I planned to stay hidden for a little while more.
But you have to know when to pivot.
With such a great opportunity, along with riding the high of everything else I did, it was better to make this the start of getting my name out there.
That Mad Drug is only given to very strong people it seemed, and there was no more information about it no matter how much I looked. All I knew was that the sellers always managed to run away despite how many tried to capture them.
People have payed the strongest adventurers to capture the sellers, it never worked. People tried to set up a trap, and the sellers either didn't show up or managed to escape without fail.
As such, my only choice was to make them come to me, or be hired to capture them. Both of those required popularity.
'In the first place, there wasn't much I could do while being obscured.'
I just prefered being unknown, it was safer. But sometimes it is necessary to be out in the open.
I stretched.
"Hnnng!"
All my wounds were gone. 'Miss' Luna did a good job once again.
I walked into my house and closed the door behind me.
Ryuni was ready with food once again. I sniffed the ai―
"So cool!"
I was ambushed!
I didn't anticipate it, and Kakoheita was able to hug me from behind.
I immediately pushed her away, and looked into her eyes that were sparkling.
"I'm really impressed by you! Honestly, I felt like you'd lose, but you expertly won despite everything! It was a Rollercoaster Of Emotions!"
For just a second her eyes became faded, before going back to normal. I shivered. That sudden change always made me uncomfortable.
"I could only act like that because I knew you'd save me if worst came to worst."
She scratched her cheek with a finger.
"You overestimate me."
"No I don't think I am. Listen, I'm not dumb, elves don't grow at the same rate as humans. A sixteen year old elf would still look like a child. Yes, you do have a periods where you don't change for a long time, like your current look that stays for about two hundred years, but you don't get to look like a teenager before your forties at the earliest."
Her eyes avoided mine.
"You're way older than you look, fifty at the least. And power follows age. Don't act dumb."
She pouted.
"You're no fun! The man is supposed to rescue the woman, you know? It's no good when it's the other way around!"
I flicked her forehead.
"Shut up, old hag. You're basically grooming me, don't act cute."
I knew she wouldn't listen to me, but I was mostly saying that for personal stress relief.
Just like I thought, she cutely started rubbing her forehead despite not being hurt at all.
I sighed. Just what was I to do with her...?
'She isn't doing anything sexual, and she knows I will never come to like her, so calling her a predator or groomer feels unfair. So why is she―?'
"Kakoheita, stop messing with Faun! The food is getting cold!"
I smiled. Ryuni understood me pretty well, and Kakoheita for some reason didn't go against her.
We sat down and started eating. I quickly finished and turned to Kakoheita who was still enjoying her meal.
"Hey, I was wondering, what weapon do you use? Is it a bow?"
She swallowed before speaking.
"I use a sword, but what's a bow?"
"..."
'...'
...
"You... don't know what a bow is?"
"Yes."
She nodded.
I took a deep breath.
"You've been travelling before you came to Toride, right?"
"Yeah, I was just basically walking aimlessly. Why? You want to revisit some places I've been to for something special?"
I did not even care for her teasing remark.
'THERE ARE NO BOWS IN THIS WORLD?!'
And more importantly.
'WHY DID I NOT REALIZE IT SOONER?!'
In hindsight, it made sense. Jagon gave me such a good dagger I never really went to regular weapon shops, and not seeing any people around me using bows wasn't that suspicious.
'BUT WHY ARE THERE NO BOWS?!'
There were catapults, I read about them in some books about the war. So it is not that long-range weapons weren't here, it's just that bows weren't here.
'Waitwaitwait, calm down.'
"Do you know what a crossbow is?"
"No."
This gave me a clue.
Long-range weapons existed, but not for separate personel.
I Thought about it for a bit.
'...Magic, huh.'
Gods existed in this world, so people were probably intelligent from the start, and they could probably cast Magic if they trained from the start.
In other words, if someone wanted to help from far away, they just had to cast Magic. Instead of inventing and learning the bow, just becoming a magician was more straightforward.
Swords and such were still made for close-combat, but bows and crossbows disappeared since there wasn't much need for them.
'So I can be the pioneer?!'
That was surprising. Something I completely didn't expect. Who could've guessed bows didn't exist?
'That said, bows are problematic in this world.'
The power of a bow strictly comes from the materials it is made from. Since the speed of the arrow is because of the string, not because of the person themself, you can't just use Body-Strengthening to make a weak bow shoot strong.
In other words, the weapon mattered more than the person.
'I'm not sure whether something like bows will even take off, but it's good to keep this idea in mind.'
An unexpected boon is always welcome.
***
"Spread my name."
"You want me to spread your name now?"
Pilyordo raised an eyebrow. I nodded.
"Indeed. Staying under the radar is no good for me anymore."
He scratched his beard in thought.
"How exactly do you want me to go about it?"
"...Um, do you have any ideas?"
He huffed.
"It's difficult to spread the name of a third party provider, especially when the only thing that person provides are ideas. I thought you'd have an idea for that too."
