Treatment

—

The blood-red liquid, so “scalding” on her skin… was like… a hickey left on her neck.

“Urgh—”

Leah’s legs snapped together, her toes pointing, and she clutched her heart, gasping for breath.

“Hah… hah…”

Just a light touch, and a wave of pleasure spread from the nerves in her neck throughout her entire body.

“Suddenly… suddenly so hot…” she looked up, her eyes filled with tears, at Will. “You…”

Then, she felt her sanity slowly being consumed by the intense physical sensations. She was no longer listening to her brain, only to her body’s reactions.

“Wi-Will… can… can you kiss me… just a little…”

But, before she could utter those “dignity-losing” words.

Snap.

Will snapped his fingers.

Her pointed toes felt as if they had touched a pool of winter lake water where the ice had just been broken. A sharp, cold sensation instantly flowed from her toes throughout her body. She instantly calmed down, only then realizing what a state she had been in, bent over like that. She immediately sat up straight, her face red, and looked down.

To her request, uttered in such an alluring posture and tone, Will did not fall for it. What he did was stop, right when Leah had finally gotten into the mood?!

“You… you’re teasing me!?”

“No, no. The reward is just time-limited—for how long, I control. Only things that drop occasionally feel rarer, right?”

Will shrugged.

“That’s too much—! You just want to use unpredictable rewards to… to control me, don’t you?”

Leah turned away, not wanting to look at Will. So… so strange. Will’s body had been “tainted” by witch’s blood, so why did he have no reaction to these things? He didn’t love her like he said. With his personality, there must be something he absolutely had to do—

“Th-Then… now you should tell me what I need to do to… to get… get… the… re-re-re-re… reward, right?”

Leah’s tongue twisted several times, almost biting itself, before she could utter those two, utterly humiliating words.

“Not so fast. You went to challenge the Snow Woman of the Abyss of the End again, didn’t you?”

“How did you know…”

Leah’s words were cut short as Will grabbed her wrist. Will gently reached out and lifted her bandaged hand. Witches themselves weren’t very strong physically, and now that she had been injected with something, she was even weaker. In front of Will, the once dominant Teacher Witch had become a weak little doll for him to play with.

“The bandages are from the Adventurer’s Guild’s medical room. And there are traces of magic for treating frostbite on them. But… this magic is too low-grade. It’s disappointing that the Adventurer’s Guild hires such priests.”

When Will spoke with such anger, Leah realized that Will had been a proper priest in their party before, the kind with a certificate.

“Injuries like frostbite can’t be treated slowly. They need to be dealt with in one go. Well, I don’t expect a priest who uses such magic to have any one-step treatment spells. Hmph, really, an Adventurer’s Guild that earns so much doesn’t even hire a good priest?”

“Will?”

Leah listened to Will’s monologue, and then he directly started to remove the bandages. Leah’s red, frostbitten wound, with cuts, was exposed.

“No wonder they only chose to bandage it. Because there’s a wound too? This is the worst choice, a last resort when your skill is insufficient.”

Will’s criticism grew more rapid. He was truly furious with the Adventurer’s Guild priest’s treatment.

“Extreme cold takes everything from us. If you hear me, please dispel the winter for us.”

He knelt down, already reciting the goddess’s prayer. A warm, faint red light concentrated at his fingertips. Leah saw him, for a rare moment, put away his confident smile, frowning with a worried expression.

The magic was warmer than the Adventurer’s Guild priest’s, but it didn’t bring any stinging pain. It slowly spread over her frostbitten wound. When Morning Star still existed, Leah had actually rarely received treatment from Will as a priest. After all, with his command and their excellent coordination, it was rare for anyone in the team to get injured.

So, Will’s priest skills weren’t low at all. He had clearly been learning offensive magic by her side, yet to fill a role in the team, he had also mastered such high-level priest skills. Leah’s guilt seemed to well up again.

“The frostbite on your right foot… doesn’t seem to be resolved either?”

“Th-That’s not too serious. Although it looks like ice, it didn’t touch the coldest part… wait, wait, wait—”

Leah was still explaining when Will, without letting her say another word, pushed down the chair that could recline, making her lie down. He quickly knelt down, giving Leah no time to speak, and pulled off her shoe. Due to the frostbite, Leah wasn’t even wearing socks. Her tender, white right foot, red from the cold, was exposed to Will the moment the shoe was removed.

