Chapter 172: Don’t Mess with My Food 5
In the Hunter world, there’s a term called [Hunter Cells].
However, despite the name, it's more than just cells; it's actually an ultra-fine mana cube, a particle-level structure where mana is bound together into a physical form.
This mana cube, called a Hunter Cell, was about the size of a human ovum and was the smallest unit of mana that could be controlled.
The problem, though, was that its size was small and the cohesion of the mana was unstable, so Awakened beings who possessed it were usually judged to have no real abilities.
For instance, Yeonhwa, an S-rank ice user, had mana that could transform into frost and ice, radiating cold power itself.
An A-rank fire user’s mana could gather and shimmer around the caster like a soccer ball.
But those with Hunter Cells were often treated as non-powered beings, with only a slight increase in physical abilities.
At best, they were seen as fortunate if they could make it to C-rank as Hunters.
However, even among those with Hunter Cells, there were a few exceptionally unique individuals, classified by the Hunter Association as Cognitive Degradation Inducers.
Commonly, they were referred to as brainwashers and hypnotists.
Typically, hypnotists and brainwashers have triggers for activating their curses, such as eye contact or a snapping sound.
In practice, however, they curse a person, impairing their brain function to paralyze reasoning and cognitive abilities and guide them according to the caster’s intent.
When ordinary mana takes on a physical form, it produces friction and impact upon colliding with the human body.
However, because [Hunter Cells] were so small and able to bypass physical resistance, they could infiltrate the target’s body, paralyzing portions of the brain cells.
They momentarily decrease the brain function of the target to an extreme degree, impairing cognitive abilities and causing hallucinations.
No matter how strange the person’s behavior becomes, they remain unaware that anything is wrong.
"Hmm, I see. So, if you mix these Hunter Cells into food or drink for the target, the curse activation condition is complete. And this strange symbol saved on your smartwatch here is the curse trigger, correct?"
"Y-yes, that’s right! So please, just let me go…”
The man clung to her feet, but Lirisia seemed unimpressed, spinning her finger in a circle.
The tentacle followed her finger’s direction, twisting the man’s arm like a screwdriver.
Crunch!
"Aarghhhhhh!"
"Shh, you’ll wake the children. Be quiet."
His arm had turned a full 200 degrees; how could anyone possibly hold back a scream?
The man, his face twisted with pain, looked as if he was halfway out of his mind.
"P-please, please, spare me. I’m sorry, I was wrong..."
"We were only doing as we were told."
"Please, forgive us. We didn’t mean it..."
The men realized.
This black-haired woman was an absolute force.
She was far superior to the Awakened one who had given them orders.
Whether she was S-rank or A-rank didn’t matter; the point was clear.
This woman could kill them more effortlessly than squashing a bug.
Seeing the men’s horrified expressions, Lirisia chuckled, lifting the corners of her mouth.
"Oh, come on, it’s not like I’m some murderer who’d kill you all for no reason."
She didn’t say she wouldn’t continue the torture, but the three men remained terrified.
"I swear on the name of the Witch, I won’t kill you."
“T-then the torture…”
[Miracle - Silence]
"Too much talking. I’m in the middle of speaking, aren’t I?"
“Mmph!? Mmm…”
“Mmm…”
As the Saintess of Flesh, Lirisia was now unable to use most miracles similar to [Great Burst].
However, she still had access to basic miracles that any being with holy power could use.
"As I said, I’ll let you go alive."
“Mmm…”
Her hand caressed the man’s cheek as if comforting an orphan, exuding an oddly saintly gentleness.
Of course, the monstrous tentacles writhing behind her and her pitch-black eyes made her look far more like a witch than a saint.
"Now then… let me ask you in advance. Who would like to confess? Raise your hand!"
'Hand...?'
'Huh?'
'Uhh…'
In that moment, the men realized.
Their arms had long been twisted out of place by the Witch’s black tentacles.
Raise a hand?
They physically couldn’t.
“No one’s raising their hand? So, no confessions?”
“Mmm! Mmph!”
“Mmm!”
The men finally understood.
This woman had never intended to release them unharmed in the first place.
