Chapter 471: Talisman

"Amamiya, what were you doing just now?"

Only after Amamiya had clearly finished writing did Aizawa Sakuya ask her question, full of curiosity.

Having finished his daily record, Ren Amamiya took out a very ordinary white talisman. It had an extremely strong metallic texture, looking just like a specially made badge.

"This is what I was just doing."

Looking at the round badge placed in front of her, Aizawa Sakuya blurted out instinctively:

"A badge?"

"To be precise, it's a talisman."

Ren Amamiya gave a brief correction, then offered an explanation.

"This is actually a defensive talisman similar to a flashbang. The moment it's thrown, it erupts in a blinding light, and anyone whose eyes are caught by that light will be hypnotized by it, lose self-awareness, and be unable to resist for a short time."

"That was my first time operating it too. I didn't expect some of it to leak out just as it was about to take shape."

Aizawa Sakuya recalled the blinding light she had seen before passing out—so that was really what had left her so dazed.

But she hadn't felt herself losing self-awareness at all.

So she asked instinctively:

"But I didn't lose consciousness."

"I just saw a flash of Bai Guang, and after I felt it fade…"

Suddenly Aizawa Sakuya realized something.

"Amamiya, how long was I unconscious just now?"

"Half an hour… um, forty-three minutes."

Ren Amamiya checked the time and gave a precise-to-the-minute duration for her unconsciousness.

This answer left Aizawa Sakuya a little dumbfounded. She really had only felt the blink of an eye, yet she had been out for that long without knowing.

"Lose self-awareness… unable to resist for a short time…"

"Forty-three minutes—does that count as a short time?"

Aizawa Sakuya felt that certainly didn't count as short.

"That's for ordinary people. On top of that, you're still young, so your resistance isn't very strong. For a grown adult, it should be shorter—around thirty minutes, I'd guess. For someone who's undergone special training, the effect would only last about twenty minutes."

"For someone like Kaguya and the others, one minute would be the absolute limit. For Ran, probably only twenty seconds."

Listening to Amamiya's explanation, Aizawa Sakuya still hadn't misjudged her earlier assessment.

"Even so, this talisman is still very impressive. After all, special cases are the minority; most people in this world are ordinary, and this talisman still has a huge use."

For ordinary people it's a full forty minutes of hard crowd control. If you ran into some danger, a single talisman could let you escape the crisis entirely.

Aizawa Sakuya examined the talisman closely. On the surface there was no sign of any hidden mechanism, which meant almost no one could set up a defense against it.

"But if this talisman is used carelessly, wouldn't it cause trouble for the user?"

Ren Amamiya gave a slight nod.

"There is indeed that problem. This talisman is a drop-to-the-ground triggered type, and the light affects everyone indiscriminately within a fifteen-meter radius. If you're within that range yourself, it'll affect you too."

"But there is actually a way to solve that. As long as you have some protective mechanism, you can avoid being affected by these talismans."

Aizawa Sakuya also felt such a mechanism must exist; otherwise the talisman would be far too easy to hurt the user.

"What made you suddenly think to make this kind of talisman?"

Ren Amamiya only shook his head slightly at the question.

"Actually, I'd been wanting to make this kind of talisman for a long time already. In a crisis, a consumable talisman you can use on the fly can play a huge role."

"The main reason is Sonoko's side. Her situation is different from the others—the power she's obtained doesn't act directly on her, and on top of that her power is more supportive, so she's no different from an ordinary girl herself. She needs some props to protect herself."

With that, Aizawa Sakuya understood.

Because her own abilities were insufficient, she needed to borrow external means to add some safety for herself.

As a pure ordinary person, Aizawa Sakuya understood this very well. She knew she had been a frequent target of kidnappers in the past—after all, her family was a distant branch of the Sanzenin, and her family also had a certain amount of assets, so being targeted was inevitable.

If she had some props to protect herself, she could face many kidnappers on her own.

Ren Amamiya pushed the talisman he had made over in front of Aizawa Sakuya.

"Young Lady Aizawa, please accept this talisman."

"Eh? For me?"

Although Aizawa Sakuya did want it, she hadn't expected Amamiya to just give it to her like that. She had thought it would go to Sonoko.

"Mm, Young Lady Aizawa is actually in quite a bit of danger too, so having some props for protection is very necessary. Sonoko is usually with us, but Young Lady Aizawa isn't, right?"

"Um…"

Indeed, Aizawa Sakuya had no plans to transfer to Teitan High School. Her previous school was actually quite good, so there was no need to switch.

Under these circumstances, the only time she could squeeze into this group was on weekends, plus the occasional day she took off.

From this angle, she really was the one who most needed protective props.

"Then I'll accept it."

Once things were out in the open, Aizawa Sakuya didn't stand on ceremony and accepted it directly.

"Then how do we deal with the problem of the talisman hurting ourselves? Would wearing sunglasses work?"

"That wouldn't work."

Ren Amamiya shook his head slightly.

"The blinding light is a form of hypnosis and suggestion; it's not a pure beam of light. Simply put, the blinding light is a form—even if you turn your head away, as long as you see the light you'll still fall for it. Unless you use a special prop to cover your eyes, it's useless."

"As for the method I mentioned…"

The RV slowly braking cut the topic short.

"Amamiya, Sakuya, we're here."

From downstairs came Nagi Sanzenin's slightly excited voice.

This made Ren Amamiya shake his head slightly as he looked at Aizawa Sakuya.

"Looks like I'll have to find time later to say it."

Aizawa Sakuya also felt something stuck in her throat, uncomfortable — it was right at her lips, but she swallowed it back down.

But there was no helping it, since the place for this weekend's trip had already arrived.

"Mm, I'll just have to find time later."

PS: New book on the shelves — begging for data.