Faith, Lust, and Hypnosis

The next morning.

Gin woke up early in the morning just like yesterday. He went outside of the shed, took a deep breath of the fresh, morning air and exhaled through his mouth.

‘Things are gonna get hectic from now on.’

Gin did a little morning exercise until Coll came to greet him. They went inside the house and had breakfast together, except for Sera. She took her meal back into her room and made things awkward for him.

Though, Gin didn’t mind. He was determined to ‘change’ her mind about him one way or another.

‘Just you wait, I’m gonna change your attitude 180 degrees… when I figure it all out, of course.’

Gin had a pleasant chat with Coll and Teressa. He became much more confident once he realized both of them won’t do anything to harm him as long as he remained polite.

They would answer his questions with little to no hesitation. They spoke with sincerity and patience, explaining some basic concepts about the world one by one. They were strangers just a few days ago and now they are happily chatting, making jokes and laughing together.

Both Coll and Teressa’s Trust remained the same, 7 and 5 respectively but Gin could feel that their bonds were improving bit by bit.

“Alright lad, let’s depart to the village.”

“I’m ready.”

The boar’s corpse was hauled on top of a cart. There were unknown white powders sprinkled all over it, apparently it was used to prevent the boar from decomposing.

This way, people can deliver meat to even the most remote part of the world and still have it remain relatively fresh. Use of ice to keep things frozen was not a common practice, at least Coll and Teressa never heard of it being implemented in the village. They said it sounded like a wasteful thing to do.

Coll pulled the cart with the boar loaded in it. The journey to the village would take roughly 15 to 20 minutes long, the distance was indeed not too far.

‘I thought they wouldn’t have any idea how to count time. Not only was I wrong, but they also used the same system as my old one. This makes things simpler.’

“Are you not tired? Pulling this cart for half an hour seems daunting to me.”

“Nah, I’m used to it. It is also a good exercise, too. You should try it.”

“Sure… Maybe some other day.”

Exactly as Coll said, they arrived in the village not long after.

First thing Gin saw was a dozen children ranging from the age of 6 to 14 playing around the area. They seemed to be enjoying themselves before they noticed their presence.

“Look! Coll’s here!”

“Hey Coll! Wait— who’s that next to him?”

“He has black hair! Look!”

“You’re right! Wow, a black haired man!”

‘Is black hair rare in this world? Now that I think about it, Coll is brown haired while Teressa and Sera are blue haired. I hope they are not the discriminating type…’

“Hey kids! Let me introduce you all to Gin! It’s spelled G-I-N and not J-I-N, remember it well.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about Coll!”

“You know we can’t read right?”

“Speak for yourself, I CAN read!”

“What!? Really!?”

“…Only the first three alphabets for now.”

‘Well, they seemed like a nice bunch.‘

“Nice to meet you all. My name’s Gin. I was lost in the forest and Coll just happened to be there to save my life.”

“Right, kids. Be nice to Gin, okay? He’s in a bit of a pickle right now—“

‘Coll told the kids the ‘truth’ that I lost my memories and can’t remember anything beside my own name. I thought we were wasting too much time with them, but the kids were shockingly understanding. They nodded and went back home to tell their parents about me. That way we won’t have to explain it all over again every time we meet someone new.’

There was also the fact that the kids believed Coll’s words straightaway without questioning him. It seemed like Coll had quite a status within the village.

Coll beckoned him to follow. Their first destination was to sell the boar’s meat to the butcher.

‘Wow, look at this guy. He’s gigantic. An absolute unit.’

The butcher was bald and fat, terrifyingly so. Simply being in his presence made Gin afraid that the butcher might fall down and die any moment from heart failure.

Gin and the butcher didn’t speak much despite being a new face in the village. Gin didn’t even bother to check the butcher’s stats or put him under ‘Minor Hypnosis’. With such a limited resource on hand, he had no plans to use them on just any random person.

Coll traded the boar for money and then they were off to the next destination.

They visited the grocery store to buy some vegetables and fruits, then the smithy to buy some quality arrows, and finally—

‘Is this the training ground?’

The training ground was nothing more than a large field with rows of strawmans placed on the side. Gin could see some broken strawmans and pieces of wood scattered across the field. On the opposite side of the field stood a man with brown hair, talking with a group of teenagers ranging from the age of 14 to 18.

The brown haired man was holding a wooden sword, he took a stance with the sword and swung them around while the teenagers were watching with serious faces. Gin noticed one of them was Sera along with her usual dirt and grime all over her body

“Are they training with the sword over there?”

“Yeah. See that man swinging the wooden sword over there? He’s a veteran. Someone who went to war and survived to tell the tale. He came from the outside world, I was a young’un when he came to this village. He’s also Sera’s teacher.”

