"Akane Nanao seems to have forgotten about that afternoon. And she doesn't appear to be suspicious at all. Or perhaps she was suspicious, but managed to compose herself over the weekend?"
Alistair left the Baseball Club area and headed towards the other sports field, where the Track and Field Club trained. Akane Nanao's reaction had piqued his curiosity, though he had already planned to make her his next target.
Akane Nanao's state, however, had sparked a great deal of interest. Although she didn't remember him, her body still "remembered," and the priority of its response to Alistair seemed to be higher than her own conscious will.
When Alistair told her to leave just now, she looked normal, but Alistair, whose attention was fully focused on her, clearly noticed a momentary daze. Then, she maintained that posture and left, everything appearing very natural. If he hadn't been watching her closely and spotted that fleeting daze, Alistair might have also simply assumed she didn't want to engage further and left on her own.
This suggested that the "effect" was still active. But even if there was an effect, neither Alistair's Pheromones nor the drug Togo sprayed on her face that day should have produced this result.
Alistair's Pheromones primarily aroused the opposite sex's desire, generating goodwill and carrying a slight, though not significant, "fanatical imprinting" effect. It's often said that the shortcut to a woman's heart is through her vagina, and any additional effects were contingent on the woman having had "deep interaction" with Alistair. The effect was strongest when she was consciously aware during the act and significantly diminished if she was unconscious.
After all, while Alistair's Pheromones had a "fanatical" effect, the woman needed to be rational. Otherwise, she was just a female beast driven by instinct. This meant that only by having sex with a conscious Akane Nanao could her heart gradually lean towards and become addicted to Alistair. Since she had no recollection of Alistair in her mind, there was nothing to lean towards.
Yet, attributing it to Togo's drug also seemed unlikely. That afternoon, after Togo sprayed the drug, Akane Nanao clearly lost her consciousness and simply followed orders robotically. But just now, Akane Nanao was visibly rational, which made the situation inexplicable.
The third possibility was a mixed reaction—a strange phenomenon caused by the combined effect of Alistair's Pheromones and Togo's drug. But... the drug was a physical substance, and Pheromones were something between the tangible and the ethereal. Could they actually have a "chemical reaction"?
Alistair scratched his head, feeling it was quite brain-consuming.
Furthermore, instead of simply following orders, it was more like the "normal Akane Nanao" was temporarily superseded by a consciousness of "Fanatical Akane Nanao" who was subservient to Alistair. Fundamentally, both Alistair's power and Togo's drug were supernatural, and perhaps this underlying commonality caused the anomaly.
In the moment following her daze, Alistair sensed an intense fervor towards him in the eyes of the "Akane Nanao." Prior to that, her eyes had conveyed confusion and aversion, which Alistair had recognized as genuine. This led him to wonder if another consciousness existed deep within Akane Nanao's mind, perhaps an "aftermath" left in her body by the combination of Alistair's Pheromones and Togo's drug.
Well, while this might be morally dubious, Alistair suddenly thought of many amusing possibilities: an effect that allowed her to retain a conscious mind while her body obeyed Alistair's commands... That felt intensely erotic.
As Alistair's thoughts ran wild, he unconsciously arrived at the other sports field, specifically the Track and Field Club's training area.
It wasn't that Alistair immediately intended to conquer the girls here; he just wanted to observe. He could postpone experimenting with Akane Nanao's situation. He had told her earlier to wait for him in the Baseball Club's rest room tonight.
If a "second Akane Nanao" truly existed, she would certainly remember Alistair's words. Since "Fanatical Akane Nanao" controlled the body with higher priority than her true self, she would definitely arrive at the designated time. If she could also handle other influencing factors, like family or classmates, it would prove that "Fanatical Akane Nanao" shared memories with the original self, yet the original Akane Nanao couldn't access the memories from when she was superseded. It was utterly absurd.
Back to the present. Alistair knew from his previous encounter with Senior Shizuku Hatsufuji that Coach Ariel Hatsufuji was also a follower of the unknown religion, so he wanted to check her out. Besides, he needed to observe the club, so he had a legitimate reason.
Generally, followers of the religion would carry items related to it, like pendants, talismans, or other small trinkets. More extreme ones might even have the religious totem tattooed on a part of their body.
