༺ Hassan— Masseur of The Wild (2) ༻
“Are you going to give me a massage?”
“Yes. Lie down here, Hassan.”
While I’ve been massaging people for a while now, it has been really long since I’ve received one myself. Isn’t it the first time since coming to this world?
Because of that, I couldn’t hide my surprise at all.
“Come on, you also had a hard time while fighting the deer.”
I was practically forced to lie down on the deer skin at the urging of her shrill voice. I could feel the soft skin of a small palm resting on my back.
Press— Press—
Though, I was only feeling rather ticklish every time she was pressing on my body.
“How is it?”
How was it? I wasn’t feeling much of anything, to be honest. Luna didn’t seem to know the basics of massaging or even the concept of massaging itself. Moreover, her presses were rather weak, lacking any significant amount of force.
“Why don’t you try pressing a little harder?”
“I’m already giving it my all. Isn’t it because your clothes are getting in the way?”
Now that I think about it, the jacket I am wearing is rather thick. No wonder her touch was feeling rather weak. I was already very sturdy but with that extra thick layer of clothes added to the mix, Luna had no chance of applying any significant amount of pressure on my body.
Rustle— Rustle—
I stood up for a moment and took off my jacket. Now that this thick leather jacket was gone, even the feeble Luna should be able to massage me more easily.
“…Why are you taking off all your clothes all of a sudden?”
“It’s gonna be more effective if you directly press on my bare skin.”
“Y-Your bare skin…? I’ve never touched a man’s body before…”
I could hardly believe the fact that I was getting a massage from a woman who never touched the body of a man before. The realization made me feel a little strange.
“Well, then try to do your best.”
“Hmm, I’ll try. Don’t raise your hopes though…”
Luna then sighed, as if she was trying to pull herself together. She was making massaging me look like a pretty big deal. Soon, she reached out to my back with a confident expression on her face, though her trembling hands told me a different story.
Perhaps because she had just been outside, her palms were unexpectedly cool. Of course, that was for the best as it felt very good.
“Wow, your back is so wide, You have a lot of scars and wounds too. There are even some fresh bruises.”
My body trembled as her soft hands touched my back.
“Ah, dammit, you know that I’m bruised there, right? So, don’t press on that area.”
My whole body was covered in bruises after getting trampled under the deer’s hooves and hit by their antlers. While it would eventually get better after a few nights of sleep, right now, it was hurting like hell.
“Huuh, uhh, s-so should I do this?”
Luna sat on my butt and began earnestly massaging my back with both of her hands. She seemed to be mimicking what I did to her earlier.
I wasn’t really feeling that great, to be honest. As I thought earlier, she’s too weak for this. This is going to strain her muscles eventually.
“Why don’t you stand up and step on my back?”
“Y-You want me to step on you?”
“Step on my back with your feet. That way you can apply more pressure. Press it well.”
“Won’t it be too heavy for you?”
Luna hesitated and was unsure about what to do. And just as I began thinking there was no helping it, she carefully stepped on my back with those small and cute soles of her feet and began pressing it hard with all her weight.
I could vividly feel the warmth and softness of her soles and protruding toes, but I still wasn’t feeling that great yet.
“Is it good like this, H-Hassan?”
“No, you need to put in a little more force. Come on, keep stepping on my body while putting in the whole weight of your body without holding anything back.”
“A little more?”
Press—
Luna then firmly stamped on my back. It felt a little bit better now that she was using her full body weight.
Crack—
“D-Did I break something?”
“No, it’s okay. That aside, you’re pretty good at this, Luna. I’m feeling kinda great right now. Good.”
“…Really?”
Perhaps because my praise motivated her, Luna pressed on my back with even more strength on her feet.
I could smell her menthe fragrance intensify as she stepped on me. Moreover, blood was rushing more and more to my lower body each time her soft feet touched my back. I couldn’t think straight at all.
How would her gentle and soft presses feel somewhere else? Should I turn around? Just as I was entertaining such nasty thoughts.
“Whoo, I’m tired. I don’t want to do this anymore. I didn’t think it was much, but it’s really hard.”
Luna’s sweaty body collapsed into a sitting posture on the carpet. Looking at her, it felt like she had just come out after doing a really physically straining job.
That’s how massages are in general. They don’t look much and don’t seem to necessitate a lot of effort, but, in actuality, they drain your body of all its energy.
Another way to put it is to say… It’s as if your energy was being drained by someone else.
Because I had a lot of experience in this line of work, I could now control my pace to some degree but it must have been very difficult for a beginner like Luna.
The main reason was that I had a rather fit, thick, and sturdy body, while Luna’s hands and feet were thin and weak. She definitely needed more exercise.
“I’m going to sleep now. Good night.”
Luna covered herself with the raincoat and fell asleep right after saying that. I’ve noticed for a while now, but it didn’t seem to take more than a minute for her to sleep after lying down.
