I don’t know if talent is linked to the soul, but when it comes to hypnosis/brainwashing/drug manufacturing, I don’t need much studying.
I just do it.
Combat skills and survival training, on the other hand, require risking my life, putting in the effort, and gaining experience, but when it comes to this, I can just do it.
– We’ll use this point. The Incubus Meta. To be exact, it’s about adjusting the human body’s balance through ‘dreams’.
Changyeom and I devised a plan using the abilities of [Regif] that dwell within me.
– Just like with the heroines and humans, we subtly infuse a very faint amount of [Azure Flame] into them.
– Azure Flame?
– Yes. Specifically, your mana.
The Azure Flame.
To be exact, mana with the properties of the ‘Demon World’.
– We start by sending it very faintly, like how one slowly gets poisoned by mercury.
– Calling it mercury makes it sound extremely dangerous.
– It is dangerous. As soon as the Azure Flame power manifests or the traces of the Demon World appear, angels will descend.
– So, what do we gain from that?
– Human evolution? Humanity’s advancement?
How could mana from the Demon World lead to human evolution—that was just a joke.
But when you think about it, it’s not entirely wrong.
Not evolving as a species, but evolving in the sense of becoming a better, more ideal version of oneself, transforming into the desired ideal being.
– In modern times, how do people make themselves prettier or bigger? Surgery, right? With the help of modern medicine, they have no choice but to reshape their bodies by cutting, twisting, removing, or adding.
That’s how it is in modern times.
But what about a world where mana exists?
– Based on your medical knowledge, we make people change their own bodies by using the properties of [Mana]. You know how people say thinking about something makes your hair grow faster.
– What’s the point?
– Through dreams, continuously reminding oneself of the ideal existence they want to become and naturally transforming into it.
This is basically gaslighting using dreams.
– For example, take Esta, the White Sword Saint. Show her a future where she’s an [Academy Professor] and [a married woman]. A happy future where she achieved both her career and found love at a young age.
This gaslighting works regardless of age, ability, gender, or race.
– The heroines’ ideal futures are already stored in your memories, based on your gameplay data. You just have to make them dream about that. But…
– But?
– Is it okay to make them see you in the image of the ‘ideal husband’ that appears in that dream? Hehe.
As for the specific person being gaslighted, the dream can be designed to increase their affection for me.
– If you do that, even if you don’t take any direct action, the heroines will naturally develop affection for you just by dreaming about it. It’s basically an automatic farming system.
– Isn’t that just an idle game?
– Isn’t it great if you can farm affection automatically without doing anything?
– But what if something goes wrong?
Could messing with someone’s emotions like that lead to unforeseen consequences?
Might they go out of control?
– It’ll be fine. As long as everything goes according to plan, at least the heroines won’t go berserk on you.
We had various plans, but one basic principle remained.
– In extreme cases, it’ll be easier to target random extras than the heroines. Because your mana inherently makes the beings on the surface instinctively want to possess it.
As a being created with the power of the Archduke of Hell, my existence to those in the surface world was akin to ‘living mana’ itself.
If I took the shape of a sword, I’d be considered an Ego Sword; if I were half-transparent in the form of a soul, I’d be seen as a spirit.
In other words, I’m a [force].
– If the [Mana Drain] incident unfolds around the third year, people will be even more drooling.
To make it easy for modern people to understand:
– If there was a winning lottery ticket walking on the floor, and there were no legal or ethical problems with picking it up, how would you feel?
I was essentially like a first-prize lottery ticket with no owner.
– The heroines will desire to be the owner of that ticket, but at the same time, they’ll worry about the problems that arise if someone monopolizes it.
Correction.
I was like the Super Bowl or a blank check.
– They will witness it. As candidates for Angels, they’ll see other women who are less resistant to the power than they are, driven to madness by that ‘limitless power’.
* * *
[Late evening, Yunia’s room.]
“Did you really only give Instructor Esta a massage?”
“Yes.”
Yunia called me into her room for a private interrogation.
“Is it really true?”
“Of course. Are you worried I might have done something weird?”
“To be honest… a little?”
Yunia twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, answering candidly.
“Well, Instructor Esta is… an adult, after all.”
“That makes it even more important to be cautious.”
“Huh?”
“There are adults who think it’s fine to cross the line as long as they can take responsibility for it. Not that Instructor Esta is like that, of course.”
“…Oh, I see.”
Yunia whispered softly.
“If only I were an adult…”
It felt like she was subtly hinting at some grand plan she was brewing, but at times like this, it’s best to just play along and pretend not to notice.
“So, I’ve got something I’m really curious about.”
“What is it?”
“When I was at the inn, or even on the bus, were you doing the same thing to me as you did to Instructor Esta?”
“You’re just saying out loud, ‘We were secretly watching’?”
“Well, I’m on your side.”
Yunia placed a finger on her lips and pointed outside.
“Don’t let anyone know I told you.”
“Are you planning on becoming a double agent between me and the Academy?”
“T-That’s not it. I trust you, but if they start suspecting anything, I need an excuse, right? That you were just… massaging Instructor Esta, not doing anything strange…”
Yunia placed her hand on her chest, her eyes half-closed, and asked softly.
