Episode 190
"W-wait a moment. It's a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding? Then, does this stone that just struck me have some hidden meaning?"
At Frey's stern interrogation, Alice stammered.
"It's, it's an individual's deviant behavior. Our protest group received dozens of hours of education..."
"The important thing is that I was hit by this stone, isn't it?"
"...I, I'm sorry."
Eventually, Alice bowed her head slightly in apology.
"Everyone! Step back! Any more rough behavior is...!"
She raised her voice and began shouting at the protesters behind her.
- Whoosh!
"Ugh!?"
At the same time, when a stone flew from among the protesters again, she began to show a flustered expression.
"Everyone! You can't do this! We're not Frey! We must be just and fair, non-violent..."
She, who had been anxious, hurriedly walked toward the protesters and began speaking, but.
"Ah, no...!"
When several stones passed behind her, she shouted with a considerably flustered expression.
"Why are you doing this! If you do this, it only gives Frey a justification...!"
"Justification... justification..."
Hearing Frey muttering in a low voice behind her, she turned her head back.
"Ah..."
Soon, she swallowed a groan.
- Trickle...
Blood was streaming down Frey's forehead, which had been hit directly by a stone from the protesters.
"The justification existed from the moment the first stone flew, no... from the moment you violated this place."
"W-wait."
"Now it's overflowing."
Frey said that.
"".........""
He looked at the people beyond her who were wearing cold expressions.
And at the people who were hurling insults at him, seized by inexplicable anger.
"Yes, well done!!"
"Death to the Demon King's subordinate!!"
"No need to show mercy!!"
"Ugh."
"Huh...?"
Then, Frey suddenly made a pained expression, breathed roughly, and began to stagger.
"Huh?"
Thanks to that, Ariane ended up being fiercely embraced by Frey and staggered along.
"...Phew."
After a brief moment of chaos, Frey took out the miniaturized cane from his bosom, planted it in the ground, and let out a deep sigh.
".....?"
He looked at Ariane, who was blushing, and Alice, who had a pale expression and didn't know what to do, then looked at the protesters beyond them and tilted his head.
"Something... is strange?"
Soon, Frey muttered that.
"Hey."
He spoke to Ariane, who had been wearing a dazed expression until then.
"G-give Irina back..."
"...Shut up, just spread a barrier between us."
"W-why?"
"Just do it if I tell you. Do you not care what happens to Irina?"
When Frey threatened like that, Ariane, who had hesitated for a moment, spread a small cylindrical barrier surrounding herself, Frey, Irina, and Lulu.
- Zap... crackle...!
- Crash!!
- Thwack...!
At the same time, stones and clubs flying from here and there began to strike the barrier fiercely.
"Break it!!"
"Uwoooh!!"
"As expected..."
Frey, who was looking at the protesters who were excitedly beating the innocent barrier with sharp eyes.
"...It's definitely strange."
He said that and quietly turned his gaze to the side.
"Huh? Ahah...?"
Then, Alice came into Frey's view, standing outside the barrier with a pale face, trembling.
"E-everyone... why are you all doing this..."
"Get out of the way!!"
"Huh...!"
She, who tried to calm the angry protesters but was pushed and knocked down by the people.
".........."
Lying on the dirt ground, she looked at the protesters she had educated and guided with a dazed expression and began to tremble.
- Hum...!
And, at the same time, the barrier opened slightly.
"Hah!?"
Alice, who was about to be trampled by a protester who was holding her placard as a club without caring about her fallen self.
- Thud...!
Was barely pulled into the barrier by someone's rough hand.
- Boom! Craaash!!
- Zap, crackle...!
The next moment, the people surrounding the barrier began to beat the barrier indiscriminately.
"Mmm, ugh..."
Alice, terrified by the transformation of the people who had followed her control until just moments ago, froze without even thinking of retreating.
- Clang!
- Crrrack...!
After that, for a while, only the sound of the barrier and people colliding echoed.
"Can you see?"
"Huh...!"
Frey, who approached Alice who was frozen and looking beyond the barrier, whispered in a cold voice.
"The end of this 'non-violent protest' you spoke of?"
"I, I-I I..."
Then, Alice, who stammered for a moment, began to mutter in a trembling voice.
"U-until just moments ago... they were smiling while receiving education..."
"So, what happened in the end?"
"Th-that..."
"See it with your own eyes. Don't avoid it."
Frey, who said that, grabbed her face and fixed Alice's gaze on the people's faces.
"Ah..."
The people she believed were good and within her control were beating the barrier with expressions full of anger.
"Truly foolish, invading the Duke's territory and behaving like that. Even if I'm condemned by the world, at the very least this warrants capital punishment."
"......."