If this wasn’t considered a talent, then what could? I looked at Luna’s sleeping face for a while then drifted to sleep myself.
**********
We woke up the next day and wandered around the market in the south of the city after getting a quick breakfast. We had to buy nails, hammers, and some wooden boards for renovating the cabin.
“We need glue too, Hassan!”
I bought glue too at her reminder. While Luna just decided to buy it like that, she had already used up 10 of the 13 silvers she had received from me just yesterday.
It was really hard to make money, and the fact that we nearly spent it all in one day was enough to nearly drive me insane.
We returned to the cabin with a lot of luggage and promptly began fixing all the holes we could see using the nails and planks we had bought.
Tak— Tak— Tak— Tak—
Speaking of the repairs, we didn’t actually do much, what we did looked very primitive like patchwork, but that was the only thing the skill-less Luna and me could do.
Despite that, we were somehow able to cover all the holes that we could find in the cabin after half a day of hard work.
“Now that we have covered these holes, the wind shouldn’t leak inside anymore and our nights should be warmer as well. And thanks to the glue, not even rainwater will drizzle in. Cozy, isn’t it?”
Luna looked outside the hut and commented with a satisfied tone.
Frankly speaking, I didn’t like it, but in a situation where we were lacking in both budget and time, this was the best our efforts could make up for.
I could, however, still feel a sense of satisfaction at the assessment that the previously dilapidated shack was now in a state where it could at least serve the basic functions of a proper home.
“Oh, I need to feed Kongkong!”
Luna suddenly ran somewhere after seemingly coming to a realization.
She approached the small jar in a corner of the cabin, opened the lid, and inserted her hand inside.
Soon after that, Luna’s hand came out with a rainbow-colored spider held in it.
Kong—! Kong—!
Damn, it’s the spider from last time. How can she hold it with her bare hands? And what’s her name again?
“Hey, how in the hell are you holding it with your hands?”
“Werewolf spiders are smart. They recognize whoever feeds them. Because of that, many people in my hometown used to raise them at home or in warehouses. They can also catch wandering mice on their own.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just raise a cat in that case?”
“It’s cute in a different way compared to a cat, so there’s no problem.”
Luna held the spider’s front legs and oriented the scary-looking spider towards me.
Arrrghh— Kongkong—!
“I-I don’t think this bastard likes me or does she?”
Its horrible appearance made my face twitch. How the fuck am I supposed to touch something like that? Its fangs were the size of literal thumbnails.
Well, since it could calmly be held in Luna’s hand I could at least give it a try once, I guess.
And just when I reached out to it.
“Kong! Kong!”
“Ah, damn it! You scared the shit out of me!”
At the time, because of Luna’s mischievous shout, I almost jumped a meter high into the air. It almost looked like I had pressed the spacebar as hard as I could, resulting in me making such a high jump!
“Puah, puahahahaha!”
The mischievous pink-haired girl started laughing so much that it looked like she was on the verge of choking…
“Fuck, why did you suddenly do that? It’s not funny at all, dammit!”
“Phew, wait, you look so scared. So spiders are your weakness? Interesting. I think the deer was much scarier though.”
Luna then put a piece of beef jerky inside the spider’s mouth and put it back in the jar.
I couldn’t relax for a while because of all the sounds the spider was making from inside the jar. Only after it calmed down did I feel relieved.
“Ha, so now that we have roughly repaired the cabin… What are we going to do next?”
“We need to get some furniture. It would be nice to have a chair or two, maybe even a cupboard. Hmm…”
Luna looked at the empty space around the cabin and thoughtfully hummed. In any case, decorating a house is much more expensive than one might ever expect.
Food, clothing, and shelter were are three necessities of life. It takes a lot of effort to satisfy these three basic needs. One really has no time to be lazy.
“You’ve worked hard already, Hassan, so feel free to do whatever you want! I’ll take care of the rest. I also need to carve some totems.”
“Really?”
Looks like Luna needed some time for herself. I decided to head out to the guild building and see if there was anything I could do to earn some more money.
While I might have been pushing myself too hard these days, seeing my pockets getting heavier never failed to energize me for further work.
I have about 34 silvers now. Didn’t Renee say yesterday that I needed 30 silvers for breastplate?
Getting a nice set of strong and cool-looking breastplates sounded like a great idea if I ever have a little extra to spare for an upgrade.
Spending money on buying armor for my wrists and shins already proved to be worth it, so, it was essential not to be too stingy when it came to my own equipment.
Not only did armor make one feel safe and confident it also rendered some bold maneuvers to be possible.
Of course, it would also make one more efficient in carrying out commissions or doing tasks killing monsters. More efficiency also meant more money and guild contributions…
“Ah, Mr. Hassan. You’re coming here rather often these days.”
“Miss Daphne. I was wondering if you had anything for me today?”
