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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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“Ahahaha my ass. You’re full of shit.”
“Excuse me?”
A curse, something Ia Aris would never have uttered to Faster before, slipped out.
Faster, stunned by the unexpected profanity, asked her to repeat herself. Ia Aris, smiling brightly, replied,
“I said, ‘Ahahaha my ass. You’re full of shit,’ Mr. Faster. Did you hear me properly this time? Just in case you didn’t, I’ll say it again. I said you’re full of shit.”
“M-Ms. Ia Aris? What’s gotten into you…? You’re scaring me. S-Stop joking around…!”
Faster, convinced he’d misheard, desperately hoped it was a joke. But he was met with a harsh reality.
To Faster, Ia Aris was a kind, virtuous, and gentle person. Unable to process the situation, he laughed awkwardly, trying to change the subject.
“I’m not joking. I’m being serious.”
“Oh… Oh dear.”
But the atmosphere didn’t lighten. Instead, it grew colder as Ia Aris dropped the polite speech. The sudden shift in tone made Faster bow his head and apologize.
“I’m really sorry if I offended you. I shouldn’t have made those jokes and laughed when you were still angry. You have every right to be upset, Ms. Ia Aris.”
Faster knew he was in the wrong. They both did, so his apology was natural.
But even with his apologetic bow, Ia Aris’s bright smile remained fixed. When truly angry and losing control, Ia Aris was the type to smile silently.
Despite her cheerful facade, Faster trembled. He instinctively sensed the unbridled fury simmering beneath the surface.
Ia Aris, still smiling sweetly, asked,
“Mr. Faster, do you even understand what you did wrong?”
“Well… you’re upset because I tried to take advantage of your kindness… isn’t that it?”
“See? This is exactly why I’m angry. You don’t understand a thing. You don’t understand what you did wrong, or why I’m this angry. Nothing.”
“Excuse me?”
“And that ‘Excuse me?’ Honestly, it annoys me every time I hear it. It was cute at first, but it’s gotten old. It’s an infuriating kind of cute.”
“???”
Faster couldn’t comprehend what Ia Aris was saying. All he knew was that she was angry for a reason he hadn’t anticipated.
Then why was she so angry?
The answer, conveniently, came from Ia Aris herself.
“Mr. Faster, you discriminate. And that’s why I’m so angry.”
“Discriminate…?”
“Yes, discriminate. Do you have any idea how insulting and humiliating that is?”
“I apologize…”
“And your selective hearing is another reason I’m furious. And your utter lack of awareness… No, wait. If you were perceptive in that way, you’d probably be off with some other woman. I’ll consider it a necessary evil.”
“Excuse me? Oh, right…”
Normally, longer explanations should clarify things. But the more Ia Aris spoke, the more confused Faster became.
Of course, he knew being discriminated against was unpleasant.
He’d experienced it firsthand at the academy, thanks to Scarlet.
That’s why Faster loathed discrimination. He could swear he’d never judged anyone based on their abilities.
Besides, I was even nicer to Ms. Ia Aris than anyone else!
Ia Aris was, as he’d told her, the only person he truly trusted.
He was more careful with his words and actions around her than with anyone else, always conscious of her feelings.
And he hadn’t used the hypnosis app on her since that first time, as a test.
The reason he’d initially used it on Ia Aris was because he’d thought, “At least Ms. Ia Aris wouldn’t try to kill me. She’ll understand it’s a joke.”
He’d never used the app on her again, unlike the other S-rank Awakened whom he ‘hypnotized’ constantly, because Ia Aris was a good person.
I chose my words carefully, I was mindful of my actions, and I only used the hypnosis app on her once. And even then, it was for simple, harmless commands like, ‘Raise your arm. Lower your arm.’ Wow, this actually works? This is amazing. So what the hell is she so upset about?
His selective hearing was… well… a survival mechanism he’d developed at the academy, forced to endure endless gossip.
The gossip Faster had to endure was so toxic that he would have lost his mind if he hadn’t learned to tune it out. He’d essentially evolved a form of selective deafness.
And his lack of awareness… What? I’m perceptive. That’s how I’ve survived.
Faster’s abysmal social skills were also a survival tactic.
At the academy, during physical training, he’d been the target of countless ‘accidental’ (intentional) attacks. To survive, he’d learned to sense the killing intent of others.