"And you, the ringleader of those people, will receive the highest punishment."
When Frey said that, Alice began to show a terrified expression.
"Did you believe you could control them? That you alone, a mere commoner girl, could control those countless foolish and moronic insects?"
"Ugh..."
"Nonsense. You saw it too, didn't you? When there was no barrier and it was open on all sides, all they did was throw a few stones."
Saying that, Frey picked up the stone that had struck his forehead.
"Look at those ugly bastards who only now that the barrier is closed, think this is their chance and rush to beat it."
"N-no... the ugly one is..."
"Do you want to say that I'm the ugly one? Yes, I am ugly. But..."
He whispers, leaning his face close to Alice's.
"Do you really think those crowds behind, who have lost their reason and are running wild out of control, are not truly ugly?"
".....!"
"Your eyes are wavering."
"N-no!"
Alice, shaking her head wildly and shouting, clenched her fists tightly enough to cut off blood circulation.
"Th-that is anger directed at you! It's natural for what you've done until now...!"
"...So, you're saying this is an acceptable behavior?"
"......."
Alice, who heard those words, lost her words.
From her position, this situation was utterly incomprehensible.
Because she couldn't even sense where and what had gone wrong.
"Now... what shall we do? Should I request a suppression army immediately, or should I use magic for immediate execution?"
"W-wait! Just a moment!"
"I'm pondering which method to use."
Frey, who looked down at her with what seemed like mocking eyes, rummaged through his clothes and began speaking.
"I-I'll accept the punishment willingly, so please let me resolve this! Anyway, you don't have any usable military force right now...!"
Alice, grabbing Frey's leg, urgently made a proposal.
"...Sit still."
Right at that moment, Lulu, who had been growling at the angry protesters, shone her magic eye and murmured.
- Whoosh...!
At that moment, all the protesters sat down on the spot at once.
""........""
And a short silence began.
"Hmm."
Frey, who looked at Lulu with a surprised expression for a moment, discovered that her magic eye was intact unlike before, and his eyes lit up.
"Did you say there's no usable military force?"
In an instant, he began acting according to the situation.
"H-how..."
It was such an exquisite situation that Alice had no choice but to fall for Frey's acting.
"Did you think I, who is under threat of murder throughout the Empire, wouldn't have this level of means?"
"Ah..."
Thanks to that, Frey, who put more weight into his acting.
"Listen well to what I say from now on."
He grabbed the chin of Alice, who had fallen into panic, pulled her toward him, and began speaking.
"The ideal theory, self-purification theory, and democracy you believe in are all fiction."
"Mmph..."
"Look at those stupid crowds. The sight of the majority becoming fools with just very simple incitement."
"...Mph?"
"Planting a spy in the protesters in advance and making them throw a stone at me is nothing."
When Frey smiled, Alice began to tremble.
"Did you think you alone, being awake, could enlighten such foolish things that can be so easily manipulated?"
"Ugh..."
"You're not a revolutionary, let alone a hero. You're just the boss of a bunch of fools."
Frey, who pushed her head to the ground and whispered in a cold voice.
"No, that's not it either. Looking at you like this, you seem no different from any other lowly woman."
"Ugh..."
Looking at Alice with her hair tangled and covered in dirt, he asked with a cold expression.
"You're aiming for the student council president election in your second year, right?"
"Th-that's..."
"Do you think you're something? You're nothing. What qualification do you have when you can't even control the people back there?"
"Ugh..."
When Alice lowered her head at those words, Frey forcibly raised her face.
"As of today, you're my slave."
He brushed away the dust stuck to her hair and began whispering in a low voice.
"Neither a leader leading everyone, nor a student council president shaking the Academy, nor a representative of commoners... become one of my sex slaves and be dominated like those guys back there."
"Ah, ahah..."
When Alice slowly opened her mouth at those words.
"Your answer?"
"Ah..."
Frey, who quietly opened the corner of his mouth and pressed for an answer.
"...I understand."
Hearing the answer from Alice, who suddenly started wearing a dazed expression.
"I will become your sex slave."
"Huh?"
He muttered with a flustered expression.
"...This isn't right?"
.
"Huh, umm... what?"
I am currently in a very bewildering situation.
"I'll become... your sex slave."
".....???"
Because Alice, who had a dazed expression, is declaring that she'll become my slave.
"Frey...?"
"Master...?"
"........."
Irina, Lulu, and Ariane, who were looking at Alice who had somehow knelt before me and started bowing her head, began looking at me coldly at the same time.
"W-what is this? Don't tell me...?"
Thanks to that, feeling chills run down my spine, I quickly opened the 'Affection System'.
"...It's not there?"
In the list of the Affection System, Alice's name was definitely not there.