I frowned. Was this guy making fun of me? Kind of, and I wasn't a fan.
I Thought about it for a bit.
"How about... a logo? No, that wouldn't work."
Pilyordo had a pretty big business under him, but it wasn't all-encompassing. Since I had a lot of ideas for various fields, that meant that I was going to make deals with several other companies.
And I had to make sure that people knew they were bying my product no matter what store they were in, because that would spread my name further and make more people buy my products.
A logo would be the easiest, but it would also be the easiest to copy. In other words, people could invent something, and then use my logo to make it look like I came up with it.
'All of the companies from my old world managed to make logos work, but only because it was just one singular company, my situation's not the same...'
I could try and make Pilyordo branch out, but the reach of my ideas was simply too wide. For all companies, it was better to stick to their guns than branch out into a market with competitors.
I needed any kind of idea. It didn't have to be a good one, just one that made at least a sliver of sense.
'A patent... for my logo?'
How... why was that working out in my mind?
If I could ban other stores from using my logo on their products, wouldn't that fix my problem?
'But could I even do that?'
Was that even possible? Was that allowed? Did this world's legal system work that way?
'...No wait, isn't that literally how copyright works? Did I have that tanget for nothing? Did I already have an answer, and was just too stupid to realize it?'
I took a deep breath and chuckled at myself. Sometimes, I forgot how stupid I was in things that weren't about people. I'm no good in businesses like these...
"Alright, you can just use a logo on all my products."
"What kind?"
"Just put Y.A.F. in an overly curly font. That'll be good enough."
"What a curious choice of letters. Mind telling me their reason?"
'Should I...? Well, if I don't, curiosity will bubble up. It's just better to answer.'
"Sure, it's Yui, Ashna, Faun. Just some simple names."
The only names that will stay in my memories no matter what.
***
"Come here you little cutie. Don't worry, I'm friendl―"
The extended hand was bitten. The bitten person started tearing up.
"Why... Faun, why does she not like me?! This is the fifth time she's bit me!"
She started shaking me back and forth.
I shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe it's because Ispra sees through your true nature?"
"I don't like how you're implying that my true nature is awful..."
"What do you mean implying? I'm not implying that your true nature is awful."
Her tears gave way to a surprised face. I looked straight into her eyes.
"I'm stating facts."
Tears started appearing on her face again. I felt no guilt.
***
"Hey, that is your doing, right?"
I looked to where Souma was pointing. There were two adventurers playing checkers there.
"Somewhat."
He sat down in the chair in front of me and scratched his head.
"I feel like your weird inventions are going to take over sooner or later."
"Well, of course they will. Your guys' best entertainment is when a travelling bard passes by to sing a song. If I were to provide a cheap way to have fun, you're going to eat it up."
He looks at me for a bit before wryly smiling.
"I guess you're right."
Our conversation ended and an awkward silence enveloped us.
I decided to probe a bit.
"I heard you, Mitsuki and Leila bought a house and now live together."
He nodded.
"Yeah. It was about time we stopped relying on our parents. You could say we are fully independent adults now."
"Mhm. I know you three are living in the same house for the sake of saving money, but is it comfortable?"
He started shuffling his fingers.
"It'll take some getting used to, obviously, but even now it's fine."
"Your body language is telling a completely different story there, bud."
He hanged his head.
"...Yeah, I'm pretty nervous. After all, I'm sharing a house with the opposite gender. Who knows what kind of problems could arise..."
I patted his shoulder. He deserved some reassurance. My life was worse, but his was miles more precarious.
"Say, do you have any idea how long they're gonna take? We do have a mission to do."
"I'm sure they won't take too long."
He didn't sound confident at all.
***
We were walking around, collecting some medicinal herbs.
But something was off.
It was quiet. Too quiet.
While Souma and Mitsuki were out scouting, I started a conversation.
"Hey, Leila, why are you not complaining?"
She jerked in surprise.
"W-what do you mean why am I not complaining? Why shoud I be complaining?"
"Because that's what you do."
She looked at me with a deadpan expression.
"I'm not a one-dimensional character engineered for your enjoyment."
"Eeeeh, that's not the expression and tone you should be saying that with. Be a bit more angry, get a bit of trembling into that voice."
Her fists clenched.
"Why you..."
I nodded.
"Right. Keep that energy. Now just a bit moreeee."
After glaring at me for some time, she took a deep breath to calm down.
"What do you even want me to complain about?"
"How boring it is to go around and just collect herbs."
She scowled.
"Listen, I've had enough excitement for a long time. That whole gorilla fiasko from seven days ago still haunts my nightmares."
"Really? I feel like what haunts you are the Filthy Foxes."
Her eyes widened.
"How―"
"it's easy, really. Nobody will be fine after seeing so much death and injustice. You still think about those slaves we weren't able to save, right?"
She bit her lip.
"Yes."
I looked at her with a half-frown.
