Chapter 64: Hassan - Masseur of The Wild (3)

༺ Hassan - Masseur of The Wild (3) ༻

Nymph? My ears pricked up at the mention of nymphs.

"Nymph?"

"Yes, a nymph! Nymphs usually mature slowly, so they look twice as young as other species! Take a closer look, she's different from humans or dwarves."

The innkeeper was shouting, seemingly trying to make me understand that he was truly innocent. I listened to the innkeeper and then took another look at the little girl lying on the bed.

Her long blue hair was fluttering like the turbulent sea, and her exposed sharp ears were actually a little bit different from those of humans.

I felt goosebumps run through my whole body at the sight of her ears. Those pointy ears were trauma-inducing, as they reminded me of a person I never wished to meet again.

Naturally, they weren't exactly the same. Elfriede's ears were longer and pointier than hers. Now that I think about it, weren't Daphne's ears short and pointy too?

"She really isn't human?"

"Yes. Well, I understand why you would have this misunderstanding. Since Ceres' curse 30 years ago, most of the nymphs have been exterminated, their numbers dwindling, making an encounter with them a rather rare event. Because of that, not many know about the nymphs in this day and age."

I could vaguely remember hearing about a fairy-like race that looked like elves existing in this world. They were probably nymphs. So, this was my first time seeing one of them for real.

"..."

The innkeeper's wife blushed and covered her head with the blanket as though she felt extremely embarrassed when I peered in. I think her name was Echo or something like that?

"Can't your wife speak?"

"Like all nymphs, she's naturally shy. They're very different from the elves of foreign lands."

While Elves and Nymphs had similar names, in reality, they looked completely different.

Elfriede's body in my memories was tall and slender. I could only say that her body was very developed for a woman.

But, this woman, Echo, looked like a little girl no matter the angle I viewed her from. Her face was like that of a fairy— cute and pretty, moreover, she didn't feel like an adult at all.

To use a comparison from back in my world, it was like elves were the exotic bullfrogs whereas nymphs were like the native tiny green frogs.

Thinking of nymphs as the native species that were helpless and couldn't survive against the foreign species made me feel a little sorry for them.

"Please take good care of her, Mr. Samaritan. I can't leave the inn for too long so I'll leave now. I'll come to check in from time to time, so tell me if you need anything."

The innkeeper then walked away, leaving quite an awkward atmosphere in the basement I shared with this strange nymph.

"..."

Moreover, befitting her alleged shy persona, Echo wasn't saying anything at all, making me quite a bit embarrassed as well.

Well, I can't just waste time like this. I was supposed to meet Hippolyte in the training grounds later tonight.

I could easily imagine what kind of misfortune would befall someone after refusing a call from a Silver-grade adventurer or even being late for it.

"Hmmm, uh, can I address you as Miss Echo? I heard your back was feeling a bit painful these days, right?"

"..."

I sparked every ounce of motivation in my body and tried to initiate the conversation. The blue-eyed nymph, who was covering her knees and chest with her hands, trembled in response to my words.

Damn, of course, this would be nerve-wracking for her.

"Well, I don't know if you heard from your husband or not, but I'm good at giving massages. I might even be able to heal your injured back. I, however, need to hold your hand first, so may I?"

"..."

The nymph didn't say anything and just blinked her eyes with her head just slightly peeking out of the blanket that was covering her whole body.

She didn't affirm it, nor did she deny it. I'll just interpret it as her giving consent then.

With such thoughts in mind, I slowly approached the bed, trying to look as harmless as possible. Closing in, I sat at the end of the quilt and faced her.

"I'll start then, first things first, can you give me your wrist...?"

A thin wrist stuck out from under the blanket at my careful request. Her wrist was thin enough that I could wrap it with one of my hands and still have a lot of leeway left.

Letters floated into my mind with the usual Ding- noise as I touched her slender wrist.

[Stats] Name: Echo

Level: 4

Conditions: Curse of Slow Growth> Chest Clumps> Weak Lumbar Discs

It seems that she couldn't move her back because she had 'Weak Discs'. And what's this 'Curse of Slow Growth' that she had? Was there such a curse in this world?

"Well, can you lay down straight here?"

"..."

And yet another time, I had been left unanswered. Though this time, I did somehow receive some semblance of an answer at the sight of her body moving as though cooperating with my movements. She then slowly lay down on her stomach.

I then laid her slender body flat and checked if the length of her two legs was equal or not. Next, I checked the condition of her pelvis and shoulders, seeing if they were twisted or not.

The balance of her body wasn't actually as bad as I had expected it to be. If it's just this, traditional Korean medicine should be enough to cure her.

The biggest issue was her lumbar discs.

