Dancing with the Suit (3)
Rydmila demanded a mana massage from me in a space where we were alone. It might seem sudden, but this situation was one I'd carefully steered into existence ever since she joined the special class. There were several factors at play.
'I showed her firsthand how I gave Esta a mana massage.'
I'd performed a mana massage on Instructor Esta right in front of her. Whether Esta actually dreamed her Cumming Dream or not, to outsiders, it just looked like a wholesome, thorough massage. Rydmila must have seen how refreshed Esta looked afterward, but the key point was that the recipient was an S-rank. To an A-rank like her, S-rank was an object of aspiration. In sports terms—like baseball—an A-rank might be a major leaguer, but an S-rank was the kind whose name went down in history.
There were probably various reasons Rydmila joined the special class, but the presence of Instructor Esta had to account for a hefty share. Just as many academy students dreamed of sparring with Rydmila, she surely yearned to cross blades with Esta. Improving her combat prowess. Admiration for an S-rank. And then seeing that S-rank meekly accept a mana massage, afterward using her mana more efficiently? She couldn't hold back.
With not enough time to even mimic Esta's routines and training methods, she'd witnessed a direct demonstration of efficient mana flow. There was no reason not to try it herself—as long as she could overcome her embarrassment around a guy.
'And she saw Unia using non-attribute magic.'
Second factor. When Unia took down that angel, Rydmila had witnessed me helping purify her mana firsthand. And afterward, she'd even seen Unia control her mana on her own to produce non-attribute mana. The difference with and without my help. Unia, who had even more talent than Rydmila when it came to mana purification, had shown a clear gap in purification quality depending on my presence. It had to pique her interest—from a pure drive to improve.
Yet up until now, she'd kept her distance from me. Because of her duty to protect Unia. Because of the watchful eyes of Evangeline, Esta, and the others in the old school building.
In other words, Rydmila had been biding her time for an 'opportunity.'
This A-rank hunter called Gale had been lurking around, waiting for a moment alone with her prey—me—and now the chance had perfectly aligned. Right here, right now.
"You want me to put my hands on your suit and give you a mana massage, right?"
"Yes."
She'd been a bit shy at first, but now that the words were out, maybe it felt like spilled water. "Classmate Phoenix, I believe receiving a mana massage from you will improve both my non-attribute mana purification and general mana efficiency."
Rydmila approached me brazenly with her usual cool expression. But her rabbit ears, standing straight up toward the sky atop her head, betrayed her tension loud and clear.
"So, stretching my hands over the suit means... even places like this are fair game?"
I stepped right up to Rydmila and reached out toward her. Swish. I placed my hand on her shoulder, slowly sliding my palm downward. The base of my hand brushed the top of her mana pouch, but it felt as firm as touching a car body.
"This thing's real armor, huh?"
"Correct. It's a combat mana suit made by refining the carapace from an A-rank mana beast... the Scorpius."
Chitin, in other words, insectoid shell armor.
"Want to feel it for yourself?"
With a confident look, Rydmila tugged at the fixed straps—harnesses—running over her suit. They were blatantly military-grade, but knowing where those harnesses crossed her vital areas, I couldn't help swallowing hard inwardly.
"Let me check it out. First..."
I slowly slid my hand downward, and Rydmila lifted her chin as if it were no big deal.
"Heh heh heh. Even if you touch it like that, you won't actually be touching my mana pouch."
I boldly placed my hand right over her mana pouch, gripping it from the front. But as Rydmila said, all I could feel was the shell of a dead mana beast. Was it like touching the breast area of a marble statue you'd see in some European museum—or the art room—and calling that groping a woman's chest? Not at all. If so, every artist would be a pervert sexually harassing statues daily.
Therefore—
"So, how long are you planning to just leave your hand there? To outsiders, it looks like I'm the one letting you touch my mana pouch."
Without context, yeah, it would look like I was toying with her.
"Hold on a sec. I'm checking right now."
I channeled mana. An A-rank hunter's armor was beyond my current ability to infuse mana into.
"Hmm... this is tricky."
I took a step back. "It seems to be treating my mana as an 'attack.' The mana isn't flowing into your body."
I tapped Rydmila's bodysuit with my index finger. Tap tap.
"!!"
Her ears perked up for a split second, but she quickly composed herself, lowering them deliberately as she nodded coolly. "I see. Well then... no choice."
Rydmila gathered up the battle coat she'd taken off earlier to tidy the room.
"I can't just bare my skin while wearing the bodysuit."
"What about here?"
"...Hold on."
