abcnovels
Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Translator: Imouto Hunter
After dinner I went go-go bar hopping. Outside of Annan, go-go bars are located independently in various pleasure districts. Annan is special. It’s one big complex, like a shopping mall for adults.
With the advice of the older lady at Bell Talk in mind, I tried to avoid doing business with the dancers and simply enjoy the stage. Some of the dancers were persistent, and while annoying, I was able to manage with the extra energy that the werewolf left me with. I’m not too bothered by not going to Annan, and since my final impressions were bad I’m avoiding it for now.
I’m going after dancers tonight since this is my last night staying at an inn, and after moving I don’t plan on bringing any home. There would be issues with the public order and neighborhood rumors spreading, but my main concern is the cleaning. The bed sheets are washed for you in an inn, but if it’s my house I’d have to do them myself.
The establishment I’m in right now is called “Karb”. While sitting at the counter, one of the dancers began to massage my shoulders.
?Uhaa, that feels good.?
I decided that this dancer must be good at massages, and to test that theory, I continued to let her massage my shoulders. Just as I expected, this is quite something. Pain and weakness are vanishing into a pleasant sensation. I had no idea my shoulders were this stiff.
?If you take me out, I’ll massage you in even more places.?
While massaging my shoulders, she pressed her soft breasts against my back and moved them around. She’ll have to try harder than that against someone like me who’s gained so much experience and levels.
(That reminds me, when I was little, I was always told my shoulder massages were good.)
My grandfather was a massage teacher, although I mostly learned simply by watching him work. We had a section of the house dedicated to his practice, though the guests were mostly other elderly folk. As a grandpa’s boy, I learned through imitation. Sometimes I would rub my family’s shoulders and they would praise me for it.
While remembering those things and receiving a massage, I thought about my plans for the future.
(I’ve been able to secure a steady income by supplying the guild with potions.)
That’s the main thing. I’m not making direct deals, everything is done through the guild. This way I’m able to avoid troublesome things.
(If I want to heal someone, I’ll use magic and tell them it’s a form of therapeutic massage. I won’t take any money for it.)
Curing through magic is ultimately a way for me to satisfy my own emotions. If I were to take money for it, it would become a job. I don’t want people coming to me with money asking to be cured. Use of my magic is simply an act of kindness, I’ve got no intention of healing anyone that I don’t like. There’s no need for me to do things for money that I wouldn’t otherwise do in this world. Yes, this is pretty ideal. The stone statue has my thanks.
(Though I do need a certain amount of skill to disguise it as a massage.)
I might have to become someone’s apprentice. Just as I was thinking how I don’t want to waste time doing something like that, an idea flashed in my mind.
(This dancer’s pretty good at massages, isn’t she? If I get her to teach me, I might get the form memorized.)
The healing is coming from the magic anyways, so as long as it looks nice it should be fine.
?Alright, I’ll take you out.?
?Really!??
I quickly negotiated the price with the dancer.
Short or long? The inn or the love hotel? I double-checked the agreement and came to a final price. By the way, the later it is, the cheaper the “long” price is. This is because the hours until morning are fewer.
After a mutual agreement, I paid and took her to my room at the Swiss Ham. Right now we’re taking turns giving each other a massage. The wholesome kind. Under the negotiation of a tip, I had her teach me. According to her, I understand the basics, but the massage itself is no good.
It’s unfortunate as I had some confidence. Well, I was only basing this confidence off of praise that I received from my family as a child.
I was able to at least learn the form, so that ends the study session for today. And now I’m able to enjoy a completely unwholesome type of massage.
It’s morning, a more refreshing morning than usual today. I had one more round with the dancer early this morning. At the break of dawn I was awoken to lewd voices and sounds coming from the room next to mine. Listening to that got me in the mood myself and I decided to have my way with my own partner. She woke up halfway through, but she let me keep going knowing that there was no point in resisting.
After breakfast, I left the girl and headed to the merchant’s guild in order to pick up the key to my new home. From opening a potion workshop to becoming a massage specialist, there’s lots of things I want to do. From a traveller living in inns to a full-fledged resident of the royal capital, I’m now able to settle down and live life.
After receiving the keys from the guild, I headed to the shopping district and bought a variety of things. Right now I’m struggling to make my home more comfortable to live in. It’s already complete with furniture and curtains, the cleaning is already done, and I even got a futon from the guild as a present. So even though I say it’s a struggle, I’m merely just planning on changing the layout of my room. It’s not a big deal.
Without spending too much time, I was able to solve most things before noon. There were food stands on the road just ahead of me, so I had lunch there. As I ate, I looked up at my house and thought.
(I should grow something in the garden. Flowers or something that I could harvest would be nice.)
Suddenly, it hit me.
(No, since I’ll have a potion workshop, I should grow the ingredients needed for potion-making.)
The three potions I can make are “Cure Disease”, “Cure Injury”, and “Cure Status Abnormality”. The ingredients are different for each one, but they all require medicinal herbs.
(Alright, let’s try growing some herbs. There might be some seeds or young plants being sold at the merchant’s guild or the shopping district.)
After eating, I went immediately to the guild and asked.
?Medicinal herb seedlings??
The older lady tilted her head. This is a different lady than the real-estate agent, by the way.