“Really? He does look like a veteran alright.”

“His name is Treo. He’s really good with the sword. He even taught me the basics for free even though I told him I have no intention to use the sword.”

‘I wonder if he would teach me some swordsmanship? Maybe I can learn the skill without having to spend any Faith points at all.’

Ping!

-Use 50 Faith points to obtain Elementary Swordsmanship skills?

‘Actually, maybe I can also learn Elementary Tracking skills without using the Faith points, but I’m afraid I can’t afford too much time to practice and screw around. I need it as soon as possible.’

Thus Gin had a lot of fun(?) getting to know some of the villagers and sightseeing the place. They came back home without any issues. Coll went to relax in the house while Gin decided to assist Teressa to gather woods and some herbs in the forest.

She taught him a bit how to recognize the plants of this world and their effects. Gin couldn’t think of a topic to talk about and did his work. Because of his help, Teressa could get home a bit earlier and earn some extra resting time. She was thankful for his help, but there was no increase in Trust.

‘It seems I have to put more effort to earn their Trust. The higher their Trust, the more likely for my hypnosis to work on them. Then I can probably kindly ‘suggest’ them to be more appreciative of me rather than just taking me as a freeloader and eating their hard earned food.’

That was the plan in Gin’s head anyway. It was a half baked plan. After all, Gin hadn’t ever gotten a single Faith point. He had no idea whether his plan would work. He simply had to try and see.

Ping!

-Use 20 Faith points to obtain Elementary Tracking skills?

Ping!

-20 Faith points have been consumed.

-You have obtained Elementary Tracking Lv.1.

Ping!

-You have unlocked the Skill tab.

Skills:
-Elementary Tracking Lv.1 (0.0%)

‘Now, my Faith points are less than half of what I started with. This better work…’

‘At least, if I screw this up, I can still rely on ‘Minor Hypnosis’ for a while to survive.’

…

…

The next morning.

‘How many days has it been? It’s been less than a week, but why do I feel like a month has passed?’

As usual, Gin woke up early and did a little warm up exercise to prepare himself for another hunt. It was something he and Coll planned to do yesterday.

Coll prepared his trusty bow and the arrows he just bought from the smithy. They had a quick breakfast made of bread and soup that Teressa cooked for them. Meanwhile, Sera was still asleep. Perhaps she exhausted herself from training the whole day yesterday.

“Are you ready, lad?”

“Yep. I’m super ready.”

“That’s the spirit!”

They left the house and began to walk deeper into the forest once more. Gin felt an odd excitement coming from his stomach. He was eager to try his new skill.

Gin’s eyes darted around the ground area. The Elementary Tracking skills forced down a bunch of knowledge and experience right into his brains. He had to endure a sharp, throbbing headache for a while before the pain subsided. In fact, he had a nosebleed as it happened.

It took a toll on his body and mind to process an entire year worth of experience.

Gin’s eyes turned sharp as he focused on a spot on the ground.

“I see a track here.”

“Huh?”

Coll turned around and followed Gin’s line of sight.

Sure enough, there was a footprint of an animal on closer look. It was an old one, covered by leaves and twigs. He wouldn’t be able to see it had Gin not pointed it out. It wasn’t the right track, but the fact that Gin could identify it in a glance was shocking to him.

“Huh? You’re right, lad. How did you notice that?”

“I listened to what you taught me and put it into practice.” Gin put on a proud smile while tapping his chest, “I’ve no clue what kind of animal this is, but I know it’s a track.”

“Really? You learn quickly! That’s impressive, lad!”

Ping!

-Coll is genuinely impressed by your action and praises you from the bottom of his heart.

Ping!

-Faith +10

Gin’s eyes almost popped out of its socket. He jumped while throwing a fist into the air, “That’s right baby! I’ve got this!”

“Whoa calm down, lad! You are scaring the animals away!”

“Oh, uh, sorry…”

Afterwards Gin asked Coll to let himself lead the way, to track the prey of the day. Coll naturally complied to his request obediently because of his 7 points of Trust and the influence of the hypnosis.

Coll described the characteristics of the animal track they were hunting, the shape and the unique details it has to Gin. Whether it was because of his own enthusiasm or the skills’ power or just pure luck, he managed to follow the track quite smoothly without issues.

With this Gin obtained more opportunity to show off his newfound skills and also earn more experience points at the same time.

There were some doubts in Coll’s mind. How would this newbie handle the hunt when he barely knows common sense? Yet he managed to track their prey, a hardtail deer with such confidence and ease. A deer with its tail covered in bony thorns, they saw one of them being eaten by the boar they hunted just two days ago.

