Chapter 55
Wabid smiled awkwardly.
"It was difficult enough just getting this far. Next time, I intend to come with some reliable party members."
I knew he was only making excuses.
If he had really come to hunt a lich, he wouldn't have come alone, no matter how skilled he was.
But today, I had come solely to take the additional test.
Wabid's presence wasn't particularly uncomfortable.
"Then, since we have to hurry, we'll be going."
"I hope you get good results."
Karen and I opened the golden door.
There was a staircase leading deeper underground, but it was pitch-black and gloomy. An ominous aura emanated from it, making me feel as though I would die if I went in.
…….
"Big brother……."
It seemed Karen felt the same way.
"Should we turn back?"
"H-How can you say that when you're a high-level big brother!"
"No. Doesn't this look like the entrance to a dungeon where you can't enter unless your level is high enough?"
"I suppose it does……."
The evil aura pouring out from the staircase seemed to be shouting at us.
You aren't ready yet.
"Phew."
I took a deep breath and stepped forward.
The staircase seemed to have no end, and I had no idea how far down it went. Just as I began to feel suffocated and frightened, a passage appeared.
This time, it was truly pitch-black. It seemed as though we couldn't take a single step forward without a light.
Was there really nothing at all from here on down?
"The Thin Wolf was easier by comparison…."
Since it seemed impossible to proceed otherwise, I took a lantern out of my personal storage.
The moment I lit it, I saw snakes skittering into the corners like a witch's hair.
Oh, I hate this.
"Horrible."
From now on, nothing that appeared would seem strange.
"Should I carry the lantern?"
"No. I'll hold it."
In case anything happened, it was better for me, who needed my hands free, to carry the lantern.
"If a magical attack comes, block it properly."
"Okay!"
I was no longer a mage who needed to be protected.
Karen and I walked side by side. There weren't many monsters on the fourth underground floor.
Had the advance party already swept through the place? If so, we had to hurry.
"Why isn't there anything here?"
Karen spoke up.
"It looks like someone already came through and killed everything."
"Good heavens. Is this all?"
Karen was horrified by the fragments of bone crunching beneath her feet with every step.
"Yeah……. Judging by the traces we've seen so far, there must have been around six hundred of them."
There was no need to use my Search skill.
Looking at the bone fragments scattered carelessly across the floor, I could tell how fierce and prolonged the battle had been.
Our pace gradually quickened.
After walking for quite some time, we emerged from the passage. At its end was a broad stone chamber.
Instinctively, I knew this was the area where Skeleton Warriors were being spawned continuously.
There were so many old swords piled up that the place could have been an armory. There were even more bones, along with a damp, gloomy aura.
But the lich was already dead.
"We did it!"
The twelve people gathered in the stone chamber shouted and cheered.
At the center stood a blonde girl who appeared to be the party leader. She stood out more than anyone else.
"It's over…."
Karen muttered.
She was right. We were too late.
I had considered that this might happen. Just as we had gotten to the Thin Wolf first in the Black Forest, someone else might beat us to it this time.
It would have been nice to capture the lich dramatically, but reality was rather anticlimactic.
"If it's already been killed, there's nothing we can do. Let's go back and report it."
"Yeah. We can't help it…."
Tears welled up in Karen's eyes.
I was flustered. How was I supposed to comfort her?
As the adventurer party began to disperse, the blonde girl walked toward us.
She didn't seem to be an adventurer. I had never seen her face before. Long blonde hair falling to her waist, red eyes, and a white uniform.
Up close, she was a dazzling girl who lorded over the gloomy stone chamber like the sun.
"Don't show your tears so pathetically."
"Huh…?"
Karen blinked as she met the blonde girl's gaze.
"…There will always be another chance."
I couldn't tell whether she was trying to encourage her or make her cry even more.
The girl sharply snapped at Karen without warning, then swept past us.
Then she looked back and shouted, "Why are you just standing there as a man while the woman beside you cries! How pathetic!"
"……."
Was calling other people pathetic her specialty?
The blonde girl walked away before I could say anything.
"What is with that girl?"
She was saying whatever she pleased without knowing anything about our situation.
There was no next chance. With the lich dead, there was no way for us to pass the test.
At least, not by normal means.
"She's right. I shouldn't cry."
Karen overcame her disappointment and put on a bright expression.
"Let's go back, big brother."
"……."
I felt gloomy.
Being in an underground dungeon only made the mood even more depressing.
"Huh."
I stopped abruptly on the way back.
"Big brother?"
"Was there a path here?"
On our way back, I discovered a new passage.
There had been a few paths like this, but I remembered them all ending after only a few steps.
This one continued deep inside.
At first, I thought I might have been mistaken, but using my Search skill confirmed it.
This passage hadn't been here until a moment ago.
"Let's go."
Karen and I walked down the new passage.
