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 21: Gratitude and Payback

“Asumi…! Asumi…! Asumi!!”

“I’m so glad… I’m so glad, Asumi!”

In a hospital room, two mature-looking girls were crying and clinging to a black-haired girl in a hospital gown.

Asumi Shishido had woken up.

And not only that—her burnt left side was completely restored… no, even more beautiful than before.

Just like what happened with Koharu, not a single scar remained, and her skin looked like it had been reborn. Hiroyo’s “Skin Quality Improvement” had defeated the “curse.” It wasn’t a head-on victory, but since it disappeared, it was practically the same as winning.

So when Asumi woke up, this is what happened.

She had been wandering the hospital hallway alone with an IV drip, looking for food to fill her empty stomach.

But having been in bed for nearly a month, her muscles had weakened. She couldn’t walk properly and ended up falling.

The fact that a nurse found Asumi collapsed on the floor and screamed became a funny story later, but soon after, Mizuki and the others were notified, and everyone gathered in the hospital room.

Even Saori Fuyutsuki, who had been busy with her job as a guild employee, came. This time, she was there under official orders from the Adventurers’ Guild—to use “Appraisal” to confirm the curse had disappeared.

However, Fuyutsuki was currently on a general work suspension. She had been given several serious penalties, including house arrest, being banned from recording adventurer information, having her tablet confiscated, and a bonus cut.

The most serious issue that came to light was that she had been recording the Gift information of civilians she had been in charge of on her tablet. While profile information of people she worked with was registered in the guild system, Gift information wasn’t and wasn’t shared within the guild.

But Fuyutsuki had done this out of good will, thinking the information might be useful someday. And this time, it actually was useful. Still, while it wasn’t explicitly forbidden by the guild, what was banned was the leaking of information.

So, the guild took this incident seriously and decided to fully ban even the storage of Gift information. In other words, up until now, the staff working in guild branches all over Japan had been doing “Appraisal” work based on the assumption of good intentions. Thankfully, there had been no leaks before, but that couldn’t be guaranteed going forward.

The guild was relieved that Fuyutsuki’s tablet was confiscated before it could be taken or picked up by someone else. Of course, it was password-protected, but a professional could still break in.

Since the information was only leaked to two people who wouldn’t misuse it, under normal circumstances the punishment wouldn’t have been this harsh. But because the Gift information had been stored and the rules required discipline regardless of intent, the heavy penalties were imposed.

When Fuyutsuki used “Appraisal” to check Asumi’s condition—

“Nothing… There’s no abnormal status at all!”

“Thank goodness!!”

Hearing that, Mizuki wailed even more.

But Asumi herself still couldn’t fully grasp the situation and looked confused.

“…So that’s what happened…”

After that, she was told everything: what had happened to her, who worked hard to keep her alive, and what was done to heal the burn curse.

“Everyone, thank you… I’m fine except for being hungry.”

Asumi was originally the calm type who didn’t raise her voice.

Even so, that was more than enough to show her gratitude.

Of course, the doctor who usually treated adventurers also examined Asumi.

Aside from her decreased stamina and muscle strength, there were no issues. She was certified to be in good health.

However, the meat Asumi first asked for couldn’t be eaten right away. She had to gradually get used to solid food starting with hospital meals. Including the observation period to see if she had truly recovered, she would stay hospitalized for two more weeks. If there were no problems, she’d be discharged.

“You four… come here.”

Asumi, sitting up in bed, called the four people who had saved her, Hiroyo and the others. They lined up side by side next to her bed.

“Hibiki… it’s been a while. You look prettier… Thanks for everything this time.”

“Yeah… I’m glad you’re okay, too, Asumi-chan.”

Though the gratitude came out of nowhere, Asumi and Hibiki hugged tightly.

“For saving me, I’ll do anything… just tell me.”

“Hmm. I didn’t really think about getting anything in return. I just came because I wanted to help… But if I think of something, I’ll let you know.”

“Okay.”

Next, she faced Koharu.

