Suggestion: Hypnosis (3)
'Grrraaaghhh…!'
"S-Shadow Ball…!"
"Stay calm, Cha Eunju! Here it comes!"
Lunch had come and gone, and our training session was running a little behind schedule. Following up on yesterday's drills, Cha Eunju and I were back at the Training Grounds again today, running mock battles against holographic monsters.
Unlike the weak goblins of yesterday, today was the day we faced something a little stronger. The natural next step after goblins was orcs—common knowledge, really—so it went without saying that the monster Cha Eunju and I had chosen to take on today was the orc.
Each one was a formidable individual in its own right, so we'd started with a single orc, moved up to two, and were now facing three. Unlike goblins, they couldn't be brought down with a single Shadow Ball, which meant killing each one inevitably took time.
That said, Cha Eunju's raw potential was genuinely top-tier even among mages. With the right buffs and tactical commands, it was only natural that her abilities would shine.
"Cha Eunju, orc hide is tough—you need to attack with something sharper!"
"S-something sharper…?"
"Do you have anything more piercing than Shadow Ball?"
"H-hold on a second…. S-something more piercing than Shadow Ball…."
I guided her toward experimenting with new attacks by prompting her to recall the spells Cha Eunju had used in the original story. The training had started as a means of conditioning her, sure, but there was nothing wrong with her combat power climbing along the way.
"D-Dark Spear…!!"
Thwiiip!
'Grraaaah…!!'
As if inspired by my instruction to attack with something sharper, she shaped her shadows into a keen lance and drove it clean through the orc's heart. With the third orc down, roughly an hour and a half had slipped by since she and I had begun training.
"Hah… hah… haaa…."
"Good work, Eunju."
"A-ah, yeah…. Y-you worked harder than I did, Seonho…."
"I just cast one buff and haven't done anything since. It's because your magic is good, Cha Eunju, that we could take down three orcs like that."
"N-no way…. I-it's your buffs, Seonho. I couldn't have done this much without them. A-and your tactics were really helpful too…."
Yes. Excellent. This kind of creeping dependence on me was a very good sign. The larger the share of her power she relied on me to unlock, the smaller the odds that she'd ever refuse me or run away—no matter what I did.
Swooosh, suuwoosh.
"Nnh… mmh."
With that thought in mind, I stroked her head, dispelling the suggestion laid over her, then mentioned how much time remained and suggested we start wrapping things up.
"Let's stop here for today. I lost track of time in all the chaos, but we've already been at it an hour and a half."
"…A-are we doing this again tomorrow?"
"As long as you're not late, Cha Eunju."
"I-I'm sorry…. I-I definitely won't be late tomorrow, I p-promise…."
"I'm kidding, kidding. No need to deflate like that—don't worry about it."
Actually, I had mentioned it precisely to make her feel guilty. If she felt sorry toward me right before going under, then later—no matter what strange things I did to her—she wouldn't think to question them.
Even if I kissed her cheek or forehead out of nowhere, even if I groped her ass or her chest, she wouldn't be able to resist, and even after the 'hypnosis' ended, guilt would keep her from thinking of protesting.
What would remain in her head, then, would be nothing but positive feelings: 'Well, I was enjoying it anyway.' Manipulating this well was, in my view, the very core of the ideal Cha Eunju conditioning.
"Hey, Cha Eunju."
"Y-yeah…."
"Would you like to go under the 'hypnosis' again today?"
"Huh?! H-hypnosis?! Y-you mean that thing from yesterday?!"
"Yeah, that's the one. I figure if I want to sort out your psychological issues, I'll need to check your state under hypnosis a few more times."
"…I-I see. O-okay, just a second…."
When I said I'd hypnotize her again today, Cha Eunju wavered, an expression of genuine deliberation on her face.
She probably understood as well as anyone that refusing out of nowhere today—after having already consented once—would come across as strange. It would be tantamount to admitting, indirectly, that my hypnosis hadn't worked properly last time, or that she could still remember what happened while she was under.
And yet she couldn't quite relax and agree either, given what she'd endured last time. Even Cha Eunju would have found it a bit difficult to quietly accept being hugged and confessed to outright while standing there motionless.
…Of course, regardless of what her heart was telling her, refusing my proposal wasn't really an option on the table.
"Do you… not want to?"
"…N-no! I-I'm fine with it! I-it's for my sake, Seonho, so, yeah…."
"If you don't want to, you don't have to force yourself."
"Th-that's not it! L-let's just start already! Q-quickly, before I change my mind…."
Had yesterday's hypnosis, all things considered, actually pleased her? Or was she just humoring me out of the guilt she carried toward me today?
Either way, she showed no sign of resistance as I put her under, so just as yesterday, I resumed the conditioning.
Suggestion: Hypnosis
Target: Cha Eunju
…Today, conveniently, I had a perfectly good pretext. Which meant I could push that half-measured progress all the way.
This was the second hypnosis Lee Seonho had placed her under.
Nervousness was unavoidable. All the more so when she remembered what had been done to her the last time she'd gone under.
And yet she hadn't refused his hypnosis, and the reason was nothing more than her trust in Lee Seonho. Because she believed he wouldn't do anything truly terrible to her, she had agreed willingly.
'If he really does try something weird… I can always run away.'
She was only pretending to be hypnotized, after all. She wasn't actually under.
Objectively speaking, she was stronger than him—a boy with nothing but a mental-type buff ability. In other words, the moment he tried anything suspicious, she could use her power and break free whenever she pleased.
That reassurance lay at the bottom of it all, and it was why, like yesterday, Cha Eunju had accepted the hypnosis today as well.
…Besides, the sin she'd committed against him today was far too great for her to refuse his request.
