"!!!" Arina's body shook. "P-Pay?!"
This was probably the first time she felt threatened by someone younger than her.
"You find his identity and help me deal with him. It's that simple."
Arina gulped. Well, Ellia had asked her to do it. If she heard about this matter, she would most likely make a move.
So Arina nodded. "I understand. I will report it to Ellia."
"No, wait." Auric raised one finger as he turned sideways while pondering. "Not yet. How about we wait until we close the shop? I don't want anyone to mess around with my shop for the rest of the day."
"O-Oh?!" Arina didn't mind this arrangement. No, in fact, it pleased her. "Actually, that might be better."
"Great."
Auric didn't know that in Arina's head, there was an evil plan, not for him, but for her childhood friend, Ellia.
'Oh, Ellia. I wonder what kind of face you will make once I tell you that Auric has a wind element. There's no way I want to miss this opportunity. I'm going to report it directly to her face so that I can see her dumbfounded expression.'
Regardless of her reasons, Auric didn't want Ellia to come here or make a scene before the store closed.
"Well, that's good. I guess we can relax for a bit now that the troublemaker has disappeared." Auric waved his hand while walking away.
Surprisingly, Arina caught his hand and asked with a brightened expression. "Auric. No, Boss. How do you use a wind element? Aren't you supposed to have no avatar? Not only plants but also the wind. Can you tell me about it?"
Auric was taken aback. Arina asked him because she was too excited after discovering something she had once thought was impossible.
Still, Auric replied with a solemn expression. "In that case, what are your three sizes? You can't answer, right? Has your childhood friend ever told you not to ask someone's secr—"
Before he could finish his words, Arina actually answered his question. "89-65-90!"
"W-What?" Auric's eyes were wide open. Even Lindwurm dropped his jaw.
It was supposed to be a question to tell her she couldn't ask for someone's secret.
Yet, she actually answered it.
"You and Miss are really the same. Not only has she told me not to ask someone's secrets, but she has asked me a similar question. Now, can I get my answer?" Arina asked.
It was Auric's turn to be speechless. She really got him this time.
"Why are you not following the script?" Auric shook his head helplessly.
"As I told you, you both are the same. I have prepared the answers, so the same trick can't work twice. Since I have answered, shouldn't you give me an answer as well? Or are you not a man?"
"Bahahaha!" Lindwurm couldn't contain his laughter anymore. "She got you, Auric. Admit it!"
Auric's eyebrow twitched. Fortunately, he had received advice from the mayor.
Hence, his answer became slightly different. "I can tell you this. Imagine your body is a magnet with a positive charge. What will it attract?"
"The negative charge?" An image formed in her mind. Auric portrayed the magnet to be the affinity in his body. In that case, the thing it attracted would be the magical energy.
"Yeah. Now, imagine. What will happen if there is no magnet in your body? Is it really an empty heart, or is it something that can be charged the way you like?"
"Ah?!" Arina could imagine a magnet with two polarities. The positive charge got the plant element, while the negative charge got the wind element.
This explained his dual-elements theory.
However, Auric added inwardly, 'I hope you think that way after using a magnet as an example. I have fulfilled my part, but it is not my problem if you end up misunderstanding it.'
Auric had followed the mayor's advice. He told her half of it, but in a way she would misunderstand the entire truth.
If it were Ellia, she would probably interpret the whole truth. But since it was Arina, she would probably get only half of it and would tell Ellia her own misconception rather than his exact words.
So, it wasn't his fault that Arina misunderstood it and Ellia didn't find the whole truth.
"Anyway, are you satisfied? If yes, then I will go to my office." Auric pushed her hands away and escaped to his office. He didn't expect Arina to be a formidable opponent in a different way.
"Jokes aside, that guy. What are we going to do about him?" Lindwurm asked.
"For now, I will let Arina handle it. If it's not satisfactory enough, I will just release the CCTV footage. Aren't you glad that we installed the CCTV?"
"Oh, that's also an option. Once it goes viral, people will question it. The Evolution Association will most likely protect you. Even the mayor might personally handle the situation."
"Yeah. But for now, let's have Arina handle it. This way, I can still ask for favors from the mayor and the association later." Auric smiled.
It looked like Auric had considered everything in advance. In that case, he didn't have to worry about it anymore.
"There is actually something I want to ask. How are you going to help me with practice?" Auric asked. "I think it is not a bad idea to have some basics before college starts."
"I can help you with various things. If you want to spend a bit more money, I can transform the store a bit more. For example, I could create a simple training room inside your office."
"I will consider it. But about the most important problem…"
"I can do this instead!" Lindwurm suddenly hit Auric's head.
"W-What?!" Auric was startled and instinctively closed his eyes as his head was knocked back. "You can actually hit me?"
"I can. What? Are you going to guess what element I am again?" Lindwurm smirked, confident that Auric couldn't guess it.
"…" Auric just rolled his eyes. The unique element had a wider variety than other elements, so he really couldn't guess it.
Still, the training might work for him. If Lindwurm continued to hit him repeatedly for a while, he might get used to it soon.
"Well, I don't mind that kind of training. But there's no need for an additional room for that one, right?"
Lindwurm stuck out his tongue while looking away.
"So, you just want to eat more, don't you?" Auric sighed. "Well, we don't know how many customers we will get tomorrow, so we can't indulge ourselves too much. Let's make the store stable first before we think about it."
"Fine." Lindwurm nodded.
"Anyway, let's start training while we have no customers."
As he expected, there were no more problems for the rest of the day. Since those who were excited about him had already arrived in the morning, there were fewer customers after the unknown man.
Whenever he had free time, Auric would go back to his office so that he could practice with Lindwurm.
…
Once the store had closed, Arina rushed back to the company.
"Miss, Miss!" Arina slammed open the door and found Ellia meditating.
She gradually opened her eyes after hearing Arina's voice. "What's wrong?"
"Um. Did I disturb you?"
"No. I was just using the technique again. As you know, the intensity of one's element becomes 3 to 5 times higher once they evolve. Still, I haven't reached the limit of this technique, so I wonder if I can use it as well.
"Unfortunately, my progress is still at 0% even though I'm feeling a small increase. I guess the limit adjusts accordingly after you evolve. For example, if you practice one with a 20% limit, it will become 4 to 7% after the evolution."
"Oh?" Arina didn't have one, so she couldn't try it.
"So, what are you doing here? I mean, I know you're going to report what you've found, but what makes you so excited?"
"Hehehe. Do you want to know? Do you want to know?" Arina was grinning from ear to ear, teasing Ellia.
"Just tell me about it." Ellia sighed.
"Fine. What if I tell you that Auric can actually use the wind element as well?"
"!!!" Ellia widened her eyes, her mouth slightly open.
"Hehehe." Arina was enjoying her reaction.
If only she could hide that grin, she would probably get a bigger reaction than this. But Ellia quickly figured out her intention and coughed to regain her composure.
"I see. I don't think you are someone who will give me a fake report just to see my reaction. So, he can wield two elements?"
"Eh…" Arina looked disappointed, but answered her question nonetheless. "Yep. Well, I don't know if it was a blessing or not. Actually, there was someone causing trouble in the store today. He insisted on having Auric treat him despite knowing his element."
"Hoh?" Ellia squinted.
"Auric knew that you sent me to spy on him. Yet, he still showed that secret. After taking care of that customer, he told me to figure out his identity on my own."
"Do you have his face? Any name?"
"I have the CCTV footage. No name."
"I see. I will figure it out." Ellia nodded. "For now, you should stick with him to protect him."
"Got it."
"Thank you for your hard work today. Get some rest."
"All right. See you tomorrow, Miss!" Arina waved her hand. She opened the door, but before she left, she suddenly showed her phone while saying, "By the way, Miss. I've been recording the whole time. I'm going to screenshot your reaction and have it as my wallpaper."
"W-What? You…" Ellia snapped, but Arina had already closed the door and run away.
Ellia could use her Void Step to catch up to her, but she just sighed. Arina had worked hard so she could keep it as a reward, Ellia thought.
Auric didn't know that he had been underestimating Ellia.
When Arina said they were the same, she meant that literally. He could fool Arina that way, but even Auric would agree that he wouldn't be fooled with that explanation.
Ellia crossed her arms as she fell into deep thought. "Two elements… Plant? The ability to create a space element battle technique that can gather energy from the environment.
"And now the wind element? Can he possess all nine elements? No, there might be special circumstances. He asked me and Arina for battle techniques. He also asked the same thing from customers, but not the manuals…"
Ellia went to her computer and checked the footage. While checking, she muttered, "He first met Arina. Was it at that time that he got the plant element? Could he actually get an element from others?
"He registered as a plant evolution master after that, but wasn't it because he didn't have any other customers than Arina since the store wasn't officially opened yet?
"Then, he got the earth element from his evaluation test in the association. In that case, there should be another customer. I should check that. He might have gotten the wind element from that customer if my theory is correct.
"However, I don't think he will get any elements that just come to him. He must be selecting it carefully. But this also means he has my space element."
Her theory could link everything. If she could figure out the missing connection, she would be able to figure out the rest.
"In other words, I have to investigate this customer who possesses the wind element. If my theory is correct, he must have shown his earth element at this time."
If Auric really possessed the ability to copy or absorb an element, his value would have to be recalculated.
With that in mind, she also found what she was looking for.
Her screen showed a picture of the same guy who caused trouble in the store. There was a second picture below it, and that picture contained him and a few other people.
She didn't recognize those people, but she did recognize the background.
Lightning Dojo.
Ellia snapped her fingers as she spread her arms. "See? I'm a genius. It looks like tomorrow is going to be interesting. You won't get many chances to slap the Lightning Emperor in the face."