Entry Preparations and Persuasion (2)

Darky went tumbling off in a frantic roll, and Miho tore after him. I watched the chase for a moment, then crossed over to Yeongeun, who looked strangely worn out, and started kneading her shoulders.

"You look a little tired. Want me to put a Healing Touch on you?"

"Mm……."

There was no strength in her voice either. She really did look exhausted, so I cupped the generous swell of her breasts through the turtleneck and laid a Healing Touch across her chest. Her eyes narrowed to slits, and she began to stare at me.

"Sneaky."

"Uwaaah."

Looking wasn't enough for her. Both hands came up and started yanking at my cheeks, so I slipped a hand down the back of her panties and scratched along her tailbone. She let out a bizarre "Hiyah?!" and hauled my head into her arms.

"Did something happen? You've looked really tired lately."

There was the ski trip, too, when she'd drunk enough to get properly drunk. Ordinarily she stopped at a glass or two. That was the first time I'd ever seen her drink until she was wrecked.

Yeongeun let my face sink into her cleavage and stroked the back of my head, answering in a worn-out voice.

"Call it the duty of a woman whose lover is a remarkable man she's been keeping hidden~ Something like that."

"What? Someone picking a fight with you?"

"One by one they're clever enough, but put them all in one room and I have no idea why they turn into such idiots."

It came out of nowhere, but the only thing Yeongeun ever grumbled about like that was politics. I worked her slender, firm shoulders, then slid a little lower and lewdly kneaded the two breasts Darky coveted, soothing her as I went.

"Maybe they only look stupid because you're too outstanding, and too smart, and they suffer by comparison?"

"Hehe…… Ahhng."

I pinched a nipple and drew a moan out of her, and Yeongeun turned, caught my cheeks in both hands, and stared straight into my face as she spoke.

"This country falls far short of the great powers. Now and then, yes, someone appears who can fairly be called a master of their field, and they lift the nation's standing — but at the root we are a country with a small territory and a small population. Add up the soldiers conscripted every year because we are still under an armistice, plus everyone who goes through reserve training and civil-defense education, and you pass half the men in Korea. The spending tied to all of that is astronomical."

Talking about the state of the world, her eyes were utterly serious. Was she losing ground in some diplomatic negotiation over exactly that?

Come to think of it, she hadn't made a single trip overseas since we joined together this year. I wondered if she'd taken some kind of penalty because of it.

"Did you—"

"Shh."

I was about to ask, and Yeongeun extended a finger and pressed it lightly to my lips.

"It isn't because of my darling. It's those idiots who can't even tell whether the card in our hand is a joker or junk."

Just then Hwayeon, fresh from washing up, came out of the kitchen with two cups of hot milk. She handed one to Yeongeun and took up the thread.

"If something like the Ha Cheolsu terror incident happens a few more times, and your ability gets branded into them past mere confirmation, the ones sidling up while they waver won't show their faces. For now, though, we keep catching people who approach on nothing but a what if and a maybe."

"Is Hwayeon right? Is that why you're tired?"

"Aigo. Couldn't you soften it a little? I went to all that trouble setting the mood so I could put it nicely."

Yeongeun glared, and Hwayeon turned her head a fraction and pretended to be interested in something else. Yeongeun stared a moment longer, took a sip of hot milk, swept her bangs back with elegant fingers, and murmured as if sighing.

"America keeps prodding at you and running nothing but profit-and-loss sums. Russia and China are trying to send you blatant love calls, and once you cross into Europe it only gets worse."

She shrugged, and a naked disgust showed through the single word.

"Fools."

"I'm cutting off every last one of those love calls, so the countries that fancy themselves powerful are furious. Who do you think you are, cutting them all off? That's oppression of human rights, they say. It might put us at a disadvantage in trade agreements — can you take responsibility? That sort of thing."

So they wanted to get close and sweet-talk me, and because Yeongeun was shutting down every approach with an iron-wall defense, all that irritation was landing on her?

The longer I stayed in the real world, the more pronounced it would become. It seemed like time to say the thing I'd been keeping only in my head.

I'd been waiting on nothing but the timing. Hearing Yeongeun, I couldn't think of anything except doing it soon.

My woman was suffering, and I couldn't just sit still. I couldn't strong-arm other countries with force either, so wasn't it enough to let them know my interests were nothing so grand?

When dinner was ready, I brought my sister as well.

