Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Hand of Abstinence
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A day had passed since that business with Kyle.
I sat down in the chair and pulled up my status window.
[Hand of Abstinence][Irremovable]
[During body search, favorability and pleasure increase.]
[????]
The Hand of Abstinence, my reward from the hidden quest.
It said pleasure increases during a body search, but there were no exact numbers... and I had no idea about the precise activation or deactivation timing.
I needed to get a feel for just how much pleasure it ramped up.
Maybe I should run a little experiment.
I leaned against the wall and peered out the window to check for approaching travelers.
If this was anything like a game, a suitable NPC for testing would show up today.
How long had I waited? In the distance, I spotted a woman approaching with a basket hooked over her arm.
Probably the orchard owner's daughter from the neighboring village, here to sell fruit—that was her deal, right?
What was her name again? Eri?
She probably had no clue there was a fruit knife in that basket.
I could use that as an excuse to perform a body search.
If she really was Eri... she wasn't like Selena, with the power to kill me on the spot, and she wasn't the sharpest either. Perfect for testing.
The sound of the woman heading toward the gate grew closer.
I hurriedly sat back in the chair and pulled out some papers.
-Knock knock.
The woman I pegged as Eri knocked on the door.
"Come in."
"Uh..."
The woman opened the door and froze in surprise, standing there hesitantly.
"Hello... I'm from the neighboring village. Uh... are you new here...?"
"Yes, I'm Anderson, newly assigned as gatekeeper here. Have a seat up front. Could I get your name, miss?"
"E-Eri."
Got it—Eri it is.
I began the inspection.
...
"Miss Eri, fruit knives count as weapons. Were you aware?"
"Wha...? A weapon?!"
Eri started trembling like the end of the world at the word "weapon."
She was probably imagining jail time or a fine.
She's a slave too, and since body search was the goal anyway, I planned to just test the [Hand of Abstinence] effect and send her on her way.
"You're from the neighboring village, so I'll do a quick body search and let you go. Be more careful next time."
"R-Really? Th-thank you!!"
Eri shot to her feet and bowed deeply in gratitude.
"Routine procedure, so hands on the wall and turn around."
"Y-Yes... Okay."
Eri scampered over and slapped her hands against the wall.
She kept sneaking glances back over her shoulder, probably wondering if she was positioned right.
"Starting the body search from the lower half."
"Yes, okay."
Now all I could see was Eri's defenseless back.
To check her reaction, I placed my hand right on her butt.
A soft, yielding sensation met my palm.
"...Uh...?"
Eri's waist twitched and shuddered.
Her reaction was hypersensitive.
She acted just like someone being touched by another person for the very first time.
I slid my hand down.
Then slowly caressed her butt.
"Ah...... Hn... Hup...."
Eri's strength seemed to give out—she thunked her head against the wall.
She buried her lips in her trembling arms.
She looked like she was desperately trying to stifle the sounds leaking out.
"Hu... Hah, ah... Ah...."
Eri's breathing grew more and more ragged.
Then I lifted my hand off her butt.
Now, to compare with Selena, I raised my hand.
A little weaker than last time.
Eri, aware of my hand pulling away, glanced back at me.
"W-Wait just a sec, sir... soldier..."
-Slap.
"Give it b—"
"Hauh...!"
Eri's body shuddered violently.
She couldn't hold out any longer and collapsed to the floor with a thud.
"......"
I realized one crucial fact right then.
This ability... was dangerously uncontrollable.
If I couldn't dial it back, I might not even be able to perform body searches.
"Miss Eri, body search is over."
"...Huh? Al-ready?"
"Just be careful next time."
I extended a hand to help her up.
Eri grasped it with her trembling fingers.
The [Hand of Abstinence] seemed to deactivate once both parties thought the body search was done.
"You can go now."
"Huh? Y-Yes...?"
I hauled Eri to her feet and shoved her out the gate.
"Ha..."
The [Hand of Abstinence] was way more potent than I'd imagined.
Still, I'd tested everything I needed to.
I'd even figured out the deactivation condition...
-Halt.
I stopped in my tracks, staring at one particular spot.
"Guess I should mop the floor."
The gate floor looked extra grimy today.
...
"Let's head east."
"Pardon?"
