Chapter 173: Expanding the Garden (3)
Chapter 173: Expanding the Garden (3)
Slide—
As the cloth covering Antiope's lower body slightly slid down, a blank space without any tattoos appeared below her belly button.
She then lightly traced her fingers over the empty spot.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"For women, you see, this kind of blank space exists. Only strong men can fill such places."
Honestly, she was a bit intimidating with her brown skin, tattoos, and the pipe in her mouth.
With movements that seemed to exude a primal sensuality, I felt the blood rushing to my lower body.
"The desire to fill in the blank space is like an instinct. For this place, Schizo, the mage of the greatsword, was strong enough to fill this place. He equipped himself with both mage's spells and heavy armor."
The warrior in that black armor was a mage? Holy shit, did I really engage in a duel with a mage who didn't even use magic?
I felt fortunate that he had underestimated me. At that moment, Antiope added a few more words.
"You're the Samaritan who managed to defeat him. So, how about you fill this spot instead? You seem quite strong."
Anatomically speaking, there, known as the "Origin Pass acupoint" or the "lower abdomen," was the area referred to as the uterus.
Was she seriously trying to seduce me here and now?
Holy shit, I never imagined a woman would ever seduce me in my lifetime. The surreal situation made it hard to believe, and the feeling made me feel quite uneasy.
Then, Hippolyte, who had her arms crossed, intervened in the conversation.
"Antiope, that's enough teasing the man."
"Teasing? About half of it is sincere, though. I knew it the moment I saw him. My lower abdomen is all twitchy and flutter like he is someone who made a reservation for this spot."
Twitchy and all flutter in the lower abdomen?
What kind of symptom was that?
While I was pondering about that, Antiope eventually approached me, who was sitting with my arms crossed in the shade.
Then she extended her palm to my waist and quickly ran her fingers over my large, solid club.
"It's big and thick. It's such a manly weapon. How many times have you swung this? If you get hit by something like this, you won't even be able to breathe."
Slide— Slide—
She continued to run her palm over my club, which was incredibly stimulating.
However, as I mentioned before, her tattoos, tanning, and smoking, usually referred to as strong woman attributes, were a bit overwhelming and even intimidating.
Yet, in a different sense, it was exciting.
I felt like I was about to be devoured.
At that moment, Antiope suddenly withdrew her hand from my body.
"But you still strongly smell like a newbie. You're just at the level of a boy who recently set foot on the path of a warrior. At this rate, you won't be able to fill my lower abdomen."
Ssk—
Antiope quickly distanced herself and then warmly embraced Hippolyte by her waist.
"Well, if it's short, we'll see each other for a few more days. If it's long, then it'll be a few weeks. Either way, it's nice to see you again, Sis."
"It's hot, so stay away."
"Huft, you're being cold only to me. Anyway, I've seen the face I want to see, so I have to go now. I'm actually busy with work, you know."
"If it's work, then is it related to the cultists?"
"Yeah, well, the details are a secret, but I heard there's a high priest of Pluto in this city, disguised as a famous adventurer."
A high priest of Pluto disguised as a famous adventurer?
I could feel a drop of cold sweat trickling down my spine.
"Holy Sh— Paranoy! How can you waste such precious sweat like this?"
Paranoy was also sweating profusely as if it was raining. Only Luna was giggling and busy collecting Paranoy's sweat with a water bottle.
The temple knights, huh?
They truly were individuals you shouldn’t let your guard down around.
"See you later, friends!"
After tending to the small garden and helping with fence repairs in the courtyard, Antiope excused herself, saying that she had a lot of work to do.
"She is an interesting person. She also has so many tattoos on her body."
Luna spoke admiringly about the tattoos on Antiope's body as if she had taken a like on Antiope. It was true that her appearance seemed a bit intense, but she didn't seem like a bad person.
"She, she was really intimidating..."
However, Paranoy's reaction was a bit uneasy. She couldn't seem to calm down and was trembling from the moment she laid her eyes on Antiope until the woman left.
It made me nervous, too, as I wondered if she planned to make it really obvious that she was a cultist.
"She's really strong…! A monster in human form…!"
Hearing that, Hippolyte added a few words.
"Well, of course, she’s going to be strong. My younger sister Antiope possesses divine blessing. But it seems like she's gotten even stronger since I last saw her."
Hippolyte was like a human scout. Those she evaluated as strong were undoubtedly formidable; therefore, that made me curious.
