Ch.9696. Gaslighting (2)

When reflecting on memories, Darwood had always been like sunshine to Yuria.

From the first time they met, despite almost suffering at her hands, he didn’t avoid her. Instead, he was the one who approached her first.

Except for her sister, he was the only person in the world who knew her condition and still reached out to her.

The only person who built a bridge for her to come out into the world and live with people as she does now.

The sunshine that wrapped her dark, damp world in warm heat.

But.

That person, now.

“For the first time, I’m disappointed in you.”

He said with an icy coldness.

The sentence flew and lodged itself in her chest.

As if she had actually been struck, Yuria took several steps back.

Unconsciously, she hugged her chest tightly.

“…”

It hurt.

At first, she had clearly come to get angry.

Even until she arrived here, “voices” kept echoing in her head about what to do with this man who kept meeting other women.

But now.

That sort of thing wasn’t important.

Her hands trembled. Her eyes welled up with tears. Her legs weakened. Her whole body felt cold.

She was scared.

What if, just what if.

This man.

Was so disappointed in her that he would never look back at her again.

“…”

It wasn’t confirmed yet. Nevertheless.

Just the mere possibility of it happening.

Was unbearable.

“I, that…”

She opened her mouth with difficulty, speaking in a trembling voice.

She needed to make excuses, any excuse.

“I, I didn’t mean to…”

She opened her mouth with a quivering voice.

Hoping that this man would forgive her, even a little.

But before she could finish her sentence.

“I’m not saying this to hear excuses.”

His frosty voice cut off her words.

She flinched violently as if an electric current had passed through her body.

She barely raised her head to meet Darwood’s eyes.

The warmth that was usually there was gone. She could only feel a gaze full of anger, as if looking at an enemy. Even through the mask, it was clear.

Seeing that, there was only one thing she could reflexively say.

“…I’m sorry…”

Yuria answered with a sniffle.

She collapsed on the spot, her legs completely giving out.

“I, I didn’t mean to, really, I, I, I mean-“

She had never intended to harm this man.

Just, only.

She had been a little greedy.

Love only me. You said I was the most precious.

You said your relationship with me was the most genuine, even while deceiving other women.

So, prove it.

Tell me that I am the most precious to you.

That was all she had projected onto this man.

“From now on, from now on I won’t do it again, I, really, sorry, I’m sorry, so, please-“

Don’t look at me with those eyes.

Treat me warmly like before.

Please.

Don’t abandon me. I’ll do anything.

I, without you.

I can’t survive.

“…Then, can you promise me?”

And those words dropped on her head.

Unlike before, at least it wasn’t a voice that felt cold.

“I don’t think you did it on purpose either.”

“…”

“But since this could happen again, I’d like us to keep some distance for a while.”

“…!”

Urgency appeared on Yuria’s face.

No, but if that happens.

She felt anxious. The thought that she and this man might drift apart-

“Yuria.”

Before that thought could continue.

Darwood’s hand touched the collar she always wore.

More precisely, the handkerchief with the Campbell Barony’s seal tied to it.

The gift he had given her earlier as a “token of promise.”

Warmth was transmitted.

Yuria instinctively grabbed Darwood’s hand touching it with both of her hands.

It felt as if that small warmth would disappear immediately if she didn’t.

“B-but, but-“

“I’ll promise too.”

Darwood’s voice covered her sentence that was coming out like a sob.

“If you can do that, I’ll never disappoint you either.”

“…”

“Yuria.”

“…”

“Yuria.”

“…Yes.”

“Can you trust me?”

“…”

“Look at me.”

Yuria barely looked up at Darwood’s face.

It was his usual demeanor.

Though he sometimes seemed a bit dazed.

Always gentle, reliable, and warm—the man who always illuminated her dark world.

The man like sunshine.

“…Yes.”

So.

She had no choice but to answer like that.

“I trust you.”

Because this man’s expression shown to her now.

Was a treasure she could never lose.

●

“…Will she be alright?”

When I casually threw those words at Elia, he looked towards Yuria with a troubled expression.

She’s sitting on the boat with a vacant expression.

I just asked him to safely take her to the inside of the Crucible of Struggle.

“…She’ll be fine, but…”

He looked back and forth between me and Yuria.

His expression showed, how should I put it.

Undisguisable perplexity.

“…Just now, teacher, you seemed like a completely different person.”

“Huh?”

“It’s strange. Normally, you’re not the type to deliberately try to hurt someone like you just did.”

“…”

His eyes suddenly sharpened.

“It makes me think you must have had some circumstances that forced you to act that way.”

A chill runs up my spine.

Certainly, seeing my attitude just now, he might think that, but.

If this guy starts blabbing about this to others, that would be like an express train to hell-

“But, you had your reasons, right?”

However.

He said that with a wink.

While I was at a loss for words, he returned to his original boat with Yuria, wearing an expression that said he understood everything.

“…”

Thank you, that guy.

I didn’t expect him to be this helpful.

“Calivan.”

[What.]

“Why aren’t you saying anything this time?”

[…]

Surprisingly, despite me bringing up this topic, a sympathetic feeling flowed from inside the amulet.

What’s going on with this person who would normally berate me as trash?

[…It’s only fun to tease when it’s somewhat moderate.]

Calivan answered with a bitter smile.

[Actually, at this point, I’m starting to get excited.]

“…What?”

[I’m curious about what kind of trash behavior you’ll do next. You’ve never disappointed me so far.]

