Hypnosis and brainwashing.
In Sophia's world, these were used for interrogation.
Sophia had used them a few tis on radical beast-kin.
So one of the things that surprised Sophia when she ca to Earth was hypnosis.
Earthlings used hypnosis for healing people's minds.
It was a form of psychological therapy called hypnotherapy.
Hypnosis for treatnt, not for politics or war.
Sophia, who hated violence, liked the Earthlings' approach.
Even a terrible power could be used differently depending on how it was applied.
Given the situation, Sophia decided to take advantage of Gyeoul's hypnotized state.
She wasn't a professional in hypnotherapy, but she had so basic knowledge.
"Gyeoul."
"Yes!"
"Co here."
Sophia moved to the living room and sat on the sofa.
She patted the seat next to her, indicating Gyeoul should sit there.
Thud, thud, thud—
Gyeoul ran over and sat on Sophia's lap.
She pressed her soft body against hers and giggled like Levinas.
"Hmm..."
Sitting on her lap was unexpected.
But since the most important aspect of hypnotherapy—being hypnotized—was already in place, it didn't matter where she sat.
"Gyeoul, did you almost recall a scary mory?"
"Yes! It was terrifying!"
"I see... But aren't your family mbers here with you?"
"Family!"
The basic principle of hypnotherapy was to bring out the trauma and then downplay it.
It wouldn't heal completely, but it could lessen Gyeoul's despair when she learned the truth in the future.
"If sothing scares you, share it with your family. The fear will lessen."
"Got it! Sophia, if you have sothing scary, tell Gyeoul!"
"Yes, thank you."
She said she wouldn't be afraid because she had family.
Everything would be okay because she had family.
Sophia repeated words of encouragent to help Gyeoul overco her trauma until she fell asleep.
She hoped this would help Gyeoul in the future.
---
---
When I opened my eyes, it was the next morning.
"Huh?"
Where did my day go?
Rubbing my eyes, I ca out to the living room.
Sophia was sitting on the sofa, reading a book.
From the kitchen, I could hear the sounds of Yeoreum cooking.
"Sophia..."
As I started to approach her, sothing felt off.
mories that seed just out of reach made frown.
"Did you wake up?"
"Yes... But yesterday..."
I picked up a few fragnted mories.
mories of acting affectionately towards my family.
"······!"
My face turned red.
Why did I do that?
Embarrassed, I opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish.
"Do you rember what happened yesterday?"
"N-No... I don't rember everything, but I rember so parts."
"What do you rember?"
Sophia looked a bit tense.
Sothing must have happened to her.
"I-I acted like a child to Sophia and the family... like..."
"It seems you don't rember everything exactly."
"Yes..."
Ugh...
She let out a soft whine without realizing it.
For so reason, Sophia seed relieved.
"Don't worry too much. Levinas just hypnotized you."
"Hypnosis? Levinas hypnotized ?"
"Yes, it seems she used magic unknowingly."
"Oh..."
Levinas was a child with great magical talent.
But she wasn't good at controlling it.
Now I understood why I had acted like a child.
"Is hypnosis usually that easy to fall into?"
"Normally, it's quite difficult, but it's not hard if you trust each other."
"Trust..."
So, to avoid being hypnotized, I would have to stop trusting Levinas.
That was impossible for .
Levinas was an obedient child.
I'll just tell her not to use hypnosis again.
As I made up my mind, Sophia spoke first.
"I told Levinas that hypnosis is forbidden."
"I see."
Sophia had the sa thought as I did.
We really do think alike.
I stumbled and sat down on the sofa.
After sitting down, I realized I wasn't on the sofa but on Sophia's lap.
'Huh...?'
What was this?
I had never sat like this before.
Startled, I quickly got off her lap.
"It seems there's still so hypnotic influence left."
"I guess so..."
Hypnosis is really frightening.
I sat on the sofa, wiggling my toes that barely touched the floor.
"Still, it was fun. You were so adorable, sticking to without any hesitation..."
Sophia laughed, covering her mouth.
She seed to be reminiscing about my behavior yesterday.
"Maybe it was because it was you, Sophia."
"Because it was ?"
"Yes. I wouldn't stick to just anyone like that."
"I-I see. Ahem..."
Sophia cleared her throat.
I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
The situation was a bit uncomfortable, but not unpleasant.
In the silence, my tail wagged.