Coll took the same bow stance just like with the boar. The hardtail deer’s hide wasn’t as thick as the boar’s. He didn’t need to use the poison at all.

Coll took aim, held his breath and released his fingers off the bowstring. The arrow flew, piercing the air right into the deer’s heart. A clean kill. The prey didn’t have to suffer long and not much damage was done to the meat.

“Nice shot Coll!”

“Not bad, lad! You also did very well for your second hunt!”

-Coll is grateful for your help.

-Coll is thoroughly impressed by your action and confidence in the hunt.

-Coll praises you from the bottom of his heart.

-Faith +10

“Hell yeah!”

“Hoho, settle down, lad. You love hunting that much, do ya?”

“I sure am!”

Gin felt a heavy weight lifted from his shoulder. Relief and satisfaction, the points he used to obtain the tracking skill wasn’t wasted at all!

‘I can’t believe it! It works! It goddamn works!’

Gin made a fist pump and checked his stats.

State: Healthy (Fine)
Buffs: High Regen, High Poison Resist, High Mind Resist
Debuffs: -

Strength: 3
Agility: 2
Intelligence: 5
Mind: 10
Charm: 2

Faith: 67

Skills:
-Elementary Tracking Lv.1 (28.2%)

Hell yeah! It’s back to 67 points, baby!

Gin finally had some sense of an idea how to get more Faith points out of people.

‘The system said Faith points can come from either praises, respect, and prayers. The description didn’t lie, I literally just showed off a new skill and got Faith points from a praise.’

‘That means I can just ask him and Teressa to praise me all day long, right? Wait, no— the description said Coll praised me from the bottom of his heart, that means he can’t just say the words but also mean it.’

While Gin was still pondering how to squeeze more Faith points out of the family, Coll called out to him to go back home. They were both in a good mood and returned much earlier than usual.

Teressa was at home doing chores when she saw the both of them came back carrying the dead hardtail deer.

“You guys already done with the hunt?”

“Yep, it was all thanks to Gin over here, he made it so much easier.”

“What do you mean? What happened out there?”

Coll told Teressa what happened in the forest. He wasn’t shy to sing his praises, so much so that Sera came outside to hear what’s gotten her dad so excited.

Ping!

-Coll recalled his memories of the hunt with you.

-Coll felt proud to have taught you tracking.

-Coll praises you for your skills from the bottom of his heart.

-Faith +10

‘Another 10 points! I’m going to financially recover from this!’

“Trully, Gin did the tracking two days after you taught him the basics?” Teressa covered her mouth in shock, “How is that possible? Even Sera took at least a few months to get better at it.”

“Well, I’m pretty good at learning it seems. Also I have a good teacher to help me.”

“Wow Gin! That’s really amazing!”

Ping!

-Teressa is impressed by your achievements.

-Teressa praises you from the bottom of her heart.

-Faith +10

Gin felt his soul ascend to cloud nine. He managed to obtain 40 Faith points in one day. The gratification he experienced was unable to be described in words.

“Two days? As if!”

‘Huh? What is it now?’

Sera walked in front of Gin with her arms crossed. She was still wearing her usual sleeping clothes; a ribbed tank top that showed off her muscular abs and belly button, and short pants that exposed the curves of her thighs and calves.

She stood right in front of his face with an unpleasant expression.

Gin could practically smell her body odor right from where he stood.

‘She hasn’t taken a bath since yesterday…’

Unbeknown to his thoughts, Sera continued speaking, “He’s obviously lying. There’s no way someone learned how to track animals in two days.” She clicked her tongue in disdain, “First you lied about losing your memories, now you are pretending to be clueless. Just what is your objective? What are you after from us?”

Gin put all his efforts to maintain his cool.

“I didn’t lie about my memories and I didn’t pretend to be stupid.”

“Oh, so you claim that you really did learn tracking animals in two days? Who are you trying to fool?” Sera moved her face closer towards Gin. He could practically see his own reflection in her eyes.

Gin took a step back, he felt intimidated by her stare.

“Animal tracking isn’t something you just learn by listening. You need to be out in the field and get practical experience to actually get good at it. You need to put hours into it, hundreds of hours! You need to learn each and individual animal’s behavior pattern, their habits, the smell of their urine and feces, the marks they left, hairs, footprints— You are telling me you learned all of this in two days?”

“…”

Gin paused for a moment. He looked to the side and met Coll’s and Teressa’s worried gaze.

“…No. I had Coll help me to identify the signs.”

In fact, that was exactly what Gin did. He found footprint tracks, noticed marks and signs on the tree barks, smelled animal urine and feces, but he had no idea to which animal it belonged.

Coll filled in the blanks for him, but the fact remained that Gin was the one who found the tracks and followed the right one without making a mistake.

