Rod smiled and reached out, gently wiping away the tears from the corner of the little fox's eyes, who was so remorseful she was about to cry.
"It's alright, you don't need to be so formal with me. I also don't like you all performing such elaborate bows every time you see me."
Following beside Rod, Taruvi, who was holding a large bucket of fried potato balls and eating them with relish, curiously reached out a finger and gently poked Chun Ji's fluffy fox ears.
"Wow! It's really a Fox-person…just as the traveling performers said, with golden ears and a golden tail…you are truly very beautiful, very cute!"
The Winter Princess revealed an innocent and bright smile.
"Hello, I'm Taruvi, what's your name?"
Bang!
The fluffy tail behind Chun Ji instantly stood straight up, and her fox ears visibly turned so red they looked like they were about to drip blood.
She shyly glanced at Taruvi, and retorted in a voice as small as a mosquito's.
"You—you said I'm cute, but compared to this humble one, you, my lady, are even more…!"
"This—this humble one…is named Chun Ji."
In Izumo, due to a divine oracle from Rod back then, Chun Ji was raised by Goddess Amaterasu herself from the moment she was born.
Her status was equivalent to that of a genuine princess of the entire country, extremely noble.
Apart from her fellow miko companions, she had almost no friends her age.
Even Ming and Qiancao would not interact with her in such a direct and intimate way as Taruvi.
This new experience made her feel incredibly shy, yet deep down, she also felt…a little novel and uncontrollably happy.
Taruvi was stunned for a moment, then reached out and gently stroked her soft, warm golden long hair, her smile becoming even brighter.
"Chun Ji…a name as radiant and warm as spring, it's truly lovely."
She suddenly thought of something, and burst into laughter, revealing a brilliant smile.
"My hometown Belden only has eternal winter. After coming to Orario, I've always looked forward to seeing true spring."
"I thought I'd have to wait at least several more months, but I didn't expect to see a cute Spring Princess after only a few days~"
Rod watched the two quickly strike up a conversation and get acquainted, his lips unconsciously curving upwards, and an indescribable sense of satisfaction rising within him.
In the original story, Chun Ji, who had once despaired and resented herself as a sacrifice, risked her life to save Taruvi, who was also a sacrifice, deciding to become her hero.
Even when deliberately met with harsh words, even when she herself was weak and timid, she persisted, and with the help of her friends, ultimately rescued her from despair.
The Spring Princess and the Winter Princess, mutually redeemed and grew.
Although he had changed a series of events, and the two no longer had to endure their respective pains, they still hit it off immediately.
"Speaking of which, I also have Fox-person blood in me~" Taruvi suddenly dropped a bombshell.
Ming and Qiancao both looked up in surprise when they heard this.
"Could it be that you are…a Hybrid?"
Chun Ji's ears perked up in excitement, and her tail wagged like a rattle drum.
"Are you serious!? Fox-people are extremely rare among Beastmen, almost a once-in-a-century sight…"
"And to meet one not in the distant Far East, but in Orario…ugh…this humble one…this humble one is about to cry tears of joy!"
Taruvi chuckled, subconsciously touching the pearl necklace around her neck, her gaze inadvertently sweeping over Rod, her eyes filled with gratitude and admiration.
"I was surprised too, you know? It's almost like fate, hehe."
This pearl necklace was a gift Rod gave her after returning to Orario.
At the time, Taruvi even jokingly asked him, "Is this a proposal gift?"
However, when she learned that these pearls were collected from the Spring of Life, and were the thought-forms of successive miko—her ancestors—
Taruvi immediately burst into tears of joy, and unable to control her emotions, offered her innocent and sincere first kiss.
Although this bold move immediately drew boisterous cheers from Goddess Vera and indignant condemnation from Goddess Hestia.
And among these pearls, the most conscious one was her mother—a beautiful Fox-person.
In addition, there was her maternal grandmother with Deer-person blood, and her maternal great-grandmother with Sheep-person blood.
Although she still couldn't communicate directly with them for now, just wearing this string of pearls made her feel as if she was constantly embraced by her mother and family with the warmest love.
So, if there were an affection level, this Winter Princess's affection for Rod would probably have already maxed out.
But then, Taruvi showed a puzzled expression.
She touched the cute goat horns and deer antlers on her head, then subconsciously patted her bare bottom.
"Strange…where are my Fox-person features?"
The next second, to everyone's astonishment, this simple-minded princess lowered her head in confusion and pulled open her collar, looking down at her magnificent marshmallow, which was no less impressive than Goddess Hestia's.
Ming's pretty face instantly turned crimson, and she let out a gasp, pouncing like lightning to stop her.
