Looking at the affection notification popping up on his character panel, it seemed that Kuki Shinobu's affection toward him was about to reach the maximum level.
Nolan smiled, nodded, and said,
"It looks like your sister is just worried about you. A little nagging is only natural."
"Of course I know that," Shinobu sighed.
Precisely because she understood, she felt helpless—knowing her sister was worried for her made it hard to argue back.
Nolan thought for a moment, then increased the output of his harmonized energy. While enhancing Shinobu's strength, he said,
"If you want your sister to stop worrying, that's simple. Just keep improving your power like this. Once she realizes that no monster can beat you, she won't worry anymore."
Feeling the rapid surge of elemental energy and physical strength in her body, Shinobu couldn't help but show a surprised expression.
"You don't have to waste your power on me like this."
Her face flushed slightly as she tried to pull her arm back, embarrassed.
In her understanding, treasures capable of directly enhancing someone's strength were extremely rare—Nolan doing this likely came at the cost of his own energy.
But Nolan didn't let go of her wrist. He gently shook his head and said,
"It's fine. This kind of energy restores itself naturally, and quickly at that. Plus, since its quality is high, you actually don't need much."
"…Alright then."
Having understood that it wouldn't harm him, Shinobu accepted his gift without further hesitation.
After all, they were friends—there was no need to be overly polite.
[Kuki Shinobu Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 360 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.10 (MAX).]
As the message popped up, Nolan saw that Shinobu's affection had indeed reached the maximum level.
Right after that, another prompt appeared:
[Through sincere affection and unwavering effort, you have forged a bond of destiny with one who was never meant to cross paths with you. Henceforth, the girl's star of fate shall shine together with yours. You have obtained the ability: Ring of Narukami Grass.]
"Ring of Narukami Grass"… that name seemed related to the crimson mark on Shinobu's waist.
On her pale skin was a red, vine-like pattern. According to the records from the game, back when she was a child who had just arrived at the shrine, she caught a bad cold.
Coincidentally, her sister was away on a mission, and being stubborn and independent since childhood, she didn't ask other shrine maidens for help. Instead, she followed an old legend—she wove thorny weeds into grass rings and wrapped them around her body.
It was said that doing so would earn Narukami's protection and drive away all evil.
But when dawn came, her cold hadn't improved—yet a ring-shaped red mark had appeared around her waist, one that remained ever since.
Since it hadn't scarred her skin, it actually looked quite pretty. Nolan couldn't help but wonder what this affection skill, named after her childhood experience, would do.
He opened the skill's detailed description curiously:
[Ring of Narukami Grass: Passive defensive skill. When the holder takes damage whose power does not exceed the sum of your and Kuki Shinobu's levels, 30% of the incoming damage will be negated and reflected back to the attacker. The reflected damage is affected by your own buff effects.]
"Hiss—!" Nolan drew in a sharp breath.
A reflection skill! And it could reflect any attack!
Don't be fooled by the 30%—according to the description, Shinobu's current level after enhancement was 67, combined with his own level of 116…
That meant any attack under level 183 could be reflected—enough to include beings as strong as an Messanger-class like Phantylia!
If she were to attack him, regardless of the method, she'd first have to endure 30% reflection—and since the returned damage was influenced by his own buffs, it might actually become stronger than her original strike!
It was an outrageous affection skill, no doubt.
Of course, Nolan wasn't about to complain.
If an enemy had such an ability, it would be a headache. But since it was his, it was pure joy!
Just as Nolan was secretly excited, a few minutes passed.
From the corner of her eye, Shinobu suddenly noticed a shrine maiden with long black straight hair walking out of the shrine. Her heart seized up as if someone had grabbed it.
She immediately pulled Nolan down with her, crouching behind a wall beside the stairs. Only when she confirmed they hadn't been spotted did she exhale in relief.
"Uh… what's going on?" Nolan was about to ask when Shinobu hurriedly clamped her left hand over his mouth and whispered,
"My sister came out! If she sees us pulling at each other like this, she'll definitely get the wrong idea…"
As she spoke, Shinobu realized half of her body was pressed against his. She quickly regained composure and stood up, feigning calm.
"There are too many eyes around here. If my sister or someone else saw us, it'd be bad. Let's move somewhere else."
"I don't think there's much to 'misunderstand'…" Nolan murmured under his breath.
"What?" Shinobu was keeping an eye on her sister's movements and didn't catch what he said.
Nolan cleared his throat and said again,
"I mean, I know a more secluded place—one that can also speed up your power growth. Want to go?"
Since Shinobu's body could only absorb energy at a limited rate, Nolan had to keep the harmonized energy output within a range that felt comfortable for her.
"Mm, let's go quickly!"
Seeing her sister walking down the mountain path, Shinobu nudged Nolan's shoulder to urge him along.
Nolan smiled, opened a space rift beneath their feet, and they both dropped through it.
A few seconds later, Shinobu's sister—Miyuki—stood on the mountain path, gazing at the empty steps below.
For some reason, she felt like someone had just been there.
But looking at the empty path, she could only assume it was an illusion of déjà vu.
—In Wonderland space, inside a hot spring bath.
White steam rose gently from the water, the temperature just right.
Shinobu looked around, slightly confused.
"Where is this?"
"This is a special hot spring," Nolan explained with a straight face. "Soaking here lets you absorb energy faster—and thus, your strength will grow quicker."
"I see… wait a second."
Shinobu suddenly realized—Nolan needed physical contact to transmit energy. And this hot spring… required full immersion.
Then… to increase her energy absorption efficiency—
Wouldn't that mean she had to soak in the hot spring together with Nolan?
