Again, going back a few days ago, after our bureaucratic abomination get a hold of the date when they would come.
“Hehehe, ehehehe, EHEHEHEHEHE~~~.”
In the middle of the night, when the moon hung high in the sky, cackling laughter could be heard inside the dimly lit hall of the Adventure Guild, along with the sound of wood scratching and blood-splattering.
“Hehehe, add this rune here, place this magic stone there...oh, don't forget the sacrifice~. One drop of clear water, two pounds of glass, a dash of glitter, and a pinch of salt, Uhehehehue~!"
Like a witch incantation, she cackles her words, mumbling the recipe she repeated within her twisted heart. Screeching and shrieking, she made the wood scream, and hanging on top of the blistering tear, she steadily poured a viscous liquid with the smell of iron.
Presumably, there's water in it, but you wouldn't know from the haunting sanguine.
“Uhehehehe...bless we, Laplace, with your all-seeing eyes. Bless we with clarity, honesty, and unclouded vision, bless we with prophecy of truth and certainty. With eyes of glass, please bless we be, to see the true form that they should be, hehehehehe~~~."
With a snickering, sniveling laugh, and an expression even the devil fear, a certain receptionist sang her chant with zeal and obsession, ringing to herself all night long…
Even now, people swear they can still hear the haunting song ringing deep within the wood's contours.
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Despite all that, she doesn't do anything about the guild house itself, as it’s illegal to vandalize government buildings. Instead, she has used her overtime night carving up wooden magic plaques in the dozen, so that she can spread it around the capital.
As for why she had to make a scene within a public building like that, eh… something about collecting bonuses?
Anyway, the moment Marigold activated the sphere, all the plaques she spread strategically around the guild started activating all at once. With each of them floating in the air and connecting with each other through magical lines of silver, a grand three-dimensional formation is made in a matter of seconds.
For the people in the know, this magic formation is called the Eyes of Laplace.
A must-know technique of the System Angels, it focuses the innumerable celestial eyes of the creator god to focus down to a designated zone, peering down at the target with great concentration and precision. Under their undulating scrutiny, no truth shall be hidden, no falsehood shall mislead, and a person’s true essence will be revealed in full for all to see, with no way to escape.
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However, even for the eternal servant of the Great Maker, permission and prior notices must be made beforehand. Payment must be made beforehand as well, with the equivalence of three times their monthly salary.
Safe to say, she put a whooole lot of eggs in this basket for this one. As for how she managed to get permission in the first place, let’s just say she’s surprisingly good at her job.
(Hehehe, yessss, it’s going perfectly…)
The core of the formation is the crystal ball of examination. The focal point, to be exact.
As such, the moment she touches the ball, she’s now the spell’s center of attention. Through the lenses of the spherical glass, the gaze that has been called from heaven now has been guided to lock onto her, and now she has their undivided attention, looking through every nook and cranny.
With the eye's help, the crystal ball is now trillions of times more accurate and precise. Now, not even a whiff of otherworldly energy can escape the sensory matrix of the sphere, pushed into overdrive.
"(Hehehe, in other words...get seen, get stripped, get naked. Get seen, get stripped, get naked~…)" (Receptionist)
"Um...Sis, your eyes are looking a bit scary there" (Marigold)
“Oh, don't worry about me, ma'am. Just focus on what you're doing right now, please." (Receptionist)
“Okay…" (Marigold)
Other than that, the crystal ball of examination worked like usual.
Taking in the mana of the target, it gauges the strength of the one doing the test by checking upon the characteristics of the mana within them, such as purity, density, elemental makeup, etc… Then, depending on how great those qualities are, the crystal ball will shine in brightness corresponding to such.
A pretty simple, typical, and cliché system of measurement even a baby can understand, and of course, pretty famous among the oddities that are the players. A famous local experience, basically akin to getting a mood ring or pulling fortune slips.
“(Ehe,ehehe,hehehehehe~...So simple, there’s no way you can get away from this~!)”
With glee, her cackle continued, already dreaming of great raises and paid vacation eternal. She dreamt it with such joy, that her mouth already start waterfalling.
‘Surely, with how OP they’re, they’re gonna make this thing shine like a sun blowing on our faces.’
Such is the expectation of not only the creepy snickering ne'er-do-well, but also of every single peanut watching. With how little they care about putting their power away, surely they would make the crystal ball explode into a dazzling ball of light and spread brilliance everywhere across the room, instantly propelling them into EX-rank status.
Of course, there is also no way they wouldn't be able to get what they want, somehow, so they're waiting with bated breaths, as to how the trio could solve this conundrum.
And so, they wait.
And wait.
And keep waiting, for the extremely bright light that is sure to come…
But despite half of them preparing sunglasses beforehand, what they expected hasn't come to pass.
"Hehehe, hehehe...He?"
Instead, despite how much Marigold keeps pouring mana into the sphere, the light never shines more than a glimmer.
A dull, faint, F-ranked glimmer.