Sophia's tail wagged too.
We could sense each other's happiness through our tails.
---
---
That afternoon, I went outside the park with the children.
Today, we weren't collecting empty bottles; we were on an adventure.
Without the cart, our hands were free.
This allowed Levinas, the horned rabbit beast-kin, to jump around freely.
For so reason, Saebyeok was riding on my back.
"King! There's a scary monster over there!"
"A monster?"
Following Levinas' lead, we moved to where the monster was supposed to be.
When we arrived, there were no monsters but two large dogs.
They were pit bulls, known as fierce dogs.
When one of the pit bulls yawned, its sharp fangs were visible.
"Look at that! Its teeth are really sharp!"
"Indeed. It would hurt a lot if it bit you."
"But King's teeth are even sharper!"
Levinas puffed out her chest proudly, boasting about my sharp teeth.
"Y-Yeah..."
Teeth sharper than those of a fierce dog.
I didn't want to admit it, but it was true, so I nodded.
My teeth were sharper and stronger than most beast-kin.
"Scary doggy."
Levinas reached out toward the pit bulls.
Seeing us, the two pit bulls started barking loudly.
"Yikes!"
Levinas jumped like a startled rabbit.
She ran away, but then quickly returned to grab my hand and started running again.
"Let's run away!"
"Yeah...!"
Realizing I wasn't with her, she had co back despite being scared.
It showed how much she cared for .
We ran for a long ti, thanks to our beast-kin physical abilities, we could run far without stopping.
"King! Are the dogs chasing us?"
"No, they're not."
They were behind a fence and tied up.
They couldn't follow us here.
I knew the truth, but for the sake of the adventure, I ran with her.
"Those were really scary dogs..."
Huff.
Levinas took a deep breath.
Saebyeok, who had been riding on my back, pressed my shoulder.
It wasn't a finger but a fang.
She had bitten .
"Why did you do that?"
"Look."
Saebyeok, now off my back, pointed sowhere.
Following her finger, I saw a child smaller than crying for his mother.
"Ah...!"
Levinas ran to the child.
She stood in front of her, tilting her head from side to side.
"Why are you crying?!"
"Mommy..."
"Mommy?! You lost your mommy...?!"
Levinas looked at .
Whenever Levinas had sothing she wanted to do, she always looked at .
It was clear this ti that we had found a lost child.
"King! This is serious! A lost child!"
"Yes. We need to help."
We approached the crying child.
Since the child was shorter than , I knelt down to et her eye level.
"Did you lose your mom?"
"Yes..."
"Do you rember where you lost her? Do you know her phone number?"
"No..."
The child was too young to know the phone number.
We would have to take her to the police station.
"Don't worry. We'll help you find your mom."
"Thank you..."
The child nodded, wiping away her tears.
I reached out my hand for her to hold, but instead, she grabbed my tail.
With her left hand, she held Saebyeok's tail, and with her right hand, she held mine.
It wasn't our hands, but as long as she held onto sothing, it was fine.
"Where is the police station?"
"Levinas knows! It's this way!"
Following Levinas' lead, we moved toward the police station.
I wondered if there would be any familiar officers, but unfortunately, they were all strangers.
"Hmm..."
The police station was very busy.
Even though we stood at the desk, no one noticed us.
"Excuse ..."
The desk was quite high. I could barely peek over the top.
"Oh! What's going on?"
A tall man who had been running around the station approached us.
We had to look up to see him.
"We found a lost child."
"A lost child?"
He looked at us with a kind smile.
The police in this world were all very friendly.
"It seems she lost her way. She doesn't know her ho address or phone number... What should we do?"
"It's okay. I'll help you find your way ho. I know where you live."
"Huh?"
He knew where the child lived?
Was this child frequently lost?
Relieved, my tail wagged, and the child's hand holding my tail moved with it.
"You're brave for not crying even though you're lost."
"Yes, yes... because we're all together."
She had cried, but she still had her pride. No need to ntion it.
"You weren't scared because you were with your big sisters, right?"
Tap, tap.
He patted my head.
It was sudden, but such gestures were common.
In this world, it wasn't surprising.
"Yes. Levinas sang songs to stop the crying."
"Wow. Then you must have not been scared at all."
He smiled kindly at .
It was the kind of smile that would have reassured the lost child.
---
4/5 Enjoy the chappy!
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