Yes

To be frank, from all the people I met this past week, Gilbert is the least trustworthy. And that's saying something.

But I was running out of options. If I want to have even the slightest chance of getting out of this tournament without becoming a ****, I had to grasp at straws. Or creepy dick snakes.

And so, after commanding everyone else to not look into the snakes eyes, I took the key from Fisti, opened the cage and released the Gilbert.

“Hahahahahaha! Freedom at last! You will not regret this, Bossman!” The snake excitedly bopped up and down.

I sure hope so. “Lets do a trial run then. Anything...uhh...special I need to do?”

“Not at all! Simply gaze into my beautiful, luxurious ruby eyes!”

Well, here goes nothing. Commencing gazing.

I stared into Gilbert's eyes who started to spiral and...felt absolutely nothing. It really was quite different compared to getting hypnotized by Hebi-san.

But the Snake seemed contend. “It is done.”

Really? “I don’t feel any different.”

“Because I am just that good!”

“Are we sure that’s not a scam?”, asked Fisti.

“I see you are skeptical. And yet you do not realize that you are already in my coil.”, the snake grinned. “I shall demonstrate my power over you. Raise your left arm!”

I did

“Good, now your right leg!”

Same.

“Now do the Tebasaki dance!”

It felt a bit like a strange compulsion.

I just had to do what the snake told me to. But not only that, I would also apply myself to it, to a degree that should not possible. I wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest. If anything I felt pride in doing it.

I did the Tebasaki dance and I can proudly say that I did the best Tebasaki dance that was ever performed.

“That’s pretty impressive, I gotta admit”, Fisti said. “Some pretty neat moves ya got.”

“I concur! My Lord is a master of dancing!”

“My, it almost doesn’t look absolutely ridiculous.”

I kept this dance up for quite a while but eventually my performance did conclude and Gilbert laughed triumphantly. “Good! Good! Now tell all your slaves to kneel before the mighty Lord Gilbert!”

I took a deep breath and spoke with a booming voice: “Everyone! Kneel before the mighty Lord Gilbert!”

“Meooooooooow!”

Aiju, not very pleased, immediately fell down to her hands and knees and hissed. Next was Uni, who looked much more happy about the prospect.

“Yes, just like that! Kneel! Kneel! I’m the captain now! Strip naked! From now on you shall spend all your day on your hands and knees worshiping my mighty succulent massive girth! Gyahahahahahaha!...eh..?”

Yes, Aiju and Uni fell to their knees and prostrated themselves in front of the mighty Lord Gilbert.

But only these two.

The other girls simply stared at the mighty Lord Gilbert.

Very angrily.

“W-what! Impossible! Why isn’t the rest of you bitches kneeling?”, asked the mighty Lord Gilbert.

“Safety Order number 41. No order given while the master is under the influence of hypnosis must be obeyed”, Cassandra helpfully explained while Fisti cracked her knuckles and Sanakia brandished her sword.

Ah, that makes sense. Aiju and Uni were the only ones who didn't have the safety orders installed after all. Well, technically I never gave the Unicorn the order to obey me, but looking at her happy face she uh...probably just did this for fun.

“DIE TRAITOR!”

…

..

.

One mighty Lord Gilbert beating later.

“And stay there!”, Fisti angrily slammed the cage close over the snake. “Ya got lucky we didn’t cut ya clean off, ya traitorous snake!”

Meanwhile I petted Aiju while she sat on my lap. It was sorely needed to placate the angry catgirl.

“So, what’s the verdict, Daddy?”, Cassandra asked. “That shit any good?”

I sighed and scratched Aiju behind the ears. “Well, disregarding mighty Lord Gilbert's blatant attempt at betrayal, I did feel calmer and a lot more focused. I also didn’t experience any fatigue during my...dance. I felt like I could do it for hours.”

“D-do it for hours?”, Sanakia blushed. “M-My Lord...this is indecent!”

...what?

“Hmm...I don't see this being enough to defeat Lady Sylphid, but I suppose ya can try yer best, I guess?”

Fisti actually looked somewhat nervous. Which was just about the best endorsement this hypnosis could hope for.

“As amusing as it to have you under trance, how do we snap you out of it?”

Hebi-san fielded Beatrice's question. As usual the snakegirl didn’t care in the slightest about how Gilbert was treated. “Hmph, we are capable of such. Our hypnosis will also fade over time. We enthralled Mari a lot when we where as of yet not fully grown. He should be aware of what we are talking about.”

It was not a memory I was fond of reliving, but she was right. In most cases Hebi-san didn’t bother snapping me out of it and I had to deal with the after effects for the whole day. Still, it was good to not have to rely on Gilbert for the snapping out part.

“And here we offer a word of caution. It is quite possible to be forcefully snapped out of the enthralling. A strong shock to the head might cause this. To prevent that, we hereby order you to not getting hit.”

Right, no big deal.

Well, it was getting rather late. Nothing to be done then turn in for the night and await whatever tomorrow brings.