Chapter 56
As if time that had briefly stood still was beginning to flow again, everything begins to move.
"Huh? Why is the Examiner here?"
A heavy silence descended. Wavid and Noa grew increasingly pale, as if they had been poisoned by a fatal toxin.
"Ah! Even Isty! What's going on?"
From their perspective, Karen had suddenly become blank, as if she had forgotten everything.
How could they not be terrified?
While Wavid and Noa stood frozen stiff, I gently wrapped my arm around Karen's waist.
"Karen. Listen carefully."
"Yeah, I'm listening."
"We came to this dungeon to take an additional test. Now, all that remains is the Examiner's fair evaluation."
"So that's why everyone is... Ah. Wavid, you're an examiner too?"
"That's right. They've been watching us. To see if we used any underhanded methods.
I think I need to talk with the Examiner for a bit now, so could you wait outside?"
"Okay. Examiner, I'll leave it to you."
When Karen bowed her head deeply, Noa flinched.
"Understood...."
"Will you open the secret room so Karen can leave?"
"......."
"That would be better for you too, wouldn't it?"
Noa turned around and manipulated the secret switch on the wall.
The passage opened once more.
"Karen. See you outside."
"Yeah, Brother!"
Karen left the room with an innocent face, unaware of anything.
"Isty. Could you take Karen and wait for me at the inn?"
"If I'm not here, Darling might be in danger."
"It's fine. You know, right? My specialty."
"Ah...."
Isty broke into a bright smile.
"Okay. Noa was rude to Darling, after all. It can't be helped."
"Did you say 'it can't be helped'? A noble elf. To say such a thing after watching all of this...!"
"For an elf, trusting and following the one they love is a sublime thing, Noa. I hope you apologize to Darling sincerely."
"Do you think you can protect yourself from me without the elf's help?"
Noa said to me.
"Of course. You're going to help me prove my innocence, aren't you?"
"Innocence? Now of all times!"
The moment Isty turned her back, Noa lunged.
I leisurely grabbed Noa's wrist.
"Ah...!?"
"This is Diamond-class skill?"
"Why, my body...!"
"It doesn't move as you want, does it?"
I brought my face close to Noa's ear and whispered.
"It's because you have to help me."
"What have you done to me? Just like you did to the other women, have you made me a slave?"
"A slave? Is that what you think?"
Vague impressions of hypnosis are like that.
They say it turns people into slaves to be used however one wants.
That can be fun sometimes, too.
"I think that the more I understand human psychology, the more fun hypnosis becomes.
A smart woman like you, who pays attention to every little detail—if told to obey orders, you would somehow find gaps in your thoughts and, with meticulously built logic, try to act against my intentions."
"......."
"But precisely because you're that kind of woman, acts that benefit me—in other words, when I tell you to help me—you become unable to resist.
Because you constantly think about how any action might help me, you conversely cannot empty your mind."
"Ugh, uugh!"
Noa struggles, caught in my grip.
Considering the difference in our abilities, she should have been able to break free easily.
Not only that? If Noa possessed power equal to Isty's, she would have more than enough to subdue me.
"Help me. So I can prove my innocence."
Strength gradually drains from Noa's body.
I gaze steadily at that sight—at Noa growing powerless—and smile.
"I'll save you now!"
At that moment, Wavid spread his hand.
"Lightning Square!"
"It'll be useless."
When I saw the intense current flowing from Wavid's hand, I was a little frightened.
But the currents merely swept through empty air, unable to even graze me.
"Ahh."
I realized it upon seeing that.
"You emptied your mind and cast the magic thinking it wouldn't matter even if you got hit yourself. Right?"
"...Wh-why."
"You can't interfere with me. I've installed a double safety mechanism. Even if you give up thinking, deep down you know, don't you?
That you can't even use magic unless my safety is securely guaranteed."
Noa suddenly shouted.
"Isty! You said Isty, right? Your name. Help me! You can't leave him to do as he pleases. That isn't love!
Helping someone who has gone astray is true devotion."
To Isty, who was behind me.
"Noa is quick-witted. You know well that this is a situation you can't resolve on your own."
"Isty!"
Isty ignored Noa's desperate appeal and left.
"Noa. Will you help me close the secret room?"
"Ah...!"
Noa cannot defy. She walks as instructed and manipulates the secret switch.
The secret room felt perfectly comfortable. Not too wide, not too narrow.
The fact that it was inside a dungeon, a space reminiscent of a basement, was nice.
A space where one won't be disturbed is quite important. It's even better without noise.
But I deliberately left Wavid standing there. Because it might be better with an audience.
He hadn't directly harmed me, but he wasn't an unrelated person either.
"Even if Isty wouldn't have helped you anyway, you made a mistake.
Isty hates it when people she's not close with call her by name. Actually, she hates it being known at all.
If you were expecting the intimacy that comes from knowing each other's names, you were too naive."
"You learned the elf's name through hypnosis anyway, didn't you?"
"Correct. Then why did I tell you her name?"
"......."
The two of them fell silent.
"Because one of you was going to forget anyway, and the other... I'm planning to get close to."
"Get close...? You and me? That will never happen, not even by chance. You'll control my heart as you please anyway, but this is my true heart."
"My true heart is the only thing you can't taint"—I didn't know she was the type to say something so romantic?
I had only thought of her as a cold-blooded examiner, but she has a feminine side too?
"Then shall we make a bet?"
"A bet?"
"I'll get close to you and leave this room without using any suggestion that directly moves your heart.
If I can't win your heart by the end, I'll let you both go."
"There's no way you would say that while risking your own safety. By letting us go, you mean you'll erase our memories like you did to that red-haired girl just now, don't you."
"Yes. Isn't it worth a shot? I'll just forget about you and live on, and you'll escape from this terrible nightmare."
