Chapter 365
Chapter 365
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 365
Chapter Title: Hands-On Instruction
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“Urk!”
Though he'd half-expected it, not everything went smoothly.
The experiments numbered three.
Verification of the shielding.
Securing a sample when an external shock triggered an even more intense distortion field.
Control of the distortion field with the ribbon partially unwound to expose about five percent of the spear.
The first succeeded easily, but the second ran straight into a wall.
Even a shock as light as flicking a knuckle made the red branch thrash wildly inside the ribbon.
The same happened with even a sliver of the blade exposed.
The mana solution's surface, which had such low reactivity, hummed and sprayed countless droplets.
In the end, after brief tests, they had to dunk it fully into the mana solution repeatedly.
“This just isn't going our way.”
“Is that so?”
The countess, who had been watching quietly, stepped into the tub.
Without giving him a chance to protest, she hugged him from behind, gripping the red branch together with him just as Siu had taught her fishing techniques before.
“It is cold.”
Even as Siu stared at her in surprise, she merely smiled leisurely.
“Here, let me help. Shall we try again?”
The soft sensation pressing against his back.
The countess's warm body heat, a perfect contrast to the mana solution.
At the same time, he felt the barrier field she deployed enveloping his body.
“Don't be too hasty. Pull it out.”
“Understood.”
The red branch emerged from the mana solution.
It still hummed with vibrations lingering from its rampage, but the countess controlled the distortion field without so much as a twitch.
“That's because you're handling it too roughly. Like caressing it gently...”
“Like this?”
“Yes... that's it... Good boy... You have to treat it delicately until you're used to it.”
The countess was purely assisting Siu.
When the distortion field spiked erratically, she pointed out the parts that needed smoothing.
Siu immediately ran the calculations and tamped them down.
Even Siu, with his blindfold off to visualize mana flow, struggled to pinpoint exactly where the issues arose.
Yet Countess Lucy resolved them purely on instinct.
It offered a glimpse into the prowess of a 22nd-rank witch, master of barrier magic.
“Is this the feeling?”
“Yes, just like that. You're already looking proficient.”
“......”
“Now, from the beginning again... slowly...”
“......”
He sank into it.
With the countess's guidance, his focus intensified.
The bone-chilling cold water barely registered, nor did the countess's embrace from behind.
Using her voice as his navigator, Siu's concentration reached its peak.
He suppressed the wildly dancing red waves, piling calculation upon calculation until his brain burned hot.
His breath held, he thought of nothing but that single goal.
2.
The countess glanced sideways at Siu.
“......”
About five minutes ago, he'd entered a trance-like state.
Even when she offered advice, his responses had dwindled, and now it seemed he was pouring every ounce of ability into controlling the barrier field.
Fearsome concentration.
This was no mere imitation of genius.
He was fully assimilating even the tiniest assistance, forging ahead on a new path.
Considering the time he'd studied magic, his growth rate was incomprehensible.
What heights might he have reached if born a woman, walking the proper path of an apprentice witch and receiving a stigma?
In her long life, she'd never once doubted her own talent.
Yet this man made every other gift seem faded by comparison.
Perhaps even the much-rumored talent of Kether Duke.
Her solitary breakthrough to the 30th rank might not surpass Siu's...
Such absurd thoughts crossed her mind.
Meanwhile.
“......”
The bath echoed only with the red branch's faint hum, the sloshing of mana solution, and their breathing.
“Siu?”
Countess Lucy called to him softly.
From midway, he'd dived in so deep that he seemed oblivious to surrounding sounds.
She called again to confirm.
“......”
Still no answer.
He was completely locked in his own world.
As she fiddled with the spear nestled against his broad back, the countess licked her lips.
It was an unconscious act, her throat parched.
But she'd noticed it earlier—this back was too reliable.
And so hot that the subzero mana solution barely registered.
“Let me help a bit more.”
The countess pulled him closer.
She felt the man's hips pressing against her lower abdomen.
Utterly different from a woman's.
And this one was rock-hard!
Packed solid with efficient, muscular yield all the way through.
“Ahem...”
The countess cleared her throat needlessly and spoke.
“I'm letting go now. Can you try alone, Siu?”
Of course, no reply came.
She released the red branch they'd gripped together and slyly placed her hands on his waist and abs.
Firm.
And ridged like a washboard.
“My goodness...”
The sturdy lats visible from the front, the masculine biceps and forearms, the rear delts perfect for resting her chin on.
