Ian extended his hand.
‘I’m just guiding the flow of her Mana perception anyway. I’ll just treat it as an advanced magic lesson,’ he thought.
A glint of success flashed in the depths of Otillia’s eyes, yet she maintained a serious and earnest expression on the surface.
She reached out with her fair, slender hand and gently grasped Ian’s wrist. This position appeared professional, yet allowed the pads of her fingers to rest right against the steady thrum of his pulse.
Her fingertips were slightly cool and very soft.
Ian cast aside his idle thoughts and began to provide a steady output of Mana Flow.
Otillia immediately closed her eyes as if focusing all her attention on sensing it, her long golden eyelashes casting faint shadows beneath her eyes.
The warmth transmitted through his skin, and the faint pulsation brought by the flow of blood…
‘And there’s that scent that belongs only to Ian!’
It all made her heart flutter, making her almost lose control and pull Ian into her arms to shower him with affection.
Under the sunlight, Otillia’s beautiful face slowly flushed a rosy hue.
Just as Ian began to feel that the woman was gripping him a bit too tightly, Sherivelle’s soft, gentle voice rang out at the perfect moment.
“Lord Caerslana… I… I don’t think I quite understand either. The steady output of Spatial Mana seems a bit different from ordinary elemental Mana… It isn’t listening to me very well. Could you… please give me some guidance as well?”
She bit her lower lip slightly, her red eyes looking at Ian tearfully. Combined with that weak and pale countenance, no one could refuse such a “studious” and “helpless” young girl.
Ian was about to withdraw his wrist from Otillia’s hand, but Otillia had already released him “just in time.” She even gave a slight nod, looking perfectly composed as if she had already mastered the technique.
“Thank you for your guidance, My Lord. I roughly understand now.”
She took a step back, yielding the “stage” to Sherivelle. Otillia needed to control herself and calm down.
Ian didn’t think much of it and replied, “Of course, Miss Sherivelle. Please, come over here.”
Sherivelle approached slowly, her posture elegant and cautious.
“It’s like this…”
She extended her small, plain hand toward Ian.
“I don’t know how to express the problem. I need Lord Caerslana to hold my hand to sense it…”
Ian was stunned for a moment by Sherivelle’s maneuver, but considering the unique nature of Spatial Magic, he still took hold of that soft little hand.
However, what Ian didn’t expect was that the moment his hand touched hers, Sherivelle’s extended hand quickly flipped over and spread her fingers.
In the end, their hands ended up with palms pressed together and their fingers interlocked.
The warmth and softness coming from her palm made Ian stiffen.
He instinctively wanted to pull back, but sensing the “naughty” Mana fluctuations from the other side, Ian had no choice but to bite the bullet and help Sherivelle guide it.
A moment later, the Mana fluctuations from Sherivelle’s palm stabilized.
Sherivelle didn’t linger and quickly withdrew her small hand from Ian’s grasp.
“Thank you, Lord Caerslana. I have learned how to control Spatial Mana now…”
After saying that, Sherivelle left quite decisively and returned to her spot to begin her sensory practice.
Ian: “…”
He felt like a prop that had accidentally wandered onto the wrong movie set.
These two women… why did it feel like they were both finding ways to touch him? Was it just his imagination?
It must be his imagination! One was a noble lady working hard to integrate into social circles after her Task Correction, and the other was a genius mage who had just “recovered.” How could they possibly have feelings for a plain instructor like him wearing a mask?
It must be because the course requires it! Yes, it’s all for the sake of learning!
Ian managed to convince himself.
***
Over the next period of time, similar scenes played out repeatedly.
Either Otillia was unskilled at controlling some basic magic, or Sherivelle didn’t know how to use Spatial Magic for assistance.
The two women went back and forth, coming up with all sorts of excuses. However, they skillfully kept everything within the “reasonable” scope of teaching requirements, and every contact was brief and never crossed the line.
This prevented Ian from sensing too much was wrong, leaving him to simply bite the bullet time and again to satisfy their “studious” requests.
But as the saying goes, the Pythagorean theorem applies to all triangular relationships.
As it happened more often, Ian began to feel that something was off.
Are these two women taking advantage of me?
Just as this thought grew stronger and Ian’s brow began to furrow slightly, the two women stopped their… “consultations” with him in perfect unspoken harmony.
Ian looked at the two women, who had suddenly attained enlightenment and were now earnestly devoted to their practice, and didn’t know how to bring it up.
Could he really just be overthinking it?
He shook his head, casting the doubt aside, and turned his gaze toward a certain “outsider” protagonist.
“Your Highness Arthur, next, let’s try a preliminary team coordination drill. I will act as your opponent.”
Amivie, who had finally joined the local network, finally had a chance to speak. Watching this jerk engage in such intimate “teaching” with two beautiful girls just now had made her incredibly jealous.
Amivie nodded, her fire reignited. It was time to show her strength and let the two beauties see that she was also qualified to teach them!
“Bring it on.”
Amivie was full of drive at this moment.
***
But reality once again made her feel intense jealousy!
While Ian acted as the opponent for the three-person team, Otillia and Sherivelle always found various strange reasons to “fake a fall.”
And these falls just happened to perfectly land them right into the arms of their “opponent,” Ian.
It made Amivie Loswether, the “Hero,” look like an incompetent husband who could only watch helplessly as his Saintess teammates fell into the embrace of the “Demon King.”
Once, she even saw Ian catch Sherivelle, who was “unfamiliar” with using Spatial Magic, and kiss the corner of her mouth!
This caused Amivie’s pupils to dilate in shock, and her eyes nearly spewed fire from jealousy.
Damn it!
I’m not being this crappy “Hero” anymore! I want to be the “Dragon”!
How are you supposed to play like this?!
Her teammates were like they were hypnotized, throwing themselves into the opponent’s arms one by one, and the ways they did it were varied and “suggestive.”
After a few more “accidents,” Amivie simply slammed the Wooden Sword in her hand onto the ground!
*Clang!*
But she didn’t expect the quality of the Wooden Sword to be surprisingly good. Instead, it bounced back and delivered a “righteous” critical hit to her forehead. This caused a certain protagonist to crouch down on the spot, clutching her head.
Pulling Otillia out of his arms, Ian looked at Amivie with some confusion.
“Your Highness Arthur, what’s wrong?”
Otillia and Sherivelle also followed Ian’s voice to look at Amivie, who stood up abruptly with a red lump on her head.
“Kevin Caerslana!”
Amivie shouted with great force.
“I am here, Your Highness.”
“We’re switching positions! I’ll be the enemy for you and the two ladies!”
Ian: “Huh?” [Cow Cat Confusion.jpg]
Isn’t this for training the coordination of your protagonist squad? What does making me the “Hero” even mean?