No. 13's Reluctant Compliance
".. Can't you stop that already? I'm seriously grossed out."
With a dissatisfied expression, arms crossed and her red, plump lips pouting, I let out a sigh inside. What she was asking me to stop was, of course, the mental connection between us.
"You'll just lunge at me again otherwise."
Ever since I removed the handcuffs, the moment the connection felt severed, she regained her original violent tendencies and immediately charged at me. Of course, since I could hear her inner voice, I could always stop her right before she grabbed me by the collar, but.. was there any reason to take that risk?
"I won't attack now."
".. Really?"
Thud!Crunch..!
Once again, her palm stretched out violently toward my face, trembling as it froze in place. The moment the connection broke, she had flipped the table between us aside and lunged at me, now straddling me with her hand reaching for my face. Her red hair whipped dramatically behind her back, and her eyes, filled with killing intent, were fixed solely on me. She had probably meant to cover my eyes, but unfortunately, she was a step too late.
"Haa.."
"Ugh.."
"... You said you wouldn't attack."
The situation might have been tense, but after the first or second time, I'd grown used to it. The fact that I'd become accustomed to someone trying to take my life was pitiful in itself.
"..."
Her palm, still frozen in a threatening posture with burn scars covering her arm, I gently pushed aside and met her eyes. She averted her gaze as if embarrassed. Whether it was a shred of conscience or shame at failing again, I couldn't tell. But right now, more than that—
"For now.. could you get off me?"
It wasn't that she was heavy on top of me. The problem was the other incident her moderate weight was causing. Press.. The position where she sat on me was perfectly aligned, and between her soft, firm buttocks, an inevitable physiological reaction as a man was occurring.
"Wait, is this you right now? Getting turned on in a situation like this?"
"Who told you to climb on top? I'm the one holding back here."
Unable to sever the mental connection immediately, she must have felt my rising desire as well. Startled, she lifted herself off me. Despite the plain white short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts the facility had provided—loose-fitting and unremarkable—her figure still proudly displayed her feminine superiority through the contours. Perhaps because of the thick restraint collar around her neck, that plain outfit felt even more suggestive.
Still, simply looking at her had become familiar through Nero, but direct physical contact was something even I couldn't handle calmly no matter what.
"Ah, anyway, this.. hurry up and undo it. You're making me feel weird too because of you!"
"You'll just attack again."
"I've already been fooled plenty of times. What's so hard about being fooled one more time?"
How shameless could she be? Still, it seemed she at least acknowledged that she'd fooled me a lot.
"Haa.."
Embarrassed at having my desire exposed, I had already wanted to sever the connection anyway. With a sigh that escaped despite my efforts to swallow it, I finally broke the connection with her.
"... See, I'm staying still."
For the first time, even after the connection was severed, she remained quietly seated in the chair without moving. However, suspecting she might be trying to lure me into lowering my guard, I didn't neglect my vigilance toward her as I righted the chair she had knocked over and the table she had thrown.
She's still.. just sitting there quietly. Is this finally the first time we're facing each other properly without the connection? It was almost moving. Her being so docile without the connection.. it was the first time.
"I'm a bit surprised, Scarlet. I didn't expect you to be that flustered."
"What nonsense. It's just because I received an order not to give any man a second glance. You.. anyway, don't do that anymore. I won't attack."
".. I'll think about it."
The order not to give a second glance probably didn't literally mean not to look at men at all. From the context, it seemed like she had been forbidden from harboring any goodwill toward the opposite sex..
"By the way.. how did you end up receiving that kind of order?"
No matter how I thought about it, it was a difficult command to understand right away. The one who issued it was obviously the archangel Gabriel who had branded her with the stigma. Maybe Scarlet had been too promiscuous with too many men and caused problems.. or perhaps the doctrine interpreted relationships with the opposite sex as impure..?
"That's none of your business. More importantly, does dessert not come separately here?"
"What?"
Dessert? Did I hear that right just now?
"The meals are meager, the bed is uncomfortable, and when you're not here, there's nothing to do alone so I'm bored to death. And this ability-sealing collar..? It's so heavy I feel like I'm going to get a slipped disc."
Just from the string of complaints she rattled off, I could tell how luxurious her usual lifestyle must have been, even as a prisoner. And.. surely she wasn't asking me to remove the restraint collar, right? Watching her complain so naturally, as if lodging a complaint at a hotel, I almost wondered for a moment if I was the one who had done something wrong.
"... Do you understand the situation you're in?"
"Ah, yeah. Of course I do. I don't know what you're trying to do, but you want me to be cooperative, right? But I have no intention of betraying the Vatican. Either way, it's just the difference between dying like this or suffering until I die."
I had quickly regained my composure and tried a counterattack, but there was no easy rebuttal to those words.
"That's.."
"Then I'd rather live comfortably until I die, but you can't even allow that?"
