Once I released the «Hypnosis» Skill, Lily immediately covered her face with both hands and crouched down. Her fair cheeks were flushed red, all the way to her ears.
“An eternal disgrace…! To think I would blurt out such embarrassing lines in front of an Idiot…!”
“Ah… sorry about that.”
It seemed she clearly remembered everything that happened while she was hypnotized. This was another difference from the «Brainwashing» Skill. When I used the «Brainwashing» Skill on Lily before, with Prince Lucas present, she didn’t retain any memories from when she was under brainwashing.
“Have no worries, Lily Puridi. I have not the slightest interest in how you feel about Hugh, nor do I intend to tell anyone. Just remember to invite me to the wedding as a friend.”
“Eee! Of course, I’ll invite you!”
I chuckled wryly at Lily’s desperate shout, and pondered. From what I could tell, there didn’t seem to be a limit to the number of people I could use the «Hypnosis» Skill on. However, in terms of coercive power, it definitely felt inferior to the «Brainwashing» Skill.
For example, if someone was standing in front of me with clear intent to kill me, raising a sword, and I used the «Hypnosis» Skill on them, would the descending sword stop?
Lily’s strong will to not run had repelled the «Hypnosis» Skill. There was a good chance that the «Hypnosis» Skill wouldn’t work on someone who was absolutely determined to kill me.
It would be best to avoid encountering such a situation, but you never know what might happen in life. It was entirely possible that Prince Lucas could fall from grace, my skills could be exposed, and I could be pursued by assassins.
Considering that switching to the «Hypnosis» Skill on a whim could have led to irreversible consequences, it was a big deal that I was able to test it beforehand and gain some knowledge.
Ahem, Lily cleared her throat ostentatiously.
“Well, I’ve got a general grasp of the «Hypnosis» Skill’s power. However, I don’t think it can replace the «Brainwashing» Skill… I suppose you could control someone’s actions if you were clever with how you used it, but the «Brainwashing» Skill is much more straightforward.”
“Yeah… Honestly, I don’t have the confidence to master it as well as the «Brainwashing» Skill.”
With its coercive power and immediacy, the «Brainwashing» Skill seemed easier to use.
After that, we tried out skills similar to the «Brainwashing» Skill, such as «Suggestion» and «Charm». They were all powerful skills that could influence others, but they still fell short compared to the «Brainwashing» Skill.
The «Brainwashing» Skill exerts its coercive power instantly on anyone you make eye contact with… The more I learned about other skills, the more its uniqueness and heinousness stood out, which was frightening.
“It’s almost time,” Lily said, looking towards the school building as we reached a stopping point.
The bell signaling the end of lunch break hadn’t rung yet, but the faculty housing was a bit far from the school building. If we headed back after the bell rang, we wouldn’t make it to the afternoon classes on time. We decided to end the «Brainwashing» Skill experiment and start heading back to the classroom.
“Thanks for helping me out, you two. I was able to learn a lot about the «Brainwashing» Skill thanks to you.”
“Fufu, ‘learn a lot’ is an apt way to put it.”
“You’ll be testing skills in a different direction next time, right? Feel free to call on me anytime.”
“I appreciate it, Idiot. I’d like to say tomorrow right away, but…”
Going off on my own with Rouge for two days in a row was a bit much… I didn’t want her to misunderstand and think I was avoiding her, and I also wanted to be with Rouge. Ideally, I’d like to deepen my understanding of the «Brainwashing» Skill a bit more before the Off-Campus Training Exercise, but it might be difficult.
“Is there no way to sneak out of the room at night?”
“That’s a bit difficult…”
I hoped she’d learned her lesson from this morning, but Rouge (Lucretia) would probably continue to sleep in my bed. It would be extremely difficult to slip out of bed at night without her noticing.
“What about during morning training… Alissa is there.”
“Well, Alissa-san does know that I can switch skills. But she doesn’t know that its true nature is the «Brainwashing» Skill.”
If Alissa-san knew about the «Brainwashing» Skill, she would probably cut me down without question. I could vaguely sense that she was the kind of person who would do that from our interactions so far. She was quite loyal to Prince Lucas, in her own way.
Prince Lucas knew about the «Brainwashing» Skill, so if I asked for his cooperation, he might be able to do something… No, in the first place, I needed to go through Alissa-san to make an appointment to see Prince Lucas. If I tried to make up some random reason to meet him, it would leave a bad impression.
“If mornings are difficult too, then it seems the only time I can use is during lunch.”
“That’s right. In the end, this would all be solved if I just confessed to Rouge about the «Brainwashing» Skill…”
I guess I have no choice but to somehow muster the courage and talk to her…
“But Rouge also knows that you can switch skills, right?”
“Ah, yeah. I used «Physical Enhancement» during the Inter-Class Tournament.”
When I rushed to Lily’s group after they were attacked by monsters in the forest, I used the «Physical Enhancement» contained within the «Ninja» Skill and ran while carrying Rouge. A lot happened after that, but when things calmed down, Rouge asked me about it, and I told her that I could switch my skills.
Like Alissa-san, she didn’t know that its true nature was the «Brainwashing» Skill.
“In that case, how about gaining knowledge through lectures for a while? You might find books about skills if you search the library. If you’re not using the «Brainwashing» Skill to switch skills, then it shouldn’t be a problem even if Rouge is there, right?”
“…! I see, that’s an option.”
The key was to not use the «Brainwashing» Skill. I had been so focused on actually testing it that the idea had completely slipped my mind.
If there were books that recorded the skills that existed in the past and their contents, the repertoire of skills I could switch to would expand dramatically. Of course, I wouldn’t know how they felt until I tried them out, but that could wait for another time.
What was important was that I wouldn’t have to hide from Rouge. I’ll try consulting Rouge as soon as I get back to the classroom.
Just as we entered the school building, the bell signaling the end of lunch break rang. In five minutes, another bell would ring to signal the start of the afternoon classes. We should be able to make it in time if we got here.
“Sorry, I need to use the restroom. You guys go on ahead.”
The Idiot rushed off to the restroom, so Lily and I headed to the classroom alone. On the way, we both stopped on the landing of the stairs.
Before returning to the classroom, there was something I wanted to talk to Lily about in private.
“Is there something at the Drefon Great Labyrinth?”