The Unimaginable Madness of Telepathy
I never imagined it would be such insane difficulty. Guided by Mist, we entered the room where the boss of Dark Shadow was waiting, and there sat a woman in the center.
I stared at the woman before me, my face showing a hint of fluster.
How should I even describe the woman right in front of me?
Well, I'm not oblivious—I'd already pieced it together that this stranger in the room was Bellias, the boss of Dark Shadow.
That her beauty, shrouded in that robe, rivaled Saintess Ariel and Mist? Even the duke, pale and sickly, had aged into a handsome old man. It was the content that was the issue, not the exterior, which was top-notch. As his granddaughter, her looks were only natural.
Nothing up to this point flustered me.
The problem was...
What's with the veil?
A mysterious veil of mana enveloped her entire body in multiple layers, wrapping her up tight.
Her face was exposed, but the veil cloaked her so completely that her outfit was utterly invisible.
Twitch.
Sensing my gaze, Bellias flinched for a moment, and then her frantic voice echoed in my head.
"H-Hello! Uh... the weather's... nice today, right?"
For the record, the weather that day was pretty gloomy, overcast and drab.
"Ah, um, how about trying this? It's the most famous chocolate dessert from the factory district..."
She extended a bowl of dessert toward me with her hand.
The motion parted the veil slightly, revealing a glimpse of the dress she wore.
Ash gray?
It was a subtly dull color, but paired with her hair, it wasn't incomprehensible.
But why's she so damn shy?
Her face stayed expressionless, but the voice in my head trembled with emotion.
Maybe a side effect of Telepathy Magic, transmitting her feelings more vividly. Or was she too flustered to think straight?
Hmm...
Why was she desperately cloaking her body in mana?
With that thought, I just stared at her quietly.
Ziiing—
Twitch.
Ziiing—
Twitch.
"Pfft..."
The silent standoff dragged on, her twitching under my gaze drawing an involuntary laugh from me.
The boss of the Nebula Ducal House's elite assassination squad, Dark Shadow, still clutching that chocolate dessert and flinching at my stare? It was comical enough to crack anyone up.
Her effort was admirable, and pushing the joke further might breed resentment, so I let it drop.
I took the chocolate dessert she offered and popped it in my mouth. The rich, melting sweetness of chocolate flooded my tongue.
Sweets aren't my thing, but whatever.
"Mm, yeah... it's good."
Not like I couldn't eat it.
Maybe because I glossed over it without comment—her face relaxed, and a high-tension voice bubbled up in my head.
"Ah... Here, try this one too."
"Huh...?"
"Nella recommended this dessert spot. I don't really like sweets myself..."
So she was offloading them on me?
I don't like sweets much either.
Clink.
Before I knew it, she'd used mana to float every dessert plate around to me, watching with expressionless but faintly sparkling eyes.
An expressionless vibe different from Mist's.
If Mist was the cool beauty who locked down her emotions completely,
"Here, try this one too."
...Bellias was something else. Face blank, but spilling every emotion through Telepathy Magic. A peculiar type.
But why the hell are we talking telepathically?
I paused at the root question.
"Uh, um... You don't like it?"
She reacted to my hesitation, her voice dipping unconsciously in my head.
"No, it's not that."
I reached for one of the recommended desserts—an almond cookie, by the look—and munched it while speaking.
"Just had something on my mind."
Yeah, well. Between dodging sweets and building rapport with her? The latter mattered more, so I could tough it out.
"Ah, but don't pile on too much. I don't love sweets either."
Had to draw the line, though.
I'm not some anime protag forcing down stuff he hates.
She nodded like she got it.
...
After that, we traded pretty normal chit-chat.
My routine, her daily work—basic stuff.
"Oh, and about Karon's punishment."
Maybe we'd warmed up; her voice felt relaxed now.
Punishment? More than that...
"Huh? I've already forgiven him. Punishment?"
If Karon had openly defied me in public or around the ducal house staff, I'd have come down hard.
Competent or not, no mercy.
But he'd toed the line perfectly, taken my stress on the chin, and apologized sincerely.
I was done with it.
I knew my call was lenient.
