Chapter 93: Methods
Ki Sense was a new skill I learned after taking the elixir Hubert gave me as a reward.
I hadn’t seen this skill in my time playing the game, nor in the community where users share information with each other.
As a result, I’m not sure exactly what the requirements are for this skill.
What I do remember is that ‘Superior Senses’ is not a highly compatible skill. Maybe that’s because it hasn’t been found yet.
Two things bothered me.
The existence of the Blindfold That is Beyond Reason, and the Sensory Amplification Elixir, which I’ve never seen in game.
I was pretty sure it was the elixir. However, the problem is that the top compatible skill for ‘Superior Senses’ is ‘Ki Sense’.
As I’ve been saying, it’s not really a skill for gaining visual information through simple interpretation.
However, the list of senses enhanced by Superior Senses clearly includes sight.
Hubert had said he’d bought the elixir at an auction, but it seemed more likely that he’d commissioned it personally.
That would explain why I hadn’t seen it in the game.
The ingredients were the brains of congenitally blind monsters.
If they were blind and were at least “surviving” instead of being culled, their brain structure might have been unique.
The alchemist who created the elixir may have had this idea in mind.
I don’t have any knowledge of alchemy, so it’s hard to tell if it’s really a useful recipe.
I also didn’t like the idea of learning a new skill through alchemy.
The “unknown” often leads to fear, but when the “unknown” seems to be something positive, the fear quickly turns to anticipation.
I let go of the somewhat “unfriendly” status window since there was no information to be gleaned from it.
I had already reached level 5 of Ki Sense when the 10th level of Superior Senses was transferred to Ki, so it was easy to figure out which skill it was.
What was most disturbing was that as Superior Senses faded, so did their effectiveness.
It was a shame, because it was useful to me in so many ways.
Fortunately, my senses were still there. Maybe it was just a mood thing, but I often felt like they were a little sharper than before.
However, that wasn’t the end of the effect. It went from being a passive enhancement to an active skill.
I could use it to create a “wave” that centered around me and spread out into the distance.
The wave seemed to be felt only by me at first and there was no cooldown or energy cost.
It was similar to a radar, where everything that touched the wave was turned into information and sent back directly to my head.
It’s just that the form of information is very different from the five senses and gives me much more information than what I could normally see with my eyes or hear with my ears.
It could recognize the material of a wall when it touched it, or how old it was, or something else that you couldn’t see, like the bread in Crank’s pocket on the other side.
Just in time, Crank quietly pulls out the bread and takes a large bite without Edward noticing as he explains the lesson since he is hidden behind Amon’s broad back.
..Crank often did that.
Anyway, to summarize, the information I receive from my Ki Sense seems to be strongly influenced by my knowledge and memory.
When I sent a wave, I could recognize people around me, even if I wasn’t really looking at them.
What gave me goosebumps was that it would give me accurate information about people whose names I couldn’t quite remember if I’d heard their name at some point.
And it was basically just enough information that I could pick up on if I paid attention.
For example, I had heard the rustling of the bread bag in Crank’s pocket before, so I could recognize it as a hunch.
This confirmed that it was a fact, not a guess. Even if I wasn’t paying attention to my hearing, my intuition didn’t miss it.
It seems to be a mechanism whereby raising the level of the feeling increases the sensory ability steeply, just like the previous ‘Superior Senses’ did, and the performance of the waves sent by Ki Sense also increases steeply.
In any case, I was very satisfied with the performance.
Since I got it for less than a day, I sat in the middle of class sending waves.
This was kind of fun even though the amount of information was complicated by the large number of people in the classroom, I was killing time by organizing it all.
I mentioned to Sierra that I felt like my senses were heightened. There was no way I was going to be able to say, “I can actually feel it!” now.
I sat in class with my arms crossed, sending out waves.
Edward had decided that the cadets had gotten a little too relaxed during the open class period, and he was going to give them a run for their money.
In the woods of the academy, we had to capture a small monster called “Muster” for Edward to release.
Musters were small, weasel-like creatures that didn’t harm humans and were often kept as pets by noblewomen, making them quite expensive.