Lirisia, unconcerned, closed her eyes with a playful smile, as if disappointed.
"While I was bringing you here, I saw something interesting."
Inter…esting?
"Originally, I was a Saintess who could look into and embrace people’s hearts."
Though now I’m a Witch. Kyahaha!
Laughing to herself, Lirisia’s jet-black hair fluttered in the wind.
The men felt as though her image overlapped with the tentacles that had twisted their arms.
"Guess what I saw?"
"Mmmph…"
"Mmph…”
How could we possibly know…!
They glared at her in protest, but Lirisia’s smile only grew more amused.
"The memories and thoughts within you."
"...!"
C-could she mean our families…!?
"And let’s say… your more secret preferences."
"Mmph?"
"Mmmph..."
At her words, the men’s eyes darted up to look at her.
W-what? Secret preferences?
Oh, she’s lying... it has to be.
As they were busy denying the reality, Lirisia’s tentacles roughly seized their heads.
“Ugh!?”
“Guh…”
“Mmph...!”
Normally, she would have crushed their brains with her tentacles and extracted their memories, but as she had sworn not to kill them, she planned to only scan their memories briefly.
"Let’s see… you like younger types... and oh my, this one likes stealing married women away while their husbands are at work… ugh. Well, tastes vary..."
"...!"
"Mmph!?”
Two of the men’s faces turned pale with horror.
They were far more terrified by a stranger peering into their hidden sexual preferences than by their arms being twisted.
"And as for you... I’m your ‘type’? Wow, that’s... gross..."
Thud!
"Guh… mmm..."
With a look of disgust, Lirisia stomped on the last man’s hand, cracking each finger meticulously.
The man could feel his bones splintering as he silently screamed.
Goddammit, what the hell…!
"Wow, you’re all just... something else. And you even acted on those preferences once or twice in reality. This place really is a gathering spot for criminals, not a supplies company."
Lirisia sighed shortly.
“Anyway, I swore not to kill you, so I won’t break that oath. But in exchange, I have in my hands evidence of your private inclinations, and proof to back it up.”
Evidence?
What kind of evidence...
‘Huh? My smartwatch…?’
'What…!?'
The men noticed the smartwatches that should have been on their wrists were now in Lirisia’s hands.
It shouldn’t matter, though.
Smartwatches required genetic verification to access.
It wasn’t as if anyone could just pick it up and use it.
Beep.
“Oh, it opened right away?”
‘!?’
'Why did it open!?'
'Could she be... a body-shifter!?'
It reminded them of a case they’d heard of—an Awakened being with physical-shifting abilities had once mimicked someone’s fingerprints and eyes to rob safes and empty bank accounts.
If this black-haired woman was a body-shifter who could alter her fingerprints and irises at will, then a biometric smartwatch would be no obstacle.
In reality, it was easy for Lirisia to alter her body slightly, and she had learned to access personal clouds and operate smartwatches ages ago.
'That otaku elf insisted on showing me those touching animes and opened her cloud to share them all day long; it’d be strange if I didn’t pick up a thing or two.'
Brivie’s otaku influence had made it impossible for Lirisia to avoid learning how to use smartwatches.
She might even know more about them than the Saintess of the Dead, Shia.
“Oh, don’t look so shocked. Who uses outdated biometric cloud locks in this day and age? Or if you must keep stuff in the cloud, at least have a different storage system. Honestly, all three of you have everything in your cloud?”
“Mmph!”
"Guh!"
What do you plan to do with that!?
Even without reading their minds, the men’s faces revealed their heightened anxiety.
"So! The reason I’m showing you all this so kindly is…”
Lirisia said, as she opened the hologram contacts on the smartwatch.
"...!”
“Mmph!”
“Oh, your voices keep leaking out.”
[Miracle - Silence]
Realizing what Lirisia intended to do, the men desperately crawled toward her, pleading in silence, but she muted them again with another Miracle of Silence.
"I’ll ask you some questions."
"...!"
"And for every question you don’t answer, I’ll send all your preferences to everyone on this contact list."
O-okay!
We’ll tell you everything!
