Chapter 68 - 64 - Massage

Stelle stared in horror at Wende, who was currently going through his "warm-up" routine... Was... was this really "treatment"?! "Alright, lie face down over there." Crack, crack, crack... Wende pointed to his bed, loosening the joints in his fingers. "Gulp... Uh, okay!" Swallowing hard, Stelle looked at the fully prepared Wende and could only obey, flopping onto his bed like a lamb to the slaughter. "Good, good girl." Wende nodded, praising the obedient Stelle. Soon after, a series of strange sounds began to emanate from Wende's room... "Aah! It hurts, it hurts! My arm's gonna break!" "Wuwuwu, ahh~" "Hah... hah..." "Crack..." "Nngh!!!" "Ahhh..." "Um, what are they doing in there?" March 7th stood at the door to Wende's bedroom, asking a nearby Dan Heng with curiosity. "Perhaps it's some kind of secret Xianzhou medical art?" Dan Heng stroked his chin, a thoughtful look on his face. "But... isn't this a little too weird?" Listening closely to the moans coming from Stelle inside the room, March 7th could feel her earlobes getting hot. "Is it? The Xianzhou do have medical techniques like Tuina and massage. It should be pretty normal." Dan Heng said, though... he had a feeling that what Wende knew might be more than just that... Half an hour later... Her body massaged until it was "tender as mush," Stelle emerged, trembling as she leaned against the wall for support. Her chest heaved up and down as she gasped for breath, her face flushed pink, and a scorching heat radiated from her body. In the observation car, March 7th was chatting with Himeko about their adventures on Jarilo-VI. The Express had already left the planet's star system and was heading towards a position where it could make a hyperspace jump. Pom-Pom was sweeping the floor of the observation car, Welt was reading this week's IPC morning paper, and Dan Heng was gazing out at the boundless sea of stars, lost in thought. The moment they saw the clearly unwell Stelle, the observation car fell silent. Everyone turned to stare at the pink-faced girl in astonishment. "Uh... are you okay?" March walked over to Stelle, helped her sit on the sofa, and felt the wave of heat rolling off her. She quickly condensed a piece of Six-Phased Ice to cool her down. "Hiss..." Feeling the coolness of the ice, Stelle sucked in a sharp breath before lying back on the sofa in enjoyment. "Conductor, can you make me a mint lemonade? With ice!" Stelle waved a hand at the bewildered Pom-Pom. "Ah... O-Okay! Passenger Stelle! You have to hang in there! Pom-Pom will be right back, Pom!" Seeing Stelle's listless appearance, Pom-Pom hastily dropped his broom and scurried toward the kitchen on his short legs. "Don't worry, Pom! Pom-Pom will definitely save you, Pom!" "Er..." Closing his morning paper, Welt was also at a loss. Was this some kind of after-effect from the Himeko coffee poisoning? "So... what's going on this time?" Looking at the feverish Stelle, Himeko was even more clueless. First, she was carried back by Dan Heng and the others with food poisoning, and now she was limp on the sofa as if her bones had been removed... Did Belobog's food have this kind of effect? "Miss Himeko, this was Wende's treatment. I don't really get why she's like this either, but it's probably nothing serious... right?" Seeing that Stelle's complexion was hundreds of times better than before, March 7th said with some uncertainty. A peeled shrimp... is probably better than an LED lamp, right? "Dan Heng said it's probably a Xianzhou treatment method called Tuina and massage." March 7th repeated Dan Heng's earlier theory. "Tuina... Massage?" A thoughtful look passed through Welt's eyes. In his homeland, it seemed there was also a similar kind of treatment method. "Passenger March 7th, here is the drink Passenger Stelle ordered. Please help feed it to her, Pom." Pom-Pom, holding a tray, handed the drink to March 7th. Seeing that Stelle looked completely unable to care for herself, he figured she couldn't even drink on her own. "Oh, thank you, Conductor~" Taking the iced drink from Pom-Pom, March put the straw to Stelle's lips. "Slurp... slurp..." Like a fish that had been deprived of water for ages, Stelle downed the iced drink in just a few gulps. Then, under everyone's astonished gaze, she stood up, stretched her body, and looked full of vitality. "Hah... That feels much better!" Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Stelle sighed with great satisfaction. "Um... Stelle, are you really alright?" Himeko asked with some concern, seeing that Stelle's skin color was still an "abnormal" shade. "Huh? I feel great!" Stelle's face once again wore that cheeky smile as she stood in the center of the car with her hands on her hips. "Hmm..." Watching the energetic Stelle, March 7th suddenly felt her own shoulders ache. Maybe I should go find Wende and experience that "Tuina massage" thing too? "It seems we have quite the incredible doctor on our train now." Himeko shrugged and smiled faintly. "Dan Heng, I want to get a massage from Wende too, are you coming?" March nudged the pensive Dan Heng in the side and asked. "Hmm... you guys go ahead. I'll pass." Dan Heng shook his head, even though he hadn't been sleeping well lately, and the floor of the archive was very hard... Welt subconsciously rubbed his neck and pushed up his glasses. "Er..." Even Himeko, upon hearing March's words, subconsciously rubbed her own lower back. She had indeed been sitting for too long recently. Plus, she often had to bend over to repair and maintain the train... Perhaps she also needed a massage? "March wants to get one too? Wende just told me that if you guys want to relax, he's always available. After all, he's part of the Express crew, so it's only right that he helps everyone relieve their worries." Stelle repeated Wende's words. "Is that so..." Thoughtful expressions crossed everyone's faces. Knock, knock, knock "Wende! Come on out and see your clients... ah, no, I mean, time for massages!" Wende pushed open the door, only to see the crew lined up neatly in the hallway, with an awkwardly smiling Stelle at the very end of the queue. "Stelle said you can give us massages! Is it true?!" March 7th's eyes sparkled. "Uh... Of course." Seeing the anticipation in little March's eyes, he had to say yes even if it wasn't true, not to mention he had indeed said it. "That's great! My brain was aching from the cold in Belobog. I'm counting on you, Wende~" With that, little March casually walked into Wende's bedroom. "..." Wende looked at the others who were already sitting on the sofa by the door, queuing up and waiting. He suddenly wanted to slap himself...