1.
Paired Wings, Entwined Branches.
What a delightfully warm-sounding phrase.
...Just kidding, why the hell is this so broken?
I have no idea what kind of XXXX Dolores and the person she likes would be, but this means it would even protect that person's life.
It saves them when they are about to die?
And there was one part that bothered me—or rather, one part I was curious about.
The tooltip said it removed the direct cause of death.
There was some ambiguity there. If someone was dying from excessive blood loss due to a wound, then the wound would close up... but what if someone had inflicted it on them? Would it remove that person instead?
...It wouldn't, right?
Anyway, Lionel Yujin had made another ridiculously overpowered thing today.
They say joy comes after hardship. I seriously almost cried my eyes out.
Though I had already cried once....
"Phew...."
I let out a long breath and went over the description again.
I needed to explain it to Dolores now, too.
But then.
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[The original latent abilities are retained, and all latent abilities from both branches are enhanced and applied together.]
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Enhanced....
Come to think of it, I had just glossed over that.
Getting the branch I hadn't selected was already an effect that practically made no sense, but if both branches had been enhanced....
That meant the Spring Flowers branch I'd originally chosen had gotten stronger too, didn't it?
I quickly checked the tooltip.
There weren't any major changes at +5, +10, or +15, but....
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[+20 — Spring Breeze Carrying Fire]
[Cooldown: 30 minutes] [Duration: 10 minutes]
[Releases accumulated warmth to summon a spring breeze in a 200-meter radius centered on the wearer.]
[The spring breeze inflicts [Ember] on all enemies within the area. The longer they are exposed to the wind, the fiercer the spark becomes, increasing burn damage.]
[The spring breeze continuously heals all injuries of the wearer and their allies, excluding fatal wounds.]
[For targets whose wounds have all healed, the remaining warmth accumulates as a shield.]
[When the shield is destroyed by an enemy attack, it releases an amount of warmth equal to the amount destroyed, healing nearby allies and inflicting [Ember] on enemies.]
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It was a little hard to spot the differences at a glance.
Yuna.
[Yeah. First, the duration increased from three minutes to ten minutes.]
[The radius went from 100 meters to 200 meters, and when the shield breaks, it inflicts burn damage on enemies.]
This one seemed to have received a nice little upgrade.
It might feel underwhelming because the base effect was already broken as hell... but it was a free enhancement.
Okay, I was done checking. Now I had to explain it....
There was so much information that if I blurted it all out at once, I thought I'd only confuse myself more.
With Yuna's help, I put together the order in which to explain everything.
Then I gathered my breath and addressed Dolores.
She looked like she had been waiting for quite a while.
"...First of all, I succeeded at +25, and the effect of the Spring Breeze branch I discarded earlier has opened up too."
Her femininity would bloom.
If someone she had affection for was nearby, her body scent would change according to that person's preferences.
And in proportion to their mutual longing for one another, both people would become healthier.
"It says her body will remain in its most beautiful and optimal condition, without aging in appearance."
"...I-Is that really true?"
As expected, that was probably the part that appealed to her as a woman.
"And lastly."
The decisive part.
"When two people in love kiss...."
They could form a Paired Wings, Entwined Branches contract.
After hearing that it could even save someone's life, Dolores seemed to deliberate for a long while....
But before long.
"...So every part of it requires someone you love."
"Coincidentally, yes."
"......"
Dolores rested her elbows on the table and propped her chin on the back of her hand.
She seemed to be mulling over my explanation, but....
Her face....
It was redder than any expression of Dolores's I had ever seen.
She looked like she was about to burst.
"Um, ahem...! You've made another incredible piece of equipment, Lionel...."
"I suppose I have."
"For a woman... it's equipment she'd have no choice but to love."
"Haha...."
What a relief, seriously.
Dolores had nearly ended up having to go around without underwear for a while.
But the contract partner was a little unclear....
I had barely ever seen Dolores talk to any man other than Sebas, the head butler.
Just then.
"But Lionel, does "love" here perhaps mean only romantic feelings...?"
Dolores pointed out the very issue I had been pondering.
"I don't know."
"For example... if I... um...."
Her fidgeting fingers curled together.
Smack!
She slapped her fist into her palm and added,
"Ah! I mean, it's clear that I love Ruby and Lionel, isn't it?"
"Thankfully...."
Judging from her actions, she did. In a way that felt like how one would love their children.
"That could definitely work."
Love didn't necessarily only mean romantic love, after all.
I looked through the description again, but it didn't mention details like that.
"I think we'd have to test it ourselves to find out. We can't tell from the description alone."
"...I see."
Anyway, there was no way to know for sure right now.
"Ah, and...."
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
It was an idea I had been carrying around in my mind for a while.
"How about making this into a divine tool?"
According to the Origin Script, Gaia seemed to like this underwear quite a lot.
She had threatened us not to touch it, after all.
And I still had one Divine Tool Promotion Ticket left.
If I wasn't going to promote 4.5-star equipment at +25 into a divine tool, then what equipment would I promote?
...Honestly, Gaia would probably like the design too.
The same went for its effects.
Gaia even had a daughter and a son, didn't she?
Then she must have a husband too. There was definitely someone for her to form Paired Wings, Entwined Branches with, so the effect would definitely work.
It would be good for both Dolores and Gaia. Killing two birds with one stone.
But at my question, Dolores....
