On the third reset, Kaguya confirmed that most ordinary employees in the branch office had been placed under magecraft hypnotic suggestions. This disregard for ordinary human life and rights was clearly the unique authoritarianism of the Gaiuslink Family.
Indeed, within the Clock Tower, the Gaiuslink Family belonged to the aristocratic faction. They placed extreme importance on bloodline, looked down on mage families with shallow histories, and advocated that only the gifted, chosen ones could research and refine magecraft. Such behavior was to be expected.
She had thought that with the changing times, those mages would be different from before. But when she found herself bound before Clue, Kaguya understood: so-called change only applied to the weak, and it held no meaning in the face of the powerful.
'I was indeed still too naive.'
Contemplating ways to break the situation, Kaguya tried leaving the branch office first to go to her father's headquarters. Although Gan'an didn't value her highly, the security around him was absolutely formidable, not something Clue could breach.
If assailants appeared then, Gan'an would naturally believe her.
However, this attempt also failed. She was discovered and kidnapped just as she reached the company's entrance.
Another suicide. Fourth reset.
'Call Father directly and tell him the company staff are under hypnotic suggestions? Impossible. How could they overlook something as simple as communications?'
'Even if I want to inform Father, I must find a way to leave the branch office first. They probably can't monitor outside phones.'
Searching for a route to escape the branch office, Kaguya could only use the brute-force method, calculating step by step which path was safe.
Wake up at 7:28 AM, exit through the safe passage by 7:35.
Reach the 14th floor before 7:42, otherwise get caught.
Run back to the 15th floor from the 12th before 7:51 to evade pursuit from below.
Reach the first floor by 8:00, but the first floor is already sealed, impossible to leave.
Fifth, sixth, seventh reset... Each reset cost her life, but Kaguya never showed fear or hesitated for a moment.
Even though each death involved immense pain, for Kaguya, who grew up in the Shinomiya Family, this was trivial.
She simply didn't care about such minor things, because she was Shinomiya Kaguya, not some delicate young lady.
As for life itself, she had long been prepared. This was the logically powerful, supremely independent Ice Kaguya.
On the thirteenth reset, finally escaping by jumping from a second-floor window via the ventilation ducts, Kaguya sometimes had to marvel that her petite frame would come in handy at such a time.
Enduring various minor cuts and strains all over her body, she casually discarded her phone, watch, wallet, and other personal items, hoping some ordinary person would find them and draw a bit of fire.
Well aware those items would have tracking systems, Kaguya wasn't the type of do-gooder who would increase her own risk out of concern for ordinary people's safety.
Besides, even if the Gaiuslink's people found her wallet and phone, they wouldn't harm the ordinary person carrying them.
In a busy urban area, they still needed some caution, as a simple hypnosis would reveal they were just items found by a random person.
"My first priority now is to find a place to make a call and bandage my wounds."
As a stunningly beautiful girl, Kaguya looked quite disheveled at the moment. She understood the effect her sudden appearance in a busy area would have and knew the Gaiuslink's people must be searching for her frantically.
'Never underestimate a mage's capabilities, especially one without scruples...'
Just as she was thinking this, about to leave the vicinity of the branch office, she saw the main entrance on the first floor open.
Hayasaka was brought out, bound tightly.
"Hayasaka..."
Clearly, upon realizing Kaguya had escaped the company, the Gaiuslink's people quickly reacted, capturing Hayasaka and bringing her outside the main lobby.
They were gambling… betting that Kaguya hadn't gotten too far and could see Hayasaka's situation.
Betting that Kaguya had received the photo they sent to her phone of the kidnapped Hayasaka and would obediently return.
Or betting on something else. In any case, they were engaged in a risk-free venture, and failure didn't matter to them.
And reality turned out as the Gaiuslink's people hoped. Their gamble paid off.
"These pieces of trash."
Kaguya knew perfectly well why Hayasaka hadn't been hypnotized: like herself, Hayasaka had received training in resisting magecraft since childhood, unlike the ordinary employees.
Looking at Hayasaka, bound by the female bodyguards, Kaguya sighed. She couldn't stand by and watch her most important sister be tortured by the Gaiuslink Family, even if she could reset.
"Alright, you win. Take me to see Clue."
Letting out a helpless sigh, Kaguya chose not to reset immediately this time. She opted to surrender obediently.
Because after over ten failures, she suddenly had an idea: to talk with Clue, to see what he truly wanted.
Moreover, she was curious about one thing: during the first reset, why did Clue choose to take her away late at night? She lost consciousness at noon, so what happened during the entire afternoon?
Absolutely certain that during her first kidnapping, her clothes were only slightly dirty and Clue hadn't touched her, so Kaguya was very curious about this.
She would use this opportunity to find the answer.
At the cost of death!
"Ojou-sama, please come with us."
Seeing Kaguya emerge from the corner, several of the female bodyguards who often protected her approached. Unlike their usual expressions, their hypnotized faces were now filled with coldness, resembling ice.