Kapitel 37: Testing
A day later, Ren's house was unusually lively.
It was the weekend, and the weather outside was also very nice. The sunlight streamed through the glass windows, sweeping away all the darkness and making the whole house bright. More importantly, the house had some signs of life.
Besides the two puppets, [Father] and [Mother], still remaining in their puppet forms in the Dominance Theater, the rest of the crew – [Griseo], [Himeko], and [Taxue] – were all at home. Adding Ren himself, it almost looked like a family of three sitting around the dining table.
Lunch was, naturally, made by Ren himself. Himeko's cooking skills were a complete disaster, Griseo could only draw, and as for Taxue, it was better to just leave it alone.
After making a contract with the Herrscher of Dominance, the puppet belonging to Murata Himeko was also born in the Dominance Theater. However, despite agreeing to become a puppet, Himeko was very reluctant to transfer her consciousness into her new puppet body and had been resisting it up to this point.
Ren didn't choose to forcefully shove her consciousness into the puppet, instead doing his best to treat her injuries and allowing her to move in a normal human way. She couldn't be relied on for combat, but when the time came, he would transfer her into her puppet body.
Stacking the plates after lunch, Ren looked at Himeko, who seemed to be at ease, and couldn't help but mutter, "Did I bring home a burden? Not only can she eat a lot, but she can't even move."
With a sigh, Ren could only wear a grumpy expression and look annoyed.
Crash.
The sound of a glass picture frame colliding with the ground was very crisp. Ren turned his head sharply. On the table, the white glove that had just committed the crime hadn't had time to retract, meeting Ren's angry gaze.
"Taxue! What are you doing!" Looking at the shattered glass all over the floor, Taxue, who had just quietly pushed the frame down, licked its little paw nonchalantly, as if saying, 'I'm just a little kitty, it wasn't me who did anything bad.'
Ren, who was already in a bad mood, got a bit irritated. He slammed the plate in his hand onto the table and went to grab it.
"Meow~" However, Taxue's footwork was quite exquisite. It used the old cabinets placed around the house to bounce back and forth, throwing Ren off before landing steadily on a soft cushion. It raised its head proudly, looking down at Ren with a disdainful attitude as it meowed twice, its front paws moving back and forth on the soft paw pads.
"Damn it, you're a puppet cat, not a real cat, don't pick up these bad habits." The boy was a little frustrated, trying to reach out and grab the little cat, but seeing the smiling expression on Murata Himeko's face, he gave up on the idea of grabbing the cat from her extravagant chest muscles.
"That damn cat has even learned to knead now." Seeming to be annoyed by his own puppet, Ren said somewhat helplessly as he grabbed a broom from the corner and carefully began to sweep up the broken glass.
Meanwhile, Murata Himeko, leaning comfortably on the sofa, seemed to have just watched a good show. She couldn't stop laughing. "Hey, Herrscher, didn't you say that all your puppets are under your control? It seems that's not the case."
"Hmph!" Losing face, Ren could only hmph softly, saying somewhat stubbornly, "This is just a small accident. As long as I use my abilities, there's nothing I can't control."
"Is that so? I don't believe it." A hint of thought flashed in her eyes. Himeko, as if her interest had been piqued, looked at him with a provocative gaze. "Try controlling me. You can do whatever you want to me."
After saying that, she also winked at Ren, completely acting as if she was courting death. In reality, she was doubting the specific way Ren controlled his puppets. Although she could clearly feel that the threads of Dominance had linked her to the core, making her completely restricted after signing the contract with the Herrscher of Dominance.
However, Taxue's disturbance gave her a new theory. Perhaps Ren didn't completely manipulate his puppets?
Seeming to feel that his dignity had been offended by a puppet, Ren stood up somewhat angrily. With a few large strides, he walked in front of her and stared at her with a very fierce gaze. "You're playing with fire, do you know what this means for a hot-blooded teenager in his puberty?"
However, Himeko completely ignored his attitude, meeting his gaze with her orange-yellow eyes. "What does it mean? Why don't you tell me?"
"Hmph." With Ren's soft hmph, a golden light lit up in his eyes. Murata Himeko felt her body stiffen. A strong sense of sluggishness filled her body. In the end, it was like being injected with an excessive amount of anesthesia. She could no longer feel her body at all. Transparent threads emerged from the Herrscher core, gradually wrapping around her current puppet body, replacing all of her senses. Within a short one or two seconds, Himeko lost all control over her body.
"The power of Dominance is supreme. As long as you are connected by my threads, as long as I wish it, there's no way for you to escape," seemingly to prove his abilities, Ren controlled Himeko's body to stand up from the sofa. "You cannot escape the control of the Herrscher Core."
Threads...
That keyword immediately stuck in her mind. Himeko tried to find her connection to the Dominance and, unknowingly, actually found some clues.
"That damn cat only temporarily broke free from the control of the threads. When I connect to it again, it will pay the price." Ren, completely unaware, was still recklessly revealing his secrets, not noticing that Himeko had already started having crooked thoughts.
"Alright, now you know I didn't lie, right? Then just be obedient." Releasing his control over Himeko, Ren waved his hand dismissively, feeling bored.
"...You're not going to do anything to me?" A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. She was somewhat surprised that Ren had directly released control. Of course, Himeko didn't want him to do anything to her; rather, she was surprised that the young man was so unguarded, so easily letting go of someone who knew his secrets.
"Boring. Wasting your life on such meaningless trivialities is something only you humans would do." Picking up the plates he had put down, Ren raised his chin at Himeko. "If you have nothing to do, sweep up the glass. That stupid cat doesn't know to wear shoes; if it gets cut, I'll have to fix it up."
"Alright." After a moment of silence, Himeko smiled. As a cunning adult, a small incident like that gave her a rough idea of Ren.
"Even though he's a Herrscher, he just seems like a kid who hasn't grown up."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein