Ia Ris Lets Loose 1
“What the hell is that 'ahaha'? You're talking bullshit.”
“Pardon?”
It was profanity that the Ia Ris I'd known up until now would never have uttered to me. Stunned by the ear-splitting curse, I blinked in confusion and asked her to repeat it. She flashed me a brilliant smile and obliged.
“What the hell is that 'ahaha'? You're talking bullshit. That's what I said, Paster. Did you hear me properly this time? If not, I'll say it again. I said you're talking bullshit right now.”
“I-Ia Ris? What's gotten into you all of a sudden... You're scaring me. C-come on, this is a joke, right...!”
I was convinced I'd misheard and tried to shake it off, but the shocking reality hit back twice as hard. To me, Ia Ris was kind, upright, gentle—a perfectly normal person. Accepting this situation was impossible, so I forced an awkward laugh, hoping to shift the mood.
“No joke. I mean it.”
“Ah... A-ah.”
But the atmosphere didn't bend to my will. If anything, it grew icier as she dropped the polite speech. The sudden gravity made me bow my head in apology.
“If I've upset you, I'm truly sorry. I should've read the room instead of cracking dumb jokes and laughing while you're still mad. Of course you'd be angry.”
In this moment, I was the guilty one. We both knew it, so the apology felt natural. But even as I bowed low, her expression stayed frozen in that radiant smile.
When Ia Ris got truly furious and lost her reason, she was the type to smile silently. Despite her cheerful facade, I was trembling because I instinctively sensed the rage she hadn't fully contained.
Ia Ris beamed at me and posed a question.
“Paster, do you even know what you did wrong? Is that why you're apologizing?”
“Uh? Well... Because I tried to take advantage of your kindness, and that hurt you... Right?”
“See? That's exactly why I can't not be mad at you. You don't get it at all. What you did wrong, why I'm this pissed—none of it.”
“Pardon?”
“And that 'pardon?' every time? It grates on me, honestly. Sure, it's cute and all. But it's the annoying kind of cute.”
“???”
Nothing coming out of Ia Ris's mouth made a lick of sense to me. All I could grasp was that she was angry for reasons beyond what I'd imagined.
So what was it?
The answer came straight from her, as kind as ever.
“You discriminate against people. That's why I'm this mad right now.”
“Discriminate...?”
“Yeah, discriminate. Do you have any idea how shitty and humiliating that feels?”
“...I'm sorry.”
“And ignoring what people say? That's almost as infuriating. Your total lack of tact... No, wait. If you did have tact there, you'd probably be tangled up with some other bitch by now. Guess it's a necessary evil.”
“Pardon? Oh, y-yeah.”
The longer she talked, the more it should've clicked, but I only grew more lost. Of course I knew being discriminated against sucked. Back when Ska dragged me to the Academy against my will, I'd experienced firsthand how soul-crushing it was.
That's why I despised discrimination. I could swear on the heavens I'd never judged anyone's worth by their abilities alone.
And if anything, I'd been extra kind to Ia Ris compared to others. She was the one person I could truly trust. I watched my words and actions around her more carefully than anyone, always thinking, Will this upset Ia Ris?
Hell, aside from that one test run at the start, I'd never even used the hypnosis app on her. The reason she was my first guinea pig was because I trusted her not to kill me—I figured she'd laugh it off as a prank.
After that, I spammed the app on every other S-rank, but not her. Because she was a good person.
I minded my language, kept my behavior in check, used the app just once—and only for harmless stuff like “Raise your arm. Lower it. Whoa, it actually works? Awesome.”
So what the hell was the problem?
Selective hearing... Yeah, that developed from all the vicious gossip at the Academy. If I hadn't tuned it out, I'd have gone insane. My ears evolved into near-deafness for self-preservation.
Lack of tact? Nah, I'm sharp as hell. That's how I've survived this long.
My “terrible” social awareness was actually hyper-evolved for survival. During Academy PE, blind (but deliberate) attacks flew at me constantly, so I honed my ability to detect killing intent. I could read negative emotions like a mind reader—but as a tradeoff, everything else tanked.
Plus, Ska Rate had gaslit me relentlessly to make me dependent, crushing my self-esteem. Even now, as Liar's Trap's second-team scout leader, I couldn't fathom anyone actually liking me.
So despite racking my brain, I still had no clue why Ia Ris was so furious.
“Um, Ia Ris, I'm really sorry... Everything I've said so far is sincere, and I'm ready to do whatever it takes to make you feel better. So... could you tell me exactly what I did wrong?”
“I-I've explained this much, and you still don't get what I want?”
“Y-yeah... Sorry I'm so dense.”
Only Ska Rate knew the full story behind my thick-headedness. And she sure as hell wouldn't share, so to Ia Ris, I just seemed frustrating.
I could kinda see why Ska and Lapis treated me so roughly now... In romance, I was hopelessly oblivious. Like I couldn't even conceive of being loved.
But even after Ska's torment, I'd picked up on her feelings—so my love radar wasn't totally dead. Give me the right spark, and I'd notice.
Ia Ris didn't know Ska had aggressively confessed (in her fake-hypnosis way), threatening to fight if I didn't accept. So she foolishly banked on my romantic intuition.
You did all sorts of kinky shit to the other S-ranks but tiptoe around me? Fine, give me the same white-spark creampie hell you unleashed on Ska—make me squirt endlessly, begging through tears.
Yeah, no way I'd say that outright. I could picture Paster's face draining of color.
What I craved was mutual possession—him owning me, me owning him. No way to spit that raw truth without filters.
So... this was my only option.
Unable to confess verbally, she settled on a method she'd hesitated over—it felt a bit much, even to her.
It'd stop him from shacking up at Ska's, give her the right to fix his place (plus his emotional reaction as a bonus), and justify demanding everything he'd done to Ska.
But the downside was glaring. Hearing she was the one he trusted most made her waver even harder.
Using this would shatter the foundation of her kindness—the trust he'd built on those days.
Then... he wouldn't trust me anymore. Wouldn't rely on me.
Furious at the betrayal, he'd hypnosis-app me like the others—force all sorts of depraved acts...
...Sounds fucking perfect?
Losing his trust for hypnosis? Jackpot.
Her internal scales tipped hard. Trust and rational affection might overlap, but they were different beasts. For a lust-starved Ia Ris, sadistic play trumped blind faith any day.
“You wanted to know, right, Paster? Why I'm so mad.”
“Y-yeah.”
“Fine. I'll tell you. So get ready to dodge.”
“Pardon?”
In the end, she betrayed his trust, choosing the sexual payback from his rage.
White mana enveloped her body—her exclusive buff, White Garb, cranking her physical stats to the extreme.
“Wh-what? Ia Ris? Wh-what are you—?!”
Seeing her don the buff she only used against monsters filled me with dread. My flawless bad-luck instinct screamed: Stop her now, or it's irreversible.
I lunged to intervene, but no way could I match an S-rank's punch.
KABOOOOOM!!!!!
Her right fist flashed white, and the penthouse ceiling rocketed into the sky.
Golden sunset flooded the roofless ruin that was no longer a house.
“Ah... A-ah...”
In the wreckage, Ia Ris grinned brightly at my dazed face and spoke.
“No need to bill Ska Rate for repairs now, right? Everyone can see I wrecked your place.”