Because she knew her own position well, she was able to be so bold about it. This was.. a little—no, very—flustering.
".. I'll consider it."
The only things I could say right now were variations of "I'll think about it" or "I'll consider it." What should I do.. this was daunting.
"- Today's counseling session has ended. Please come out now. -"
Just in time, the Team Leader's voice came through the in-ear. The morning counseling had already concluded. There hadn't been anything worth calling a harvest today either, so I wanted to spend more time with her even if it was just me, but I couldn't force overtime on the other management team staff and the Team Leader who were on standby analyzing the counseling and preparing for unexpected situations.
With no choice, I left the room with slumped shoulders, and the Team Leader was waiting outside.
"No particular harvest today either. They said it would be a month, but haa.."
"Your counseling is clearly showing results, Ung-ssi. The Fire Chicken's neural readings have stabilized noticeably compared to the first day, and that nasty personality of hers seems much more subdued from what I can see."
".. That would be fortunate, if so."
It would be fortunate if that were true, but I had no idea how to make her favorable toward us when she was only thinking of taking me hostage and escaping the moment an opening appeared. And on the first day, after the Team Leader's merciless beating, we had forced the collar on her and proceeded with counseling.. Of course the readings should have stabilized.
"You've been doing well so far. Keep going with confidence."
".. Thank you."
Still, with her saying that, I couldn't complain any more in front of her. As I nodded, the Team Leader patted my shoulder and suggested we eat together.
"Then, shall we go have lunch together?"
Of course there was no reason to refuse, so I agreed. As we rode the elevator together with the Team Leader, I only noticed midway that we were heading to a different floor than usual.
"Team Leader, this place is.."
"It's my personal office. First time here?"
As soon as we entered, she naturally removed her mask and hung it with her coat on the rack by the door. The office was simply spacious with only essential furniture. She guided me to sit at the table. That was.. a wardrobe, and a bed? Come to think of it, the Field Team Leader's office I had visited before to get permission for Harpy's outing had felt similar. More like a personal room than an office.. Likewise, I had never seen the Team Leader leave for home, so maybe she lived here? Then this was.. the Team Leader's room.
... This was making me nervous.
"Hm?"
When I grew tense, the Team Leader instead looked puzzled as to why I was nervous.
"I said let's eat together. I asked for the meal to be sent here."
So that's why she took off the mask. I had thought we'd go to the staff cafeteria as usual, where I'd eat while she drank coffee through a straw again. The way she hung up the mask with her coat looked quite practiced—did she usually eat alone here, lonely? Thinking that made her feel a bit more approachable, and my tension seemed to ease slightly.
"So.. how is it? From the perspective of someone actually doing the counseling, do you see any possibility? There are no other team members here now, so you can speak freely."
"Honestly, I still don't know. You told me to have confidence and that it was fine, but.."
It wasn't just her who was affected by the connection. I could feel her influence as well.
"Deep in their hearts, they don't want to go against the Vatican. It's not simply fear.. it felt more like an obsession, closer to brainwashing."
"If that's how you felt, then it's probably accurate. This continues from what we talked about last time, but what do you think the prisoners' numbers mean, Ung-ssi?"
".. I think it's probably an order based on danger level or importance, just like you said last time. I heard something similar from Nero too."
"Mm-hmm," she nodded while pulling a hair tie from her pocket and tying her blue hair back. As she raised both arms, exposing her pure white nape defenselessly, my gaze was momentarily stolen. When I flinched and turned my head away, I heard a soft chuckle.
"..."
The difference when she removed the mask was so stark that it was hard to look away from that beauty—it was almost unfair. She had probably already noticed me staring, but the Team Leader simply let it pass with a light laugh, no teasing.
"The numbers also serve to encourage competition for better treatment."
"Competition between prisoners.. is it?"
"Yes. This method has the advantage of drawing out loyalty without force, allowing prisoners to monitor and manage each other."
Come to think of it.. Nero had also said she took pride in her former master, the Alchemist, having the number 77. If the entity assigning the numbers and the criteria were clearly defined, if the rewards based on roles were attractive and publicly known to other prisoners.. then it wasn't strange for them to voluntarily try to act in ways befitting a prisoner. Moreover, if their original treatment was as poor as Nero had described.. then the taste of a reward won through hardship would be truly unforgettable. Any rebellion against the system would be perceived as equivalent to giving up all the rewards they had earned.
"Carrot and stick are always important. But the stick of violence doesn't seem to work very well on her either.. and I doubt any ordinary carrot would satisfy her."
".. You're right, just as you said, Team Leader."
Her domineering attitude and unyielding personality alone made that easy to predict. I had been wondering if there really was no method, when—
"That's true. How about shock therapy?"
"Shock.. therapy?"
The suggestion the Team Leader suddenly made was something unfamiliar.
"The story about the Inquisition that you heard from Nero.. I'd like to hear a bit about that too."