G-Groin!?
Clara glanced back and forth between the water bottle in her hand and Rohan, who was slumped under the blazing sun.
It had been a long time since she’d felt this dizzy.
Even though she knew she had to move quickly, her steps creaked like a broken machine.
“Oppa! Um, let’s get to the shade first…”
After setting the water bottle down in the shadow, Clara hurried over to Rohan.
He was sitting with one hand pressed to his forehead as if suffering from a headache.
She slipped one of his arms over her shoulder and lifted him in a single, swift motion.
It was a surprising feat of strength for someone with such a delicate frame, but you can’t judge the physical abilities of those who possess magical power solely by their appearance, can you?
“Oshya…!”
With careful hands, Clara lowered Rohan to the ground and leaned him against a wall.
If the shade had been bigger, she could have laid him down comfortably, but that would have to wait for Sion to secure a proper spot.
“Clara…?”
“Yes! I’m right here!”
Rohan opened his eyes a sliver and called her name.
He seemed in worse shape than before, and the girl grew more worried about him.
“How do you feel? Do you want some water?”
Rohan shook his head, signaling he was fine. His usual downplaying of any problem made Clara pout a little.
But this time was different.
Unable to shake off the persistent dizziness, Rohan couldn’t move out of sheer stubbornness.
He had no choice but to ask for the group’s understanding.
“Sorry. Let me rest for just a moment before we move on.”
“Oppa… There’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s fine. Just close your eyes and try to sleep.”
At Clara’s suggestion to sleep, Rohan bit his lip in hesitation, then let his eyelids fall.
“Could you wake me up in ten minutes?”
“That’s too short. I’ll cool you down, so get some good rest, okay?”
He neither agreed nor refused. No response came, only the sound of his labored breathing.
He already drifted off after leaving that request to wake him in ten minutes.
“……”
Clara stared blankly at Rohan’s sleeping face and then recalled Sion’s instructions.
She decided to start by loosening his clothing.
Carefully, she began undoing Rohan’s Academy uniform.
This is first aid…! It’s just first aid…
Even as she reminded herself it was a necessary measure, the act of undressing Rohan with her own hands made her head spin with a strange feeling.
She took off his Academy uniform and popped open the buttons of his shirt, which was damp with sweat.
The dungeon’s climate was so hot that even Clara, who usually wasn’t bothered by heat, had beads of sweat forming on her forehead, and Sion had been sweating profusely.
Rohan’s clothes were already soaked, so there wasn’t much need to add water.
His scent is stronger than usual… I kinda like it…
It was surprising how much people’s natural scent and sweat could vary from person to person.
Clara didn’t feel even a hint of discomfort; in fact, she had to fight the urge to bury her nose in it.
Having removed his shoes, she swallowed hard before moving on to the next step.
With trembling hands, she carefully undid his belt, making sure not to touch anything inappropriate, then pulled down his zipper to loosen all of his clothes.
Now to fan him!
Gathering some vine leaves from the monster remains scattered on the floor, Clara began gently fanning Rohan.
She missed catching his scent the way she had a moment ago, but stopping her hand wasn’t an option.
“Oppa? Are you asleep…?”
She called out just in case, but he was sleeping like a log.
He was so out of it he wouldn’t have noticed if someone tried to carry him away.
This was the first time Rohan had shown such vulnerability. Clara’s eyes flitted about with curiosity.
Time seemed to drift by in that trance-like state. As her gaze busily roamed over him and she put more effort into fanning, Rohan’s expression gradually relaxed.
“I’ve secured a spot.”
“───!!!”
A voice rang out and snapped her concentration.
Had Clara not reflexively clamped a hand over her mouth, she would have screamed.
She’d been so focused elsewhere that she hadn’t noticed Sion approach.
“I found no issues inside. The temperature is definitely lower than it is out here. It’s perfect for taking a break.”
“Th-Thank you for your trouble.”
“It was nothing. How’s Rohan?”
Sion folded up his baton and tucked it away as she spoke.
Clara looked at Rohan who was sleeping against the wall and shared what she knew.
“He said to wake him in ten minutes… and then fell asleep.”
“Hmm, that’s far too short a time to recover. We should keep cooling him down and wait until he wakes up on his own.”
Sion suggested they move inside, and together with Clara, they lifted Rohan.
They then entered the dim interior that was illuminated only by the sunlight outside.
“Ah…! It’s cool in here!”
Indeed, the temperature was noticeably lower inside.
To be honest, it felt like the peak of summer, but since the heat outside was so overwhelming, even the indoor temperature which easily surpassed 30 degrees Celsius felt relatively cool.
“Let’s stop here.”
“Yes!”
They carefully laid Rohan down on the jacket spread out on the floor. Clara also brought over the shoes he had taken off and placed them nearby.
