Author's Reincarnation in a Fantasy Setting

"The weapon I am talking about is not a literal thing; it's a physiological weapon. But you can control Ellyn to an extent, just like I have said before," he began.

"Can you stop playing word games and tell us straight what you are talking about?" Seiren appealed.

"Yes, yes, sure. You see, before coming to this academy Ellyn was dealing with something in her life. That something was pretty harsh on her, to a level that she cried about it many times in front of me. Though she soon reached her breaking point, dealing with it any longer was not possible. That's why she came to this academy; to escape.

It is a thing she doesn't want anyone to know about; it is a secret of hers. But I know this secret since she talked to me many times about it," he explained.

"And how is this of any use to us?"

"If you were to tell her that you know her secret, and threaten her to spread her secret to everyone in his academy. Then I'm sure she will follow your commands," he stated.

"Why are you so sure that she will do this? It can be possible that she may react otherwise," Alada objected.

"No, I'm sure she will follow. As, if this secret were to get leaked in public, a big problem will appear for her. I know because I have seen similar effects before."

"If you are this sure then why not do it yourself?"

"Didn't I say before? I don't want to get myself involved in all this; I'm not that good at intimidating people so I doubt I'll be able to blackmail her," he asserted.

"I can see that," Wrena whispered.

"So? What is this secret you are blabbering about?" Seiren asked.

He paused for a second and then said, "I'm afraid I can't tell you that."

As soon as those words left his mouth, the surroundings became heated.  The fact he was not willing to tell that secret enraged the three girls.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Seiren blustered.

"The hell you said! If you can't tell us that secret—what you said is a weapon against Ellyn—then how are we supposed to blackmail her?!" Wrena grumbled as she moved forward and held the guy with his collar.

He stared quietly at her while Seiren and Alada also took steps toward him. Any normal person would've at least panicked in this situation but he was totally unfazed; it was as though their intimidation didn't work on him.

His breathing was controlled and he wasn't sweating at all. He just stared at Wrena who was gritting her teeth and clenching his collar harder with each passing minute.

After a while when Wrena saw that he wasn't responding at all, she released him and stepped backward; her mood was soured since his target wasn't scared of her.

When everything was back in control, the guy adjusted his collar and tie, then he looked at the girls and said.

"Telling you what the secret is isn't important. As long as Ellyn believes that you know it, she'll be under too much pressure to think the possibility that you are just lying."

"You—"

Wrena was about to go at him again but Alada stopped her, she tried to resist at first, then when she understood the situation again and regained her composure, she stopped and just kept giving him a death stare.

"For now, let's assume what you're saying is right and she won't notice that we are lying about knowing her secret. But then how are we supposed to tell it to her if we don't know the secret in the first place?" Seiren appealed.

This was a fair question. If you don't know what the secret is, then how are you supposed to tell the other person that you know their secret? If by any chance you said something unnecessary or something that is completely different from reality, then the chances of getting exposed were high.

"That is not a problem. I know just what to do," he said, and then he pulled out his left hand from his pocket and showed it to Seiren.

There, he held a piece of paper; an empty letter to be precise.

"I will write a letter for her, indirectly telling her that the sender of this letter knows about her secret and ask her to come to a place devoid of any students. I will also tell you all some lines—pieces of information, which you will have to say when you meet her. Those lines will be connected to her secret and enough to make her believe our lie."

"Hmmm, this sounds like a good idea but. Why aren't you telling us the secret directly? Won't it be the easiest way to do this?"

Alada was right. If he told them directly the contents of the secret, then there won't be the need for a complicated plan like this. But for some reason, he was avoiding that.

At Alada's question, he took a bit of time to think about it and then said. "You might not like to hear this, that's why I was not telling. But if you insist, then let me say this; I don't trust any of you. If we agreed to the terms and decided to work together, then the relationship between us will be of mutual interest—to bring Ellyn down.

And the contents of her secrets are rather sensitive, also, Ellyn knows that I'm the only one who knows about it in this whole academy so if you were to tell her every detail, then it is possible for her to trace down this whole thing back to me.

I don't want that because—"

"You don't want to get yourself involved?"

"Exactly."

He nodded at Seiren's statement.

"As you said, it isn't nice to know that you don't trust us but the same goes for us also. We are only willing to cooperate with you because you have something that can help us to remove Ellyn from our way," Seiren accepted.

"I guess it is just as you said; a relationship based on mutual interest," Alada acknowledged.

"Should I take it as a yes then?" he inquired, as he left the wall and stood in front of the girls.

The three of them looked at each other, they stepped back from him and discussed amongst themselves whether to accept his plan or not. They calculated what they will gain from this and what risks are involved.

The plan was almost flawless. If that secret was that heavy on Ellyn just as he said, and she can be easily manipulated by it, then the rest of the plan was good to go.

The girls also understood this, and that's why they decided to go along with it.

After a while, the three of them came back to him. Offering him a hand Seiren said, "A deal it is then. We will work with you to take Ellyn down."