CHAPTER 350: MIND CONTROL

"So did it work out?" I ask Hana as she gives me a huge smile.

"Of course, Tsubasa," she says as I let out a sigh of relief. Hana and I had been trying something for a while now.

Since that hellish training with the Royal Guard Commander began, I’ve been giving small assists to Yuberta so my unique ability can take effect.

Thanks to my [Hero’s Influence] ability, where everyone I "save" is influenced by gratitude, and if I don’t accept, I can slowly turn the person into a slave, I had an idea.

Hana has a unique mind control ability, but the person needs to answer a question she asks. So why don’t we work together? If I get the person to answer Hana’s question, Hana can control that person’s mind.

The two of us are a perfect team together, we overcome our individual weaknesses. And the first test was with Yuberta. As the Royal Guard Commander, she’s very strong.

She would probably instinctively refuse to answer Hana’s question, and since Hana only has one chance, it wasn’t worth trying. So the method was for me to first influence her by helping with small things.

That way, I gradually built up gratitude, and what I asked was just that she answer a question from Hana. Due to my ability, we figured she wouldn’t refuse.

"So Hana, is Yuberta your slave now?" I ask to confirm.

"Yes, she answered the question and is now my slave," she says as the door opens and Yuberta enters, but she has a vacant look and doesn’t say a word.

"At least it worked out. We spent a lot of time on this, and if it had failed, it would have been a problem."

"I agree, Tsubasa. Although this method only works if we work together for a while, so we can only use it on really strong people so we don’t waste time." She speaks while I decide to ask.

"Hana, what’s your current level?" I’m curious.

"Maximum level. I’m guessing you’re also at maximum level, right? Most of us have already reached that, Yuberta’s training is very effective in that sense." Hana speaks, and I agree. It’s a hellish training, but without a doubt, we’ve become much stronger since she started training us. She can be even more rigid than Pandora.

"Too bad you’ve already used up the question on important people like Director Akari, Pandora, and other key members of the academy," I tell Hana, who nods.

"You’re right... we should have thought ahead to use our unique abilities together. We could have taken control of them and would have even more strength." I agree with her.

"So, has your crush already passed?" Hana asks with interest as she sits on my bed.

"...I’m still interested in her," I say, looking at Yuberta and seeing how that powerful woman is now a mere puppet of Hana.

"Seriously? Hahaha, Tsubasa, if you weren’t my brother, I’d be sure your tastes are horrible. Pandora is kind of too goth and gloomy to fall in love with, isn’t she?"

"Especially after that training in that dungeon. I swore someone was going to die in that training. Unlike Yuberta’s training, which is at least safe, Pandora’s training was genuinely dangerous for us." Hana says with a smile.

"You know how it is, right? She’s interesting. If you at least hadn’t wasted your question, we could have had control of her too."

Although my ability allows me to enslave others, it’s not as efficient as Hana’s.

Hana’s ability is perfect individual mind control, while mine is a "mass mind control" that works through influence and gratitude, but doesn’t control 100% of the will of those affected.

"Seriously, I don’t understand you. Liking a girl with an uncertain lifespan, a horrible personality, and an appearance that looks like she came straight out of a horror movie. Our parents would be disappointed in you... or not? After all, she’s pretty rich," she says with irony.

"Don’t try to judge me so much, sis. You also use your ability to sleep with guys you find interesting," I say as she just gives a sarcastic laugh.

"Of course, I have the power, so why wouldn’t I use it? Anyway, Yuberta is now under our control, but it would be suspicious if she stopped acting like before, so I can’t stop this horrible training."

"But since she’s under our control now, we can have advantages that others don’t."

"I agree. It would be suspicious if she stopped acting as she does now, so we can only use the advantages that don’t seem like a problem for us." I agree with her as I throw myself on my bed.

"What good does Yuberta have?" I ask this important question. Now everything Yuberta has belongs to us since we’re controlling her.

"She’s very rich, has a lot of magical artifacts, potions, weapons, and armor, among many other things, and also has a small private army that we can now use."

"Oh, it’s more than expected. The way she is so rigid, I thought she’d live with the bare minimum. If she has all this, then we have some good advantages to take advantage of." I say as she agrees with me.

"Definitely. And she also has good grimoires. We can ask Yuberta to bring us all these books so we can learn a lot of new spells."

"...Hana, what do you think about the war? Are you calm or nervous about it?"

I honestly don’t know what to think. I don’t think it will be too difficult, but I also don’t think it will be easy.

Normal enemies won’t be a problem, but the Demon King... that thing won’t be easy to defeat at all. Just the fact that they need so many heroes in each summoning shows this.

"Ah, I don’t know. Well, I have a gigantic amount of people under my control, and I plan to use everything I can as a shield. But it’s hard to deduce how dangerous this war will be."

"Plus, idiots never stop being idiots. Many of those stupid people who will be our allies don’t have the intelligence you’d expect from someone going to war," Hana points out a complicated issue.

"I agree. We’re all heroes, but it’s obvious they don’t have the tactical thinking that’s necessary in a war... although Yuberta’s training may have changed that," I say as Hana shivers.

"Maybe. Yuberta is quite severe and has trained many in different areas she said are more appropriate. So it’s a possibility, although we’ve already seen the Demon King in that live stream Vanessa did." Hana remembers that scene.

"It wasn’t very pleasant. She tortured her in a pretty... monstrous way, so she’s quite unpredictable." I say what I think of that.

"By the way, isn’t it crazy how the Demon King is ridiculously similar to Grand Duchess Pandora? Not only in appearance, but even the name... and the strangest thing is, you can’t link the two as the same being."

"Grand Duchess Pandora was born long before the Demon King, and books about other Demon Kings show it’s not uncommon for a Demon King to have an appearance that resembles a human with non-human traits."

"Although most Demon Kings are hideous monsters..." Hana says something that isn’t often mentioned.

"Really..." It’s almost too crazy. Many data are incomplete. They say many Demon Kings can resemble some human, but many Demon Kings have bizarre forms, and so many records are incomplete that it leaves the history confusing and difficult to verify.

"Although Grand Duchess Pandora doesn’t have the aura and magic of a demon, which exonerates her from anything, leaving it all as a strange twist of fate."

It’s madness how everything connects her as a suspect, but so much also exonerates her. After all, a person can’t be judged as a criminal just because of their appearance, and there’s the "Doppelganger Theory" that says with billions of people in the world, there can always be someone identical to you.

"Anyway, leaving my love interest, the war, and all this stuff aside, there are things I want to do and I need to get out of the castle, so work your magic and have Yuberta release me." I say as she looks at me for a moment.

"Don’t give me orders like it’s that simple. Don’t get too comfortable, because I’m not just going to do things like that. So moderate your requests a bit, and if you’re going to ask for something, make a list of everything so I don’t have to keep coming to see you." She complains to me.

"Okay, I’ll limit myself a bit. So will this exit pass be done?"

"Yes, it will be done, but I have to go now, or it might seem suspicious since Yuberta has kept us separated outside of training, and me being here could seem strange. So have a good night, and I’ll try to use my ability on one more person."

"Okay, if you find any interesting strong ones, let’s repeat what we did with Yuberta." I say as she leaves through the door.

"Of course, just don’t get lost in your strange crush," she says with the natural sibling teasing as she closes the door behind her.

’How many people does Hana have under mental control?’ I don’t know the exact number, but I know Hana has many. She’s always using her ability when she has the time.

Whether it’s normal people, soldiers, nobles, students, or others she encounters, she must already have a small army of people under her control. Her ability may be somewhat limited, but over time she can control massive amounts of people.