“Clara. We need to be more thorough in treating heat-related illnesses.”
“……?”
Clara looked like she didn’t understand.
Seeing this, Sion abruptly yanked open Rohan’s shirt which Clara had timidly loosened earlier.
“Normally, both heat exhaustion and heatstroke can be dangerous, but since his body has been strengthened by magical power, he should recover quickly.”
Saying that, Sion didn’t hesitate to pull off Rohan’s pants as well.
“!?!?”
Clara’s eyes widened in shock.
“I’ll handle the fanning. Use the water bottle to cool him down.”
With that, Sion jumped to her feet and stepped outside to start gathering vine leaves.
“…….”
Following her instructions, Clara pressed the cool water bottle to Rohan’s neck.
While Rohan wasn’t actually suffering from heatstroke, it was only natural that he felt better with something cold applied to his overheated body.
Noticing his expression relax, Clara felt relieved and began cooling other parts of his body.
However, she froze when she reached the final area.
“Hmm, this much fanning should do.”
Sion sat down next to her and started creating a breeze over Rohan’s body.
Meanwhile, Clara who was still holding the water bottle hesitated and fidgeted as she moved toward Rohan’s lower body.
Ahhh…
There it was. Black underwear. It was a solid color and tight fitting.
It was a simple design, but the fact that its color matched her own underwear made Clara feel an odd ticklish sensation.
Even though she knew she needed to look away, her gaze was glued to it.
Because of the sweat, the contrast of that thing revealed above Rohan’s underwear had been blatantly clear.
It looked too thick to fit in one hand. Honestly, when she first saw it, she had thought he might have been hiding a stick of dynamite.
Oh, oppa must have been uncomfortable on a daily basis…
She wondered if having something like that would interfere with everyday life.
With that thought in mind, Clara placed the water bottle against Rohan’s upper thigh.
The heat that reached her hand indirectly felt different. The scent entering her nose was so strong that one might have called it erotic.
One could only guess how much effort the two girls had put in, all in silence.
Rohan twitched and lifted an eyelid in a half-asleep state.
“Mmm… what time is it?”
“Go back to sleep. Not even ten minutes have passed. Have a sip of water.”
It was a relief that he had come to his senses, but Sion lied without hesitation and made him drink.
Rohan, having moistened his lips, muttered in acknowledgment and then closed his eyes again.
When they confirmed this, Sion and Clara both breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“Now that he seems fine, I suppose we can leave him as he is.”
“I’ll keep fanning him…”
“Let’s take turns. Once Rohan feels better, we can just do as much as he asks.”
Sion gave a faint smile, easing the atmosphere.
She watched Clara fanning him for a moment, then rose to her feet.
“May I also take off my outer garment for a moment? The heat is really getting to me.”
“Ah, y-yes…!”
Sion removed the thick coat containing various pieces of equipment, releasing the trapped heat.
She felt a little more comfortable in her sleeveless top underneath. When she twisted her coat to wring it out, sweat dripped onto the floor.
Clara, who had been fanning with one hand, confirmed that Rohan was indeed asleep and fluttered her skirt a bit to cool herself.
“This heat and humidity… This place was truly insane. If Rohan hadn’t been here, I might’ve been the one to collapse.”
Sion drank from the water bottle and handed it to Clara.
The girl also paused her fanning briefly and moistened her mouth.
“Clara.”
“Yes?”
“Perhaps Rohan’s condition wasn’t just a normal heat-related illness.”
“Do you suspect any particular illness…?”
Sion, looking dead serious, touched her slender chin.
Then she glanced at the sleeping Rohan, lowered her voice, and told Clara,
“I got the feeling it might be a sort of price paid for using his skill.”
“Ah…”
Clara nodded her head, as though she agreed with Sion’s guess.
After all, Rohan had said his skill required a price.
***
Orion Academy, first year class 1.
Just after lunchtime ended, Gilbert glared at Rohan’s empty seat.
“This is strange! Something is definitely off!!!”
“There’s definitely something going on.”
Even Dick, who usually sat in the back and rarely agreed with Gilbert, did so this time.
Normally, they would have been having a practical lesson at this hour, but Instructor Joo-yeon had vanished after telling them to wait, and on top of that, Rohan wasn’t answering his phone.
“Nose. Don’t you know anything?”
“Hmm… not really…”
In response to Noah’s question, Ichinose took out her smartphone and sent a text to Rohan. She asked where he was.
Naturally, there was no reply.
Amid all the baseless speculation flying around at that moment—
The front door opened, and a pair of long rabbit ears perked up as someone appeared.
“My adorable Class 1 students! Instructor Joo-yeon got busy all of a sudden today, so we will be having a joint class with Instructor Carrot’s class!”
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