Boom—
If shame had the power of gunpowder, Klein felt he would have been ignited by the burning heat of his face and exploded into a firework.
He stared, speechless, his mouth agape as if his tongue were tied in knots, dumbfounded for a long time before Alice confirmed again.
"Yes, or no?"
This wasn't something that could be decided so easily with a nod or a shake of the head!
Klein felt like he was being blinded by her hint, half embarrassed and half devastated, grabbing the girl's slender, delicate wrist to keep his heart, which was practically leaping out of his chest, further and further away from her.
"You...you...this isn't the time to say things like that! Please, I'm begging you, I'm really tired today, I don't have the energy...to do these...these..."
The last part was practically squeezed out between his teeth.
"Um, what? What are you talking about?"
Even in the dim light, Klein could imagine the girl's expression from her bewildered question.
"I only asked because I saw you were tired. Look, you probably misunderstood me…"
As she spoke, Alice seemed to raise her left hand, which he wasn't holding, and gently touched his right wrist, softly chanting a profound syllable.
A strange, clear, emerald-green magical light appeared in response, like fireflies on a summer night, illuminating the darkness that filled the room.
Klein was no longer bothered to notice how soft and delicate the girl's hand was.
A strange, cool yet warm and comfortable sensation rose from the point of contact, then spread along his entire arm as she gently stroked upwards, until she reached his shoulder. She withdrew her hand, and the mysterious emerald light vanished instantly. The wondrous "warmth" that had permeated his right arm gradually subsided, returning to stillness as if it had never existed.
But he knew that what he had just felt wasn't an illusion.
"Come on, move your right arm around… Do I really have to explain myself to you?"
Alice sighed deeply, turned, and went to the bedroom door to turn on the light. In the brightly lit bedroom, she saw Klein strangely stretching and bending his right arm.
After repeating the movement several times, he stopped, took out a gold coin, tossed it up, and caught it. His expression immediately became even stranger, and he gave her an awkward look.
"Now you understand, right? I meant, like before, to help you recover from physical fatigue." She explained, moving closer to Klein and making a gesturing touch—a gesture that, combined with her brown-rimmed glasses, created a surprisingly playful contrast. "Because there has to be direct physical contact, and I don't know how to give massages, this is the only way I can express it… Is there a problem?"
—There is a problem! A big problem! You didn't explain clearly how or where you were touching! Anyone would misunderstand!
Klein covered his face with one hand, his head hanging low, wishing he could disappear into a hole in the floor.
But Alice clearly wouldn't give him that chance. With an unusually earnest and innocent expression, she pointed to the bed and said,
"Okay, no objections mean you agree. Now lie down, I'm going to continue."
"...No, I didn't say I agreed!" Klein blushed and looked up, arguing.
"Then just say no." As if deliberately giving him time to refuse, Alice waited silently for three or four seconds, then blinked and smiled. "See, you didn't say no, so I'll assume you're just shy and embarrassed to tell the truth… Hmm, did I understand?"
"Fine, I'm begging you to stop…" After struggling for a long time, Klein simply gave up and opened his arms in a defiant manner. "Let's do it like this, lying down feels too strange…" "Since you insist—" Alice muttered indifferently, then put aside her distractions, gently supporting his still slightly trembling left arm with her right hand, and began to focus seriously on controlling the spell's transformation and the flow of magic, meticulously caressing every inch of his warm body. …
Gritting his teeth and suppressing the groan that almost escaped his lips, Klein began to regret not listening to her advice and lying down on the bed. That firefly-like emerald light carried a strange, rejuvenating magic. Parts of the body it touched—arms, shoulders, back, chest—regained their normal vitality, free from soreness and fatigue… But! But the electric-like comfort that coursed through his body during the recovery process… was bad! Absolutely terrible! To avoid being discovered by the girl's extremely embarrassing reaction, Klein had to step back as her small hand slid down to his waist, then casually sit down on the edge of the bed. Fortunately, his pajama bottoms were loose enough to prevent the situation from becoming too complicated. "Okay, okay, I think this is enough. I can't trouble you with magic to help me recover from fatigue anymore…" To change the subject, he even had to force an awkward but polite smile, hoping to gloss over the situation. Alice wiggled her fingers, the magical light on her hands gradually fading. She glanced at him with a flat expression: "Don't be shy, it's normal to feel something. The recovery process is only halfway done, your lower half..." "Stop, stop, stop! Why are you so skilled at this..." Klein surrendered, somewhat exasperated, unable to bear hearing such blunt words from her. His heart couldn't take it! "It seems you really have misunderstood something." Alice frowned slightly, then sat down beside him with a serious expression, looking directly into his brown eyes that were trying so hard to look away from her. "Relax, don't be nervous… Hmm, did I tell you about my former job role?" Job role? What's that… Why bring this up all of a sudden? Klein was momentarily confused, then remembered the power system of her homeland, the fantasy games he had played before his transmigration, and the team system for different classes in those games. He gradually regained his composure, suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, and tentatively asked, "Is it something like a role in a squad or team?" Seeing her nod silently, Klein felt even stranger: "A witch… cough, a mage should be a turret-type damage dealer, right? What else could it be, uh—" Wait, no way, she can restore other people's stamina, could it be… As if to verify his outrageous guess, Alice nodded solemnly and adjusted her glasses. "I miscalculated. I don't think I ever mentioned it to you. For a considerable period of time, I worked as a healer. After all, think about it, for tasks like exploring ruins or clearing monster lairs, hiring a healer can prevent many unexpected injuries and save on alchemy potion consumption. So, healers are usually very popular with all kinds of adventure teams…" "But, but you're a mage who studies magic, right? Why would you think of becoming a healer!"
