181: Anonymous Combatant
Did you accidentally slip into your usual way of talking around her or something?
182: Anonymous Combatant
Doesn’t seem like a flow where she’d figure it out from that alone though?
183: Anonymous Combatant
If she already knew, then why did she hug you, is the other thing.
184: Hakase
The reason, Lurun said, was because of my smell.
Me: “Wh-Why?”
Lurun: “I realized it by hugging you like this. The cloak the executive gave me has the same scent as you, Hakase-san.”
I then recalled that previously, when Lurun’s clothes got torn, I had draped my cloak over her to conceal her.
I never thought it would link back to me in this way.
185: Anonymous Combatant
Ah, that cosplay black cloak?
186: Anonymous Combatant
The one with the crazy huge collar?
187: Hakase
She said she hugged me to check my scent.
And it matched the lingering smell of my cloak.
That’s how Lurun…the great angel Lurun came to realize I was the acting chief executive by the scent she embraced…
The angel Lurun has become a fallen angel who identifies men by the smell of their hug…
188: Anonymous Combatant
The hakase seems totally carefree, doesn’t he? (lol)
189: Anonymous Combatant
But how can you tell just from that?
190: Anonymous Combatant
To begin with, would his cloak really retain a scent? Or maybe the hakase just has strong body odor?
191: hakase
No way. I don’t really smell or anything. If anything, I should have a floral scent, you know.
To be serious though, it’s not about scent or smell per se.
Didn’t I mention before that I can discern the lingering aura of fairies? It’s along those lines.
192: Anonymous Combatant
Ah right, you and Big Bro can sense fairy scents, huh.
193: hakase
Me and Big Bro are sensitive to the mystical forces.
I phrased it as a scent, but what we’re actually sensing are the wavelengths of souls and the nature of magical power. We discern entities from those differences, but I suppose the principle is the same.
Maybe Lurun reacted to the traces of my magic power lingering on the cloak. And she pierced through my disguise like it was nothing.
Her mystical senses might even surpass mine.
If she studied from now, she could become a top-ranked divine spirit scientist.
194: Anonymous Combatant
Awesome…but also terrifying…
195: Anonymous Combatant
So she can accurately discern magical power to the point of linking your cloak to you personally, huh.
196: Anonymous Combatant
Is that kind of ability really necessary for a scientist?
197: hakase
Having an intuitive understanding of the nature and flow of magical power is a rare talent for a spirit engineer.
It means you can skip over experiments and measurements to a certain extent and calculate the desired effects.
I could give her the basics, but her aptitude and interests may not align. Even with talent, I can’t really recommend research if she’s not into it.
198: Anonymous Combatant
You’re getting sidetracked, hakase.
199: hakase
Ah right, picking up from 184.
Me: “W-What do you mean?”
Lurun: “…” (stares intently)
Me: “There’s no way my true identity is that silver-haired, handsome elite member…”
Lurun: “But the face, hair color, eye color, and scent are all the same.”
Once she matched the nature of my magic power, my Camouflage spell was nullified.
She’s only thirteen, yet frightening… Still, I try to play dumb.
Me: “Actually, I have a long-lost older brother who…”
Lurun: “You said I was a dear friend, hakase. Was that…a lie?” (teary-eyed)
Me: “I’m sorry, it’s me.”
I surrender.
200: Anonymous Combatant
So weak!? The hakase is weak!?
201: Anonymous Combatant
Can’t be helped. I wouldn’t be able to resist Lurun’s teary puppy-dog eyes either.
202: Anonymous Combatant
Those excuses were just pathetically bad too.
203: hakase
To be fair, once the Camouflage spell was nullified, any excuse was pointless…
Me: “Sorry Lurun, it’s true.”
Lurun: “hakase, so you really are a bad person?”
Me: “Yeah, a very bad person. Looks like I ended up deceiving you.”
We were getting along so well, but I guess this is where it ends.
Now that I’ve been found out, I should cut contact and move on to my next step.
That’s what I thought, but then she tugged at my sleeve. “Huh?”
204: hakase
Lurun: “W-Wait, I still don’t get it! The scent is totally different!”
Me: “Lurun?”
Lurun: “And I have a secret too. So you can’t leave…”
It sounded incoherent, but I guess she sensed that the Japanese guy ‘hakase’ might disappear.
But the thing is, I already know your secret.
Lurun: “We’re friends, right? Real friends…?”
And there’s my second surrender of the day.
205: hakase
Me: “Yeah, of course we’re friends. I won’t just disappear on you.”
Lurun: “Really?”
