Lily looked at him then, her eyes wide and confused. "Are you saying that if you're unhappy, it's okay to break your vows...?"
Rex said, "Things aren't always as easy as right and wrong."
"Mara's husband is a good man, but he doesn't see her way or what she really needs."
"He doesn't value what he has, and it's making her get worse and worse, and no one noticed."
"But you noticed it," Lily said softly.
"Yeah, I did notice it right away."
"And you helped her."
"I gave her what she needed." Rex said and asked, "Is it wrong to witness someone in pain and provide them with comfort?"
"I... I don't know," Lily said.
She looked lost as she sat down on a log that had fallen. "People taught me that there are rules and that you should always follow them..."
"But when I saw you two last night, Mara didn't seem to be doing anything wrong... In fact... she looked free and happy about it..."
Rex sat next to her, making sure to keep some space between them. "Can I talk to you about something, Lily?"
She nodded.
"Your family doesn't teach you that the world is black and white... people who are good sometimes do bad things."
"There are times when bad people do good things. More often than not, right and wrong aren't clear-cut."
"The real question isn't whether something follows the rules, but whether it does more harm than good."
Lily said, "That's hard..."
"Things are hard in life... If someone tells you something else, they are either lying or haven't lived long enough."
She was quiet for a long time, as she thought.
She said, "It was beautiful," so softly that Rex almost missed it.
"What I saw that night... and how she looked at you..."
[LILY VON STARLIGHT: DESIRE LEVEL 28/100 → 35/100]
[STATUS: CONFLICTED BUT FASCINATED]
[OBSERVATION: SUBJECT'S MORAL FRAMEWORK DESTABILIZING]
[OBSERVATION: SUBJECT EXPERIENCING SEXUAL AWAKENING]
[WARNING: PROCEED WITH EXTREME CARE]
Rex smirked and thought. "Thirty-five percent, huh...?"
The forbidden knowledge was getting to her, changing her innocent view of the world into one of curiosity and desire."
Carefully, Rex said, "Lily."
"What you saw and what we talked about should stay between us..."
"Can you do that?"
She quickly said, "Of course I won't tell anyone... I promise."
"Okay, good. I trust you with that. People don't give you enough credit for how grown up you are."
She looked up at him with a look of desperation in her eyes. "Do you really believe that? People always act like I'm a kid... Even Elliot and Diana."
"You and Mother are the only ones who think I can understand complicated things."
Rex said, "That's because you can."
"You are smart and observant, and you don't just accept what you're told... those are not common traits."
"Rex, I..." she said, biting her lip. "N-No... forget it..."
"Why? What's wrong?" Rex then felt curious about what she's going to say.
"I'm going to say something dumb... so just forget about what I was going to say."
"Everything you say is smart. Don't worry, Lily. You can always talk to me, maybe I could help."
"I... just don't have anyone to talk to..."
"Diana is always busy with training and tactics. Elliot is crazy about being a hero. Mother is wonderful, but she's still my mother, so there are things I can't tell her."
"And Evelyn belongs to Elliot, so she's not really mine."
"I see now... you feel like you're all alone," Rex said, understanding her situation.
"Yeah... that's right." She looked at him with such raw openness that it hurt. "But you pay a lot of attention to me..."
"You don't treat me like I'm a kid or like I'm weak."
"You talk to me like I'm a real person."
"Oh, come on now, Lily... you ARE a real person! Someone that I can say is interesting and smart and who should be heard all the time."
She smiled then, and it was real and bright. "Thanks... for understanding me."
"And also for listening and acting as you truly are." Lily smiles while closing both her eyes, and Rex falls in love right away with that innocence, which he can break it in the near future.
"You're welcome... don't act all shy when you're trying to say something to me the next time, okay?"
"Okay!"
...
They walked back to the training grounds in a more comfortable silence. Lily seemed lighter now that she had confessed and Rex had accepted her.
It's perfect that she was his now, whether she realized it or not. The innocent were corrupted, and the moral foundation was broken.
All he needed to do was continue demonstrating understanding, consistently make her feel valued, and persist in expressing kind and affectionate words to her.
And in the end, she'd be just as loyal as Mara.
The training session in the afternoon was all about group tactics. Elliot put everyone into small groups and had them practice attacking and defending in a coordinated way.
Rex was put on a team with Diana and two other villagers. Diana took charge naturally, telling them where to go with military precision.
"You take the left flank, Rex," she said. "Break their formation here when I tell you to."
They did the drill, and Rex did a fantastic job. But he thought it was time to show off a little more skill.
He used his telekinesis in a subtle way during the next run. Rex used telekinesis to block his opponent's wooden practice sword, making it look like he had very quick reflexes.
He pushed himself very small amounts to make himself seem faster than he really was when he needed to move quickly.
There's nothing clear. He only made a few minor adjustments to give the impression that he was naturally skilled at it.
Diana saw it right away. "Good speed of response."
"You're getting faster, Rex!"
"Thanks! I think the training from yesterday is starting to make sense for my improved body here."