At the end was another stone chamber. There was neither a treasure chest nor anything else of the sort, but an unexpected person was waiting inside.
"What brings you here, Examiner?"
Noah silently pressed his hand against the wall. His hand sank into it, and then, as though he had manipulated something,
the passage behind us closed with a rumble.
"What are you planning?"
He didn't seem to have come here simply because he was bored of waiting and wanted to conduct the examination early.
Someone appeared in the corner. I hadn't noticed him because he had been hiding himself so naturally.
It was Wabid.
The black-blindfolded nun, the Ironwall Examiner Veil Noah, opened his mouth.
"This room is one of the secret rooms in the Bordeaux Dungeon. It contained an interesting mechanism, so I decided to try it out."
"Finding secret rooms. Is that your hobby?"
"Not exactly, but I happened to think this was a perfectly suitable environment."
"A perfectly suitable environment?"
"As you may have already guessed, Wabid is my subordinate. He is a second-class examiner of the Holy City. He is also known as an enforcer."
"An enforcer……. You too?"
Noah gave a barely perceptible nod.
"Yes. This is my real profession.
The reason I arrived at Dry Village so quickly was to conduct a preliminary investigation."
"What on earth are you talking about?"
Karen spoke in frustration.
Wabid raised his crossbow and answered briefly.
"That man is suspected of using mind-control magic. Step back."
"…What?"
"I've met with all the women who came into contact with Sir Dekal. Please don't try to deny it."
"Did they say they had been brainwashed by me?"
"No. But it was clear that sexual exploitation had taken place without the victims realizing it.
It didn't take long to realize that you were using dangerous magic."
So that's how they saw it.
Had I been suspected so easily precisely because this was a world where magic existed? It was an interesting situation.
Noah had already finished solving the puzzle.
I had been impressed even then, but his intuition was truly remarkable.
"Why didn't you arrest me right away?"
"Because the elf's attitude was unusual. I thought we needed to separate you somehow, and it was fortunate for us that the opportunity to give you an additional test presented itself so naturally."
"So the additional test was bait to lure me in from the beginning?"
"That is not the case."
Noah spoke firmly.
"The examination was conducted fairly. It is unfortunate that the boss of the Bordeaux Dungeon was killed first.
Now that everything is over, it is time to take care of what remains."
What remained.
My disposition.
"Do you have anything to say?"
"Where is your evidence that I used mind-control magic?"
"You will find that out now. Wabid. Take it out."
"Yes, sir."
Wabid took a crystal orb out of his coat.
"I brought it because I thought it would be necessary to prove the crime. This crystal orb can dispel magic that affects the mind.
I'm going to use it on your companion now."
There were items like that? That was surprising.
I was curious too. Would it have any effect on my hypnosis?
"Miss Karen. Look at the crystal orb."
"N-No. What are you trying to do to big brother?"
"We are trying to protect you."
As though she were afraid of what might happen, Karen squeezed her eyes shut.
"Karen. Cooperate with the interrogation."
"……."
Only after I spoke did Karen open her eyes and look at the crystal orb.
The crystal orb began to shine.
"Do you feel any different?"
Noah immediately asked Karen.
"I don't know. I feel like everything is the same……."
"That can't be. The dispelling should have caused some kind of reaction in your body.
Look at the face of the man beside you. Is he really your companion?"
Karen glanced up at me.
"……Yes."
"Tell me honestly. This is important."
"Karen. Tell her honestly. Making excuses won't work on that examiner."
"……We're not comrades."
Karen muttered.
Wabid and Noah swallowed hard.
"I-I'm my brother's cock sleeve. I chose to do this of my own will."
Karen hesitated before finally forcing the words out. She must have been terribly embarrassed, for even her ears had turned red. It was adorable.
"……."
Noah looked dumbfounded.
"Do you really believe this is your own will? The other victims were subjected to this sort of implantation as well. Don't you find anything strange about it?"
"No! I'm my brother's proud cock sleeve."
"Hmm."
I looked between the two of them and spoke.
"Can't we stop now? ……That crystal ball doesn't seem to be helping much, does it?"
"I'm embarrassed……."
I took Karen's hand.
"Let's go back, Karen."
"Okay."
"Who said you were allowed to move?"
A murderous aura poured from Noah's body.
At some point, she had armed herself; a dark iron tonfa hung from her hand.
The long metal rod, reaching up to her elbow, slowly rotated with the movement of her wrist.
"The interrogation isn't over. Depending on its outcome, you might die here."
"……."
Was she serious?
Was there no trial here? Did she simply have the authority to judge criminals on the spot?
If this wasn't something I could laugh off, then I would have to respond differently as well.
"You just saw what happened, didn't you? What reason do you have to suspect me?"
"From the moment I heard that the 「Noble Hunter」 had fallen head over heels for a human, I thought something was wrong.
