The church housed nearly several hundred girls, and this time, Freya had summoned all of them.
Standing before everyone, Freya introduced herself to the crowd and announced that she was now a member of the Sky-Shielding Organization...
Sean figured he’d never forget that scene, no matter how many years passed.
Three hundred-plus girls stared at him in unison.
[Being Watched...]*365!
And above their heads, a dense array of statuses appeared!
[Snickering!], [Curious!], [Angry!], [Excited!], [Interested!], [Admiring!]...
The mix of emotions felt even more overwhelming than when he’d faced his own thousand-plus townsfolk.
..........................
"What’s wrong, overwhelmed by all this attention from so many girls?"
Following Freya to her office, he noticed a few younger girls sneaking peeks at the doorway, as if he were some rare animal on display.
"It’s not that strange, is it?"
"What do you mean?" Freya, who was tidying things at her desk, suddenly paused.
They’d returned in the afternoon. If Prince Philip didn’t summon them by then, it meant waiting until tomorrow, and Sean would have to stay the night. So Freya had arranged a separate room for him, right next to hers.
"I mean, your organization’s people seem odd. I’m a guy, but is it really that fascinating?" Turning back, he spotted a few girls’ heads quickly ducking out of sight.
It’s not like there aren’t men and women on the streets—acting as if they’ve never seen a guy before, Sean grumbled inwardly.
But Freya just smiled at his question and continued organizing her things...
"You’ve probably never been around a bunch of girls before."
"What’s that got to do with it?"
"Plenty... The kids here are partly family members of members stationed elsewhere, partly orphans with magical talent we’ve adopted. Few come from noble or wealthy families. They’ve grown up together, and while they occasionally go out to play, as for a boy living here—you’re the first, as far as I know," Freya explained.
"And you still dared to let me come?" Before arriving, Sean hadn’t realized the organization was entirely female.
"With your magical strength, they could take you down easily. Besides, you’re one of the few people I’ve met with little ill intent."
That remark caught Sean off guard, making him a bit embarrassed.
Put politely, it meant: You’re one of the few guys I’ve met who isn’t a lecher!
It wasn’t that he was particularly virtuous, but being able to see statuses made him deliberately avoid certain behaviors. For instance, staring at a girl’s body would trigger a [Disgusted!] status, so Sean steered clear of that.
He’d been carefully maintaining goodwill, which ironically made him seem ‘pure.’
Tsk, tsk~
So that’s how this ability works!
But thinking about it from another angle, it made sense. If their goodwill was at [Friendly] or above, it meant he held some kind of image in their eyes—otherwise, the goodwill wouldn’t hold.
"Chief!"
Just then, a voice came from the doorway.
"It’s Sohana. Come in, I’ve been waiting for you."
Sean watched as a curvaceous blonde woman in a white short-sleeved shirt and pants walked in, leather bracers strapped to her arms.
Sohana.
He remembered Freya mentioning that name back at Cliff Peak City, even having Kalyana send her a letter. Given that connection, she must hold a high position in the Sky-Shielding Organization.
Sure enough...
[HP 9000/9000, MP 4500/4500, Neutral]
A Level 9 Order Keeper—the highest he’d seen here besides Freya.
As she entered, she glanced briefly at Sean, nodded politely in greeting, and walked straight to Freya.
"Perfect timing. I was about to ask you about things here. Did you receive the letter I sent with Kalyana?"
"All received!" Sohana replied.
"I sent people to check out that village called Katia right away, but it’s on the empire’s border, so it might take a while for feedback."
"I see." Freya frowned and instinctively glanced at Sean.
Sean spread his hands...
No help for it!
I’ve never been there, so looking at me won’t do any good.
"You should know about what happened at Cliff Peak City. Have you heard any news of other cursed people nearby?"
"Not from here. Our organization has few outposts in the southeast, and most of the people we sent are from other cities. It’s been three or four days—I think they should arrive soon," Sohana said.
Messaging at this time relied on specially trained birds, like falcons, which were very fast.
Maybe two or three times faster than an airship. So, a few days before Sean and the others returned from Cliff Peak City, the news had already arrived here. But spreading it further wasted most of the time.
That was practically a hallmark of this world.
By the time any news was received, it was already old news.
"I see. Keep an eye on that matter—don’t let up. I have a feeling this isn’t that simple!" Freya’s worry seemed to date back to Cliff Peak City.
On the way back, she’d discussed possible scenarios with him several times... even fleshing out the story of the mad girl to find clues.
Because so far, the phenomenon of people becoming [Stiff~] like plants had only been recorded in that tale, one passed down for years...
Though Sean and Kalyana had been busy mapping out the terrain lately, he knew the curse on the three girls weighed heavily on Freya’s mind.
"Don’t worry, Chief. I’ve assigned our best investigators in the southeast. If they find anything, they’ll report to headquarters immediately."
"Good. And keep an eye on that strange circus too—find out who they really are!" Freya emphasized again.
"Understood." Sohana nodded.
In the many hypotheses Freya had shared with him, there were plenty about the circus...
But Sean hadn’t been there, so he couldn’t tell if they’d used curse magic.
After covering the Katia village matter, Sohana moved on to other topics.
"Recently, there’s been a lot of buzz in Rietis about things in Koga City. Would you like to hear it, Chief?"
"What kind of things?" Freya glanced at Sean, who was idly sitting across from her.
"Sean, come listen too."