Healing a disc with surgery was nothing short of a miracle. And I had no clue how to achieve that with just a massage.

"Well, I'll start by pressing around your waist soon. You're going to need to take off your clothes, is that alright with you?"

"That... J-Just a little..."

Wow, she finally opened her mouth. Her voice was so quiet and soft that I had to fully concentrate to just pick up what she was saying. But I felt a lot better now that I got her direct permission instead of just settling on guesses and implications.

Swish—

Anyway, time to start the massage. I moved my hand toward the nymph's waist.

Now that I think about it, the fact that she was wearing a one-piece dress meant that she had no choice but to roll up her skirt until her waist or pull down her top for me to massage there, right?

"I-I'm sorry, but I need you to roll off your skirt and pull down your top for me to massage your waist."

Shiver—

The Nymph's body trembled once again after hearing my words.

"I'll have to start from the buttocks otherwise."

"Ah..."

As if she had only realized what I meant now, the woman slowly began taking off her clothes.

Swish— Swoosh—

Just as I started seeing a little more of her body's curves, she hastily took the blanket, hugged her chest, and covered her front. Then she laid down in front of me again with her back facing me.

The first thing I saw after observing her back were the red spots all over her thin back and waist, it was very similar to what I had seen with Luna.

What's this spot again? Her renal arteries?

Renal arteries were located in the waist and were linked to one's kidneys. Massaging that spot is said to reduce the chronic pains around the waist region and rejuvenate the functions of one's kidneys.

When a person's back was in terrible condition, there was a great chance that the organs of their stomach were also in a precarious state and vice versa. So massaging around the area of the waist and the back was never a bad idea.

Even if it wasn't the crux of the problem, relieving the erector muscles near the area, which were probably often stiff or tense from her weak lumbar discs, will definitely help with fixing her condition.

"Whoo~"

I let out a short sigh and then reached out for the nymph's waist. I couldn't help but become nervous, despite how familiar this procedure was to me.

It was because applying the wrong massage to the lumbar discs would be really painful for the patient.

Moreover, unless you were an expert, interfering with it might just leave the patient in a worse state. Could I really trust my hands and that weird blessing of mine to heal her like this?

Fuck it, what's the big deal anyways?

"I'll gently start pressing then."

Pressss—

"Ugh..."

The small nymph groaned painfully and gripped the blanket tightly as though she was feeling excruciating pain.

Echo's waist was surprisingly lacking in muscles. The entirety of her waist was soft and smooth.

Those few muscles, however, were clearly very stiff and fatigued. She must have been feeling even more pain than normal, she was lacking the necessary power to lift her back.

"Ah.... Heuuu... Haa..."

Echo, the nymph, continued exhaling intermittent hot breaths while trembling erratically.

Of course, I had no time to dwell on such thoughts, I had to gather all my focus on my thumbs that were pressing on her waist.

Press— Preees— Pressss—

I had to find a balance in my pressing strength, as pressing too strongly would damage her nerves and muscles, while pressing too weakly would end up not doing much for her. Sweat began flowing from my forehead as I realized how hard this was to achieve.

"U-Ugh...!"

Kwaaaak—

I had been pressing on the woman's waist for a while already.

Tear—

Suddenly, Echo tore off the bedsheets she had been holding onto with a tight grip, this was a testament to the extreme pain she must've been feeling at this moment. I began thinking that I just might've massaged the wrong spot and worry began to overtake my psyche when...

Ding—

『 Echo's Weak Lumbar Discs have been cured.』

『 Task Points +10』

『Current Task Points: 87』

I could finally let out a sigh of relief at the appearance of those familiar letters. That aside, damn it, I didn't think I'd actually manage to do it.

Unlike things like curses and whatever, that felt unreal, I didn't think I had it in me to cure such a realistic disease like this. My confidence in my abilities rose significantly with this monumental achievement.

Damn, wouldn't I have been making loads of money had I still been in Korea with such an amazing ability?

Just as I was immersed in thoughts that contained a mix of pride and regret.

"Ha... Heuuu. M-Mr. Doctor..."

I was suddenly brought back to my senses by the call of the nymph, seemingly having trouble breathing properly. Was there any issue?

"What's the matter? Anything wrong? And I'm not a doctor, by the way."

"My... My chest feels very stuffy... What's happening to me...?"

Her chest was stuffy? Just what kind of illness was that? And just as I began wondering what the cause for this was...

Grab—

I couldn't believe what was happening in front of my eyes. Echo, the nymph, suddenly grabbed my hand and placed it on her chest.

Squish—

Her breasts were very soft and just small enough to fit in my palm. I then felt something slightly hard protruding above them directly in my palms and I was so surprised that I nearly let out a scream.

"Haa..."

"W-What's this?"

