YLTESCIA: A Reincarnator's Tale in the Lands of Merusia (2)

Chapter 313: The Masquerade Ball (pt. II)

"I heard that you've reached E-rank recently, Lisa. Congratulations." ［Lionel］

"Ehehe. Thank you so much, Brother." ［Lisandra］

"Well, should I get you something as a congratulatory gift, Lisa? It's been quite a while since I bought you something, hasn't it?" ［Lionel］

"Ah! N-No need! Your words are more than enough, brother!" ［Lisandra］

It was a normal and heartwarming conversation between siblings, both smiling ever so happily as they told stories about how they lived their past weeks. Lisandra was especially cheerful, unable to hide her smile as she chatted with her older brother.

There was quite a large age gap between the two, but they got along just fine. Ever since she was a child, Lisandra had always admired Lionel and looked up to him. His figure when he held a sword when he was younger was still etched inside her mind as if it was just yesterday,

It was as if they were the only two people in the world, Lisandra acting like a spoiled young child despite being a full-grown, prim, and proper princess now. Her soft and gentle giggles resounded in the air.

『Yuna, don't act too surprised, okay?』 ［Grey］

『Hmm... Is something the mattー Eh?! Ehhh?!』 ［Yuna］

Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Grey and Yuna. Grey had shared what he saw with "Appraisal", and Yuna was just as shocked as he was the moment she saw the prince's status screen. She would have let out a squeal had Grey not warned her.

Though quite common in many of the fictional works Grey had read and seem back on Earth, measuring another person's combat power is quite difficult unless the one being measured uses aura or magic for that matter.

In Merusia, mana is everywhere and as such, sensing combat power which would feel like counting droplets of water in an ocean. Only when someone manipulates mana and creates a "ripple" could the others feel another's prowess.

One would need either an appraisal ability or some special technique for them to do so. Even Kris who uses his aura to feel other's combat power has his limits, only able to feel the other's rank roughly. He could only estimate how much weaker or stronger the other party was.

To top it all off, one could even conceal their strength by suppressing their mana as much as they could. A technique the prince was using so cautiously as to not get caught in a hall with High-Rankers here and there.

『Does Lisa know about this?』 ［Yuna］

『No, I don't think soー or rather, nobody here knows... The prince have hidden his tracks perfectly well all this time.』 ［Grey］

『Amazing... That sounds so cool...! It's like having a secret identity!』 ［Yuna］

『Yuna... This is no time to be amazed by that...』 ［Grey］

What bothered the two the most was that the Second Prince, Lionel, was supposed to be "sickly", mostly spending most of his days and weeks in his bedroom. Even now, he looked quite pale compared to the others.

However, being High-Rankers themselves, Grey and Yuna knew full well that getting sick was almost impossible. Only injuries and curses could get them bedridden, and even then, they could quickly heal it with magic or something of the sort.

Though... Seeing as to how his status screen indicated he was "Healthy", it seems that there was nothing like a curse affecting him. He was perfectly faking his illness, and perfectly at that, fooling everyone without a shred of doubt.

『Mmn... I wonder why he's hiding his strength...』 ［Yuna］

『I'm also curious, but well... I don't think he's using his powers for something distasteful. We shouldn't pry any further than this,』 ［Grey］