World of Karik: A Game of Villains 34 In Sheep's Clothing

So what was this? Was this the work of aliens, locals, or some crazy compatriot who found a bucket of paint and tools and had a sudden desire to draw perfectly smooth lines? In any case, there was nothing useful for me here. Or was there? Struck by a sudden thought, I inspected a piece of asphalt and tried to look at it with my "inner eye" — nothing. A pity, everything could have turned out so well... I could've become a master of otherworldly technologies and artifacts; I could have even made them. Losing all hope, I plucked some of the unusual grass; a wide blade with blue specks on the edges — I had never seen anything like that before. But there was plenty of it here, next to the roadway that was going nowhere.

Azure Holly

Alchemical ingredient that temporarily increases strength.

Most potent in a powdered state. Can be used in the form of pills and tinctures. Its smoke can be inhaled.

I carefully tucked the blade of grass into my pocket and thought about the options I had now. I didn't know how soon I would get to testing it, but the new opportunities looked very interesting.

"Vasily!" Olga's voice sounded unexpectedly sharp and imperious. "We are going back and you will tell everyone that Dasha and I are under your protection!"

It sounded like an order, and she apparently had no doubt that I would obey it. Dasha was looking at me with a rather malevolent interest — she knew what was going on, there was no doubt about it. Maybe I should just play along and wait until it all blows over. Wait, I couldn't just leave all of this Holly. So I had to figure out it right here and now.

"And what makes you think that I would do that?" They turned pale simultaneously. What if I pushed them a little more? "You think that I don't know what you've done? You think that I'll let you drag me into your childish games?"

Well, that was vague and menacing enough. Fortunately, I had a fail proof way of finding out if they believed me or not — all I had to do was wait and see I get any deception points.

"I have nothing to do with it," Dasha started shifting the blame onto her friend. "Olga tried to subordinate Petrovich, and he went crazy. I joined after the revolution and told her that we should tell you everything."

Deception: +100

Interesting. Subordinate, huh? So every other person here had some sort of a mental ability. How did I not know about that? However, it seemed that this injustice would soon be corrected. I should get as much information as I can about what they did in the camp. I looked at Olga.

"I didn't want to subordinate Petrovich," the business lady objected. "I used a skill on him when he tried to get into my cave in the middle of the night. He left. He had to forget… But he slaughtered everyone the next day. It was not my fault. And lately… He and his whole gang have been looking at us like that... If no one protects us, I'm afraid this will end very badly for us. That's why we decided to ask for your help. I'm sorry I tried to manipulate you, but you have no idea what it's like to be a girl in this situation. I'm scared!"

Deception: +100

She practically shouted the last sentence. Well, that was pretty emotional. Women's tears were the absolute weapon of control. However, if you looked at the facts, the whole picture did not look very pretty. It turned out that Olga was either an accidental or conscious cause of the recent massacre. That much I was certain. I could only try and guess about everything else, but I could suppose that she decided to take advantage of the power that had unexpectedly fallen into her hands, and that is why only men went hunting, training, and doing other social stuff. To be honest, I thought that Petrovich had gotten himself a small harem, but things turned out to be completely different. However, something had changed recently; people had either bought some artifacts from the merchants or someone had just leveled-up and the effect of Olga's skill had started to weaken. Panic stricken, she decided to get her hands on me. At first there were random encounters and short conversations that did not yield any results, and then she concluded that things might work out if she had more time. Thus her idea to go camping in the woods.

What was I to do with them? There were no sweet or nice girls here; that much was to be expected from anyone who came to this world. No one was innocent here. However, the solution was rather obvious. If I had correctly understood what Petrovich had said before we left the camp, he was ready to leave these two to me. If that was the case, why shouldn't I make the most of it?

"Look, I'm not interested in your sob story," I said in a harsh tone. "But I'm ready to protect you so long as you remain in the base. In exchange, Olga, you will tell me how this mind-manipulation works, and you will both regularly carry out my orders."

Relief flashed on their faces at first, but was immediately replaced by doubt.

"Dasha, leave," Olga was the first to react. Getting rid of your friend, are you? Unwilling to share your secret, huh? Dasha waited for me to nod and went away, and I got ready to listen carefully.

Oddly enough, it was very simple. At first I thought that someone had helped Olga, but now I was ready to believe that she managed everything herself. It was even a shame. I could have guessed everything myself. You activated mental control by selecting the target with your eyes and then transferring a few points of endurance into it. It was similar to the attack, combo and defense algorithm, but this time you put the points not into yourself, but into another person. Of course, there were some complications: most of the points went nowhere when you transferred the stats outside, only ten percent of them, at best, reached their goal. Though I figured out why this subordination didn't work with me. With such losses one needed to have no less than one hundred endurance points in order to get through my magical defense. Yeah, my "god" said people in this world had no magic, but how did my resistance to this allegedly non-existent thing helped me out so many times then?

Olga was biting her lip, which made me think that she was not quite sure about her decision yet. She didn't have much choice, though. At the current level, this ability couldn't protect her and, given that she failed to keep her secret, she had to agree to anything. Otherwise, it will be taken by force and for free. Her own trial should have thought her that none of the local inhabitants were chivalrous in any shape or form. Having in mind what was at stake, nothing would stop me if she starts keeping secrets. My only question was — why were these two so sure that I could protect them? Maybe they also considered me Baldy's follower. Maybe it was Petrovich's and the merchants' attitude. Maybe there was something else that I wasn't aware of. I'd better think it over. However, this wasn't a pressing matter. It could wait.

Chapter end