In other words, she doesn't fall under my hypothesis of 'Sub-heroine Influence Theory'.
"What on earth is this?"
I could think that her current reaction happened because her mental state broke down because of me... but that's absolutely not the case.
She, who is the student council president in her second year along with the Church and serves as the main villain, is characterized by 'never breaking' against my proposals.
Even if I offer countless treasures of gold and silver, even if I use anything as leverage to threaten her, even if I try to take her life.
She is a character who never bends her 'convictions' until the end.
But.
"What should I do as a sex slave..."
That kind of person is kneeling modestly before me and asking that.
Just why did it turn out like this?
Even the lines I just spoke were recited straight from the prophecy book I memorized for the 'Awakening Alice' quest that definitely occurs!
Normally, Alice should have rejected my proposal here and declared that she would 'never break.'
"T-the scenario is... going off track... damn it..."
"How should I address you? Frey-nim? Young master? Master?"
But, she just keeps muttering that she will submit.
"M-Master? No way. I'm the only pet... and all the titles overlap too."
"F-Frey. Don't take her in. She's strange."
Thanks to that, my arms are being stretched long by Lulu and Irina.
"T-trash..."
Ariane's eyes are becoming even colder.
"I'm going crazy...?"
Feeling like I'm about to go mad, I was closing my eyes tightly when.
"...How is it."
".......!"
A voice that was all too familiar was heard.
"Are you satisfied?"
"Secret Family Head...?"
Alice, whose eyes had turned yellow at some point, was speaking to me with the voice of the Moonlight family's Secret Family Head.
"Curse of Subordination..."
I, who was blankly staring at such Alice, soon saw the 'Curse of Subordination' magic circles protruding from various parts of her body and opened my eyes wide.
"You, don't tell me...?"
"Yes, I placed the Curse of Subordination on this child long ago."
When she spoke to me in the Secret Family Head's voice, I urgently covered Ariane's eyes and ears with magic.
"Kyah!? W-what is this..."
"Because she was such an outstanding one even among the assassins. Of course, unlike my daughter who deserves to die, it was perfectly cast."
Alice, who continued speaking to me in the Secret Family Head's voice while looking at me like that.
"Anyway, it seems like a quite troublesome situation, so I intervened for a moment... are you satisfied?"
"What is this supposed to be..."
"A deal, I'm proposing a deal."
Soon, without giving me a chance to say anything, she proposed a deal.
"I'll temporarily hand over control of this child from now on, so save me."
"You?"
"Yes, please! I'm begging you! Because of that damn daughter, I can't die even if I want to!"
"Hmm."
"If you save me, I'll permanently hand over control of that child too... and I'll help you dominate the world! It's a promise!"
Hearing his proposal, I stayed still for a moment.
"Anyway, I've lost all my power, but with your help, I can give orders to Serena! And I know many assassins hiding in various places and dark magics! This much should be enough help!"
The Secret Family Head appealed to me with an earnest voice.
"There's not much time! In a short while, that woman will come down here again! If her control disappears, you'll be in trouble too, right?"
"Hmm..."
"She's suitable for that kind of use as you said! She's never been touched by a man's hand! You can check for yourself...!"
I, who was staring blankly at the Secret Family Head, no... Alice.
"...Alright."
Answered in a short voice.
"The deal... is established..."
Then, Alice, who answered in a tired voice.
"........"
At some point, her eyes returned to their original color and she was staring blankly at me.
"You were right. The masses are ignorant and have no value in enlightenment. Therefore, it is fitting to be dominated by the superior you."
Soon, in her original voice, she answered with a serious expression.
"And the same goes for me. When does my sex slave duty begin?"
"Phew......"
Thanks to that, feeling my head throbbing, I lowered my head deeply and let out a sigh.
"Master, those people over there are strange."
"...Same here. Something is strange."
Hearing Lulu and Irina's words, I turned my gaze to the people who had been sitting blankly in place.
"When I gave orders to that Miho girl, and when I gave orders to... M-master, it felt like forcing my way through a steel wall... but when I gave orders to those people, I felt nothing."
"...The mana arrangement is strange. It's not human."
Soon, hearing their words spoken in tense voices.
"Of course it would be, those aren't human."
""......?"
"They seem to be some kind of secret weapon of the Church... by the way, they said they came from the Church..."
I muttered with a cold expression.
"The Pope... is finally making a full move?"
Beside me.
"Please give me orders regarding my sex slave duties. Should I start executing them from this very night?"
"I, I can't believe you made that right before my eyes. It doesn't make sense."
There was Alice, continuously asking about her sex slave duties, and Ariane, backing away with a pale expression.
"Sigh."
At some point, the sun was setting, and the eventful day was passing.