Edward said it was a trained creature and would be quite tricky to capture.
As it crawled across Edward’s body, it had a small bell on its hind leg and the cadets giggled at how cute he was.
There is only one rule: we can’t kill the muster.
This was a huge penalty for the cadets, who were essentially learning to kill monsters and deal with demons.
Plus, the forest is quite large.
If you’re a mage, you’ll be able to use non-attribute magic like ‘Chain’, but for cadets like me and Crank who aren’t mages, it’s like being forced to run.
It’s also not that easy to remove attributes from a basic spell like Chain in the first place.
‘It’s about learning how to deal with situations that require non-lethal or incapacitating force.’
Whether it’s the capture of Yorfang, or the Adventurer’s Guild capturing the monsters the cadets faced in the Coliseum.
It wasn’t always about killing your opponent.
There would be four musters on the loose and if we couldn’t catch them all, there would be a make-up physical fitness class.
“So let’s group up in teams of two.”
Edward said, holding up two fingers as he finished explaining today’s lesson.
Apparently Edward didn’t organize the group this time.
If we’re in pairs, at least half of us are guaranteed a make-up class.
“Zetto.”
Aizel spoke up before Edward could finish his sentence.
Turning my head to her, I felt Yuri on the other side of me flinch.
“Do you want to join me?”
I wonder if she wants to catch Musters because Aizel’s eyes were very serious as she said that.
“…Sure.”
***
I was walking through the forest with Zetto.
The forest was very spacious and quiet, and it was nice to feel like we were the only ones in the space.
I didn’t pay attention to what the muster was doing….He was kind of cute, but that wasn’t the point right now.
My mind was filled with thoughts of Zetto’s curse.
Then, in the middle of the open class period, I caught Zetto on a private “date” with the Saint.
I was shocked, to say the least.
In previous episodes, Zetto had become friendly with the Saint, but they hadn’t been walking around the Academy together like that.
Zetto used his Master’s sword, Krektar death was premature and there was a curse I hadn’t felt before on his heart.
It didn’t matter now how twisted he was, or what he was twisted by. Now I had to act.
I had survived, but for what?
In the end, it was for my own good so I couldn’t lose Zetto.
My relationship with Zetto was now in a very twisted state and unlike in the previous episode, Zetto didn’t approach me as much.
‘In the previous episode, he would come to me no matter where I was…’
Partly out of frustration, partly because I couldn’t hold back my twisted desires a few times, I thought he felt the pressure.
But when I talked to him in the flower garden the other day, I realized something. It wasn’t Zetto who had changed…it was me.
Last time, I had to “rebuild” the relationship with him that Zetto had naturally built.
In order to break his curse Zetto had befriended the Saint, but…There was no telling if she would unleash her immense divine power, or if she would discover the curse and kiss him.
‘Kissing the one you love…’
I didn’t like the idea of Zetto kissing another woman so maybe I could make him love me.
If I could make Zetto love me, I could make him look at ‘only’ me.
First, I needed knowledge since I didn’t know anything about approaching men.
Until I met Zetto, I was just trying to survive, and I didn’t pay attention to the people around me, let alone men.
I didn’t have anyone to ask about these things and the only person I could think of was “that girl” from Black Hand.
‘Aizel, you have a crush? Really? Who is it? I want to see him!’
I couldn’t imagine her reaction, so I went to the library.
The Academy’s library had a vast collection of books, so I figured there would be at least one book on romance.
…There were more than I expected and among them, I found a book with an unusually catchy title.
[101 Ways to Win a Man Over], was written by an author named Giacomo…It seemed to be a famous book.
So here I am, practicing one of the methods I saw in the book.
‘If you want to know whether a man is interested in you or not, don’t talk to him first. You’ll know right away.’
Don’t make the first move. It was simple.
‘Zetto often made the first move, so I wondered if it meant something…’
I glanced at Zetto next to me.
“Hmm…”
He mumbles to himself, stopping every now and then.
He hadn’t said anything else to me since we entered the forest and exchanged a few simple words.
‘…Why?’
