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 57: I Won’t Let You Escape

Chapter 57: I Won’t Let You Escape

“—‘Body Odor Improvement’”

Hiroyo Takanashi learned a new skill.

He didn’t understand why he learned it at this moment. Normally, the timing seemed impossible.

However, a similar phenomenon occurred before.

It happened when Hibiki Hayashido admired the popular model Koi Nikaido, from the same agency as the idol group SPICE MIX’s leader, Minami Nagumo.

Back then, a skill manifested after hearing about Minami Nagumo’s back pain through Koi Nikaido.

Researchers studying gifts said gifts often connected to one’s subconscious desires. This applied to skills too, which grew with use.

If desires could manifest, anyone could gain any skill they wanted. But the world didn’t work that smoothly.

One thing was certain: Nagisa Kurebayashi was an adventurer Hiroyo admired for a long time. This differed from those he treated before. She was his idol, and his feelings for her were fundamentally stronger.

If she had a problem, he wanted to solve it wholeheartedly. That feeling was undeniable.

This was the first time he identified someone’s problem himself. Usually, Hibiki or those around her informed him.

In the end, he didn’t know what was true.

But now, Hiroyo might solve Nagisa Kurebayashi’s problem.

He turned back to return to her.

“…”

(No… I can’t give her false hope now. Plus, there’s the poison issue. I’ll wait until that’s settled.)

Acting impulsively could sadden Nagisa Kurebayashi, ruining everything.

Hiroyo held back and searched for clues about the poison alone.

◇ ◇ ◇

“What was that…?”

Nagisa Kurebayashi, who heard Hiroyo’s words, stared at his retreating figure.

“Body odor, improvement? What does that mean…?”

The words, impossible to ignore, made Nagisa Kurebayashi react.

But Hiroyo walked away without returning.

“…”

Though puzzled, she couldn’t do anything.

Since he offered cooperation, she could reach out if needed.

Nagisa reconsidered and resumed searching for poison clues.

◇ ◇ ◇

Kirino Hyoudou, away from Hibiki’s group in the lounge, headed to where her grandfather Genroku Hyoudou was. Mami went with her.

“Grandpa, what’s the situation?”

“Oh, Kirino.”

Genroku wore a stern expression, but his face softened when Kirino arrived.

Mami flinched at the sudden change.

“…No progress so far. Takao Hourai drank wine and ate from a plate before collapsing, but the police are checking the food and kitchen.”

“But others ate and drank too, right?”

“Right. So, the poison was likely added after the food reached his table, but we don’t know who brought it.”

“He doesn’t seem like the type to get his own food.”

“Exactly. Even I had Wakatsuki get mine.”

(Takao-san didn’t have a secretary. If anyone, it’d be Treasure Next staff. Midori-chan, the vice president… I don’t know the rest.)

From the scene, Midori Hourai, the vice president, and department heads sat around Takao Hourai’s table. Only Midori and the vice president were close enough to add poison, but Kirino couldn’t imagine them doing it with so many eyes around.

“…Hm?”

At that moment, a 500-milliliter plastic bottle under the table caught her eye.

It looked like an ordinary bottle with a soft drink label, containing clear water. But closer inspection revealed a faint white sediment at the bottom.

“…”

“Kirino, don’t get close.”

“I know… But did the police check this?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

To preserve the scene, they couldn’t approach the table.

But if the police hadn’t checked it, Kirino thought it was worth investigating.

“…Mami-chan, can you look at it?”

“…I can, but ‘Appraisal’ isn’t perfect.”

“Just try, please.”

“Okay…!”

Mami used her ‘Appraisal’ gift on the bottle.

‘Appraisal’ wasn’t all-powerful for a reason.

It could identify the drink’s effects but not detailed ingredients. That required another gift or skill.

“…Aba.”

“What’s wrong?”

Mami reacted to something after using ‘Appraisal.’

That meant it wasn’t an ordinary drink.

