My Gift Is “Beauty”. I Think It’s Useless, but It Seems to Be an S-Rank Gift With the Strongest Buff Effect for Beautiful Girls - Chapter 20: Everything Is For This Moment (2)

Chapter 20: Everything Is For This Moment (2)

— Genroku Hyoudou is the founder and current chairman of the “Adventurers’ Guild Association,” which manages and operates adventurers and dungeons across Japan. Each prefecture has a branch of the “Adventurers’ Guild Association,” with the headquarters located in Tokyo.

All adventurers and guilds operating in Japan must go through this government-approved “Adventurers’ Guild Association.” They are not allowed to enter dungeons freely.

Even now, over seventy years old, Genroku Hyoudou is still working actively. He has a beast-like strength in his well-trained body and a fearsome face like a demon. Just the intimidating look on his face strikes fear into many.

Meanwhile, Isori Hyoudou, Genroku’s only son, started his own business while in university and grew his company. But when dungeons appeared, he changed course. He founded a new company, “Dungeon Guild Co., Ltd.” to support adventurers, manage the buying and selling of dungeon items, and secure distribution channels. He partnered with the “Adventurers’ Guild Association” and the government, expanding nationwide. It has now grown into Japan’s top dungeon-related company.

Isori also inherited Genroku’s fierce looks. He’s famous as a sharp and capable president, and not many people can talk back to him.

Kirino Hyoudou was a blood relative of these two.

(Am I… going to be killed?)

Hiroyo was terrified at the thought of what he had done with Kirino without being in a relationship. He remembered the fierce faces of those two men, and just imagining what would happen if they found out made him fear for his life.

(Kirino’s house… is also their house… That’s why it was so big…)

Since Saori Fuyutsuki worked at the headquarters, she had seen Genroku Hyoudou several times. His face alone was enough to scare her. So when she learned of Kirino’s relation to him, she became frightened.

As for how people came to know of Kirino, it was because Genroku would walk around the association’s headquarters saying, “My granddaughter Kirino is just too cute,” with that same intense look on his face. Because of that, even Fuyutsuki often heard her name.

“Ahem! Excuse me. I got too sidetracked… So, what exactly can you do, Kirino-san—”

Fuyutsuki used Kirino’s first name, perhaps to distinguish her from the chairman, and brought the conversation back.

“My Gift is ‘Frost.’ I can control cold strong enough to instantly freeze the moisture in the air. Actually, when I was a child, my body was affected by this Gift, and I naturally learned to control it to survive. So I can use it even with my eyes closed.”

Kirino raised her index finger and formed a small piece of ice at the tip. It rapidly grew larger—then vanished with a burst.

“Amazing… So, Kirino is going to use that—”

“Yes. I plan to use the cold to surround both Shishido-san’s burn and Hiroyo-kun’s hand, adjusting the temperature to help them endure the heat.”

“You can do even that…”

Hibiki and Koharu were amazed not only by Kirino’s ability to create giant ice pillars, which they had seen firsthand, but also by the step before that—being able to control and adjust the cold’s temperature. It left them speechless.

“To sum it up: Kushima-san will suppress Shishido-san’s pain, Kirino-san will use her cold to regulate the skin’s surface temperature, and Takanashi-san will treat the burn… Is that correct?”

Fuyutsuki summarized the conversation to make it easier to understand—then her eyes lit up, thinking this might actually work.

“It feels like… we all gathered for this very moment.”

Koharu murmured.

“It’s an amazing coincidence… but still.”

Azumi’s treatment probably wouldn’t succeed if even one of the three were missing. So maybe the reason these three became friends and ended up in this place was exactly to help Asumi Shishido—such a coincidence was enough to make them think that.

“Everyone’s doing something useful… but I’m the only one who’s not…”

But one girl didn’t look well—Hibiki.

However, that wasn’t true.

If Hibiki hadn’t spoken to Hiroyo, he wouldn’t have met Koharu. If she hadn’t talked to Kirino, Kirino wouldn’t have met Hiroyo or Koharu either.

So it all started with Hibiki. None of this would have happened without her.

“Hibiki-chan… I don’t think that’s true. The final push to make sure this treatment method is really right—maybe that’s something you can do.”

Perhaps sensing Hibiki’s feelings, Kirino gently told her what she could do to help the most right now.

“Ah—”

Hibiki realized it immediately. She approached the sleeping Azumi and activated a skill, filling her eyes with magical power—

“…It’s glowing… And… all three of them…”

Hibiki turned around.

Hiroyo, Koharu, and Kirino were all smiling.

“Haha… Looks like Kirino was right.”

“Hibiki-chan is always helpful, no matter when or where.”

“Don’t say stuff that makes me happy…”

Hibiki’s eyes trembled just a little.