'I made him wait two whole hours without a single message, and he didn't get angry at all….'
She had made him buy her lunch as "compensation," but there was no way that settled things. In the first place, he'd then gone and paid the Training Grounds usage fee himself, and she'd felt indebted all over again.
He'd said something about how since she'd been the one fed, it was only right she pay—but by that logic, her own compensation for being late might as well never have happened.
Because Seonho is just too nice.
She didn't want to keep becoming the kind of person who exploited his kindness like this, over and over.
At the very least, she wanted to soothe his feelings in a way that came from her. And one way of doing that was, like now, playing along and pretending to fall under his hypnosis.
"You're hypnotized, right, Eunju?"
"A-ah, yeah…. I'm hypnotized…."
"Good. Then stay still from now on."
It being her second time, the acting itself wasn't difficult. Simply knowing what she was supposed to do made the whole thing feel lighter on her heart.
And the instant she said the words, Lee Seonho—just like yesterday—wrapped his arms around her body.
—Sqeeeeze.
"Nnh—hah…."
A hug tight enough to steal her breath. Maybe it was just her imagination, but somehow it felt like he was pulling her in even harder than yesterday.
"Eunju…."
"……"
"I really thought you'd started to hate me…. You didn't show up for two whole hours without a word, and I just…."
"……"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you…."
…The guilt came flooding in.
A long stretch of time that could hardly be called trivial. How blackened with worry must his heart have been, waiting for her in silence through those two hours?
Why had she overslept, of all days? Why had she gone and wounded Seonho's feelings?
Cursing her own foolish behavior, Cha Eunju vowed to herself never to make the same mistake again.
"You haven't started hating me, have you, Cha Eunju?"
"……"
"Answer me honestly. Have you started hating me?"
"…I don't, hate you."
"Then do you like me?"
"……"
"Cha Eunju…?"
"I… like you, I guess…."
…Liking someone as a friend still counts as liking them.
Truthfully, Lee Seonho was the first real friend she'd ever made, so she couldn't be sure—but if it wasn't hate, then it had to be like, right?
Lee Seonho, anxious at the thought that he might lose her, had crushed her tightly against him, and Cha Eunju tried her utmost to accept his embrace—firmer than yesterday's—with as little feeling as possible.
—Sqeeeeze.
"N-nnhgm?!"
…Right up until the moment his hand, which at some point had slipped silently down to the small of her back, seized one of her buttocks in a firm grasp.
'W-wha—?! H-he can't—this is going too far?!'
When—when exactly? When had Seonho's hand come down this far?
This definitely wasn't okay, right? She should resist, shouldn't she? No matter how she looked at it, she and Seonho weren't at the stage where they'd be doing… lewd things… yet… probably.
"Hah, Eunju…. If I could just keep holding you like this, I really think I'd be happy forever…."
"……"
It was… an accident, right?
Seonho, calling her name in a daze like this, clinging to her body—there was no way he'd touched her butt on purpose… was there?
Probably not. Seonho was innocent and kind. Even with a hypnotized girl in his arms, he wouldn't do anything cruel or indecent.
It was, admittedly, a bit of a flustering kind of physical contact to write off as a mere mistake.
But still, this much—this much she could let slide, as long as she stayed quiet about it.
'I-it's not like it feels bad or anything…. It's a little strange, but….'
Her butt had been touched by a member of the opposite sex, yes, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. If anything, it left her with the faintest flicker of a thought that she wouldn't mind being touched a little more.
But by the time that thought began to form, Lee Seonho was already releasing her from his crushing embrace—and with it, that big hand of his naturally slipped away from her rear.
'Ah……'
…He could have touched a little more, honestly.
She couldn't explain why, but a small pang of disappointment rose in her chest.
And somehow, this embrace had felt like it ended sooner than yesterday's.
'Is that all he's going to do today…?'
She'd expected him to hold her at least another ten minutes. Could it be that his feelings for her had cooled, even slightly, in a single day?
Maybe her lateness today had chipped away at his affection. Yes—outwardly he'd acted like nothing was wrong, but inwardly he must have felt more than a little disappointed in her.
If his feelings had faded and he started treating her like a stranger the moment the practical exam was over… then perhaps she was about to lose the first friend she'd ever managed to make at the Academy.
A fear so acute it felt like her heart might stop coiled its way through Cha Eunju's mind.
"Cha Eunju."
"……Yes."
"You remember being late today, don't you?"
"…………Yes."
…So he was angry after all.
Of course he was. Seonho was human too—there was no way he wouldn't be. If our positions were reversed, I'd have been furious without a doubt.
Pretending to be hypnotized hadn't been enough to smooth it over. But then… what on earth would be enough?
"You said it earlier, remember? Since you were late, you'd do anything I asked—anything within your power."
"……Yes."
"That. If I'd made some strange request, how far would you have gone?"
"……"
"If it's hard to say, you can show me with your body. How far you would have let me go."
If it meant soothing Seonho's anger… how far could she really have gone?
Lewd things… were obviously out of the question, but l-light physical contact, maybe… probably that much….
A-and besides, all boys liked breasts. Back in middle school and high school too, they'd all seemed to stare at hers with that weird look in their eyes….
And it wasn't just any boy—it was Seonho. He might even be her fated person.
…Taking all of that into consideration, surely up to this much fell within acceptable bounds…?
—Suuwoosh.
Carefully, Cha Eunju extended both hands and took hold of Lee Seonho's right arm.
The place her hand returned it to was in front of her own body. And then—
—Pat.
"Up to… here…."
In a voice brimming over with embarrassment, Cha Eunju placed Lee Seonho's hand upon her left breast.