“Hah! So you didn’t learn how to track at all! You just noticed some marks and had dad do the rest of the work!” Sera didn’t hold back her words, even as far to roughly tap on his chest with her index finger.

“Sera, that’s enough. You have gone too far.”

Coll stood between them, “That’s not what happened at all. It’s true he didn’t know which tracks belong to what animal, but that was it. I only explained everything once, and only once, and he remembered everything I taught him.”

Sera’s eyes became wide open, “O-only once? No way, dad, he’s obviously lying—!“

“Why in the world would he lie, Sera? We are not rich and isolated from the outside world. There’s nothing to steal or gain from us.” Coll shook his head in exasperation, “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. We have the deer over here. It’s dead and we are going to feast on it tonight. If you don’t like the fact that Gin was the one who tracked it, then don’t eat it.”

The instant Sera heard her father’s words, her expression crumbled.

“W-what? How could you say that to me, dad? I’m your daughter and he’s a stranger! He’s an outsider!”

“Exactly, Sera. I’m your dad and I want you to learn some manners for once!”

Sera’s mouth clamped shut. Her eyes turned red, brimming with tears. She turned around and ran back into her room. The door was slammed hard enough to make Gin flinch.

Ping!

-Sera’s Trust has decreased from 3 [Dubious] to 2 [Untrustworthy].

“Coll, that’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?” Teressa put her hands on her hips, clearly unhappy by what just happened.

“She’s always been rough around the edges, but lately she’s been really difficult. I’m afraid we have been too lenient on her.”

“…”

Teressa didn’t argue back. Perhaps she sensed some truth in her husband’s words.

“She’s going to be 20 soon. She wanted to leave the village and see the outside world, Tee. With that kind of attitude I can’t help but be worried sick to imagine what’s going to happen to her out there.”

“I know, Coll. I know.” Teressa went to hug her husband’s arm, “I feel the same way.”

‘What a supportive parent. Still, Sera is really acting like a thorn on my side…’

The day continued.

Coll handled the hardtail deer while Gin helped to gather some more wood and herbs on his own for the rest of the afternoon. He didn’t get much, but it was appreciated by the couples.

‘I don’t want to venture off too deep on my own. I still can’t protect myself. I don’t have the weapons or the strength. The only thing I have in my arsenal is this Elementary Tracking skill and hypnosis.’

That night they had a feast. The meat tasted great and Gin chatted a lot with the couples, how their relationship developed through time and how much they love each other. The atmosphere was sweet, but there was also a bit of worry coming from them. They were thinking of their daughter’s uncertain future, and also their own.

This Gin would know through the system’s mind reading capability.

In the end there was still a lot of extra meat left. Fortunately, it is possible to keep the meat fresh with the magical white powder. Even without the existence of a fridge, the people invented something else to store and maintain food. Gin felt this was the proof of human’s persistence and ingenuity, that people will always find a way to improve and become better, even against nature itself.

‘I gave up trying to improve my life and surrendered to despair before. Once I regained a bit of that persistence back, I lost my life instead. Well, better late than never.’

The couples went back to their room after saying goodnight, Gin too returned to his cramped and stuffy ‘bedroom’.

‘I’m still unsure about the issue with Sera. She refuses to listen to anything I have to say. ‘Minor Hypnosis’ isn’t doing me any favor. In fact, the rebound made things worse. I’ve no idea how Coll and Teressa will react if this keeps happening. Would they kick me out if Sera remained stubborn? This conflict isn’t going to get any better anytime soon.’

The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became.

‘Damn it! This system of mine! I need you to take responsibility for putting me in this shitty situation!’

Ping!

Just then he heard the familiar sound echoed in his ears. The opaque words appeared before his eyes.

-Use 80 Faith points to learn Hypnotic Voice?

“Huh?”

‘What in the world is this skill?’

Ping!

-Hypnotic Voice is a persuasion skill. Depending on your Mind stats you can persuade your target to follow your will.

-Hypnotic Voice is most effective against targets with high Trust and low Awareness.

-Hypnotic Voice increases the effectiveness of hypnotic suggestions.

“…”

‘The description of the skill seems to be pretty useful if used on people who are under the effects of my ‘Minor Hypnosis’.’

‘But isn’t this what ‘Minor Hypnosis’ does already? It seems like this skill just enhances it?’

Ping!

-Hypnotic Voice is capable of placing targets under any Hypnosis state to enter a Trance state.

-Hypnotic Voice significantly enhances hypnotic suggestions to targets under Trance state.

-Hypnotic Voice is capable of raising the Hypnosis state to the next tier.

‘There’s a lot to process here. Why the hell hypnosis is so goddamn complicated?’

