"What do you mean by 'strategic asset'?"
Brian's words sounded like alarmist talk.
As if the Raiden family would be doomed if she didn't listen to him.
Since Raiden Ryoma's arrest, several months had passed peacefully. Apart from the continued bullying from those ungrateful bastards at school, everything else was as usual.
No one had coveted the Raiden family's fortune, and no one had come to bother her, the lone daughter of the Raiden family.
And people are creatures of habit who prefer to stay in their comfort zones. Raiden Mei, from the bottom of her heart, did not want to believe this.
"What proof do you have for what you've said?"
Words alone are not proof. Empty talk is really hard to believe.
Brian had already prepared his speech: "Do you remember anything unusual or impressive that happened in your past?"
Hypnosis is not omnipotent.
If his hypnosis was an unreasonable form of mind control, then Raiden Mei should be on the bed in an 'orz' position, looking alluring and dripping wet.
Kiana should also be sobbing in a corner, watching her beloved personal cook gradually take on a color that wasn't her own.
In the process of hypnotizing Raiden Mei, Brian had discovered that hypnosis was about inducement, not control.
If the target of his hypnosis constantly resisted him, like a stubborn person such as Kiana, then the ability of hypnosis would lose its prerequisite for taking effect.
Upon hearing this, Raiden Mei's delicate eyebrows furrowed, and she began to dig through her memories for relevant information.
If everything Brian said was true, then her father couldn't have failed to discover her value as a 'strategic asset'.
This was her confidence in her father.
Her memories from before she was three were completely gone, only a hazy shadow and a warm embrace remained. The most vivid memories were from the past few years, a life of peace and tranquility as a young lady.
If there was anything wrong...
"When I was four, I was injured in a kidnapping, and my father arranged for me to have three years of recuperation."
A kidnapping, and three years of recuperation.
The kidnapping that happened when she was a child was a blur, but Raiden Mei remembered the experience of recuperation very clearly.
She remembered being a lively child, yet she was still put on the operating table under her father's arrangement, surrounded by many unfamiliar instruments.
She was fine at the time, but she always felt that everyone around her was unusually tense.
Raiden Mei looked up: "What do you know about this matter?"
"I'm not exactly sure what happened either." Young Brian's eyes were sharp, as if they had pierced through the girl's body and seen the gem buried within her.
"There is a dangerous item in your body. Once someone with ill intentions activates this item, this city will disappear from the map."
The consequences were so severe that Raiden Mei still couldn't believe it.
It was as if there was a nuclear bomb buried in her body, ready to detonate at any moment.
Such an outrageous claim was impossible for Raiden Mei to accept.
It was too over-the-top.
Seeing this, Brian changed his approach: "You can think of it as a dark power hidden in your body that can destroy the world."
"If you use this power properly, you can become a magical girl who fights all kinds of tentacle monsters; if it is used by someone with ill intentions, then this city will disappear from the map."
Ten... tentacle monsters?
"Why would a magical girl's enemy be a tentacle monster?" Raiden Mei retorted.
"Shouldn't you ask you people from the Far East about that first?"
"..." Raiden Mei was speechless.
Magical girls fighting tentacle monsters was indeed something that the people of the Far East had started.
If the people of the Far East were a little more serious, magical girls would definitely not appear in the inner world's productions.
It was too embarrassing to look at.
Speaking of which...
"..." Raiden Mei raised her hand and covered her chest.
In her chest, her heart was beating as usual, and there was no sign of any powerful dark power.
But if everything Brian said was true, then...
'Fierce wind! Submit to me!'
'Roar! Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning!'
'Awaken! Dark energy!'
'Balala Energy, dark transformation!'
'...'
Could the holy relics she had specifically dug a hole to bury a few years ago be of use?
Chuunibyou never dies, it just moves on.
Raiden Mei's attention involuntarily drifted, and she fell into a reverie.
At some point, Brian had closed the distance with Raiden Mei, and they were only a stone's throw away.
"Raiden Mei, what are you daydreaming about again?"
Young Brian was full of dissatisfaction.
They were discussing a matter of life and death, yet this woman was still spacing out in front of him. Was she not in a hurry to die?
"N-nothing." Raiden Mei was startled awake, her face flushed.
Being reminded of her embarrassing past made the girl a little flustered.
"If everything you said is true, then what should we do now?"
There are two ways to solve a problem: one is to solve the person who raised the problem, and the other is to solve the problem itself.
There are two people who raised the problem: Raiden Mei is one, and Cocolia is the culprit.
The former cannot be touched, and the latter is hiding somewhere.
So the problem returns to its original point.
"I don't have a good solution for now, but we can take a gamble."
Young Brian's eyes were burning, making Raiden Mei a little uncomfortable.
This gaze... was too hot.
"Wh-what way?" the girl's voice trembled slightly.
Those improper thoughts appeared in her head again.
If it weren't for the fact that this was her home and they were discussing a matter of life and death, she might have already fled in panic.
A natural-born gigolo's body, truly terrifying!
"Let me join this family."
Raiden Mei: "..."
???
After all that, you were just after my body!?
The girl frowned and took two steps back.
If Brian didn't give her a reasonable explanation tonight, she would immediately use her Menkyo Kaiden skills from the Hokushin Ittō-ryū to show this guy what cruelty meant.
Then she heard him say: "You may not believe this, but my abilities are not very proper."
"I need a little cooperation from you and Kiana for my abilities to work."
...
The next day.
"Kiana, from today onwards, Brian is a member of our family." Raiden Mei had prepared today's breakfast, and also brought a surprise for Kiana.
"..."
The delicate chin opened and closed mechanically, and the white-haired girl's face was wooden.
Who was she? Where was she? What happened while she was asleep?
Bug brain overload.
At the same time...
[Mission 'Join Raiden Mei and Kiana's family' completed]
[Ability 'Mental Suggestion' acquired]
[New mission has been triggered. Please check it in time]
[Reach... with Raiden Mei]
[...]
Brian: "..."
Crap, not only was he going to become young Brian, he also had to walk the path of the Far East specialty.