Hypnosis
"Sorry, but I'm not going with that plan."
"And why is that?"
If the opportunity arose to sleep with a beautiful woman, I was generally willing to dive right in. In this particular case, however, I refused without hesitation. There were two immediate problems standing in the way.
The first was age.
I didn't know Yukiko's exact age, but the circumstances pointed to something around ten. Her undeveloped skills, her low mental age, her childish appearance, the snow woman's diary—everything suggested she was still young.
Ordinary injections might be fine for infants, but mine was the adult-grade variety. Yukiko was still far too young to handle the full flavor of an adult yang injection.
"My tastes run toward larger, more mature women. In that sense, Yukiko falls outside any range of preference I can accept. She'd need at least another five years to ripen, wouldn't she?"
"…What strange things you say. She is one hundred and twenty-six years old this year."
"Huh? One hundred twenty-six?"
"You judged by appearance, it seems. Snow women finish growing once they pass fifteen and can freely reshape their bodies at will. They are ice, after all."
"So Yukiko can take an adult form as well?"
"Of course."
I had considered the possibility that her age ran to three digits, but actually hearing the truth felt like a blow to the back of the head.
So everything she had shown me until now had been nothing but an act?
As I twisted my lips at the realization that I had been thoroughly deceived, Leviathan continued with a snort of laughter.
"You need not look so dejected. As the price of her contract, her mind and memories remain permanently contaminated—fixed in the past. Even the snow woman herself believes she is a little girl. A third party could easily make the same mistake."
"No. That still means her mental state is a child's, doesn't it?"
"Her body is more than mature enough. More importantly, once the yang injection is administered, it will not take long for her mind to return to an age-appropriate state."
"The problem is before putting it in!"
What followed was a long and winding argument with Leviathan. Unable to find any common ground, I raised the second problem.
"Fine. Setting age aside—you said a snow woman's body is ice, right? What's their average body temperature?"
"From what I know, roughly negative two hundred degrees Celsius…"
"At that temperature the yang injection would freeze solid!"
Even carrying yang energy, there were limits to a human's heat. I had felt it when I supported the elderly snow woman before—their bodies were far too cold. Even with her cold weakened by age, the fabric of my clothes had stuck to her skin.
And I was supposed to put it inside a snow woman in her prime, packed full of freezing energy?
Even with the Blessing of Cold, I was certain my holy sword would freeze solid.
"Do not worry. Snow women can regulate even their body temperature. Had they been unable to, they would never have received seed from any race at all."
"In other words, if you force it without the snow woman's permission, you simply freeze and die?"
Snow women did not mix bodies with anyone who had not truly earned their heart. There was no chance Yukiko would accept me, so I had to abandon the idea early.
A method riddled with problems, both mental and physical. When I pointed that out, even Leviathan could not readily argue back. There were innate limits between an ancient demon and a human—nothing to be done about it.
"There seems to be no suitable method left."
"Nullifying the contract is out, right?"
"As I said earlier, altering or nullifying a contract requires the mutual consent of both parties. The snow woman hungers for power, so it will not be easy."
Orthodox methods were useless, and the workarounds came with too many restrictions. As I groaned, stuck between options with nowhere to turn—
Knock knock!
From beyond the door of dark obsidian came the sound of someone knocking. I wondered if it was Yukiko, but Leviathan shook her head as if to say otherwise.
"A guest of mine."
"A guest?"
Was there a being who could be called a guest by an ancient demon?
My curiosity lasted only a moment. Leviathan pressed a tentacle to the magic circle engraved beside the door. The circle flared with light, and the firmly shut door began to open.
"It has been a long time, Lady Leviathan. Have you been well?"
"Welcome."
"Huh…?"
The one who stepped into our space was, surprisingly, someone I already knew.
Green skin, a massive frame draped in a monocle and a tuxedo—an orc. The perverted gentleman I had met in the Dungeon of Lust: Ork.
"Buhi? We have an unexpected guest today."
"Why are you here…?"
"Judging by those surprised faces, you two already know each other."
"Yes. He visited our dungeon some time ago."
"So you met Asmodeus as well?"
"Indeed. He is the gentleman who stood before Her Majesty and denounced her for smelling like a chicken coop."
"Asmodeus is quite terrifying when angry—I'm amazed you said that and lived."
"He possesses rare skill among humans, after all."
Leviathan nodded as if agreeing with Ork's assessment. Being recognized by two beings whose depths of strength I could not fathom was pleasing, but right now bewilderment came first. I had no idea why he was here.
"More importantly, shouldn't you stop the bleeding first?"
"Buhihit! Every time I come I feel it—Yukiko's knack for stabbing with a blade grows sharper by the day. Today it hurt quite a bit."
"A man of your caliber could have easily dodged or blocked an attack of that level."
"There is no moment when Yukiko is more defenseless than that one. Even while being stabbed, I lifted her mourning dress and freely admired her panties. Today they were a special sky blue!"
Even as blood gushed from his entire body, he looked thoroughly satisfied. That unwavering love of panties told me this was unmistakably Ork. His steadfast nature was almost admirable.
Not that I had the slightest desire to emulate it.
"By the way, what were the two of you discussing?"
"First explain why you came here."
"I have no elaborate purpose. I simply came to pay my respects to Lady Leviathan after a long while."
"Is that really all?"
When I continued looking at him with open suspicion, he scratched his cheek.
"To explain the circumstances in more detail—due to a recent incident, Her Majesty became thoroughly sulky. So I took a voluntary leave from the dungeon to give Her Majesty some time to calm down."
"This fellow often visits my dungeon, which is geographically close to the Dungeon of Lust. So you need not suspect ulterior motives. He truly came only to see me."
With Leviathan herself stepping up to defend him, I withdrew my suspicious gaze. Come to think of it, ever since leaving the Dungeon of Lust I had been flying around on Rene, so there was no way for him to know my movements.
Trusting Ork, I poured out all the conversation and concerns I had just shared with Leviathan. There was no particular need to hide them, and they were not the sort of worries that would cause major problems if known.
Of course, I left out the fact that I was a transmigrator, and anything about That One.
"So we were discussing what to do about it."
"I judged the first option the most realistic and best plan, but he dismissed it as impossible on account of his personal tastes and human limitations."
"Her mental age is low. No matter how much of a guy I am who takes whatever's offered, a child is a serious problem, okay?"
"If you simply accept it as a means of fixing the broken snow woman…"
"Even if you frame it that way, when you get down to it it's no different from assaulting a minor."
The back-and-forth with Leviathan started up again. As we fought for some time over which approach was right, Ork cut in midway. He was making a meaningful little laughing sound.
"So the point is you wish to cure the mental regression caused by the contract's price, correct?"
"Right. She needs proper reason before we can even begin a conversation or persuasion smoothly."
"Then let me ask one more thing. The other day, when you contracted with Her Majesty, you seemed unbothered about receiving a price—is that still the case?"
"Well…"
As long as the price I had to pay wasn't outrageously large, going to Pink Chang was already a foregone conclusion, so I supposed nothing had changed.
I answered Ork that yes, it was.
"Excellent. Then, Lady Leviathan—let us have you transfer that ability after receiving a price."
"That ability?"
"The other day, was there not an ability that Lady Leviathan sighed heavily over, saying it was troublesome to deal with?"
"Ahh, that one? Indeed—that ability would prove quite useful in the current situation."
"What ability are you talking about?"
When I asked about the conversation only I didn't know, Ork and Leviathan both looked at me at once. They grinned and answered in perfect unison.
"Hypnosis."
"Hand over the contract."
The price: lump sum to Pink Chang.