Sexual Harassment Turnabout Trial (3)
Sexual Harassment Turnabout Trial (3)
The trial began with Alice's surprise attack.
Defendant: Aika Ninomiya.
Charge: Sexual harassment.
Prosecutor: Alice Littenwood.
"Yujin, listen carefully. That sow has been doing perverted things to you this entire time while hiding behind the excuse that you are her disciple!!"
—Squeeze.
"You see them, right? Those perverted clothes. She spread them across the living room and changed there! She was planning to let you see and pretend it was an accident! She's an exhibitionist!!"
Alice's furious voice rang sharply through the room.
Unable to contain her anger, she clutched Yujin's arm tightly as well.
And faced with that shocking accusation, Yujin...
'Alice, your underwear was touching me everywhere...? Your bare skin was pressed right against my forearm!?'
Yujin was too flustered to understand what was happening.
In front of him, one wife was crying in tattered underwear.
At his side, another wife in half-torn underwear clung tightly to him.
What was this? A dream?
Was I dreaming about sex because too much lust had built up?
Was I supposed to gratefully have a threesome?
The situation was absurd enough to make such thoughts cross his mind.
He could not even open his mouth.
"......."
'My disciple was not saying anything... Did he despise an old sow like me for wearing something like this!?'
Yujin's silence sent Aika into a panic.
Tears brimmed in her eyes.
She felt unbearably wronged.
"That is... my disciple personally chose this for me...."
"There is no way Yujin chose perverted clothes like those, you pervert!! You sow!!"
"I'm not a sowww......."
She felt so wronged that she abandoned the old-fashioned speech she copied from Seol Hayeon and slipped into her natural blunt tone.
The way she looked at Yujin through tearful eyes was pitiful, like an abandoned kitten.
Alice, however, was now a merciless prosecutor.
A barrage of facts rained down on the world's strongest swordswoman.
"What about changing in the living room without even locking the door? Explain that too!"
"That was... I got excited when I saw the clothes and... I asked Seol Hayeon to dispose of the old ones so I could try these on immediately...."
"What woman does that? Are you an animal? A gorilla? Be honest. You were thinking only about showing yourself to Yujin!!"
Who changed clothes in the living room by flinging them off? Was she some all-brawn, no-brains gorilla?
Had Seol Hayeon or Công heard that, they would have sighed, "No, she really is an all-brawn, no-brains gorilla."
Overwhelming strength and surroundings that praised her no matter what she did.
Because of those things, Aika always acted before she thought.
But there was no chance she would admit that she resembled a gorilla.
The accusation became impossible to answer...
"Th-that's because I'm a little stupid... I am a klutz. Sorryyy......."
"......!!!?"
Alice's unanswerable accusation was shattered by Aika's shocking declaration.
The S-rank No. 1 awakener had declared, "I'm stupid"!
If the public learned of it, newspapers would splash it across their front pages.
The strong and arrogant Aika had admitted her own shortcomings. What a shock!
But Aika no longer cared about her pride or dignity.
What mattered most was proving to her disciple that she was not a sow.
For that, she could discard all of a master's dignity.
And her resolve...
"Wh-what kind of otaku nonsense is that!? Stop saying things that make no sense and...."
"———Alice, enough. You're making Master uncomfortable."
That successfully class-changed Yujin from judge to defense attorney.
Yujin finally came to his senses after wondering whether this was a dream.
His eyes darted busily around the room.
'Those were... the clothes Master ordered yesterday. Alice had seen them and misunderstood. Judging by the burns, she had attacked Master with weak flame magic.'
'Alice's clothes were torn... Had Master hit her with a Lion's Roar?'
'There were no other signs of combat. They had not fought seriously. I could still mediate.'
It didn't take him long to assess the situation.
Wasn't he still the former S-rank No. 1, even if he had regressed?
The burned and torn clothing alone told him that two awakeners had quarreled.
'As for why Alice became angry over Master's clothes... Hmm. Was Alice secretly conservative? Then again, she probably knew nothing about lewd things yet.'
'Master was flustered because she had shown her underwear in front of me, her disciple. That had to be it.'
He had completely missed the actual reason they were fighting.
When it came to women, Yujin had thrown situational awareness into the trash as though someone had hypnotized him.
"Yujin, can you not see? Those are the sort of clothes only a sow would wea—"
"No, Alice. Don't say cruel things like that. It'd be such a waste with the prettiest face in the world."
"......!!!? Th-the prettiest in the world...?"
"Yes. Alice looks prettiest when she speaks gently and uses pretty words. Let's not say things like that."
His complete lack of awareness made the flirting run wild.
For the first time, Alice hesitated and stammered.
Her anger vanished; Yujin had praised her, and embarrassment took its place.
Only then did she release the arm she'd been gripping.
'Yujin called me the prettiest in the world... W-wait. Why was I clinging to Yujin like this!? I looked like a pervert too!!'
—Whip.
"O-okay!! I'll use pretty words!!"
"Yes. That is Alice for you. The best."
His arm was finally free.
The moment Yujin regained his freedom, he approached his master.
He picked up a tablecloth from a nearby table and moved slowly.
"And, Master."
"Disciple? Even between close friends, saying things like she is the prettiest in the world is...."
—Flutter.
"I'll cover you."
"......Huh?"
A pure white tablecloth settled over Aika's shoulders.
While Aika, who had almost become jealous, stood bewildered, Yujin carefully wrapped the cloth around her body.
He was as thorough as a stylist fastening a cape around a customer's neck before a haircut.
It took less than three seconds to turn the thoroughly embarrassed Aika into someone wearing a tablecloth cape.
