Massage and the Idea of a Storage Pouch

Seeing Erza looking somewhat dejected, Cain asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Erza explained, "Cana said that after finishing a commission, taking a bath feels really nice."

Cain agreed with that. A hot bath after completing a commission really was quite comfortable.

Seeing Cain nod, Erza continued, "She also said that if someone gave you a massage while you were bathing, it would be absolutely amazing."

Hearing that, Cain understood why Erza had entered his bathroom.

Because he had previously told Erza not to let anyone else see her naked, and she had indeed followed his advice.

But Cana's words had piqued her curiosity. She wanted to experience soaking in a hot bath while enjoying a massage.

Cain rubbed his head and said, "Go take your bath first. I'll come give you a massage later."

Hearing that Cain was willing to massage her, Erza nodded happily. Though she was a little disappointed that it would not be during the bath, she would at least get to enjoy a massage.

Watching Erza's excited departing figure, Cain had no idea what expression he wore at that moment.

Happiness, delight, helplessness, a headache? Probably all of them.

After bathing, Cain arrived at Erza's door and found it unlocked, so he pushed it open and went inside.

When Erza saw Cain enter, she said happily, "Cain, I'm ready."

"Fine. Lie facedown on the bed."

"Mm-hm."

Cain walked to the bedside. Looking at Erza lying facedown on the bed, his heart remained utterly calm. After all, Erza was still flat in both the front and back.

He was not some pervert. If it had been the grown-up Erza, Cain believed he definitely would not have been this calm.

Cain placed both hands on Erza's shoulders and neck, his ten fingers pressing slowly and firmly.

The strength at his fingertips passed through Erza's smooth, tender skin and into her body.

"Mm~"

A tingling sensation spread from where he pressed, followed by a slight pain. Once the pain faded, an indescribably soothing feeling followed.

Erza could not help letting out a soft moan.

Hearing Erza's soft sound, Cain asked, "Am I pressing too hard?"

"No, this is just right."

Seeing that Erza was not uncomfortable and even seemed to be enjoying herself, Cain found it rather interesting too.

So he used every technique he had learned from short videos in his previous life, and Erza felt quite comfortable under his half-baked skills.

Soft hums and muffled moans kept slipping from her lips.

Later, Erza even lifted her clothes to expose her smooth back. Since Cain had already seen it when applying Scar-Removal Ointment for her before, he did not stop her.

About an hour later, Cain rubbed his slightly sore fingers and said, "All right, that's enough for today."

Erza sat up with rosy cheeks, rolled her shoulders, and said happily, "Cana really didn't lie to me. Massages really do feel amazing."

Under Erza's expectant gaze, Cain agreed to massage her again next time before returning to his own room.

The night passed quietly, and the sun slowly rose over the horizon.

Looking at Erza, who had emerged from the Gravity Room drenched in sweat, Cain smiled and said,

"Go take a bath, then we can have breakfast."

"Mm."

Erza had already grown accustomed to this kind of life. At first, she had wanted to help cook, but she eventually discovered that she truly had no talent for it.

Regretfully, she had no choice but to give up. Later, feeling bad about doing nothing, she took charge of keeping the house clean.

After breakfast, the two headed toward the guild. Erza asked, "Cain, are you taking another commission later?"

Although Cain wanted to become an S-Class Mage, and completing a certain number of commissions was a prerequisite for becoming one,

there was something more important before that: finding a material capable of carrying a Spatial Array.

So he shook his head. "I'm not taking any commissions for now. I need to look up information in the guild library."

"What about you, Erza?"

Erza shook her head as well. "We got a bounty after defeating Ruben, so I'm not taking commissions for now either. I want to have some armor forged at the blacksmith's."

Seeing that Erza planned to make armor, Cain asked curiously, "Do you have any requirements for it?"

"Mm-hm, I do." Erza explained what she wanted from the armor, and Cain found that her requirements were simple: it had to be able to fly.

Cain guessed, "Fly? Is that because you need to deal with enemies in the air?"

"That's right. When we fought the Wyvern before, I could only watch from the ground. It felt really frustrating." Recalling how helpless she had been while standing on the ground against the Wyvern, Erza clenched her fist tightly.

Cain thought about it and said, "Yeah, that does sound good."

Cain suddenly remembered Erza's most frequently used armor from the anime in his previous life: Heaven's Wheel Armor. Didn't it have wings that allowed brief flight—or maybe gliding? It could also control many longswords to attack.

After arriving at the guild, Cain buried himself in the library to look for information, while Erza asked the guild master whether there was a suitable blacksmith's shop.

After searching all day, Cain still found no answer.

Closing the book, he rubbed his aching head and sighed. "It's a pity that the monsters in this world don't have Magic Cores. Otherwise, I could try using one."

"Right, how did I not think of that?" Cain suddenly slapped his forehead and said happily, "If there are no Magic Cores, I can use monster hide as the carrier instead!"

"If I can't make a Storage Ring, I can still make a Storage Pouch! Hahahaha!"

Having figured it out, Cain prepared to look into which monsters' hides would be most suitable as carriers for Spatial Arrays. At that moment, Erza walked over.

She put away the book in Cain's hands, then took his hand and led him outside.

"Hey, Erza—"

Before Cain could finish, Erza said, "Cain, it's already evening. Time to go home."

When Erza said that, Cain realized it was already late. "All right. Have you eaten dinner?"

"No."

"Then let's see what ingredients they have and buy some to take back."

"Okay."

At that moment, a small figure crawled out from beside a bookshelf and watched the two leave hand in hand with envy.

"They look like husband and wife."

It was Levy, who had joined the guild earlier. Ever since joining, aside from taking simple commissions, Levy liked staying in the library to read.

She had also attended Laxus's birthday party with Cain and the others before, so she was fairly familiar with everyone.

But she had not expected Cain and Erza to have that sort of relationship. Weren't they about the same age as her? They were surprisingly mature.

Cain and Erza, who were buying groceries, had no idea that their everyday interactions had made Levy think so much.

Even if he knew, Cain would surely feel secretly pleased. Erza might be a little embarrassed. As for that blue-haired brat?

Who was that? Go away.

While eating, Cain remembered Erza mentioning that she wanted armor forged, so he asked, "Erza, have you found a blacksmith's shop yet?"

"Mm-hm, I found one. There's one here in Magnolia. I've already commissioned the owner, and he said it will probably take about a month to finish."

Seeing that Erza had already found a blacksmith to make her armor, Cain said no more.