Guardian of Domination

By the time Su Youzi returned to the entrance of the Assault Department's girls' dormitory, holding Kujo Ryuko's hand.

What she saw... was a thinly dressed orange-haired girl squatting at the dormitory entrance with her knees hugged to her chest, shivering from the bitter midnight wind.

Her crimson eyes were now completely red, even the rims reddened along with them.

Although she was in the Assault Department.

But... the physical constitution of Mental Ability Users was generally nothing special.

Moreover, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi had only just enrolled and had yet to undergo any harsh training.

Her physical fitness was merely that of an ordinary young lady.

Being lightly cut across the sensitive skin of her chest by Su Youzi earlier that day had nearly made Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi cry, let alone... sitting on the cold steps and waiting from morning until late at night.

She still hadn't dared return to the dormitory.

She was afraid that if she went back, she would miss Su Youzi's return.

Her father's order... was for her to stay here, demonstrating her repentance and sincerity.

Even her lackeys had been taken home by their respective parents to reflect on their actions.

Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi felt utterly miserable.

Hunger and cold tested the nerves of this Young Lady, who had never suffered hardship in her entire life.

Grievance and anger had accumulated in her heart, but in front of Su Youzi, she was much more obedient this time.

She didn't dare reveal even the slightest resentment or anger.

Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi... had never seen her father so furious before.

He had been furious... as though she had committed some earth-shattering disaster.

From a distance, Su Youzi held Kujo Ryuko's hand and stopped.

She looked at the orange-haired girl who was trembling as she hugged her knees, clearly waiting for her, and was somewhat unsure of her purpose.

Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi got shakily to her feet.

Under Su Youzi's strange gaze, she slowly approached, then suddenly bowed deeply to Su Youzi, pressing her hands against her knees.

"I'm..."

"I'm sorry!"

"Sister Youzi."

"Today, I deserved to die ten thousand times over... I was blind to your true stature..."

"I ruined Sister Youzi's mood."

"Please... please, you must forgive me."

Her voice gradually caught with sobs. All the grievance she had been brewing for the entire day erupted in an instant, and tears the size of beans struck the ground one after another.

Su Youzi froze.

She looked at Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi, who was bowing before her.

She wasn't some saint.

Nor was she a vicious villain.

Although she often took pleasure in bullying girls, not every girl was worth bullying.

To Su Youzi, the girl before her was merely an insignificant minor character.

Watching the girl sobbing her heart out in front of her, Su Youzi instead found herself unable to strike or berate her.

Kujo Ryuko, standing beside Su Youzi, merely sneered at Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi.

She had seen plenty of members of great families tearing off their false faces for the sake of profit.

She knew that, given the girl's personality, she would never have come to apologize if someone wasn't directing her from behind the scenes.

But—

What did that have to do with her?

As for how Su Youzi chose to handle it... that was Su Youzi's family affair.

Kujo Ryuko simply stood silently and obediently beside Su Youzi, her crimson eyes wordlessly exerting immense pressure on Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi.

The girl remained bowed there, trembling and swaying as though she might collapse.

It wasn't an act.

The Young Lady's constitution truly couldn't hold out much longer.

Tears streamed down her face as she bit her lips tight and stared at Su Youzi's toes.

If... if this apology still isn't sincere enough, then she really has no choice but to kneel before Su Youzi and prostrate herself.

Su Youzi looked at Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi.

Then she pulled Kujo Ryuko around the girl and walked toward the dormitory.

With her lower lip clenched tight, the sobbing girl's fists tightened until they trembled.

Her shaking knees had already prepared themselves... to grovel.

"That's enough."

"It ends here."

Only then did the girl's cool voice ring out.

Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi could no longer control her knees. With a thud, she dropped weakly to the ground.

Without even looking at her again, Su Youzi led Kujo Ryuko into the dormitory.

Su Youzi had never held any particular resentment or hatred toward her.

When she had paid attention to her earlier that morning, it was purely because... at the time, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi had looked to Su Youzi like a walking treasure chest monster.

After briefly saying goodbye to Kujo Ryuko.

Su Youzi returned to her dormitory.

Looking at the pink-and-blue night-light beside her bed, she switched it on with mixed feelings.

The room became a little warmer and cozier.

As she ran the bathwater, the girl slowly unfastened the buttons at her chest.

She opened her operator panel.

The first thing she saw was Sakai Miho's charming figure in the assistant slot.

Her sailor-style school uniform fell to the floor.

Su Youzi curled up in the bathtub.

On the assistant interface.

Sakai Miho's little figure seemed able to interact with Su Youzi, her small face and earlobes dyed a bright, rosy flush.

Su Youzi checked her attributes.

Unfortunately—

There was no system in the game where one gained experience after battle.

After defeating Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi, the experience bar for "Level.4—Reverse Logic Hand" hadn't changed at all.

Instead, the bar only began to move slowly when she used her ability to torment the little yellow duck floating on the water.

After using all four of today's Combat Records, the experience bar had barely risen to around two-thirds.

There was no enchanting experience like the one with Little Rabbit.

Su Youzi only felt as though she could never be filled, the hollow in her chest so deep... it seemed even breathing was becoming difficult.

She looked at her other spoils.

The item reward for defeating Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi.

[Ghost Crown]

[☆☆☆☆☆]

It looked like a small silver crown hair ornament, decorated with tiny gemstones that shimmered with a crimson glow.

[An accessory that can slightly increase mental abilities.]

[Charm +2 when equipped.]

The reward obtained from a Mental Ability User was also equipment for a Mental Ability User.

That made perfect sense.

Su Youzi looked at the Ghost Crown in her Material Slot.

Forget it... I'll give it to that girl as a birthday present next month.

However—

She looked at her attribute panel.

Behind [Level.0—Telekinetic Ability], where the blacked-out characters ▇▇▇ had originally been, a new line of text had appeared.

[Guardian of Domination (50%) (Visible/Hide)]

[You have obtained the Guardian of Domination. Your mental resistance has been greatly enhanced. (Mental attacks with mental power less than 50% of the Guardian of Domination's are ineffective against you.)]

[...]

Su Youzi understood exactly how much weight the word "greatly" carried in this game.

The last time she had seen that description—

It had been in Sakai Miho's Innate Ability, [Abyss Return].

Biting her lower lip lightly.

Su Youzi stared at the words "(Visible/Hide)" beside [Guardian of Domination].

Her fist slowly tightened.

"That... bastard."