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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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There were three women in Liar’s Trap who treated me so terribly that I felt no guilt using the hypnosis app on them.
The first was my childhood friend and living nightmare, Scarlet, a beast in human form, driven solely by impulse.
The second was my junior from the academy and former subordinate, now my direct superior, Lapis Julie, the master of venomous words who taught me that words could indeed kill.
And the third was Silk Blonde, currently looking up at me from under my desk with languid eyes.
“Uh… Team Leader Silk, how did you get in here…?”
“Call me ‘senpai.’ ‘Team Leader Silk’ isn’t cute. ‘Senpai’ is cute.”
She ignored my question and said something completely irrelevant, which meant I wasn’t hallucinating. The person under my desk really was Silk Blonde.
But how the hell did she get in here?
The reconnaissance team leader’s office, as the name suggested, was where I stored all the information I’d gathered.
Almost all the important information, like data on dungeons exclusive to the guild, and intel on S-rank dungeons we’d secured the rights to and were currently investigating, was stored here.
In short, it was the second most important room in Liar’s Trap, after the Doctor’s lab.
Therefore, no one, not even the S-rank team leaders, could enter without my or the Guild Leader’s permission.
It was a high-security area, with alarms and automatic lockdown systems triggered by unauthorized entry…
“Looking up at my Faster from down here is… a novel experience, but my body is getting stiff. Can you move so I can get out?”
How the fuck did you get in, you bitch?
Silk Blonde was the most unpredictable person I’d ever met.
Like Scarlet, she always got what she wanted, no matter the cost. But while Scarlet was constantly causing minor disturbances, Silk Blonde acted indifferent most of the time, only to cause massive problems occasionally.
Being around Scarlet was tiring, but being around Silk Blonde was life-threatening.
I pushed my chair back, creating enough space for her to exit. She crawled out from under the desk on all fours and then stretched like a cat.
“Mmm…”
Her arched back, her upturned ass, the flash of pale skin exposed by her riding-up t-shirt… it was the perfect feline stretch.
“Ah, that’s better.”
Having completed her stretch, Silk Blonde stood up and placed her hand on my shoulder. Her short, blonde hair smelled of expensive shampoo.
But there was an unbridgeable gap between us that couldn’t be closed by a pleasant scent or a casual touch, so I remained on guard.
“Faster, you look so skinny with your clothes on. Touching your shoulder always surprises me. You’re broader and more muscular than you look.”
Her slender fingers tapped my shoulder like she was playing the piano.
As she hummed a tune, mimicking musical scales, I frowned and asked again,
“So, how did you get in here? You know you’re not supposed to just barge in like this.”
“Faster, you’re so prickly. It’s been a while. Are you really that curious about how I got in?”
Curious? I needed to know how she got in to prevent it from happening again!
Thanks to its tight security, my office was one of the few places I could truly relax. I couldn’t allow this sanctuary to be invaded by a crazy S-rank Awakened.
I had to figure out how she’d gotten in and find a way to prevent it.
I lost my apartment. I couldn’t lose my office too, especially to a crazy bitch like her…!
As I glared at Silk Blonde, my eyes filled with suspicion, she smiled, amused, and placed her hand on my head. She stroked my hair and cheek, like she was petting a dog, and then, her hand resting on my cheek, she answered,
“I went to an A-rank dungeon for a walk recently. And I found the cutest little thing there. I’ll introduce you. Come on out, Ghosty.”
-Wooo…!
Silk Blonde cupped her hand around her mouth and called out a name, ‘Ghosty.’ The air vibrated, as if in response to an earthquake, and a translucent figure materialized, passing through the wall.
The creature, draped in a white sheet, looked like a ghost from a movie, floating in the air and settling beside Silk Blonde.
“Faster, meet my new family member, Ghosty. Ghosty, say hi to Faster.”
-Wooo…
Ghosty, as instructed, bobbed its head, or what I assumed was its head, in greeting. I awkwardly nodded back and then turned my attention to Silk Blonde.
“You can tame… that? I thought Taming only worked on living creatures.”
“Faster, that’s silly. Ghosty is alive. See? It’s breathing.”
