CH 5
Yuris, regaining her senses, found herself bound to a chair with her arms and legs tightly tied.
“I’m tied up…?”
Her armor, which she had originally been wearing, was already removed, leaving her in nothing but the undergarments she wore beneath.
It was clearly luxurious silk underwear.
“Me, in this state…?”
It was humiliating.
Not only had she been captured by the enemy, but she was also bound in her underwear.
This made her feel even more ashamed.
While it was surprising that even her underwear was replicated, she quickly gathered her thoughts, recalling that the illusion was ultimately a manifestation of her memories.
“Calm down. There must be a way to escape.”
She thought that the momentary panic from not being able to access her original power was just that—momentary. If she regained her composure and fought back, she believed she would have a chance.
She twisted her body in an attempt to loosen the bindings on her hands and legs, but her body wouldn’t budge.
“This can’t be happening…”
If her memory served her right, before being ensnared by the illusion magic, she had been standing tall on her own two feet.
She knew that illusion magic was typically applied according to the situation of the target.
If her limbs were free, then her body should also be free within the illusion.
Illusions ultimately follow the laws of reality.
This was the reason why illusion magic was often deemed to have near-zero combat effectiveness.
No matter how much the illusion magic deceived the target, it still adhered to reality.
It was astonishing that she couldn’t use the power she originally possessed, but it was equally astonishing that her body, which should have been free, was bound.
“Just how powerful was that illusionist, Max, the shopkeeper who cast the spell on me?”
Yuris recalled Max, the shopkeeper and illusionist who had ensnared her.
At first, she had underestimated him due to his blank expression and the strange smell he emitted, but it was clear he was no ordinary magician.
“Right. If I’m going to experience defeat, I might as well do it thoroughly.”
In a way, it was better this way.
She knew better than anyone what would happen if she were captured by the enemy in war.
Especially knights of high rank like her would face even more horrific fates.
Inflicting terrible pain to extract information to burn down a secret base was not uncommon.
Moreover,
“I know well what happens to women.”
They never treated prisoners gently once they had extracted all the information they needed.
She steadied her mind.
She had already steeled herself.
As she organized her thoughts again, she looked around.
It appeared to be a dungeon.
Walls covered in mold and a ceiling dripping with moisture.
Yuris was bound to a chair that felt like it could break at any moment, surrounded by shackles, chains, and various torture devices.
“Ugh! Hmph!”
No matter how much strength she exerted, the shackles showed no signs of loosening.
She felt utterly powerless.
It was humiliating that she, the commander of the knights and a swordmaster, couldn’t escape from such a rickety wooden chair.
“Being weak is unbearable.”
Just being bound made her feel terrible.
Being deprived of her physical freedom was quite a torment.
Then, the door creaked open.
“Are you awake?”
The bandit who had captured her entered, without the subordinates he had been with before.
“I thought you were something special since you called yourself Yuris and charged at me with a sword. But look at you now, floundering in a trap set for deer. Quite the amusing sight.”
He approached her, chuckling.
“Your clothes are quite luxurious, and your body looks good too. You must be a rich girl pretending to be Yuris. Too bad for you. I’m no commoner.”
He reeked of sweat, having not bathed in a long time.
“Untie me this instant. If you don’t, I’ll personally cut your throat.”
“Heh, still saying that? You really think you’re the undefeated commander of the knights, don’t you?”
Yuris couldn’t respond to the bandit’s mocking words.
She was currently powerless against the bandit standing before her.
Moreover, she was in a humiliating state, clad only in her underwear.
Just thinking about it made her blood boil.
She was captured by such a man?
The feeling of defeat pierced deeper into her heart than she had anticipated.
The sense of helplessness made her heart feel as if it were being squeezed tightly.
“How amusing that the great Yuris has been captured by a mere bandit, dressed only in her underwear. This is impossible unless you wanted it, right?”
The bandit laughed at her.
“Enough. I don’t care whether you’re the real Yuris or not.”
“What?”
“Do you know why I’ve kept you alive?”
The bandit walked toward a table filled with torture devices.
She was ready to endure any torture.
How many wounds had she sustained on the battlefield?
She was Yuris, the knight who had continued to fight through the pain of flesh being torn.
She could endure the pain from torture.
And,
“It’s just an illusion.”
If it was an illusion, no matter how painful the torture was, the shock wouldn’t fully translate.
That was why she had wanted to experience defeat through an illusion.
“If you think you can extract information through torture, you might as well give up. No matter what you do, I can endure…”
“What are you talking about? Why would I inflict pain on you?”
“…What?”
“Did you really not know? The reason I’ve kept you alive?”
The bandit approached her, holding a dagger among the torture devices.
“I kept you alive because you’re pretty, so I should have some fun with you, right?”
The feeling of being utterly powerless against an approaching enemy with a dagger was overwhelming.
Yuris bit her lower lip, chewing on her sense of defeat.
She looked up at him, convinced that this process would make her stronger.
“I just have to endure.”
At that moment.
Swish.
“Ugh!”
The dagger sliced through the bra covering her chest, causing her underwear to fall away and exposing her breasts to the world.
“You, what are you doing?!”
“What do you think I’m doing? There’s only one thing to do with a woman captured in a gloomy bandit hideout, right?”
The bandit laughed.
As he drew closer, the stench grew stronger.
The smell of sweat.
And an unidentifiable, musty odor.
It was the same smell that emanated from male knights after training.
“Y-You dare! Do you know whose body you’re touching…?”
The bandit grabbed her cheek with his right hand, silencing her.
“Ugh!”
“Ugh, you’re talking too much. Didn’t you think about this already? A weakling like you coming to a bandit hideout full of men would end up like this?”
