48 – Kidnapping, Confinement, Brainwashing, Hypnosis, Training

Elysia stood, her face hardened, in the very center of an auction house that was once magnificent but was now broken and ruined.

‘…What do I do now?’

With the artificial sun contract gone sour, there were no more options to choose from.

The best she could do was somehow escape to the North and deny any connection to the ‘Crack Incident’…

But in this world where truth held little importance, no one would believe such words, no matter how desperately they were uttered.

Struggling would likely only ensure she ended up a sacrifice.

– It’s because of you…

Was it because the mental fatigue had reached its peak?

The ghosts that had been watching her from the surroundings slowly approached, tightening their grip on her throat.

Feeling the intense pressure and pain, she forced herself to gasp for breath.

Then, in the distance, she noticed a pure white statue holding a heart.

‘Ah.’

The moment I realized it, the last resort, the one I’d delayed as much as possible due to the excessive risk, surfaced in my mind.

To seize Damian’s ability using the artifact.

A method I’d avoided if possible, because I couldn’t handle the aftereffects.

But now, with everything already twisted and ruined… If I didn’t steal even his warmth, there was no way to survive, so I had no other choice.

Resolving to steal his ability by any means, I decided to head to where Damian might be.

‘However, the investigators’ search is becoming excessively fierce.’

Judging that it would be better to hide until the search subsided, I decided to leave the auction house for the time being.

*

After continuing a reclusive life in a rented, inconspicuous lodging for about a week.

A letter I’d left on the desk floated into the air, burned black, and slowly created a black door.

‘…Could he be back?’

It seemed he’d resolved the problem that had exploded and returned again.

Relief bloomed in my heart at that sight, but I couldn’t show my relief to the trading partner, so I feigned a blank expression.

A man who looked clearly insane walked out of the door.

“……”

Dilated pupils and an open mouth.

I was taken aback by his completely changed appearance, wondering if he was the same person I’d seen back then.

He staggered a few steps and then collapsed onto the floor.

It was such an unexpected sight that I was still bewildered when.

I heard a tongue-clicking sound from inside the door, and someone with a hammer walked forward.

“Long time no see.”

The person I least wanted to see, and yet, paradoxically, the person I most wanted to meet.

Facing Damian, the source of all my misfortune who had dragged me down, I felt my expression failing, and I gave a bitter smile.

“Yes. It has been a while.”

Acknowledging his greeting, I gripped the artifact I’d hidden inside my coat tightly.

Since it would take several minutes to activate, I needed to prolong the conversation, even forcefully, to buy time.

I spoke to him in as calm a voice as possible.

“So, how does it feel to have your revenge? Are you satisfied?”

He chuckled at those words and spoke to me.

“It was… diverting.”

*Diverting*, was it?

To dismiss one’s own despair with such detached amusement was grating, yet.

If successful in wielding the artifact in his possession, such trivial grievances could be buried and forgotten.

*So, endure just a little longer.*

Resolving to continue the conversation, he spoke in a measured tone.

“…I’m not sure how we arrived at this point.”

Damian chuckled, replying.

“Does it truly matter now? Emotion, for you, is but a tool to be exploited, isn’t it?”

“…”

To dwell on sentiment was far too much for the North… No. Empty excuses, spoken only to himself.

Ignoring him as best he could, he waited, uttering idle words, until the artifact’s charge was complete.

A faint, alien sensation prickled at his fingertips. He retrieved the artifact, declaring,

“Then let us bring this to an end.”

“Shall we?”

With that final word, he triggered the artifact, attempting to unleash its power of absorption.

*KA-BOOM!*

Unexpectedly, the artifact erupted, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

The searing agony of the blast blossomed across his hand, its tips glowing crimson.

Stunned, he could only stare, never imagining it would detonate before its power could even be channeled, as the girl before him spoke, her voice serene.

“Crude.”

“…Crude?”

This was no common trinket; it was an ancient relic passed down through generations in the North! To call it crude was absurd.

He lunged to snatch the fallen artifact.

