Kousuke, who had confirmed the mask’s effects at the mansion, walked through town with Peach, who seemed intrigued by the mask.
Kousuke’s mask had two main effects.
The first was to allow only those permitted by the wearer to see their true face.
The second was to make those wearing the mask be perceived as “ordinary people” by those around them.
Even the term “ordinary people” would vary depending on the observer, but the mask made them perceive it as such.
This was the reason for the unremarkable, ordinary face they had discussed at the mansion.
The “ordinary” conceived by people varied depending on their species and background, so the mask worked on the viewer’s mind to recognize it as “ordinary.”
Therefore, when people saw Kousuke and his party walking through town, they were only perceived as residents and nothing more.
However, Kousuke’s natural appearance was already classified as “nothing special,” so in that sense, he didn’t necessarily need a mask. The problem was being remembered for his face, which made the mask necessary.
With that in mind, Kousuke and his group, wearing masks, headed towards the Crown’s Adventurer Division. Along the way, Peach exclaimed with admiration.
“This is truly amazing~. I don’t attract any attention at all even while walking.”
Kousuke gave a slight wry smile as he glanced at Peach, who was speaking beside him.
Peach had always attracted attention wherever she walked, even before meeting Mitsuki and having her charm sealed, and even after.
Of course, she understood perfectly that it was her looks that drew attention.
Peach possessed the shrewdness to utilize this, but she didn’t dislike the attention entirely; rather, it sometimes felt bothersome or troublesome.
Especially now that she had someone like Kousuke, whose heart was already set, it was natural to feel that way.
Regardless, Peach, who had never experienced not being looked at since birth, was truly moved.
Kousuke, feeling a bit of sympathy for Peach, said to her,
“If this experiment goes well, I’ll fine-tune it specifically for you.”
“Really? That makes me so happy~”
Kousuke smiled wryly again at Peach’s genuinely happy response.
He could tell from the earnestness in her voice.
While having such a conversation, Kousuke and his party arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild.
The reason Kousuke and his group went out of their way to come here was because they thought they might as well take on a request, and there was another reason.
That reason was to be observed by the adventurers inside the building.
Adventurers, by nature of their profession, were adept at instantly discerning those who entered the guild.
Naturally, if an incoming person was a high-ranking adventurer, their alertness level would increase accordingly.
Kousuke, as the adventurer Kou, was also quite well-known, so upon entering the Crown’s Adventurer Guild, he would naturally draw a considerable amount of attention.
The main purpose this time was to test whether the mask would eliminate that attention.
As a result, the experiment was a great success.
Kousuke and his party only drew the attention of the adventurers once, but that was simply the usual habit of adventurers and could be ignored.
The problem was what happened afterward, but they were hardly noticed at all.
Nana, who was walking alongside Kousuke, was now the size of an ordinary dog, so she didn’t attract much attention either.
In the end, Kousuke and his party successfully chose one request from the bulletin board and had it accepted at the counter without any issues (?).
Having obtained more than satisfactory results, Kousuke and his party did not return to the management layer, but instead went out of town to explore.
Since they had accepted a request, they intended to handle it seriously.
Along the way, Kousuke discovered an unexpected, or rather, a blind spot in the mask’s weakness.
“This might have been a bit of a failure.”
“Not at all~. With a little training, this much is no big deal.”
Peach said so, but to Kousuke, it was a failure he couldn’t overlook.
The failure in question was:
“Yeah. Forgetting the body’s sweating function when making and wearing a mask is undeniably too careless.”
Kousuke said, removing his mask and wiping the sweat dripping from his forehead.
Normally, they would walk for a distance without issue, but while wearing the mask, he sweated more quickly than usual.
Furthermore, to wipe his sweat, he had to remove the mask.
It was fine now as there were no people around, but thinking about it happening in the middle of town was not a mistake to be laughed off.
Reflecting on the importance of actual use, Kousuke said with a smile to Peach, who was still trying to console him.
“No, it’s a fatal flaw, so I’ll fix it properly. It’s not that difficult, so I can correct it immediately.”
“Is that so~?”
“Yes, it is. I just need to add a new function along with some fine-tuning. I think it’ll be finished in about three days.”
When Kousuke said that, Peach smiled with relief.
Of course, she was wearing the mask, but to Kousuke, she looked like her usual self.
Not just Peach, but everyone who frequented the management layer knew that Kousuke often did rather unreasonable things when creating magic tools.
Kohi and Mitsuki were acting as supervisors, but they wouldn’t intervene unless Kousuke did something seriously detrimental to his health.
Therefore, Peach was worried about Kousuke’s well-being.
Kousuke, being aware of this, felt a little embarrassed but expressed his gratitude with a single nod.
As if understanding Kousuke’s intention, Peach, still smiling broadly, took Kousuke’s arm and started walking.
The monster they needed to defeat for the request was a little further ahead.
Peach decided to remain as they were until then, as it was a good opportunity.
It’s been a while since Peach and I had some sweet moments lol