"If she is to fight against Miss Hippolyte, who will win?"
"Samaritan, you always ask questions like this. Well, a fight between warriors has too many variables, so nothing's certain. Out of ten, I will win seven times. However..."
Hippolyte's words slightly trailed off at the end.
She seemed uncertain, as if she was debating whether it was appropriate to say something like this.
"Is there any problem?"
"But three out of ten, I will lose. And in one of those times, I will lose miserably without even being able to fight back."
Hippolyte would lose miserably without being able to fight back?
I still vividly remember Hippolyte's appearance when she beat Elfriede's party like beating a child in the underground.
It was such a thrilling and shocking scene that I probably wouldn't forget it for the rest of my life.
But now, hearing that Hippolyte would be defeated miserably, the danger posed by the tattooed woman I had just met escalated even more.
"Of course, only using our mouth to discuss combat is ridiculous, Samaritan. You, who have experienced many battlefields, must have known that victories and defeats have unpredictable aspects."
Ssk—
Hippolyte spoke as her gaze fell on Luna, who was planting potatoes on the ground.
Indeed, Luna and Hippolyte's fight had ended in Hippolyte's defeat. From this example, it was clear how unpredictable combat and battles could be.
"All is done! We've planted all the potatoes, so let's call it a day. Paranoy, prepare the firewood and the grill!"
Luna gave the order while stretching her waist and back.
In response to Luna's command, Paranoy hurried off somewhere and brought back a firewood stack and a grill made of metal.
"Here, it's ready... hoo, hoo... Are you going to grill something with that?"
"Yes, today, let's not go to the inn and grill some food ourselves!"
Luna took out a large bundle hidden between the cool shade of the cabin's first floor amidst the cold Wildling elixir jars.
When she unwrapped the bundle, a neatly butchered thigh meat was revealed. The texture and marbling were excellent.
Having gathered various ingredients and meat, I could tell at a glance that it was a rather expensive type of meat. When did Luna get something like that?
As I was curious about it, Hippolyte, who was also resting in the shade, asked.
"What is that?"
"It's a Karimantos boar."
"A Karimantos boar, you said. From what I know, it's an expensive meat, probably costing around 1 silver per pound, right?"
"That's right! It's going to be delicious! Since we finally have a courtyard, let's grill this expensive meat today. Paranoy, let's start the fire."
"I'll get it right away...!"
Luna and Paranoy placed thick logs on the ground and then set a wide iron grill on top of them.
Grilling meat with the women in the courtyard, I never thought I would enjoy such luxury again.
Whoosh— Crackle—
The firewood soon ignited, and the flames flickered.
Once the grill was adequately heated, Luna skillfully sliced the meat from the Karimantos boar's thigh with a dagger and placed it on the grill.
Sizzle—
The sound of the juicy meat sizzling and the aroma spreading rapidly distracted me from my thoughts. I couldn't help but get closer to the grill, drawn in by the enticing smell.
It looks delicious.
Watching the crackling bonfire and the meat cooking, the ditch water nymph Paranoy made a remark.
"It's truly the karmic fire of hell... Mere pork can't withstand it...!!"
Paranoy must have been excited about the prospect of eating meat after a long time.
However, it was a bit warm here.
Of course, I could tolerate a little heat if I could enjoy such tasty meat. After eating cheap and tasteless pheasant meat every day, how long had it been since I last tasted pork?
In fact, the meat was incredibly delicious, and there was plenty of it, allowing the four of us to have a satisfying meal. It was truly worth paying almost 10 silvers for such a large piece of meat.
"Tonight's dinner is on me."
"And Hippolyte will take care of the cleanup!"
Hippolyte, who had gotten a free meal without doing any work, was assigned to clean up.
***
Late at night.
After a refreshing shower, I returned to find Luna curled up and fast asleep under the blanket.
Today, she must have been exhausted from tending to the garden and grilling the meat.
I gently straightened Luna's body and then massaged her arms, shoulders, and lower back with my hands, pressing firmly.
"Hu, hahaha, heehee…."
Soon after, Luna burst into laughter. I thought she was already asleep, but it seemed she was still awake.
"Luna, you aren't sleeping yet?"
"I was just about to fall asleep, but I woke up. By the way, it feels so refreshing. Can you massage my lower back?"
Luna turned over so that her lower back was exposed for me to see. Her slender body and rounded buttocks were visible under her thin sleepwear.
Lately, Luna has been asking me for massages quite often.