"Lady Taruvi!!!"
Chun Ji was so shy that her eyes rolled back, almost fainting on the spot.
Qiancao cleverly tried to cover Rod's eyes with her small hands.
After a warm and chaotic romp, Rod had Suzuki Jun arrange their respective rooms and designated her as the guardian of the three little ones during their stay.
Then, he dispatched a Shadow Soldier to summon the Empress, Alfia, and Chardo.
"What's wrong? Is there something big that requires all three of us to go?"
Empress Regina clenched her fists, producing crackling sounds, and a bloodthirsty and excited smile appeared on her face, as if she couldn't wait to torment someone.
"Could it be…are we finally going to attack Freya Familia?"
Don't look at them as only three people, but one Level 9 and two Level 8s, all in healthy, peak condition, were enough to simultaneously crush both Loki and Freya Familias!
Rod held the little fox girl, whose pretty face was still flushed, in his arms.
Chun Ji curiously observed the three terrifyingly powerful individuals in front of her. The moment her eyes met Alfia's heterochromatic ones, she gasped and shyly buried her little head back into Rod's chest.
Alfia held her left arm across her chest, her right elbow resting on her left arm, and her right fingertips unconsciously played with her silver hair.
"You called us here because of this little girl?"
Rod led the three of them to the center of the courtyard, a slightly triumphant expression on his face.
"Indeed, after her arrival, we have gathered the three greatest cheats of this world."
The collector and OCD sufferer was finally satisfied.
Rod paused, looked at Alfia, and added, "Of course, I'm referring to legitimate cheats without such major side effects."
The so-called "cheats" referred to abilities that surpassed the understanding of the gods and were capable of subverting common sense.
Orario was not without powerful skills that could allow one to fight above their level, but at most, they were considered overpowered, not reaching the level of a cheat.
Chardo raised an eyebrow with interest.
"That battlefield saint's healing ability is indeed formidable, but besides this little fox-person whose ability we don't yet know, do we have anyone else?"
"A girl named Cassandra."
"…Uh, that somewhat introverted, shy, timid fellow?"
Regina, as an instructor, thought for a long time before she dug out such a person from the corners of her memory.
The other party's presence was simply too low.
Regina felt that the other party didn't deserve the title of a cheat.
"Isn't she a healer? And I remember, her abilities in all aspects were just inferior substitutes for Amid."
Regina's words were blunt, but they were also the truth.
As the captain of the top Familia of this era, she had seen all kinds of strong individuals, so it was naturally impossible for her to be easily fooled.
Rod showed a subtle expression.
"She has a skill that even Divine Script cannot display."
"…"
"Hestia probably calls it [Princess Who Sings of a Tragic World], which allows her to foresee the future through dreams, and…the content of the prophecy is absolutely accurate."
The expressions of the three instantly became quite spectacular.
Good heavens, such an outrageous skill, they had truly never heard of it.
Chardo rubbed his nose, giving a dry laugh.
"Today's young people are truly more outrageous than the last…but does this skill have no negative effects?"
Rod thought of the abstract manifestation of this skill in the original work and felt a wave of helplessness.
"This skill only takes effect when accepting my Grace. Secondly, the dreams are quite abstract, and upon waking, there will be extremely obscure poetic verses."
"And due to the influence of cursed power, the precognitive dreams cannot be believed by anyone, not even the gods."
Chardo opened his mouth, there were too many points to complain about, and for a moment he didn't know where to start.
The precognitive ability Rod copied in the Solo Leveling world, although it also required dreaming and random trigger conditions, was far more convenient than hers.
"Don't worry, Cassandra's skill side effects have been removed by me, but I don't think she'll ever have a chance to trigger this skill, so just raise her as an ordinary girl."
After all, this skill could only be triggered when she was in a life-or-death situation to find a way out.
But as for enemies who could put Rod in a desperate situation, he didn't think this skill would be useful.
The three nodded knowingly, turning their gaze back to the shy little fox in Rod's arms.
"Then, what about her?" Regina asked, "It's not another one of those highly restricted, currently useless skills, is it?"
Rod couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth curl up slightly, and he said nonchalantly.
"Her skill currently does have a restriction: it cannot be used on herself, and the target is limited to one person."
"The effect is simple: no matter what level the target is, they can be forcibly raised by one level."
The courtyard was silent.
A moment later, Chardo suddenly clutched his stomach and let out a deafening burst of laughter.
"Hahahahaha! Lord Rod, your joke…it's truly…truly hilarious! Hahahahaha!"
However, he laughed for a long time, only to find that Rod was just quietly looking at him, with no hint of joking on his face. Chardo's laughter gradually subsided, and his heart began to pound uncontrollably.