-Whoooo…
As if to prove her point, Ghosty sent a gust of chilly air towards me. It was damp and musty, an unpleasant sensation against my skin.
Seeing Silk Blonde’s languid, innocent eyes, and Ghosty floating beside her, seemingly pleased, I sighed.
“Haa…”
Seeing Ghosty pass through the wall, undetected by the sensors, I had a pretty good idea how Silk Blonde had gotten in.
She’d used Ghosty’s ability, thanks to her Taming, to enter the room.
Silk Blonde was an Awakened who’d mastered ‘Taming.’
Taming was the ability to subdue and control monsters, a rare skill possessed by only a handful of Awakened. Tamed monsters obeyed their Tamer’s commands without question, even to the death.
It sounded like an overpowered ability, but there was a limit. Tamers couldn’t tame monsters stronger than themselves.
That’s why, despite their rarity, Tamers weren’t highly regarded.
So, most Tamers focused on developing combat abilities, using Taming as a secondary skill.
But Silk Blonde, currently petting Ghosty’s… head, was the only person who’d broken that limitation.
“Ghosty, that white sheet of yours is so charming. Can I pull on it?”
-Woo…?!
“It’ll disappear if I remove it? Hmm… That’s a shame. It would have made a nice tablecloth.”
Seeing her casually consider using a high-level monster, one that could bypass the sensors in my office designed by the Doctor, as a tablecloth, showed just how powerful Silk Blonde’s ability was.
Her Taming was so powerful that it was on a completely different level compared to regular Taming. Silk Blonde’s Taming had no limits.
She could tame anyone and anything, humans, Awakened, even high-ranking monsters.
And since she could also use the abilities of those she tamed, Silk Blonde, as a Tamer, was practically a living hypnosis app.
“So, Faster, why didn’t you come to work yesterday?”
Silk Blonde’s question interrupted my thoughts. She was stroking Ghosty’s sheet, not even looking at me.
She might have seemed indifferent, but I knew she was watching me through Ghosty’s eyes. She was pretending to be indifferent to make me lower my guard.
But how did she know I didn’t come to work yesterday?
Silk Blonde was the leader of Liar’s Trap Team 3, and she was also the only Awakened in her team. If she tamed any of the other guild members, it would be a disaster.
For that reason, Team 3 was isolated from the rest of Liar’s Trap, even having their own separate building.
So how did she know I’d missed a single day of work, from so far away?
The answer, delivered in Silk Blonde’s languid yet chilling voice, amidst the eerie atmosphere created by Ghosty, made my blood run cold.
“Well… I was waiting for you under your desk since before work yesterday, hoping to surprise you. So of course I know.”
“Excuse me?”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
She’d been under my desk since yesterday morning? Until just now?
“Why?”
“Because you don’t want to be my family. I thought you might be happy if I became your family.”
What the fuck?
To Silk Blonde, the word ‘family’ had a different meaning. To her, ‘family’ meant… pets.
Silk Blonde was the illegitimate daughter of a maid in the Blonde family.
She’d been raised as a pet, not a child, and the equation ‘family = pet’ had become ingrained in her mind… or so she’d told me once.
Silk Blonde, her eyes now devoid of light, looked at me and sat down on my lap. Behind her, Ghosty was conjuring ominous-looking blue chains.
“Faster, did you decide to become someone else’s family? Is that why you didn’t come to work yesterday?”
“Excuse me?”
“You smell… fresh. Like Lapis Julie… Are you going to become Lapis Julie’s family? If you are… I might be a little upset.”
Ghosty’s chains, like thorny vines, had filled the office, a clear threat to destroy everything if I made a wrong move.
As I froze, intimidated by the display, Silk Blonde smiled and pulled a dog collar out of her pocket.
“Faster, this is a gift. Will you wear it for me?”
Surprisingly, I knew why she was so obsessed with me, despite having lost interest in humans after a traumatic experience in her childhood. I didn’t understand why the other women were obsessed with me, but I knew exactly why Silk Blonde was.
It was because…
“You’re the only one I can’t tame. I’d be so happy if you became my family.”
For some reason, her Taming didn’t work on me.
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You bet, how could that be?
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