At first, she used to squirm and complain a lot about it being ticklish and painful. Now, she willingly offered her body for a massage.
This must be what they call 'massage corruption,' where one's body opens up through massage. Once anyone gets a taste for massage, they can't escape it.
Ssk—
I used my thumbs to gently knead her lower back and spine.
"Hyaaaaa…."
Luna already let out a moan from the start.
"Hnggh, it, it huuuurts…."
"It hurts? I tried to use as little force as possible. Should I go even gentler?"
"No, even though it hurts, it feels good. Hngghh, haaah…."
It seemed that Luna was showing small symptoms of muscle soreness. After all, she used muscles that are not usually used to tend to the garden, so it was natural for her to feel strained.
Luna might have suffered muscle soreness for about a day if she had gone to sleep just like that.
That was why I diligently massaged Luna's lower back, upper back, the unreachable areas of her shoulder joints and the back of her neck with my thumbs, carefully loosening every corner.
"Hnggh, heughh!"
While I was massaging her neck, Luna suddenly clutched the blanket tightly and curled up as if something big had happened.
Crumpled—
The deerskin blankets on the floor got wrinkled, and letters appeared.
Ding-—
『Luna Knox Dotty’s heat stroke condition has been solved.』
『Task points +10』
『Current task points +145』
I didn't realize it before, but it seemed Luna was experiencing heat stroke. Did stimulating the nerves in her nape relieve her stress? I wasn’t sure.
"Haah…."
Finally, Luna let out a small sigh like a gentle breeze and stretched out on the blanket.
I then moved my thumbs from her shoulders down her back and waist and eventually placed them on her buttocks.
Ssk— Ssk—
As I pressed the soft flesh with my thumbs, Luna's body shivered as if she felt ticklish, just like when she was getting the massage.
"Haah, hnggg."
Generally, human muscles tend to concentrate in the lower body.
However, most lower body muscles were relatively insensitive, so when massaging, they often went unnoticed and were not properly loosened.
Of course, it was something I would let go of unresolved.
Ssk— Sssssk— Knead— Knead—
I continued to knead Luna's soft buttocks, ensuring to apply enough pressure to loosen it up as many muscles were there, making it an important point of stimulation.
"How does it feel? Does it feel refreshing?"
"Ung, ah, uuunnngg..."
Luna gave a vague answer in response to my question.
Actually, I couldn't tell if it was an answer or not. Whenever Luna received a massage on her buttocks, she always seemed to be out of her mind like this.
Ssk— Ssk—
Just in case, I slowly moved my fingers to the inner part of Luna's thigh.
The thigh's soft and tender inner part had lymph nodes, making it an unexpectedly important area during lower body massages.
However, I had to slightly open both her legs to massage that area properly.
So I held Luna's right thigh and gently bent it at a 90º angle.
"Let me spread your legs for a moment. I'm not trying to do anything strange."
"Uh, okay...!"
As Luna had already received many massages from me, she understood my intentions and didn't resist my actions.
Ssk— Ssk—
Now, my hands smoothly kneaded Luna's thigh. I alternated between grabbing it tightly and releasing it, and also moved my hands up and down repeatedly, ensuring thorough massage.
"Ah, angh... haaah…."
Luna let out small moans that seemed to express her pleasure.
However, despite knowing it was just a massage, small sounds from a woman always evoked a peculiar feeling, making my lower body react unexpectedly.
Come to think of it, I had been so busy these past few days that there hadn't been any peculiar incidents.
So, just in case, to try my luck, I pretended to massage while gently brushing Luna's thighs, and my palm inadvertently grazed the intimate space between her legs.
"...Ah!"
Luna reacted strongly.
For some reason, my palm that brushed against her legs felt as if it was imbued with strange moisture. Knowing that already made blood rush to my head.
Sssk— Sssk—
I continued to lightly brush my palm between Luna's thighs.
Every time I did so, I could certainly feel Luna’s back flinch and tremble, and her breathing became increasingly rough.
In the end, I couldn't resist, and I pulled down the thin fabric of her shorts that covered her lower body. I was worried she might dislike it, but luckily, there was no sign of resistance.
They said a woman's body didn’t cool down easily once it heated up.
To be honest, I had hoped for that to be the case for Luna.
Ssk—
I fixed her slightly lifted thigh again into a 90º angle and then gently touched the thick part of her skin with my fingers.
"Heuttt..."
The sensation was incredibly smooth and warm, sending shivers from my fingertips to my head.