— — — — — —
Yukiko Yukinoshita and Shizuka Hiratsuka had successfully teamed up after their second encounter.
So… what about the one they were now searching for—the mysterious Veyron?
Well… at that very moment, he was closely observing the girls through his divine will, all while staring curiously at the task interface in front of him.
[18.65%… 18.68%… 18.7%...]
The bond percentages ticking upward on the panel mostly came from recent accomplishments involving Yukiko and Shizuka.
Yukiko and Shizuka had learned his newly created moves.
Each of those brought him around a 9% bond boost.
As expected—one is the future mother of the main heroine, and the other is the future mentor of both the protagonist and heroine.
Honestly, if there weren't a cap on how many 'Fated Ones' could exist in a world, he could've just gathered ten or so of them, handed out a few perks, and speedran this entire universe.
He had actually been worried at first—based on how the previous worlds worked—whether he'd need to form some kind of Service Club or get wrapped up in a teenage romance arc or something...
"Big brother~ Big brother~! Wanna buy some balloons for your adorable little sisters~?"
A cheerful, childish voice cut through his thoughts.
He looked up to see a blue-haired girl with a dazzling smile, dressed in slightly faded clothes that clearly didn't fit anymore. She was holding a bunch of colorful balloons, eyes full of hope as she looked his way.
He raised a hand like a traffic cop. "Whoa, hold on. Since when do I have little sisters?"
"Eh? You don't?"
The little girl glanced toward the direction he'd been looking—where two more girls, one with black hair and one with pink, were playing nearby. She paused, then suddenly gasped in realization and took a step back, clutching the beeping alarm buzzer hanging from her neck.
"Y-You're not trying to kidnap me, are you?!"
"...…"
Seriously?
"I swear, people in this world have no sense of manners."
He sent a silent complaint to the World Will. "Do I really look that shady?"
Yesterday it was Yukiko being suspicious of him, and now this random kid…
Thank goodness Shizuka wasn't as paranoid as these two ungrateful brats.
[…]
"I see..."
---
"Hey little girl… Weren't you the one who approached me trying to sell balloons?"
He pointed down at where he'd been sitting the entire time. "I haven't even moved."
"Ahh! I'm so sorry for bothering you! I'll leave right away…"
The girl gave a quick bow and was about to run off when—
"Stop right there."
His voice made her freeze.
"ಥ﹏ಥ"
She turned back, lip trembling and eyes glossy with tears, still clutching the alarm buzzer like it was her lifeline.
"What's your last name?" he asked, sensing a faint trace of luck and destiny clinging to her.
"Ka… Kawasaki…"
She mumbled nervously.
"Kawasaki?" He nodded slightly.
I knew it.
What was that saying again?
Stand Users are drawn to each other.
Swap out 'Stand Users' for 'Destiny Holders,' and yeah, the logic still holds. Might even make more sense, honestly.
Take yesterday, for example. He'd randomly met Yukiko and Shizuka just by existing.
And now, just a short distance away, two more lolis were playing in the sandbox—one with black hair, the other with pink. The black-haired one? Her last name was Hikigaya. The pink-haired one? Yuigahama.
The black hair one was the future mother of Hachiman Hikigaya and Komachi Hikigaya. While the pink hair one was the mother of Yui Yuigahama.
And this blue-haired balloon vendor? Her daughter in the future would be Saki Kawasaki—a classmate of the protagonist.
Funny how fate works.
The three little girls here today... were already using the surnames they'd eventually pass on to their kids.
"How much for the balloons?" asked Veyron casually.
The blue-haired girl murmured a price so softly even she might not have heard it clearly.
"Alright, I'll take them all."
He pulled out a crisp Fukuzawa Yukichi bill from his pocket. "Keep the change. Think of it as a little bonus for being cautious. I'm not a bad guy, but it's still smart to be careful around strangers. Honestly, if it weren't for your 'job' being to sell to random passersby, I'd say don't talk to unfamiliar adults unless someone you trust is with you."
"Thank you, big brother!"
She quickly checked the money—just to be sure it wasn't fake—then secretly pinched her leg under her skirt to confirm she wasn't dreaming. After all that, she finally smiled and thanked him properly. She even apologized for the misunderstanding earlier… though her hand still clutched that little alarm buzzer like her life depended on it.
"I've got some things to take care of, so I won't chat long," Veyron said, standing up from the park bench.
He picked three balloons—one pink, one blue, and one black—from the bunch he just bought and handed them back to the girl.
"Huh?"
She tilted her head, confused.
"Consider it a small gift for you and those two over there," he said, grinning. "One balloon each. And if we ever meet again, you can use that balloon to make a wish."
"A wish?"
"Yup. As long as it's not something insane like, 'destroy the universe,' I can probably make it happen."
As he spoke, he casually glanced at his trait system panel:
[Divine Ki (Lv. 80)], [Divine Will (Lv. 80)], [Divine Body (Lv. 80)]
Getting from level 80 to 81 required ten times more experience than the previous jump, so even though Divine Ki leveled up first, it eventually got caught by the other two.
At level 80:
Divine Ki had gained 32 extra power points booster and now applied a multiplier of 2³² = 4,294,967,296
Divine Will got an 8-point boost and a 2⁸ = 256 multiplier
Divine Body got 24 points and now had a 2²⁴ = 16,777,216 multiplier
Fun fact: After he consolidated all his skill-type traits into Divine Body, he could now stack its multiplier with Divine Ki, which represented the energy in his body. Meanwhile, Divine Will, the manifestation of his mind's power, worked as a flexible all-purpose boost.
Long story short? Just from those three traits hitting level 80, his combat power in "serious mode" was now: {4,294,967,296 × 256 × 16,777,216}. That's 18.4 quintillion
And that didn't even include the amplification from Soul Light, which could rewrite reality itself through sheer willpower.
If he threw that into the mix, his full-power burst potential would be flat-out absurd.
So yeah—like he told the little girl—unless their wish was to nuke the entire universe, something like "remake the galaxy" was well within his ability at this point.
.
.
.