Noble Obligations
Buying the Dip (4)
Calling out the count’s daughter for a meeting wasn’t difficult. In fact, she suggested it first. Though her reason for meeting differed from ours.
A luxurious teahouse just outside the academy. The kind of refined establishment that would have become a local tourist spot even in the modern world if it had the atmosphere of a nice café. We were invited to a place that looked perfectly ordinary from the outside—an “only those in the know” sort of spot. Nobles spent money on a completely different scale from commoners, so if you were targeting noble clientele, keeping the place unknown to commoners was a strategy in itself.
“Welcome. Two guests? May I have the name on the reservation?”
Yet the moment we stepped inside, a neatly dressed attendant bowed with impeccable courtesy, nothing like the plain exterior suggested. When we gave the count’s daughter’s name, he bowed again and silently led the way. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but every little gesture felt… polished.
As we walked, a pleasant fragrance reached us. It didn’t seem to be coming from the tea itself. Maybe they were burning incense somewhere. The curtains were spotless, the ceiling free of cobwebs—signs of meticulous upkeep everywhere.
“A place with this kind of atmosphere isn’t bad. Theo, should we decorate our hideout like this too?”
“…I don’t know.”
Theo’s reaction was lukewarm at best. He even frowned slightly, as if something about it bothered him deeply. Did he have some unpleasant memory tied to teahouses? Nothing like that came to mind from the original story. Well, the conversation we were about to have with the person we were meeting wasn’t exactly pleasant, so maybe he was just tense. Everyone gets nervous sometimes. I brushed it off and moved on.
We passed through a short corridor. The attendant stopped in front of a door—an even more secluded room within the already private teahouse.
“She is waiting inside.”
The attendant bowed once more and left without another word, clearly uninterested in learning who we were meeting. Not that it mattered much, since he already knew the name on the reservation.
— Clink…
When we entered the room, we saw the count’s daughter sipping tea. The elegant way she lifted the cup was the very picture of nobility—both in the best and worst sense of the word.
She slowly set the cup down and spoke first.
“Thank you for making time today. The reason I invited you is simply to express my gratitude.”
“Gratitude? We’ve already received plenty of thanks.”
Theo’s tone was unusually curt. Was it just my imagination? Something definitely felt off.
The count’s daughter quietly shook her head.
“That was my personal thanks. Even so, as the daughter of a count, I have a duty as a noble to offer formal gratitude.”
“A noble’s duty, huh.”
“Yes. I would have preferred to invite you to our estate, but…”
“We asked you to keep it secret.”
“Exactly. So I apologize for having to do this in such a secretive manner.”
Hmm. Looks like the hypnosis from before was still working properly. We were the ones who told her to keep it secret, yet she was the one apologizing for it.
The count’s daughter rose from her seat and bowed. Then she opened the bag she had placed beside her.
“Thank you for saving us. And this is a token of my appreciation. It feels inadequate as payment for our lives, but…”
Inside the bag lay a wand about the length of an elbow and a pair of boots polished to a glossy shine with oil.
“I asked Faye what you might like and chose accordingly. If these don’t suit you, I can provide cash instead. Please speak freely.”
“……”
Theo and I exchanged glances. The boots were clearly expensive and high-quality at a glance. I couldn’t appraise the wand, but it was obviously a luxury item as well. Still, what we wanted from her was something far more valuable than these gifts.
We closed the bag and returned it to her.
“Luna. Come behind me.”
I obediently followed Theo’s words. He was probably planning to use hypnosis. As long as she didn’t make eye contact, it would be fine, so standing behind him should keep me safe.
“This is assuming Faye would be happy about it.”
“Yes.”
And so… the “persuasion” began.
The two points we pushed were simple. First, Faye, who enjoyed fighting strong enemies, would have more fun and be better off staying with us. Second, relying on just Faye wouldn’t help the count’s daughter’s party grow. Letting her go would be better for them as well.
…Yeah. Honestly, it wasn’t a very convincing argument. Asking them to hand over their party’s main fighter was so weak it was almost laughable. But logic wasn’t really the point here. The hypnosis was the main thing. The logic only needed to serve as a catalyst.
