The Acolyte of Spirits and Curses

Klein raised his hand without hesitation and delivered a firm slap straight across her ass.

The sharp sound of the impact filled the quiet room. Before she could react, his hand stayed there, giving the soft flesh a faint squeeze.

Lyra’s eyes widened "You bastard!"

She immediately twisted away from him and rubbed the spot with one hand, glaring up at him.

"Do you have any self-control at all?" she snapped, still rubbing the stinging cheek.

"We haven’t even spoken for five seconds, and you’re already doing this?"

Klein only gave her a faint smile. "It’s been a while. I was checking if it still felt the same."

Lyra took a half-step back while keeping one hand protectively near her backside as if expecting another slap.

She let out a frustrated breath and turned away from him, walking further into the room.

The soft sway of her hips was more pronounced now that she was annoyed.

She stopped near the edge of the bed and glanced back over her shoulder, "I should have expected this from a pervert like you..."

Klein slowly walked toward her.

When he stopped in front of her, she tilted her chin up slightly, "Quit staring... let’s deal with the remaining blockages."

He stretched his arms over his head with a quiet sigh, "Alright. Strip naked."

Lyra’s expression went completely blank for a second "...What?"

She stared at him as if she had misheard "Last time you only told me to remove my outer clothes."

"I kept my underwear on. Why the hell are you asking me to get completely naked now?"

Klein gave a light shrug, "The remaining blockages are deeper."

"The ones along the lower circuits and around the core pathways. Clothes get in the way. Direct skin-to-skin contact makes the energy transfer cleaner and more precise. If I try to do it through fabric, there’s a higher chance of leaving residual stagnation."

He said it with such a straight face that it almost sounded reasonable.

Lyra just stared at him "...You’re making that up."

Klein didn’t deny it. He simply tilted his head, "Do you want the blockages cleared properly or not?"

Upon hearing his words, Lyra’s fingers tightened against her own arms.

She clearly remembered how much better her mana flow felt after the last session...

She clicked her tongue under her breath and looked away for a moment, jaw tight.

"You really are a shameless bastard..."

She pulled the dark blouse up and over her head in one motion, folding it neatly before setting it on the nearby chair.

The soft light of the room settled across her bare shoulders and the upper curve of her chest, still covered by a simple black bra.

Next, she unbuttoned her pants and pushed them down over her hips before stepping out of them carefully.

When only her underwear remained, she paused.

Her hands hovered near the clasp of her bra.

She glanced at Klein from the corner of her eye, expecting him to finally admit it was a joke, or at least tell her she could stop there.

He said nothing and simply stood there, watching her with a smile.

Lyra’s lips pressed into a thin line and a faint flush spread across her cheeks as she realized he truly wasn’t going to stop her.

After a short silence she exhaled sharply and reached behind her back.

Her fingers found the clasp of the bra and began to unhook it.

The moment the first hook loosened, Klein stepped forward and caught her wrist.

"That’s enough."

Lyra froze and looked at him in surprise "Irakiel?"

"I changed my mind. Keep the underwear on for now."

Huh?

She realized he was toying with her the entire time, and a cold glint passed through her eyes "You damn-!"

An ice dagger formed in her free hand in an instant.

She twisted her body and slashed at him in a clean, horizontal arc aimed at his side.

Klein leaned back just enough for the edge to cut through empty air.

In the same motion, he raised his hand and gave an open-palmed slap across the soft curve of her ass.

PLAH

"Ahn-" A startled sound left her throat as the sting bloomed across her skin.

Using the momentum of the first missed swing, she spun on her heel and brought the ice dagger around again in a rising diagonal cut aimed at his shoulder.

Klein shifted his weight, letting the blade pass in front of him.

The moment her body turned with the follow-through, his hand found the same spot again.

PLAH

"Ah-!"

Lyra stumbled half a step forward from the impact, gripping the ice dagger tightly in her hand.

"You absolute bastard! Stop hitting me there!"

Klein couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched her rub the spot through the thin fabric of her underwear.

"You tried to stab me twice, you damn woman. Consider it fair repayment."