Me: “Yeah, we can even do a pinky swear if you want.”
If I tell a lie, I’ll drink a thousand needles – we locked pinkies.
So it’s a promise, I won’t disappear without letting you know, alright?
Then Lurun finally smiled at me again.
206: Anonymous Combatant
The hakase should go to hell for making Lurun cry.
207: Anonymous Combatant
Setting up such an obvious flag here.
208: Anonymous Combatant
Without ‘letting her know’, huh.
209: hakase
>>206 I agree.
Now that I’ve been found out, I can’t just leave her be. But I did take appropriate measures.
210: Anonymous Combatant
Measures?
211: Anonymous Combatant
Don’t mess around, you didn’t…
212: hakase
No, no, no! I used a memory suppression technique!
Who would ever harm sweet little Lurun?
213: Anonymous Combatant
I believed in you, hakase (palms together pleadingly)
214: Anonymous Combatant
A villainous scientist explicitly stating he won’t harm the transformed heroine, how clichéd.
215: Anonymous Combatant
We kinda figured that much, you know.
216: hakase
Geez, don’t scare me like that. Anyway, there are two methods for memory suppression.
One is using magic to directly interfere with the memory itself and delete the relevant portions.
The other is more like hypnotic suggestion, reducing the impression to a vague “I feel like something happened” level.
The former lets you completely erase memories, but it’s too powerful and can affect other memories too.
The latter is just suggestion, so there’s a chance they could remember with the right trigger. But it has less risk of adverse effects.
217: Anonymous Combatant
Didn’t need to spell it out – you obviously went with the latter, right?
218: Anonymous Combatant
This is Lord Chaptra’s grand natural philosophy of forward thinking!
219: Anonymous Combatant
No, it’s nothin’ like that lol
220: hakase
Thanks for the smooth follow-up responses.
As you guessed, I used the weaker method on Lurun to avoid causing her trouble later.
Hypocritical of me, I know. But sacrificing a child just doesn’t sit right with me.
There’s a chance she could remember down the line, so I’ll have to watch my movements carefully.
221: Anonymous Combatant
Well, if catastrophe was averted for now, that’s good at least.
222: Anonymous Combatant
Wait, so what’s the big deal then? Sounds like it worked out okay?
223: hakase
Well, the park we promised to meet at is pretty close to Big Bro’s cafe location.
I just checked my phone and A-Ko left me a ton of missed calls.
She probably saw me getting hugged by Lurun…
What do I do…this is a complete crisis for me…
224: Anonymous Combatant
Alright, time to die then.
225: Anonymous Combatant
The crime of hugging Lurun can never be forgiven.
226: Anonymous Combatant
Leave it to A-ko.
227: hakase
I have no allies left at all…
***
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
When Moe realized [Haru’s] true identity, she didn’t tell anyone.
But as the moment of truth approached, she confided in the visiting fairy Mae.
And she made a gamble.
“Hey Mae, I won our bet…”
To meet the enemy’s commander alone. She never considered the possibility of being attacked.
Because it was [Haru], after all.
But Mae told her, “There is a spell to erase memories.” And she taught Moe the countermeasures too.
There are two ways to erase memories – the strong way and the weak way.
The strong way actually deletes the memories, so it’s dangerous and hard to fully defend against.
Conversely, if it’s the weak way, you can nullify it by preparing in advance. And as a Delnkeim commander, [Haru] should be able to use both, Mae added.
In other words, if [Haru] was truly evil, he would attack Moe.
If he didn’t care about her and only his own safety, he’d use the strong method.
But if he was worried for her, he’d use the weak one.
And Moe clearly remembers everything up to their recent conversation. Simple countermeasures let her prevent her memories from being erased.
That means [Haru] chose Moe’s safety over his own.
So even as a member of the enemy force, she’s sure [Haru] is still the kind big brother she’s known all along.
“What will you do, Moe?”
Her memories are intact. But she feigned being affected by the suggestion and passing out. He stayed by her side until she “woke up.” She can’t think of him as just an evil person after that.
So Moe pretended her memories were gone, and went back to being [Haru’s] friend.
“I’m sure Haru has his reasons. So I…”
Up till now, she thought she was fighting for everyone’s sake, but never felt driven to actually fight.
But from now on, it’s different.
Thinking of [Haru] as the enemy makes her chest tighten with the urge to do something about it.
This feeling welling up must be what they call “resolve.”
“I’ll fight. If Haru does bad things, I want to stop him. I want to help him.”
That day, Moe the Lurun found her first wish she was driven to make come true, even by fighting.
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