She has a severe hatred of humans. She's been famous for it for a long time."
"Then ask me directly."
Wind swept through the stone chamber.
Karen and I quickly noticed where Isti would appear, because we could see the point where she would land being drawn out.
Even so, we sensed her only for the briefest instant, and Isti appeared almost like the wind itself.
"……Were you following me?"
Noah said.
"Yes. I was following you. I was worried you might do something to Darling. Looks like I was right."
"You are the greatest victim of mind-control magic here. Once you come to your senses, you'll understand why I'm doing this."
"No. You're the one who doesn't understand, Noah. The fact that I love Darling is truth, bound by an elf's oath. I haven't been subjected to any shameless trick like mind control."
"You haven't? Do you think someone who's been brainwashed can know that they've been brainwashed? Isn't there anything that strikes you as suspicious?"
Their voices gradually grew louder.
With a face utterly free of doubt, Isti declared clearly:
"That's right. There isn't. I hate humans, but I trust Darling. I trust her more than anyone in the world. Doubting her is impossible."
"This is……. Wabid."
"Look at this crystal ball."
"……."
Isti showed no reaction even after looking at the crystal ball.
"Stop this nonsense and apologize to Darling properly. Noah. I refuse to acknowledge what you've done as an adjudicator."
"This is……."
Cornered, Noah looked at me.
I couldn't tell whether she was actually looking at me, since she was wearing a blindfold.
Still, I thought I could read anxiety in her expression.
"You are… an even more dangerous person than I expected."
"I'm not sure what you mean. Judging solely by what happened, aren't you the one who should be apologizing to me?"
"Tch…. How shameless…!!"
Based on circumstantial evidence, Noah had nearly pieced together the entire truth.
That I had used mind-control magic on Isti and extended my grasp to the other women as well.
But she had no way to prove it.
If she had attacked without even trying to prove it, she would have been nothing more than a madwoman. But Noah wasn't like that.
Even while tracking me because she believed me to be a criminal, she was someone with her own laws and convictions—someone confident enough to insist that the examination she had mentioned had been conducted fairly.
Noah looked at Isti again.
"Do you truly know nothing about the power to control people?"
"……."
Isti looked into my eyes.
"Can I tell her, Darling?"
"Go ahead."
With a smile on her face, Isti said:
"That's right. Darling can control people."
"What?"
Noah and Wabid flinched and trembled.
"Even knowing that, you don't realize that you've been brainwashed by that power?"
"That I've been hypnotized by Darling?"
Noah shouted in exasperation.
"Wake up! You've been manipulated into believing in that person blindly. She's even implanted the delusion that you love her!"
"Darling hypnotized me……. Even so, I don't care. I love Darling."
"Heh heh heh……."
I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Noah looked at me with a pale face.
"What on earth have you done? This is unforgivable."
"Thank you for testing the final stage for me, Examiner."
"The final stage?"
"Well, to put it simply, it means there's no going back."
Noah charged at me, spinning her tonfa with a twist of her wrist. But Isti fired an arrow faster than she could move, pinning Noah's movements in place.
"Noah. If you take another step, I'll really shoot you in the head."
"Ugh……!! Wabid!"
"S-Something's wrong. I've been trying to aim at him since earlier, but I can't line up my shot…!"
Wabid tried to aim his crossbow at me, but because of the suggestion, he couldn't bring himself to actually attack and only fumbled helplessly.
As though an invisible force were blocking him.
"Hahahaha."
I laughed heartily.
Until every organ in my body felt refreshed.
"Noah. Thank you for entertaining me."
"Don't tell me you've done it to Wabid as well…!"
"Of course I have."
"Ugh, hngh…!"
Wabid groaned as he swung his crossbow through the air.
As if angrily demanding to know why it wouldn't obey him.
"Brother. What does all this mean? Hypnosis? I, I……."
Snap.
I snapped my fingers, placing everyone in the stone chamber into a trance.
"Karen. Forget everything you just saw or heard in this stone chamber."
"……."
"Wabid. You cannot interfere with what I'm about to do."
Unable to interfere, unable to attack.
Wabid had been given two restrictions, making it impossible for him to obstruct me now.
Next was the examiner. What should I do with her?
Actually, I had already thought of something. Just as with Isti, I would bind her with three suggestions.
First was the one I had implanted before: 「You cannot refuse when I ask for your help.」
"Noah. You will 「never be able to forget my scent once you remember it」."
"Never be able to forget it……."
"「The more strongly you smell my scent, and the more you recall it, the more dizzying pleasure you feel.」"
"……."
"Because it's the thing you like most."
"The thing I like most…. Lord Dekal's scent…."
I drove a fervent lust for me—an extremely perverse one—into the deepest reaches of Noah's unconscious mind.
Clap.
I clapped my hands, awakening everyone.