"How can I believe those words."
"There's no point in testing me. You already know, don't you?"
Noa clearly knows.
That I'm not lying. That I'm sexually aroused, that my cock is erect as if it might burst at any moment.
"...Yes. I asked for no reason. Considering the despicable things you've done to women, this behavior suits you perfectly."
"You despised me, didn't you? You used to call me Lord Decal, but now you won't even call me by name.
You think calling someone by name is a sign of intimacy. Don't you?"
"......."
Noa said nothing, as if struck in a vital point.
"To get close, we have to call each other by name. Will you call me by mine?"
"No."
"See. You just expressed your will exactly as you desired. You understand that the starting conditions are fair, right? All you have to do is keep that up until we leave this room.
Saying you don't even want to call trash like me by name. That's the standard."
I waited leisurely for Noa's answer.
Back then, when determining the outcome over the thin wolf's corpse, it was Noa who held the handle of the knife. But now it's different.
The one driving Noa into a corner is me.
That joy keeps the corners of my raised lips from falling.
"Promise me."
"A promise?"
"If I play along with your dirty game, and if I win. Promise that you'll let Wavid and me go without any tricks."
"I'll erase your memories and plant a suggestion forbidding you from approaching me. Since you might come near me again in the future."
"You can't!"
Wavid shouted.
His usual relaxed attitude nowhere to be seen, Wavid's shoulders trembled with rage. His breathing was extremely rough.
"Examiner Noa! It's what the opponent wants. If you play along with this, you'll only suffer terrible humiliation and be discarded! Didn't you see earlier?
This man can do whatever he pleases with everything that happens in this room. He can erase memories and turn everything back to the beginning!
You can't escape until the man is satisfied!"
"Yes. That's why there's no other way."
"Ugh...!"
"At the very least, to face this man, we should have brought a national-treasure-class artifact. According to the kingdom's records, brainwashing magic renders the opponent defenseless, as if drunk,
and is used to make them say what you want or confess secrets. We're using the term 'brainwashing' for convenience, but it doesn't reach the true meaning.
But what about this? This man's ability... it truly rivals the power of a god."
I nodded as I listened to their conversation.
"Hm. I didn't even know brainwashing magic existed. If I had known such a thing existed, I would have realized your intentions in approaching me much sooner."
"Then!"
Wabideu shouted as if wailing.
"This man. Are you saying this trash, who treats women like toys, is a god? You!"
"That is out of the question. But you can trust in this game, can you not?"
"That's right. Wabideu. You might not know this, but there are many ways to enjoy a game.
Because I promised to release you without laying a hand on you, I can enjoy this situation several times more."
"How could one understand the thoughts of a madman?"
I thought I had explained it clearly enough to be understood, only to be treated like a lunatic outright.
I guess you can't talk sense with someone raised properly.
Well, sympathizing with me in this situation would itself be an insane thing to do.
If there were such an insane person, we could become friends who share a bond, but there hasn't been anyone like that until now.
"Then shall we begin?"
"Is there no time limit?"
Noa added.
"A time limit?"
"Three days and nights. Being trapped here and threatened until I starve to death would be troublesome as well."
...It was an unexpected remark.
"Does that mean you have the confidence to endure that long? Oh, my..."
What a pitiful delusion.
"Is there a problem? Executioners are also trained to endure torture. I assure you, if it is a matter of enduring and bearing with it, I can do so until my vital functions cease."
"Then how about around six hours?"
"Very well. No taking it back."
"Is that a bit long?"
Even enduring three hours would be impressive.
Because until now, there hadn't been a woman who endured more than two hours under an intense suggestion like 「Dizzying Pleasure」.
"......Please don't joke around. To go back on words spat out over something like sex after just a few hours—not even an adolescent boy would think like that.
Haven't you merely been manipulating women's hearts through hypnosis until now?"
"Half of that is correct. But I like to guide them indirectly.
So if you truly can endure, I have the intention to let you go."
"Lady Noa!"
"Wabideu. I'll be fine. We were simply outmatched. For now, just think about returning alive.
The chances of this man sparing you, his fellow man, are extremely low."
"Ugh...! If only I weren't so useless!"
Wabideu began to blame himself.
"You may begin."
"Good. I want to prove my innocence to the two examiners."
"Innocence? Ahh. Is that the concept of this game? How do you intend to prove it? Are the women going to say they fell for you of their own accord?"
"Yeah."
The blindfold kept me from knowing what look she was giving me, but an extremely chilling atmosphere hung in the air.
"I seem to have a charm that women simply can't refuse."
"......"
"......"
Not funny?
Not even the sound of breathing could be heard in the secret room.
"If Noa checks for herself, wouldn't that prove my innocence? That women would fall madly for me."
"......Haah. Yes. Then shall I undress? You asked for help, so I shall help you."
"Come closer."
Noa approached step by step.
She made excuses as if she would get it over with quickly, but she was probably terrified inside.
Anxiety radiated from her gait.
"Don't be nervous. Shall we embrace first? Affectionately, like lovers."
"......Yes."
Noa spat out curtly, clearly unwilling, and threw herself into my arms.
Aah. Nice. Even through her nun's habit, it wasn't hard to imagine her figure, but feeling it filled me with tremendous excitement.
A well-proportioned figure like Iseuti's. To the point that it was a shame everything was covered up. No, in this case, was it arousing precisely because it was covered?
Noa remained still, embracing me like a wooden post. I held Noa tightly and stayed just like that.
Could she be thinking it would be good to drag out time like this?
Suddenly, Noa's body reacted.
"Ngh...!"
"What's wrong?"
As Noa flustered, I put strength into my arms and hugged her tightly.
"Hahk!"
A lovely moan flowed from Noa's lips.