2. Winter Expedition - 02
2. Winter Expedition - 02
"...What?"
"Seems your hearing isn't too good. I asked for a massage. My legs ache from walking so much today."
"....."
I hadn't asked her to repeat herself because I couldn't hear her, as Bianca had implied.
It was so utterly fucking absurd that I was questioning whether my own ears were even working.
'Has this woman finally lost her mind? What am I, some kind of masseur?'
In truth, giving her a massage wasn't difficult at all. Bianca and I weren't total strangers. We'd known each other for twenty years, even if it was a terrible relationship. So it wasn't exactly weird for me to give her a massage.
On top of that, after months of traveling with the expedition, I'd seen—and even touched—that woman's bare skin countless times, sometimes willingly, sometimes not. By now, there was no reason to feel embarrassed just because I'd be giving her a massage.
But that was one thing, and this was another. What man in the entire world would look favorably on a woman suddenly pestering him for a foot massage out of nowhere? And more importantly, why did it have to be her feet, of all places? A noblewoman wasn't supposed to show her bare feet to a man. Showing one's feet to a man outside of an engagement was simply not permitted.
In short, Bianca was now essentially demanding from me something that only an engaged couple might do. And needless to say, the thought that someone might mistake us for an engaged couple made my face crumple up like a wad of scrap paper. I couldn't stand it.
"...Why?"
That was the question that slipped out. If it were anyone else, I might not have minded, but giving that girl a massage was something I just couldn't bring myself to do.
"Why? Why?"
At my question, Bianca twisted her face like a ferocious demon. To be honest, I had no excuse—I really was scared of that expression. Because I honestly was. If Bianca snapped and threw a spell at me, I'd die instantly at the very least. The difference in power was so stark—how could I not be scared?
"You give each other massages with that woman. Why can't I?!"
"...That woman?"
There were plenty of women in this expedition, so I had no idea who she meant.
"I'm talking about the Imperial Princess! Yesterday, right out in the open where everyone could see, you were all over each other!"
Bianca shrieked at me in a shrill voice. And watching her, I couldn't hide my bewilderment. Or rather, before that, I couldn't understand why she had to be so vulgar with her choice of words.
"That was just to relieve fatigue from the sword training I received from Her Highness the Imperial Princess..."
"Anyway, you did it for her! Why won't you do it for me? Is my body dirty? Huh?"
"....."
I had nothing to say. So this woman had suddenly grabbed me and started spouting nonsense because she was throwing a fit over the fact that I'd given the Imperial Princess a massage after training yesterday to help her relieve fatigue.
By now, I could see right through Bianca's painfully shallow intentions. She was furious that I'd given a massage to another woman while leaving only her out.
On top of that, Bianca usually treated me as something akin to her personal slave. So naturally, she must have thought that if I did it for someone else, then she was entitled to the same treatment—something like that.
In a word, it all boiled down to one simple fact: this woman's personality was just monstrously rotten.
"...Bianca. But, the feet are a bit much, aren't they?"
If anyone witnessed this scene, they might mistake Bianca and me for an engaged couple. A truly terrifying and dreadful misunderstanding.
"What about my feet? What's wrong with them?"
Bianca tilted her head as if she genuinely didn't understand. At this point, I was starting to suspect she wasn't really a young noble lady after all.
"Because we're neither engaged nor in any sort of relationship that would warrant me touching your bare skin. If someone happened to see me massaging your feet, wouldn't it cause unnecessary misunderstandings?"
"...Then what about the Imperial Princess?"
Bianca kept digging at the Imperial Princess like a bulldog.
"That was part of the training... How do you expect to train without touching skin?"
I had no idea how I'd ended up having to make such a pathetic excuse.
"Anyway, I'm sorry, but that request seems a bit unreasonable. You also don't want other people to get strange ideas about you, right?"
"....."
At my string of thoroughly pitiful excuses, Bianca finally fell silent, as if she'd somehow accepted it.
"So, can I go now? I still have a few things I need to do."
Even as I spoke, my body was already standing at the tent entrance. The only thought in my mind was to escape this goddamned place as quickly as possible.
But then,
"Hey, Kain. Who said you could leave? Hold it right there."
I froze—
The moment I heard Bianca's words, my body came to a complete halt. After months of walking on eggshells around that woman, my body freezing the instant she told me to stop felt utterly traitorous.
"I've thought about it a bit, and I don't see the problem."
"...What?"
"You said that if someone saw you massaging my foot, they might misunderstand, right?"
