Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Master's Saliva is Medicine
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I glared at the strawberries in my pocket.
"Scary..."
Despite my considerable level of attainment, the taste was so overwhelming it made me lose consciousness for a moment...
In my eyes, this was an extremely dangerous item.
To exaggerate a bit, one could say it threatened world peace—and I had a duty to safeguard that peace by dealing with it.
With a resolute expression, I nodded firmly to myself and tossed another strawberry into my mouth.
"Master... if you eat that many, you'll get cavities."
"What, you think I'm some kid with candy? You think I'll get cavities?"
"...I wouldn't know."
Nameless shook his head slightly with a sigh, which somehow rubbed me the wrong way...
But those who walk the path of justice are always destined to be lonely.
He might not understand, but I was protecting world peace today as well!
"Heh heh."
Feeling pretty cool about myself, my shoulders puffed up proudly for no reason.
For some reason, Nameless looked at me with cold, jaded eyes.
"...What is it."
"Nothing..."
"Tch."
I turned my head away, ignoring him.
To begin with, I never expected someone like Nameless to grasp such profound life wisdom.
He's just a novice who hasn't even lived a tenth of my years—how could he possibly understand my lofty thoughts?
I let out a sigh and shook my head slowly.
...Come to think of it.
Lately—ever since we came down from the mountain—I've noticed he lacks any real respect or desire to emulate his master.
Insolent brat.
Very insolent.
He needed a little punishment.
What kind of punishment would be good...
As I tilted my head this way and that in thought, a brilliant idea flashed through my mind.
The one thing Nameless hated most about what I did.
Ignoring him.
The corners of my mouth curled up slyly.
I'll just not look at him at all until we get back to the inn.
Well... one might see it as me being unilaterally sulky, but I absolutely, positively wasn't sulking by acting this way.
Unlike Nameless, I was a master with a truly magnanimous heart.
So this was clearly educational discipline from a proper master.
"Hmph."
I snorted and haughtily turned my head away.
We walked in silence like that for several minutes.
I was starting to get bored.
The market sights were fun at first, but seeing the same buildings and goods over and over made it dreadfully dull.
I let out a light sigh and casually glanced back at Nameless.
...By now, he'd probably realized his mistake and was reflecting on it properly, right?
But my hopeful expectation turned out to be nothing but a pipe dream—contrary to what I'd imagined, Nameless had his brows furrowed, his lips puffed out like a duck's beak.
No matter how I looked at it, that wasn't the face of someone reflecting.
...This guy?
Still hadn't realized his own fault?
How utterly obtuse...
No, even if he hadn't realized his mistake, that was still a problem.
A man! His disciple, no less! His master! Me! I'd made it painfully obvious I was upset, so shouldn't he apologize first?!
What did this guy have to be so aggrieved about, jutting his lips out like that?!
My emotions flared up, and my face flushed bright red.
"What! Why are you making that face?!"
"...What's wrong with my face?"
"Urgh! Tuck in those lips before you talk!"
I reached out and pinched Nameless's lips.
"Mmph! M-Master! It hurmphs!"
"You! Need to feel some pain!"
Nameless struggled desperately to pry off my hand pinching his lips.
As if.
I immediately drew up internal energy from my dantian and clamped down hard, making sure he couldn't shake me off.
Because of that, every time he tried to pull my hand away, he felt even more pain—now he could only tap my shoulder weakly with his hand.
"Tch, still pretty insolent."
I decided this was enough punishment.
As I'd said before, I was a truly magnanimous master, so I could overlook a disciple's little mistakes.
As I nodded to myself, Nameless let out a groan of pain.
"Master... that really hurt."
His lips looked visibly damaged at a glance.
Hmm, had I gone too far...?
Using internal energy to pinch his lips probably was a bit excessive.
If it hadn't been Nameless, those lips might have torn right off.
Thinking that, I felt like I'd been a tad harsh, so I decided to offer some comfort.
"Hmm, I might've been a little rough. Guess I should apply some medicine."
Since ancient times, there's been a universal remedy for wounds, hasn't there?
I stuck out my index finger and shoved it into my mouth, slurping around for a while until it was thoroughly coated in my saliva.
"Pwah—"
When I pulled my finger out, a long strand of saliva stretched from my lips to my finger, sparkling in the sunlight.
Hmm, maybe too much.
I shook off the excess moderately, then stretched out my arm and pressed my finger to Nameless's lips.
"Master, what are you—?!"
"Keep quiet. If you keep moving your mouth, it'll be hard to apply, won't it?"
"..."
From the edge of his upper lip to the end of his lower one, I carefully smeared my saliva evenly across his lips.
He flinched—
"Hey now, I said stay still."
I poked his naughty, distracting lips.
"Keep twitching like that, and it looks like you don't want the medicine."
Only then did Nameless clamp his lips shut tight—as if vowing to stay perfectly still, he even squeezed his eyes closed.
His expression was so pitifully funny that I smiled faintly and kept applying it carefully, so his wound would heal.
Whenever the saliva ran low, I'd replenish it, continuing until his injury was fully mended.
"Mm! That should do it!"
"..."
Nameless's lips were now flawless, gleaming slick and shiny.
Perfect.
The wisdom of the ancients never fails.
Of course, that didn't mean I'd blindly slathered my saliva on his lips without basis.
If it had no effect, he'd obviously be upset—why risk that?
Back in the days before Nameless was around—some distant past, probably.
Whenever I got a wound, I'd often apply my own saliva, and strangely enough, it always healed.
My guess was that the grass I'd chewed on my whole life had turned out to be some incredibly potent herb.
Well, maybe not—it's just a hunch.
How could constantly munching herbs make a person's saliva medicinal?
There might be some other reason I didn't know, or maybe it was because this was a fantasy world.
Not that it mattered much.
As long as Nameless's wound healed, right?
Finishing my brief reminiscence, I turned to look at Nameless.
Hmm, was it really that upsetting?
His face was redder than ever before.
...Redder than a strawberry, even?
Well... better a quick recovery from a little discomfort than prolonged pain, right?
Hmm, obviously.
I nodded firmly.
After that, Nameless kept rubbing his flushed face and letting out deep sighs, not saying a single word even after we reached the inn.
Ah, he did say goodnight at the end.
Anyway.
He seemed pretty mad, so next time, I should at least warn him ahead or hold back a bit.
...
The next day, when I woke up, Nameless had unusually beaten me to it.
"Nameless, what's this? You're up first?"
"..."
"Nameless?"
No answer, so with half-lidded eyes, I peered closely at him.
He hadn't fully woken up yet, it seemed—he was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Wondering if he saw something up there, I followed his gaze to the ceiling, but there was nothing.
Hmm, what was up with him?
He'd said himself we needed to move quickly today to hire a carriage.
Yet here he was, up early but just spacing out at the ceiling.
This guy...
Should I praise him for being diligent and waking early, or call him lazy for zoning out...?
Unable to stand it, I hopped off the bed and poked his side sharply.
"...Master, you're awake?"
"I've been up for a while, you fool."
To snap him out of it, I lightly flicked my finger against his forehead with a pop.
Nameless rubbed his forehead for a long time, his eyes gradually widening until he sputtered out incoherent words, his face turning red as he bolted to the bathroom like he was fleeing.
Hmm, why was he acting like that?
Did getting flicked on the forehead dredge up some forgotten trauma?
But... before, when I'd tapped his forehead, he'd just grumbled—no reaction like this.
Hmm, no point overthinking it.
Time would sort it out anyway.
To wait for him to finish washing up, I flopped onto the bed and rolled around idly.