Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume3 Phase02 (section)

===Part 7===

“Ahh, ah ha ha, whoa, whoa, whoa, gwah, gwah, ohhhhhhhh!”

“Coach, what do we do? Something is wrong with Henrietta.”

“That is a massage chair. It must have been too powerful for Miss Straitlaced. I imagine she isn’t used to having her body touched at all. And I know you have your hands full with this new experience, Miss Striker, but could you maybe sound a little cuter when you scream?”

Even late at night, the mobile home’s lights were still on and its occupants were anything but restful.

Only Teleria was viewing it from the outside.

She had pretended to be bathing and snuck out through the bath window.

She breathed a heavy sigh colored white by the cold and turned her back on the warm light.

There were people out even at night.

More than she had expected. No matter how fierce the Student Guidance teachers’ threats, they could not completely stop the sensitive sorcery students from heading out at night. Was that Manga Club girl out for a late-night tryst? She looked plain, but Teleria knew the rumors that the crazy love stories she wrote were all autobiographical. Teleria was shocked to see a girl from the Rhythmic Gymnastics Team running around nude with her arms spread wide, but that wasn’t actually all that unusual at the Academy Towers. She was a promising new athlete, so she had to be under a lot of pressure. She seemed to be enjoying herself, so Teleria decided to leave her be.

The school towers were hotbeds for mysterious stories late at night, but the open schoolground was very different. The unnatural chaos was a lot like a park at night.

And Teleria was setting foot into that disordered world herself.

Without telling any of the others.

The fluffy blonde girl walked between rows of identical mobile homes. She briefly hid long enough for a noisy group to pass by at one point. All their special equipment told her they were the Paranormal Investigation Club.

She couldn’t let them see her out here.

She held her breath until they were gone and then resumed walking until she finally arrived in a dark area void of all artificial light. The place would be far from deserted during the day because it was an open plaza.

Someone was waiting for her there.

He smiled at her from the edge of the circular fountain.

“You’re late.”

“Sorry,” she reluctantly replied, bowing.

He was a boy in glasses. He was wearing the same blazer uniform, but he felt very different from Ayato.

He was Student Council President Umihiko Darkavenue.

Teleria had come here alone, knowing who would be waiting for her. Without even telling Ayato about it.

This meeting was their little secret.

Because they shared something Ayato did not.

He patted his hand on the edge of the fountain next to him.

“Please, sit with me.”

“No, thank you.”

He tilted his head.

“''I said sit.''”

His tone remained gentle, but his words were a piercing command.

She bit her lip, swallowed her words, and took a silent step forward. She sat next to the President like he demanded.

This may have been more of a ritual than anything. Or maybe it was a show of mercilessness akin to kicking your pet dog in the side for peeing on the floor. Either way, he was done establishing who was in charge.

“So what do you have to report?”

“…”

“I believe I already explained that I know your secret.”

“Kh.”

Teleria’s shoulders jumped.

The idea of the cornered rat biting the cat was only a fantasy. When a prey animal was truly cornered, it could only curl up and wait for the storm to pass.

Even if it knew the predator did not have a shred of goodness in his heart.

Teleria noticed a repugnant feeling like a large bug crawling on her skin. It came from her thigh. The glasses boy had placed his hand on the leg contained in her black tights.

Those tights were in fact a Mimic Option.

That sorcery tool was used for demons to hide their unique traits and live among humans.

He touched her there knowing full well she could not resist.

She felt paralyzed because there truly was nothing she could do. Even though she had two sorcery guns hidden between her wine-red skirt and her Expansion Armor.

The President seemed to be getting a tactile feel of the secret he held.

“It really shouldn’t surprise you. It was our Student Council pulling the strings behind that Laguntreat incident. We have every secret held by that island of mermaids and decursing. Not to mention that my skill as a Sorcery Hacker is much greater than Ayato’s.”

Her small hands shook as she squeezed her short skirt in her fists. She bit her lip to fight the anguish she felt, but it did nothing to change the reality before her.

He was using her secret against her, so she had no other option.

Throwing a fit and refusing to sink any further would only lead to further trouble. He had made sure there was no option available for her to escape this entirely unharmed.

She either had to give away her secret and lose it all or dirty her hands to keep her secret hidden.

She was harmed either way.

“And do not forget that any self-destructive desperation on your part would harm your friend as well.”

“Wait just a second. Um!”

She gasped looked up to see him smiling thinly at her.

“Was her name Mamilis? Did you really think that cheap junk could hide what she really is? This is the Academy Towers. That tech is several generations out of date, so it’s frankly insulting she’s even bothering to wear them. Maybe I should tear her ears off right along with those Mimic Options.”

“How could you do that to a dark elf’s ears!?”

Teleria grimaced as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

The President slowly repeated the information, still smiling.

“So she’s a dark elf, is she?”

“!!”

Screwing up her courage and standing up for what was right did nothing to change things here.

