Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 266

 All fingers except the index, including the thumb, were adorned with rings.

The rings were red, blue, black, white... Not only the colors but also the patterns, thickness, and shapes varied. The remaining two that he wasn't wearing right now were the same.

"...This is quite similar to the identification rings of the Royal Capital's Knight Order. Did you base it on those?"

Liesel, who had just come over to sit next to Seriana, glanced at the rings and said this.

"Identification rings... you mean these?"

Is it the colors that distinguish them?

"Yes. More precisely, the Central Knight Order. Unlike the two divisions in Liana, they have both specialized units like the Imperial Guard and the Royal Guard, and regular units like the First and Second Squads, just like ours. But they have far more squads and soldiers. So, to tell themselves apart, they wear rings that indicate their squad."

"Huh..."

Now that he mentioned it, except for the knights and the royal guards, all the soldiers he saw in the capital were dressed the same.

He didn’t know exactly how many there were, but it would be more practical to have some way to identify them roughly rather than trying to remember everyone's faces and affiliations.

But still...

"Why not just distinguish them by the color of their uniforms? That would be easier, wouldn’t it?"

"While it would be simpler for the various units with different roles, for the townspeople, everyone in the Knight Order is the same. It would be a problem if they hesitated to report something because they thought the unit was different. That's why the method of distinguishing them isn’t obvious, and the way to tell them apart isn’t made public. Although, some who claim to be 'in the know' are aware of it."

"I see..."

Quite an impressive service for the citizens...

"And what's interesting about those identification rings is that they're magical items that can change size."

"I do think it's a cool item, but... why is that necessary? To prevent counterfeiting or something?"

Wouldn’t ordinary rings suffice? They're not encrusted with gems or anything, and their only function is size adjustment—a simple feature, but still, they’re magical items.

To my question, Liesel nodded and added with a wry smile, "That’s part of it, but..."

"For example, look at me and Alexio; our fingers are different sizes, right? Everyone in the Knight Order, knights and soldiers alike, is trained, but there are still differences in size. It would be too much work to make them all custom-fitted, and even if you set standard sizes, they might not fit well and could fall off. After some trial and error, we arrived at magical items. Fortunately, the materials are available in the capital region, so they’re gathered during new recruit training."

There’s no mass production like in factories, so the pursuit of efficiency resulted in high-end items, huh?

"When we were staying in the Royal Capital, we commissioned a workshop the Knight Order uses to craft them. It took longer than expected, but what Teresa prepared for us arrived with them, so it all worked out well in the end."

That means they were prepared around the time of the wedding.

She had arranged this from that far back...

One of these rings is for Seriana, but the other must be from Teresa, right?

"Teresa too... wah!"

"Please don’t move."

Just as I was about to ask what Teresa had prepared, my hand was grabbed again.

But the rings are already on, right...?

"...What’s this?"

Following her instructions to stay still, I noticed something black being applied to my nails...

Glancing at the table, I saw the other box was now open.

Its contents resembled a perfume bottle, filled with a black liquid.

"Nail polish. I don’t use it often, but you’ve seen me wear some from time to time, haven’t you? Though this isn’t exactly for makeup..."

Now that she mentioned it, I had seen her wearing red or pink nail polish occasionally... but this was black.

And it was matte, without any shine.

"So, it’s not for makeup...?"

"It can be used as nail polish, but it’s actually a repair balm for nails and fingertips. It’s not commonly used by commoners, but musicians and royal guards often use it. It comes in various colors, but this one is made by mixing the ashes of medicinal herbs with charcoal."

While applying it to the nails of my left hand, Teresa explained.

"Huh... Oh?"

Looking at my now-painted right-hand nails, I noticed they were the same color as the nail on my index finger, the one wearing the 【Shadow Sword】 ring.

Until now, I had only worn a ring on my index finger, and on top of that, my nail had always been pitch black, so I never really showed it to people. But it stood out.

Whenever I extended my hand, people’s eyes inevitably went to that nail...

But now, with rings on all my fingers and the nails painted black, the index finger didn’t stand out.

...Was this the reason?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sera・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira's Blessing】・【Floating Orb】【Shadow Sword】【Crimson Bee's Stinger】【Fairy's Eye】【Dragon's Lung】【Amber Sword】【Dunlem's Thread】・1 sheet

Seriana・【Range Identification】・【】・35 sheets

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】・5 sheets

Alec・【】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horn】・12 sheets