Can You Take Off Your Clothes for a Bit?
Can You Take Off Your Clothes for a Bit?
"Hm..."
My master stroked her chin and let out a murmur. Her slightly narrowed eyes swept over my entire body.
After studying my appearance for a moment, she reached out.
- Rustle, rustle
Her hands brushed over me, here and there.
She drew my open front closed again and straightened the crooked angle of my clothes.
Slender fingers tidied my disheveled hair with care.
She poured tremendous attention into that series of actions.
A touch so gentle it was hard to believe it came from hands capable of crushing a block of special-alloy steel in an instant.
The Sky Wing Feather, which had been stained a dreary gray moments ago, now bobbed and swayed, restored to its original state.
"Hm."
A similar sound to before. But the emotion behind it was different. With a strangely satisfied expression, my master examined my condition once more.
Unlike earlier when I was disheveled, I was now reasonably put-together.
But as if even that wasn't enough to satisfy her, my master began straightening my attire with even greater meticulousness.
"......"
As I accepted her touch, I rolled my eyes this way and that.
No matter how much I rolled my eyes, all I could see was mist. The edges of my vision were filled with nothing but murky gray, so the presence of the body flickering right in front of me came through far too intensely.
She was carefully devoting herself to straightening out my appearance, yet her own front remained fully agape from when I'd been clingy and acting spoiled.
Thanks to that, I had a clear view of her deeply curved form and her complexion, flushed with a healthy glow.
I wanted to tear my eyes away, but with my master right in my face personally fixing my attire, her body twitching right before my nose, it was hard to look elsewhere.
"Sniff, sniff..."
When I squeezed my eyes shut, the sense of smell I'd been trying to ignore made itself known.
Whether I ignored it or not, the scent that filled my nasal passages completely was unmistakably the body scent wafting heavily from the flesh right in front of my nose.
And it smelled like warm milk. A rich, sweetly nutty fragrance lingered at the tip of my nose.
I found it a little curious.
Why did Hong Yeon-hwa's chest and my master's chest both smell like milk? Other parts just smelled like a pleasant body scent, but their chests in particular gave off that milk fragrance.
...Maybe it wasn't all that strange. Considering the function of the female chest in the first place, it might actually be natural...
- Gulp
Unconsciously, saliva pooled in my mouth.
In my previous world, I'd often sought out milk. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was practically my staple food.
I'd always liked dairy products, so I'd kept a fair stock of milk and yogurt in the fridge.
Whenever I got hungry, I'd crack one open, or heat up some milk in the microwave and sip at it to get through a meal.
It was one of my few small luxuries. The price of milk was just so outrageous... I'd been shocked more than once seeing it cost at least 2.5 times what it did in the neighboring country. At least I didn't bother eating fruit, so maybe that was a relief.
Anyway, in this world my sense of smell was practically crippled to begin with.
So with such a stimulating scent assaulting what little sense of smell I had... it was inevitable that my attention would drift toward that body.
'Hngh... Homogenization, Azure Sea.'
- Hssss...
I cooled that impulse with Azure Sea. Earlier, even my reason had melted away and my judgment had been slow. My master already knew I used Azure Sea, so there was no problem using it openly.
"Buh?"
Just as I was cooling my emotions alongside some self-justification directed at I'm-not-sure-who, my master suddenly grabbed my shoulders and pulled me tight against her.
My face naturally buried itself in the body that had been flickering right before my eyes. Azure Sea cut off with a jolt.
My face was pressed into the soft sensation, and the scent of her body, far denser now, flooded my senses completely. For a moment my head rang sharply.
"Master?"
When I looked up, I saw my master gazing down at me with an inscrutable expression.
Her hands, which had been resting on my shoulders, slid downward smoothly. Stroking down my shoulders, tracing down the line of my back, her hands came to rest lightly below my waist.
At that touch, my body gave a flinch. A very familiar gesture... a familiar path. Without thinking, I clenched my hands into fists. The obscene sensation of being caught in that grip flickered through my mind.
"The things my little one is anxious about will never, ever come to pass."
Her hand, having slipped further down, patted my rear.
"Your master gives you her word. There will be no quarreling, and nothing for you to feel anxious about. So you don't need to worry."
Her palm patted in a steady rhythm, as if matching my heartbeat. The gesture, as if soothing and coaxing a child, gradually washed away the anxiety that had been piling up in a corner of my chest.
My master's face was calm. There was no grand tone in her words. She simply told me not to worry, flatly and matter-of-factly, as if stating the obvious.
That steadiness inspired trust.
The stiffness in my face, which I'd been pretending wasn't there, slowly relaxed.
The anxiety that wouldn't disappear no matter how many times I dwelled on it alone vanished at just a few words from my master.
With my guardian stating things so firmly, I felt a baseless sense of security.
Smiling deeply at the sight of me, my master swept my bangs up.
Holding my hair back, she lowered her head and pressed her lips to my now fully exposed forehead with a soft smack.
"Hnngh."
That display of affection, which tore away even the last remnants of my anxiety, made my face melt.
My master let out a soft laugh and pulled the arm wrapped around my waist even tighter, drawing me further into her embrace.
Only then did I wrap my arms, which had been flailing helplessly, tightly around my master.
I'm happy.
"I'm happy..."
[Happy...]
A guardian who simply cherished me and showered me with affection. Her existence alone put my heart deeply at ease.
"Hehe..."
- Squeeze...
"He—hnk...!"
Just as I was relaxing like that, the hand that had been patting my rear suddenly grabbed it roughly and twisted.
Between the feelings of pure comfort, a sharp jolt of electric sensation shot up.