"...Yeah. That's right."
"Then if nobody else can see, there's no problem, is there?"
Saying that, Bianca picked up her staff lying beside her and began to murmur something.
I know next to nothing about magic, but the surge of energy around Bianca was enough for me to realize that the woman was about to cast a spell.
'...Fuck. Is that bitch finally going to kill me?'
Maybe the whole foot massage thing was just a pretext. Bianca's true aim was clearly to make me reject her absurd proposal. And she'd been plotting a wicked scheme: the moment I refused, she'd use it as an excuse to kill me.
If there was a next life for me, I'd never have anything to do with a red-haired woman again. I left that as my mental last will and squeezed my eyes shut.
"Hey, what are you doing? Open your eyes."
Flash.
At those words, I instinctively opened my eyes. The moment I did, I found myself looking Bianca up and down without meaning to.
"...What the?"
Fortunately, there was no fireball or swirling lightning in Bianca's hands. Wait, so she wasn't casting a spell to kill me?
"Why did you close your eyes?"
"...No, I was just a little flustered by you suddenly casting a spell. I closed my eyes without thinking, that's all."
I softened the truth a bit, leaving out the part about being afraid she'd kill me.
"Pfft, what's that about? Well, you've always been a bit of a coward."
Bianca nodded as if she'd come to her own understanding.
"Don't worry. I just erected a barrier to keep others from approaching the tent."
"...What? What do you mean—?"
"For the foot massage. I put up a barrier so no one can see. Now there's no problem, right?"
"....."
...She really was insane. I could only think that I had absolutely no clue what was going on in this girl's head anymore.
With that, Bianca took off her socks and then gave an exaggerated kick of her long, slender leg, as if showing off.
...To be honest, I'm a man, so the sight of her elegant figure made my eyes wander involuntarily.
'...I don't know anymore.'
I quietly set aside my pride, put on a composed expression, and began to slowly stroke Bianca's foot. All to grant this girl's wish for a foot massage. But as I observed her bare foot—so white it was almost like plaster—I quickly spotted several small blisters on one part of her sole.
'...So she wasn't making excuses.'
I'd thought her claim of hurting was a complete lie when she asked for a foot rub, but it seemed she really was in pain. In truth, she could have gone to the Saintess and had them healed in an instant, but this prideful woman clearly didn't want to bow her head over a few blisters.
"Tsk."
I clicked my tongue, and at the same time pressed firmly on a knotted spot on her foot.
"...Ah, ngh. Kain...!"
Bianca let out a very low moan, apparently feeling good as the tension in her muscles released. But my massage was only just beginning.
"...Nn, ngh..."
I gently touched her bare foot, pressing firmly here, softly stroking there. Wherever it felt like there was a knot, I rotated my palm in circles to work it out as much as possible, and any injured spot was tended to with a touch as careful as if I were handling delicate glasswork.
Before I knew it, I was so absorbed in the massage that I'd even forgotten I was touching Bianca's bare foot.
"...Ahh."
...And how much time had passed? I realized I'd been touching her foot for at least thirty minutes, if not longer, and that it was about time I left her tent. If I lingered too long in another woman's tent, the other expedition members might get strange ideas.
"I think that's enough. Can I go now?"
"Wait, Kain. Hold on."
Bianca stopped me as I tried to leave, as if she still had something else she wanted.
"...What now? Do I still have something to do? Do you want a massage somewhere else?"
At my question, Bianca, who was usually so bold, looked a little hesitant, then murmured something in a tiny voice.
"...you."
"...What?"
"I said I thought I was going to die from the pain! Be gentler next time!"
Utterly out of the blue, Bianca flared up and then shoved me straight out of the tent.
"I thought it would feel good, but it just hurt. I really hate it. I really do."
Saying that, she turned her head away from me sharply and disappeared back into the tent.
'That damn woman.'
I'd invested my precious free time giving her a massage, and all I got in return was outright abuse. I must have been insane too. What was so pretty about that girl that I worked so hard on the massage?
"...But was my massage really that painful?"
The Imperial Princess had praised me, saying that my massage left her body feeling pleasantly relaxed. Well, different people have different sensitive spots. From Bianca's perspective, my massage could indeed have felt painful.
...That didn't make it reason enough for her to scream at me after I'd worked so hard.
Once again today, feeling my hatred for Bianca deepen without reserve, I slowly made my way back to my own tent.
I could only lament that, having brought me into this world, the heavens had also created a woman like Bianca.