I folded my arms and hummed. I couldn’t think of anything off the top of my head, but I refrained from telling her that right away. This was Grace’s second time asking now—she must have really wanted to repay me. It might be best to just have her do something after all.
“First, ask her what she is good at,” Lardon advised.
“Oh, you’re right!”
Grace blinked. “Huh?”
“Ah, don’t mind me. Let me ask you first: What can you do? What are you good at?”
Grace fell silent in thought. A while later, her brows furrowed as she apologetically hung her head. “I’m...not sure. We look completely different now... Nothing is the same.”
“Oh... Of course.”
“I’ll come up with something—”
“No,” I cut in. “Let me.”
“Y-You? No, I couldn’t trouble you—”
Suddenly, a new voice cut into our conversation. “I advise you to leave it all to Master.”
Grace whipped her head around. “Huh? Y-You’re...”
Following her gaze, I found Reina the elf standing elegantly in her maid uniform, a soft smile on her lips. When did she get here...?
“You are new here, so I understand that you are still unfamiliar with our ways. However, you must know that our master isn’t so easily offended.”
“But—”
“Right now,” Reina continued, “Master is thinking of a way to assess your talents. Our job is to wait patiently and lend him our aid as needed.”
“R-Really...?”
Reina nodded firmly. “Yes.”
“Thanks, Reina,” I said. “You explained it a lot more simply than I ever could.”
“I am glad to have been of help.”
I turned back to Grace. “Well, you heard her. Just give me a sec. I feel like I’ve had this thought just recently... Oh!” I suddenly snapped my fingers, making Grace flinch. “I know! I should make a newcomer version of that thing!”
Reina and Grace looked at me in confusion. “‘That thing’...?”
All I gave them in response was a wide and cheeky grin.
Leaving our new batch of dark elves to Reina, I took Grace with me to the other side of the city. Many monsters—like Sli and Lime, for example—approached me along the way, greeting me and making small talk.
The sight seemed to leave Grace stunned. I guess she hadn’t been able to take her time strolling through the streets just yet.
“Aren’t you...”
“Hmm?”
“Aren’t you...the king?”
“Well, yeah. Pretty much.”
“But they’re all approaching you so casually...”
“Because I always do the same to them.” I laughed. “Not very kingly of me, huh? I get that a lot.”
Grace’s expression turned a tad pinched. A king admitting he wasn’t very kingly—how was she supposed to respond to that?
Soon, we made it all the way to the other side of town. This side of the city was filled with bungalows and had recently been developing into a sort of “human district.” In this district’s open plaza was a bronze statue of me.
A man was standing in front of that statue. I could recognize him instantly, even from the back. When I called out his name, the man—Alucard—turned around and performed a prim bow, almost like a noble.
“Were you testing your strength?” I asked.
“Yes. I took the chance before duty calls once more.”
“How’d it go?”
“My combat ability is 1,023.”
“Huh... How good is that again?”
“It just barely ranks me at fifth. Needless to say, I am nowhere near Gai and Chris.”
“Hey, don’t let it get to you. It’s natural they keep surpassing their limits the way they do, with how much they try to one-up each other in these rankings.”
“Of course...” Alucard’s gaze strayed behind me. “Oh? And who might this be?”
“Ah, this is Grace—a dark elf. She’s new to town.”
“I see. Will you be needing this, then?”
I shook my head. “Nope. We won’t be using it.”
Alucard had been measuring his power right here using this bronze statue of me, which I’d recently made with the indestructible material born from Lardon and Dyphon’s clash. As per everyone’s request, I ended up making it in the form of this bronze statue of me propping my hands on my waist and puffing out my chest.
When I asked them why they wanted this specific pose, they answered, “Beholding your grand and imposing figure drives us to muster our strength and live up to your expectations.” There had been much debate before they reached this conclusion. Honestly, I wasn’t so sure what the best choice was... But the final decision had been unanimous, so I figured I’d just do as they all wished.
Since then, the monsters had been unleashing their full strength on this bronze statue of me to gauge their power.
✦ ✦ ✦
“You won’t be using this?” Alucard asked again.
“Nope. I’m gonna make something new.” I smiled as Alucard looked at me with a mix of confusion and intrigue. “You see, this thing isn’t exactly what I need. It measures power, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, this time, I need to gauge skill.”
“Ah, I see... To use on the newcomers?”
“You got it.” I nodded. “If only I could figure out how to make it work... I’d like it to analyze someone’s strong points when touched, but there are just way too many skills and talents out there... I thought coming here might give me a flash of inspiration, but no dice.”
Alucard hummed. “May I share my thoughts?”
“Huh? Oh, of course. I’m all ears.”
“As you said, it may be difficult to analyze and display someone’s strengths. However, what of temporarily boosting their best talent?”
I gasped. “That’s genius!”
His suggestion was so good that it almost felt like a revelation. What I had in mind for this spell or device was for monsters to touch my bronze statue and get feedback in return. For example, my three executives would get “muscles,” “speed,” and “internal affairs” as their results.
But humans and monsters possessed more talents and skills than I could ever hope to know. How could I make a spell that analyzed something of which I had no knowledge?
Alucard’s suggestion was so much simpler to execute. After all, humans and monsters alike were greatly sensitive to their own body’s changes. A spell like this would probably make Gai’s body brim with power, or for Chris to feel like she could run forever. Basically, the spell would amplify the target’s greatest strength to bring it to their attention.
“I think I can manage this... You’re a lifesaver, Alucard.”
“I’m honored to have been of help.”
I turned to the dark elf, who’d been silent all this time. “Grace, could you wait a bit?”
“Huh?” She blinked, then nodded. “Oh, of course.”
I directed my consciousness inward as I formulated a spell to boost the “best thing” about the target. That’d be mana, in my case... But this had to work for anyone, regardless of their strong point. That was vital to the spell—I had to make sure to get it right.
“Alucard, Grace, step back a bit.”
“Understood.”
“S-Sure.”
Though their responses were as different as they could get—Alucard’s being immediate, and Grace’s hesitant—they both did as I’d asked.
Now, the first step was to cast magic on myself.
“Mana Break.”
This spell decreased the target’s mana and magic success rate. It was usually used on one’s opponents to give yourself an edge in battle, but I cast it on myself this time.
My mana levels rapidly dropped. It was a temporary effect, but this would do for now. The point was to learn how it felt for mana to not be my strong point. This would help solidify my image to craft the spell—the same thing I did back when I nearly died to make a spell for Sheila.
Now that I knew how it felt for mana to be my strong point and not, I undid the spell and returned my body’s mana levels to normal.
I clenched my fists to get my head in the game. “All right... Let’s do this.”
With an aria, I amplified my mana and mustered it all to multicast this new spell. Learning a spell and making a new one were both essentially about repetition. I went through hundreds of failures and revisions in one fell swoop.
In no time at all, the new spell was ready.
“Strong Point!”