“………”

‘I think I understand what’s going on with this skill. Besides enhancing hypnotic suggestions, I can put somebody into a Trance state. When they are in a Trance state, any hypnotic suggestions I make will become even more effective. Not only that, I can raise the tier of ‘Minor Hypnosis’ while I’m at it, too!’

“Sigh… I don’t even know if I can use it right.”

‘What if another rebound happens? The cost is pretty big too.’

Ping!

-Use 2 Faith points to learn basic hypnosis technique?

“Uh…”

…

…

The next morning.

Gin had used 82 of 87 Faith points he had left. Currently, there’s only 5 points left.

The question now, was it worth it?

“…”

‘I hope this works.’

Gin left his humble bedroom, the shed, and looked up to the morning sky. It was still dark. The air felt humid and cold yet refreshing. He did his morning stretches and light exercise until Coll came to greet him.

‘Here goes nothing.’

“Hey, Coll.”

“Yeah?”

Gin put more pressure and intent on his words.

“Could you please teach me everything you know about archery?”

-You used Hypnotic Voice.

-Your hypnotic suggestion has been enhanced.

“Huh? Uh, sure, lad. I don’t see why not. When do you want to start?”

“Great! Are you busy today? I would like to start as soon as possible.”

“Today? I have to chop some trees and gather some wood for the people in the village. How about we start tomorrow?”

“That would be great. Thank you Coll.”

“No worries, lad. Maybe you can start hunting on your own! Hahaha!”

“Well, I do have to learn how to take care of myself out there, don’t I? Can’t stay under your wing forever, you know?”

“That is true. Though it might take you a long time to get good at hunting. Handling the bow is a whole ‘nother thing, lad.”

“Good thing I’ve got a skilled teacher on my side.”

“You just know what to say, huh? Let’s go inside and have breakfast.”

…

…

Time flew by. It has been almost 3 weeks since then.

Gin learned archery from Coll, further lowering the cost of Elementary Archery skills by 30 points.

Going by the usual math formula, he would still not have enough to buy the skill. But the reality was different.

Everyday, without fail Gin would wake up early in the morning. He would either go hunting or train archery with Coll, or gather some woods and pick wild herbs nearby, or explore the woods alone to get himself acquainted with the area.

He worked diligently, more than he ever did in his entire life so far. Gin felt like he was the most productive man in the world. He was so active that his Agility stats actually increased by 1 point.

Gin’s behavior did not go unnoticed by the couples. Their initial feeling of rejection from the very first day has completely changed to a feeling of camaraderie. They have begun to accept him more than a friend. Perhaps even shifting closer to a family member.

Obviously, this would be highly unlikely to happen if not for his hypnosis skills.

Finally, the biggest change for Gin for the past few weeks was not the Agility increase nor the cost reduction of the Elementary Archery skills. But Coll and Teressa’s Trust.

Coll’s.

State: Healthy (Fine)
Buffs: -
Debuffs: Minor Hypnosis

Strength: 7
Agility: 6
Intelligence: 3
Mind: 2
Charm: 4

Awareness: 5 [Calm]
Trust: 7 [Trustworthy]

Teressa’s.

State: Healthy (Fine)
Buffs: -
Debuffs: Minor Hypnosis

Strength: 2
Agility: 3
Intelligence: 6
Mind: 2
Charm: 7

Awareness: 4 [Relaxed]
Trust: 7 [Trustworthy]

-Minor Hypnosis: Lowered resistance to hypnotic suggestions given by the hypnotist.

Coll’s Trust might not have changed numerically, but it was solid. Meanwhile Teressa’s Trust increased from 5 [Neutral] to 7 [Trustworthy] was definitely something worth celebrating for.

Not only did it increase the effectiveness of his hypnotic suggestion, but it also increased his chance to earn more Faith points.

Faith: 55

Gin received one genuine praise from Coll and four from Teressa. He helped Teressa quite a bit by doing her chores. It was supposedly a mundane thing, not worth much attention to. But she was grateful to him nonetheless.

However, Sera’s attitude towards Gin only worsened.

State: Healthy (Fine)
Buffs: -
Debuffs: Minor Hypnosis

Strength: 6
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 4
Mind: 5
Charm: 7

Awareness: 7 [Alert]
Trust: 1 [Untrustworthy]

Her trust had dropped to 1, making Gin her number one enemy. The only positive thing he could think of was the fact the number did not reach 0. He believed there might be still a chance to raise it back up again, not that he cared much at the moment.

The time has arrived to act.

…

A month after Gin’s arrival to their household.

Morning.

Clear weather and blue sky.

Coll asked Gin to come with him to go hunting but he excused himself saying he felt sickly today. Thus, Coll went out alone to the forest and Sera being Sera, went out to the village to train just according to her daily routine.

