Ah, really... are you serious?
Hearing this utterly ridiculous condition for activation, even the burnt man beside Leon, who had always believed Leon was "unusual," couldn't hold it in.
*Seriously, bowing only face-to-face is already useless, but you have to persuade the other person first to get them to bow to you? Are you sure this can be called an abnormal ability?*
"Are you bullshitting us?"
After rubbing her bald head, the straightforward bald woman stood up first, questioning with a face full of disbelief,
"The effect is weak enough as it is, but the restriction is so big? You have to persuade the other person first? You call this an abnormal ability? I could point a nail gun at someone's head and force them to bow faster than you can!"
"Maybe... the effect isn't very useful, but I can guarantee that this ability's manifestation is certainly not something achieved by normal means; it's definitely a kind of abnormal ability. If you don't believe me..."
Blinking with some difficulty, Leon suggested,
"How about we try it out a bit?"
"Give it a try and..."
Stopping the bald woman who wanted to experience it firsthand, a middle-aged man squinted, scrutinizing Leon, and then slowly asked,
"Little Baskin, don't blame me for overthinking, but everything about your bowing ability comes from your words; we don't know what it's really like.
Want me to hypothesize that the true nature of your ability might not be bowing, but rather controlling after cooperation, spying on inner secrets, or even having people obey your every command in the future?"
Hearing the middle-aged man's words, the rebels in the room stiffened, their expressions suddenly becoming dangerous as they looked at Leon.
*Right! How could there be such a boring ability to make someone bow? He probably said this to lower our guard and induce curiosity, causing us to actively cooperate within the range of his ability!*
*If things are really as Nathan guessed, then everyone might end up as this kid's puppets!*
"Leader, you've misunderstood."
Sensing the unfriendly gazes from the rebels, Leon sensibly raised both hands in a gesture of surrender, trying hard to explain,
"The situation is not what you think; my ability really is just to make people bow, and as for the test just proposed, it doesn't require you to cooperate; just listening to me speak a sentence is enough.
If listening to my words would get you controlled, you've already heard so much from me; wouldn't you have already been controlled by now?"
Hearing "Little Baskin's" defense, the rebels pondered privately and soon felt Leon had a point. The burnt man beside Leon impatiently stood up, waving his hand in a shooing gesture,
"Those willing to try, stay and listen; those who aren't, plug your ears or roll out and wait outside! What's with all the fuss over such a simple thing?"
After blasting at the rebels, the burnt man sniffed and then turned to Leon,
"Come! Try it on me first! I want to see how one sentence can make me bow to you!"
Hearing the burnt man's words, Leon didn't speak immediately. Instead, he looked around, seriously reminding everyone,
"Everyone, a final reminder: my ability is triggered by language, so if you're worried about being controlled, please cover your ears tightly or, better yet, leave temporarily."
Hearing "Little Baskin's" reminder, the rebels fell into silence again, but none chose to leave, not even the middle-aged man in the main seat, who hesitated for a moment but remained.
*After all, if it were as simple as just hearing a sentence, "Little Baskin" would have had countless opportunities to activate the anomalous object before stating the rules...*
"Since everyone is ready, let's begin."
Leon, noticing no one leaving or blocking their ears, nodded in satisfaction, raising two fingers.
"I believe one plus one equals two; those who agree, please stand and bow to me now."
"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"
The moment Leon finished speaking, a multitude of chairs scraping against the floor resounded simultaneously, and the rebels were horrified to find themselves genuinely losing control over their bodies.
Everyone in the room stood up from their chairs simultaneously and gave a rather standard bow towards "Little Baskin," as two shorter individuals even bonked their heads on the table.
"Holy crap! It's real!"
Rubbing her forehead, which had turned red from bumping into the table, the bald woman exclaimed in surprise,
"I just thought for a moment that what you said was right, and I actually couldn't control my own body and bowed to you!
Wow! You really weren't lying! There is such a useless abnormal ability that as long as one agrees with you... uh... leader?"
Looking at the only one still seated, the middle-aged man not bowing to "Little Baskin," the bald woman asked in confusion,
"This isn't one plus one? Why didn't you..."
"It's because I didn't use my ability on him."
Just as the bald woman was questioning the leader's math skills, Leon interrupted her,
"Since Nathan is recognized as the leader by everyone, I felt it wasn't right to have him bow to me, so I deliberately didn't target him when activating my ability."
Confirming that "Little Baskin" hadn't lied and had been truthful from the start, the bald woman's demeanor turned friendlier, even chuckling as she complained,
"Really... you should've said something; I thought the leader didn't even know how to add one plus one!"
*Whether he knows one plus one, I don't know, but I now know exactly who he is!*
Giving the bald woman a warm smile, Leon glanced at the [Prince of Traveling Thrush] where a golden light flowed, and then turned to look at the middle-aged man on the main seat, a smile involuntarily appearing on his lips.
Not using the ability on the leader was, of course, nonsense. As per the [Prince of Traveling Thrush]'s ability, everyone with a "status" lower than my prince status should immediately stand and bow under the badge's compulsion.
The only possible exception is someone with a status equal to my "prince" status, which means that unknown "prince," Prince Joshua, who somehow traveled from the future back to the present!
*I never expected the troublemaking leader of the rebels to be a prince of the Kingdom... No matter how old he gets, he still deserves a good beating!*
After casting a meaningful glance at the middle-aged man, discovering the concealer on his cheeks and vaguely recognizing some facial features, Leon finally understood where the sense of familiarity when he first met him came from.
*Don't ask why; it's because he'd been slapped, and not just once—a classic old acquaintance!*
Flexing his right wrist, which suddenly felt itchy, Leon, having proved himself honest, sat back down with a smile,
"I remember there was supposed to be a very important meeting today? Can we continue now?"
*Right! We were supposed to have a meeting!*
Hearing Leon's reminder, the others, still pondering the bow, quickly snapped back, chiming in one after another,
"Yes! There's something important!"
"Indeed, we should continue!"
"Absolutely, it's been delayed long enough!"
*Why does it feel... like things are a bit off?*
Looking at "Little Baskin" at the end of the long table, hands crossed and eyes fixed on him meaningfully, the middle-aged man in the main seat felt a wave of discomfort, his chair becoming more uncomfortable by the second.
Both the members' echoing and the meeting prompt that was supposed to come from him seemed to hint at something, as if with that strange bow earlier, something supposedly tightly within his grasp had suddenly started "flowing."
That strange, intangible yet crucial something was steadily, yet unstoppably, seeping along the length of this old council table, draining away from him and flowing slowly towards the other end...