You Won't Need a Boring Explanation

"Agent, are you feeling all right?"

"It's already been several days, hasn't it...?"

"Your body is essentially no different from an ordinary person's. Of course I'd worry."

"I'm seriously, genuinely fine. You really don't need to worry about me anymore."

"...That's a relief, then."

Quite some time had passed since the terrorist attack at the department store. I had collapsed that day, yes — but afterward, instead of sitting down with the heroes for our usual talks, I ended up taking a few days off. Not because I decided to. My assigned heroes reached that conclusion first, and thanks to them I actually got to rest properly.

A little loafing around, a few trips to the hospital, and somehow my body recovered. The truth was, mine was a body that never exercised at all under ordinary circumstances. The real culprit had simply been the muscle pain from pushing myself to a frankly absurd degree. A good rest, and I was fine.

"How did you spend this week, Eun-hwa? You slept comfortably at my place the day of the department store incident."

"About the same as usual."

"Meaning you spent it busily, as always?"

"...Something like that."

"Aigoo. I told you not to do that."

"...It's not as if I can just tear up my contracts on the spot. At the very least, I've been turning down every new one that comes in."

"Hehe. Well, that's a relief."

At any rate, after those few days I was back at work. I'd been looking after Batori quite a bit recently, and Saran and I had spent time together at the department store... one way or another, I'd managed to share some time with them. But with my foolish little fox, there hadn't been anything of particular note lately. Last time we'd talked about Baek Eun-hwa's mother, and that was it. In the end, I hadn't been able to do a single thing for her since.

"Still, it's nice that we can spend time comfortably today, since it's the weekend. You think so too, don't you, Eun-hwa?"

"It's better than a weekday, at least."

"Hehe. Your weekdays are quite busy, after all."

That was why I'd arranged to meet Baek Eun-hwa on the weekend instead of our usual Friday. Compared to Batori and Saran, she still had far more that needed fixing. For her, this was practically the beginning.

"But Eun-hwa, are you sure it's all right to meet at my place instead of yours? My house isn't particularly spacious. Wouldn't it be better if I came to you?"

"Even if you're better than you were that day, it was still hard on you."

"Mmm..."

"And getting here isn't difficult. It doesn't even take twenty minutes by car, so you don't need to worry about it."

"That's a relief, then... though I can't help feeling like I've put you through the trouble because of me. Honestly, I felt pretty guilty about asking the heroes I counsel for help on the day of the department store incident, too."

My job was supposed to be helping the heroes. Naturally, being on the receiving end of that help wasn't a situation I particularly enjoyed. If anything, it would have been better if I'd kept helping them even while I was struggling. But refusing every kindness people offered — or accepting some while turning down others — would have been strange either way. It would have hurt their feelings. So for now, I simply let Baek Eun-hwa come into my home. Starting from our next meeting, I planned to go to her place again and help her there. That had been the arrangement from the beginning, after all.

"......So, Agent. What now? Like you said, I do plan to gradually cut back my schedule compared to before. But what am I supposed to do going forward?"

"Hehe. You were curious about that?"

This was my job in the first place. Helping heroes who had worries or problems.

"As I mentioned before, Eun-hwa, your problems fundamentally... stem from your mother's misguided education."

"...Yes."

"That led to your compulsion, which led to you constantly piling on more work, overexerting yourself, and ending up exhausted. I spoke about this quite firmly last time. So you... probably, definitely understood that well."

"That's right."

In the end, the root of the problem was everything Baek Eun-hwa's mother had taught her, and to resolve it, those teachings had to be broken. Honestly... I'd decided not to do something like this at first. But the influence it had on her was far greater than I'd imagined, so I had no choice. Once I'd heard the whole story, I became convinced it was necessary. That was why I'd decided to try a more direct approach with the fox — one that could guide her toward changing her way of thinking. It wasn't meant to feel forcibly imposed at all.

"Please lie down comfortably on the bed."

"...All right."

"You've done this a few times now, Eun-hwa. You won't need any boring explanations about my ability..."

"I just need to lie there ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and relax, right?"

"Heh. I'm glad you remember."

I fully intended to proceed with a session designed purely for guidance. So I had Baek Eun-hwa lie down comfortably on my bed and switched off every light in the room. Then I lit a small candle, letting its faint fragrance slowly fill the space.

"From now on, Eun-hwa, you're going to slowly, slowly... feel a sense of comfort. A sense of ease."

A breathing far softer than ordinary breaths began to reach my ears. The truth was, while the strongest trigger for my hypnosis was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠snap of the fingers, the ability itself carried a fair amount of power in the words alone. So it was only natural that she responded every time my voice quietly reached her.

"You're sinking deep into something warm... held close, your consciousness drifting down, down. Growing drowsier and drowsier."

"Haa... haa..."

She wasn't asleep, but Baek Eun-hwa's eyes were sinking deeper and deeper. I could tell it was enough. Then, with a snap of my fingers, her gaze went completely under.

"Hmmm..."

Couldn't I do all sorts of terrible, dangerous things with this ability? I couldn't help thinking that every time I put someone into a complete trance. Of course I had absolutely no intention of doing anything like that — but that was a separate matter from the fact that if this ability were used for something malicious, it could be used for just about anything. Not that I planned to do anything of the sort. It was just a thought that crossed my mind. Besides, what mattered right now wasn't that. It was helping Baek Eun-hwa live more comfortably, for her own sake, from now on.

That was the first one. This. I needed to lower the weight of her existing common sense. Making her forget, or making her completely disregard it... that wouldn't be right, humanly speaking. But lowering the weight a little was fine, wasn't it? It was simply that something else important would come into being. Just an utterly ordinary thing that happens as people live their lives. I was merely setting the direction. What decisions Baek Eun-hwa made through my advice, and how she chose to live — that was ultimately up to her. I was nothing more than a kind of helper, assisting her. Just someone who nudged the direction of her choices a little.

And so I left her with those words. I engraved that suggestion into her mind. That would be enough for now. I figured this kind of guidance alone would be plenty of help for Baek Eun-hwa at the moment. If I steadily passed along good advice from here on, she would be able to move in an even better direction. I hoped that was how it would go, too.

"......"

"You're awake."

"...I feel sort of dazed after the hypnosis."

"Hehe. It's probably because, unlike regular sleep, your consciousness shuts down to the absolute brink. It takes place in a state close to REM sleep, you see? Even I can't explain it all that precisely, though."

"...I suppose that would do it."

At any rate, after engraving that small suggestion, I let her wake up normally. There was no need to keep her in a trance. Even if it was the weekend, there wasn't any particular reason to leave her sleeping in my bed, so I did it that way — partly to check how well the hypnosis had actually taken effect, and partly to help Baek Eun-hwa shake off some of the fatigue she'd accumulated over the week.

"Eun-hwa, you used a lot of fox energy this week too, didn't you?"

"Unlike usual, there was a counterterrorism operation at the department store. I think I used... quite a bit."

"Hmm... then shall we hold hands? Like last time, when we held hands and you slept comfortably."

And so I made the offer. It was still an unfamiliar concept to me, but Baek Eun-hwa had already explained it thoroughly before, so there was no issue at all. Her ability as a nine-tailed fox involved an energy known as yoreok — fox energy. That energy diminished every time she used her fox magic, and gradually built back up through physical contact with people.

"Helping you recover when you're tired is part of my job, too. You can ask me comfortably."

"...Then, just for a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠little while, please."

"Hehe. Of course. Just leave it to me."

...The fox's answer to my question came far faster than I'd expected. There wasn't even the usual minute of hesitation, the usual tangle of worries. She answered in less than fifteen seconds.