NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42
What Minho received was a pair of shoes with the quirkiness of that mace applied to them.
And naturally, their performance was pretty underwhelming compared to the original.
What used to rip through steel like paper was now only capable of making a dent in it.
“Phew, with these, I could almost get away with using them on a person. And my synergy with my ability is impressive too.”
But Minho seemed rather pleased.
“Applying the quirkiness to the shoes was a brilliant choice. Rapid energy charging through fast movement, and on top of that, compensating for the lack of punch in my attacks… Truly, a testament to a Heros Academy student!”
The director puffed up, seeing his theory put to good use, subtly complimenting himself through Minho.
“Ahaha, it’s all thanks to Blanca. If she hadn’t donated that mace, I wouldn’t have been able to use it at all.”
Minho shouted out my name, indirectly expressing his gratitude.
Hehe. Score one for me! I’m glad he’s happy.
With this, the guilt I felt for wiping out his chances for awakening began to dissipate.
“Hey, I just gave it to the most suitable person. It was the most efficient way.”
In a fluster, I absentmindedly started twirling my hair, trying to hide my joy.
I thought it was a bit eccentric, but who wouldn’t be happy if their idol directly thanked them by name?
I certainly wouldn’t. No matter how self-restrained someone was, they would probably twitch with excitement.
And I wasn’t exactly the most well-behaved person.
When I felt good, I wore my happiness on my sleeve, and when I felt bad, I made sure everyone knew it.
“And… here are the gloves made from Ignition Cloth. I designed them just like you wanted… Do you like them?”
“Yes! They’ll match the costume perfectly!”
Yeonhwa received the long fingerless gloves and hugged them to her chest as if they were the most precious treasure.
They did seem like a good fit for her white chiton-like costume.
“Wow, they look great on you, Yeonhwa… I’m so jealous… I wish I had at least one…”
“Lapis, I’m not trying to rain on your parade, but can’t you just buy something you want?”
“Y-You have a point, but…! It just feels different when you get it yourself, you know?”
Ah, it’s a sentimental thing.
I patted Lapis on the shoulder as she gazed longingly at the artifacts we had received.
“In the future… we shouldn’t have to deal with something like this again, but if something comes up, I’m sure you’ll find something useful.”
“R-Right?”
It felt like I was sowing empty hope, but if it could buy some time for now, it was fine.
After reassuring Lapis, I received the items I needed.
“Here’s exactly what you ordered. Oh, and since we had a bit of quirkiness left over, I applied it to a few more test tubes of similar size.”
“…You can have leftover quirkiness?”
“The quirkiness of the bottle was too much for one test tube, so that’s how it turned out.”
Quirkiness “leftover.”
This was a concept I could hardly imagine. But since these much smarter folks said so, it must be true.
I didn’t mind. Instead of just one, I got eight.
“I can use these somehow, I guess.”
Not sure how much could fit in there, but judging by the fact that 30L easily fit into a cup that didn’t seem like it could hold even 300ml, it should hold a fair amount.
Using it for “work” might lead to some specific mishaps, so I wouldn’t use it too often, but it should definitely come in handy.
As I absentmindedly fiddled with the test tubes, a thought struck me.
“You just said there was a bit of leftover quirkiness, right? What if it was applied to an already quirky item or, I don’t know, injected into a person? What would happen?”
This was purely out of curiosity.
At the lab where I was trapped, they were studying the post-acquisition ability awakening of non-abilities users.
They had yet to find a valid method. The researchers, the administrators… all of them had gone collectively crazy a long time ago.
So naturally, I couldn’t help but be curious.
Could the extracted quirkiness be implanted into a human?
If it’s possible…
Everything that happened to me would be nothing but a massive hassle.
“…I’d never even considered that. But I doubt it would end well. Especially since it’s an experiment on humans. That’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed.”
The director gave me a serious look for a moment.
“Still, it seems feasible to theoretically explore the idea of overlapping quirkiness.”