“Hm, hm, hm~”

Teressa was washing the dishes in the backyard while humming a foreign song. She was still wearing her sleeping dress, rather loose and comfortable to move in.

She was busy doing her own thing when she heard footsteps coming from behind.

“Shouldn’t you be resting, Gin?”

“I should, but I would like to talk to you about something important.”

“Something important? What is it”

Gin took a deep breath. He put more strength into his voice.

“Come, follow me inside the house.”

“Uh…”

Teressa hesitated for a brief second before nodding her head. They both walked inside the house. She felt oddly nervous for some reason. Like a voice whispering in her heart, trying to tell her something was amiss.

“Have a seat.”

“Okay.”

Gin and Teressa sat opposite of each other. There was silence for a moment.

‘What is this feeling? Something isn’t right…’

“So, what is it about you want to tell me, Gin?”

“It is quite important that I need to talk to you alone like this.”

“I-is it?”

Teressa felt confused. Gin didn’t look like his usual self today. She thought it was because he didn’t feel well today.

‘That might be it… still I wonder just what exactly he wants to tell me? It seems really serious.’

While Teressa was busy speculating, Gin spoke up—

“I’m worried.”

“Worried? About what?”

Teressa couldn’t help but to tilt her head a little.

‘Just what is going on? What are you worried about?’

“I’m worried. About you.”

“About me? What’s wrong with me?”

“You have been working yourself too hard.”

“Huh? Just what on earth are you talking about Gin? You are not making any sense here.”

The confusion in Teressa’s head grew stronger and stronger for every word that came out of his mouth.

“Teressa. You have worked a lot for the past month.”

“H-huh? H-have I…? But I think I’m doing as usual—”

“No, Teressa. You have done a lot to take care of us by cooking and doing the housework.”

‘I mean it’s my job. It’s what I've always done for years… ‘

“You feel tired from doing the chores all by yourself. Isn’t that right, Teressa?”

“W-well, I—“

“Your daughter, Sera, is too deep in her own world. She goes out everyday to train, preparing herself for a journey she couldn’t even imagine. She indulges in her own fantasy, her own naivety. But she’s a strong girl. She will hold on her own.”

Gin paused for a moment.

“Meanwhile Coll is too busy working, earning enough money to keep the family afloat and thrive. He barely has time for you and Sera. He spent the majority of his time in the woods or in the village.”

Teressa fell silent. She heard a faint ringing in her ears.

‘Ah, what’s wrong with me? I feel… tired. And this pain in my chest…’

“If this continues, one day you will be left alone, doing the same thing over and over again every single day.”

Gin stared right into Teressa’s trembling eyes. Her feeling of unease grew stronger. She averted her gaze and stared at her own hands.

“No… that won’t— I—”

“I’m worried that you might fall from the stress, Teressa. You are tired. You are the one who needs rest more than me.”

‘Stress…? What stress? I don’t feel stress—‘

Teressa looked at her palms. Her hands were shaking and cold sweat began to dampen her back. Breathing suddenly became difficult, she could feel her chest tightened. Even her eyes became cloudy.

‘Since when…? Am I really that exhausted? How come I never noticed—‘

Her face became white as a sheet. She felt an unfamiliar sensation surging inside her chest. Pain and fear. The fear of loneliness.

Teressa realized Gin’s words had dug up her deepest insecurities she tried to hide. That one day, she might grow old, losing her youthful look and everyone she loves and cares about disappearing from her life.

Ever since their marriage, Teressa could only see Coll’s face in the morning and at night. There were days when he didn’t even come home. She understood it was all for her, for their daughter, for the family. Yet, she can’t help but resent the time she spent at home alone. What appeared to be a simple boredom sowed the seeds of poisonous thoughts. That she hated to be left alone, to do the same chore over and over again until she drew her last breath.

To pour fuel on the fire, Sera, her beloved daughter followed the same path as her husband.

She decided to walk the path of the sword, to train diligently every single day. She would train from morning till night, regardless of the weather. One time she would train out in the rain for hours and got sick the next day. Teressa couldn’t sleep that night, she prayed for her daughter’s recovery and wished that her child would stop dreaming of the outside world.

Coll and Sera. Both of them are some of the most important people in her life. Her husband and daughter, a family that could never be replaced by anything. Yet, what was this anger and frustration nestling in her heart?

She felt terrified of losing them, she loved them with her everything, but why would they not reciprocate her feelings?

‘Why wouldn’t you remain by my side, Coll? Why would you leave your own mother so soon Sera?’

