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 56: Nagisa Kurebayashi’s Trouble

“Hiroyo~~~!?”

She straddled and hit him.

The situation looked undeniably like that.

Hibiki Hayashido, who headed to the bathroom at a different time, witnessed Hiroyo Takanashi being slapped by S-rank adventurer Nagisa Kurebayashi.

“Ah… This isn’t… S-sorry!!”

Unlike her usual cool impression, Nagisa Kurebayashi bowed repeatedly and apologized profusely to Hibiki.

“There’s a reason for this…! Really… Sorry!”

“…Did Hiroyo’s lucky pervert moment activate?”

However, Hibiki felt from Nagisa Kurebayashi’s sincere apology that it wasn’t intentional.

Calmly thinking, she realized Hiroyo encountered a lucky pervert situation.

――Five minutes later.

“N… Huh?”

“Hiroyo, you awake?”

When Hiroyo woke, he lay on a lounge sofa on the same floor as the banquet hall—on Hibiki’s lap.

“Thanks… Ah.”

He sat up and adjusted his posture, and across from him sat a striking figure on another sofa.

“S-Sorry!”

Nagisa Kurebayashi apologized, sweat dripping from her face.

Yet, despite sweating, the sweat seemed to vanish like mist.

“No… I couldn’t dodge either…”

Hiroyo recalled the moments before.

It was the body odor from Nagisa Kurebayashi—was that real?

A strong smell, like something boiled down. It was unimaginable coming from a beauty like her.

“Um, were you doing something earlier?”

Before that, Hiroyo asked about something bothering him.

Nagisa Kurebayashi’s earlier actions seemed suspicious.

“I used my gift to manipulate wind and track the poison’s smell.”

“You can do that…!”

“Yes. Some people know, but my gift is ‘Breeze.’ Simply put, it’s a wind-control gift. I heard it was poison, likely from the wine he drank. My nose is sensitive, so I used my gift to trace the poison’s source.”

Nagisa Kurebayashi’s gift ‘Breeze’ controlled wind, as she explained.

The name suggested only small breezes, but her S-rank status came from generating powerful winds.

Adding small winds to small winds created a larger wind, and layering them produced a tornado-like force. Her ability to instantly create and unleash destructive winds made her S-rank.

“So, maybe the culprit—”

“No, I don’t know yet.”

“And before that, I collided with you…”

“Ah… Oh…”

Hiroyo understood the sequence of events.

Since little time passed, the culprit likely remained unfound.

“Oh, a message from Midori-chan… Her dad’s okay. A high-level healer came quickly and detoxified him.”

“Good… That’s a relief.”

At that moment, Koharu Kushima’s phone received a message from Midori Hourai, which she read aloud.

Hearing the news, everyone sighed in relief and showed relaxed expressions.

“…By the way, where’s Mami-chan?”

“Here!”

“Wah!?”

Suddenly, Mami appeared in a spot where no one stood.

Hiroyo, startled by Mami’s sudden appearance, nearly fell off the sofa.

“Mami-chan, how was it?”

“Aba… I don’t know… I checked gifts, but no one had a poison-related one…”

“Even Mami-chan doesn’t know, so this case seems tough…”

Kirino Hyoudou asked Mami the question.

Apparently, Mami used ‘Camouflage’ to turn invisible and ‘Appraisal’ to check participants’ gifts.

Even so, she couldn’t narrow down the culprit.

The police continued investigating the banquet hall and the same floor.

Since the apology ended, the group parted with Nagisa Kurebayashi to discuss what to do next.

Nagisa Kurebayashi said she’d continue investigating personally and walked off.

“Hey, Hibiki.”

“Hm?”

“You didn’t use a skill on Nagisa-san, right?”

“What? You’re curious?”

“Um, not in a weird way, just something I’m curious about…”

There was no hidden intent. He wondered about the smell earlier.

If it was her trouble, he thought maybe he could help solve it.

“Hmm. Sadly, Hiroyo, you weren’t glowing.”

“So you checked, huh?”

“Yup… So, what’s this thing you’re curious about?”

“It might be delicate, so I can’t say yet. If I do, I’ll check with Nagisa-san first.”

“Okay, got it.”

(If that smell is what I think, I wondered if ‘Skin Quality Improvement’ could fix it, but I guess not…)

Hiroyo hadn’t learned a new skill.