The thought alone brought a faint flush to Shinobu's pale cheeks. She turned her head slightly and said softly,
"I think we can just transfer the energy here. There's no need to go into the hot spring—it'll get our clothes all wet."
"That's easy," Nolan replied casually. "Just take off your clothes before getting in. Or, if you feel awkward with me around, I can step aside. You soak in the pool, and I'll transmit the energy from the shore."
He seemed to understand her hesitation and offered a rather reasonable compromise.
Shinobu thought about it and realized it might actually work. The hot spring was filled with thick steam, so visibility below the surface wasn't great anyway.
Still… Nolan was a man. Even if he didn't join her in the water, wouldn't that still be kind of strange?
Unbidden, an image appeared in her mind—she quickly shook her head to drive the ridiculous thoughts away.
Nolan was different from most men. If it were him, just holding hands by the poolside didn't seem like that big a deal.
After a moment of thought, Shinobu nodded slightly.
"Alright then. You go stand over there first. Once I'm ready, I'll call you. And you'd better not peek!"
She fixed her eyes on his, staring intently.
Usually, when walking beside him, Shinobu had noticed his gaze occasionally wander toward the bits of skin her clothes didn't fully cover—
her bare stomach, her thighs.
He was a man, after all. It was only natural for him to be drawn to such sights once in a while.
But if he dared to do that while she was changing clothes, that would make him a shameless pervert spying on a girl!
Nolan, as if she had read his mind, rubbed the bridge of his nose awkwardly and looked aside, eyes drifting to the green strands of hair by her cheek.
"Don't worry. I'd never be that ungentlemanly."
Shinobu understood a fair bit about psychology, and watching his little micro-expressions of guilt only made her more suspicious.
"Actually," she said, narrowing her eyes, "you could transmit energy without touching me, couldn't you? The reason you insist on holding my hand… is on purpose, isn't it?"
Nolan was taken aback. "O-of course not! This kind of energy can only be transmitted through direct contact." He shook his head quickly.
He wasn't lying—at least, not entirely. The first time required skin contact.
But after that initial transfer, the girl's body would already contain harmonized energy, and with his "Harmonization" specialty (fused into the "Beloved by Maidens"), he could send energy anytime, anywhere—no touching required.
Otherwise, with so many girls in the Wonderland, he wouldn't have enough hands to keep in physical contact with all of them for energy transmission.
The Energy Transmit trait solved that problem perfectly:
he could replenish his harmonized energy by absorbing various sources, then share part of it to strengthen the girls—
and repeat the cycle infinitely without waste.
That was why everyone's growth had been so rapid.
…But now was definitely not the time to explain all that. Otherwise, he'd look like a pervert making excuses just to touch girls.
Seeing that Nolan didn't look the least bit flustered, Shinobu reluctantly decided to believe him. She waved her hand, signaling for him to turn around and move aside.
He obediently did so.
Once his back was turned, Shinobu stepped up to the edge of the hot spring. She untied the red ribbon holding up her hair and set it by her feet.
Next came her thigh-high open-toed boots.
As she slipped them off, her smooth white legs were revealed. Then she removed her short purple jacket and black vest.
Now, only a black mesh halter top wrapped around her chest remained.
Shinobu glanced up to make sure Nolan wasn't looking before untying the red ribbon that fastened her shorts.
Loosening the waistband, she slipped off her dark-crimson shorts, leaving only a pair of black, lace-patterned underwear hugging her hips.
Hesitating a moment, she decided to remove those final pieces too, folding everything neatly beside the pool.
In the next second, she quickly slid into the steaming water.
Hearing the splash, Nolan asked, "Ready?"
Receiving her soft yes, he turned around.
He saw Shinobu leaning back against the edge of the pool, most of her body submerged, only her head visible above the surface—her hands clearly pressed across her chest.
Her pale back gleamed faintly through the mist as Nolan approached with a gentle smile.
"Feels nice, doesn't it? The hot spring water. Come on, give me your hand so I can continue the energy transfer."
Whether it was the steam or her own shyness, Shinobu's face had turned visibly red.
She looked down at her hands—there was no way she could spare one without exposing herself.
Biting her moist, heat-softened lips, she murmured,
"You can just touch my shoulders. There's no need to hold my hand."
"Sure, that works." Nolan nodded, placing both hands lightly on her shoulders. The soft warmth of her skin spread beneath his palms.
That nourishing energy flowed again, far stronger than before. Shinobu could feel her elemental power surging—and every bit of it was being perfectly absorbed.
So this was the effect of the hot spring?
Nolan gently kneaded her shoulders, a faint smile curving his lips.
In truth, the hot spring itself had no special property beyond relaxation. The increased absorption was simply because he'd increased his energy output.
Her earlier enhancements had raised her absorption capacity, after all.
If he truly wanted to accelerate her growth, that would require… far closer training.
"Ah—w-what are you doing?!"
Feeling the rhythmic kneading on her shoulders, Shinobu's cheeks flared bright red. She tried to stand, but her legs—folded beneath the water—had gone a bit numb, leaving her momentarily stuck.
"Don't panic," Nolan soothed. "Since my hands are already on your shoulders, I figured I might as well give you a massage."
Shinobu paused, then realized he really was just massaging her—nothing improper. She let out a small breath of relief.
"Would you like me to massage your neck too?" he asked.
"…Mm. Then I'll leave it to you."
After thinking for a moment, Shinobu nodded. A shoulder massage usually included the neck too—
so there shouldn't be anything wrong with that.
(End of Chapter)
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