This woman just made me touch her breast.

Damn, just what the hell is happening? Dazed by what suddenly transpired, I finally remembered that the renal blood vessels I massaged just now also had the effect of promoting the production of female hormones, along with an increase in sexual drive.

That was the only explanation I could find for why such a shy woman would do something like this.

"Haaaah..."

"Well, that's... That's a little..."

Preeesss—

I tried multiple times to remove my hand from her soft breasts, but Echo wouldn't let go, tightly clenching it with her small palms.

Of course, It's not like I hated this wonderful sensation and wanted to let go, but as a masseur, grabbing the chest of a child-like young woman was nothing short of suicidal. I would probably be sentenced to death at this rate.

But as if my hand had been glued to her chest, the soft sensation I was feeling right now, made me unable to move even an inch away.

Squish— Squish—

"Haa... Heuu..."

But after pressing a few times, I noticed that it wasn't feeling smooth at all. As if something was clumped together inside. It was as though small air pockets were embedded inside her soft and fragile skin.

Is this the chest lump from earlier?

Squish— Squish— Squish—

"Aaah, hang..."

I then shamelessly continued to rub the chest of someone else's wife in the newlywed room that he especially erected for her in his basement.

Weirdly, the more I rubbed her soft and small chest, the lumps I had felt earlier started to become smaller and smaller.

Squish— Squish—

After a session of intense rubbing and kneading with my hands, I was finally able to completely get rid of those nasty clumps.

"Heuu, ah, aaaah...!"

Echo, who lifted her body into a bridge posture, began shaking in that state and seemed like she didn't know what to do.

Ding—

『Echo's Curse of Slow Growth and Chest Clumps have been treated』

『Task Points +20』

『Current Task Points: 107』

My task points went over the 100 points mark after treating both her conditions. I did a great job. Wait a minute, did I?

"M-Mr. Doctor..."

Could I really call it doing a good job, when Echo, the nymph, was calling out to me in such a sticky and lustful voice while laying limp on the blanket like that?

"You... You have blessed hands... Did you receive a blessing?"

"That, I... I'm sorry it turned out this way."

"..."

Echo then fell into silence once more after I replied to her query. Without saying a word, she slowly pulled up her one-piece dress again and hid her body under the blanket.

"... Then I'll be going. Don't lift heavy things from now on and don't forget to exercise and develop your back muscles."

The awkward silence being a little too heavy for me to bear, I got up from my seat and headed out to the entrance of the first floor of the inn.

"Are you done? So, how is it? Is she going to be okay?"

The innkeeper suddenly accosted me, but because of the guilt I was feeling after what I did with his wife, I couldn't muster the courage to look him in the eyes.

"Probably... She shouldn't be facing any more complications from now on."

"What a relief! Hmm, why are you sweating so much?"

"Well, massages take a lot of effort..."

"Well, it wouldn't be a secret technique if it wasn't hard to perform. That being said, here's the money I promised you."

The innkeeper gave me a package with 5 silvers in it. It was equivalent to 500 coppers, or 100 bowls of rice, so more or less one month's worth of food.

Touching a married woman's breasts and then getting paid for it. I felt like I was some kind of distinguished guest for some reason.

"Next time, can you take a look at my bo—"

I left the innkeeper who seemed to be talking about something I didn't care much about and went outside of the inn. Feeling the cold wind brushing against my hot face helped my emotions to subside a little.

"Wow..."

I thought again about what happened there and the wonderful sensation of kneading Echo's pillowy soft breasts. Everything still felt like a vivid dream, even now.

Nymphs, while they looked skinny on the outside, they were actually quite soft and smooth to the touch.

How do women go on about their daily lives with such things attached to their bodies? I'd probably be too busy to do anything other than touch myself if I were to be a woman. Wait, did that mean that women rubbed their own chests every day or something?

"You're a little late. I've been waiting for a while already. Well, it wasn't really that long."

It was already late at night when I arrived at the training grounds and everyone else was already away. I could see a lightly-dressed Hippolyte waiting for me on a bench.

She was wearing a tank top and a short bottom that resembled your average gym pants, or hotpants to be specific. Her casual and skimpy attire beautifully showcased the wonderful and sexy curves she wielded.

Her smooth and shiny tan-colored skin, along with her slim abs and thighs, looked a little weird to me under the moonlight. Perhaps because she usually wore armor, the impression her casual clothes gave was very different from the norm.

She had no makeup on but her natural face was so well-groomed that such a tiny detail didn't matter at all.

Facing such a beautiful woman under the dim illumination of the gentle moonlight made me a little fidgety.

"The reason you wanted to meet me at such a time is..."

"Hassan, I heard that you apparently have an interesting talent related to your hands."

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