Just This Once
Just This Once
Kylon's room. As if to prove that Linda and Agnes had been given other rooms, a single room, just like the one I used before, greeted me.
It was his private single room, which Kylon had taken because he wanted to rest.
The fact that I had entered such a place made me feel subtly strange.
Normally, Kylon and I would meet late at night or early in the morning, so meeting in the middle of the night like this felt like a first.
Kylon entering my room and me entering Kylon's room felt different, so there was a slight sense of discomfort.
However, I also thought that Kylon must have a separate reason for calling me, so I sat on the bed as he instructed. He then plopped down beside me and seemed to be about to take something out.
Rummaging through his Inventory, he soon pulled out a Hypnosis Stone from within.
The moment I saw it, my mind seemed to go blank.
Why are you taking that out here? Wait, are you going to use that on me?
Thinking that, I recoiled. I stared at Kylon with wide eyes.
"Kylon, you...!"
"No, I'm not trying to use it on you, I just wanted to check if something was broken..."
This bastard, isn't he up to something?
Even if I was a helpless, stumbling burden, I wasn't without the Power of a Saint. Despite appearances, as Kylon said, a Mental Barrier must exist, so the thought that it wouldn't affect me crossed my mind.
Still, that was that. The situation itself, where I thought he was going to take it out right in front of me and try it, felt outrageous.
As I narrowed my Glabellum and stared at him silently, he let out a sigh and snapped his fingers.
Then, a small lantern made of Magic Stone lit up, and the room felt a little brighter.
His expression became clearer to see.
So I glared at him, as if interrogating him.
"Why that, to me?"
"No, it's not that, I just don't know how to use it."
But Kylon, as if truly wronged, told me so and held out the stone.
As it was held out, I leaned my upper body back and groaned.
"Don't hold it out..."
"In the game, you just approach the character and press the 'Use' prompt. But this isn't a game now, is it?"
"That's right."
"So, I bought it, but I don't really know how to use it properly. I was wondering what to do with it, so I was going to look for you."
"...So you weren't sleeping at bedtime and were doing this instead?"
"Well, um, yeah...?"
Should I call this great passion?
If it's great, then yes, it could be called great, but it also felt like a slightly twisted passion, leaving me with a sense of futility.
Still, if he wants to pour his passion into it on his own, what can I say?
Anyway, if he put effort into conquering the heroines, it was only natural that a situation would arise where I, too, would curl my lips in satisfaction.
The closer the conquest was to completion, the better Kylon would perform in the fight against the Demon King, bringing us closer to the Ending.
Thinking, 'Let's go along with Kylon's actions,' I gave a small nod, and he suddenly held out the stone to me.
"Well, if you don't trust me, do you want to try using it on me?"
I expected him to say he'd try it on me, but strangely, he readily handed over the right to use the stone to me.
And I, who hadn't expected that, stared blankly at the stone without even thinking of a reply.
"Uh, um. Really?"
Dumbfounded, I nodded at Kylon's words and picked up the stone.
"Should I say, 'Use'?"
"'Use'? Ah, just like the game prompt?"
"Yeah, you never know. It's the simplest way, and if you use it, you can feel at ease too."
"But if this can only be used on one person, shouldn't we not waste it like this?"
"It's fine. It's just a duration for one person; it doesn't disappear after being used on one person."
"Ah, ...so I just cast it on you and then immediately release it?"
"Exactly."
"Alright, then I'll use it?"
Seeing Kylon's kindness, doing me a favor because I felt reluctant about being hypnotized, made me feel truly grateful. I had thought of him as a crazy lesbian, but maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all.
"Use."
"......."
"Use on Kylon?"
Crack.
"......!"
At first, I thought it wasn't working, but the moment I used the subject, Kylon's expression twisted.
At his startled expression, as if he'd received an electric shock, I too was surprised and shrugged my shoulders, my mouth tightly shut.
"Wh-what a surprise. Did it work?"
"I-I don't know."
"Then, hand."
"......."
"Looks like it didn't work. Could it be that the Hero also has resistance because he received divine power?"
Seeing Kylon not extend his hand, the hypnosis was a failure. However, recalling Kylon's expression, as if he had received a jolt to his head, it couldn't be entirely called a failure.
