After the solemn (?) Contract ritual, Kanzaki Saku used his [Reversal] power to restore the battle-damaged clothes Rikka wore in his arms.
If one were to ignore Rikka's still-flushed cheeks and slightly weak legs, the "branding ceremony" from just now would seem like nothing more than a shared hallucination.
Now that the defeat CG had been appreciated, it was time for a heart-to-heart.
Kanzaki Saku shifted his position, leaning against the ancient cherry blossom tree behind him and cradling Rikka's petite body in his arms.
One hand idly fiddled with the ahoge that always stuck out stubbornly from her hair, as if tuning the antenna of some precision instrument.
"Now then, it's time for me to get to know my 'wielder of the Tyrant's Eye' better. My dear Rikka, tell me, besides what you showed earlier, what else can those eyes of yours do?"
Rikka stirred in his arms and looked up, her mismatched eyes sparkling.
This was the first time anyone had asked her so seriously about the abilities of the Tyrant's Eye, instead of just dismissing her for her chuunibyou.
The person asking was Kanzaki Saku, with whom she had just signed a Contract. An irrepressible urge to explain herself welled up in Rikka; she wished she could produce a setting book on the spot for Kanzaki Saku to read.
"Hmph~ Since thou hast asked so earnestly, I shall make an exception and inform thee!"
She tried her best to make her voice sound majestic, but her throat, raw from her earlier crying and shouting, still had a soft, lingering quality, making it sound more like she was being coquettish.
"My Tyrant's Eye is the eye that sees the truth of all things! Its power cannot be described in a few mere words!" She held up a slender finger and began to list them one by one.
"First, there is 'True Name Revelation'!" Rikka puffed out her chest, her tone boastful.
The movement made her aware that she was still nestled closely in his arms, causing her cheeks to warm slightly, but her enthusiasm for the explanation overrode everything else.
"Ordinary mortals all have numbers and panels displayed above their heads! Their names, their basic information—nothing can hide from my eyes! Most people have a zero above their heads, representing them as insignificant 'beings of zero'!"
Kanzaki Saku raised an eyebrow, thinking that this ability was a standard 'appraisal' skill for any transmigrator, but that Rikka had probably misunderstood the meaning of the numbers.
"Then what do you see for me?" Kanzaki Saku asked with great interest.
Having recovered some of her mental energy, Rikka immediately perked up at his question. She adjusted her position, kneeling on Kanzaki Saku's lap, and cupped his face with both hands.
She stared at him for a long time with her golden eye, trying so hard that sweat began to bead on her forehead, but she still couldn't see anything.
"Thou... thou art an exception! The first person whose true name I cannot see through!" Rikka finally released her hands in frustration, slumping dejectedly against his chest.
Kanzaki Saku understood. It was likely because he constantly maintained a layer of a [Reversal] field around his body.
It was mainly used for passive defense against potential sneak attacks and to erase his own presence. This field must have interfered with Rikka's "True Name Revelation."
To confirm his theory, Kanzaki Saku granted Rikka access.
"Alright, little Rikka, try again. I've given you permission."
Hearing this, Rikka focused once more, and the golden hexagram began to spin rapidly.
This time, above Kanzaki Saku's head, a number "8" made of light, along with a simple yet informative translucent panel, slowly materialized.
"I-I see it!" Rikka was so excited she almost jumped up, pointing at his head.
"It's an '8'! The mark of '8'! And the panel... strength, agility, charm... the stats are all unnaturally high! As expected of my contractor!"
While Rikka excitedly praised Kanzaki Saku's power, Kanzaki Saku fell into deep thought upon hearing the number.
His original theory was that the number Rikka saw might represent the number of people the target had been 'intimate' with. If that logic held, his own number should have been "5".
One for Yukino, one for Kita, then Kotegawa and Kikyou, and adding Rikka in front of him, that made five people who had been with him.
By that count, in just two short days, he had been intimate with five people at school.
If this were his past life, anyone who found out would have called him a mark, a total slut.
But that didn't match the number 8. Could his theory be wrong?
To run a control experiment, by reversing the concept of 'I don't have a mirror,' Kanzaki Saku produced a small mirror in his hand.
"Here, look at yourself." He handed the mirror to Rikka.
Rikka took it curiously and activated her ability again while looking in the mirror. When she saw the number that appeared above her own head in the reflection, she first froze, then let out an even more joyous cheer.
"Woah! It changed! It changed! My mark has gone from '0' to '1'!"
She looked at herself from every angle in the mirror, staring at the sparkling "1" and giggling foolishly, as if it were a medal of the highest honor.
Beside her, Kanzaki Saku watched Rikka, who was lost in her joy, his gaze shifting between the "1" above her head and the list in his mind, once again falling into deep thought.
Although Kanzaki Saku was not an AI, through deep thought, he still arrived at a conclusion.
There was no issue with Rikka's number changing from 0 to 1 after their Contract. The problem was with him.
The number didn't match his experiences, which meant three other people had been intimate with him!
The figures of two people flashed through Kanzaki Saku's mind: one was Sagiri's mother, his adoptive mother, and the other was Yukino's older sister, Haruno.
As for the third person, Kanzaki Saku had no clue for the time being.
But Kanzaki Saku wasn't too concerned. These people were already on his list anyway; now they had just jumped out of the pot and into his bowl ahead of schedule.
He interrupted Rikka, who was still giggling foolishly at the mirror: "Besides looking at numbers and panels, those eyes of yours must have other tricks, right?"
"Of course! There's also 'Clairvoyance' and 'X-ray Vision'!" Rikka continued her previous explanation.
"As long as my mind wills it, my gaze can pass through the barrier of space to perceive distant scenes, and it can also... it can also penetrate ordinary obstacles..."
When she mentioned X-ray Vision, her voice noticeably dropped, and her eyes darted away, clearly thinking of some less-than-proper applications.
Kanzaki Saku immediately caught this. A mischievous smile played on his lips as he gently pinched her waist.
"Oh? X-ray Vision? So, you've used this ability to 'visually harass' me quite a bit before, haven't you? Eating, sleeping... you've been watching, right?"
"Ugh—!" Rikka let out a shameful cry and buried her face in his chest again, her protests muffled.
"Th-that was to monitor a potential threat! To gather intelligence on thee! I-it's not because you're handsome or anything!"
"Yes, yes, for the sake of righteous surveillance," Kanzaki Saku agreed with the clairvoyant Rikka's explanation.
"What else? Besides peeping, you must have something more practical, right?"
____
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