How Status Plates Were Made
A few years had passed since the Liberators began making their labyrinths. About half of them were already complete, and Miledi and the others had gathered in the forest to take a short break and celebrate this milestone. All of the children were there to celebrate as well, and while everyone was eating, Oscar took something out of his Treasure Trove to show everyone.
“I’m thinking of making a tool that gives everyone an objective evaluation of their abilities so people can more easily see how strong they are. What do you guys think?”
Miledi and the others exchanged glances, while Laus asked, “Is this why you had me help you make that artifact that can read information from a person’s soul?”
“Yep. We don’t want people who are unprepared recklessly challenging our labyrinths, since they’ll just die. But if everyone can gauge their own power level, they’ll be able to determine whether or not they stand a chance.”
“I see... Yeah, that’s a good idea, O-chan!”
Miledi and the others nodded in agreement, but Diene cocked her head and asked, “Oscar-san. I’m from Andika, so I’m not a hundred percent sure about this, but isn’t the church already doing something similar?”
“Yeah, people living on this side of the continent have to get examined by the church once they reach a certain age to assess their powers.”
That was how the church checked to see if anyone possessed special magic. There was a magical tool in every church that could confirm that. That tool could only be created by a special forge in the Divine Mountain. Incidentally, the tool took the form of a portrait of Ehit. When someone touched it, their mana went into the portrait and it determined how much total mana they had, what their aptitudes for the various fields of magic were, and what their job was. There were mana inhibitors spread out in a line across the edges of the portraits that were used to make these estimations. Because each person had a unique mana signature they went through the inhibitors at different rates and in different ways. If you didn’t have an aptitude for a certain kind of magic, your mana wouldn’t be able to make it through that inhibitor at all and stop there. The jobs were all classifications made by the church, so it wasn’t as though people could be assigned an unidentified job. The only time new jobs were added to the list was when someone accomplished great deeds in a new field that didn’t already have a job assigned to it.
“By the way, I’ve hated the church since I was a kid, so I never went to one of those examinations. I used my orphan status as an excuse to not go, but if they’d tried to force me, I’d have come up with ways to deceive that artifact.”
“How old were you when you did that?” Sharm asked.
Oscar sifted through his memories for a bit, then replied, “Six, I think.”
You must have been one hell of a six-year-old...
Corrin looked up reverently at Oscar, and Sharm was once again reminded of how hard a hurdle it would be to win her affections when constantly being compared to the giant that was Oscar. Sensing his inner turmoil, Laus gently patted his son’s shoulder.
“You were able to trick the church too, right, Naiz-sama?” Yunfa asked.
“Yeah. I couldn’t hide how much mana I had, so they still suspected I possessed some form of special magic, but since they had no proof, there wasn’t anything they could do. I actually didn’t even know I could use spatial magic until much later, anyway.”
“I see.”
Bringing the conversation back on topic, Vandre said, “So basically, you want to make a more accurate version of that artifact that can update in real time, right?”
“Exactly. I want it to list all of a person’s parameters, as well as any latent abilities they may have and how much of their potential they’ve realized. It’d be nice if it could also display any special magic they possess.”
“I assume what you have now is just a prototype?”
“Put simply, you want us to test it, don’t you?” Lyutillis asked.
“Yeah, I want to see what parts of it work and what don’t.”
Oscar didn’t seem too confident in his creation, which was a rarity for him. He put a silver box onto the table and explained, “Put your hand on the magic circle at the top of the box. It’ll read your information, then print out a card with it.”
“Oh, that sounds fun. I’m first!” Meiru said, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. She placed her hand over the magic circle, and with a small ding, a rectangular plate came out of the opening on the side.
“Let’s see what my stats are...”
Everyone else also leaned in, eager to see.
[Meiru Melusine. Age 25. Female. B98 W61 H89]
“Ninety...eight?! No wonder they’re so powerful! These boobs truly are a miracle!” Dylan exclaimed, clapping. The women all glared at him, while Ruth looked up at the ceiling in exasperation.
