"Sarah. Are you a spy?" Leon asked with narrowed eyes.
Leon, Caitlyn, and Sarah were all sitting on a black leather wrap-around couch in the corner of a man cave in a random suburban home.
Lindy was in the bathroom taking a shower with cyclone magic to wash the shame half-naked fighting off her.
Caitlyn was cuddling on Leon's bare chest in the corner of the couch while he was on his interface. (1)
Aside from the push notifications, she didn't check hers. She wouldn't leave Leon unprotected with Sarah in the room. Not even for a moment.
"Spy?" Sarah asked with a slight tremble.
"Cut the act. Your name isn't Sarah, and you're far too good at disappearing to be normal." Leon asserted with sharp eyes.
"You always find the ideal blind spot of three people and feign speechlessness to disappear.
Then you expertly remind us you're alive when forgetting you will cause you to fall to your death."
Sarah's heart pounded violently when she heard Leon slice into her identity with a scalpel. No one had ever done so before, and it was a bad time to experience it.
"That said, your name and acting don't matter." He asserted coldly, "What does matter is that the gods continually disregard you as a party member despite helping us with the matches.
Are you our enemy, Sarah?" Leon asked with a murderous gaze.
The pressure in the room multiplied, and the temperature dropped several degrees.
Caitlyn's eyes filled with equal killing intent as she prepared to summon the scythe she had just won. She had just received the notification, but it already had a purpose.
Sarah took in a sharp breath. "I'm not a spy. I just don't trust people. Okay?"
"Shocking. Someone who lies pointlessly every moment of the day, not trusting people." Leon scoff-laughed in amusement.
"That's rich coming from you, Mr. OPSEC." Sarah snapped bitterly. She wanted to remind him that he spent his life hiding his identity and abilities from others. (2)
"I don't trust people?" Leon chuckled, "I trust Caitlyn enough to call her my woman, and I also trust she'll rip your skull off if you don't start answering questions."
"I-I enjoy playing games." Sarah stuttered, "I enjoy being close to dangerous people and knowing I'm in control of the situation."
"So you beguile dangerous people to prove you're smarter, more cunning, and in control than them?" He asked with a mocking smile, "Then I'm sure you're fuming right now."
Caitlyn exploded into giggles, and Sarah aggressively inhaled and exhaled in response.
"Okay, trusting your reason for convenience, let's talk about what we should do from here. What do you think, no name?" Leon asked with a cold voice.
Sarah sharpened her gaze.
"There's no reason to kill me." She said bluntly, "I can't harm you, and you're aware of my presence. At worst, you can just leave me."
"And if we do, how will you survive?" Leon asked in interest.
"I'll become an info broker if I survive long enough." Sarah replied.
"So you'll become a spy?"
"I'd just be showing my true colors like you are."
"Fair. Then what do you [want] to do?"
"Do I have options?"
"There's a way you can stay with us." Leon replied, "There's this super sketchy skill that I have. It's called [Obey]."
Caitlyn's eyes widened in shock. She heard about the mythical skill he was withholding from her for the first time and was stoked!
Sarah had the opposite reaction. She looked at him with disgust in her eyes and scoffed. "Figures."
"It's a consensual system; I can't force it upon you." Leon clarified, "Like all things related to my skill, it will fail if you're under duress."
Her eyes widened in surprise before turning to Caitlyn, who flashed her a mocking smile.
"Moreover, the skill increases influence to follow an order; it doesn't make you follow it.
We'd start at 25% and then lower it."
Sarah sent him a derisive smile and blinked twice.
"That's a pretty solid deal, considering you wouldn't have me change my ways."
"It is." Leon replied in a relaxed voice.
"And what happens if I have negative intentions when we make the contract?" Sarah asked with the same slight smile.
"Oh, that? We'll execute you, of course." Leon replied with a wide smile.
Caitlyn giggled at his antics.
"Sounds like duress, don'tcha think?" Sarah asked.
"Hey, guys, what's up with the mood?" Lindy asked.
The brunette had just returned from upstairs and was now wearing a yellow floral sundress she had found. It was large on her but cute and didn't match her personality.
She was combing her wet hair casually with a relaxed demeanor. It was a striking contrast to the rest of the group.
"Oh, nothing much. We're just talking about possibly killing Ms. Phantom here." Leon replied casually, as if he were making weekend plans with her.
"Oh, okay." Lindy replied while continuing to comb her hair lackadaisically.
Sarah and Caitlyn stared at Lindy with perplexed glances before getting pulled back in.
