Chapter 46: Item: Illusory Iris Confession
That’s a girl raised in a tavern for you.
Before long, the savory aroma of sizzling meat filled the entire courtyard.
Lance wasn’t idle, either. As if performing a Trick, he brought out a wide variety of desserts and snacks, piling them high on the long table in the courtyard.
After a few rounds of drinks and plenty of food, a tipsy blush appeared on the girls’ cheeks, and the atmosphere grew more lively.
"Hehe, I’ve got something cool to show you."
With a secretive air, Amber produced an exquisite black velvet box and slapped it onto the table.
"What’s this?"
Nia leaned in closer, curious.
"This was a farewell gift from a teammate to my old man, back from his adventuring days."
Amber opened the box, her tone tinged with a desire to show off.
"This is a real Magic Item. Its name is Illusory Iris Confession."
"I heard a Witch made it with her own hands."
Hearing that word, "Witch," the other two girls’ eyes instantly lit up. Flora, who had been a bit out of it, sat straight up.
In this world, Witches were an extremely special Sub-human Race.
They possessed unique soul structures and had an almost obsessive understanding of emotions.
Thus, in the songs of the continent’s Minstrels, Witches were often the heroines of beautiful, tragic love stories.
Of course.
In some of the more realistic, unofficial histories, they were also the architects of terrifying crimes of passion.
’An item made by a Witch? For your dad?’
Lance sat to one side as a bold idea suddenly popped into his head.
’Could that so-called teammate have been trying to use this item to subtly confess their feelings to Amber’s big, burly Professional of a dad?’
’Why does this plot sound a little like one of those gut-wrenching romance stories?’
But seeing how excited the girls were, he tactfully swallowed this wild theory and leaned in curiously as well.
This was the first time he’d gotten a close look at such a rare Magic object.
Amber took the cards out of the box.
The cards were made of a peculiar material, cool and smooth to the touch, as if they were polished from extremely thin slices of crystal.
The backs of the cards were decorated with intricate and exquisite silver Iris Flower patterns that shimmered faintly in the light.
The faces, however, were pure white, with nothing on them.
"This thing is amazing."
Amber explained, sounding like a salesperson.
"When you flip a card, a question for you will appear on its face, and you have to answer it directly in front of everyone."
"It will then show a different color based on how truthful your answer is."
Here, Amber paused intentionally, leaving them in suspense with a mischievous smile.
"As for what the colors mean... you’ll find out when we play."
"Me first! Me first!"
Nia, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, raised her hand high.
She extended a finger and carefully flipped over the top card.
On the card’s previously blank face, an image and text slowly materialized, as if being painted with spreading ink.
In the top-left corner was a bright red Two of Hearts.
And in the center of the card, a slightly abstract stick-figure drawing appeared.
The picture showed four little people sleeping, their features distinct—it was clearly the four of them.
But the strange thing was,
The little figure representing Lance was sleeping spread-eagled between the three girls.
"Huh?"
Flora rubbed her eyes and let out a sound of adorable confusion.
"Why is Lance sleeping right in the middle of us?"
Lance looked at the picture, cold sweat beading on his forehead, and hurriedly waved his hands to clear things up.
"I’m innocent! That’s never happened before!"
’How can this stupid card just slander me out of nowhere?’
Nia ignored the absurdity of the drawing, her gaze falling on the text below.
Among the four of us, who do you think has the cutest sleeping face?
"Huh?"
Nia froze, letting out a short gasp.
’What kind of question is this?’
Before she could react, Amber suddenly put on a serious expression and urged her on in a grave tone:
"Answer! Be serious! And you have to say it within three seconds, or the card will explode!"
"Ex... Explode?!"
Nia was scared out of her wits. Her mind went blank, and she subconsciously blurted out a name.
"Flora!"
"I choose Flora!"
The moment she spoke,
the Crystal Card didn’t explode. Instead, its border began to emanate a soft, gradient, deep Blue halo.
The light was pure and translucent, like the clear sky after a rainstorm.
Amber reached out for the card, the serious look on her face instantly replaced by a sly smile.
"If this deep Blue color appears, it means you were telling the truth."
Then, her eyes darted suspiciously between Nia and Flora, as if she’d found some juicy secret.
"Fess up. When did you two sleep together?"
"How come I didn’t know? Are you two forming a little clique behind my back?"
"Of course not!"
Nia’s face flushed red as she hastily explained.
"It was last time! The time Flora got drunk!"
Her words jogged Amber’s memory.
There really had been an incident like that.
That time, just like tonight, Flora had passed out on the table after three glasses of fruit wine, sleeping like a peaceful little piglet.
She and Nia had both been there watching.
"Wait a minute..."
Nia suddenly realized what had happened and, pointing at Amber, she shouted.
"You were tricking me, weren’t you? The card doesn’t actually explode, right?!"
"You’re such a dummy."
Amber laughed triumphantly.
Pouting, Nia pushed the rest of the deck in front of Amber.
"Your turn!"
Amber didn’t object, casually drawing a card.
The Three of Clubs.
The image on the card face changed, now showing the four of them sitting together and playing cards.
The first time the four of us played Three Dragon Card together, who was the biggest loser?
Looking at the question, Amber froze for a moment.
The disastrous scene from that day instantly flashed through her mind.
A certain overconfident young receptionist had lost so badly she’d almost run out of money for the next day’s breakfast. In the end, Lance had to secretly go easy on her just so she could win her money back.
But she glanced at Nia, who was staring wide-eyed beside her, eagerly waiting for the drama to unfold.
Amber blinked and, without hesitation, quickly said a name.
"Lance."
As she finished her answer,
this time, the card didn’t glow with a deep Blue light.
In its place, a warm, golden halo appeared, like the afterglow of a sunset.
"Gold?"
Lance was curious.
’Isn’t this a lie detector? Since she lied, shouldn’t it have turned a warning color like red or black?’
Just then, Flora, who had been sitting quietly to the side, was holding the velvet box the cards had come in.
She pointed to the explanation on the bottom of the box and read aloud softly:
"There’s an explanation of the colors written here..."
"Pale gold represents... a gentle lie."
"It means the lie wasn’t meant to deceive or hurt anyone, but was told out of kindness."