Chapter 876: Whipping Role (2)

After alternating meetings with the Geumhyang sisters one by one and completing a certain amount of training, the clock in reality had already turned to 4 PM.

Since I started at 2 AM yesterday, it counted as having used almost an entire day. Of course, the perceived time I actually experienced would naturally be several times more than that.

‘Because I spent hours going in and out of Belle’s dungeon, dealing with the two women.’

Geum Dallae, who was the first one captured, must have experienced a full two weeks of perceived time. And Geum Jangmi, who was kidnapped and imprisoned around morning a few hours later, probably experienced about a week of perceived time too.

And I too, going back and forth into and out of the dungeon, must have spent at least three to four days in perceived time.

Due to fatigue, it reached the point where I had to take a rest inside Belle’s dungeon, while maintaining the torture of Geum Jangmi and Geum Dallae. If I happened to fall asleep in reality, several days would pass in an instant inside Belle’s dungeon, so it was an unavoidable measure.

‘Still, if it’s this much, it seems like I’ve done enough training within my limits.’

Since I’ve roughly grasped the direction for training the two women, it was time to gradually replace the role of their manager. Because it wasn’t feasible for me to manage those women 24 hours a day (576 hours, to be exact) indefinitely. While a lot of tasks needed to be done immediately, being away from here for several more days was a bit burdensome.

Of course, even so, I couldn’t completely abandon the two women. Because even if left alone for just one day while maintaining the various measures I had taken on them now, Geum Jangmi and Geum Dallae would either die from starvation, die from lack of sleep, or die from a blocked bladder.

Of course, if they seemed like they would really die, I would take measures with Belle’s power, but creating such a situation itself was not ideal training. Ultimately, the object of their fear and the one they must sincerely follow had to be me.

Therefore, from now on, I intended to subcontract the manager role. I needed someone who had accumulated enough against the two sisters of the Geumhyang Group to have no reservations about torturing and restraining them, someone who would never betray me and faithfully follow my orders.

Of course, there were various other conditions, but the only person who satisfied all of them was Eunbyul.

‘Even if I just teach her how to handle the tortures I’ve done so far, she’ll probably manage it well on her own.’

It didn’t matter if she wasn’t particularly familiar with it. Even if she couldn’t control the intensity of the torture, Belle would prevent them from dying by mistake.

The remaining time needed for training the two women was about two and a half days. The reason I could obtain such specific information was largely due to the contents of the document Geum Dallae had written down.

「The servants of the Geumhyang new family all receive training. Check on the whereabouts of myself, Geum Dallae, the owner of the mansion, and Geum Jangmi. And if it’s presumed that something is wrong with their whereabouts for more than three days, you must unconditionally start a search without needing further orders.」

According to what she wrote, it meant that the full investigation network wouldn’t start moving until three days after the day Geum Jangmi and Geum Dallae left the mansion overnight. Just in case, when I asked about the foundation’s dungeon management, I got a similar answer back that they start searching around three days after someone goes missing.

It might seem strange that the foundation managing the dungeons only starts searching for missing persons on the third day, but in the first place, for high-level hunters, spending a night or two outside the dungeon wasn’t a particularly rare occurrence. There were quite a few dungeons whose structure was complex, or of the type where one couldn’t go deep inside without resting.

And if an investigation were to start, the fact that Geum Jangmi entered the ‘Forest of Specters’ when she disappeared would likely be revealed, and coincidentally, the investigation net would also narrow down on Union Hunter Kim Sungchul, who passed through the ‘Forest of Specters’ on the same date. Given the foundation’s power, requesting cooperation from the Union or similar guilds wouldn’t be that difficult.

‘If possible, I don’t want to cause trouble to that extent.’

While I would be released due to insufficient evidence regarding the kidnapping or harm to Geum Jangmi, the problem was that my auxiliary identity would be exposed if the situation escalated this far. Although those who needed to know were aware of my dual identity to some extent, it was still a part that hadn’t been publicly revealed. Naturally, having this dual identity exposed was not a good situation at all. Anyway, once suspicion started, it was enough to be framed as the culprit, even without clear evidence.

Therefore, I had to somehow control the situation to prevent the controversy itself from arising before the investigation began. The best outcome would be for either Geum Jangmi or Geum Dallae to appear and testify that ‘nothing particular happened’.

Of course, taming both women in three days would be impossible, but a period of nearly two months would be sufficient in many ways.

‘No. 2 is already in a state of being half-tamed.’

In fact, for No. 2, there wouldn’t have been much of an issue even if I took her out right now and had her carry out the orders I’m thinking of. Excluding the very slight remaining element of uncertainty.

People’s minds change like when entering and exiting the restroom. Once released freely, it was unknown if she would act impulsively and put me in a difficult situation when told to do what I ordered.

Conversely, in the case of No. 1, although she’s been squawking non-stop for a week since being captured, it was unknown if she could become a more faithful model prisoner than No. 2 starting from some trigger.

Anyway, two months was enough time to try various situations and things. To verify their loyalty towards me in various extreme situations.

Would they choose to escape when given the chance?

When given temporary freedom, would they really return to prison again?

Can they blindly trust and follow me, even if I deceive them?

Since training close to brainwashing would be necessary, I decided to utilize all the given time for now. If possible, I would focus on training No. 2, but only to the extent of looking for some potential from No. 1 as well.

And who knows. No. 2, thinking her position is threatened by No. 1, might wag her tail even more to gain my trust.

‘By now, both of them are probably questioning why no one is coming to rescue them.’

No. 1’s perceived time was about a week, and what No. 2 experienced was about twice that. It was enough time for thoughts like, ‘Why aren’t they coming to rescue me yet?’ or ‘Has Geumhyang really abandoned me?’ to arise in their minds.

Of course, since less than a full day had passed in reality, it was natural that help couldn’t arrive. If I hadn’t captured Geum Jangmi on time, it was possible that the search for Geum Dallae’s disappearance would have started perhaps even this evening… but that future had already been made impossible.

Therefore, the two people must have conversely started harboring different questions in their minds. More precisely, reasons like why they were abandoned by Geumhyang.

The most plausible reason was, after all, making them think that they were no longer needed by Geumhyang. In other words, it meant the case where Geumhyang’s successor had been completely decided. If someone among the three sisters Geum Taehyang mentioned initially was definitively chosen as the successor, there would be no reason for Geumhyang to protect the other two sisters.

The best way to amplify such suspicions was precisely the appearance of Eunbyul and Geum Nari.

‘Although Eunbyul said she was stripped of her successor position…’

Both Geum Jangmi and Geum Dallae probably continued to keep Geum Nari in check in a corner of their hearts. Trying to forcibly kidnap and detain Geum Nari, and using phantom pain and memory erasure to manipulate her as they pleased, was all part of that inner anxiety.

It didn’t particularly matter whether Geum Taehyang had truly disqualified Geum Nari or if it was just talk. What mattered was that the thought that such a possibility might exist had occurred in the minds of Geum Jangmi and Geum Dallae. And once that possibility was shown right before their eyes as if it had become reality, handling the two women would become much easier.

Therefore, as soon as I came out of the dungeon, I first went down to the lower floor and looked for Eunbyul. Around this time, Eunbyul would have finished her chores and would be resting. Since there were still more than two hours left until Min-ah or the twins finished work, the conditions were favorable in many ways for talking with her alone.

“…Wh-what did you just say, Master?”

“Stop playing the maid role for a moment, and instead, can you try playing the role of my Master temporarily?”

“…I’m sorry. I still cannot understand.”

Starting with explaining to Eunbyul the task of entrusting her with the management of the two women was not an easy task.