2 minutes later.
Beiren skillfully climbed up along the water pipe to the second floor, using the eaves of the first floor as a foothold.
Luckily, she wore jeans today, and her shoes were flat.
Her top was the usual gray high-neck sleeveless thin sweater, easy for movement.
She had no sense of guilt about breaking into a private residence.
To her, as long as you weren’t caught, it wasn’t a crime.
She reached out and slowly opened the window on the second floor.
Beiren took off her shoes before stepping inside, both to avoid dirtying the floor and to reduce noise.
When she looked toward the direction of the bed, she instantly held her breath and froze in place, feeling like an intruder who had sneaked into a princess’s chamber.
A girl with white hair and green eyes was curled up on the bed.
Her marble-smooth fair skin was draped with a thin summer quilt, and she wore an amused expression as she gazed at Beiren.
But she wasn’t just any girl.
It was Siloque.
Beiren belatedly realized this.
“Lucky. It’s Beiren. You came to see me?”
“Why does it feel like you already knew in advance?”
“Telepathy, maybe.”
Siloque smiled, and his body suddenly slid down.
“Hey!”
Beiren hurried over to support him, discovering that he was naked under the thin sheet, trembling with a flushed face.
This is…
Not quite an illness or fever, though there was some magic depletion.
After all, as the School Doctor of the National Explorers Academy, Beiren could easily identify student ailments and abnormalities.
Siloque’s symptoms were due to rapid Upgrading—physical discomfort from absorbing too much experience at once.
A surge of new magic rampaged inside, causing repeated waves of heat and fatigue.
Usually, it would subside with enough rest.
“Sorry to trouble you. I wish I could entertain you since you came all this way, but I’m really just sweating now. I’m so tired, and it’s uncomfortably hot, so I wanted to wipe off the sweat.”
The simplest way to alleviate this symptom was—
“Turn around and lie on your stomach.”
“Huh?”
“Face down.”
“Oh… Oh…”
Beiren took off her socks and straddled Siloque, who was lying on his stomach.
***
Too close.
She realized her hips were fully pressed against Siloque’s.
“Hoo…”
Beiren took a deep breath to steady herself.
She pulled back the sheet, and seeing Siloque’s completely exposed back made her hesitate even more.
Smooth, pale skin, delicate curves half hidden under white hair—a slender and beautiful form that sent a jolt through her mind.
Wow wow!
Is this guy really a man?
Why does he look even more tempting than last time?
“Beiren, are you trying to realign my bones? I’m happy our physical distance is so close, but—”
“Don’t turn over!”
“?”
White hair that seemed to collect moonlight spilled from his narrow shoulders down to the center of his spine.
The curve from his neck to his collarbone was graceful, and combined with his flushed cheeks, soft lips, lowered lashes, and emerald eyes shimmering with tears from fever—it was all too beautiful and delicate, overwhelming Beiren.
“Tch!”
“Uoh!”
Beiren pressed Siloque’s head back into the pillow.
She couldn’t look directly at him.
Skin, flesh, bone, blood—they were all just combinations of DNA and protein.
Animals had them, humans had them, monsters too. Nothing special.
She’d seen plenty in anatomy class.
Convincing herself thus, Beiren calmed down.
To adjust the magic inside Siloque, she activated her Ability: Electronic Transmission.
Not the previous golden light, but a blue-white magic, softly glowing at her fingertips.
She focused, her ten fingers pressing onto Siloque’s skin.
“Ah… Mmm…”
“Don’t make weird sounds.”
“I’m not. Beiren’s technique is just really good.”
“Then hold it in.”
In her vision, she could see the chaotic magic within Siloque’s body, which her hands steadily pushed back into order.
After nearly 10 minutes of massage—
Beiren wiped all the sweat off Siloque with a towel and helped him put his clothes back on, piece by piece.
Am I caring for him too much…?
A thin sheen of sweat covered Beiren’s face. She sat on the floor, leaned against the bed, and wiped her own sweat with a tissue.
“How do you feel? Any better?”
“It’s not as hot anymore. That’s good.”