As a result, Faster had become incredibly adept at reading negative emotions, almost like a mind reader. But that came at the cost of his other social skills.
Moreover, Scarlet, to make Faster dependent on her, had gaslighted him relentlessly, crushing his self-esteem.
Because of that, he couldn’t even fathom the idea that someone might genuinely like him, even now, as the reconnaissance team leader of Liar’s Trap Team 2.
So, despite racking his brain, he still couldn’t understand Ia Aris’s anger.
“Ms. Ia Aris, I’m really sorry… I’m being sincere, and I’m prepared to do anything to appease your anger. So… could you please tell me what I did wrong…?”
“Y-You’re still asking me what I’m trying to say after all this?”
“Um… yes. I’m sorry for being so stupid.”
Only Scarlet truly understood the reasons behind Faster’s obliviousness.
And since she wasn’t about to share that vital information, Ia Aris could only find Faster frustrating.
Now I understand why Scarlet and Lapis Julie are so harsh to him…
Romantically speaking, Faster was incredibly dense. It was as if he believed he was unlovable.
But the fact that he recognized Scarlet’s feelings, despite her constant torment, means his romantic sensors aren’t completely fried. If I give him a clear sign, he might understand my feelings too.
Ia Aris didn’t realize how aggressive her declaration of love had been, practically threatening to fight Scarlet if she didn’t accept Faster.
So, she made the foolish decision to continue believing in Faster’s romantic incompetence.
Saying, ‘You do all sorts of things to the other S-rank bitches, but you’re always so careful with me. I’m not happy. I want you to do to me what you did to Scarlet. Zap my womb with those white sparks and send me into an endless, squirting, orgasmic hell,’ is way too much.
Ia Aris could imagine Faster paling at her unfiltered desires.
She longed for a mutually possessive relationship with Faster. She couldn’t just blurt out her true feelings.
So, there was only one option…
Ia Aris, reluctantly, decided to use the method she’d initially dismissed.
If I do this, I can prevent the nightmare of Faster living with Scarlet, I can claim the right to repair Faster’s apartment, and I’ll get an emotional reaction from him. It will also give me an excuse to experience everything Faster did to Scarlet.
But there was a significant drawback. Especially after he’d said she was the only person he trusted.
This method would shatter the foundation of trust she’d built with Faster, the kindness she’d shown him.
If I do this… Faster will lose all trust in me, and he’ll stop relying on me. He might even use the hypnosis app on me out of anger and betrayal, just like he did to those other bitches…
That sounds perfect.
I can be hypnotized in exchange for losing his trust? That’s even better!
The scales tipped decisively.
Trust and romantic attraction, while similar, were fundamentally different.
And to the lust-starved Ia Aris, Faster’s trust and dependence were less appealing than the prospect of being dominated.
“Mr. Faster, you asked me why I’m so angry, didn’t you?”
“Uh… yes.”
“Then I’ll tell you. Be prepared to dodge.”
“Excuse me?”
In the end, Ia Aris chose to betray Faster’s trust, accepting the consequences – his anger and the ensuing… ‘punishment.’
Her body was enveloped in white mana. It was “White Coat,” her personal buff, drastically amplifying her physical capabilities.
“Wh-What? Ms. Ia Aris? W-What are you doing…!”
Seeing Ia Aris activate the buff she usually reserved for combat, Faster felt a surge of anxiety.
This was going to be bad.
His intuition, never wrong when it came to unfortunate events, screamed a warning. Faster lunged at Ia Aris, trying to intervene, but he was too slow. He couldn’t match the speed of an S-rank Awakened.
-KABOOM!!!!
Ia Aris’s right fist became a blur of white, and the penthouse ceiling exploded skyward. The golden hues of the setting sun flooded the now roofless apartment.
“Oh…”
In the ravaged penthouse, Ia Aris, smiling brightly, looked at the dumbfounded Faster and said,
“Now there’s no need to send Scarlet the bill for the repairs. It’s obvious I destroyed your apartment.”
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whoopsie
I feel like her being blue-balled (blue-ovaried? blue-wombed?) caused her to miss an obvious opportunity. She could have told Faster that he had to responsibility by marrying her. Once he was hers, and safely isolated him from the other S-class harem members, she would have decades to undo Scarlet’s conditioning. This would allow her to maintain Faster’s trust and explore their sexuality together safely as she would be the OTP main waifu … although this way we have a more interesting story, which is all that matters in the end.