She still seemed to be keeping her distance from me, but Dad and Mom had gone out on a date for the evening. Better she eat with us, I thought, than sit alone in that big house with a lonely meal.

The sudden invitation left her looking dazed, but she didn't refuse, and she followed me. The moment we got home and she saw Miho, she froze solid.

— Hello, Master's big sister?

"Ah, hello…… Miho, dear? You are Miho, right?"

— I'm Miho!

In that instant I caught a faint mutter. "She's…… become…… a woman……." Become a what? I turned toward my sister and found her eyes utterly empty, a thin vacant smile on her face, and a chill went through me.

"……??"

I didn't know why, but we ate with my sister wearing a face that was both depressed and angry, and once everyone was gathered I opened my mouth.

"When I graduate, I'm going into the Phase World."

Sophia had brought tea, and the lovers were chatting over this and that with my sister when I said it. All four of them turned their eyes on me at once. Then, as if it had been nothing, they simply looked away and went back to their talk.

……Did I say that wrong?

"I'm going to look for the blue-skinned demons. I don't know how long it'll take, but I'll come back once a month."

"What?!"

Not only the lovers — my sister jolted too, set her teacup down hard, and lunged at me with a ferocity that looked ready to seize me by the collar.

"B-before that I'm planning to subdue one more Highest-Rank Variant, so if the worst happens we can prepare with—"

Startled, I tried to push off the arm my sister had locked on my collar. She slapped my hand aside and shouted, face and voice both furious.

"What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying you're going to live in the Phase World just to hunt the blue demons?!"

"Siha. Wait a moment. Seoha hasn't finished speaking. Hear him out first, and then judge. It won't be too late."

While Hwayeon held back my sister, who was angry without even listening to my explanation, Franc and Yeongeun stroked my hair gently, as if to calm me.

"We know how much our Seoha hates those things, but wouldn't it be better to leave yourself a little room and prepare?"

"She's right. For the time being it would be better to run raids alongside the others, build experience, keep some peace of mind, and get ready step by step."

"We've been preparing one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠piece at a time already. I grew Miho. I strengthened Hiarid. Darky came in, and Hwayeon got stronger because she can use Ispect now. And with the Phase Stones we've stockpiled, we're at the point where we don't have to worry about energy or money, at least at the minimum. Right?"

Miho, a high-tier subspecies rivaling a Highest-Rank Variant. Hiarid, a High-Tier Variant with a Phase Stone. And Darky on top of them, a Highest-Rank Variant himself.

"There's about a month left, so in that time I'll reinforce everyone I can reinforce with my TP. Raise them like that and bind them with contracts, and even if I'm gone the raid team will run without any real trouble. The strong enemies the team can't handle in between, I'll sweep up later in a batch."

"Wait, what? You're saying you'll leave us behind and go in alone?!"

I nodded at Yeongeun, whose eyes had gone wide as if she'd heard something she couldn't believe, and all four women cried out at once.

"No!"

Seeing them shout it together, as if they'd rehearsed, left me a little stifled. And here I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been preparing all this time — analyzing and sorting the mountains of material the strategy team piled on me, then cramming it into a memory that had grown enormously better.

Did they trust me that little?

I raised a hand to quiet the lovers and my sister, who were about to start in again, and then I spoke.

"I can do this. I've been preparing since September. You've all seen me memorizing and analyzing every last scrap the Phase Intelligence Strategy Team sends, haven't you? And this time the only goal is to locate the Black Castle. I'll put up a Space Wall and move fast across the sky while I search, so anyone who can't match my speed will only get in the way."

I went on, facing the four of them as they listened with faintly displeased expressions.

"The only ones who can keep up with the speed I move at are Hiarid, Miho, and Franc, right? But Hiarid and Miho have to be available to the raid team when they're needed. You understand up to here?"

All four faces only grew more discontented. I spoke with a firm look that said objections would not be entertained.

"The blue-skinned demons are judged to be Superior-rank at the very least, so the more people we add, the more the danger grows. If a fight breaks out that's too much for me, I mean to run with Space Leaping. The more of us there are, the less I can react on the spot. That means everyone is in danger, me included."

"That may be, but……."

My sister seemed halfway persuaded, at least by reason. The others didn't. That included Hiarid and Miho.

=I don't want to.=

— I don't want to! I'm going with Master too!

"Seoha. You're going to leave even me behind? I…… I don't want that."

