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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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“I guess I’d like it?”
It was the best I could come up with, since I couldn’t bring myself to say I actually liked it, even as a lie. Scarlet, who had relentlessly tormented me since childhood, was a nightmare.
She’d seemed a little cute when she was pretending to be hypnotized, but now that I knew it was an act, I found her annoying.
Just because she liked me didn’t mean I had to like her back. Her feelings weren’t a free pass for her behavior.
But I couldn’t honestly say, “I hate it. You always bullied me.”
It was too embarrassing to say now that we were adults, and Scarlet would probably burn down my house if I rejected her.
So, I said, “I guess I’d like it.” But she seemed dissatisfied with my answer, frowning.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Like it or hate it. Give me a straight answer. Do you like sleeping with me or not?!”
A straight answer… I didn’t want to say I liked it. I had some principles.
So, I mustered my courage and countered with a question of my own.
“W-Why do you want to know? Do you want to sleep with me?”
“What?”
Scarlet’s flustered expression emboldened me. Come to think of it, I had managed to ‘deal with’ Scarlet once. Something you could deal with wasn’t a disaster. Disasters were called disasters because you couldn’t deal with them.
What I had before me wasn’t a disaster, but a disaster of a person.
Was there a difference? Ah, whatever. The point was, Scarlet was just a person, like me. Yeah.
“Right? Even if Ia Aris said that to you, why are you so angry? Why do you care whether I like sleeping with you or not?”
“Wh-What? You… you heard what I said this morning, and now you’re… Ugh!”
Scarlet started to respond angrily but then stopped mid-sentence, as if realizing something. Her face flushed crimson, and she looked confused.
Good, she took the bait.
I was grateful for her predictable reaction. Being childhood friends with her had its advantages. I knew Scarlet well enough to manipulate her.
The reason Scarlet stopped mid-sentence was that she’d confessed her feelings while pretending to be hypnotized.
Anything that happened under hypnosis wasn’t supposed to be remembered. That was the rule from the very first time I used the fake hypnosis app.
She’d probably added that convenient rule so she could enjoy everything with me under the pretense of hypnosis and then return to her usual condescending self once it wore off.
But now, that convenient rule was working against her. She’d confessed her feelings, but it didn’t count.
Or rather, only I knew about it.
Realizing this, Scarlet was speechless, only able to let out frustrated groans. But even though I had the upper hand in this argument, I hadn’t won.
This was the crucial part.
What I was about to do was the biggest gamble of my life, a gamble I could only make because I knew Scarlet liked me.
If I succeeded, I wouldn’t have to fear Scarlet anymore. But if I failed… I didn’t even want to imagine the consequences.
So, I decided not to think about failure. When in doubt, do it.
Steeling my resolve, I picked up my phone from the floor. At the same time, Scarlet, her patience finally wearing thin, yelled,
“Agh! I don’t care anymore! I’ll do what I want!”
Her hands reached for my clothes, ready to rip them off.
She had to know that would give me an excuse to use my ability and escape, but she seemed too worked up to think straight.
Well, she’d been verbally pummeled by Ia Aris, and now I was pretending not to remember her confession. It was understandable that the impatient Scarlet would lose her cool.
Thinking this, I uttered the magic words that would stop her.
“Scar! W-Wait a minute! I have something to confess!”
The magic words were “Scar,” her name without the surname.
When she was pretending to be hypnotized and acting as my servant, she’d asked me to call her Scar. Thinking back, it was probably her way of showing affection.
Remembering how she’d giggled every time I called her by her name, it was definitely a sign of affection.
Well, not exactly giggling. It seemed cute at the time, but thinking back… Hmm. Anyway.
Scar liked being called by her first name. And every time I called her Scar, we’d done… rather suggestive things.
We hadn’t actually had sex, but I’d put a collar on her and made her walk around the room, petted her like a dog, made her do dog training exercises, sat on her back and spanked her, used her as a pillow for naps…
All of those were things Scarlet had asked me to do. I… I’d just gotten caught up in the moment.
Excited by the prospect of controlling Scarlet, I’d done all sorts of embarrassing things.
So, calling Scarlet by her first name was like flipping a switch, activating her… suggestive side.
“Huh? D-Did you just call me… Scar? While I’m conscious?”