The selfish, poisonous thoughts that haunted her had been long buried deep, deep in the darkest corner of her mind. Now, it has been dug up again by this man—

“No! You… you are wrong…! I’m not stressed! I’m not tired at all!”

“Your face looks pale and your hands are shaking Teressa. It has been this way for weeks since I met you.”

“N-no way…! You are lying!”

‘That can’t be the case! No! After all, Coll and Sera, they— they would say something—‘

Then the realization struck her.

‘—Could it be?’

‘They knew, yet they said nothing? ‘

“Ah…”

‘They chose to ignore me…?’

Her brain short circuited. Her thoughts went all over the place with wild assumptions and irrational accusations against her own family. Like a broken dam, it cannot be stopped.

‘No! I have to stop this! I cannot think this way—! These thoughts aren’t real—! They are not real—!!’

“Teressa.”

She raised her head. Eyes clouded, Teressa met Gin’s gaze with a blank face— Rather, it would be more appropriate to call it a mix of utter shock and panic.

Her mind came to a halt. She entered a train of thoughts that she never should have stepped into.

“Teressa. I can help you.”

“…Huh?”

Gin didn’t blink. He stared straight into her eyes, piercing through the clouds and fogs in her mind.

“I can alleviate the doubts, stress, and fear in your mind.”

“Y-you can…?”

“I can solve all your problems. Even your exhaustion. Such is why I brought up the matter in the first place.”

It was as if a candle had been lit. A faint light appeared in the darkness.

“But how?”

“It is not very hard to do so. All I need from you is to do one thing.”

“…?”

Gin raised his index finger in front of his lips.

“Trust me.”

“…………”

Teressa couldn’t speak for a moment. She stared even deeper into his eyes and asked,

“…What do you mean?”

“I need you to follow my instructions. I need you to lie down on something comfortable— like your bed for example, and simply hear what I have to say.”

“…….I just have to listen to you… talking?”

“You can see it that way. You are free to stop me whenever you like for whatever reason, I will listen to your will. It is a therapy of some sort.”

“The…rapy? I don’t know what you mean.”

“No? Therapy is something like a treatment process. Like healing someone who is ill. It could be physical or mental.”

“I-I’m not sick, Gin. I’m just… tired.”

“Don’t worry, Teressa. I can guarantee this therapy session will be beneficial for you, even if you are not sick. All you have to do is to trust my words. You can stop anytime for whatever reason, I will not force you.”

“I don’t know about this.”

Teressa’s mind began to calm down. She considered Gin’s words seriously.

‘I don’t feel comfortable doing this ‘therapy’ all of the sudden. He said it’s like healing a sick person. But I’m not sick—‘

Teressa looked down and clenched her fists as hard as she could.

‘—But… what if I am? Gin said he only needs me to listen to his words. I don’t feel too good about this. It hasn’t been long since we’ve known each other, but he seems like a decent person. He did say I can stop the therapy anytime I want, but… He won’t do anything weird, right? Is he trying to take advantage of me—?’

She raised her gaze and observed Gin’s face closely, trying to see through his intention behind that calm face.

“….”

“….”

Neither side said a word.

“….”

“….”

The silence continued for a moment.

“Tell me, Gin.”

“…Yes?”

“Why would you do this? Why would you go this far to help me?”

Hearing her question, Gin’s calm and confident expression finally fell.

“Huh? What do you mean? Isn’t it obvious?”

His face became one of utter confusion as if she was asking the obvious. With a soft and gentle smile, he said,

“Of course it’s because I owe you guys my life, and also—”

“Also…?”

“Because I admire the hard work you do for your family.”

“Ah.”

Such simple words. Spoken as if it was the most natural thing to say. A compliment one might often hear somewhere, some other time in the past. A common flattery one might say to someone.

‘Yet, why do I feel so… happy?’

Before Teressa even realized it, tears trickled down from the corner of her eyes down on her cheeks. Finally, it welled up under her chin and dropped onto her clenched hands.

An emotion beyond words, she felt more than a simple happiness.

Like a heavy burden finally lifted off one’s shoulder —

Like falling asleep on the most comfortable bed in the world after a hard day’s work—

Like planting a seed and patiently nurturing it for decades until it became a tree, enjoying the sweet fruit of labor—

Like having one’s efforts acknowledged after years of silence and solitude—

“U-ugh…”

Teressa tried to hold her tears from coming out only to fail. She covered her mouth and nose to keep her voice in, but it made her voice louder instead.

Gin kept quiet. He waited in silence, giving her all the time in the world to let her cry to her heart’s content.

‘Oh no, he’s gonna think I’m a crybaby even though I’m already this old…’

It took her a while to regain her composure. She grabbed one of many handkerchiefs she knitted and stored in the drawer to wipe her tears with it.

“Bffftt!!”