Selena was chatting with the subordinate who'd joined her while she stayed in the village.
"That way...? Didn't they say a new soldier showed up there?"
"Yeah, just go there."
"...Fine, whatever. Boss's orders."
The subordinate couldn't make sense of why Selena had summoned him over the soldier issue, only to head right back that way.
But... it was the boss speaking. To her underlings, Selena's word was law.
Selena's carriage lurched into motion with a sharp crack of the reins.
'Anderson....'
-Tap... tap...
Selena drummed her fingers on her arm.
Her heartbeat quickened to match the steady rhythm.
Embarrassing scenes flashed by, heating her face.
"......I wonder what it'll be like this time."
Her cheeks were already burning.
Selena's ears twitched.
It wasn't just that she wanted to see him again.
She had an excuse—a perfectly reasonable one.
Last time he'd inspected her carriage, he hadn't put much effort into it.
He'd given it a cursory glance and waved her through. That was that.
And besides...
'He definitely saw it, right?'
A contraband item.
One that shouldn't have been there.
He'd seen it, plain as day.
Why hadn't he reported it?
The reward money alone would've been massive.
It could've fast-tracked a promotion.
He could've escaped this backwater in a heartbeat.
She was dying to know why.
And her baggage made for ideal test material.
Selena's eyes gleamed as a seductive smile curled her lips.
-Rattle... rattle...
In the end, Selena drove her carriage all the way back to Anderson's gate.
Soldiers were blocking passage—another visitor ahead of her.
Selena was idly thinking about filing her nails when...
-Twitch.
A strange sound reached her ears.
As an elf with keen hearing, she could pick it up clear as day.
A faint woman's voice leaked from inside the gate.
-Fwoosh.
Hearing it sent heat rushing back to Selena's face.
'Doing that again, huh... Was I like that too?'
Selena kept twitching and squirming, unable to stay still.
Her butt kept shifting.
The carriage wasn't uncomfortable, but she kept readjusting her seat.
Her ears zeroed in on the woman's voice.
'A body search again this time...?'
Selena knew body searches were standard gatekeeper procedure.
Anderson's touches had felt more like searching for hazards than groping her body.
She had felt lonely afterward, true.
But she wasn't developing feelings for the man.
It wasn't that kind of emotion.
No, Selena had felt something unfamiliar.
Every time—her butt slapped, her ears fondled.
It was like her senses as a woman had awakened.
-Clunk.
The gate door swung open, and a woman staggered out.
With the barrier of the door gone, the woman's ragged breaths poured vividly into her ears.
The woman was drenched in sweat, barely able to walk straight.
Her slender legs wobbled, her body twitching nonstop.
Selena gulped at the sight.
Her heart began to pound.
It felt like those memories were coming alive again.
Selena strode straight into the gate.
-Splash!
"Just go."
"What?"
When she arrived, Anderson was out there sprinkling water on the gate floor from a bucket.
He was even telling her to pass without an inspection.
"...No search at all? Not even the carriage...?"
"Yeah, we did it last time."
The man named Anderson answered indifferently as he mopped the floor.
Like, why check something he'd already cleared?
"Th-then that woman just now..."
"Oh... right. Hold on."
Only now did the man seem to remember inspections, dashing back to his desk.
'...Once more...!'
Selena's heart hammered even harder than before.
Her legs began twisting together on their own.
Her face felt faintly warm.
"Here."
"Huh?"
"Forgot to give back your knife last time."
"Uh?... Oh."
Selena's face went cold the instant she heard his reply.
Even her heart fell silent.
The knife. Right—she'd forgotten about it.
But for some reason, irritation welled up, creasing her brow.
"......I wasn't gonna do it 'cause of cleaning, but fine. Quick and simple inspection."
"Sure..."
Noticing her mood shift...
Anderson hurried over, declaring he'd do the inspection.
But honestly, she was disappointed.
She didn't want some half-assed search.
Selena wanted to feel that sensation again.
From her perspective, anyway.
She couldn't very well say, "You did it for that other woman—why not me?"
But right then...
-Tap.
"Here."
Anderson's hand brushed hers.
'?!'
Just that slight contact sent a shock surging through Selena's body, eerily similar to last time.
Not quite as intense, but unmistakably the same.
Faint, but her shoulders began to tremble.