They kept doing the drills, and Rex slowly got better at them. By the end, Elliot was nodding his head in approval, and Evelyn was looking interested.
Elliot said, "You're a natural," as they finished. "I mean it really, Rex!"
"It takes most people weeks to get to your level."
"Well... like I always say... it was all about good teaching," Rex said. "Oh! I forgot to mention motivation as well."
"When you have heroes showing you how to do things, it's hard not to get better."
As everyone left for the night, Rex saw Helena watching him with a thoughtful look on her face. She didn't look away when their eyes met.
"Will you walk with me?" she asked.
Rex sees another opportunity when Helena asks him that. "Sure."
As they walked toward the edge of town, the sun set and everything turned gold and orange.
"You're hiding something," Helena said immediately, breaking through Rex's defenses.
Rex's heart raced, but he kept his face calm. "Why do you say that?"
"You're too good at what you do. Well... in fact... too smart!"
"Not rough enough for someone who is just a drifter working at an inn." She turned around and looked at him. "I don't think you're dangerous, but I also don't think you're what you say you are..."
It was time for a planned truth.
"You're right," Rex said. "I'm not just a random person."
"I had a life before this, with academy and training."
"Things went wrong, and now I'm here, starting it all over again."
"What kind of things?" Helena asked with her head tilted.
Rex answered, "The kind I don't want to talk about."
"Let's just say I made a mistake and needed a fresh start, and this town and inn provided me with the opportunity to become someone different... someone "better," you know?" Rex said 'better' with a sarcastic tone, and Helena didn't notice it.
Helena looked at him. "And what about the training with Elliot?"
"Is that part of changing who you are?"
Rex said, "It's part of becoming a better person as well."
"I wasted my last life, and this... is my chance to really do something with my life!"
She seemed to be okay with that. "Well, whoever you were before, the person you are now is impressive."
"I knew it... you're one of those reincarnators," Helena said with a serious look.
"Reincarnator...? Y-You knew...?" Rex was surprised.
"Well... it's not really surprising, as reincarnation is a common occurrence in this world."
"I met many reincarnators, some of whom were jerks because they had something special."
Rex just discovered a big truth about reincarnators, which means that there must be many people who died in a past life and live in the second life as someone they wanted to be.
And then Rex thought that maybe there are many victims he knows reincarnated in this world.
"How about you, Rex? Do you have something special about you?"
"No... just starting from zero, I guess." Rex lied smoothly, even though he has the system that makes him stronger while having to have sex with every woman and girl he wants.
"Alright, good to hear it." Helena nodded. "Just try to make that you don't let this chance pass you by, Rex."
"Of course I wouldn't." Rex shook his head. "Especially with people like you showing me what's possible."
[HELENA VON STARLIGHT: DESIRE LEVEL 15/100 → 22/100]
[STATUS: TRUST BUILDING]
[OBSERVATION: SHARED SECRET CREATES INTIMACY]
[OBSERVATION: SUBJECT APPRECIATES HONESTY]
Rex thought. "22 percent for this big-titted milf... A lot of progress in just one day, and that's already good enough."
"And also... I will talk about these reincarnators later with the system if he can provide me with some good information."
They walked back to the inn together, and Rex felt pleased. Everything was going just as planned.
Mara was his completely, and every time they met, she gave him energy. Lily was weak and corrupt, ready to be grown, while Helena was becoming more open, drawn to his mind and the mystery he was.
Diana and Evelyn were even starting to like him because they saw how useful and positive he was.
The Starlight party welcomed him as one of their own, not knowing they had let a predator into their group.
That night, after dinner and cleaning up, Rex went to his room and opened his system interface.
[CURRENT STATUS REPORT]
[MARA KESSON: DESIRE MAXIMUM - DEVOTED]
[HELENA VON STARLIGHT: DESIRE 22/100 - INTRIGUED]
[LILY VON STARLIGHT: DESIRE 35/100 - FASCINATED]
[DIANA VON STARLIGHT: DESIRE 8/100 - FRIENDLY]
[EVELYN ASTRALIGHT: DESIRE 6/100 - CAUTIOUSLY POSITIVE]
[TOTAL DESIRE ENERGY: 50]
[ACTIVE ABILITIES: TELEKINESIS (FULL POTENTIAL)]
[NEXT ENERGY GENERATION: REQUIRES INTIMATE CONTACT WITH MAXIMUM DESIRE TARGET]
"Heh... fucking great..."
Rex lay back on his cot and thought about what he would do next. He would keep training with the Starlight party, slowly showing off more of his telekinetic powers in ways that made it seem like he was just naturally good at them.
He would also strengthen his bond with Helena by talking about deep topics and sharing secrets. For Lily, he planned to further undermine her by dismantling her moral framework until she was ready to fall.
And tonight, when everyone is asleep, he will go back to see Mara to make more energy for him so that he can get more power.
Rex also wanted to make sure that Lily could watch again, so he already told Mara that they're going to do it again next to Lily's game.
The game was now fully underway, with Rex dominating on all fronts.
He smiled in the dark and closed his eyes, already looking forward to the chaos that was to come.