Chapter 51: There Is No Absolute in the World (9)
At first, it was just a small spark of curiosity.
Her mood had been soured because the entertainnt she had originally planned for had vanished, but then a mysterious boy appeared.
"Please give
a mont of your ti, Mad Puppeteer."
She felt nothing more than a slight intrigue toward this child, who spoke to her with such leisure as if he had known she would co here.
Therefore, she decided to indulge him in conversation to see if she could enjoy that small spark of interest a bit longer.
She wondered if she could at least soothe her ruined mood for the day, or perhaps encounter a sowhat amusing situation.
"How did you know...? You do not look particularly strong."
She realized almost imdiately that her choice had not been a mistake.
The boy before her eyes t her words with an answer that was even more entertaining than she had expected.
"That is a trade secret."
"Hehe, I do not really like n with many secrets, you know?"
"If that secret keeps
alive, do I really have a choice?"
His words could have been seen as audacious or ignorant of his place.
The fact that he addressed her as the Puppeteer ant he knew who she was.
Yet, seeing a boy who appeared infinitely weak speak to her in such a manner, how could she not be entertained?
It was almost like that cliché feeling of, 'You are the first person to treat
this way.'
Consequently, she felt even more delighted.
The original fun she had planned was ruined, but she had gained a new source of amusent instead.
"Kyahaha! You are quite interesting, are you not? I thought today would be a boring day, so this is truly a relief!"
"I am glad to hear you say that."
His response was also very much to her liking.
It felt as if he knew exactly what kind of answer she wanted to hear.
As a result, a sudden thought occurred to her.
Perhaps this child could beco the greatest toy to fill her emptiness?
"I like that polite attitude of yours as well. You are quite a boy I want to possess in many ways, are you not?"
For that reason, she threw out a question as a bit of a test.
She wondered if he might agree without knowing any better, thinking that if he did, she would be taking ho the greatest gift today.
Unfortunately, though the boy before her was weak, he was by no ans an easy target.
"I am sorry, but since I am a busy man, I am afraid that will be impossible."
He did not beat around the bush; he expressed his refusal imdiately and coldly.
However, there was a reason why the word 'Mad' was attached to her title.
It was not a matter of 'if I cannot have him, I will break him,' but she certainly could not give up after just one try.
Thus, she decided to ask him once more, injecting a slight sense of threat into her voice.
Though she quickly realized that such a tactic would not work on him.
"I will continue to struggle until you give up. Even if it ans my death."
The boy before her eyes was soone who would rather die than agree to her proposal.
He did not just say it with fancy words; his eyes looked as though he would truly follow through with it.
Seeing that, she felt even greedier and considered trying to persuade him further, but she eventually had to give up.
It took only a brief look to realize he was the type who would never be swayed, no matter how much she tried to convince him.
Furthermore, judging by his firm reaction, it seed he did not just know her identity but was also quite familiar with her abilities.
It was a great sha, but that did not an her interest had waned, so what could she do? The one who wanted sothing more had to be the first to yield.
"Well, a stubborn man with strong convictions is not so bad either. Eating only one thing all the ti does get boring eventually. Kyahaha!"
She did not say this just because her pride was hurt.
In reality, her toys always showed her nothing but faces filled with terror, so she did feel a bit bored with them.
But what could she do? Those who were not afraid of her were usually so strong that she could not turn them into toys in the first place.
This child was the first to act so confidently despite being weak.
'Interesting. It has been a long ti since I have had this much fun.'
This was a fresh, new pleasure that broke away from the usual predictable gas and developnts.
If she had to choose, she could rank this mont in the Top 10 funniest monts of her life.
So might ask how a re conversation could rank in the Top 10, but that was just how much her life had been filled with nothing but boredom.
Just as she was continuing her pleasant imagination regarding the future conversation, the boy's next words made her feel a bit saddened.
"Then, assuming you see
in a positive light, may we move on to the main topic now?"
The boy wanted to get to the point.
As expected, it seed this child had an objective rather than just wanting to enjoy the mont purely.
And here she was, lost in thoughts of playing with him...
It was not a disappointnt that would bring her to tears, but she did feel a bit hurt, so she answered with a voice that sounded slightly pouted.
Of course, the boy spoke as if he had no intention of acknowledging her feelings, refuting her words clearly and fluently.
"What? You did not co here to play with ? You are quite the scher, are you not!"
"Where in this world is there such a thing as unconditional kindness? Is it not better to have a reason for kindness rather than none at all?"
"What?"
"Because it ans that as long as our interests align, the kindness will never end."
What a fresh thing to say.
He asked where unconditional kindness could be found, but if there was a reason, was it even kindness anymore?
Yet, the boy before her was calling it kindness.
He even claid that having a reason for it was much better than having none.
'Is... is that so?'
Thinking about it, she felt he might have a point.
Since she had dealt only with toys all this ti, it was true that she was clumsy when it ca to normal human relationships.
'Fine! I should admit what I need to admit. I am a bit weak in those areas.'
However, the boy before her seed much better versed in human relationships than she was.
He might have been born that way, but surely that composure did not just appear out of thin air?
That leisure and confidence he showed while facing a strong opponent was quite sothing.
When she thought about it that way, everything the boy said sounded perfectly logical.