"W-wait…could it be…are you…are you serious?!"
Even the usually composed Empress and Alfia could not remain calm now. Their eyes were filled with incredulous astonishment and blankness.
Rod snapped his fingers, instantly teleporting everyone into the spacious Kamui Space, a joyful smile on his face.
"Is it true or false? We'll find out by trying it ourselves, won't we?"
But before that, Rod had something even more important to do.
He looked at Chun Ji, who was curiously observing this strange space in his arms, and gave an instruction to the system in his mind.
"System, how many Prayer Points are needed to remove the 'target limited to one person' restriction from the Wanbao Hammer?"
"To the host, it requires 3000 Prayer Points."
"That little?!"
"However, the original Wanbao Hammer is a mechanism effect, and its consumption does not change based on the target's level."
"If this restriction is removed, the mechanism of the Gavel of Abundance will change, and a corresponding cost will be incurred based on the target and level of the spell."
Rhode frowned slightly.
Wouldn't this just turn the Gavel of Abundance into a Nine-Fold?
That's not the effect he wanted.
After pondering for a moment, Rhode's eyes lit up, and he immediately thought of another direction.
"System, how many Prayer Points will it cost to remove the restriction 'Cannot be used by the caster herself'?"
"…"
"To the Host, it will cost 10,000 Prayer Points."
Although the cost surprised him, Rhode heard it and confirmed without the slightest hesitation.
"Execute it."
The next second, Chun Ji, who was in his arms, suddenly let out a strange "Eh?" then looked up in confusion.
"Lord Rhode… my magic seems to have changed?"
Rhode put her down, rubbed her head, and couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't worry, I've bestowed a blessing upon you. Now you can step on your left foot with your right and spiral up to the heavens."
Chun Ji lowered her head, her cheeks slightly red as she clutched the corner of her clothes.
Although she didn't fully understand the meaning of Rhode's words, she only knew that her beloved God had bestowed a grace upon her.
This joy and shyness made her little heart pound incessantly.
Rhode lightly stomped his foot, and Typhon, with two horns on its head, walked out of the shadows expressionlessly.
The three people opposite simultaneously frowned deeply, instinctively tensing their bodies and entering a battle stance.
"What exactly is this thing…?" Regina looked at Typhon, sensing a terrifying aura from it that was enough to threaten her.
"During the battle later, you are responsible for protecting her." Rhode didn't answer, only giving Typhon the command.
Typhon blinked blankly, then silently walked to Chun Ji's side.
Chun Ji quickly whispered a thank you, and Typhon tilted its head without replying.
Rhode looked at Chun Ji with encouraging eyes.
"Begin. Try using the Gavel of Abundance on yourself."
Chun Ji took a deep breath, parted her cherry lips, and began to chant.
"—Grow larger."
The fox-eared girl stretched out both hands in front of her chest as if offering something, and sang softly in a voice as clear as a wind chime.
"Its power, its actions, countless treasures, countless wishes. When the bell tolls, I pray for glory and fantasy."
Chun Ji's song echoed in the empty Kamui Space.
"—Grow larger."
Alfia keenly noticed the abnormal flow of magic.
"This body, which swallows divine offerings, bestows golden light upon the gods. The blessed gavel returns to the earth, bestowing blessings."
As the chant neared completion, a misty cloud of magical light emerged.
A massive glowing gavel appeared before Chun Ji, and its warm light shone upon her.
"Grow larger—Gavel of Abundance!"
An astonishing number of light particles surrounded her, forming a surging torrent of light.
The brilliantly shining gavel descended, completely enveloping Chun Ji's entire body!
Chun Ji, temporary advancement—Lv.2!
The three remnants of the old era stared with wide, disbelieving eyes, their feelings quite complex.
"Hey, hey, hey… how can there really be such an unreasonable skill in this world?"
"Heh, if we had her back then, would we have failed to conquer the Black Dragon?"
"One can only say that fate played a trick on us…"
At LV2, the Gavel of Abundance's duration increased from fifteen minutes to twenty minutes, and its cooldown decreased from ten minutes to nine minutes.
This skill was enough to easily overturn the outcome of a battlefield.
But now that Rhode had removed its restrictions, this skill was far from that simple!
Nine minutes later, Rhode, looking at Chun Ji, who was still at LV2, suppressed his inner excitement and spoke again.
"Chun Ji, continue to use the Gavel of Abundance on yourself. If you feel any discomfort, stop immediately!"
"Yes, Lord Rhode."
Then.
Under the dumbfounded gazes of the three remnants of the old era, the eight-year-old Chun Ji spiraled all the way up to LV10!