First Impressions (3)
“Did it work? Claire, how about it?”
“I’m not sure. What kind of feeling am I supposed to get?”
“I don’t know either. This is my first time trying it on a person—wait, it’s not exactly the first time. Anyway, I’ve never managed to land it properly before.”
“May I ask what exactly your ability is, Sir Theo?”
“It’s a bit hard to explain in detail. It’s similar to mental magic.”
“Mental magic? You mean things like confusion or fear?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Then it probably didn’t work on me. Even if I’m still inexperienced, I am a recognized holy knight after all.”
“Holy knight? You were a holy knight?”
“Yes. Didn’t I mention it?”
“I didn’t hear about it. So what does being a holy knight have to do with anything?”
“Holy knights possess high resistance to magic. Especially against mental magic.”
“There’s something like that? I haven’t seen many holy knights.”
“How many have you even seen? Unless it involves heretics or black mages, you wouldn’t run into them often… Ah, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s not your fault.”
“Still…”
“Anyway, if holy knights have high resistance… Huh? Why is Luna so quiet all of a sudden? She’s not the type to keep her mouth shut this long.”
“She hasn’t said a word for a while now.”
“Luna. Luna? You there? She’s really not reacting at all.”
“Sir Theo.”
“Got any ideas?”
“Yes. Is it possible that Lady Luna was caught by the ability you cast on me?”
“Her instead of you? No way. Even if she was standing right next to you… Wait, maybe? I still don’t fully understand the ability myself, so it’s possible. Claire, step aside for a moment.”
“Understood.”
“Luna, can you hear me? If you can, raise your hand. …You heard that? Did it actually land on her?”
“Sir Theo, this differs from the original plan, but since things have turned out this way, how about using the opportunity to practice your ability on Lady Luna?”
“On Luna?”
“Yes. Thankfully, Lady Luna yielded the chance to assist you and the Goddess to me, but I’m certain she felt some regret in her heart. Now that it’s come to this, let’s return the opportunity to her.”
“I don’t think Luna would see it that way… Well, fine. She deserves to get a taste of it too.”
“Pardon? Did you two fight or something? From what I saw, you seemed to get along well.”
“No, we didn’t fight. She’s just… a bit annoying sometimes. That’s all.”
“I see. As long as your relationship isn’t bad, that’s a relief.”
“So what should I make her do? With the Goddess and Claire here, I can’t order anything too weird. I need to focus on gathering real information about the ability.”
“Did you call for me?”
“No, I didn’t. Luna. From now on, you’ll feel a strong desire to fulfill any request I make. Understand? If you do, raise your right hand. …Good. Oh, Claire, can you return to the same position as before?”
“Understood.”
“Then I’ll release the ability.”
“...Hold on. Release it after I move out of the way.”
“Huh? Oh, right. Got it.”
That Theo guy has zero caution. If Claire is standing right next to me, I could get caught in it too. I quickly stepped away from her side.
“Okay, here I go~ Huh? It’s not working?”
“...You sure it’s not working? Why are you so sloppy about this?”
“It’s my ability, so I get a feel for whether it landed just by trying it out roughly.”
Is that how it works? Maybe. If the person who actually has the ability says so, who am I to argue? My own ability is basically a passive skill, so there’s no point of comparison.
But why isn’t it landing? Oh, maybe…?
“Claire. You weren’t doing anything, right?”
“Pardon? Yes. Just as you instructed, I remained still and received the mental magic.”
Mental magic? What exactly did I tell them Theo’s ability was again? I can’t remember clearly. I must have said something.
“Since you’re a holy knight, of course it wouldn’t work if you just sit there. You have to intentionally lower your resistance for it to take effect.”
Mental magic is basically like trying to grab someone by the hair. The caster is reaching for the head, and the target is dodging. At Theo’s current level, trying to hypnotize a holy knight like Claire is like a kindergartener challenging an adult. No matter how far he stretches, he’d barely reach her chest, and jumping wouldn’t help at all.
But if the adult lowers their head to make it easier, even a kindergartener can grab a fistful of hair. That’s what lowering resistance means.
This was a setting from the game, so it should definitely be possible. There was just one problem.
“Can you lower your resistance? How do you do it?”
“Um… that’s…”
It’s awkward when you ask like that. It’s game knowledge, so I know it’s possible, but I have no idea how to do it. I have no choice but to be honest.
“...I don’t know either. Maybe if you just try hard enough?”
Claire’s eyes slowly closed after hearing my brutally honest answer. Hopefully she doesn’t think I’m pathetic and her favorability drops or anything, right?
