Compared to the past, Fate had become capable of taking a certain degree of interest in others—though this was limited to matters concerning Kaito—and so she remembered his acquaintances well enough.
Naturally, however, those she had never met or even seen before were another matter entirely.
"……Hmm, yeah, I definitely don't recognize her."
"……"
Fate peered at her face as though inspecting it, and Cornelia stood rigid, sweat pouring from her forehead, completely unsure how to react.
The other party was a Supreme God. Without explicit permission, Cornelia could hardly speak up on her own initiative, let alone introduce herself.
Besides, Fate's words just now were essentially spoken to herself—she wasn't actually addressing Cornelia—which meant Cornelia had no opening to act.
Of course, it was equally impossible for Eris to cut into the situation. She too had only met Fate face-to-face moments ago, having just introduced herself. They were hardly on close terms.
That being the case, the only person who could rescue Cornelia from this situation was Kaito. But even so, a significant problem—one that Eris and Cornelia had experienced before—now stood squarely in their path.
True to form, Kaito had a habit of introducing Eris and Cornelia, both daughters of noble houses, quite casually to even fairly high-ranking individuals. While this stemmed from his trust in them, for nobles whose lateral connections carried enormous weight, it was a deeply consequential event.
"Ah, that's Cornelia-san. She's a friend of mine. I got to know her after the birthday party, so it's no surprise you wouldn't know her, Fate-san."
"Ah, I see, that makes sense. If she's with Eririn, then she must be a noble, right?"
"Yes, she's from the Sharon Count House. She's been helping me out a lot lately—I've even asked her for some sudden favors."
"Ooh~ For Kai-chan to say that……she must be quite an impressive girl."
Cornelia felt as though her breathing had stopped. There was nothing factually wrong with what Kaito said. It was true that he had asked for a sudden introduction over the matter of a special brush, and it was true that she had been helping him.
But the way he phrased it was fatally bad. As it stood, his words made it sound as though Kaito relied heavily on Cornelia—and indeed, Fate was now wearing an impressed expression.
(Kaito-sama! Kaito-sama!? Those words will create a terrible, terrible misunderstanding! P-Please, have mercy……)
Her stomach ached, but she still couldn't open her mouth. Interrupting a conversation between Kaito and Fate was utterly out of the question.
After hearing about Cornelia from Kaito, Fate turned back toward her.
"If you're a friend Kai-chan relies on, then I'd better remember you properly. I'm Fate. You might already know, but nice to meet you~"
"Y-Yes. I am Cornelia Sharon. I-I look forward to working with you."
"You're Conecone, then. Nice to meet you~"
"C-Conecone!?"
The fact that Fate had spoken to her meant she could finally say something, but all she managed was the barest minimum of a self-introduction. The misunderstanding remained entirely unresolved.
"So Conecone and Eririn are the nobles Kai-chan is close with, huh."
"Yes, that goes for Cornelia-san as well, but Elis-san in particular—aside from Chris-san—is the person I talk to most among the nobles of the Arclesia Empire. I believe you saw her at the birthday party too, Fate-san, but she's an incredible person, so I especially rely on her when it comes to noble-related matters."
"……Ah, now that you mention it, she did place highly in the Quiz, and she made it to the Finals in the game tournament……Eririn really is amazing, huh."
At those casually spoken words, it was now Eris's turn for the light to drain from her eyes. She had always sensed that Kaito's assessment of her was unusually high, but hearing it relayed to the Supreme God would only send Eris's reputation soaring even further.
She was already struggling to manage the power balance among nobles as it was. This unexpected follow-up attack brought a dull pain to her stomach. Meanwhile, Lilia watched Eris and Cornelia with an expression of genuine pity from the bottom of her heart.
"……Oh, that's right. Eririn has a strong blessing……hmm, probably the God of Life? So she knows the God of Life too."
"Y-Yes. I am most humbled to say that she has been gracious enough to look after me."
"Heeh~ And Conecone……it's faint, so I'm not super confident, but it's the Merchant God's blessing? And you didn't receive it in the Arclesia Empire but in the Hydra Kingdom?"
"As your insight suggests, I received a blessing from the Merchant God at the start of the year. The Sharon Count House places great emphasis on commerce, so in relation to that……"
Just as Fate had said, Cornelia traveled to the Temple of the Merchant God in the Hydra Kingdom every year to receive her Temporary Blessing.
"Cornelia-san's family runs a fairly large Magic Tool trading company called the Sharon Trading Company, and through that connection, they introduced me to a place called the Victor Trading Company before. Since they're a noble house focused on commerce, I suppose that's why they have the Merchant God's blessing."
"I see. But a Lower-ranking Deity's Temporary Blessing has a pretty weak effect, right? Oh, I know. I happen to have brought the God of Luck with me right now, so why don't you have her grant you a Temporary Blessing?"
"!?!?!?"
The sheer casualness with which Fate delivered those words—as though discussing the weather—hit Cornelia with enough shock to nearly make her eyes roll back. It seemed peace would not be visiting their stomachs anytime soon.
Serious-senpai: "No, she really has grown a lot. Even with someone connected to Kaito, she's talking in a very frank and friendly way, showing consideration and giving praise……it's just that the end result of all that consideration is her punching them in the stomach, that's all……"
???: "Fate-san's standards for Temporary Blessings are actually pretty lax, so she has this sense that they're something you can hand out casually. Someone like Chronoa-san, on the other hand, treats even Temporary Blessings as placing someone under her protection, so she's quite selective about who receives them……"