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 71: Observation

On the night Aoi received the “Lymphatic Massage” skill, she brought Rio to a family restaurant.

“I keep saying this, but something’s definitely off. It’s not normal,” Rio said.

“I know you worry about me. But, you know, I like myself more now,” Aoi replied.

On the way to the family restaurant, Rio repeated the same concerns multiple times. However, Aoi’s resolve never wavered.

Rio pleaded with Aoi to distance herself from Hiroyo. But for Aoi now, that idea felt completely unrealistic.

“Why don’t you try it once, Rio?” Aoi suggested.

“What… what are you saying?!” Rio exclaimed.

“Didn’t you say before that you were interested?” Aoi asked.

“That… that was if it was with someone I liked… It’s not something to take so lightly!” Rio retorted.

Rio raised her voice at the sudden invitation. Naturally, the idea of getting intimate with a stranger was unthinkable. Even if her best friend suggested it, she couldn’t agree.

“But, Rio, you’re pretty reserved, right? If you stay like this, you might never get a boyfriend,” Aoi teased.

“Shut up… You were reserved too, Aoi,” Rio shot back.

“True, I admit that,” Aoi conceded.

“Why… why did you change like this, Aoi? Give me back the pure Aoi from before…” Rio pleaded.

“Oh, Rio, you’re so kind. You look a bit scary, but you’re such a softie inside,” Aoi said warmly.

Rio’s sharp gaze often scared people. Especially underclassmen avoided her, parting ways when she walked down the hallway.

But she was just an ordinary girl. She wanted to fall in love too.

However, it wasn’t the casual kind of love Aoi talked about—it was a serious, deep love.

“Senior Hiroyo has a serious girlfriend, you know,” Aoi revealed.

“No way! Then that’s cheating!” Rio gasped.

“No, it’s with her approval. You know her, right? Senior Hibiki. She’s his girlfriend,” Aoi clarified.

“What… what?! She was insanely popular since middle school… I don’t get it…” Rio stammered.

Aoi and Hibiki were senior and junior in middle school. Naturally, Hibiki was Rio’s senior too.

Hibiki’s cuteness was famous at school, and Rio knew Aoi admired her.

“There are some complicated circumstances. I can’t tell you everything, but… what if you could become even prettier than now?” Aoi asked.

“Prettier… you mean, more than I already am…?” Rio hesitated.

Rio’s gaze turned to Aoi. Since the summer break of their third year in middle school, Aoi had suddenly become prettier.

Maybe it was because she got a boyfriend or hit a growth spurt—various reasons came to mind. But what Rio noticed most was the change in Aoi’s allure.

“Look at my skin. It’s smooth like a baby’s, right? No unwanted hair either. Since I met Senior Hiroyo, I’ve become like this,” Aoi boasted.

She couldn’t say more because of the “gift” of the Oath. On the edge of what was allowed, Aoi spoke of Hiroyo’s charm.

“Don’t you want to become prettier?” Aoi asked again.

She didn’t specify anything. But the fact that Aoi had undeniably become more beautiful was true.

“But that guy… he’s probably a bad person… he made you like this…” Rio said hesitantly.

“Hehe. On the contrary, Senior Hiroyo doesn’t have a single bad quality,” Aoi countered.

“Huh?” Rio blinked.

Rio assumed he was a bad person, but Aoi casually denied it.

“He’s not exactly a heartthrob, but he’s so kind that girls can easily sway him. He can’t say no to requests. He worried about me a lot too… and, well, his thing is pretty big…” Aoi added.

“I’m ignoring that last part… but I get it. You really like Senior Hiroyo. Nothing I say will change that,” Rio sighed.

Rio had been critical of Hiroyo. But she felt Aoi’s words held no lies.

“If you become prettier, you might get a boyfriend,” Aoi teased.

It was a trap. Aoi had set an inescapable trap, like an antlion pit.

Hiroyo was surrounded by older girls. That’s why Aoi wanted someone equal to her—Rio—to join in.

“That might be true… but I still don’t trust him,” Rio said cautiously.

“Think back. You were on the beautification committee with him today, right? What was Senior Hiroyo like?” Aoi prompted.

“Well… while others slacked off, he was the only one working seriously…” Rio admitted.

“Does that sound like a bad person?” Aoi pressed.

“…But there’s that playboy rumor…” Rio countered.

“That was my lie. Senior Hiroyo isn’t chasing anyone. We’re the ones chasing him. So, he’s not at fault,” Aoi explained.

Aoi continued, facing Rio’s furrowed brow.

“How about this? Observe Senior Hiroyo for a week. If your misunderstandings clear up, you’ll do one thing I ask,” Aoi proposed.

“…Fine,” Rio agreed.

Hearing Rio’s response, Aoi smiled with satisfaction.

Rio was weak to Aoi. Aoi had always stayed by her side when she had no friends. That’s why Rio wanted to trust her and stay friends.

And so, Rio’s week of observation began.

◇ ◇ ◇

“…” Hiroyo paused.

“Hiroyo? Something wrong?” Hibiki asked.

“No… it’s nothing,” Hiroyo replied.

During the lunch break the next day, Hiroyo ate lunch with Hibiki and others in the classroom. He suddenly felt a gaze and looked around.

But he didn’t find anyone and brushed it off as his imagination. Yet, the gaze continued the next day and the day after.

On that day, Hiroyo and the others gathered in the “Master Room” to discuss the next agenda.

“Actually, I learned a new skill,” Hiroyo announced.

“No way!” everyone exclaimed.

All eyes focused on the details of the skill.

“It’s called ‘Lymphatic Massage.’ I ran into Aoi-chan after the committee and tried it out,” Hiroyo explained.

“Lymphatic?! What’s that? Sounds super interesting!” Hibiki said excitedly.

The term was familiar, but they didn’t know the specifics. Since it was a massage, they assumed it was some kind of treatment.

“It helps with stamina recovery, fatigue relief, swelling reduction, cold sensitivity improvement, and menstrual pain relief… lots of stuff. But the most amazing part is—” Hiroyo continued.

“Wait a sec! Cold sensitivity and menstrual pain?! That’s huge!” Hibiki interrupted, standing up.

“It’s indeed an appealing skill. I don’t suffer much, but many girls do,” Kirino said calmly.

“Yeah. Hibiki-chan, let’s hear Hiroyo-kun out,” Koharu said gently.

“Sorry, sorry. Go on?” Hibiki said, sitting back down.

“The skill showed results right away,” Hiroyo revealed.

“What did you just say?” everyone gasped.

Even Hiroyo was shocked. Effects that used to take weeks appeared immediately after the treatment.

“It took the usual amount of time to perform, but Aoi-chan said afterward, ‘I could do club activities again,’” Hiroyo shared.

“So, her stamina recovered instantly?” someone asked.

“Yeah. So I thought, maybe dungeons could use recovery points like this,” Hiroyo suggested.

“That’s a brilliant idea! It could be a unique feature for our dungeon!” Saori said, standing up and clenching her fist.

If it relieved stamina, fatigue, and even menstrual pain, it could be a major attraction.

“How about placing a hot spring near the treatment room we talked about before and adding the ‘Lymphatic Massage’ effect to it?” Ecoa suggested.

“The skill requires kneading the skin, so we’d need something like a tentacle slime,” Hiroyo noted.

“Then let’s go with a tentacle slime for now. We’ll make it optional for people to receive it,” Hiroyo decided.

“Got it. I’ll proceed in that direction,” Ecoa confirmed.

Hiroyo agreed with Ecoa’s proposal. Using a tentacle slime for stamina recovery raised some concerns, but with no better alternatives, they settled on it for now.