“Oh my, broken already? Are you certain you wish to reclaim it?”

The woman snatched it, a sneer twisting her lips.

“Picking it up again will prove fruitless, wouldn’t you agree? Best to simply concede.”

Without that object, all was lost.

In a desperate frenzy, he reached for the artifact clutched in her hand.

“You never cease to disappoint, even at the end.”

Beside me, Damian, looking upon himself with loathing, raised the hammer and brought it down upon his own skull.

* * * * *

*Thwack!*

I clicked my tongue, watching Alicia slump to the floor, her head mangled. She seemed driven to the brink, clearly not in her right mind, I thought, frowning.

Then, pouring a potion over Alicia’s head, I spoke to Liana. “Alicia is officially missing, yes?”

“Yes.”

“In that case, there shouldn’t be any issue with whatever I do to her?”

“I suppose not. What are you planning?”

To that, I replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Kidnapping, confinement, brainwashing, hypnosis, conditioning?”

“……”

Hearing this, Liana took a hesitant step back, offering a strained smile.

I saw her smiling face and hastily shook my head, explaining that it was a joke. “No, no, I don’t intend anything untoward. I just thought, could she be used like Dale was?”

“Is that really necessary? She’s been abandoned so thoroughly, I doubt she holds much value.”

A reasonable question, yet I noticed a significant point Liana had overlooked and stated, “To accomplish something *through* Alicia, she might be worthless. But to create discord *using* Alicia? There are many possibilities.”

“Are you mad?”

I heard the flattering question from above and glanced down.

Alicia lay on the floor, writhing.

Once, she was the woman I loved enough to sacrifice everything for. Seeing her like this brought a touch of melancholic feeling, but

as the memories of what Alicia did to me in the name of serving the North flooded my mind, the melancholy faded, replaced by rage and disbelief.

*’Not only did she try to kill me, but she also tried to steal my power.’*

With that truth swirling in my head, even the lingering hint of guilt vanished. I shook my head and crossed my arms, but then…

Shiren nudged Daisy’s belly and proposed a plan.

“If you want to use this one, there’s a way.”

“Which is?”

“Using the artificial sun Daisy swallowed, we can combine the mana structure of the artificial sun and that one, applying conditions that make it impossible for her to disobey commands.”

At the word “Pigsy,” Daisy lashed out, smacking Siren on the head, *pow*.

Siren didn’t even react, continuing on as if nothing happened.

“Pigsy might’ve eaten the artificial sun like a pig, but see, “Pigsy”—Daisy, that is—being a spirit, surprisingly, can still regurgitate the core mana structure. So, if we use that, we can activate the artificial sun’s key functions.”

From Daisy to Pigsy to… *Pigsy*, Daisy seemed to be morphing into something else entirely.

Daisy, clearly disliking these nicknames, meowed and scratched at Siren with a fury, *myaong, myaong*.

Siren, unfazed, scoffed and kept talking.

“To explain in more detail, the artificial sun’s fundamental formula involves both informatization and synthesis. Applying this means we can transform a target into pure information and then manipulate it however we please. Further explaining this…”

Understanding the core principles seemed wise, so I listened as attentively as possible.

But this seemed to be the kind of magic knowledge that only specialists could understand. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t grasp a thing.

Deciding that listening to any more of this would be pointless, I reluctantly stopped Siren, asking for a summary.

Siren, finding it difficult to condense into a single sentence, pondered for a moment.

Soon, as if struck by a brilliant idea, Siren’s eyes lit up and Siren spoke.

“Hmm… I’ve got it. Damian, you remember what you said earlier?”

I’d said so much that I was completely lost. I just stared at Siren.

Siren pointed to Elyssia, lying unconscious on the floor.

“Kidnapping, confinement, brainwashing, hypnosis, *training*.”

The utterly baffling response caused a cough to involuntarily burst from my throat.

I blinked dumbly, gazing at Siren, who continued, expressionless.

“With the artificial sun, we can achieve similar effects.”

At those words, a method to royally screw over the North blossomed in my mind.