"You're acting a bit too much like Mitsuki right now, you know?"
"Well what do you want me to do? Act like everything's fine? I'm not like you, Mitsuki and Souma. I can't shrug it off."
"Who said Mitsuki and Souma can shrug it off?"
She looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you mean? They are more strong-minded than me, and they act just fine."
"That's the thing, isn't it?"
She furrowed her brows.
"What's 'the thing'?"
"They act just fine."
Her eyes widened.
"You see, when a quiet person acts moody, you don't really notice it. That's the case of Mitsuki. And Souma's already ignoring reality, adding one more thing to ignore doesn't matter to him. You're just the one that changed the most."
She looked completely bewildered. She shook her head to refocus.
"Why are you even saying all this?"
"I'm saying that all three of you should talk it out. Souma will never be the one to bring it up, and Mitsuki is too anxious to do it. You're the only one who can bring up the topic."
Leila closed her eyes.
...
"Why are you not included? Why is it just us three?"
"You know each other since childhood, I'd feel out of place. More than that, I have already accepted my actions."
I turned away from her.
"Just work things out between the three of you, 'kay?"
***
"There you go, you don't look as if there's a gloomy cloud behind you anymore. You know, for a man, you have a severe lack of balls."
Souma chuckled.
"I guess I do. So you were the one who set up Leila?"
"Set up is too strong of an expression. I just suggested something."
"Well, anyway, your involvement was very much appreciated. Who knows for how much longer our feelings would be tangled without you."
"Eh, Leila would've noticed the problems with Mitsuki pretty soon, and you would've been roped into that conversation without much choice. I just decided to nip the bud as soon as I saw it."
I shrugged. I just sped up the process by about a four days/a week.
He scratched his cheek.
"Honestly, I'm kinda scared how you can say those kinds of things with confidence. And it's even scarier because I know you're most likely right."
I smiled. Souma sighed upon seeing my expression.
I tilted my head in thought.
"I'm not perfect, you know? You should be a bit more doubtful about my predictions. After all, I work mostly by assuming."
We looked into each other's eyes. He was a bit shifty.
"Just say it."
I urged him on, he sighed and slumped onto the table.
"It's those kind of words that make me really curious. Faun, how do you do it? How are you so good at seeing through others? And... could you teach me?"
I leaned my hand on my arm.
'That's one hell of a request.'
It was impossible. I have realized that people like me are very rare, for most people, thinking how I do is literally impossible.
That said, while the way I think is not able to be replecated, my methods are not that hard to explain.
'Should I tell him?'
I Thought about it.
I was going to leave this party eventually, I was already outgrowing everyone here. When I started, I was weaker than Souma, now, I was on par with Mitsuki. And it won't be too long until I get ahead of her too.
Because of that, Souma won't get much time to understand me. He won't get in my way. Adding onto that, Souma has too much on his plate to care about my problems. He's a good guy, but he's overwhelmed. He won't be like Jagon.
So there were no risks involved, and some very small pluses.
'And I can't deny feeling a bit bad about his situation.'
"Sure, but my method will not work well for you. It only works because it is a method tailored to me specifically. It also won't help with your current problems. Still want to learn it?"
He nodded.
I smiled.
"Alright then. My method works by observing a person for a bit. The way a person and their body reacts to certain situations, how they talk with others, the ideologies they seem to have. Then, I make a backstory of how a person like that could come to be. If something's not quite adding up ― the backstory has conflicting events ― then the person is lying about something. I always try to make multiple different backstories, as that narrows down some problems and eliminates false positives. Then, knowing they are lying, I make new backstories, each of them about a different thing that person could be lying about. The one that makes the most sense is the one I go with. I also repeat that last step a couple of times. From then on, it's easy. I know their past, I know their present, so I can somewhat predict their actions. I think of all their possible reactions to an event, and one by one get rid of those possibilities with the backstory as a backbone. Sometimes, there are multiple possibilities left, and in those cases I just have to prepare for every single one of those possibilities. Sure, sometimes something unpredictable can happen, but that just means tweaking the backstory a bit."
Souma listened closely to every single word I said. Even after I finished, he sat there in silence, a serious expression on his face.
...
"Yeah, it truly doesn't help much."
He chuckled. I shrugged.
"Yeah, it doesn't help with your current situation, but for people you don't know, maybe try using that a bit. Perhaps it'll work."
"Okay, maybe I'll try."
"Oh, just one more tip that won't help with your current situation."
He looked at me, curious.
"Don't disregard masks and rumors. A mask is as much a part of their real self as what's beneath. And rumors, despite often being lies, have a reason for existing, even if it's something stupid like that person pissing off someone they shouldn't have. Nothing exists for no reason, keep that in mind."
"Hmm... interesting, I never really thought of it like that. Thanks."
He nodded and looked up at the ceiling in thought.
A silence enveloped us.
...
"So, why are they taking so long again?"
"I don't know."
I knew that Souma was lying, but I didn't care to point it out.