms?"
"It would've been easier if you had a request."
"I-I tried to say the first thing that crossed my mind! I know you won’t try to do anything funny!"

She said she trusted me, just like Mylarka.
At first, the muscles from her back to her hips were stiff, but she slowly relaxed, and was now defenseless.
I had lit some incense to amplify the relaxing effect, thinking that it would have been better to let her sleep. I had to use a tool because I didn’t know any technique to reproduce the same effect.

"…E-Err… d.i.c.k, it’s not like I don’t see you as a man…"
"Thanks for worrying, my Lady. I shall move to your arms next."
"That actually sounded unexpectedly butler-ish. This way of talking suits you."
"Where did that ‘unexpectedly’ come from…? I guess it’s not the right time to complain, though."

Aileen was wearing a simple one-piece dress, not her usual martial artist’s-like garments. Its sleeves were short, so they didn’t bother my ma.s.sage. I placed my hands on her shoulders, adjusted her blood flow, and slowly made her relax her arms.

"Nhah… S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to moan… Guess I’m stiffer than expected…"
"You did your best so far, but you acc.u.mulated a lot of stress without noticing. You should rest like this every once in a while."
"T-Thank you… Nnnh… but if you doooh… this ooohftennnh…! Ah, there! Aaaah…!"
"I am only doing this normally. Please, try to hold your reactions back."
"B-But you’re… so good… Y-You’re ma.s.saging my arms, but it feels so good…!"
"I am performing a medical treatment, that's why it feels good. It would hurt if I was not using magic, but I don’t have to use much strength with this method."
"I-I see… It feels this good because of magic… You are too serious about something like this…"

I kept an ‘I’m always serious’ to myself, and ended the ma.s.sage on her arms. Then, I reached out to the stiff muscles of her back.
Lowering my gaze, I looked at Aileen’s b.u.t.tocks. It’s said that large hips are ideal for a safe childbirth, and hers were exactly like that.
The figure of her parents popped out in my head suddenly, though.

"Aaah~! I feel like I'm melting again~! This is an addictive feeling~!"
"It is better to let the magic flow within the body when ma.s.saging the hips."
"I-I don’t know what’s that, but I feel like… a warm whirlpool between my waist and hips…"
"I will not pour anymore in you, but I wanted you to try it. Anyhow, you have quite beautiful legs… How could you build your muscles in such an ideal way?"
"O-Oh my, he even praised me… I-I… can’t take it… any longer… Nh…!"

I couldn’t understand if that was a good thing or a bad one. I could stop right there if she wanted, since she was now too relaxed to moan and whenever I used some magic her body twitched. That wasn’t voluntary.
When muscles receive Healing Magic directly, they contract before healing.

I then descended from her thighs to her calves, and she lost consciousness while I was ma.s.saging her feet. The line that framed the lower part of her body’s silhouette matched perfectly a martial artist’s, and it was said to be most appreciated look for legs, but I discarded that thought, wiped my forehead and recollected myself.

After I finished, I told Mylarka to enter.

"…How could Aileen, who wasn’t particularly tired, faint for a ma.s.sage?"
"I helped her relax as much as I could. Please, lay on this bed, my Lady."
"D-Don’t say bed. It’s lewd when you say it."

There were many questions I wanted to ask as a butler, like "What might you imagine could happen on that bed", but I remembered that Yuma was the special guest, so I had to end Mylarka’s ma.s.sage quickly.

"…I remember that you ma.s.saged only my legs last time… but did you ma.s.sage Aileen’s whole body?"
"Yes, I relaxed and wiped away the fatigue from her muscles using Healing Magic."
"I-I see… I guess she allowed you only to ma.s.sage her around her back, right? I don’t understand why she’s face up now, though."
"Exactly. Still, if you have any request for this ma.s.sage, I will fulfill it to the best of my abilities."
"…Treat me like Aileen, thanks. But start from my feet. It helps me relax."

She sat on the bed and pulled up her skirt, paying attention to not letting me see under it. I then took off her boots, like I did in the past.

Back in our journey, she didn’t wear anything beneath them, but now she was wearing black tights. It was only another confirmation of how much she had grown in those five years. Only a small part of n.o.bility wore them, but as the teacher of the Magic academy, she could hire a personal dressmaker.
White tights made of hemp were mainstream, while the ones she wore were made of black moth’s silkworms. Even though I could understand their material from a simple touch, I had never seen tights like those.

"…W-What, should I also take off my tights? Being barefoot is embarra.s.sing…"
"No, they are not a problem. Let us start the ma.s.sage. With all that walking, I am sure that you are tired now."
"A distance like that isn’t…"
"Those boots are a new purchase, are they not? Are you already used to them?"
"W-Well, that’s…"

As I held her foot, I pressed my fingers on her sole, and confirming that shoe sores might have appeared soon, I started to use Healing Magic.

"…You’re pretty good. You look more like a doctor than a guild master right nah…! Nh… T-This warm feeling… Are you using magic?"
"Yes, I tend to use it for ma.s.sages. Until my Lady becomes used to her new boots, I should help you as I can. Healing light - Regeneration."