But he'd severed his own ring and pinky—the assassin's grip fingers—as atonement. Accepting it made sense.
He was a useful subordinate; punishing him harshly would've hurt me more.
Her take differed, though.
She shook her head at my question and sent her thoughts.
"No. Even if you forgave him, Abel, punishment was necessary. For the example."
"Yeah, I get it."
I'd done it myself in my past life.
Running an org, you get the one-to-warn-a-hundred logic, like it or not.
I nodded, buying it, and she laid out Karon's penalty.
"So, 50% salary cut for now, and restricted activity funds. That's it."
...What? Salary cut?
"Puhahaha!"
The bluntly realistic punishment hit like a sucker punch; I cracked up.
This, for an assassin who hunts master-class marks?
Totally blindsided.
"?"
She just shot me a puzzled look, which only made it funnier.
Yeah, screw up at work? Dock the pay. Duh.
After the laugh subsided, I spoke, still amused.
"Alright, Dark Shadow handles Karon's punishment."
"Ah, um..."
"Yeah?"
"...Never mind. More to say later; skipping it."
(I learned later: the penalty stuck till I forgave him. No revocation from me, no end.)
(Way later, obviously.)
"Abel, I need your help on something."
"Hmm? Help?"
Her eyes turned serious as she beamed her thoughts straight into me, slow and direct.
Like file transfer between computers.
"This is..."
The flood of info hit my brain.
Duke's sudden poisoning.
Culprits: some mystery org even the Nebula Ducal House couldn't name yet.
We'd barely snagged their tail in the prior Miraz drug mess.
And their target?
Me.
"..."
Freaky coincidence, huh?
"Heh..."
Why inherit the Nebula Ducal House?
That mystery org she just dumped on me linked to it—and to me, no dodging it.
Org vs. solo: to even the odds, duke's seat it was.
But they're why the current duke's tanking.
And Dark Shadow had been digging into them on the sly?
Realizing that, I sighed aloud.
"Man..."
[...]
Bellias watched me, tense.
I flashed a wry smile her way.
"On this, I'm the one asking."
Was gonna probe that org anyway; connection made it perfect.
Handshake crossed my mind—but nah.
She flinched if I just neared for dessert; too much.
My little courtesy.
"Take care."
"I should be saying that."
Just words, though. Felt hollow.
"Oh, info swap?"
"Info swap?"
Playing it cool.
"Yeah. Same enemy, loose allies? Share intel."
"Ah, sure. Fine."
She nodded, convinced. I dialed up inner caution and spoke slow.
"Me first. Ability: Smoke Manipulation. Controls my exhaled smoke. Shape, size, hardness—mana infusion sets it."
Same rundown I'd given Mist initially.
Hand over beneficial info: constraint for my power-up met.
Should pop the strengthened-by-constraint window.
...
No window.
Nowhere in sight.
Constraints I'd checked included hostility trigger: activates if we're enemies.
I'd mentally tagged her enemy. Ready for preemptive strike.
No trigger? She's not hostile.
Whew, dodged a mess.
Co-op and hostile? Headache city.
Eased the guard, continued.
"Why first? One reason. Bellias, got a technique I want from you."
"My technique?"
I nodded, tapping my temple.
"Yeah. This Telepathy Magic. How do you pull it off so smoothly on others?"
She'd get it.
[...]
"That's the curiosity."
She shut her eyes, then fed info straight in.
It etched into my brain.
Checked it—exclaimed in shock, staring at her like she was nuts.
"...So."
Invading another's body with your mana? Brutally tough.
Expected high difficulty from her teach.
Freely beaming knowledge? Near impossible.
Nations'd suppress Telepathy Magic spread otherwise. Abuse city.
But this level of madness? No clue.
"You shape mana like a syringe needle, hide it perfectly, shoot a passage into them?"
Mana bends to will.
Syringe needle? Insane alone—plus undetectable stealth?
"Humans can do that...?"
"Uh... It works when I try?"
Thud.
Her casual answer: forehead smack, sigh.
Wanted the how-to, not this nightmare difficulty.
She just tilted her head, clueless to my shock.