Chapter 50. Goodbye, Dave.
Chapter 50. Goodbye, Dave.
'Right. Your power isn't absolute either, is it, Dave.'
The power he wielded was an ability awakened through the Witch's Blood.
Its origin lay in the demonic ability to bind a human who had accepted that blood. But at the end of the day, a human could not freely accept the full power of the demonic race.
That was something Ymir, who had refined the Witch's Blood, understood better than anyone.
When refining the drug, the bulk of the work had been removing elements unnecessary for a human body—which meant strengthening individuality while simultaneously weakening efficacy.
'An ability that can wipe the consciousness of a target bearing no hostility—all it really does is give him a little more reach, a little broader control over what he can adjust.'
In the end, he could only act like an absolute ruler within the sphere of his own power's influence.
He could never ignore the gaze of those outside it, which meant any traces left during hypnosis had to be erased once the hypnosis was broken.
Injuries from excessive violence, physical changes...
Especially something like pregnancy—a condition that brought months of physical change and restriction—would be fatal to his operations.
'Even setting that aside, a human joining the Demon King's army was never normal to begin with.'
Surely the path that had led him there was anything but normal as well.
He had probably lost his mother to the witch hunts, been left all alone, drifting from place to place and enduring every kind of hardship.
The acting skills he was known for, the way he toyed with people's hearts—he must have honed it all in the process, staking his life on every single moment.
Knowing that if even a sliver of his identity was exposed, it would all be over.
'...Dave.'
I understand.
I can understand all too well.
'So your beginning was just like mine.'
A coward who was simply terrified of the world and fled from its gaze.
Having lived through her own experience of running from the world's eyes, how could she not comprehend this arrogant man who merely happened to be born with a special power?
"Let go right now! Get off me, now!!"
-Crrk, crack!
For the first time, that man showed rage.
No—beyond rage. He thrashed as though gripped by terror, repeating his commands at her over and over.
Naturally, with her mind dominated, she could not defy those commands—but unlocking interlocked fingers requires a certain amount of effort even with a clear head.
-Crrk, crack!
Trying to force them apart produced the sound of joints popping and grinding, and yet Ymir did not stop the motion of her hips.
After all, nowhere in the current command had he told her to stop the sexual act.
"A-aagh!!!"
Having failed to notice even that single flaw, he finally wrenched her hands away by force and flung her body brutally onto the bed.
The moment the climax he had barely held back was belatedly released... the fluid spilled not onto her body, but onto the bedsheets above.
"...What a waste. I was rather confident in my body."
With just a little more skill, she could have wrung him out properly.
The moment she realized her own sexual ineptitude had squandered a one-time opportunity, he began glaring at her with vicious contempt.
"You....... Are you in your right mind?"
Was his ragged breathing born of mere exhaustion?
No, the man had felt genuine terror. Terror toward a woman who—even if he hadn't predicted it—had been about to commit an act no fellow human could ever comprehend.
"In my right mind? What exactly do you mean by that?"
But Ymir was composed.
"What do I......."
"That you resolved to carry the child of a man who treated you like a dog—all for the sake of some petty revenge? Or that you tried to reach for an act beyond the pale, lost in pleasure and denial of reality?"
The composure drawn at the corner of her lips...
...showed that even if she had resigned herself, she had never once let go of the reins of reason.
"Dave, I'm serious."
With that expression, Ymir spoke.
"What I just did—I did it entirely of my own will. Because I was serious about wanting to accept your seed into my body......."
"You're spouting insanity!!"
Dave denied the statement outright.
But the way he hesitated to rush at her told Ymir that he had recognized, plainly, the fear she had cultivated within him—had seen it bloom.
"Cut the nonsense. You expect me to believe that? What kind of deranged mind makes you want to conceive the child of a man who keeps you as a slave......."
"Yes. Because I resent you."
She answered him honestly.
Because she hated the man who had ruined what should have been a beautiful first experience in this manner, who had hidden his true heart while trampling on her sincerity—so deeply did she hate him.
That was why she had resolutely chosen to do the one thing he dreaded most.
Even if she knew regret over carrying the child of her enemy might flood in afterward.......
"And just as much as that... because I didn't want to forget the first experience you gave me."
That regret—
—she believed she could neutralize it with the affection for him that still had not faded.
Even if it had been a lie, she could not forget the man who had furnished her with such an intense first memory.
That was why she had been prepared to go so far as to carve his mark into her body.
"......What arrogant drivel."
He would know that it was sincere.
He had demanded truth from her, and she could not defy that command.
Neither love nor hatred.
Neither emotion was clear-cut—which was exactly why they could coexist and produce this result. He would have no choice but to accept it.
"If you're a slave, act like one....... Suppress your own feelings and just do as you're told......!!"
"You're right. I'm your slave. A foolish woman who got tricked by a worthless thug and handed over her chastity, her human rights along with it."
Yet even in the face of his denial, she spoke with boldness.
"So I can do anything. This body, this heart—they're all yours."
Had he not already accepted it?
The moment he deceived her and placed her under hypnosis, she was already defeated.