Klein was bewildered: in his understanding, healers in games who could restore health and healing should be priests or clerics; moreover, this witch from another world had shown abilities that matched his ideal of "magic," so she must be a powerful mage...
but now she was saying that she was actually a backline healer?!
This was ridiculous! Maybe one day she would tell him that she could do more than just heal; she could use various illusions and mirror spells, enter dreams, travel through the stars, and even transform and fight for world peace like a magical girl. He might not be surprised then...
"Spells include healing spells, you know. Magic is a vast and profound subject; don't confine yourself to fixed ideas." Perhaps noticing his strange "why didn't you mention this before?" expression, Alice rested her chin on her hand and sighed deeply. "Without pain, healing spells are meaningless... Have you ever been injured?"
"...No." Klein shook his head blankly.
The only time he could be considered injured was right after he transmigrated, waking up in the body of the original owner who had been "startled"... and at that time he didn't even know this witch.
Alice, unaware of his thoughts, continued speaking with a rare lack of joking expression, explaining in detail:
"Anyway, not all healing spells need to touch every part of the body like the one just now to take effect... That spell was an exception. I don't usually restore people's stamina directly; this was just an experiment... Well, since you refuse, then forget about the rest. It'll provide a good comparison. Next, I'll observe you for a while."
"Are you using me as a guinea pig?!" Klein was startled, even forgetting that the other person didn't know the meaning of the term "guinea pig," and blurted out his inner thoughts.
Fortunately, it seemed that Alice's world also had a similar concept.
She glanced at him, then looked down and pulled something resembling a timer from the pocket of what looked like a suit jacket. Her tone was casual:
"Don't worry, don't worry, you're not the first test subject. I've tried it on other people and animals, even on myself... So far, no one has shown any abnormalities."
...Damn. Only that one word echoed repeatedly in Klein's mind.
As expected, she wouldn't be so kind as to help him for free... experimenting on others, or even herself? Calling her a witch was indeed an apt description...
"Previously, your muscle fibers, joint ligaments, and some soft tissues had slight damage, so I performed some meticulous repairs and adjustments... Although I can't guarantee that I'm the best healer, I've treated quite a few patients and injuries on my journey, so I'm not helpless in this other world... Of course, I admit that the body composition of extraordinary individuals is indeed different from that of ordinary people here and humans on my side, but this is not an insurmountable difficulty..."
Perhaps to pass the overly boring observation time, Alice began to mutter to herself, repeatedly opening and closing the cover of the timing device, her eyes lowered as she mechanically repeated this action.
Seeing that her attention wasn't entirely on him, Klein quietly took out his beloved citrine pendulum from under his pillow, suspending it vertically on the ground. He then focused his mind, meditating and silently repeating in his heart:
"The power that was just applied to me is harmful!"
"The power that was just applied to me is harmful!"
...
After repeating this seven times, he opened his almost completely dark eyes and saw the citrine pendulum pulling the silver chain in his hand, slowly rotating counter-clockwise.
This meant that the spell she had just used on him wouldn't harm him.
Klein felt slightly relieved, and just as he came to his senses, he heard the girl's narrative enter a new phase.
"—Speaking of which, I also worked as a battlefield healer for a while, but really only for a short time… I was a temporary worker who lost my job after only three weeks in the military camp, without even receiving my commission… There was no other way. The capital of the Kingdom of Eviand had fallen, all the surviving members of the royal family were imprisoned, and the nobles with any sense collectively defected to the enemy, leaving only those truly loyal to their country to be pushed out as scapegoats… That period was truly chaotic. If I had been greedy for commissions, I might have gotten myself into trouble, so I simply ran away to other regions…"
Huh? When did we jump to this topic? Klein opened his mouth, feeling a sense of bewilderment, wanting to say something but unsure how to interrupt. He turned his head and saw that she had stopped the repetitive action of opening and closing the watch cover, her eyes slightly dark as she looked at her hands.
"There is no hell more terrible than the battlefield. If there is, it is the tents in the camps where the wounded are placed between the two armies…"
But in just a moment, Alice raised her head, her tone returning to normal as she smiled at him.
"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore, it's nothing interesting anyway. You seem to be doing well, no unusual changes, so let's call it a night, I won't disturb your rest."
As she spoke, she put away the timing equipment in her hand, stood up gracefully, the hem of her knee-length black dress, designed in the style of the Intis, brushing against his trousers. The series of movements was smooth and natural, just like her always doing things her own way.
"Goodnight, Klein."
Actually, he wanted to talk to her a little longer, even about trivial and uninteresting topics...
Before he could even process the thoughts that had crossed his mind, Klein subconsciously stood up as well.
"Wait."
"Is there anything else?" Alice stopped and turned to look at him with a slightly puzzled expression.
"...You seem to have been very busy these past few days? Is it because you changed jobs? I heard Melissa mention it a bit this morning... Hmm, is wearing glasses also for the new job?"
What am I even saying! It's all incoherent! Klein wished he could swallow all this pointless conversation.
She seemed oblivious to his odd behavior, smiling as she adjusted her glasses.
"Yeah, wearing glasses makes me look more mature, which is more suitable for the work environment—how does it look?"
After a few seconds of hesitation, he answered in a very low voice, "...It looks good."
As soon as he finished speaking, Klein felt his face burning again, so he swallowed the more he was about to say, maintaining a normal expression, and nodded slightly to the girl to say goodnight.
After seeing her out and closing the door, he slumped against the doorframe, feeling utterly exhausted. His
legs, his legs, almost cramped up!
No, he should disinfect himself again before bed, to get rid of the influence of her alluring power on him…
With a jumble of thoughts running through his mind, Klein pinched his temples, shakily stood up, and headed towards the bathroom.