Even so, I was a little dissatisfied. If it was hypnosis, couldn’t we just get it over with quickly? This was so tedious.
And the result of that “persuasion” was…
“I’m sorry. Even if it’s you, Theo, I can’t agree to that. Let’s pretend this conversation never happened.”
We were rejected.
“Why?”
Did the hypnosis fail?
“I understand what you’re saying. It would probably be better for us and for Faye.”
Ah. So she did understand? The hypnosis worked, then.
“But as her friend, I might be able to let Faye go. As the count’s daughter, however, I cannot. Who would follow a noble who so easily hands over her most capable subordinate?”
“…‘Subordinate’? Faye?”
“Of course Faye is an equal companion and friend. But would others see it that way? Sometimes, even if something isn’t true, you have to consider how it looks.”
“Noble. Right. Because you’re a noble.”
Theo muttered quietly. Listening to the count’s daughter, I finally understood where the problem lay.
Theo’s hypnosis could be resisted if the target felt extreme revulsion. For example, if he tried to hypnotize me into having sex with him, it definitely wouldn’t work. That was just… well, unthinkable. But if he asked for something milder, like touching my thigh or chest… as disgusting as the thought was, it would probably succeed.
In other words, the hypnosis had resolved everything else, but it couldn’t overcome the final hurdle: “noble pride.” The fact that the count’s daughter was a mage probably played a role too. Mages had higher magic resistance than ordinary people, even if not as much as a tank-class paladin. It was the opposite of how I, with low magic power, was weak to mental magic. Still, the root cause was that noble pride.
…How annoying. Nobles really were.
The situation had become so troublesome that even someone as easygoing as me was starting to feel irritated. Should I just force it?
“Luna. Let’s step out for a moment.”
Just as I was about to take a step forward, Theo grabbed me and pulled me back. He must have something in mind. Swallowing down the irritation that had been about to spill over, I followed him out of the room.
The count’s daughter simply lifted her teacup with a calm expression, saying we could continue the conversation later.
……
“Seriously, what the hell. Is that stupid pride really that important? No, why does it even become a pride issue in the first place?”
I stomped my feet. If I didn’t do at least this much, I felt like I’d start yelling—or maybe kicking.
Theo seemed deep in thought, resting his chin on his hand.
“So. Theo. You must’ve thought of something, which is why you called me out, right?”
“Yeah. About that…”
Theo lowered his hand and looked straight at me.
“Luna, you go back first.”
“Go back? Why?”
“I want to try talking my way. So… sorry, but could you head back first? Please.”
“Huh? Uh, um… As long as things work out somehow, I don’t really mind, but…”
“Thanks. Then I’ll see you later.”
Before I could say anything else, Theo opened the door and went back inside. Maybe because it was a high-end teahouse, the soundproofing was excellent—I couldn’t hear a thing from within.
What the heck, all of a sudden. Still… if he said he’d handle it, it should be fine. I scratched the back of my head and headed back first.
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Theo’s thoughts were as follows.
If the hypnosis wasn’t working properly because its effect was too weak, then he just needed to make it stronger.
There were two ways to strengthen hypnosis. Either build up the target’s resistance so they wouldn’t feel revulsion, or make the user—Theo—stronger.
Building up resistance was difficult to apply right now. Shaking a noble’s values that had been ingrained for over twenty years would require just as much time and effort. It wasn’t feasible at the moment.
The other method—Theo becoming stronger—was possible. Of course, it wasn’t realistic for his abilities to grow right this second. This wasn’t a dungeon, and a few words in conversation wouldn’t make him stronger. But “strong” was a relative concept. As long as Theo was stronger than the count’s daughter at the exact moment he cast the hypnosis, that would be enough.
And Theo had recently learned an excellent method to drain an opponent’s stamina and mental strength. It was neither violent nor brutal—just a very peaceful method. And on top of that, it felt good.
“Oh my. What about Miss Luna? Does she have urgent business?”
Theo ignored the count’s daughter’s words and made his demand.
“In return, I’ll use your body.”