As long as their interests aligned, the kindness would never end!
'Then if my interests and this boy's interests align, it ans I can continue this fresh fun, right?'
In that case, there was no reason to refuse.
She also nodded and responded to the boy's words with a pleasant expression.
"Now that I hear it, you are right! Fine, then what is it you want to talk about?"
"I want to make a trade."
"A trade?"
"Yes. To be more specific, let us call it an exchange of information."
"Hmm... What is the content of the trade? Go ahead and tell ."
Honestly, she did not know what the trade was, but she was in a state where she was willing to agree to almost anything.
Was it an instinctive feeling? She felt that this boy would continue to keep her very entertained in the future.
Therefore, she thought she could smile and overlook it even if he tried to trade under conditions that were slightly disadvantageous to her.
At least, that was what she thought until she heard the details of the trade from the boy's mouth.
"I will keep the fact that you snuck in here a secret. In exchange, if you plan to cause any trouble in the future, please tell
in advance."
"...What?"
She wondered if she had misheard him, but that was impossible.
In this close proximity and in such a quiet space, it was practically impossible for a Player with her level of hearing to mishear soone.
'Instead of a disadvantageous condition, you are talking about sothing completely nonsensical?'
No matter how much interest she felt and how much fresh fun he provided, were these words not crossing the line?
It was right to see this as a statent that completely ignored her.
Because this was more fittingly called a threat rather than a trade.
To think he would dare say such a thing to her, soone who had reached S-Rank? To her, who could sneak back in at any ti by creating another clone??
Still, she did not want to break this good relationship, so she intended to speak up to show her anger and teach him a lesson, but she could not help but close her mouth again at his following words.
"You are likely thinking that you can just create another clone and infiltrate again, since you can simply transfer yourself to a new one."
"......"
"But I did not bring this up without knowing that. I even know about the organization you belong to, Puppeteer. For example, the place where the Blue Nightmare was first manufactured."
He knew what she was thinking, and beyond her identity, his words suggested he saw right through to the place she belonged.
How could she not fall silent at those words?
This was information that truly no one knew, except for a very select few.
'Is this boy actually trying to test ?'
The thought that it might be so occurred to her.
It felt like he was releasing so of the information he knew to say, 'I know this much, so be aware that this might not be the end of it.'
They might sound like a few insignificant words, but a high-level psychological war was hidden within them.
When her thoughts reached that point, a sense of satisfaction and interest surged through her that was incomparable to anything she had felt before.
'This is... this is so fun I feel like I am going crazy!'
To think soone was testing her, who always looked down from above—and an exceptionally weak boy at that.
How could she help but find this fun?
This was a fresh pleasure on a different level from the toys that always obeyed her words.
Thinking that way, she felt that she absolutely did not want to let go of the boy before her.
She felt a desperate desire to continue this fun and exciting relationship.
'But it would not be right to accept imdiately.'
If she accepted right away, it would feel too much like she was losing, would it not?
No matter how fun and pleasant it was, if she lowered herself too much from the start, the enjoynt later on might be diminished.
Therefore, she also made a decision to test the boy.
"You, I thought you were just a slightly interesting child at first, but now I see you are an insanely fun one, are you not?"
"I am simply grateful you see it that way."
"You know my identity, and you know the organization I am in. With that much, would it not be much more profitable to kill
instead of trading?"
"That is because I want to maintain a good relationship with you, Puppeteer. How could I possibly kick away such a good opportunity?"
The boy told her that he wanted to maintain a good relationship above all else. He said it while wearing a smile full of pretense.
But do they not say that if the first impression is good, everything looks good?
Now, she even loved that fake smile of his.
What was the real face of this boy behind that mask? What kind of fun and ecstasy would he bring her in the future besides this?
Now, the thought of turning him into a toy, which she had in the beginning, did not even cross her mind.
How could she cut open the belly of the goose that lays the golden eggs? This child would bring her much greater pleasure than that.
Yes, everything was so full of anticipation and excitent that she felt like she was going mad.
An insane level of happiness had been thrown into her daily life, which had been nothing but a continuous streak of boredom.
Even if this was a poisoned chalice, she had no confidence in letting it go.
She would rather die than give this up; if there was a pleasure greater than that, chasing it was the very purpose of her life.
"How about it? I am confident that this will be a trade you will not regret."
It was a sweet proposal that sounded as if it were being offered by a devil.
There is a saying, is there not? That a devil's proposal is so sweet that you cannot refuse it even while knowing you should.
She felt that if there were a devil made specifically for her, this boy before her would be that devil.
'Kyahaha! I want him. I want him! I want all the fun and interest I can create with this child!'
It was unlikely, but the boy's eloquence made it seem as if he had ticulously read the book of her life and calculated his words before speaking to her.
The way he spoke made it seem as if he already knew she could never give up or endure.
Even if she knew that, she could not help it. She felt as though she had already fallen for him so completely that she could not control herself.
'I suppose I am just a helpless human after all.'
She was a person who lived for pleasure and died for pleasure.
And now that a small initial spark of curiosity had beco a happiness she could not give up, how could she let this fun go?
Therefore, even if this boy's plan was to use her, she was more than willing to be tricked as long as there was fun and ecstasy within it.
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