episode_0033

During that time, after much deliberation, I decided to conduct an experiment to verify if this hypnosis actually worked.

There were several reasons, but as the saying goes, “seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times” [a proverb emphasizing the value of direct experience over hearsay], I believed experiencing it firsthand was the best method, rather than just reading about it.

Once I decided to experiment with hypnosis, I needed a subject (involuntary) to test it on.

And the first subject I chose was…

“Vegetables are cheap today~”

It was the vegetable seller over there.

You might ask why the experiment subject isn’t a curvaceous college Nuna, but suddenly some middle-aged woman.

Naturally, there were several reasons for this.

First, in my memory, that woman is good at taking lewd or strange jokes from older men or children.

It was, in fact, one of the biggest reasons.

Even if I failed miserably, she would just think it was a normal joke.

Of course, news of me playing such tricks might reach the mothers.

But think about it. If I hypnotized a college student and failed, what would happen? At the very least, I’d probably end up in a detention center.

The second reason was that the book stated hypnosis might work better depending on age, and I wanted to confirm if that was true.

I’ll compare this with subjects of other age groups later.

Finally, the third reason was…

‘That woman is what you’d call a “Too Much Talker.”‘

And among middle-aged women, being a “Too Much Talker” meant there was a high probability of possessing various local information that kids like me wouldn’t know.

It’s always best to get local information from talkative women like her.

If I could persuade a woman like her well with hypnosis, I could obtain various pieces of information.

Of course, I’d have to verify if it was truly factual, but even just this made her worth hypnotizing.

I had made up my mind to hypnotize her, but…

‘Is she really a Too Much Talker?’

What kind of customers kept coming without a break?

Despite waiting for a whopping two hours, there were still people.

Therefore, I had no choice but to change my plan.

‘I’ll come when she’s closing. Then the people will be gone.’

After that, I wandered around for a long time and finally returned, just barely able to see the vegetable seller about to close up shop.

“Oh my, you’re leaving work now, it seems…”

“Hoho. That’s right. Ah, speaking of which. Satoshi from the Udon shop…”

Seeing her receive greetings even while closing the shop confirmed that she was extremely popular.

She even received greetings and continued the conversation like that.

‘Amazing.’

She was the kind of person I, someone like me, could never keep up with.

‘Still, I have to do what I set out to do…’

Anyway, after this, she’d immediately go home, so there wouldn’t be time to do anything.

Thinking that to myself, I decided to be brazen.

“Yumiko-ajumma~”

I called out to the vegetable seller who was about to close her shop and leave work, no, Yumiko-ajumma.

The woman looked at me with a surprised expression as I raised my hand in greeting.

“Oh my, is that Takuyakun? What brings you here at this hour~ Oh, speaking of which. Please tell Ms. Ayaka that I enjoyed the drink she gave me last time, and also…”

As expected of a Too Much Talker, the woman began to pour out words in a rush.

The woman was a bit overwhelming, but I slowly built up to the hypnosis.

“Yes, yes. I’ll tell her everything. Ah! Speaking of which, I learned something while reading a book today, would you like to see it?”

“Takuyakun read a book?”

“Am I not the kind of man who gets things done when he sets his mind to it!”

“Hoho. If you say it like that, I’m curious what Takuyakun learned, aren’t I?”

Yumiko-ajumma probably said it without much thought, but it was the perfect bait for me.

Before Yumiko-ajumma could move on to the next topic, I quickly seized on her words.

“Then I’d like to show you what I learned today. Do you have time?”

At my words, the woman seemed quite intrigued and laughed “hoho,” signaling her assent.

“Hoho. Well, it’s quitting time. Shall we take a quick look?”

“It might take a while, so let’s go to the park.”

“Alright. Hoho!”

The woman and I then headed to the park.

***

Sato Yumiko, whom Takuya called Yumiko-ajumma, watched the energetic young man walking ahead with an intrigued expression.

And rightly so, as the identity of that young man was Mori Takuya, one of the village’s troublemakers and the most notorious.

The child named Takuya was such a prankster that the phrase “village rascal” naturally came to mind.