According to Senior Shizuku Hatsufuji, Professor Ariel Hatsufuji wasn't fanatically devout, but she was likely quite pious, given the gifts she received from the religion's higher-ups. So, she would probably be carrying something related to the unknown religion. If all went well, Alistair might even be able to ask her about the religion.
"Damn, why did I forget that people change clothes during club activities? Shit! I'm an idiot."
Alistair looked at Professor Ariel Hatsufuji and the club members dressed in sportswear, slapping his forehead. He felt he had genuinely been foolish. However, the trip wasn't entirely in vain. Seeing the ample chests of the beautiful girls bouncing up and down during intense running, Alistair felt his visit was worthwhile.
The most generously endowed in the entire club were Senior Asuka Ogura and the half-American beauty Mia Stuartson, followed closely by the instructor, Professor Ariel Hatsufuji. While the others were well-endowed, they weren't as stunningly gifted as these three. Alistair suspected his two hands wouldn't be able to cover even one side of any of theirs. He wondered how they maintained balance while running so fast with such large breasts.
The two girls mentioned were the top performers in the entire Track and Field Club. Whenever they ran, the sight of those bouncing mounds of flesh was extremely eye-catching. Alistair certainly wasn't focused on their performance; his eyes were glued to the "balls."
Alistair also noticed that Professor Ariel Hatsufuji seemed very concerned about her belongings. Every ten minutes or so, she would glance around, her gaze lingering briefly on the changing room, as if confirming that her things were safe.
"Is she carrying something very precious? Why does she keep looking over there?" Alistair looked at Professor Ariel Hatsufuji, who was again staring at the changing room area. He was puzzled. Shouldn't precious items be kept at home? Would she carry them around? If they weren't precious, there was no need to worry about them being stolen, unless the item was only important to her, or couldn't even be seen by others. What could it be?
Alistair looked at Professor Ariel Hatsufuji's sportswear. He couldn't see any pockets or jewelry. Forget pendants and bracelets; she didn't even have earrings. Only a ring was faintly visible on her finger. It was likely a wedding ring, which was normal since her daughter, Shizuku Hatsufuji, was older than Alistair. But a black ring was quite rare. He wondered what her husband had been thinking.
Should I just go and check Professor Ariel Hatsufuji's belongings?
Alistair suddenly thought of this, but it felt wrong. Sneaking into the changing room felt like something a pervert would do. Yet, other clues about the religion were scarce.
As he pondered, Professor Ariel Hatsufuji used some excuse. After speaking to a student and handing her a notebook, Professor Ariel Hatsufuji walked towards the changing room.
"What is Professor Hatsufuji doing? Is she leaving already?" Seeing Professor Ariel Hatsufuji's actions, Alistair leaned back in his seat and waited. Professor Ariel Hatsufuji going back now was likely just to check on the safety of her item, or perhaps she was just using it as an excuse to leave?
Soon, Professor Ariel Hatsufuji walked out of the changing room. She looked exactly the same as when she went in. Was she just checking on the safety of that item?
Alistair thoughtfully scrutinized Professor Ariel Hatsufuji from head to toe. He didn't see anything new... Wait, she seemed to have acquired a bracelet. From a distance, it looked like a jade bangle, but the color...
Dark purple?
Alistair frowned. Professor Ariel Hatsufuji no longer glanced towards the changing room as she had done before. Clearly, the item she had been constantly worried about was the dark purple jade bangle now on her wrist. None of the surrounding club members looked surprised, suggesting they were already used to the existence of Professor Ariel Hatsufuji's accessory.
This item must have been around for a long time. But why hadn't Alistair seen this bangle when he came here with Kasumi Haruno last time? Did she happen to leave it at home then?
Alistair stared at the dark purple jade bangle on Professor Ariel Hatsufuji's wrist. His enhanced vision clearly allowed him to see the item on her hand. After observing closely for a while, Alistair realized that the color of the ring seemed to be changing. Alistair was certain the ring was black before, but now, the more he looked, the more he felt the ring's color was shifting.
Furthermore, Professor Ariel Hatsufuji, perhaps only now showing her true skill, was running faster than before, now surpassing both Asuka Ogura and Mia Stuartson, whom she had previously lagged behind. Was this because of the ring and the bangle?