He added that and promptly avoided further discussion.
That old man must have been tempted for just a moment.
No doubt about it. Scientists in this world are that kind of crowd.
It was only natural.
After receiving the magical charge devices crafted from artifacts from Jinhyeon, we left the lab.
I had a feeling we’d be visiting more often.
* * * * * –
Even though I knew where Yeonhwa’s house was, I asked her to tell me simply to avoid suspicion.
How did I know, you ask? I found out while doing a background check on Jinhyeon to mess with him.
Why did Yeonhwa’s house come up while I was trying to kill Jinhyeon? That was simple enough. They lived in the same house.
Feigning ignorance, I casually asked in the chat if there were any landmarks nearby as I pretended to get lost midway, finally arriving at Yeonhwa’s house.
“Welcome, Blanca!”
Yeonhwa rushed out into the entrance without even wearing her shoes to greet me.
“So you’re Blanca? I’ve heard a lot about you from Yeonhwa.”
“Hey, you weren’t supposed to say that!”
“Oops.”
“A-Apapa!”
That man with the scar on his face was probably Yeonhwa’s dad, and the red-haired woman I had never seen before must be her mom.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Blanca.”
“Such manners… No, more importantly, come in. Would you like some apple slices?”
“I’d be grateful if you could.”
Looks like Yeonhwa inherited her clumsy traits from her dad. It made sense since he was already like this.
“You know that rushing things like that isn’t a good habit?”
“Ugh… I get it, I’ll apologize properly later.”
After learning the FAMOUS family hierarchy of Yeonhwa, we all gathered around the table in the living room.
“Nice house.”
Of course, it didn’t quite compare to Lapis’s, but it still had the warm family home vibe.
The soft yellow sunlight beaming in was a world apart from the gloomy rented room with no light.
“Uh, yeah… I guess?”
Jinhyeon, who had been dragged out from another room, and Yeonhwa both seemed reluctant to talk with their parents around.
Seeing that, Yeonhwa’s parents peeled away after slicing the apples, casually saying they’d be back soon from a quick shopping trip, encouraging us to chat freely.
They seemed considerate. I mean, they went out of their way to leave when they could’ve just sent a drone for delivery.
“Is your mom a little scary?”
“N-No! She’s not scary, just… um… a bit strict?”
“She just disciplines when we’ve done something wrong, so it can be kind of intimidating.”
Judging by how jittery Jinhyeon and Yeonhwa were, it seemed like she was indeed intimidating.
She didn’t seem like a bad person, though.
“That’s a good thing. But, Blanca, why suddenly come over to our house?”
Yeonhwa mustered her energy to disperse the awkward atmosphere and asked me why I had come here.
“I was curious about a few things. After visiting Lapis’s, I got curious about your place as well…”
I also wanted to ask how she ended up using the flame when she wasn’t supposed to.
Directly looking at Jinhyeon, I said what I really wanted to know.
“How did you end up using the flame, when you shouldn’t have?”
That was the reason I was here.
When I asked that, Jinhyeon briefly looked at Yeonhwa before he answered without hesitation.
“Because you were in danger.”
…Me?
“It was something I had to do at that moment. If I didn’t step in, everyone would be in danger. So… I had to do it.”
Jinhyeon continued with his explanation.
He said he had been hesitating all this time about whether or not to intervene.
But when Yeonhwa was in danger, he couldn’t hesitate any longer.
He flattered me, saying it was something that was only possible because I was there.
But I couldn’t accept his words with joy at all.
I had no intention of that at all.
In fact, I was trying my hardest to ensure no one would awaken.
And yet, he ended up awakening because of that?
Frustration boiled up inside me.
“Well, it’s good that you’re not hesitating anymore. Now learn to trust others too. You tend to think you’re the only one who can do it.”
Trying to wrap my words in the prettiest language to tell him not to overexert himself, Jinhyeon blushed and said he’d think about it.
…Damn it!
Nothing ever goes my way.