Therefore, this body, this heart—all of it was his possession. And since even her desperate counterattack had failed, she would not be surprised to receive treatment even more severe than before.
"Now then, Dave. Tell me anything. I'll do whatever you order."
But could he?
Would a man who had merely been riding high, believing himself invincible...
...would a man so terrified of having his identity exposed, so desperate to stay hidden at all times—would he have the nerve to keep a woman beside him who had uncovered what he overlooked and struck where he least expected it?
"......Right now."
Yes. She had only one chance.
Having failed that, no future existed for her.
"Right now, vanish from my sight."
A decision forced out at the end of a long silence.
Along with it, he snapped his fingers, and the resonance spreading from that motion seeped into her body, beginning to crush her consciousness.
The moment she felt her mind gradually turning blank—
'...Haha, so this is how it ends.'
This was different from when it was simply blanketed by pleasure.
It felt like sinking below the surface of water, or being buried beneath countless grains of sand, descending to some place deep underground......
'How utterly empty.'
Ymir could sense it intuitively.
The memories of this moment would never be retrieved again.
Only he could bring back memories from within hypnosis—and that man, that coward, would never spare another glance at the woman who had made a fool of him.
"Dave......."
Love, and hatred.
In that moment, those emotions—which had driven her to fixate so completely on the man before her—evaporated with pathetic triviality.
"Could you at least... hear a last word from me?"
But because they had been so intense, now that she faced the final moment, she felt a surge of lingering attachment.
Whether a memory was pleasant or painful, the past never returns. She now knew that the first of anything must be assigned an irreplaceable value.
Even if the memories were to be lost afterward, it would be impossible to reproduce in her life the sheer intensity of something experienced bodily for the first time.
"What... words......."
"Thank you, Dave."
Because he had taught her that, she felt gratitude toward the man she would never stop hating.
"For teaching me the value of a first."
The affection she had felt, born of false goodwill.
The sense of betrayal she had felt, born from genuine desire.
"For making me realize that I, too... am someone who can unite with another and dream of a future."
All of that, more than the void of feeling nothing at all...
When she had felt joy and pain, only then had she realized she was a human being capable of loving another. She poured out that true feeling toward him.
"......Goodbye."
Hoping that truth would engrave itself upon his heart.
"Goodbye, Dave."
Leaving only those parting words, she quietly closed her eyes.
Setting foot upon a journey into the abyss from which she would never return.......
***
-Thud.
The moment the hypnosis lifted and she lost consciousness.
Only then did I withdraw the finger I had raised toward her and finally let my halted breath find release.
She lay collapsed on the bed, unconscious, the hypnosis released.
But even when she woke again, she would not remember this moment.
Because it was better to simply eliminate any existence I couldn't freely control, even if she knew my identity.
Yes. And so I would be the only one who remembered this moment.
The only one who would remember the true face of this madwoman who had sincerely thanked me.
"......Thank, me?"
The moment I recalled her face, nausea surged up.
"Don't spout that nonsense. I... you know exactly what I did to you, and you're still spewing that crap......!"
I had mocked her heart, stolen her chastity, and tried to crush and destroy even her dignity.
I hadn't even intended to treat her as a toy to be used and tossed aside—I'd planned to turn her into a puppet kept at my side for life.
Yet she had poured out a sincerity strong enough to suppress even her hatred for me.......
'I love you, Dave.'
It was absurd.
There had only been one person in this world who had truly spoken such words to me.
And that person no longer existed.
All that remained was one worthless wretch who, from that day forward, had been frantic merely to look after his own hide.
"Bull......."
Falling in love, with her sense of self intact, after seeing his true nature—there was no way that could be real.
"Bull, bullshit......."
The words desperately trying to deny that thought cut off.
From my bitten lip, a trickle of blood began to seep.
"...The ravings of a madwoman."
Right. There was no need to dwell on it.
Wasn't this already a finished story?
I could not drag that woman out into the open again.
To thoroughly prevent something like this from ever happening again, I would need to be extremely cautious about ever restoring her memories.
Trying to go any further than this was reckless arrogance, a drunkard's stupor.
So I should bury the events of now in the past and, from here on, avoid getting intoxicated by my own power to prevent such things from occurring.
If anything, I should consider myself fortunate that it ended this cleanly despite such a blunder.
"......Still. I should acknowledge what needs acknowledging."
When I realized that the strong-willed woman who had taught me the weight of my own error was the very person lying before me...
I felt the emotions I had held toward her all this time beginning to fade, one by one.
Fear, or perhaps something else beyond it....
Whatever it was, it was an emotion I would never have to face again.
"It's my loss. Miss Grand Archmage."
Believing it had to be that way, I gently stroked the hair of the woman lying still as death and whispered into her ear.
"......Goodbye."
Perhaps someone I had cherished once had suffered a terrible fate—right before my eyes.
I would remember the existence of a woman who bore the same wounds as I did.
"Goodbye, Ymir."
To perform the funeral rites for perhaps the only one in this world...
...who could ever truly understand me.