“Oscar-kun?”
“O-chan?”
Meiru and Miledi said in unison. Miledi, in particular, couldn’t believe that Oscar had done this, and there was a murderous glint in her eyes.
“D-Don’t misunderstand! I didn’t set it up to do this!”
Oscar hurriedly took the box back and started adjusting it.
“Okay, I strengthened its ability to read people’s inner selves over their physical traits. Give it a shot, Miledi!”
“Wait, I’m next?!”
Miledi had grown quite a bit taller over the past few years, but her boobs had remained pitifully small.
If it still ends up showing my three sizes, I’m going to kill you, four-eyes.
Glaring at Oscar, she put her hand over the box...and a card came out.
[I wish I’d been able to kiss O-kun at least once before—]
“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Ahhh, Miledi! What are you doing?!”
Miledi crushed her card with gravity magic, blushing furiously. Thankfully, Miledi had read hers before anyone else could, so no one knew what it had said, but the other women could easily guess, and they were all grinning at her.
“Wow, this thing is complete garbage,” Vandre said coldly.
“Shut up! Do you know how hard it is to read a person’s information from their soul?! If you think you can do a better job, then be my guest!” Oscar shouted as he once again tinkered with the settings on the box.
“All right, now it should give the right numbers!”
Oscar glanced over at Vandre, and with a sigh, Vandre stuck his hand over the box.
[Vandre Schnee. Metamorphosis magic. Master of all martial arts. Mana: 6,000]
“Oh? It’s not very well organized, but it’s at least giving some useful—”
[Artistic ability: 5. Pathetic.]
“Die, four-eyes!”
“W-Wait, I didn’t mean to—stop! Don’t break my glasses!”
Vandre jumped on top of Oscar and started trying to snap his glasses in half. Meanwhile, the rest of the Liberators decided to try the box out too, just out of curiosity.
[Laus Barn. You...will never get your hair back.]
“Heeeeeeeeeeeey!” Laus shouted, and Sharm had to jump in and calm him down.
[Lyutillis. Pervert Power: 9,999]
“Well, it’s working properly for her,” Meiru said, and everyone nodded.
[Naiz Gruen. Male. Level 89. Strength: 450—]
“Hmm, it seems to be working properly for—”
[Skills: Spatial magic. Seducing little girls]
“Yeah, no, it’s not working right at all! Your artifact’s defective, Oscar!”
“Naiz-sama, I think we need to talk,” Yunfa said with a terrifying smile. Under her breath, she muttered, “I need to hurry up and stick him in the labyrinth so he doesn’t get stolen by anyone else.”
Ruth and Katy both had [severe brocon] on their cards, which made them blush furiously, while Sharm’s said [Popularity Potential: 9,999], which made Corrin give him a cold look while he desperately tried to defend himself. Diene’s said [Job: Don], which made everyone happy, and finally, it was Corrin’s turn to try the box.
“But I don’t have any special skills like everyone else...” she muttered.
“It’ll be fine, Corrin-chan. It’s not like this thing is working right anyway, so we’re all just doing it for fun!” Miledi said.
“Well...all right, then. But don’t laugh at me, okay, guys?” Corrin said as she placed her hand over the magic circle.
[Corrin. Level: 11. Job: Saint Kindness: 9,999 Consideration: 9,999 Motherly Love: 9,999 Patience: 9,999 Other Stats: 9,999 Total Power: Uncountable. Skills: Cooking VI, Intimidating Smile VII, Charm IX, Doting X, Spoiling X, Mental Fortitude X, Kindness Limit Break + Overdrive + special derivative skill: Saint’s Love]
To everyone’s surprise, it had actually accurately assessed Corrin...and the results were staggering.
After a moment of shocked surprise, everyone turned to Corrin and said, “Mommy...”
“Stop thaaaaaat!” Corrin wailed, her voice echoing through the forest.
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