“You’re working very hard. Usually, people rest at least three or four days after finishing a quest though…”
Daphne’s words reminded me of the other adventurers. Lower-tier adventurers in the Iron and Bronze rank that I met were similar to day laborers.
Work if you have something to do, otherwise rest.
Of course, the fact that most adventurer jobs were dangerous and could quite easily lead to injuries— injuries which themselves would also lead to huge gaps between each quest had to also be taken into account.
In addition, many people spend all their hard-earned money on drinking and gambling, so only a few of them managed to develop a diligent work ethic.
“Hmm, I don’t have anything in particular for you right now. That aside, I heard that you met Actaeon yesterday. There’s an uproar, right now. You may be contacted by the Minerva Guild soon, Mr. Hassan.”
The mention of the Minerva Guild reminded me that there actually was another adventurer guild in this town.
According to what I heard, contrary to the Mars Guild where everything was handled wildly and roughly, the Minerva Guild had strict discipline and rules, like a military organization.
I also heard that people belonging to the Minerva Guild had a great sense of belonging. They were also rather prideful and good-looking. It sounded like a place full of Hermiones.1Harry Potter reference obviously. It was quite frankly the last place I’d want to get myself involved.
“Ah, Miss Hippolyte said that she reserved some time for you. She asked you to meet her in the training grounds.”
“Time for me? Should I go to the training ground right now?”
“Nope, tonight.”
“Tonight?”
That was quite an unexpected incident.
**********
“Ah, I’ve been waiting for you, Samaritan.”
The owner of the inn welcomed us as we stopped there for dinner.
I wondered what he meant by that until I finally remembered that I had agreed to set some time aside to treat his wife’s aching back.
Perhaps because I was busy, I completely forgot about this matter altogether.
“Do you have time after finishing your meal? One hour will be enough.”
I looked towards Luna at the innkeeper’s words. She simply shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t think I’m going to sleep much tonight since, as I said earlier, I still have some Moai totems to make. You can sleep in the inn today, Hassan. Now that we fixed all the holes in the cabin, it shouldn’t be too cold to sleep there anymore.”
And so Luna and I ate dinner at our own leisure.
After seeing Luna off and going back to the inn, the innkeeper closed in and whispered to my ears, seemingly being done with his preparations.
“You must keep this a secret from everyone else. It won’t be good if people know that I let someone else touch my wife…”
“No need to worry about that.”
I also had no issues with keeping our dealings a secret. It was better for me to quickly get this over with and quietly bury this matter rather than attracting unnecessary attention and noise.
And just like that, I followed the innkeeper into the basement of the inn. I could see barrels and bowls stocked along the way. While it was dark and stank of mold, it was still within the realm of being bearable.
“She’s waiting in that room over there. She can’t even get up these days so she only lies face down on the bed all day. She can’t even climb the stairs so I prepared a special room for her in the basement.”
The innkeeper stood in front of a room in the basement and knocked on it.
“It’s me, honey. I brought the man I told you about. The one who rubbed my shoulders here and there. Can we come in?”
His tone changed a lot as he was speaking to his wife. So, despite having a thick beard and looking like a bandit, he was actually quite the devoted husband, huh?
I heard a soft voice reply back from the inside as I was immersed in my thoughts.
…
“Ah, she said we can go in. Let’s enter together then.”
Click— Creak—
The rough wooden door opened wide. Inside, I could see a rather cozy room, with several candles shining brightly all over. There was a bed with a blanket, a platform, and even a soft carpet on the floor.
Because it was an underground room, I expected it to be something more along the lines of a gloomy semi-basement. But what I was witnessing in front of me right now, was a carefully crafted room that seemed to be made for newlyweds.
But instead of the room, what flabbergasted me the most was the person lying on the bed.
“I-Is that your wife?”
“Yeah, isn’t she pretty?”
Could I really call her pretty? Because she was the wife of the innkeeper, I was expecting a simple plump aunt to appear before me.
However, the appearance of the innkeeper’s wife was so shocking to me that I was considering whether I should be calling the guards or not.
The blue-haired woman lying on the bed was similarly-built to Luna but her assets and proportions were completely different from the petite girl that Luna was.
The woman lying on the bed was completely flat as if she had just begun going through puberty. The quantity of baby fat on her face was telling me that she was still underage. Was she maybe in her teenage years?
“Damn it, innkeeper, no matter how lawless this world is, keeping an underage child in a basement as your wife is pushing it too far!”
“Ah? What are you talking about? My wife is going to be over thirty this year.”
“Don’t lie to me! There’s no way someone can age thrice as slowly as normal. This is evidently a kid. What’s your secret? No, forget about it, I’m just gonna call the guards!”
“No, no, listen to me. Looking young is one of the characteristics of the Nymphs. Echo, my wife, is a nymph!”
“Nymph?”
37 Footnotes:
1Harry Potter reference obviously.