"I understand you're anxious, but freely toying with your master's rear... and squeezing it for that long... hah."
As I shuddered as if hit by static electricity, a warm breath touched my ear.
For a while, my rear was thoroughly toyed with.
It was karma.
.
.
.
For the second semester, I'd registered mostly for magic-type lectures.
There were the occasional liberal-arts-level courses mixed in, like Monster Husbandry from last time, but the majority were magic-focused.
I'd already made plans at the start of the semester to improve my magic ability.
The Tower of Knowledge had originally been part of that plan to improve my magic skills. Now, listening to various secrets had become the main objective, but... in the original work, entering the Tower of Knowledge came with a major boost to one's magic abilities.
Soon, I would enter the Tower of Knowledge.
But before that, I needed to finish various preparations. In the original story, once you entered the Tower of Knowledge, you couldn't travel back and forth to Siyoram.
You could only enter once, and the moment you left, that was it.
In other words, you had to go in once, get everything you could out of it, and then leave.
Of course, that was how it went in the original. I had the Authority of Space, so round trips seemed possible... but still, just in case, I had to be prepared.
'And I need to move, too.'
The house key I'd received from the Vice Headmaster. The Vice Headmaster had said it was generously sized, so it would be far larger than my current dormitory.
As it happened, I'd been feeling that my current dorm was insufficient.
How many people had come into my dormitory by now?
'Me, Seo-yul, Ellia, Hong Yeon-hwa, Baek A-rin...'
That was five.
Eriel, who served as Hong Yeon-hwa's attendant, didn't bring separate bedding, but she took her morning and evening meals with us.
Counting her, that was six.
Of course, overall size wasn't the issue. This was Siyoram, which poured money into ensuring no shortage of facilities. Even with six people, it never felt cramped.
Instead, the problem was a lack of rooms. Even including the storage room I'd been using as a workshop, there were only four rooms.
I'd been feeling the need for some kind of solution and was looking into other dormitories, so the Vice Headmaster's consideration was a welcome thing.
...But just how far had those odd rumors spread for the Vice Headmaster to take care of something like this...
Whenever that thought crossed my mind, my legs nearly gave out, but I barely managed to keep my balance and walked on.
- Whirr
Magic Practice Building No. 12, 4th Floor, Room 413.
The lecture room for <Practical Workshop Construction>.
The concept of a Spell Workshop was something I'd learned at the start of the semester, and I also knew that I could produce similar effects through the Authority of Space. I'd used a pseudo-workshop through the authority plenty of times.
But I'd never actually manifested a real workshop. That was why I'd registered for this course. There was no leaving out the element of the Spell Workshop when it came to improving one's magic ability.
The lecture room wasn't the usual tiered layout.
The interior was several times larger than a normal classroom, with large rectangular desks installed at regular intervals across the flat floor.
The desks were far bulkier than ordinary ones, since they incorporated functions for spell-formula assistance and the like.
"......"
"......"
"......"
The moment I opened the door and stepped inside, all conversation within ceased.
And, as if it were only natural, gazes converged on me.
As if advertising that this was a magic lecture, most of the cadets were wearing robes over their cadet uniforms or activewear. First-years were the majority, but there were second-years and third-years as well.
I bowed my head once toward the incoming stares, then boldly pushed through the gazes and claimed an empty seat.
As I settled in and began unpacking my things, voices around me gradually started up again.
Though regardless of their year, they kept stealing glances my way and gauging the situation... I observed plenty of signs that they were quite familiar with one another.
Especially among the magic families—wasn't it said they were all interconnected through one degree of separation or another?
Many families had continued unbroken since the immediate aftermath of the Great Cataclysm, after all. Magic especially allowed for academic exchange, so I'd heard that the magic families were linked together like a spiderweb.
Among the main cast, there was even someone from a fairly influential magic family...
- Whirr
Just then, the back door opened, and the person who entered was someone I knew well—someone who had become quite familiar by now: Baek A-rin.
She seemed to survey the interior for a moment, and then, once she spotted me, strode right over.
"Hello. Did you have a good lunch...?"
Her steps halted abruptly. Baek A-rin blinked her eyes and stared fixedly at me.
[What's the matter?]
At that strange reaction, I tilted my head. From around us, gazes mixed with curiosity and puzzlement were flying in.
"Hmm...?"
As if those stares didn't bother her at all, Baek A-rin tilted her head right back, then suddenly strode closer.
"Ha-yul, come with me for a moment."
[Huh? All of a sudden?]
And with that, she gently took hold of my sleeve and pulled me to my feet. I cocked my head, completely at a loss, but Baek A-rin simply kept tugging at my sleeve and urging me to move.
I had no choice but to follow after her.
- Whirr... Ding!
Where Baek A-rin headed after we left the lecture room was a nearby lounge.
[Temporarily locked]
The lounge was empty. After meticulously checking that fact, Baek A-rin even locked the door.
[What's going on?]
Once things had gone that far, my curiosity was strongly piqued. What business did she have to go to such lengths?
"Ha-yul."
[Yes]
As I asked, waving the sleeve she still held, Baek A-rin extended her index finger and pressed it firmly against my stomach.
"Could you take your clothes off for a moment?"
[Yes]
[Pardon?]
[?]
What on earth was this person suddenly saying...
Question marks floated up above my head one after another.
* * *
...
[Unique Ability 「All-Rounder」 grows]
...
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Atra Clyde
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♡(90▷91/100)
「Affection」 「Master」 「Expectation」 「Sense of Security」 「Affection Craving」 「Anxiety」