As I slyly extended my hands to her sides, Rydmila scowled fiercely. "What do you think you're doing?"
"No, there's an opening here where mana could flow in."
I turned my head sideways. Her bodysuit was a high-leg type with open armpits, and it even exposed a bit of the sides of her breasts. And it wasn't like she was wearing stockings on the bottom either. Pure bare skin was visible, so I slowly extended all ten fingers toward it.
"Eek...!"
"What, are you embarrassed?"
"It's not embarrassment...!"
"The great Gale wouldn't be shy about something like this, right? Instructor Esta let me touch her skin even though she was wearing what was basically underwear."
"......."
I'd scratched a nerve. It strayed a bit from the standard way to win her over and might even lower her favorability.
"Ha. Provoking me like that just to touch me?"
She twisted her lips, shooting me a cold glare.
"To be honest, with you, Rydmila, it's kinda like that."
"...What did you say?"
"Frankly, it's hard to completely set aside personal desires?"
I'm a golden sun. For a golden sun to chase skirts is just acting true to form, and Rydmila knew that well.
"I can't resist the muscles on someone as athletically built as you, Rydmila. Especially your legs."
"......Then."
She glanced around briefly before muttering. "Did you have no personal desires for Instructor Esta... or Miss Unia?"
"It's a matter of degree, or maybe the species difference."
"What was that?"
"I've massaged people plenty, but never a beastkin."
"......."
"So, you gonna give me a shot?"
I tapped the marble countertop—the only usable surface left. "Lie down, or sit here? Whatever pose you want. The battle suit's tough to work with, but elsewhere, I think I can manage."
"Elsewhere, you mean...?"
"Hands or arms, for starters."
I closed in on Rydmila in one stride, slipping both hands behind her waist.
"Rydmila, your lower back is completely exposed."
"!!"
It's not obvious from the front, but her back was bare down to the waist.
"You release mana from around your shoulder blades, right? That's how you control Gale."
"You seem to know a fair bit about my fighting style."
"Obviously. You think I'd spend a week in the same class without digging up info on you?"
Gale was famous to begin with, and as an A-rank, she had pride in her recognition.
"Who doesn't know Gale? Well, some might, but anyone who's seen you fight would look you up immediately."
"Ahem."
Rydmila cleared her throat awkwardly and grabbed my wrist. "I know exactly what you're after with all that talk."
"Ah, was it that obvious?"
"Beastkin have sensitive senses. That... and."
Her gaze flicked downward for a moment. "We're sensitive to heat too."
"Mm. Well, can't help that. It's a natural male reaction."
"You think I'd just hand over my body in that state for a mana massage?"
"This happening to you is separate. When I do a mana massage, I get serious."
I shifted my expression. "It's not for classmate Rydmila. It's for the A-rank hunter Gale—who could become S-rank, or beyond."
"......."
"Who knows? Actually, why else would you ask for a massage even over your battle suit?"
I gently pushed aside the coat she'd been about to put back on. "You want to hit S-rank, right? Isn't that it?"
"If a mana massage made you S-rank instantly, ha, then..."
Rydmila chuckled and shrugged. "I'd strip down to my underwear like Instructor Esta and let you have full access."
"That's a promise now?"
"For S-rank, I'd say anytime... but."
She raised a hand and pressed her index finger right between my brows. "I'm not the type to offer my body to just anyone. I saw how seriously you treated Miss Unia and Miss Esta. And because you're a special class classmate. And..."
"And?"
"...Nothing. Forget it."
Probably, the last reason involved the Mercenary King. The man he was keeping a close eye on. That had to gnaw at her.
"Alright. Permission granted, then... Rydmila?"
I moved behind her, gently slipping off her battle coat and pulling her into a back hug from behind. "Relax. Just let your body go slowly."
One hand supported her abdomen while the other—
"Slowly."
"!!"
—ever so gently gripped her rabbit ear. Tremble tremble.
"Ah, ah, ah...?"
"Slowly."
Squeeze, sqqueeze, squeeze.
"Focus on your mana flow."
"Ah, ah, aaah...?"
Rydmila had no idea. Just one ear gripped, and her composed expression was crumbling bit by bit.
"Ah, ahh, aa...."
And then.
"Ahh...."
A sensation like pent-up tension releasing, the pleasant inflow of mana—why she craved it over and over, she couldn't understand herself.
"Haa...."
"Rydmila."
I pulled the speechless girl closer, slowly sitting in the nearby chair and settling her on my lap. "It's just a mana massage. Only loosening knotted mana, that's all."
"I-is that... ah?"
"That's right."
It was.