“Medicine…”

“Huh?”

“Not poison… It’s medicine to suppress illness.”

“…What does that mean?”

Kirino found it incomprehensible.

It was an unexpected answer.

“I don’t… know… It’s not poison, for sure… But I only know the effect.”

“Medicine in water is weird to begin with… Oh!”

Kirino recalled one possibility.

It seemed unlikely, and even if true, catching the culprit was uncertain. Leaving such obvious evidence seemed odd. Still, it might bring them closer to the culprit.

“Grandpa, I might know why Takao-san collapsed.”

“Tell me.”

Kirino took a breath before speaking.

“They thought poison was in the wine or food, but it’s probably the water in that bottle. The answer is overdose. Takao-san likely had a chronic illness, taking medicine regularly to manage it. I don’t know if it was pre-dissolved, but a large amount of medicine is in that water.”

“Oh…! As expected of Kirino! He did have a chronic illness.”

“Then—”

“It’s limited to someone who knew about his illness and the medicine he took.”

If Kirino’s reasoning was correct, Takao Hourai overdosed on medicine, which is why ‘Appraisal’ showed a poisoned state when he collapsed.

Too much medicine could become poison. The bottle’s contents weren’t recognized as poison because it was medicine, widely accepted as such.

They didn’t know how gifts distinguished medicine from poison, but it was the only explanation.

“Grandpa, let’s investigate those involved.”

◇ ◇ ◇

The plastic bottle’s medicine was announced to all participants.

However, no one, including those who knew Takao Hourai’s illness, seemed suspicious, and no fingerprints other than Takao’s were found on the bottle.

Participants were finally released around 11 p.m. and went home.

Everyone thought this case would drag on.

Except for one person.

“—Good work.”

“Thanks.”

The vice president of Treasure Next boarded a black luxury car in the hotel’s basement. A dedicated driver greeted him.

“The dashcam is off.”

“Good… Well done. It’d be nice if he had lasting effects…”

“Maybe not. A healer fixed him, right?”

“Yes, but the experiment succeeded.”

“Is that so? Then your day as president is near.”

“That nouveau riche needs to step down soon… Haha!”

The vice president laughed heartily with the driver, sharing his ambitions.

His goal was to eliminate the president and take control of Treasure Next.

He mixed a large amount of medicine into the bottle and—through the driver—guided Takao Hourai to take it from the car. The driver wore gloves.

“Since we failed to eliminate Midori, we need to take him out directly.”

“You’re truly terrifying.”

“You’re with me, aren’t you…”

The car started, heading from the basement to the surface.

Or so it seemed.

“!?”

“What’s wrong?”

“It won’t move forward!”

The car’s tires spun, screeching, as if hitting a wall.

The driver pressed the accelerator, but it wouldn’t budge.

“—I won’t let you escape.”

“What!?”

The car’s lights illuminated a woman.

Dark blonde hair, model-like figure. The two in the car knew her well.

“—Nagisa Kurebayashi!!”

S-rank adventurer Nagisa Kurebayashi stood defiantly in front of the car.

“I was wrong to track the wine’s smell. I followed the medicine’s smell in the bottle, and as long as I got outside, my nose worked.”

Nagisa Kurebayashi tracked the smell from the banquet hall.

No matter how much she followed the red wine’s scent, it led to the venue’s wine bottles.

After learning the bottle might be the poison’s source, she tracked its medicinal smell.

From the floor to the outside, she followed a faint trace to this basement parking lot car.

“Get out! Move it!”

“No use! It won’t go forward!”

“The vice president, huh… Disappointing.”

“Uoooh!?”

The next moment, the car body crumpled, doors deformed, tires punctured, and the car stopped.

“Damn! The doors won’t open!”

“I crushed it with my wind.”

This versatile wind user—Nagisa Kurebayashi—could do anything with wind.

“Now, surrender—Vice President, and unfamiliar driver.”