“…”

[And I’m also curious about when you’ll be found out and have your limbs torn apart. I wonder into how many pieces you’ll be dismembered-]

“…Shut up, please.”

I knew it.

I frown and look at Elia’s boat moving away in the opposite direction.

More precisely, at Yuria sitting inside.

She’s sitting on the boat seat, hugging her knees with her face buried in them, continuously sniffling.

Even Elia, who brought her over, is constantly trying to comfort her with an awkward expression.

“…”

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry…!

I’m truly sorry, not just empty words…!

Thinking that, I look at the window that appeared before me.

< System Message >

[ Target ‘Yuria’s’ corruption value is rapidly decreasing. ]

[ Emergency event creation conditions have disappeared! ]

< System Message >

[ Status ailment ‘Anxiety’ has been applied to target ‘Yuria’! ]

[ She will be extremely conscious of your mood for a while. She will absolutely refuse to do anything except what you instruct her to do! ]

Well, at least I’ve resolved the immediate life-threatening situation.

I’ll suffer from extreme guilt for a while, but I somehow managed.

Honestly, while acting, I was worried my head might fly off if I said “Why are you getting angry at me when you’re the one who did wrong first?”

‘…This is more effective than I thought.’

And this thing played a significant role in making such behavior possible.

Looking at the title that says ‘Playboy,’ I feel that the “correction” received from here had quite an effect on why Yuria couldn’t properly refute my words just now.

Of course, since it activates automatically, I always need to keep in mind the possibility of bizarre side effects like when I first used it on Elnore, but I can’t deny that it will be helpful in navigating situations in the future.

‘…Well, anyway.’

At least during this chapter, I probably don’t need to worry about Yuria coming after me with a knife like before.

The problem is this.

< System Message >

[ Due to your actions toward target ‘Yuria,’ a follow-up event is triggered! ]

[ An event related to target ‘Faynol’ is created! ]

< Gift Related Person Alert >

▼ Faynol Leiphec

[ No Affection Level ]

[ D-2 until related event occurs ]

Hmm.

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be a death-bound event like an 8-ton truck with broken brakes charging at me from someone with high affection like Elnore or Yuria, which is good.

But ultimately, I’m destined to face this guy. I’ve been trying to avoid him as much as possible until now.

Faynol “Deathwish” Leiphec.

The key figure of Chapter 4, “Red Night.”

Ranked #1 by Sera users as “a character who will break your game if you encounter them wrongly.”

He has quite a few similarities with Yuria.

And like Yuria, he serves as the “chapter final boss” among the characters.

There’s also a high probability that he’s one of the “Demonic Vessels.”

But.

In terms of simple danger level, he far surpasses Yuria.

To the extent that just encountering him makes me worry about my life.

‘…In two days, it will definitely be…’

The timing when the second phase of the Hunter’s Night, “Volcanic Zone,” begins.

Similar to the water dragon that I imprinted with fear, there’s another beast there that needs to be “imprinted” to prepare for the chapter boss battle.

That’s where I’ll encounter this guy.

‘…I need to prepare thoroughly.’

Actually, Faynol’s behavior pattern is more predictable than one might think.

For a Demonic Vessel that shows all kinds of reactions due to my constitution, I can roughly predict how he’ll react when he meets me.

“…”

The problem is that I can’t stop it even though I know.

There’s a reason I’ve been desperately trying to avoid him.

As I’m thinking about this, another window appears before my eyes.

< System Message >

[ Due to your actions toward target ‘Yuria,’ a follow-up event is triggered! ]

[ An event related to target ‘Riru’ is created! ]

< Gift Related Person Alert >

▼ Riru Garda

[ Interest Level 3 ]

[ 3H until related event occurs ]

“…”

What’s this now?

This doesn’t even have a few days’ grace period. It’s happening right away, in just 3 hours.

“…Riru?”

“What.”

When I called out to her, Riru, who was looking at the severed front paw of the water dragon loaded on the stern of the boat, answered with a slightly sharp voice.

She’s been like this the whole time.

Maybe she’s frustrated that she couldn’t even think about fighting the water dragon and just cowered.

“…What are you thinking about right now?”

“…”

There was a moment of silence.

“…No, nothing.”

Then Riru answered with a sigh.

“…You, you were planning to catch this from the beginning, weren’t you?”

“…? I was, yes.”

Though it was something I did anticipating that Yuria would come looking for me.

The cleanup went relatively well because luck was somewhat on my side.

“So, I should have learned from that.”

“Pardon?”

“You asked what I was thinking about.”

Riru answered with a sigh.

“Why couldn’t I be like you? I should have used any means necessary for my purpose.”

“…”

“I think the old lady didn’t choose you for nothing. That’s what I’m thinking. I shouldn’t have lived so moderately if I wanted to become stronger.”

She’s learning that lesson from watching my trashy behavior just now?

Is that right?

As I stared blankly at her, Riru scratched her head and continued.

“Hey. That guy Elnore. Where is he now?”

“…What?”

Why are you curious about that?

Why on earth.

“…No, never mind.”

Riru scratched the back of her head awkwardly and trailed off.

“Forget it. It’s not something I should be telling you.”

“…”

With the vague answer, I turn my head back to check the system window.

< Gift Related Person Alert >

▼ Riru Garda

[ Interest Level 3 ]

[ 3H until related event occurs ]

This person is looking for Elnore, and in 3 hours, some event will happen.

Hmm.

“…”

I hope nothing bad happens.

Really.

●