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The Rearguard and a Soothing Moment

When I suddenly awoke, I was lying on a bed, my head still spinning. I looked around but could only get a vague grasp of the situation.

“…Mr. Atobe…took care of me… And then…”

I sort of remembered drinking too much, which made me feel guilty, but I felt light and uninhibited. And not just because of the alcohol.

“Mr. Atobe was…so kind to me…”

I remembered when I’d first seen the job he’d selected and how concerned I’d been. My advice hadn’t been appropriate, and he’d ended up in some strange job that the license couldn’t even recognize. I would feel terrible if people treated him badly. That’s what I thought then. I still hadn’t asked him in detail about his job, but I did know that just him being behind me made me feel warm and happy. That might just mean I had a crush on him, though.

When I first came to the Labyrinth Country, I became a Seeker, then I retired and moved to a support role. I’d always been so busy and never really had any interest in romantic relationships. I’d seen so many of the Seekers I sent off get injured or become depressed that they never did very well. I’d thought that as a Guild employee, it was my job to support them, and I shouldn’t be thinking of anything else. But then, I was made Mr. Atobe’s exclusive caseworker, and I found that I enjoyed spending time with the party. I even liked when he took care of me when I had too much to drink—a little guilty but still happy.

I thought that does happen sometimes, growing fond of someone you meet through work. Whenever he came to my mind, I just thought of how much I wanted to work hard to make everything go well for him.

“…Really…? Everything…?”

I’d thought about it for a while, and now I understood: The people in his party admired him as much as I did—if not even more so—and they’d spent far more time with him than I had. I’d never be anything more to him than a run-of-the-mill receptionist.

It made me so happy that I was able to gain his trust through my work. But surely, it wasn’t wrong of me to express my gratitude in other ways. If Theresia was in the bath with him right now, then what was just one more person in there, too? Maybe that wasn’t entirely okay, in truth, but I had a feeling it was fine in the moment.

“…Just you wait for me, Mr. Atobe… I’m really quite something…”

The entire way to the bath, and even after I entered, I couldn’t stop my heart from racing. My head was swimming, but I thought I needed to appear calm, so I tried to say something that sounded logical.

“Mr. Atobe, may I just do a little something? What you did for me earlier made me so happy…”

I was thanking him for taking care of me. He stayed right where he was once I explained myself.

I’d chosen the job of Aesthetician upon my reincarnation. I’d only written that because I thought I had to put whatever my job from my past life was, but being an Aesthetician meant I was almost completely incapable of contributing anything to battle. I used to treat my lady friend who let me join her party, as a way of lifting her spirits.

“…L-Louisa… You don’t have to do all this for me…”

I started massaging Mr. Atobe’s scalp. He seemed to enjoy it despite his weak protest. I had a strong urge to tease him. I gripped his shoulders and started massaging them. When my robe came undone, my chest pressed against the back of his head, though I was wearing bathing clothes.

This is to show him how much I appreciate him… I can’t help it if I have to press against him—it’s for the procedure… Ahh, but… my head feels all warm, and I can’t think straight…

Even though I was drunk, I did know what was acceptable and what was not. The problem was that the boundary between the two was a bit fuzzy.

“Ummm… L-Louisa, is this part of the procedure…?”

“Yes… Yes, it is. It’s very relaxing to hold your head like this…”

“B-but you’re not just holding it… Is this a head massage…?”

I felt even happier because of Mr. Atobe’s innocent reaction. I glanced over to Theresia through the steam and saw she was bright red. I thought she must look that red because I was so drunk.

“Theresia, could I ask for your help…?” I said to her.

“……”

“Y-you don’t have to if you don’t want to, Theresia…,” said Mr. Atobe nervously, but Theresia pattered over in her cute little swimsuit. I had her wash his back for me. I went around to his front and massaged him from his shoulders to his abdomen, releasing all the pent-up tension. It had been so long since I’d last used my skills.

♦Current Status♦

I thought of the information that would likely display on my license and told myself it was all just a procedure. I massaged Mr. Atobe’s pressure points and lymph nodes while looking at him. This was all so I could try and help him be less fatigued.

“…I-it is a little awkward, I guess… Uh… But it’s certainly effective…,” said Mr. Atobe.

“Yes… This is something you need. I could do this for you on the regular… If you could just let me take care of your health and well-being, too…”

“……”

“Hee-hee… You can join us, Theresia. It’s going to be so much fun.”

I started to sober up after continuing the procedure for a short while. Mr. Atobe was kind enough to allow me to go in the bathtub by myself to wash up, and I apologized profusely after getting out for causing him any trouble.

But if he didn’t hate it this time around, then I wanted to think about how I could work with the rest of the party to express our appreciation for him. This would prove important for strengthening the party’s bond—not to mention, some of my own personal feelings might be in there as well.