But there was one person who didn’t understand what she had just done.

“Excuse me. What exactly happened just now?”

It was Saori Fuyutsuki.

Although Fuyutsuki had the Gift of “Appraisal,” she didn’t use it on people without permission and didn’t know every person’s Gift or Skill.

To add to that, even Mizuki and Haruka didn’t know about Hibiki’s newly acquired skill.

“One of my Gift’s Skills is called ‘Seeker Search.’ Its effect is that the person most strongly desired by the target will glow brightly.”

“That kind of skill…”

“I used it on Azumi-chan just now. And the people her body was subconsciously seeking—the ones who glowed—were Hiroyo, Koharu, and Kirino.”

It was Hibiki’s first time seeing this result.

Until now, only one person glowed per target. But this time, all three of them had glowed at the same time.

In other words, Azumi was saying that she needed all three of them equally.

If there were others who might be needed, Hibiki wouldn’t have noticed, but she felt instinctively that no one else was necessary.

“Hibiki-chan’s skill showed that the people who can save Shishido-san are the three of us, including me.”

Koharu said.

“Hibiki… I don’t know what to say…”

“I can’t believe something like this actually happened…”

Even Mizuki and Haruka’s voices trembled at the unbelievable situation.

“Then, Kirino—”

When Hiroyo said that, Kirino nodded and walked with him to the bed where Azumi was sleeping.

“Everyone. Let’s do it one more time. —If it’s only the left side of her body, I think we can finish within an hour.”

“Hiroyo-kun, you can focus on your skill. I’ll perfectly cover you and Shishido-san.”

“Kirino… you’ve become so dependable…”

Hiroyo couldn’t help but be impressed by Kirino’s reliable words.

“Both of you… please. Save Azumi…”

“Our best friend… please take care of her.”

Mizuki and Haruka spoke with hope in their voices toward the backs of Hiroyo and Kirino.

“Here we go—Skill: Skin Quality Improvement.”

“Cold air—cover her.”

Hiroyo, Kirino—and with Koharu’s skill, the treatment of Shishido Azumi, which would take four weeks, began.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Haah… haah… guh…!”

“Hiroyo… hang in there…!”

Hiroyo rubbed the left side of Azumi’s sleeping body, and a large amount of magic power drained from him.

On the floor, bottles of magic recovery potions prepared by Mizuki were scattered, and he had to drink them to continue, since the magic cost was so high.

Until now, Hiroyo had used his skill on three people, but doing a full body treatment meant he could only do one person per day. If it was just a part of the body, he could handle multiple people, but the general rule was one person a day.

If Azumi’s burns were normal, he could have treated her as usual.

But this time, the “curse” was special, and it seemed he could only use the “Skin Quality Improvement” skill by consuming a massive amount of magic power.

“Today’s… the last time… let’s do this…!”

Everyone except Fuyutsuki stood behind him, watching Hiroyo and Kirino perform their skills.

But the person who had it the hardest wasn’t Hiroyo or Kirino.

When it came to treating Azumi, the one who struggled the most was Koharu.

Koharu’s skill, “Pain Reduction,” had a limit—it could only last for about half a day even when using a lot of her magic.

So, every morning before going to school, she went to the hospital, and after school, she went again to use her skill. But like Hiroyo, she also had to use magic recovery potions, which Mizuki prepared for her.

To prevent Azumi from dying from shock caused by the pain, Koharu went to the hospital every day for four weeks.

“…It’s over…”

The faint white glow disappeared from Hiroyo’s hands.

Eight treatments over four weeks.

From Christmas, through the New Year, and into mid-January.

With that, Azumi’s treatment was finally complete.

“All that’s left is to wait. I hope it works…”

“Thank you… really… thank you…”

“Hiroyo-kun, Kirino-chan… and also Hibiki and Koharu-chan… thank you…”

At Hiroyo’s words, Mizuki and Haruka, who had been standing by, spoke in trembling voices.

Until now, the results had always shown within a week after the final treatment.

So it was expected that Azumi would be the same, but because of the “curse” this time, even Hiroyo didn’t know what would happen.

Now, all anyone could do was pray that Azumi’s burns would heal and she would wake up.

◇ ◇ ◇

—In a large hospital ward, a VIP private room available only to those who paid expensive hospital fees.

Through a gap in the half-open curtain, soft winter sunlight shone down from the clear sky.

“Nn………………”

Maybe it had been a long time since she opened her eyes, because her eyelids struggled to lift.

Putting strength into her brow to raise them, the first thing she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

She moved her head. On the right was the half-open curtain. On the left, a partition curtain… and her arm was connected to an IV drip.

—Growl.

A loud stomach growl echoed.

“…I want to eat meat.”

A girl with slightly grown, neatly trimmed black bangs slowly sat up in the bed.