Sorcery Hackers searched out secrets and used them.

But revealing that information like the Newspaper Club was not the only way to make use of a secret.

Ironically, this was the exact same negotiating method Ayato had used earlier.

“So she’s hiding dark elf ears under there. I can think of hundreds of ways of using that information. Why not ask Ayato how much a Sorcery Hacker can do to a person with just three pieces of personal information? If you asked, I’m sure he would happily explain it for you at length.”

“Kh!!”

“This is what happens when an amateur tries to negotiate with a Sorcery Hacker. The more you try to use your head, the further you sink into the quicksand. You did this yourself. Now, do you want to place a chain around that ignorant dark elf’s neck? That route may in fact be easier for you since you have no escape yourself.”

“~ ~ ~!!!!!!!”

Everything was tangled together.

Each individual problem was difficult enough on its own, but they all hit her at once, tangling up like a bird’s nest.

“So tell me. What route is Ayato planning to use?”

“…”

“Mermaids are a very popular species for being a detested demon.” He grinned and whispered in her ear. “You know what happens when a demon is exposed, don’t you? Everyone likes to pretend they wouldn’t hurt a fly, but they would all laugh as they stripped off all your clothes and chained you to a bed. Once they turned you into a lab rat, they would test some truly powerful drugs on you. I doubt this pretty hair of yours would last very long.”

“But…but.”

“And what about that dark elf? They too are a popular species. Oh, and that regional knight is sure to lose her title for accepting this secret of yours and still accompanying you.”

“She doesn’t-”

“Maybe she isn’t aware of your secret, but good luck convincing the public of that. And she must know about the dark elf’s ears, yet she hasn’t told anyone about it. That alone is enough to condemn her.”

He made his points very clear.

“You see, Teleria, not everyone can live the life Ayato does. They can’t throw out their old life and accept the title of criminal just to gain freedom.”

The complaint died in her throat.

She was facing so many problems at once that they looked like an insurmountable cliff face.

“Not even Ayato can save you. You can go crying to him now, but it is much too late for that. The truth will spread far faster than he can suppress it. And once it does, not even he can change that. The public are a cruel and endlessly irresponsible bunch. They never doubt for a moment that their actions are justified. Make an enemy of the student body and you will be torn apart. Both you personally and the rest of your group.”

Simply possessing information was not enough.

Knowing how to use that information to manipulate people was a skill. Push too hard and they would grow desperate and become unpredictable. Loosen your grip too much and they would try to fight back. In that sense, this glasses boy was an expert. He kept the perfect distance to seed their imagination and gradually strangle them while they agonized over it. And he would wring out everything he could until they were too weak to move.

He made them think it was too late while also letting them think maybe there was a chance.

He had the skill needed to build that contradictory set of scales in his target’s mind.

The target would not want to eliminate the possibility of the miraculous escape they had conjured up in their head, so they would obey “for now”. While they tried very hard to ignore the fact that they were already walking through an endless labyrinth with no exit.

He could order her to do anything right now, but this scum did not forcibly take her lips or assault her on the spot because he did not want to push her to the point of desperation. He had to keep the glimmer of hope alive in her mind as she gradually sank further and further under his control. Of course, once she was used to obeying him and too exhausted to fight it any more, that restraint wouldn’t be necessary any longer.

The President knew from personal experience that people became ''indifferent'' to everything once they had been truly reduced to an empty shell.

It made everything so easy it was almost disappointing.

The girl trembling next to him now would be worn down to that point soon enough. This was like a factory conveyer belt he had already sent so many people down in the past. He would gradually chip away at her personal pride and ethics as a teenage girl until they were entirely gone. It was only a question of sooner or later.

“What route is Ayato planning to use?”

“…”

If Teleria’s secret got out, she would lose everything. Mamilis had revealed she was a dark elf to her close friends, but that would not work with most people. Once it was known she had been deceiving human society, a switch would flip inside the heartless masses and they would turn their malice in her direction.

“What route is he planning?”

“…”

Henrietta would be caught up in a scandal for knowing Mamilis’s identity. And Ayato was officially known as a sorcery criminal, no matter what the reality was. If they were captured, they would be thrown into prison based on the usual process.

“What route?”

“…”

So there was nothing she could do.

She had no choice.

The blonde girl hung her head and squeezed her eyes shut with clear drops spilling from them. She didn’t have it in her to even wipe the tears away. Doing so wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t make this boy disappear or erase the disgusting feeling of his hand rubbing her thigh.

No one would come to save her.

Teleria Nereid Aquamarine had been robbed of her will. She felt like she was being dragged around by a chain around her neck, so she bit her lip and trembled, unable to even draw her twin sorcery guns.

The strength of her jaw lessened.

And her trembling lips moved.

“''He is using…a rocket.''”

The mental hurdle inside her dropped another notch.

She had submitted to this boy.