“Koharu-chan… the girl with black hair like me. I heard you eased my pain. I’m happy. Thank you.”

“I’m glad you got better…”

Koharu’s contribution was significant. If she hadn’t stopped the pain early on, Asumi could’ve died at any moment.

Asumi hugged Koharu, too.

Next up was Kirino.

“Kirino-chan, you’re such a beautiful girl. …I had a dream. I was surrounded by flames and couldn’t escape. But then, it started to feel cool. Probably thanks to you… thank you.”

“If that’s true, I’m glad… Thank you as well.”

Asumi said she had a dream.

It was hot and suffocating. In the dream, she was trapped in raging flames with no way out, just standing there. But at some point, even with the flames in front of her, she stopped feeling the heat.

Whether something that happened in reality could affect her dream, no one could say, but that’s what Asumi said.

Asumi also hugged Kirino.

And then finally, it was Hiroyo.

“Hiroyo-kun. I think I had really bad burns… but I was saved because of you, and now I look beautiful. Thank you… By the way, all the girls around you are so cute. Are you in a harem?”

After thanking him, Asumi was the only one who brought up the fact that Hiroyo was the only guy there.

“Uh… how should I say this…”

Since he was officially dating Hibiki, it wouldn’t be wrong to call it a harem. But Hibiki was his true partner, and with her permission, Koharu and Kirino were also there. So Hiroyo didn’t think it was exactly a harem…

“I heard you patted the left side of my body.”

“Yes…”

“I heard you touched my boobs too.”

“Yes…?”

Hiroyo started to feel like something was off with Asumi’s words.

“I’ve decided I’ll be with the person who touches my important parts.”

“WHAAAT!?”

“Fufu, just kidding. Let’s just hug.”

“If that’s the case…”

Asumi had a serious expression but still joked around. It was their first conversation, so Hiroyo was surprised, but once he realized it was a joke, he felt relieved.

Then, Asumi and Hiroyo hugged.

(She’s definitely a bit warmer… maybe it’s because of the Gift. Now that I think about it, Kirino felt slightly cooler.)

He felt Asumi’s body heat during the hug. It didn’t seem like a fever from a cold, and there were no burn marks. Still, she seemed warmer than normal. It probably was the effect of the Gift.

“――Again, thank you, everyone. I make good money, so I’ll definitely repay you. If there’s something you want, tell me. Even if it’s an order to wear something sexy, that’s fine.”

In the end, Asumi said something outrageous, but her expression didn’t change much.

It sounded like she had no problem wearing sexy clothes.

――And so, Asumi Shishido woke up, and the curse of the burns vanished.

Two weeks later, she was discharged, and after another week, she held a celebration to show her recovery and thank Hibiki and the others. But something outrageous happened there.

Hibiki, remembering that Mizuki once said “I’ll do anything,” involved Asumi and Haruka and made them wear the sexy cosplay outfits that Asumi herself had mentioned.

Mizuki was dressed in an extremely revealing high-leg bunny girl costume, and still in that state, as payback for having seen Hiroyo and her in an intimate moment earlier, she was tied to a chair while Hiroyo used his skill on her ears, teasing her in a special way.

Mizuki was a lively, beautiful high school girl, even featured on TV, and ranked as an A-rank adventurer. Even someone as cool and amazing as her ended up rolling her eyes back, drooling, losing her composure, and climaxing just from her ears being teased.

Well, to be exact, she was brought to her limit from the ear play, and at the end, Asumi suddenly shouted “Nipple guessing game!” and, with both index fingers, pressed the tips of Mizuki’s breasts—causing her to climax at that moment.

It also happened to be Valentine’s Day, so things escalated with high-proof brandy-filled chocolates causing a bit of an alcohol panic. Then Hibiki and the others said they wanted to wear cosplay too, ending up in overly revealing outfits. A lot more happened after that, but in any case, the celebration turned into a wild party of chaos, filled with laughter and screams, centered around Hibiki and Asumi.

And so, Asumi’s recovery party and thank-you gathering came to an end, closing out a hectic month.