“Was it to prevent the possibility of the [Apocalypse]?”
“…”
It wasn’t easy to answer that.
“You’re trying to prevent something bad from happening to Instructor Esta in the future, right? Otherwise, you would have resisted, even knowing it was a trap. And…”
That’s because what I did to Esta, I had already done to Yunia, and she was smart enough to infer the truth from those fragmented details.
“And the same goes for me.”
“…”
“Isn’t that right?”
“I can’t say what it is exactly.”
There’s too much to explain.
“I can only say that there’s a chance things could go wrong.”
“I understand. The future is unpredictable.”
On the first day of the semester, Yunia suddenly came to a realization.
“Maybe me too, in the future…”
Just as I had warned Yunia about Esta’s future, she also realized that there was a chance she could be in a similar situation.
“…But.”
After setting a serious tone, she suddenly flashed a bright smile.
“If you keep giving me those, what should I call it… massages? Adjustments? Treatments? Just like you did with Instructor Esta, the chances of me becoming someone strange in the future would decrease, right?”
“That’s true.”
Yunia smiled broadly and threw herself onto the bed.
“Alright, I’m ready! Let’s get started.”
“Already?”
“Why not? Oh, or is there a ‘one person per day’ limit?”
“No, there’s no such thing.”
If I wanted, I could treat 17 people simultaneously in a day.
Though it would be less efficient since it involves using mana.
“Oh… oh, are you tired? If that’s the case, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about my situation…”
“It’s not that I’m tired, but something might come up shortly after we start, and we’d have to run out in a hurry.”
“What?”
“What would happen, Yunia, if you were in your pajamas, lying down, and suddenly had to go on a mission? You’d rush to grab your weapon, but what if you forgot to properly dress before heading out?”
“Uh…”
Yunia’s expression grew more serious.
“You’re speaking like something’s bound to interrupt us…?”
It wasn’t just because I remembered the low-pressure mood that Esta was in after waking from a forced dream, but Yunia had also picked up on the hidden meaning in my words.
“If it’s Miss Ludmila or Miss Evangeline, it’s okay.”
Yunia, determined, struck a ‘fighting’ pose in front of me.
“I’ll convince them! No matter who comes to interrupt, I’ll make them lie down in bed with us!”
As expected of Yunia.
The Saintess of the Harem.
“I’ll just tell them it’s a massage to help with mana circulation and recovery. Fortunately, neither of them is particularly wary of me, so if I ask, they’ll just lie down. And then you… umm…”
Yunia pointed alternately at my hands.
“Well, you have two hands, so we can figure out how to handle things, right? Or I could hold back while you’re using your hands on someone else…”
“It’s not like that.”
“Huh? Oh, is it only possible if they’re one of those [Apocalypse] targets?”
“That’s not it either.”
Ludmila is certainly a target of the Apocalypse, and I’m not sure about Evangeline.
But that doesn’t mean I only channel my mana into Apocalypse targets to help them recover from fatigue or burn away unnecessary, pent-up mana.
‘Gaslighting is a skill applicable to all of humanity.’
My mana can make all of humanity healthier.
For those lacking confidence, I can make their pride soar.
For those lacking maternal instincts, I can enrich them with that nurturing energy.
I could even create a lush field of reeds in the middle of a barren plain.
– Creating something from nothing. Isn’t that the realm of a newly revered [God]? Hehe.
It may be a bit difficult, but it’s not impossible.
The real issue lies elsewhere.
“Yunia, I think it’s about time—”
Knock, knock, knock.
A clear, sharp knock. It could only be Ludmila’s.
“Coming~”
Yunia calmly got up and opened the door.
“Miss Ludmila?”
“…”
Ludmila looked Yunia up and down before turning her gaze toward me, sitting in the chair backward, facing her desk.
“Nothing seems to be happening inside.”
“Inside…?”
“We’re under attack.”
“What…?”
Ludmila gestured outside.
“Someone has infiltrated this old school building, trying to ‘drain’ Phoenix’s mana.”
“As expected.”
I rose from the chair.
“I’m the one who does the hunting, not the one being hunted. Isn’t that right, Miss Yunia?”
“…”
The reflection in the mirror still showed me in the appearance of the Blond and Tanned Delinquent.
But…
“If the gender was switched, uh, um… I think that would be possible.”
After all, the ‘Golden Sun’ image, when translated into a schoolgirl, could be akin to a blonde, blue-eyed gyaru.
‘It’s hard to resist.’
And what if the skin wasn’t tan but even whiter than that of most people?
“Miss Ludmila, you need bait, don’t you?”
From the perspective of those trying to ‘seduce’ me, causing havoc in the old school building wouldn’t pose any issue.
“Yes. I need you to be the bait.”
“B-Bait…? But this is the Academy…!”
“The old school building.”
Whoever it is, they’ve found a loophole in the Academy’s rules right from the first day.
“The dormitories are off-limits for intrusions, but there’s no rule that says intruding into the old school building is forbidden.”
“…”
Esdinas Academy’s Old School Building.
“It’s a kind of ‘lawless zone’ around here.”