As expected, Scarlet’s eyes widened in surprise. The fact that she’d unconsciously emphasized “conscious” showed how flustered she was.
“Wh-What is it? Why… did you call me by my name?”
The surprise in her eyes morphed into anticipation. A lustful glint appeared in her gaze.
Okay, let’s do this. But just in case, I’ll have a backup plan!
I discreetly placed my left hand on her waist, ready to zap her with sparks and force a climax if things went south. It was better to be safe than sorry.
But Scarlet, consumed by lust, didn’t seem to notice my ulterior motive and just giggled, her lips twitching. She seemed to think I was touching her waist as a prelude to something… more.
It was a huge misunderstanding, but hey, whatever worked.
Grateful for the small stroke of luck, I showed her my phone. The home screen, with its app icons, not the hypnosis app itself, appeared before her.
“Ah… Huh? Wh-What’s this?”
For a moment, her eyes went unfocused, as if she’d been hypnotized, but then, realizing it was just the regular home screen, she looked confused.
“Scar, the truth is…”
This was my chance. I took a deep breath and made my move, the one that would turn the tables.
“I’ve been hypnotizing you! Using this hypnosis app!”
“Wh-What?!”
“See this? The pink app icon that says ‘Hypnosis App’? I used this to control you.”
The hypnosis app icon was clearly visible on the screen. Seeing it, Scarlet became even more confused, completely lost.
“Wait, what? Huh?”
She’d never expected me to reveal the truth about the app. As expected, she was so flustered she couldn’t even form coherent words.
I’d never seen Scarlet this flustered before. She almost looked… cute. Wait, what the hell was I thinking?
This wasn’t the time for such frivolous thoughts. While Scarlet was still reeling, I pressed my advantage.
“I’m really sorry. I used this awful app to get revenge for everything you’ve done to me. But using it made me realize something. Controlling you with this thing wouldn’t solve anything.”
This was partially true. When I thought the app was real, I’d used it enthusiastically at first, but it had become increasingly meaningless over time.
Sensing the seriousness in my voice, Scarlet looked at me with wide eyes.
“Faster?”
“I won’t use this app again. You probably hate the sight of me now, so I’ll try to avoid you as much as possible. You must want to kill me for controlling you like that… but you treated me terribly too. So… let’s just end things here.”
“Huh?”
Scarlet’s face paled before she could get angry. She seemed to like me more than I thought.
If someone I liked apologized and said they never wanted to see me again, I’d be more heartbroken than angry.
Even someone as arrogant as Scarlet would probably start thinking about how to keep me from leaving.
“I’m sorry, Scar. I’ll pay off the loan on this place after the S-rank dungeon raid in three months. Just bear with me until then. Please.”
With that, I gently lifted Scarlet and sat her down beside me. She didn’t resist, letting me support her as I moved her.
Her vacant expression suggested she was in shock.
Come to think of it, Scarlet had the same look in her eyes when I was fired from the guild two years ago.
Wait, wasn’t that dangerous?
The memory of the inferno flashed through my mind. Shit, that was bad.
If Scarlet, in this state, decided to set something on fire because she couldn’t have her way, everything would be ruined. I had to guide her actions.
Scarlet, mentally cornered, started muttering dangerous things.
“N-No. I don’t want to be separated from Faster. What should I do? How can I stay with Faster? Should I burn everything down? If I burn down the whole world, leaving him nowhere to run, he’ll have to come back to me, right? That’s a good idea. Yes, I’ll do that…”
“Agh! Scar! Stop! Stop thinking such negative and extreme thoughts!”
Scarlet, ranked second in the world, was capable of carrying out every single one of those crazy ideas.
My original plan had been to use her feelings for me to prevent her from leaving, make her apologize for all the torment she’d put me through, and make her promise to never do it again. But with Scarlet thinking such crazy thoughts, I had to abandon the plan entirely.
“S-Scar. Let’s talk. Let’s have a heart-to-heart about what we’ve both done wrong. Okay?”
I gently held her shoulders and looked into her eyes. Finally, a spark of light returned to her vacant gaze.
“Faster…? If I talk… you won’t run away…?”
Scarlet, asking that question, looked as vulnerable as she had two years ago, standing before the burning guild headquarters.
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Heart to heart he said😏finally mc’s being a gentleman
Communication is the key