Ste stepped forward and her eyes narrowed slightly "I’m going to freeze your hands off."

Klein’s smile only widened slightly "Then you’d better not miss this time."

She lunged forward again and her ice dagger flashed in a sharp downward slash aimed at his collarbone.

*swoosh*

His hand shot out and firmly closed around her wrist, stopping the blade just short of his shoulder.

In the same motion he stepped in, twisted her arm, and used her own momentum against her.

"Wha-" Lyra’s back turned toward him for a split second before he pushed her forward.

Klein pressed her face-first into the wall, pinning her wrist high against the wall above her head.

Her cheek met the plaster with a soft thud.

The half-undone bra shifted with the sudden movement, and her body was forced flush against the wall from chest to thighs.

"Mmph-!"

She tried to push back, but his weight and grip kept her locked in place.

The ice dagger was still in her captured hand, its tip pointed harmlessly toward the ceiling.

Klein leaned in just enough that she could feel the warmth of his body behind her.

His free hand then dropped, sliding down the curve of her lower back before settling on her ass.

He gave the soft flesh a slow squeeze through the fabric of her underwear, feeling his fingers sink into the smooth, warm skin.

"You’ve got a really smooth ass,"

His palm moved slightly, kneading the soft flesh once more. "Even smoother than it looked earlier."

Lyra’s face burned in embarrassment against the wall.

"You-! Let go of me, you pervert!"

She tried to twist her hips away from his hand, but the movement only pressed her more firmly against the wall... and deeper into his grip.

Klein gave her ass another lazy squeeze while he kept her wrist pinned above her head.

"Stop struggling so much," he murmured near her ear. "You’ll just make it worse."

She glared sideways at him from the corner of her eye.

The ice dagger trembled in her hand as the cold mist curled around the blade.

After a few more useless attempts, she stopped struggling and stood there silently.

She clicked her tongue under her breath, and the ice dagger dissolved into faint particles of and vanished.

The moment the weapon disappeared, Klein released her wrist and stepped back.

Lyra immediately pushed herself away from the wall and turned to face him.

Her brown hair had come slightly loose, a few strands sticking to her flushed cheek.

She quickly adjusted her half-undone bra, pulling the straps back into place with stiff, irritated movements before crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

"You made me think I actually had to get completely undressed for the treatment. What the hell was that?"

Klein only chuckled, "I just wanted to tease you a little. Consider it a small bonus for all the hard work I’ve been putting into clearing those blockages of yours."

Lyra’s eyes sharpened slightly "I brought more energy stones this time. Consider it a proper payment for the remaining treatment. So there’s no need for... whatever that was just now."

With a sigh he spoke "Last time I saved your life from a self-destructing Dark Church fanatic."

"I used my own body as a shield and took the full force of the explosion, and all I got in return was a handful of energy stones... There is no gratefulness in this world, I guess."

Lyra’s expression stiffened and her arms tightened across her chest for a moment before she glanced away.

"...I also gave you my first kiss, so fair is fair... they cancel each other," she muttered under her breath.

Klein looked at her with a wry smile "Yeah, yeah... Putting my body in danger to save you is the same as you giving me a kis- wait a minute, did you just say first kiss?"

Lyra’s face, which was already flushed, turned a deeper shade of red.

She kept her arms crossed tightly over her chest and refused to look directly at him, staring instead at a random point on the wall beside his head.

"...So what if I did? It doesn’t change anything. I already told you it was a political marriage. There was never any... intimacy."

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, still not meeting his eyes.

"I only did it because you were half-dead and needed the healing potion. Don’t start getting strange ideas about it."

Klein looked at her in amazement.

The way she was avoiding his gaze and the slight stiffness in her posture all made it clear she regretted letting that particular detail slip.

A faint smile appeared on his lips "I see..."

Lyra’s eye twitched in annoyance "I was saving your life, you shameless bastard," she snapped, finally looking at him again.

The earlier embarrassment was still there, but irritation started to mix back in. "Stop talking about it like it was some romantic moment."

She took a pouch out of her storage bracelet and tossed it toward him

"Just take the payment and clear the rest of the blockages. That’s why we’re here. Nothing else."

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