And unmistakably, the glutes below...
The countess busied herself exploring his physique, cheek pressed flush against his back.
She knew she shouldn't.
She told herself she mustn't, yet she couldn't stop.
Clinging like a cicada to a tree trunk, an indecent thought flitted through the countess's mind.
If he's so immersed he won't notice this much touching...
That solid manhood she'd felt for the first time.
Would he even notice if she touched that?
The countess agonized, swallowing hard.
What was she doing? What on earth?
Groping a man's body without him noticing.
It was blatant molestation.
And while upper-body muscles might be one thing, stroking that heavy cobra was out of the question.
Then she came up with a plausible excuse.
“Siu.”
“......”
“Your pants seem to have slipped a bit... Let me pull them up.”
The mana-soaked pants had grown heavy and sagged slightly.
Using that as cover, she'd just graze it—a tiny touch.
As she hiked up the waistband and refastened the belt.
Her hand slipped underwater, slyly caressing Siu's robust symbol of manhood.
“Ah...”
It hadn't been an illusion, that enormity she'd felt before.
Even fully relaxed, it exuded such grandeur.
Her legs nearly buckled as the countess regretfully withdrew her hand.
“Haa...”
Perhaps she'd secretly hoped for a reaction.
Seeing him utterly absorbed in distortion field control, ignoring every prod, she let out a long sigh.
3.
Seeking to soothe her troubled heart, Diana headed for the grand bath—and spotted what had to be Siu and her mother relocating side-by-side for 'private tutoring.'
They were some distance away, so she only caught glimpses of them chatting amiably: her mother smiling happily, walking slightly ahead, with Siu following a step behind.
“...I won't even care anymore.”
Despite her sudden outburst of complaint and rebellion, Diana's gaze trailed after them.
But she didn't want to dwell on what mischief they might get up to or how they'd spend their time.
She'd promised herself to just float lazily in the pool.
Yet an ominous hunch gripped Diana.
“That direction leads to...”
The corridor opposite connected to the dining hall and her mother's private bath.
Her mother never ate lunch anyway, so no reason for the dining hall.
A simple process of elimination pointed to the private bath.
“Ugh...”
Ignore it.
Just ignore it.
As she forced her feet onward, Diana soon spun in circles on the spot.
Was what she'd read in that book yesterday really true?
Maybe she should check for herself, just once?
She was curious about the circumstances behind the intimate acts between men and women that she'd only read about in text.
Curiosity etched into her instincts overrode her disgust and reluctance.
“Ah, whatever...”
Diana hurried toward the countess's private bath.
Her heart pounded harder than when sneaking into the secret library.
With the mindset of a spy, she parted the red curtain at the entrance one step behind them.
“Hoo... hoo...”
Sweat beaded on her forehead.
The worst scenario was getting caught peeking.
Eyes would be most reliable, but the private bath was tiny.
Passing this doorway left virtually nowhere to hide.
So Diana held her breath and strained to catch the sounds from within.
Her mother's voice drifted out, soft and murmuring as before.
“Here, let me help. Shall we try again?”
The sweet tone echoed in the tub.
No one else might notice, but Diana could tell.
It differed from the gentle voice her mother always used with her—laced with admiration, breathy, dreamlike and hazy.
“Don't be too hasty. Pull it out.”
Pull out? What?
Diana swallowed and listened intently.
“That's because you're handling it too roughly. Like caressing it gently...”
“Like this?”
“Yes... that's it... Good boy... You have to treat it delicately until you're used to it.”
Diana felt a jolt like an electric shock.
Now it was certain.
Not as explicit as in novels, but incredibly suggestive lines.
Her mother and Siu were engaging in lewd acts inside.
Caress it gently and delicately.
What?
Diana pieced together her premature knowledge with their words.
Pull something out, then caress and handle it delicately.
Her mother's breasts?
Or Siu's thing?
“Is this the feeling?”
“Yes, just like that. You're already looking proficient.”
“......”
“Now, from the beginning again... slowly...”
“......”
Hearing her mother's voice grow softer, laced with sighs of pleasure, Diana mustered her final courage.
She peeked through the slightest gap in the curtain.
There it was.
Siu, stripped bare in the tub.
And her mother hugging him from behind.
Her mother was clothed, but judging by the posture and hand positions...
Likely stroking his erect manhood from behind.
Diana couldn't take any more stimulation. Clamping down her breath, she fled the bath.