Shocked, Guter Actually Wants to Do *That* to His Sleeping Master

# Chapter 39: Shocked, Guter Actually Wants to Do That to His Sleeping Teacher

[New Era of Xin - Year 21]

[Northern Countries · Lant Region]

"Mm?"

Serie, lying on the carriage bench, let out a soft hum, her eyelashes already beginning to flutter.

Thinking his teacher was about to wake up, Guter put down the Magic Book in his hands and prepared to step forward and greet her.

Unexpectedly, the Archmage did not open her eyes. Instead, she reached out, groping around until she found the Magic Book she had been reading halfway through yesterday, spread its pages open, and placed it over her face as an eye mask to block the harsh sunlight streaming in through the window, then continued sleeping.

Well, how to put it.

For an elf, this kind of behavior wasn't really surprising.

After a brief moment of reflection, Guter stood up, walked over to the carriage window, reached out, and pulled down the rolled-up curtain, plunging the carriage interior back into dimness.

Then, Guter walked over to his teacher, lifted the "eye mask" from her face, closed it, and set it on the table beside her. He also tugged upward the blanket he had covered her with last night after she had fallen asleep.

"Mm~"

Serie, still drowsy, let out a satisfied hum. After curling up a few times, she shifted her body slightly to one side and happily began her plan for a second round of sleep.

"Teacher, you really live the easy life, don't you?"

Looking at Serie's current state before him, the corner of Guter's eye twitched.

But soon, Guter's attention shifted to something else—the ear exposed after she had turned onto her side.

"Speaking of which, what does an elf's ear actually feel like to the touch?"

Having long harbored this curiosity, Guter stared at his teacher, who was currently in a sleeping state, and his suppressed mischievous heart began to pound wildly.

"Maybe... just give it a try?"

This opportunity was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Just touch it once. Maybe Teacher would be too focused on sleeping to notice his little movements.

Besides, in the story, didn't Hutalk also touch the sleeping Frieren's cheek with his cold hand?

The startled elf just flinched, let out a "Yamete yo," and went back to sleep.

So, as another elf, Teacher Serie's reaction probably wouldn't be too different from Frieren's, right?

Thinking this, Guter's fingers unconsciously reached out and touched Serie's pointed ear.

Feeling the pleasant sensation feedback from his fingertips, Guter even gently pinched it, fully savoring the experience.

But the next moment, Serie, who had been drifting off to sleep, was jolted awake by Guter's light pinch, her entire body shuddering.

"Scram!"

Serie turned her head back, her tone icy, her words simple, fully expressing her resistance.

Unlike Frieren, who was indifferent but still relatively gentle, Serie was straightforward in temperament and had a bad temper when woken up. This made Guter fully understand a certain philosophical principle from his previous life's textbooks.

[Do not generalize individual behavior to group characteristics]

Fortunately, Serie only scolded Guter away and then did nothing further, continuing to lie on the bench and sleep.

Before long, soft snoring could be heard.

Only after hearing this sound did Guter breathe a sigh of relief, his unease fading.

Returning to his seat, Guter thought about what to do to pass the boring time during the journey.

Given the dim environment inside the carriage, studying the Magic Book was definitely out of the question.

As for training, the space here was too small to move around. The [Body Tempering Method] could be practiced, but the magical fluctuations during training might disturb his teacher.

So, he might as well meditate for a while. It would be a good way to consume some of his excess energy.

Unlike yesterday's rare and elusive state of epiphany.

Meditating in that state allowed one to sink their consciousness deep, greatly expanding their mana limit while also giving their mental energy a full rest.

But ordinary meditation was ultimately just a method of slowly expanding one's mana limit by consuming mental energy. It didn't have such effects.

After finishing, not only would one not feel refreshed, but they would also feel fatigued from the prolonged, high-intensity concentration of mental energy.

Although this "fatigue" recovered quickly, it was still a form of depletion.

But for Guter right now, consuming some of his excess mental energy wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

With this thought, Guter calmed his mind and slowly closed his eyes.

After entering the state, Guter first tried to sink his consciousness deep like yesterday, but after several failed attempts, he silently sighed at his own greed and continued with ordinary meditation.

The atmosphere inside the carriage returned to silence, and time passed minute by minute in this quiet environment.

Noon.

The slowly moving carriage suddenly came to a sharp halt. The jolt interrupted both Guter's meditation and Serie's rest.

"An emergency?"

Guter jolted awake and immediately leaped from his seat, rolling to Serie's side in a single motion as he steeled himself for battle.

But.

He released his magical perception—the feedback from this mana didn't feel like an enemy attack.

Just then, the coachman knocked on the wooden panel behind him, asking the two employers whether they'd arrived in town and wanted to stop by the city gate to look around, or head straight to the inn to rest.

Guter pulled back the curtain. The scene outside was indeed just past the city gate, as the coachman had said.

And the earlier pause had been to stop the carriage and ask for their decision.

"Thanks for the hard work, sir." Guter pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it over. "Help us find an inn in town to stop at."

"Sure thing."

The coachman accepted the cigarettes with a smile, agreed to the request, and gave a light tug on the reins. The horse began to amble slowly through the city.

Seeing the carriage moving again, Guter ducked back inside and let the curtain fall.

Inside the carriage, Serie had woken up. She sat cross-legged on the bench, wrapped in a blanket, staring at Guter.

"Awake now, Teacher."

Meeting Serie's gaze, Guter spoke with a hint of guilt.

"Mm."

Serie nodded, acknowledging her disciple's greeting. Having just woken up herself, she was still a little numb.

After a few breaths, her eyes regained their liveliness. She looked at her disciple, who was trying to avoid her gaze, and said.

"Don't disturb me when I'm trying to sleep from now on. Understood?"

"Understood, Teacher. I won't do it again."

"Mm. Good that you understand."

Having received her disciple's promise, Serie nodded.

But thinking about it, getting angry at her disciple over her own sleeping habits didn't seem quite right either.

Serie thought for a moment, then beckoned her disciple Guter over.

"Didn't you want to touch my ears? Come here. Until the carriage reaches the inn, you may do as you please."

"Though I don't think this will be an interesting activity."

"After all, in terms of ear structure, aside from the shape, elven ears aren't really all that different from human—"

"Mmph~?"

Before Serie could finish, Guter's hand was already on her elven ear.

Gently rubbing, slowly pressing, circling in and out.

Before long, Serie's expression had melted into one of bliss, no different from a milk-drunk dragon.