?Now that you mention it, I think there is a shop that deals in those sorts of medicinal products.?
?But, since they’re for research, they might be expensive.?
?Research… huh??
What kind of research, I began to ask. The woman sensed my question before I finished speaking, and began explaining.
?Artificial cultivation?
Ahh I see, I guess you can’t just cultivate medicinal herbs. I suppose if there was a way to harvest them in mass quantities, you wouldn’t need to hire adventurers to gather them. With an expression of understanding, I seemed to be able to fool the old lady. She put on a slightly boastful expression.
?Yes, artificial cultivation research seems to be the number one priority in research at the Royal Magic Academy.?
?It’s artificial cultivation after all, huh?. I had heard rumors, but didn’t know they went that far. As expected of the Royal Capital.?
I nodded my head. I haven’t actually heard any rumors at all, but I want to try and come across as a doctor so it would be odd for me not to know. Moreover, the lady is a bit conceited. If I impress her, it will be easier to get information out of her. The lady happily talked as I made interjections in order to make it seem like I understood. I was able to gain a lot of info about the Royal Magic Academy and cultivation of medicinal herbs.
I came to the medicine shop “Andale” that the merchant’s guild told me about. I entered, and in front of the shelves stood a balding middle-aged man.
?You need seedlings for medicinal herbs??
I told him that the merchant’s guild referred me here, and he cordially invited me to the back of the shop.
?Right over here.?
In the back of the store was a small garden, full of medicinal herbs growing in rows. According to the man, medicinal herbs gradually lose all of their medicinal properties after being picked. It takes about one week for them to completely lose their effectiveness. This shop hired adventurers to pick the herbs, and then plants them back in this field. For deliveries to the Magical Academy, there are rectangular flower pots that can support three herbs each.
?Alright, I’ll take nine please.?
I placed my order for the cheapest ones that were just about to lose their effectiveness. As long as they look like medicinal herbs it’s fine. I don’t have any plans of actually making potions or doing research with them. I also bought a few other minor things at the shop. Wooden test tube stands, a glass watering can, and a flask to put as accessories in the potion workshop. Just for atmosphere, of course. There was distillation equipment and a number of intertwining glass tubes, but since they cost several hundred gold coins I didn’t buy any.
I rode home on a golem-drawn cart with “Andale” written in big letters on it. After getting the plants and the inside of the house set up, I decided to go have some fun. There’s something I want to try, so I think I’ll go to Cione today.
Right now, I’m in Cione’s lobby. What I want to try involves this tiered platform. I’ve always been focused on the sidelines, and never gave the platform a try. It couldn’t be helped, the sidelines here are really beautiful. They wear what you would find in a young women’s fashion magazine, and sit with slender exposed thighs. You can stare however much you want and they won’t complain, rather they’ll smile. I’m dizzy. Breaking through the sidelines to the tiered platforms seems almost impossible.
?This is the day I make it to the tiered platform.?
I give myself these words of encouragement, and move forward.
…But it was no use. I wasn’t able to make it today either.My knees gave out in front of a denim miniskirt, and I called for her along the way. I had the willpower to endure boots, hotpants and sexy tops, but this is my limit.
Because the sidelines are more expensive than the tired platform, normally you would hesitate to pay for one of them. The sideline exists to provide customers a dream to reach for. But in my case income isn’t an issue, so it doesn’t have any effect on me at all.
I quickly shut myself in with my chosen girl. The other thing I wanted to try was a massage, specifically the kind I was taught last night. However, the girl in front of me was so young and slender that it turned into more of a light caressing than a massage. If an amateur like me put my all into it, I would definitely injure her.
?rub, rub, rub?
I rubbed her young and slender body as she lay face down. Gently, as if I was touching a peach that was being sold by a fruit vendor. Since it’s a normal massage, it’s being done above her clothes.
?rub rub ruuub, ruuub rub?
I had her lay face up and continued to rub, of course with her clothes still on. She could be ticklish, since she began twisting her body and trying to stop me lightly with her hands. I paid it no mind and continued to rub with both hands.
?rub rub rub rub rub rub?
Sometimes I would feel something hard in the palm of my hands. She must be stiff there, there’s no doubt about it. She twisted and turned, lightly grabbing both my wrists. Since we’re in the middle of loosening her stiff muscles, it’s got to be a bit painful. I’ll have her endure it, there’s no other way. Ignoring her fleeting resistance, I would occasionally turn her over and continue rubbing. After an hour of being massaged, she lies face down motionless, and her face bright red. All of her tension has disappeared along with her strength.
?Whew, looks like the massage was a success.?
Feeling satisfied, I stared at the girl from her feet as she lay face down. Covered in a denim skirt, her slim but shapely ass was beautiful to look at. With her rough breathing that hasn’t settled down yet, it moved up and down in big motions.
?Yup, this is good.?
I continued to stare at it for a bit as if admiring a work of art.
(Not just staring, but being able to go to the next stage is what’s nice about this world.)
Thankful that I came to this world, I got on my knees and slid up to her legs. She must have noticed my presence, as she tried to crawl away. However, she legs were still shaky and she could hardly move at all. “Just a minute” or “Please let me rest”, she was trying to tell me one of those things. But, I must apologize. This sort of play just turns me on even more. I gently reached out my hand from behind her.