Chapter 39: The Rich and Generous Fu Leimei (Please Add to Favorites)

"Are you really alright? You don't feel unwell anywhere?"

Fu Leimei asked again, still a little uneasy, afraid Herbert might have some adverse reaction.

"I'm really fine, really, believe me!"

Herbert was getting a bit exasperated from all the questions, no longer in the mood for jokes, and simply raised the white flag in surrender.

"Young Lady Fu Leimei, that's the thirteenth time you've asked—truly nothing's wrong! If there were, I'd definitely tell you."

Forget telling you, I'd definitely make a big fuss out of it and fleece you for all you're worth!

Make you let me properly touch your tail... Ah! Why didn't I think of that just now?

I lost out.

Really lost out big time!

But things had already come to this point, and he couldn't shamelessly use it as an excuse to ask for benefits any longer—why not, though?

Herbert kept a straight face and solemnly started talking nonsense: "No, wait, I just realized I've been seriously injured—the only cure is to touch your tail."

Face. That stuff really has no value.

Whether at work, in life, or in emotional exchanges—it's all the same.

"That's right, I've come down with a terminal illness that can only be cured by touching a sea siren's tail."

After saying that, Herbert nodded seriously with a mournful look on his face, as if it were really true.

Whether others believed him or not, he didn't care—he himself already believed it.

Most certainly true!

Fu Leimei:???

"Eh?"

Originally anxious and uncertain, she snapped out of it after a brief daze, and for some reason felt the pressure lift; she burst out laughing.

"Haha, you little rascal really are something!"

She laughed until she rocked back and forth, her tail slapping the waves hard.

Splash splash~

After laughing for quite a while, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and nodded at the boy, who was currently holding back his expression.

"You insist on touching my tail, do you?"

"Fine, I'll grant your wish."

Contrary to expectations, she didn't refuse, and generously extended her tail out of the water orb, placing it right in front of Herbert.

"Here, touch it then, but don't go too far, okay?"

Hm?

Herbert stared at the rainbow-colored fish tail right before his eyes, his eyes going wide.

It really works!

She's so nice.

Infinitely more generous than that Valentina whoever.

With the tail right in front of him, Herbert certainly wasn't going to be polite with her, and gladly accepted the compensation he was rightfully owed.

He wiped his hands on his clothes, then reached out and grabbed it directly.

Smooth.

That was the most immediate first impression.

Very smooth, and also very soft, with a faint coolness—like touching a slick, cool jelly, or brushing against a pool of clear spring water.

But the fish tail was unexpectedly dry, with not a trace of moisture left on it, as if there were a water-repellent layer on its surface.

Wow.

Gently stroking it, Herbert's expression even grew a little languid.

So comfortable.

If he could hug it and sleep, summer naps would be amazing!

Whoosh—

But just as Herbert was preparing to study it more carefully, reaching upward to compare the feel, the fish tail suddenly whooshed away.

"Ah, the tail ran away—"

He raised his hand and feebly grasped at the air in the direction the tail had gone.

Come back~ I can't bear it alone~

Herbert pouted and grumbled, a little unwillingly: "Why'd you pull it back? I haven't finished my careful study yet."

"N-no, that's enough, you can't touch it anymore this time."

Fu Leimei's face flushed an odd crimson, and she shyly turned her head away, mumbling: "Y-your technique is too weird... it's too ticklish!"

She actually didn't know why she'd agreed to this strange request, but she just felt that letting him touch it a little didn't seem like a problem.

After all, he might be the only person in the world who could listen to her sing safely and come out unscathed.

But the moment Herbert actually started touching, Fu Leimei regretted it.

That feeling was really... too strange.

He was clearly touching her tail, but it felt as if he were touching other parts of her body.

Gentle caresses, careful observation, sliding lightly along every delicate line of the scales.

Rub, rub, on the smooth scales, rub—rub—

!!?

Those strange sensations made Fu Leimei's whole body go itchy—itching all over!!!

But it wasn't the kind of itch that was completely unbearable—only when he really couldn't hold out any longer did he forcibly pull his tail back.

No, he couldn't take it.

If the itching kept going like this, he was afraid he would really start to become strange…

"Not this time? Oh well, then I'll touch it next time!"

Herbert had picked out the loophole in Fu Leimei's words and clinched it on the spot: "It's settled then—next time, you have to let me touch your tail properly!"

"…"

Fu Leimei moved her lips, wanting to refuse, but for some reason, as if possessed, she didn't argue back and silently consented to the agreement Herbert had proposed.

Although Fu Leimei was very reluctant to admit it, she felt that being tickled a little wasn't much of a problem—just endure it and it would pass…

Fu Leimei shook her head, forcefully casting the stray thoughts from her mind.

Never mind, she'd think about these things later.

Fu Leimei suppressed the turmoil in her heart and forcibly steered the topic back on track: "W-what? Why did you suddenly appear? Isn't it midnight now?"

"Haha, I just suddenly had a whim and wanted to come see what you all do in the middle of the night. Did I disturb your rest?"

Herbert didn't tell the truth—after all, an abstract reason like "to protect the hook from being violated by others" was really hard to explain to anyone else.

Fu Leimei naturally couldn't think of that either. After listening, she shook her head: "Sleep has long been dispensable to me, and besides, there's no difference between night and day here."

She said it lightly, but it made Herbert's mouth twitch slightly.

That's right.

For prisoners like them, what meaning did the alternation of day and night have? Weren't they all just as trapped in this prison?

Herbert was trying to think of a way to comfort her, but Fu Leimei herself didn't mind. Instead, she asked shyly in a quiet voice: "Then… will you come again after this?"

"Maybe? What is it?"

Fu Leimei took a deep breath, and only after summoning great courage did she say: "I-I'll sing again next time. Do you still want to listen?"

Would he refuse?

Would he?

He…

"Of course."

Herbert smiled and, without any hesitation, gladly accepted the sea-demon Young Lady's invitation.

"Being able to hear such a wonderful voice is my honor."

He looked at Fu Leimei, who had clearly breathed a sigh of relief, and chuckled:

"When the time comes, please be sure to sing a few more songs."

"He got away."

"We were still one step too late. He's already completely fallen."

Under the bright moonlight, the Bishop of Thorns lowered his head, gazing at the slime and fresh blood on the ground, and slowly shook his head.

"Where did he run off to? The Mist Mountains?"

But what the Chief Inquisitor did not know was—

Just as he was pondering, a hunched figure tremblingly pressed a hand against the door of the Third Precept's Prison.

Creak.

By the way, the Third Precept's Prison had another easy-to-understand name in the monastery—

The Foreigners' Prison.

This Sunday it goes into the second round of recommendations, I'm so nervous… my last book died in the second round, the follow-reads were enough, but then it was killed off by the immature AI that had just been put into use at the time because it didn't pull in readers.

The current opening is a bit stronger than the last book, but I'm still so nervous ahhhhh—

Save the child, please!

Love you all!

You absolutely have to follow-read—



(End of this chapter)