Since Kaori-san also had something she wanted to discuss with me, I decided to hear her out in detail while sipping the tea she’d served. This was after we had finished storing the Matsutake I’d brought over.
"...Um, so. How do I put this? Feel free to laugh if I'm just being vain, but... lately, well, my skin, or rather, just me in general... don't you think I've become... prettier? Or, like, younger? Does it seem that way to you... maybe?"
"You've always been young and beautiful, Kaori-san, but it’s true you seem even more radiant lately. Before, you looked young enough to pass for your early twenties, but now you have an aura that makes me feel like you could be a teenager. You’ve always been full of energy and carried that youthful air despite being an adult, but now that you mention it, your skin and everything else have a glow of rejuvenation that goes beyond that."
"...You really are something else, you know that? Every single time, you give a perfect 100-point answer. Sometimes that just invites misunderstandings! I'm seriously going to start making you take responsibility for this..."
I had just answered her question honestly, but Kaori-san’s face twitched as she looked at me with an expression that was hard to pin down—halfway between delight and annoyance.
However, she took a deep breath to steady herself and regained her composure.
"...Anyway, if I keep teasing you about being a natural charmer, we’ll never get anywhere. The point is, I’ve undergone a strange transformation. No amount of skincare or healthy eating can explain it. My height hasn't changed, but it’s like my skin and body have physically de-aged."
"Hmm... does it feel similar to Life-san's Blessing? I remember her blessing brings a person's age and physique closer to the ideal state they envision for themselves."
Of course, while it’s an "ideal" physique, it seems to be limited to a state they actually held in the past or something they could reach through effort. If it were purely magical, I probably would have finally hit a growth spurt myself...
In other words, you can return to how you were, but you can’t jump to a future state. Fate-san’s Critical Point of Fate—an ability using her Authority of Fate at full strength—can temporarily pull a person to their future peak, but Life-san’s Blessing doesn't go that far.
Moreover, a blessing doesn't pack nearly as much punch as a God's direct Authority, so its capabilities are somewhat restricted. Though, from the perspective of humans like Kaori-san or me, it’s still an effect that defies common sense.
"It might actually be something like that. To be honest, I have a hunch about where it came from."
"A hunch?"
"Yeah. Remember when Olivia-sama, you, and I went out together? She spoke to me through telepathy back then. You were listening too, so maybe you recall, but she mentioned she’d bestowed a mimicry of a God Race blessing on me."
"...Oh, right. She did mention that quite casually. Since Olivia-san is essentially on the same level as a God, even if she's outside the standard God Realm rankings, it wouldn't be surprising if she could grant blessings. So, your current state is thanks to Olivia-san?"
"I thought that might be the case, and seeing your reaction just confirms it."
"It makes sense. I'm not sure how much a person can fine-tune the results, but every Supreme God's blessing grants agelessness as a standard feature. Since Olivia-san's power rivals theirs, making you ageless or de-aging you shouldn't be a problem."
In Olivia-san’s case, her Authority-like abilities are technically limited to the interior of the Friendly City... but that’s just a restriction placed on her output outside the city limits. It doesn’t change her fundamental power.
During my birthday party, she temporarily bypassed those limits to manifest her true strength even in another world. Since the restriction is on her person rather than the effect, I figured her blessing wouldn’t just vanish the moment Kaori-san stepped outside the city.
"...So, that brings me to my request. I want to ask Olivia-sama about the details, but I'm a little too intimidated to go to the Central Cathedral by myself. Would you come with me, Kaito-kun?"
"I don’t mind at all, but wouldn’t it be easier to just ask her via telepathy?"
If they were already able to converse that way, it seemed like the most efficient route.
"That's the problem. How do I put it... it's like a phone. If Olivia-sama calls me, I can pick up and we can talk as much as we want until the line is cut. But I don't know her number, so I can't call her from my side."
"Ah, I see. So it's a one-way connection unless she initiates it. In that case, visiting her in person is definitely the fastest way."
Hummingbirds take time for back-and-forth communication, and I’d heard Olivia-san usually ignores them while she’s in the middle of her prayers. If she was busy with her rituals, it could take a while to get a response.
...Though, whenever I sent her one, she always replied with explosive speed. Knowing her personality, she was almost certainly prioritizing me over her prayers.
Regardless, if Kaori-san wanted answers about her blessing, a direct visit was the best course of action.
Serious-senpai: "There's a stomach pain flag here... but is it a weak one? Since she's already on good terms with Olivia, and Kaori's always had a bit of a longing for things like agelessness and rejuvenation, she'll probably just accept the explanation and be done with it. Which means the only thing waiting after that is a Friendly City date with Kaori, who happens to be free on her day off..."