For Franc, maybe I should have expected it. I hadn't thought Hiarid and Miho would come out like that too. Looking at women who couldn't make a rational judgment, my chest grew tight.

Yeongeun, if anything, seemed set on persuading me instead. She caught my hand and drew it to her breast, then spoke in a pleading tone.

"Seoha. Think about it. If you leave your seat for more than a month every time, the raid team's cohesion will thin, of course, and people may appear who mean to pull some scheme in the gap. Grand Blue was formed because of the future that is you, and if that center keeps abandoning his seat — if he goes so far as to show no attachment to the team — public opinion will shake, without a doubt. Winning back hearts once you've lost them will be an incredibly hard, exhausting thing!"

"That's what Hwayeon and Sis are here for, isn't it? You'll help too, and with Miho, Hiarid, and Darky, who listen only to my orders, nobody's going to pick a fight lightly. And if I come back having tamed the Rogue Imugi as well, that position only gets more solid."

I'd slipped into casual speech while persuading Yeongeun, but my sister was so scattered she didn't seem to notice anything amiss. In any case, once I'd fended off Yeongeun's argument, it was Hwayeon's turn to speak.

"Franc said it a moment ago as well. Wouldn't it be better to keep some peace of mind and prepare without a single gap?"

"I've had that peace of mind since three months ago. And there's no guarantee things will definitely shake apart, is there? If anything, if I can only make it clear that my interest lies with all of you and the company, the crowd harassing Yeongeun might disappear too."

I shut Hwayeon down, and this time Miho and Hiarid looked at me with desperate faces.

— I'm training so I can be a help to Master…… I don't want to just watch the house…….

Haa……. The five of them simply would not leave me be, to the point that I started thinking Sophia — standing silent in the back, unable to get a word out — was the better of them.

To make the mouths that wouldn't stop talking shut, I had no choice. I gathered Phase Power in my throat and spoke low, in Mana Voice.

A heavy, threatening voice rolled through the living room, and only then did they close their mouths and look up at me.

"……Calm down. I'm not saying I'm going there to fight. I told you it's a survey to locate the Black Castle, didn't I? And you have to guard the place I come back to. Otherwise, how am I supposed to go with an easy heart?"

I looked at Hwayeon as I said it.

"Hwayeon, you know my abilities and how I use them. Tell me. Is there anything in the Phase World right now that could threaten me?"

"……If you set aside transcendent beings like the blue demons Seoha mentioned, and the Supergiant Turtle, then you could say there is almost nothing."

I turned from Hwayeon, who had wilted a little, and spoke to Franc.

"Franc, you answer. If all of you fought me, who do you think would win?"

"Y-you would, Seoha……."

"Hwayeon. Sis. Do you want me to never enter the Phase World at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all, and just loaf around in reality eating and playing, rolling in idleness? Chase women like that bastard Ha Cheolsu, and throw money around like a wastrel?"

"……."

At my question my sister put on a face that said she would rather I did exactly that, which left me dumbfounded, and then Hwayeon brought up something else.

"But going in alone — anything could happen, and alone is far too dangerous. I would rather you slow the survey and widen the watch than act solo. Please reconsider. And please think about why we are anxious, and why we worry. You are only nineteen."

"That's the same thing you said earlier. If things get dangerous enough to threaten me, bringing anyone else along won't change the situation. If anything, once I'm in danger I'll have to look after the people I brought during the time I could have escaped alone, which only makes it more dangerous."

I looked around at the women, who had fallen silent.

"I said it just now, but I want you to guard the place I return to. So that when I come back, I'm not left standing there in blank despair."

Objectively speaking, the Grand Blue raid team held power greater than any raid team in the world.

Hwayeon, taking in my semen day after day and closing in on B-Class Master, had grown terrifying since she began to wield Ispect. On Nuhodi's counsel she had folded a divine art called Sihwa Yuseon into her spearmanship, and she was becoming monstrously strong.

She ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠might as well be called a specialist in combat against aberrants and against humans alike. Add Darky's support on top of that, and though I couldn't say for certain, couldn't even Hwayeon fight a Highest-Rank Variant to some degree?

Franc, too, had been studying electricity all this time, and she could now handle lightning at a B-Class level.

They weren't on Franc and Hwayeon's level, but there was Choi Soohan, who had only just become B-Class, and my sister could not be left out either — C-Class, yet with potential rivaling B-Class, a user of two rare attributes, light and darkness.

