Chapter 92 – Close Inspection
I was lifting the eighth box when Kuini suddenly talked to me.
"My lord…"
I turned to her, curious about why she was interrupting me in my struggle. She couldn't have wanted to help me, being a rank 1 mage. The boxes were almost as tall as she was. Zay could lift them due to being a rank 4 sorcerer but I doubted anyone else in their family could.
"…It's fine to use any spell you have. You don't need to mind me."
"Huh?"
This took me by surprise and it wasn't something I could ignore. I knew my sel camouflage was perfect. It was something even transcendents had certified. And yet, she somehow knew I was hiding my rank.
I looked at her from my position, wondering how she did that. As usual, she avoided my gaze, her eyes looking everywhere except toward me. Speaking of eyes, one thought came to mind. I set my load on the ground and came closer to her. The girl was startled and took some steps back.
"Don't move."
She froze on the spot, allowing me to crouch right before her, putting my head on her level. She turned away but I couldn't let her do that.
"Look at me."
She obeyed as if my words were compelling, staring at me awkwardly. I moved even closer, so close that our noses were almost touching. Kuini gasped but I ignored her and focused on her eyes. Her heterochromatic eyes felt as beautiful as always but that wasn't what I was interested in this time. From such a short proximity, I was able to witness a specific flow of sel from her eyes. It was very minute and I would never have been able to notice it if I didn't look from such a close distance. As for other people, even if they witnessed the phenomenon, they wouldn't understand its meaning. People's bodies were brimming with sel in the first place and they would have thought nothing of it.
Just to be sure, I stayed in position for some time, all my attention on her eyes.
"M-my Lord…"
Kuini's plaintive call woke me from my thoughts. The girl was extremely red-faced, blushing hard, her breaths short and her ears shivering in apprehension. This sight made me smile. I knew she didn't hate me so I took her small face in hand and gave a short peck on her forehead.
"You're cute."
"Ah…!"
She trembled hard, her eyes losing their focus. After a second, they rolled in their orbits and she lost strength in her body. I quickly caught her as she fell to the ground, noticing she had fainted. As expected of a bunny, she was very sensitive.
I sat down with my legs stretched forward and put her to lie perpendicularly to me, her head on my thighs. I took the opportunity to caress her soft white fur and ears, something I had wanted to do for a long time. The sensation was indeed very pleasant; she took care of herself well. After a minute, she woke up, adjusting to the situation. She took a moment to understand what was happening, her eyes meeting mine, before jumping on her feet, panicking.
"I'm sorry, my Lord!"
"Don't worry about it. But I have to say, your eyes are even more amazing than I thought."
She looked bemused for a moment but soon asked, full of wonder and curiosity.
"Do you know something about my eyes?"
"I do. Don't you?"
"No… I only know I can see differently from other people. I haven't told anyone about it."
"I see. I can tell you if you want to know."
She nodded eagerly.
"Please."
"Okay. From where I come from, your eyes are called by a few different names. Some call them "All-seeing eyes", others just lazily call them "Sel eyes." As you can tell from the name, they're eyes that allow their possessor to see sel much better than normal people. It's a great ability because no one can hide anything related to sel from you. Just like how you saw through me, you can also detect traps created with sel, anticipate which spell or move your opponent is going to use, and so on. They're very precious, rare, and useful eyes. You can be proud, Kuini."
"I didn't know that much… My eyes…"
She made a long pause before continuing.
"I always hated that they were different from other people. Everyone looked at me with disgust, like I was something revolting. To be proud of these eyes…"
She didn't finish her sentence but I understood what she meant.
"It's up to you to feel however you want about them. I still think they’re as attractive as jewels. And now they're also just as precious."
"My Lord…"
"Is that why you wanted to keep calling me "Lord"?"
She hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly.
"I see. But, can you keep what you know about me secret?"
"Yes. I'll never tell anyone."
"Thank you, Kuini. I'm glad you're such a nice girl."
She looked away again, reverting to her old habits. She stayed silent for a while and then sent another question my way.
"My Lord… Can I ask why you're hiding your rank?"
"There's no big reason. It took me a lot of effort to be able to do this so I thought I might as well use it. It also gives me the advantage of surprise when dealing with urgent situations. Plus, I don't really want people to know my affinity."
"…Can I ask what your affinity is?"
I gave her a large grin.
"You can ask but I won't answer."
She looked disappointed but soon shook her head.
"I'll go outside now. Please deal with the boxes any way you want, my Lord. You don't need to worry because I'll never betray your trust."
"Thank you, that's a huge help."
She left, closing the warehouse door behind her. I started to put the boxes in my storage and then onto the carriage. The fact that I would manage to do the work in such a short time could give her a few hints about my affinity.
However, there was still a difference between certainty and guesses since one could also do that much with a few other affinities, like air or gravity. That small window of doubt would stop her from knowing what my affinity was for sure. I still wasn't certain yet about how I would be treated as a spatial mage in this world and had no intention of taking unnecessary risks until then. Considering the obvious lack of them in this world, it was even possible they were killed on sight or something.
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