Siloque’s eyes were much clearer, and he seemed to understand something, murmuring:
“Skill Extraction drained my body, and the side effects of rapid Upgrading… the two Debuffs overlapped, leaving me like this for a long time.”
You catch on fast.
“This is my first time massaging someone like this. Not to brag, but I think I did well. Some students get Upgrade discomfort, and a bit of medicine clears it right up. But your case was special—the magic pooled inside for too long, and the digestion was too slow.”
“So that means… Beiren will only massage me personally like this?”
“Where is your mind wandering… So?”
“Hmm?”
“Why did your hair turn white again? For Explorers, facing crisis is routine, so what happened this time to leave you like this…”
Her voice grew softer at the end, and Beiren turned her head away.
“It’s because of…”
Siloque scratched his head shyly, trimming down the details before explaining the key points.
Beiren sat on the bed, listening patiently, her expression incredulous.
“Your luck is just awful.”
“If this hadn’t happened, Beiren wouldn’t have climbed in through my window, so I guess it’s a blessing in disguise.”
“Idiot.”
Beiren stared at Siloque, her eyes serious and worried.
“I know, I’ll be careful. But when it comes to luck, there’s nothing I can do.”
Knowing he was at fault, Siloque didn’t joke.
Beiren wanted to pinch his cheek, but remembering he was still recovering, she started to lower her hand—
“Thank you, Beiren.”
“—!”
Siloque suddenly grabbed her hand, catching her off guard.
Human warmth transferred through her skin, growing hot.
“I’m really glad you came to see me.”
“Yeah, I even gave up my shopping time to visit you, so you’d better recover by tomorrow.”
That was a lie. Usually, Beiren either went home or hung out in a café after work.
“If I could get this close every day, I’d want to be sick every day.”
“Enough nonsense.”
At times like this, Beiren felt Siloque was no pure long-haired princess, but just… Siloque.
“All right, lie down and sleep. Patients should act like patients. After this, you’ll be fully recovered once you wake up.”
“Oh…”
She laid him on the bed, but as she was about to leave, she realized her hand was still being held.
“Could you stay with me until I fall asleep?”
With you looking so lonely, how could I say no?
“I don’t have much to do this afternoon anyway—uh, not that, I mean, I have free time.”
Beiren sighed, thinking she really was too soft-hearted.
“All right. I’ll stay with you.”
She gently stroked Siloque’s pale forehead with her free right hand.
“I’ll be here until dinner, and as long as no one comes in… People say personalities change when they’re vulnerable—you’ve gotten more clingy.”
Beiren smiled happily, as if discovering Siloque’s weakness.
“I just thought that if I said it like this, I could touch Beiren’s jade-like hand, and we’d be holding hands. Ya-hoo! What a win.”
“You… don’t be so honest.”
Beiren squeezed hard.
“Ouch…”
Seeing him react, she loosened her grip, only to feel Siloque softly squeeze back.
***
Evening.
Because of school club activities, Hill got home later than usual.
“Brother!”
After changing her clothes, she went straight to Siloque’s room.
The clay pot had already been taken by their mother.
She leaned over Siloque’s bed, playing with his white hair.
Compared to the morning, Siloque looked much better and slept soundly.
Looking at the MS Handheld’s battery, not much had been used, which made Hill a little disappointed.
“Hurry up and get better. Hill still has a lot of games to play with Brother… and wants to go to the Dungeon together.”
She spoke softly, lifting Siloque’s bangs.
Hill leaned down, bringing her face close to Siloque’s—chu.
She gently kissed his cheek, leaving a mark.
Touching her lips, she stood up, satisfied, ready to go back to her room to play games.
“Don’t go…”
“Eh?”
Siloque grabbed Hill’s arm.
“Brother? You’re awake? That was an encouraging kiss—a reward for intimacy, hoping Brother gets better soon—”
“Beiren… don’t go…”
Hill froze.
“Beiren… who is that?”
Her tone grew cold, her eyes turning dark and complicated, her expression icy.
“Sounds like a woman’s name.”
hi