'Why... just a graze like that?'
Meanwhile, oblivious or not, Anderson gave her carriage a quick once-over and came back.
"No problems. You're good to go."
"R-Really...?"
Selena forced down her quavering voice to respond.
'This guy's letting me slide on purpose again... Why?'
Even after she'd deliberately shown him the goods again, he brushed it off like nothing.
This kind of leniency was a first for her.
She wanted to ask if the reward money didn't tempt him.
If he couldn't just call the soldiers behind her and have her arrested right now.
But Selena didn't push it that far.
"G-Gonna head out for real?"
"Yes. Please, just go."
She settled for asking one more time.
...
A month later, Selena finally reached her destination: the fourth gate at the northern fortress outside the imperial capital.
"Passing through~."
As always, she gave the gatekeepers a word and rolled on by.
Silver-haired elf with that brazen attitude.
The gatekeepers at the fourth gate, defenders of the northern fortress, had no choice but to recognize her as Selena.
And they knew she was tight with the gate's owner.
"This bitch is grinding my bones to dust. Tell her to quit sending me this crap."
"Thanks~ But gotta have something to make life worth living."
Selena hopped down from her carriage and chatted with the black-haired woman.
The black-haired woman tried to hug her in thanks, but Selena deftly blocked it and kept talking.
"Cut it out, you."
"But sis... I really can't hold out without this stuff..."
The black-haired woman excitedly yanked the cloth off the carriage, revealing a pile of potions.
"Hyah!"
With a spirited shout, she shoved the potions aside.
A mountain of erotic books and all sorts of adult toys came spilling out.
For soldiers stuck in isolated barracks, nothing was harder to endure than sexual frustration.
That's why they smuggled in illicit goods like this through Selena every so often.
The empire had long banned them in the name of public decency.
"Sis, smooth trip this time? Gatekeepers didn't catch you?"
"Sigh... If you know, don't make me do it..."
'Hold on...'
Right then, Selena remembered the one snag from her journey.
'Anderson.'
"You got the full list of inspectors and transfers this year, right?"
Selena asked the black-haired woman.
As commander of the capital's northern sector, she'd have to know.
"Yeah, why? Run into an inspector? Should've been fine—we seeded all the transfers with our people."
The black-haired woman tilted her head at the mention of trouble.
Corruption spoken of like it was the most natural thing—daily chit-chat for them.
"Then, guy named Anderson, twenties... Ring any bells?"
"Anderson? No Anderson."
Selena's face twisted in disbelief at the absurd answer.
"Anyone trained nearby, or assigned a while back?"
"Nope. We don't even have a soldier named Anderson."
The black-haired woman's mouth formed an "are you kidding?" but her hands were busy grabbing the contraband.
"Impersonating a soldier? Soldier-collusion crimes have been spiking lately."
"......"
"I'd have sniffed him out and—pow!"
The black-haired woman brandished a wicked toy and mimed stabbing.
'Sigh...'
Looking at her friend like that, Selena could only sigh.
She might look like a lust-crazed maniac, but her sharp memory and bold moves had landed her as commander of the capital's north.
The intel was solid.
"Want me to send people? Just say the word. Soldier impersonator? Dead on the spot. Or I can drag him here for you."
The black-haired woman set the toys down and got serious.
Her eyes screamed she'd slaughter anyone who shamed a soldier.
Without the toys, she was the empire's commander.
"Hmm... Nah, probably misheard the name."
"Yeah? Then whatever~ Ahem~"
Catching her friend's look, Selena flinched and brushed it off.
If this woman got personally involved, things would blow up.
Soldier impersonation was summary execution.
She'd end up with a corpse to clean up.
But... why?
It was a serious crime.
Yet Selena didn't want to turn this Anderson into one just yet.
Still...
'No Anderson in the empire.'
'The Anderson I met... isn't a soldier.'
Those two facts were crystal clear.
Selena's expression shifted.
"Sis... what's with the face? You even know how to make that one?"
The black-haired woman frowned mid-grab at Selena's look.
"Ugh, gonna puke..."
She whipped her head away like she couldn't stomach it.
"Wha? Why? What's wrong with my—"
Selena rushed to the mirror on the wall.
The reflection showed Selena beaming with a bright smile.