"................ Um, no."
"Huh?"
"How about we put that on hold for now...?"
Well, if Dolores, Gaia's apostle, said so.
But Dolores gave an unexpected reason.
"And there's a high chance that Gaia... doesn't have anyone with whom she can form Paired Wings, Entwined Branches."
Huh?
...What?
Wait, was Gaia perhaps a divorcée....
"Did she get divorced?"
"Hm? What do you mean...?"
"I heard she has a daughter and a son."
Solau, and that vicious younger sister—the goddess of the moon.
Dolores stared at me for a moment.
"...Ah."
Then she nodded, as though she understood what I had been thinking.
"Lionel, the parent-child relationships of gods are a little different from ours."
"How so...?"
"Gods can divide their authority to give birth to new gods. A god born that way serves the god who gave birth to them as their parent."
What the fuck, that's how it worked?
I had no idea.
Until now, I thought Gaia had literally given birth to them.
"No, really?"
"Yes. The authorities that split off from the earth each received their own names. Gaia is their origin, so she is their mother."
"Then their father is..."
"There was never one to begin with."
I see.
Maybe because it was mythology, their idea of family was a little different.
I had nearly turned someone perfectly single into a married woman for no reason.
There I went, learning another piece of information I had gotten wrong.
Okay, then Gaia was on hold as well.
Honestly, I wasn't planning to make any more underwear, so I had just hoped to take care of it while I was at it.
It was about time... I wanted to try making equipment that really had that cold, hard edge to it.
I had never made heavy armor before, had I?
I really hadn't developed much in that direction.
As I held those thoughts and continued discussing the effects with Dolores....
"...Ah."
It was here. That feeling.
My head grew heavy, and my eyelids sank along with it.
I was so tired.
I wanted to sleep.
I always felt this way, but my body in its baby state seemed to have a harder time with mental shocks than physical strain.
And the mental damage I had taken until just now had been legendary.
"Lionel."
"Yes, I'm listening...."
Swish.
As though she understood how I felt, Dolores gathered me into her arms.
She supported my head.
"Ah...."
"Let's sleep now, Lionel. You've worked so hard...."
Overcome by the familiar, conditioned drowsiness that had come for me after so long, I closed my eyes.
Out of habit, I sought out a comfortable spot and rested my cheek against the softest place....
"...Love you."
This time, I didn't resist and closed my eyes.
2.
A huge drawing room.
The door was tightly locked.
Soundproofing magic had been cast in two, three layers as well.
Inside the drawing room, four beautiful women of uncertain identity sat huddled together.
There was even a massive blackboard in the center.
"...I'll explain today's agenda."
An emergency assembly of the Dawn Apostles.
Only four of them, however.
With a solemn expression, Dolores picked up a pen and began the briefing.
Then she began writing down the specifications and effects of a piece of equipment that had no business existing in this world.
"...?"
The blue-haired doctor, Camilla, furrowed her brow more and more as the explanation of the equipment continued.
"Mmm... wow."
"I see."
But the purple one and the red one merely accepted it as though it were nothing.
'What is this?'
What? Two people in love do what?
They don't die?
What kind of carefree equipment like that could possibly exist in the world?
Camilla looked back and forth between the two women.
'Am I the only one who thinks this is weird right now?'
"...Assuming equipment with these abilities exists."
"Ah, this is making me fucking uneasy. What kind of equipment like that even exists...?"
Shaking her head, Camilla asked the purple-and-red pair beside her.
"No, girls, don't you think so?"
Camilla still didn't know Lionel's true nature in detail, so she sought their agreement.
The purple one scratched her cheek.
The red one needlessly lifted her teacup.
Unlike Camilla, who did not yet know Lionel's true nature in detail, the two of them knew that this wasn't merely a hypothetical scenario.
"......"
Dolores stared intently at Camilla.
"This is where today's central issue comes in."
"......"
Tap, tap.
She tapped the blackboard with her pen.
Her voice became a little solemn.
"If it is to protect that person from the terrifying dangers of the world...."
"......"
"In other words, if it can even prevent an unforeseen death."
Dolores wrote down one final thing.
[Is a kiss an appropriate protective act?]
Then she turned around.
"Can kissing someone on the lips truly be considered an appropriate act of protection?"
I knew this would happen.
Camilla put a hand to her forehead.
"So what you're saying is."
"...Yes."
"'Can I kiss him?' That's it, right?"
Dolores calmly listened to that....
"Yes. That's right."
She nodded.
Looking as though she were lost in thought, she slowly ran her thumb across her lower lip.
Stroke....
Her finger gently caressed her soft lips as she gazed dreamily ahead.
'Wow.'
She used to at least pretend to be embarrassed.
"Because it's for protection."
Now Dolores wasn't even embarrassed anymore.
"Wipe that wet look out of your eyes."
"Okay."
This was driving her insane.
But there was still a chance.
The final way to set her wayward comrade straight....
At the end of every Dawn Apostles discussion, there was always a vote.
They had to accept the result without defying it. That was the rule.
"I'm against it."
Camilla immediately raised her hand and cast a vote against it.
"......"
"......"
Three minutes later.
Due to the betrayal of the purple one and the red one... no, the red traitor.
Camilla received the final voting result.
Three votes in favor, one against. She had been outvoted three to one.
[A kiss shall be recognized as an act of protection.]
There was nothing she could do.
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