Ultimately, the only conclusion I could draw as to why it didn't work was that he, too, was receiving the Blessing of the Goddess.
Since I was told I had resistance, it might be stranger if Kylon didn't have it.
"So, for now, a subject is needed?"
"Well, probably."
Saying that, I returned the stone to Kylon. He took the stone with a thud and held it out in front of me.
"...Want to check if you have resistance?"
"...Why me?"
"It's better to be sure you have it, isn't it? Are you going to be that anxious every time I take out the stone?"
"That's not... that, okay, then I understand."
Still, if Kylon has resistance, I probably do too.
Thinking that, I nodded.
After that, Kylon's voice continued.
"Then I'll use it, okay? ...Use on Veronica."
He canceled the target and then cast it on me again. The stone sparkled, instantly captivating my gaze.
It was the same light as before, but I felt a little hazy.
*
"...Did it work?"
"...Doesn't seem like it did?"
"Really? Does your head not hurt?"
"Nothing but a slight haziness."
There was nothing but a throbbing in my head, likely because I had been woken up from a deep sleep.
Still, since there were no other strange sensations, couldn't it be said that I also had resistance to hypnosis?
Well, just like Kylon could alleviate my Trauma by protecting me, I felt relieved just by realizing I had resistance to hypnosis and thus erasing my fear of that stone.
As I let out a deep breath, he cautiously opened his mouth.
"Well, assuming that's the case, I have something I'm curious about, can I ask?"
"What is it?"
"Are you hiding anything from me?"
Why is he acting like this all of a sudden? There's no way I'm hiding anything.
Or is there? Was I hiding something? If it's something I haven't said, then yes, there is.
"Something I haven't said?"
"Ah, um... I, I can use... my powers."
"How? You never told me that."
"The Goddess whispered to me, that if I pray earnestly, it will work... and the price is to shed blood."
"......."
"That's why I didn't say anything. Because Kylon would dislike it. I didn't want to do it."
I told him that calmly.
Then Kylon suddenly leaned towards me and pulled me into an embrace.
"Oh, you pretty thing, you're cute."
"Wh-what are you doing...!"
The moment Kylon embraced me, my heart strangely pounded.
Wondering what on earth was happening, my Glabellum furrowed on its own.
Surely I wasn't harboring strange feelings for Kylon? That couldn't be. But then why was my heart doing this?
I wanted to push Kylon away, but my body wouldn't easily exert force.
Was it because I had just woken up? I really shouldn't have gone along with this. As I complained inwardly, Kylon spoke to me.
"Shh. Just for a little while, can we stay like this?"
Hearing those words, contrary to my heart, my mind felt calmly settling down.
As my mood calmed, my flustered emotions instantly cooled and vanished.
The reason I thought there was no harm in granting Kylon's wish was that it felt like simply granting a friend's request, so perhaps it was okay in its own way.
"...Just this once."
"Thank you."
However, Kylon seemed to have misunderstood my 'just this once,' as he pressed down on my embraced body with force, as if crushing me.
Then, my body, devoid of strength, flopped onto the bed. Kylon's body, exerting a heavy pressure, was on top of me.
"...Kylon, you're heavy."
"Just a little, more."
"Mm..."
Just for today.
I told myself that.
I was arbitrarily thinking, 'I'm only doing this because Kylon seems to be struggling somehow.'
No, it's my thought, so where would 'arbitrary' even come into it?
"Veronica."
"Hm?"
"Just a little..."
"Ugh...!"
I didn't know how far that 'just a little' would go, but as his hand wrapped around my back and then traced the straight line of my spine downwards, my body trembled with a start.
I considered resisting, but Kylon's words, 'just a little,' kept echoing in my mind, so I swallowed my groan, thinking I should endure it just a bit longer.
"Honestly, Veronica is Veronica, isn't she?"
"Ugh, mm..."
"Even though I almost cooled off a bit because the inside was a compatriot like me, the outside appearance was Veronica, so I was going to go with whatever I felt like."
"...Mm."
"But now that I see you, I like your current self more than the originally benevolent Veronica. So I became curious."
"Wh-what...?"
"How you've lived your life."
As Kylon's hand traced the line of my back towards my hips, his persistently questioning voice echoed in my head.