Standing in front of her, Klein grinned slightly.

"Great... now, strip."

The woman’s eyes snapped up to him instantly, "Bastard. You really think I’m going to fall for that? I knew this was a bad idea-"

Klein raised both hands in a placating gesture and spoke with a serious expression.

"Relax. It’s not what you’re thinking," he said calmly.

"For this kind of energy work direct skin contact works best. The more surface area, the smoother the energy transfer."

"I’m not going to do anything inappropriate. You can keep your underwear on if it makes you more comfortable."

He shrugged lightly "But the more restricted your clothing is, the harder it will be for me to work. Your call."

The woman stared at him for a moment and clenched her fists on her lap, clearly torn between the desperate need for help and her pride.

"...If you try anything," she warned coldly, "I will kill you."

She stood up and began removing her outer clothes with stiff movements, revealing smooth, fair skin and a simple black bra.

She kept her lower robes on for now, sitting back down on the bed.

Klein nodded his head "Good. Now lie down on your stomach first. I’ll start with the major circuits along your back."

She hesitated again, then slowly lay face-down on the bed.

Klein sat beside her and placed both hands on her bare back, right between her shoulder blades.

"Try to breathe steadily and circulate your mana slowly. This might feel warm. Just let it happen."

As soon as his palms made full contact with her skin, Klein began channeling a careful mix of cursed energy and mana into her body, targeting the deeper blockages caused by her suppressed curse attribute.

Her eyes widened again as she felt the energy move through her.

A strange, tingling warmth spread from his hands, slowly dissolving years of built-up stagnation in her mana pathways.

"Mm...!" A small, involuntary sound escaped her lips as one of the larger blockages started to loosen.

Klein smiled faintly, ’Well.. what I said was bullshit. you can do this even with clothes on.’

’I just said that to embarrass her a little for putting that dagger on my neck.’

He continued working on her back for a while, his hands moving easily across her smooth skin.

The energy transfer was steady and effective, clearing several stubborn blockages.

Her body gradually relaxed beneath his touch, though occasional soft sounds still escaped her lips.

A while later, Klein slowly removed his hands from her back.

Lira let out a long, shaky breath and pushed herself up into a sitting position.

Her chest rose and fell heavily with each breath, causing her breasts to move noticeably as a thin layer of sweat glistened on her fair skin.

Klein glanced at her cleavage for a moment, appreciating the view, before raising his eyes to her face.

The woman closed her eyes and channeled mana through her body.

A bright smile appeared on her face as she felt the significant improvement since the flow was smoother, less painful, and more powerful than it had been in months.

But then her smile faltered.

She opened her eyes and looked at Klein "... Thank you. It’s better. Much better. But it’s not fully cleared yet, is it?"

Klein leaned back slightly on the bed and shrugged casually.

"No, it’s not. I only cleared some of the blockages. i can clear them all if I want to but... I don’t do stuff for free. The trial period is over."

The woman was stunned to hear this ’...Obviously, nothing is free.’

She bit her lips in hesitation ’But-’

The desire to be fully healed won over her hesitation.

She took a deep breath and spoke "I’ll give anything. Just... help me clear the rest of the blockages completely."

Klein’s eyes slowly traveled down her body, from her flushed face to her heaving chest in the black bra, down to her toned abdomen and the curve of her hips still covered by her pants.

"Anything?" he asked, his voice dropping slightly as he met her eyes again.

She blinked, suddenly realizing the weight of what she just offered.

Her hands quickly moved up to cover her chest and pressed her arms over her breasts as a deeper flush spread across her face and neck.

"Wait, that’s-"

With a soft chuckle, Klein leaned back slightly "Don’t worry. I am just teasing."

He gave her a small, reassuring smile, though there was still a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I won’t demand anything extreme or force you into something you don’t want. But since you said ’anything’... I’ll take some compensation for my time and effort."

The woman let out a sigh of relief in her heart ’This guy’s humor is dangerous.’

She lowered her arms slightly "Just tell me what you want and if it’s within my power, I will give it to you."

Hearing this, he frowned slightly ’What do I want right now... resources to increase my rank.’

"Do you have any energy stones?"

The woman’s gaze narrowed "...I do have some, which I kept to increase my rank."

Klein was genuinely surprised to hear this because energy stones are quite rare.

Extending his hand, he asked "Your storage artifact?"

Without hesitation, she took off the small bracelet from her wrist, unlocked it with a pulse of mana, and handed it to him.

Looking through the contents of the bracelet, he smiled in satisfaction.

"Don’t you think it’s dangerous to walk around here with such an amount of money and the energy stones? Not bad."

He looked up at her. "Are you rich?"

The woman lowered her gaze for a moment and replied "My Father works for a Guild. And... the man I married is rich."

With a hum, Klein asked curiously, "Oh, you weren’t lying when you said you were married? Do you have any kids?"

She shook her head. "It was more of a political marriage... so I didn’t indulge in such pleasures."

Klein nodded thoughtfully, setting the bracelet down beside him.

He picked up four energy stones from the bracelet and tossed them lightly in his hand.

"I’ll take these as payment for clearing your blockages tonight. The rest... we can continue tomorrow if you want. Fair?"

The woman nodded her head without hesitation.

Although she felt a sting at losing the valuable stones, the relief in her body was undeniable.

She could already feel her mana flowing much more smoothly than before.

"Fair. But I want the rest of the blockages cleared soon. I’ve suffered long enough."

Klein smiled and leaned closer. He gently reached out and took the loosened bra strap that had slipped off her shoulder, carefully putting it back into place.

"Don’t worry, we can take it at a slow pace. Rushing it could cause more harm than good."

She let out a small breath and felt strangely vulnerable yet oddly safe in his presence.

After a moment, she nodded.

Klein sat back slightly, giving her a bit more space. "Well then, to the next section. Do you have any clues about where to find the Dark Church?"

The woman adjusted her bra properly and reached for her clothes, slowly putting it back on as she answered.

"I don’t have an exact location. But I know where the ’Black market’ is. It’s said that members of the Dark Church sometimes appear there to trade and recruit promising talents with dark attributes."

She buttoned her clothes and looked at him "I was planning to check it out tomorrow. They hold a special night auction every full moon. If you want... we could go together."

Klein’s eyes gleamed because this was the best lead he had gotten in three days.

"That sounds promising. I’ll go with you."

The woman finished dressing and stood up, looking at him with a complicated expression.

She is still wary of him but she can’t deny the fact that he helped her.

"Thank you... for helping with the blockages. It really does feel better already."

With that, she slipped out of the room and disappeared down the hallway.