"So anyway, Char — do you know anything about a flower called Star Blue?"
"Ah, the phantom flower. Supposedly confessions of love always succeed or something like that. What nonsense — you'd be better off learning a hypnotism skill than chasing after something like that."
What a hopeless thing to say.
This is what happens when you've been ground down by the world and become jaded…
But wait — do hypnotism skills actually exist?
Come to think of it, the priest I ran into during my initial infiltration of the church seemed to use something like that.
"Char, you used that manipulation-type magic tool, the 'Marionet String,' right? So wouldn't there be hypnotism-type magic tools too?"
"Hypnotism skills can't be replicated with magic tools, apparently. Almost all of them are fraudulent products with zero real effect. According to the scholars, it's a completely different beast from starting a fire with a magic tool."
I see.
In my previous life, there were hypnosis apps, right?
Oh wait — but the Consumer Affairs Agency issued a warning that over 90% of hypnosis apps were fakes.
So that means there's a fractional chance that a genuine hypnosis app exists…?
"Besides, hypnotism skills themselves aren't very powerful, and the duration is lackluster. You'd need to combine them with some kind of drug to make them practical."
Ah yes, the kind of drug that makes anyone look like a handsome man. I see, I see.
"There's also apparently a high-tier hypnotism skill called the [Bewitching Eye], but if anyone found out you had something like that, you'd be treated as a dangerous individual. Don't tell me… you don't have it, do you?"
"I don't have it right now."
(Though I do have a skill that can counter it — [Complete Status Abnormality Resistance].)
Wait — actually, if I reverse the hypnotism aptitude with [Reverse]…
So I reversed the hypnotism aptitude and obtained [Telemesmerism].
Oh, I need to get back to the main topic.
"So, do you have any clues about the Star Blue?"
"You can't be serious — you actually took that commission?"
Char looked shocked.
Is it really that weird that I took that commission?
"I mean, for a guy who casually puts on a collar of subjugation and wipes out an entire knight order without batting an eye, saying you want to do charity work just isn't very convincing."
I wasn't exactly trying to be virtuous, but I don't think I'm a depraved scoundrel either.
"So, do you have one or not?"
"If you're willing to take it with a grain of salt, there is. Apparently, a flower was once found in the northern mountains, far from the capital — its petals were shaped like stars, and it was growing inside something like a transparent bag wrapped around a house-like structure."
"You do have something! Hurry up and tell me."
"But here's the thing — the person who saw it was a small child, and it turned out that kid had a"
D U D
S K I L L
holder, so nobody believed them."
Oh, now that's useful intel.
"That's all I need to know. I'm heading out for a bit."
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skills: [Reverse], [Divine Eye], [Sword God], [Fist God], [Spear God], [Scorching Magic], [Freezing Magic], [Clear Gale Magic], [Stone Iron Magic], [Holy Magic], [Dark Magic], [Space-Time Magic], [Thunder God Sword], [Phantom Thief Gentleman], [Ninja Master], [Seeker of Truth], [Monstrous Power], [Idaten], [Pain Relief], [Complete Status Abnormality Resistance], [Dark Spirit's Protection], [Super Intuition], [Heaven's Gate], [Contractor of the Abyss], [Magic Hand], [Treasure Search], [Seduction], [Incitement], [Telemesmerism], [Eloquence], [Super Luck], [10x Growth Speed], [Growth Limit Break]
Rank: Orichalcum