If he could solve Nagisa Kurebayashi’s trouble, it would require a new skill. But now, Hiroyo could do nothing.

“I’ll walk around alone a bit. Maybe I’ll find a clue.”

“Alone, huh… Okay. We’ll chill here.”

Hiroyo stood from the sofa and walked off somewhere.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Found out, found out, found out…!?”

Nagisa Kurebayashi, away from Hiroyo’s group, muttered to herself while pacing the floor.

She calmed down while sitting on the sofa, but the fact remained that he found out. Thinking about it, she couldn’t stay still.

“Will that kid tell others…? If he’s going to, I need to stop him first…”

An invisible wind barrier covered her body and clothes.

The wind gradually dispersed the smell from her body toward the ceiling.

“I got too famous… If people find out I have body odor, it’ll definitely become a big deal…”

An S-rank adventurer had fame like a veteran actor.

In modern times, with adventurer-focused news programs and S-rank features, many knew Nagisa Kurebayashi’s name.

Her lifelong trouble was ‘body odor.’ Despite her rare beauty, it made her keep a certain distance from others.

A lover was out of the question. Even if she dated, a breakup could lead to exposure, which she couldn’t bear.

Such risks kept her from stepping into romance.

Her solo adventurer status stemmed partly from being too strong for S-rank, but her condition was the main reason.

She originally liked being in the spotlight.

So, when she became a famous adventurer, she joined a talent agency and took modeling jobs.

Her ‘Breeze’ gift helped there.

When borrowing clothes, she used wind to prevent her smell from sticking, avoiding sweat stains or odors.

She felt grateful for her gift, which enabled her modeling work.

“—U-Um!”

“Wah!”

At that moment, someone called from behind, startling Nagisa Kurebayashi.

Turning around, she saw Hiroyo.

“Th-The earlier…!”

“I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Hiroyo Takanashi.”

“Takanashi-san…”

Hiroyo bowed slightly.

“Um… Before I passed out, I said something rude, and I want to apologize… I lacked tact.”

“Ah… Oh…”

Hiroyo remembered the words he said.

Nagisa Kurebayashi apologized for the slap, but Hiroyo hadn’t apologized for his harsh words.

“I won’t tell anyone, so don’t worry.”

“Um… Thank you.”

“A-And! I’m a fan! I’ve watched your achievements on TV! Strong, cool, beautiful… Anyway, I’m a fan!”

Earlier, he couldn’t say this, so now, alone, he expressed his feelings.

Nagisa Kurebayashi, slightly surprised, looked at Hiroyo’s pure eyes and said, “Thank you.”

“Um, can I get a handshake?”

“…”

“Is it… no good?”

Nagisa Kurebayashi hesitated.

(He already knows… Oh well.)

She rarely shook hands, making this special treatment.

Nagisa Kurebayashi extended her hand and shook Hiroyo’s.

“Ooooh…! Small hand…”

“Takanashi-san, your hand is surprisingly big. Not in a bad way.”

“Haha… No.”

Nagisa Kurebayashi was as tall as Kirino. He thought her hands would be large, but they were delicate and girly.

Hiroyo’s height was average for a man, but his hands were quite large.

“…D-Don’t smell my hand, okay?”

“I-I wouldn’t…! That’d make me a pervert…”

Nagisa Kurebayashi chuckled and let go.

Compared to her TV image, Hiroyo’s impression of her flipped completely.

She seemed cool and quiet, but talking revealed a calm side, with emotional outbursts like the earlier collision. He felt she was kind, even shaking hands.

“You’re investigating the culprit with your gift, right?”

“Yes. I don’t want to be stuck here long, and if my power helps, I want to use it.”

“Got it. —We… I mean, we might help too, so let us know. My friends have amazing gifts, despite appearances.”

“I know. That small girl who appeared suddenly… She’s no ordinary person. Seems shy, though.”

“That’s Mami. I can’t share details, but… she’s amazing.”

Nagisa Kurebayashi was surprised by Mami’s sudden appearance.

She likely realized Mami wasn’t ordinary.

“Let us know if you need anything!”

“Yes… Later.”

Nagisa Kurebayashi waved as Hiroyo walked away.

Then, she activated her gift to track the poison’s smell.

But at that moment.