He had the crazy audacity to ice-skate (lift skirts) of not only nearby female students but even middle-aged women,

And sometimes, he was a rascal who ran around the streets stealing a few vegetables or fish.

Of course, this alone was bad enough, but Takuya, whether cunning or smart, never escalated beyond a certain level, so the villagers decided to just put up with his occasional pranks.

After all, Takuya and his mother would always come back to pay for the stolen vegetables or fish and even apologize.

Despite being that kind of Takuya, another rumor had been circulating recently.

[You know that child, Takuya from the Mori family.]

[Ah, that rascal, you mean?]

[Yes, yes. But they say that child has changed recently.]

[Changed, you say… surely not…?!]

[No, not that, but they say he’s changed for the better?]

It was the unbelievable rumor that he had reformed.

It was easy to understand why this rumor was hard to believe if one considered his usual behavior.

[Ice-skate! Hehe! It’s purple today, Ajumma!!]

[Youuu!! Stop right there!!]

Not only did he tease people like this while running away, but he also went around telling everyone in the neighborhood the color of their underwear. He was truly a rogue.

That such a child had reformed! Yumiko thought it was a ridiculous rumor inwardly and just humored it appropriately before moving on to another topic.

That’s why she was surprised when she met Takuya today.

His appearance was the same as before, but strangely, his aura was different.

If he was just a physically grown perverted brat before, now, unlike in the past, a certain maturity emanated from his actions.

Anyway, so much had changed.

[Yes, yes. I’ll tell her everything. Ah! Speaking of which, I learned something while reading a book today, would you like to see it?]

Normally, he would pick his ear, say “yeah, yeah,” and acknowledge her words.

[Am I not the kind of man who gets things done when he sets his mind to it!]

His somewhat swaggering and sarcastic tone was now manly and confident.

[It might take a while, so let’s go to the park.]

On top of that, a consideration not typical of a student.

Everything indicated that Takuya had changed.

Honestly, it was a completely unbelievable story at first, but seeing it in person, Takuya had indeed changed.

That’s why it was even more puzzling.

Because there was no reason for Takuya to change recently.

There had been no major incidents involving Takuya, or rather, in the village itself.

If anything, perhaps the Nakamura family’s goat escaping and eating all the crops?

It was hard to believe that Takuya had simply realized something on his own and changed like this.

Naturally, Takuya’s appearance sparked Yumiko’s curiosity, but she appropriately kept her mouth shut.

At the very least, she felt she shouldn’t cross the line.

Just like the fact that Takuya’s household had two mothers.

‘In a way, he’s truly a pitiful child. Abandoned by his own father.’

Thinking that, and feeling sad for a moment while looking at Takuya’s back.

Takuya and Yumiko, having arrived at a nearby park, sat on a bench where few people came and continued to have various conversations.

Things like recent events and incidents.

In this regard, she was truly a Too Much Talker who would never change.

Fortunately, they were able to get to the main point before Takuya’s energy was completely drained by such conversation.

As they moved to the main topic, Takuya took out a coin with a string tied through the middle from his pocket and spoke.

“Ajumma, what I learned is… hypnosis~”

Upon hearing Takuya’s words, Yumiko couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.

Thinking, ‘No matter how much a person changes, a prankster is still a prankster.’

Takuya confidently said, showing the coin,

“They say if you concentrate on this coin for about 5 seconds, you’ll be hypnotized!”

At his words, Yumiko chuckled and said,

“Hoho. So, you’re planning to hypnotize Ajumma with this?”

“Well, something like that, yes?”

“That sounds fun. Go ahead and try it.”

Of course, she wouldn’t fall for hypnosis, so she planned to just play along for a bit, then say she hadn’t been hypnotized.

“As you look at this coin, your consciousness will slowly sink, and your mind will become at peace.”

But strangely, the more she focused on the coin Takuya was swinging, the more her mind felt hazy, and a moment later.

Takuya, noticing that Yumiko-ajumma’s eyes had become unfocused, spoke.

“Ajumma?”

“Yes…”

“Could you possibly lift your left arm?”

“Understood…”

The woman raised her left arm as Takuya commanded, and seeing this, Takuya grinned cunningly.

‘Just as planned!’

Fortunately, the hypnosis was real.