From Leah’s lying perspective… she was lying down, and Will was looking up at her from below, at an angle where he could easily see under her skirt. He was examining her bare foot as if he were an expert doctor. Although, in winter, she wore thick pantyhose, so Will wouldn’t be able to see what color underwear she was wearing. He directly held Leah’s small foot by the heel, his movements careful, as if examining an expensive crystal experiment.

“Will… j-just for a foot, you don’t need to do this…”

Even though she had been given a shot of “Snowmint Calming Agent,” Leah’s face still flushed. The intense shyness even overcame the effect of the potion, rushing to her face.

But… halfway through her sentence, she stopped. If… if she listened to the current Will, would she… also have a chance to get his reward?

Then, then, then, then… it was better not to say anything, and just let him look…

Just as Leah thought this, she suddenly felt cold fingers, with a very light touch, slide from the sole of her foot to her heel.

“S-So ticklish!”

The ticklish sensation made her curl her toes. She almost pulled her foot back and kicked Will in the face. But… for, for the reward, she held back!

“Not serious? No, frostbite like this, with the ice still not melted, might be the most severe kind. It must be treated seriously.”

Will’s expression was very serious. Since she had been lured here yesterday, Leah had discovered the only thing about him that wasn’t “terrifying,” and was very similar to his old self… whenever he faced a “problem” related to magic or dungeons, he would ignore all surrounding distractions and show an expression of complete seriousness and concentration.

“Let’s melt the ice first, then use frostbite treatment… I can understand why the Adventurer’s Guild priest didn’t deal with it immediately. She can’t use the kind of fire magic needed to melt this kind of ice.”

He seemed to hold a considerable grudge against the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Let me think, to melt it without injury…”

Will’s fingers ignited a small flame on the thin ice covering half of her sole.

“Mmm… mmm!”

Leah could only endure the burning sensation from Will’s flame on her sole, and the ticklish feeling of the melted ice water trickling down her palm. Will’s flame control was exceptionally precise. Not just because of Leah’s teaching, but perhaps also because his initial talent wasn’t good. Without enough firepower to solve problems, he could only focus on concentrating his power on a single point for explosive impact.

“Alright, next is treatment…”

…

“Then, let’s check the frozen joint…”

…

Because she had just been injected with a shot of “Snowmint Calming Agent”—Leah decided to call it that for now, not wanting to hear Will’s strange naming sense—Leah actually didn’t feel any particular “burning” or “heart-pounding” from this physical contact.

But… she could feel a very ordinary warmth. Will really didn’t seem as terrifyingly possessive as she had thought, wanting her to submit to him, to be completely under his control. He… he would still, at times like this, be very, very concerned about her, just like before…?

Leah suddenly felt… she couldn’t quite figure Will out. They had only been separated for half a year, but he seemed to have completely transformed.

“Alright, Leah, see if it feels any different when you put your shoe on.”

Leah sat up, carefully putting on her shoe. Although she knew that with Will’s priest skills, it should heal quickly. But… it was unbelievably good. As she slowly slid her foot into the shoe, she couldn’t even feel the pain from the frostbite anymore. Instead, there was a warm sensation. It was as refreshing as soaking her feet in a comfortable hot bath.

“N-No… it really doesn’t feel any different…”

“Good, the recovery is as expected.”

Leah finished tying her shoelaces and looked at Will. For a brief moment… she truly believed Will “loved” her.

But… she was wrong—

“Hmm… why are you suddenly looking at me like a pitiful, hungry kitten?”

“I-I just thought… you did a pretty good job…”

“You don’t think… that just by obediently accepting my treatment, you’ll get a reward, do you?”

“O-Of course not. And, and besides, cooling and heating twice in a row—y-you… you’re an experimenter yourself, you should know that repeated cooling and heating can make the specimen…”

Just as Leah was thinking this, she suddenly felt Will’s fingers touch her neck again.

“Ah!”

She jumped up, biting her lip first. At least this time, she couldn’t say anything embarrassing.

Then… she found there was no reaction at all. Because Will hadn’t used that… magical liquid.

“Just kidding.”

He really liked Leah’s reaction, and even winked his left eye.