There was Darky, a Highest-Tier aberrant you would practically need a national mobilization of raiders to hunt. There was Miho, a seven-tailed fox and high-tier subspecies said to rival him. And there was Hiarid, who wielded the light attribute at will and, being an aberrant, boasted specs far beyond any human.

Beyond them, the regular raiders, their number approaching a thousand.

On the financial side, the Superior-grade and High Grade Phase Stones I had charged and stockpiled filled an entire room, and once the refinery was finished a vast sum was due to come in — projected gross revenue of tens of trillions of won a year.

Look at money or look at force, and their worry was excessive. That was what I meant.

And that was not the end of it. After I had laid mental manipulation on Darky and trained my mind, I had secured enough mental strength to tame one more Highest-Rank Variant. Put the Rogue Imugi in that spare seat, and there would be no further threat in reality.

As for me, if I fell into danger I would flee by Space Leaping, watch through Spatial Perception, and survey the Phase World as far as my ability allowed.

"If you still mean to stop me after all this, I'll take it that you're only trying to overprotect me, using worry as the excuse."

Once I had laid out everything I'd been thinking, they were dissatisfied, but none of them could produce a rebuttal. Being able to confirm that I had made the simplest and most rational choice lifted my mood a little.

"Your answer?"

Watching the six of them nod slowly, each face holding a grievance or two, I sighed on the inside.

Reason had given in to my persuasion, but emotion still nursed the complaints, so over the remaining month I would have to persuade my lovers one by one, with my body.

Even then my sister would be left. What was I supposed to do about her?

To persuade them, I decided it would be better to take them one at a time, one against one, than to gather them in one place and persuade them all at once.

Face three together, and I might lose the war of words and end up the one being persuaded.

I started with Miho.

Her complaint I answered by gathering her into my arms, stroking her head, and whispering into a fox ear that helping Franc, Hwayeon, and Yeongeun here in reality would be the greatest help she could give me. Her ears twitched and twitched, and then she toppled over completely.

"If you help them that hard, let's go to an amusement park on your day off. We'll rent the whole day and play, just our family. It was really fun last time, wasn't it? That half day, the three of us with Franc."

— Really?! Yeah! I'll really, really, really work really hard!!

Miho was showing with words and with her whole body just how wildly excited she was, and the reaction worried me a little — the sort of girl who would happily follow if some stranger offered her candy and said he'd play with her.

And hearing her repeat really to an abnormal degree, I worried something might be wrong with her vocabulary. Who had she been watching, to turn out like this?

— I learned it from Master!

"……What? When did I ever talk like that?!"

— You do it too, Master! When you get worked up you go "ah, really — really, so what do you want me to do," and you use "really" really, really often!

"……."

D-did I? I pulled a sour face, and the little thing must have found it hilarious, because she scooped Darky up and went rolling across the living-room floor, laughing herself sick.

I thought about what method I ought to use to persuade Hiarid.

If it had been before, I would simply have knocked her down and carved my rough thoughts, my uneasy gaze, and all of it without a filter into the body of the Hiarid watching me. But the reaction I had seen not long ago, when I strengthened her, weighed on me too much, and honestly it felt uncomfortable to be rough with her again.

Call it the shock of handling something you thought was a doll or a robot, only to find it had been a living being all along. The brainwashing I had laid on her was only obey my orders, not fall for me. And yet that expression, feeling something for me that went past fondness…….

"Miss Hiarid? You're tall, so would you dust that high corner clean with the duster?"

=Understood.=

Maybe I had seen wrong. Maybe the TP had heightened her emotions, and it had only been confusion in that moment. Holding on to a scrap of hope, I called to Hiarid, who was cleaning the house with Sophia.

=Yes, my Heaven.=

"Sit for a moment."

At my instruction she knelt in front of me. I stared at her for a while, then stroked the abundant gold of her hair.

A blush spread over Hiarid's expressionless face.

Pink crept across her cheeks like cherry blossoms taking on color. I watched it, then took her hand — a little larger and longer than mine — and touched her earlobe and her cheek, stroking them. She closed her eyes with the faintest smile and happily accepted my touch.

The world went dark in front of me. This was proof I couldn't talk my way out of.

Hiarid, unaware of the storm in my head, parted lips tinged faintly pink, as if she already knew what I meant to say.

=If it is something my Heaven wishes, I will do anything.=

"……All right."

She looked at me with moist golden eyes, and for a long while after that I said nothing at all, only stroking her hair.