There’s no one else around, just the two of us, and it’s so quiet in this forest that the only sound I can hear is a bird chirping in the distance, and yet…
…he didn’t speak to me.
‘Zetto really isn’t interested in me…? No, that can’t be…’
In the end, I came to the conclusion that he probably had a reason.
I had felt the distance from him when I came back from dealing with Varsum.
Nothing happened…He doesn’t like me.
Now I had touched a wall that I hadn’t touched before, a wall that was about to crumble. But I didn’t give up.
It was a ‘rebuilding’ in that sense.
‘What’s the best way…’
I read the book and there were 101 ways to capture Zetto.
I glanced at Zetto and saw the white bandages around his eyes.
The “visual methods”-sometimes to stare at a man without saying a word, sometimes to sweep my hair behind my ear, sometimes to tie my hair in front of him-didn’t work for him.
It was then.
“…I found it.”
Zetto exclaimed briefly, then grabbed my hand to follow and started running.
He had found the muster.
I felt a little disappointed that he was so focused on the muster without me, but Zetto was so eager and I couldn’t help it.
Somehow, I was content to hold hands with him.
The sound of a clear bell came from the treetops.
I looked up to see the muster sprinting up a branch that was quite high up.
“I’ll catch him.”
I said to Zetto and flew into the air.
‘Fake accidental physical contact.’
I remembered a trick I’d seen in a book.
“…Uh!”
Sparks flew, and I flew through the air, falling downward with my best ‘acting’ skills, narrowly missing the muster.
When I was already in the air, I had calculated the direction Zetto was in and where he was coming from.
And my calculations were perfect.
Zetto looked at me and was about to catch me. He didn’t have to, but his body always made the first move.
Soon, my body was falling towards him but the landing was all that mattered.
I couldn’t let him catch me safely.
Before I know it, Zetto’s body is tangled up with mine.
“Ugh…”
I let out a spontaneous groan and pushed myself up.
‘The stronger the contact, the more embarrassing it is, if not accidental, the more effective this method is. This will be an excellent stimulus for the man.’
It was perfect. A literally embarrassing position.
…I successfully climbed onto Zetto’s body.
Zetto pulled himself to his feet.
“…Ms. Aizel, are you okay?”
Clearly, it was Zetto who should be embarrassed, not me…
“This…I mean…”
…I was the one who became terribly embarrassed, and I was overwhelmed by it.
My hips were in full contact with his and the stimulation was too great.
I need to get up, but my legs are weak and I can’t stand. Heat also rises in my face.
“…”
I bowed my head in silence.
***
“How am I supposed to find that little thing, muster or whatever, in this big forest…?”
Yuri’s irritation was unnecessarily directed at the muster.
Soon, Lucia, who was in the same group as her, spoke up, smiling brightly.
“Why, it’s a nice, sunny day, and the air is fresh…!”
In her hand she held the bread Crank had given her.
Lucia took it out and ate it, saying it was a nice day for bread, not caring about the muster.
Meanwhile, Yuri was worried since Aizel took Zetto away before her eyes.
‘I should have told him first…’
Yuri wanted to join Zetto as much as possible but she hesitated, conscious of her father, Jeras, comments.
“Hah…”
Yuri sighed in frustration.
Ugh! Ugh…!”
Lucia, who was eating her bread, suddenly pointed to the far side of the forest.
Lucia’s eyes narrowed, and Yuri, wondering what was going on, quickly approached her.
She looked in the direction Lucia was pointing.
“What, what, are they…? What are they doing…?”
Yuri stuttered, unable to hide her embarrassment at the sight.
She could see Zetto and Aizel in the distance, but their posture was troubling.
Aizel was perched on top of Zetto’s body in an uncomfortable position.
They weren’t moving much and whatever conversation they were having was too far away to hear.
Soon, Lucia’s mouth was open, unable to bite into the bread, and she cautiously opened it.
“Uh, it’s a grown-up thing… it’s a grown-up thing…! Yu, Yuri… Should we cover our eyes…?!”
“……”
Lucia turned her head to look at Yuri, wondering why she didn’t have an answer but Yuri was stunned, looking at her in disbelief.