She’s the first heroine I spent the most time with in the game, so I have all sorts of internal intimacy built up with Claire. Even if it’s one-sided.
If my favorability has already dropped, that would honestly hurt.
“...I’m sorry. I don’t know either. I’ll practice it later.”
Fortunately it didn’t seem like that was the case. I had simply focused my mind and given it a shot.
While I was secretly patting my chest in relief, Theo spoke up.
“Luna.”
“What?”
“Keeping the ability active is starting to tire me out. Can you get me a cup of water?”
“What? How many times have you even used it to be tired already? Mage or not, can you even attend the academy like this? Want me to train with you?”
“No, training is fine. But you’re not getting me the water?”
“If you want to drink, go get it yourself. The kitchen’s right there.”
The building in our hideout space really has every kind of room imaginable. Bedrooms, kitchen, study, and even a fairly large bath in the basement. The only issue is that all the furniture is old and worn, so we’ll need to buy new stuff. It’s basically housing content.
That means the kitchen currently has neither a dining table nor any utensils. Still, the water should work.
“Hmm… maybe that’s not the right way to say it?”
But Theo didn’t head toward the kitchen. He muttered something strange under his breath and spoke again.
“Sorry. I’m really exhausted. I’m asking nicely, so just one cup.”
He repeated the exact same request. What is this? Is he planning to keep asking until I agree?
It’s just a cup of water. Still… asking twice for something so simple must mean there’s a real reason. Maybe he looks fine but is actually so drained he can’t even stand.
If that’s the case, it would feel wrong to keep refusing.
“Sigh. Can’t be helped.”
I obediently picked up a cup and headed for the kitchen. Like he said, it was only a cup of water. Refusing like we were mortal enemies would be weird too.
The water flowed just fine. Come to think of it, this is a completely isolated space that can’t be seen from the outside, yet the plumbing is connected. That’s pretty amazing. Though if you start thinking about it, there are plenty of strange things here.
“Here. That enough?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Theo took a sip of the water I handed him, then scribbled something quickly in his notebook. I was curious what he was writing, but no matter what, peeking at someone else’s notebook is rude.
What if it’s full of perverted fantasies about hypnotizing girls? Wow. If a girl ever saw a notebook like that, I’d want to die of embarrassment.
Theo, who had been writing diligently, suddenly lifted his head. He looked straight at me.
“Why? Need something else?”
“Not that. Um, can I ask one more favor?”
“You clearly need something. Fine. Let’s hear it.”
“Don’t misunderstand. As a favor… let me touch your breasts.”
- THUD!
“Ow!”
“Ah. Sorry. My foot moved on its own. But honestly, isn’t this your own fault? If you say something like that, of course you’re getting kicked.”
“Th-that’s… true… ugh.”
This was genuine pain. Not acting. Since I’d kicked without thinking, there was zero power control. It must hurt. If it ends with just pain, I should probably praise him for having such a sturdy body.
Theo clutched his leg and groaned, but his hand still held the pen as he scribbled something else in the notebook.
At this point I’m genuinely curious what he’s writing. Would it be okay to secretly take a glance?
“No.”
“Hey, I haven’t even said anything yet?”
“Then do something about those rabbit ears first.”
“Eek!”
Without me realizing, my rabbit ears had perked up and swiveled toward Theo. The way they twitched, determined not to miss even the smallest sound, clearly expressed intense curiosity to anyone watching.
I quickly grabbed my ears and pulled them down. Usually this sort of thing is done with tails by cat or dog beastmen characters.
When I smiled bashfully out of embarrassment, Theo didn’t press the issue any further. After all, I technically hadn’t done anything yet.
- Ding… Ding…
From far away, the clock tower announced that today’s schedule had come to an end.
(Cast security magic—someone might see this)
1. The activation point of the ability is both eyes. Making eye contact allows use of the ability.
*Correction 1. It seems eye contact is not strictly necessary.
*Addition 1. It may not be limited to one target at a time. Further testing required.
2. It is different from mental magic. It consumes a different form of energy rather than mana.
*Addition 1. The fact that it can be blocked by magic resistance is similar to mental magic.
3. Commands issued while the ability is active continue to influence the target even after the ability is released.
*Addition 1. Setting a specific keyword appears to improve effectiveness.
*Addition 2. The duration of the effect is currently under experimentation.
4. Being caught by the ability and obeying the command are separate matters.
*Addition 1. Commands that provoke excessive rejection immediately cancel the ability.
*Addition 2. As the ability grows, additional experiments are needed to determine whether similar levels of rejection will still result in obedience.