"Where were we? Oh, yes." Leon chuckled.
"Duress. Consensual negotiations aren't coerced. It's a rational transaction.
I'll let you travel with us and provide you with security. In exchange, you'll become a relatively useful member of this party.
I'm taking on a degree of risk, and you're giving up your freedom.
In the worst-case scenario, we'll drop you off somewhere you can get supplies." Leon reasoned.
Sarah's eyes widened in surprise.
"Don't you think you're being too lax about this risk? Surely your power has consequences for killing harem members."
"That's true, but If you hold ill will toward me, accepting is suicide. That as a far worse consequence." Leon laughed while lacing his fingers and putting them behind his head.
"Second, if you accept the deal but feel coerced, the contract won't activate. Those are safety measures."
His relaxed demeanor made Lindy feel comfortable to have some [me time] while combing her hair and humming.
Caitlyn smiled warmly as she looked at Leon with admiration sparkling in her eyes.
Sarah glided her eyes between his two members, gauging their strange trust in Leon.
In truth, she trusted him more than any other person. It was only natural since he had explicitly saved her life three times.
"Lastly, I'm offering to protect you despite your dangerous behavior, lying, and demonstrative uselessness." Leon chuckled while leaning back, "I doubt the Harem God will punish me for being beguiled by a power seeker."
Sarah laughed and looked to the sky in bewilderment.
"You're not doing this for free, Leon." She chuckled at his extreme brazenness.
Leon's eyes flashed with amusement as she expressed her exasperation.
"What do you want from me? What use do I have to you?" Sarah asked mockingly.
"A spy." Leon chuckled while looking down at Caitlyn with a warm expression.
Caitlyn blushed and nuzzled into him happily.
Lindy finally paid attention because she felt jealousy toward the blonde.
Sarah chuckled with madness in her eyes. "It figures you'd want me for the same reason you'd abandon me."
Leon laughed. "You're good, which makes you dangerous. I like that trait; I just don't want it used against me."
"So you're using me as a tool?" Sarah scoff-laughed, "That has to be against the rules."
He chuckled and rubbed his cheek against Caitlyn lovingly. "Yup. Or at least I try to."
Leon glanced at Lindy, who turned bright red because she had no idea what was happening.
Caitlyn giggled, and Lindy turned from Caitlyn to Sarah multiple times.
It [finally] occurred to her that Sarah was talking! Not just that, she was discussing with a steady voice!
Sarah glanced at the two and chuckled. It was driving her crazy trying to figure out if Leon was forced to have feelings for them.
"We've talked a lot about me, but you're affected too. Or am I wrong?" She asked.
"If you're worried about my emotions magnifying, don't." Leon said calmly while looking toward the ceiling.
"My power gives me feel connected to the person, but it doesn't magnify my emotions.
The reason it looks so dramatic is that I have respect for you psychopaths."
Caitlyn blushed and snuggled close.
Lindy watched the blonde with envy. She wasn't even listening; she just knew he said things, and she felt good. She wanted that!
Ironically, she'd probably feel the same way if she were listening.
"I respect Caitlyn for making my hardcore OPSEC look like a casual routine." Leon chuckled. (2 cont.)
"Lindy thrashed an entire area's worth of monsters and probably extinguished a building fire with her water magic—all without getting a scratch—before we met up."
Lindy blushed and turned away to avert her gaze. Now two women were drowning in pure happiness. It was a surreal scene that made Sarah develop a wry smile.
"And you, wheeeeeew!" Leon whistled, "Girl, you're fucking terrifying."
Sarah's face turned bright red, and she turned away.
No one had praised her for being a sketchy, compulsive liar. But Leon was, and the inflection on his words was laced with praise as potent as fentanyl. (3)
"So unless you're trying to murder me, you should be fine on the survival front." Leon reasoned while turning to look her in the eyes, "Besides…."
Once they locked gazes, he sent a warm glance to Caitlyn and then up to Lindy before relocking eyes. "You might end up happy. Who knows."
A wave of anxiety washed over Sarah. She had never considered that a possibility, so it filled her mind with the unknown.
Sarah felt like someone offered her the hash pipe and saw 36 years of drug addiction in the bowl. It was a surreal feeling.
However, it wasn't a bad idea, and she didn't have a rational choice.
"I'll join your harem…." Sarah announced hesitantly, "On one condition."
—
[A/N: In two chapters, you'll read about the harem make-up of this story. In the meantime, try not to speculate on the harem structure or Sarah's personality. First chapter~]