"I'm sorry. You were so beautiful that I forgot I shouldn't look and stared."
"Wh-what do you mean...."
"Your disciple is a man too. Seeing something like that made me stare without meaning to. I should have covered you immediately. I'll accept punishment later."
"......."
Somehow, Aika's face became redder than when she had stood there in underwear. In any case...
The dormitory, previously filled with shouting, finally became peaceful.
Yujin cheered inwardly.
'Praise first and ask questions later. Nothing worked better for stopping my wives from fighting. Absolutely.'
He puffed out his chest, convinced once again that he was a professional married man.
Had anyone known what he was thinking, they'd have stared in disbelief. With that face saying such things, how could any woman stay angry?
But no one knew what went through his head.
Only the innocent Aika fidgeted in embarrassment.
"No. Looking will not wear anything away. If you don't dislike it, that is enough."
"......!! Yujin, don't be fooled. She is trying to seduce you...!!"
Alice tried to become angry again at that shameless response, but...
"Alice, I'm sorry to you too. I should have moved away immediately, but I'm a man, so...."
"......Huh? You mean because my breasts touched you?"
"Honestly, yes. I'm truly sorry."
"Heh, hehe. Oh, Yujin~ They are only breasts. Why make such a fuss? I don't mind at all, so don't apologize."
'So it wasn't because I was unattractive to him! I was a woman who turned him on after all!'
The joy of recovering her self-esteem immediately blew away her anger.
The reason her self-esteem recovered was deeply strange, but in any case...
Slightly embarrassed, Alice covered her chest and stepped back.
Yujin seized the opening and hurried to fetch his tracksuit.
It was the same clothing he had lent her inside the A-rank Gate.
"Here. Cover yourself with this."
"Hehe. I don't mind if you look, but since seeing me excites you, I'll cover myself for your sake."
Embarrassed yet still putting on airs, Alice gathered up the clothes.
"Yeah. Thanks."
'If this had been Sia instead of the lenient Alice, she would have beaten me half to death... Phew. What a relief.'
Knowing nothing, Yujin repeatedly sighed in relief.
The atmosphere became thoroughly peaceful.
It was hard to believe that these same people had been discussing executions moments earlier.
"In any case, Yujin. About that sow...."
"Alice. Pretty words."
"...Ms. Ninomiya has been sexually harassing you. Look at those clothes. No matter how you look at them...."
The relaxed atmosphere was one matter; the trial was another.
Alice tried to persuade him again, but...
"Ah, I chose those clothes for Master yesterday."
"What?"
"Her contract requiring her to wear hakama had ended, so she wanted to buy new clothes. She did not know what would suit her, so I chose some things according to my taste. I didn't realize they'd be that lewd."
Yujin focused entirely on defending his master.
His cheeks reddened slightly.
'Yesterday, the swimsuit kept me from looking properly, so I just agreed with everything. That was how those clothes ended up here... It could not be helped. I had to accept looking like the pervert.'
As he saw it, Master had merely bought the clothes he carelessly recommended.
Master had done nothing wrong. He was the one at fault.
He had no choice but to take responsibility and prove his master's innocence.
With that thought, Yujin volunteered to become the degenerate.
The degenerate who chose that sort of underwear for his master.
Alice and Aika reacted by...
"O-oh. So that is what happened. I misunderstood."
'So Yujin liked this sort of thing? Black, slightly transparent, and lewd....'
'My disciple...!! Yes, I wore it only because you chose it! I was absolutely not a sow!!'
Far from becoming disillusioned, both women were delighted.
Alice treasured the information as valuable intelligence.
Aika repeatedly nodded, thinking, Yes. My disciple chose it. I wasn't a perverted sow.
Had Sia seen them, she would have been dumbfounded. Why had Aika asked a man to choose her underwear in the first place, and why was that vixen happily taking notes?
But Sia was busy in her own dormitory searching for movie-theater date plans.
With no one present to point it out, the two women's suspicious behavior went unchallenged.
"Th-then setting the clothes aside... Yujin, Ms. Ninomiya has been sexually harassing you."
"That is a misunderstanding. Master has never done anything like that to me."
"She s-s-saw your penis and even measured its length!!!"
"......!!! My disciple, that was... Actually...."
It was Alice's final attack as she tried to change the subject.
Driven into a corner, Aika belatedly tried to confess what she had done.
She meant to apologize and explain that she truly had not intended it.
But...
"Even you must realize how absurd that sounds. What woman in the world would do such a thing? She's not some pervert."
"That is precisely why Ms. Ninomiya is a pervert...."
"She has never seen it even by accident. If she had, she'd have scolded me for displaying something filthy."
"......."
"What woman would see a man's thing and measure it instead of becoming angry? Even you would leap in shock and fury if it happened to you, Alice."
"......."
"There could hardly be anyone perverted enough to see such a thing and measure its length."
Yujin firmly denied that either of his wives could ever do such a thing.
Alice and Aika bowed their heads.
Their consciences hurt terribly.
'A-and I saw it during our video call too....'
'My disciple, I was sorry. I was sorry for being such a pathetic master that I could not confess honestly....'
Before the wholesome young man, neither woman could lift her head for a long time.
* * *
After the trial reversed completely and ended with both women losing, night fell.
Ragged breathing echoed through Yujin's dormitory.
"Let me go! I'm nearing my limit!!"
"I told you to tell me which one you like. Why can't you say it? Who is she?"
"That is... well...."
Yujin lay pinned beneath Aika, unable to move.
And...
"———Heeh. Thinking of that person made you like this. Should I ask why you're displaying something filthy now?"
"Eeeeeeek!!!"
The wholesome young man could no longer endure it.