Teressa blew her nose into the handkerchief with all her might and stood up. Her cheeks and nose were red, eyes puffy. She collected herself and spoke with a determined voice,

“Let’s do the therapy.”

Gin couldn’t help but to let out a faint smile despite his best efforts to hold it in.

“Alright. To your bedroom then.”

“Huh!? Y-yeah, that’s right. Let’s go… to my bedroom.”

Teressa couldn’t help but to feel embarrassed to say such a thing to another man beside her husband.

‘Get a grip, Teressa! He’s at least a decade younger than yourself! It’s embarrassing to think of these things! I have a husband and a daughter! This isn’t right! I don’t think he’s even interested in— Aaah!! Stoopp!!!’

Teressa pinched her own cheeks so hard, she almost cried again.

‘That’s it! I’m losing my mind and I’m going to go through this therapy until the very end! I’m sick and tired, and I will make a full recovery once this is over!’

She steeled herself and marched towards her bed with confidence. Seeing her gait, Gin followed and secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

‘Now here’s comes the most important part—‘

…

Teressa laid down on her bed. Her hands rested on her sides, palms facing downward.

“…What now?”

“First step in this therapy: I need you to be calm and relaxed.”

“Okay. I think I can do that.”

“I need you to focus and listen to my voice.”

“Okay.” Teressa nodded her head stiffly.

“Good. I need you to heed my instruction but don’t take it too seriously or it will backfire. Understood?”

“Understood.” She nodded and exhaled.

Truth be told, Gin also felt nervous. Maybe even more so than Teressa. He had no idea if this would work according to plan. He recalled the last thing the goddess said to him before coming to this world.

‘‘Have faith—‘ that’s what she said, right?’

Gin closed his eyes for a second and focused on the task at hand.

“Gin? Are you alright?”

“Yes. I’m ready to start now. Are you ready, Teressa?”

“Yes, I’m ready.”

Gin opened his mouth. With full concentration and intent, he spoke with the gentlest voice he ever made in his life,

“Listen to my voice. First, take a deep breath through your nose—“

Teressa followed Gin’s instruction and inhaled deeply through her nose.

“Good. Now hold it and count to three, then exhale through your mouth.”

“……….Fyuuuhhh~”

“As the air’s leaving your lungs, you feel your body becoming lighter and relaxed.”

“Hah…….”

Teressa’s sweet and mature voice filled the bedroom.

This room was usually dead quiet and empty throughout the day. Only in the morning and night would there be some semblance sounds. Even then it was nothing more than the snores of her husband.

Now here she was making loud noises with a man who is not her husband, sitting next to her, watching her— guiding her breathing on the bed.

‘This is really lewd no matter how you see it.’

“…Take another deep breath through your nose— Good, count to three and exhale through your mouth again. Now, let’s repeat this a few more times.”

“Sssssshhh……… Fyuuuhhhhh……”

Thump-thump! Thump-thump!

“Ssssssshhhhhhh……… Fyuuuuuuhhhhhh……”

Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

“Sssssshhhhhh……… Fyuuuuuuuhhhhhh……”

Thump… thump…. thump… thump….

“With each breath you exhale, you feel your body becoming lighter. You can feel the muscles in your hands, legs and torso relaxing. Your mind feels at peace. You vividly feel your eyelids getting heavier, harder to keep open.”

Teressa’s eyelids began to feel heavy and her vision started to lose focus. Her body felt light as a feather. She felt like she was floating through the clouds, without thoughts or worries.

‘Therapy… isn’t so bad after all….’

Gin repeated this breathing process a few more times until he was absolutely sure Teressa had reached complete relaxation. Fortunately, this wasn’t a difficult thing to do with the system by his side.

Awareness: 1 [Defenseless]
Trust: 7 [Trustworthy]

“Close your eyes.”

‘The moment has finally arrived.’

“On the count of 3, I will snap my fingers. When you hear the snap, you will let go of all of your worries and thoughts. You will feel calm, peaceful, relaxed… You will be in a state of absolute tranquility.”

Gin paused for a moment in fear of going too fast.

“Take one more deep breath with your nose and count to three.”

“Sssssshhhhhhhhh….”

“Then exhale through your mouth.”

“Fyuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh…”

“I will now start the count.“

‘This all because of the system’s assistance. I doubt I can pull this off without Hypnotic Voice.’

“1–“

‘The enhancement of the suggestions were much stronger than I thought. I can even affect her physical state by putting enough intentions to my words.’

“2–“

‘With this, I will regain all the points I’ve spent—‘

“3–“

‘—And more.’

…Snap!!

Ping!

-The target has successfully fallen into a Trance state!

-Hypnotic suggestions are significantly enhanced!