Then his rough, filthy left hand grasped her clean skin on her chest.
“Ugh!”
The sensation of his hand gripping her breast felt all too real.
Such a realistic sensation couldn’t possibly be an illusion.
She had been told it was an illusion.
But why did the sensation of his grip feel so real?
She couldn’t lose.
She had to endure.
I wouldn’t crumble just because my breast was touched.
It was humiliating, but she could endure it.
“Hehe, so soft. Truly a beautiful chest.”
The bandit chuckled as he groped her breasts, violating her.
Her breasts, which had never allowed a man’s touch, were now being mishandled by a stranger.
Her breasts spilled out between his fingers.
He had gripped her so hard that red marks were left behind.
Moreover,
“Ugh!”
The moment the bandit bit down on her nipple, Yuris trembled involuntarily.
“Oh? It seems our knight has a weak spot here?”
“W-What nonsense…”
“It’s okay. I’ll take my time developing you.”
The bandit began to relentlessly tease her nipple.
Licking with his tongue, sucking with his lips, and occasionally biting with his teeth, her body twisted in response.
She tried to move her body in every direction to escape, but it was futile with her limbs bound.
If only one of her arms had been free.
If that were the case, she wouldn’t have to endure such humiliation.
It was shameful.
A deep sense of defeat tormented her repeatedly.
She felt terrible.
Her heart raced violently, and she felt as if someone was squeezing her heart tightly with their hand.
Even though she knew it was an illusion, the sensations were so real that it blurred the line between reality and illusion.
She wanted to escape.
She wanted to end this humiliating situation immediately.
The feeling of defeat, which she had never experienced before, tormented her far more persistently than she had anticipated.
She regretted it.
Regretted her choice to act recklessly, wanting to experience defeat.
This wasn’t what she wanted.
She knew that if she were captured by the enemy, she would face such humiliation, but the undefeated commander Yuris would not be treated this way.
As a commander, even if she were to lose, she would receive some degree of treatment as a prisoner and might be released gently.
But now it was different.
The bandit before her would never believe she was Yuris.
After all, if she were truly Yuris, she would never lose to someone like him.
Wait, why do I have to endure this?
The magician had clearly told her.
– It will reflect the user’s desires. It will show you the desires that the commander wishes for.
Did I want this?
No.
I didn’t want this.
I just wanted to build immunity to the feeling of defeat when captured by the enemy…
She instinctively felt it.
This was dangerous.
This was truly dangerous.
“M-Magician! Cancel! I’ll cancel it right now, so please turn off the illusion…”
Swoosh!
“Cough!”
With a sudden sharp pain, her vision flickered, and her head jerked to the side.
Only then did she realize that the bandit had slapped her.
She tasted the metallic tang of blood in her mouth.
“Ugh, what the hell is this bitch doing? What? Magician? Illusion? You’re just talking nonsense. This is reality. You dared to charge at a bandit, got captured by me, and are experiencing this? It’s all reality.”
“N-No, that can’t be…”
The magician had said it was an illusion.
He had said it was an illusion…?
Is this reality?
“No. You’re not real…”
“Really? I must have been too gentle with you. I should show our lady a bit more of the harsh side.”
The bandit grinned wickedly.
Seeing that smile, Yuris felt fear for the first time.
***
“Hmm, is this okay?”
I had lightly slapped her cheek, unable to contain my excitement, but it seemed the shock was greater than I had anticipated.
After all, she had never been hit in the face by an opponent before.
As I played the role of the bandit across from Yuris, I looked down at her, who was gazing up at me with a dazed expression.
“Should I stop here?”
But Yuris was the invincible iron-blooded knight.
She wasn’t the kind of woman who would tremble just because a bandit slapped her.
In the illusion, she was bound and stripped of all her underwear, but the reality of her was different.
In reality, Yuris was sitting on a plush sofa, with a stone the size of a fist placed on each of her wrists and ankles.
These stones were placed to help her feel the sensation of being bound more vividly.
She wasn’t actually tied up, but the weight of the stones was meant to give her the impression that she was truly bound in the illusion.
That’s how illusion magic works.
The scenes shown by illusion magic change depending on the state of reality.
I had considered binding her with ropes for the scene of being shackled, but I thought that might lead to misunderstandings when she woke up, so I settled for the stones.
This was a trick of an experienced practitioner.
When she first encountered the bandit and was captured, I had lifted her and placed her in the chair.
Perhaps because of that, in the illusion, Yuris was hanging in the air with her legs bound by a rope meant for deer hunting.
“The reaction is better than I expected.”
Perhaps due to her strong magical power, she seemed to be heavily influenced by external circumstances.
Of course, I couldn’t just leave everything to the magic circle.
Didn’t I experience it during the demonstration?
If I entrusted everything completely, an error would occur in less than 20 minutes.
Moreover, since I was using my precious mana, I couldn’t leave it entirely autonomous.
So when the bandit reappeared before her, I deliberately erased the minions and only summoned the bandit leader, whom I could control directly.
And I also put my mind into the illusion magic and acted as the bandit.
The magic circle, having calculated what she wanted, continuously showed me the results, and I reflected those results in my performance before her.
Yes. That’s right.
Making her wear only her underwear.
Tearing her bra with a dagger.
Even touching her breasts and sucking on them.
All of it was what the inner desires of Yuris wanted.
Of course, slapping her was not something she wanted.
I blocked her because she was trying to escape from the illusion magic.
‘I’m sorry for hitting you.’
I could just go out and apologize.
[Yuris’s Desire: The Bandit Wants To Make Her A Mess.]
That was the desire the magic circle analyzed from her.
‘Is it really okay to do this?’