The three men nodded frantically, more fearful of their dirty secrets being broadcast to family and friends than of their physical pain.
But
wait… we can’t even speak right now!
"...!"
"!!!"
"...!"
"Oh, why those faces? Didn’t I promise? I won’t kill you, remember?"
But how could we confess if you’ve silenced us, you crazy woman!?
"Given you’re all men in your prime, it’s natural to have these kinds of interests. It’s just that now your close ones will know exactly what you like."
Lirisia’s bright smile showed that she had never intended to show mercy from the beginning.
“After all, it’s not like you’re dying, right?”
“...Mmmph…”
“Since I’m such a kind witch, I’ll ask again one more time before we start. Anyone want to confess?”
This damn witch!
Let us speak if you want us to confess!
“Raise your hand? Or saying it is fine, too.”
"...!"
"...!!!"
"...!"
"Wow… I gave you such a generous opportunity, but you refuse to comply. You all have remarkable loyalty despite your tastes, huh?"
The expressions on the men’s faces looked as though each one wanted to hurl some choice words her way.
Ignoring them, Lirisia began transferring the various records stored on the men’s personal clouds to all their contacts simultaneously, manipulating the smartwatch hologram.
These included videos, messages, drawings, comics, and even videos they’d taken during various hunts.
“…!”
"!!!!!"
The three men hung their heads, overcome by silent weeping, as though they had lost everything.
Of course, thanks to the Miracle of Silence, there was no noise to disturb the silence as they wept.
Lirisia stepped back, looking satisfied.
“Well, your matters are now in the hands of the elves you were so eager to defile.”
“!?”
"...!”
Step, step.
"Are you alright?”
“Yes, we’re fine.”
“Thank you, Overseer Lirisia.”
“Ugh, the cruelty and greed of humans are absolutely repulsive…”
Just then, the elves to whom they had been delivering supplies appeared, and the men were shocked.
Why are the elves just fine?
Could they have never been hypnotized in the first place?
In reality, enough time had passed for the cognitive degradation effects on the elves to completely wear off.
“They might still have a brainwash symbol hidden inside them, so be cautious.”
"Oh, don’t worry. I’ve checked. There’s nothing to worry about.”
"...!!"
"!? What? Why are you all looking at me like that? Oh, do you want to tell me something in exchange for your lives?"
The men desperately nodded their heads.
Typically, a command to forget would have been embedded before cognitive degradation ended, but because Lirisia had taken them away mid-hypnosis test, the elves remembered everything that had happened to them.
With the elves’ memories intact, the men now faced an even greater danger than having their secrets exposed—they had to worry about their very survival.
"Hah, I didn’t think you’d be this foolish. Then again, maybe it’s because you’re so foolish that you kept pulling this stunt even after seeing Lygang’s explosion?”
True enough.
Because they were so foolish, they underestimated the elves, who were each at least A-rank, and thought they could control them with ease.
She’d soon be meeting the one who ordered them, but for now…
Lirisia shrugged, withdrawing her tentacles.
She had no intention of doing any more; she’d let the elves take it from here.
"I dragged you here and sifted through every single preference in your minds. Do you really think I wouldn’t have found the information I wanted? Did you think I couldn’t see it?”
"!?”
"...!”
“...!"
“You’re all giving me that ‘Why’d you go through all this trouble?’ look, right? Simple—I did it because it’s fun.”
Lirisia brushed her dark hair back with a chuckle, blocking the bright moonlight.
The shadow looked like a rippling veil, trapping the dawn in darkness.
“If you’re lucky, maybe the human side will take you to trial. Assuming someone who read my texts is still willing to defend you, of course.”
Hahahaha.
“Your body might experience a bit of ‘change,’ but I kept my promise, didn’t I? I didn’t kill you.”
With those words, Lirisia disappeared into the shadows.
The men stared blankly at the empty space she left behind.
This damn woman…
Sh*t...
We’re screwed...
Thus, the three men found themselves socially dead and perhaps soon to be physically dead as well.
Incidentally, Lirisia never released the Miracle of Silence she had cast on them till the very end.