Mylarka didn’t oppose resistance. It seemed that the places where the fatigue acc.u.mulated the most were her eyes, shoulders and waist. This was probably connected to her work as a teacher, since she had to sit for a long time and deal with paperwork.

"My Lady, if you might grant me a little more of your time, I strongly suggest you let me treat your entire body."
"…Fine. I won’t fall asleep like Aileen. I came here for an important reason, so I have to be vigilant."
"That is not necessary. You should spend the time until dinner as you wish.
You might be tired because of your work, so maybe taking a good rest will benefit you."

When I finished with her feet, she laid face down on the bed.

I wondered how Aileen, who was still sleeping soundly near to us, was doing, but I didn’t mouth my doubts and continued my duty.

"I told you to be hospitable, but… even though your butler-ish way of talking seems forced, it isn’t as bad as I expected."

She was acting more mature than usual… I wondered if I should have acted more gentlemanly when I wanted her to listen to me.

As I acknowledged the existence of a defenseless Mylarka, who was now laying sprawled on her face, I pressed my fingers on her back, and she let out a soft voice. I pretended not to hear it and continued my professional ma.s.sage indifferently.

◆◇◆

In the end, Mylarka fell asleep, and I invited Yuma in the room, but since she found quite unsettling being touched by a man, I performed a 'touchless ma.s.sage'.
I only used magic without touching her directly.

She sat on the bed, and I started to pour magic into her holding my hands aloft her body. As expected, given the enormous amount of work she had to do, she had acc.u.mulated quite a lot of stress. Bearing it with her pet.i.te body was an incredible feat, but she needed to relax.

"This is really pleasant, Mister Sebas. You can use Healing Magic, can you not?"
"I shall master any ability that might please my guests."

If I told her that I could use both Healing and Support Magic, she would have understood my ident.i.ty.
Still, it wouldn’t have been strange if she, who received my ma.s.sages in the past, connected the dots. Luckily, it seemed that she didn’t notice anything.

"I have an important comrade… maybe calling him a friend would be better… that can use Healing Magic."
"…Oh, do you know someone like that?"
"Yes. He seems a cold person, but thinks about the people surrounding him all the time. Even though I am a priestess, I can’t use Healing Magic. Still, he never got mad once and kept healing us patiently. Whenever I looked at him performing those treatments, I thought that I also wanted to be able to do that…"

Probably, she was referring to d.i.c.k Silver… Me.
I didn’t know that she thought that much about me, and I wondered if hearing that while disguised would have been fair.

The only thing I could do at that moment was to answer her as a butler.

"I am sure that he has a deep respect for you, Lady Yuma. Your occupation is wonderful, it soothes people’s heart."
"I-Is that so…? I still have a long way to go, and could not help anyone so far…"
"As straightforward as I might be, I still want to support your hard work. I wonder if my will is shared by everyone else… Anyhow, the ma.s.sage is finished."
"Ah… I-I see. My body feels amazingly lighter. Thank you very much."

She stood on her feet and bowed her head with grat.i.tude.
Her hair, that almost reached her shoulders, swayed gently, and she started to brush them shyly with both hands. That innocent gesture made me think that she hadn't changed much from the Yuma I remembered.

"…Well then, it is time for me to prepare dinner."
"O-Okay… Thank you again. I will rest until the other two wake up."
"Please, make yourself at home. If you’ll excuse me."

I left them in the room. I already had everything I needed to prepare dinner, so I shouldn’t have had any problem in making it by myself…
But as I was thinking that, I heard someone’s footsteps echoing in the corridor.

Other than Mylarka, Aileen, Yuma and me, there shouldn’t have been anyone else in this mansion. Still, I could hear them clearly.

I decided to follow them.

The second floor counted twelve rooms, and the girls’ one was on the east side.
No one should be using the ones on the west side. I opened the rooms and checked if someone was in there, but I saw no one. The artwork room was empty, too.

Thinking about it, maybe… the attic.
The stairs that lead there were in the west side of the second floor.
I had already checked both it and the cellar, but I guessed that something might have changed at nightfall.

This was supposed to be a haunted house. Facing that reality, as a little of tension started to build within me, I headed to the attic.

When I opened the door and entered… the warm, dim colors of the twilight painted the room pa.s.sing through the window.
Standing in front of it was a little girl. Judging by her black dress and the headdress placed on her long, silver hair, I guessed that she might have had a n.o.ble bloodline.

"…Who might you be? How did you enter this mansion?"

She lifted the hem of her skirt.

"…This is the first time we meet. I am the former owner of this mansion."

It seemed like my guess was right.
The former owner… Why was she in the attic? And where was she when I investigated the building with my guild members?

There was a lot I wanted to ask her, but something far more important than anything else drew my attention.

Her breath-taking beauty, which remembered me of a fine painting, made me forget about everything else for a few seconds.

1整体 (Seitai) = manipulative therapy based on Chinese and j.a.panese traditions, and encompa.s.sing osteopathy, ma.s.sage and chiropractic.