The sap from the same kind of Plant that almost all "poor" families now had access to thanks to the methods Ren had released, democratizing access to resources that now were needed even by nobility.
Ren knew exactly how they’d discovered the process thanks to Wei’s enthusiastic experimentation.
Almost two years ago, someone with mana eyes had accidentally gotten their face stained with elemental plant sap during a battle. And the sap, which was normally transparent like water, had turned reddish with the mana the person was using in their eyes when they’d shouted a taunt at their opponent, color changing thanks to the invisible energy.
Wei had heard about the incident and, as Wei did with everything lately... he’d begun experimenting immediately, seeing potential where others saw only a weird reaction of mana in the "new beasts".
Specifically, he’d remembered something Ren had told him during one of their conversations about "how mana from lies and truth was perceived by those who can see it", it was in different colors. How truth shone blue or green while deception burned red, how emotions colored the spectrum in ways that revealed intention beneath words.
With help from some students with mana eyes, among them Liora and Hikari who was beginning to develop them through careful cultivation of her Firefly until gold thanks to Ren...
Wei’s experiments had discovered that the tip of the nose, being in the place of the strongest flow before mana circulated through the eyes, was what painted the sap most clearly.
And there were specific color patterns for many "emotions"... it was proved by putting some sap in their noses when mana eyes users were asked questions, and while keeping their eyes active, the changes showed colors that corresponded reliably to mental states.
If someone lied, their nose turned red.
If they told the truth, green or blue depending on the mood of the truth they spoke, calm confidence versus aggressive certainty painting different shades.
Purple or some intermediate tone depending on how ambiguous the statement was, partial truths and technical accuracies creating spectrums that revealed complexity beneath surface claims.
It was the perfect way to observe, even without mana eyes, whether specifically someone who had them was lying or telling the truth.
A bridge between those with special sight and those without, democratizing verification.
The problem before had been impossible to solve: your word against mine, circular accusations with no external arbiter. Someone who had lie detection could declare another was lying, but there was no way to verify if the detector themselves was lying about their detection, creating infinite regress of doubt.
But now there were two opposing detectors in play, political enemies who’d never collaborate on deception. And this sap that revealed mana visually even for those who didn’t have the eyes to see it directly, even if only on those with mana eyes...
They’d generated the "red nose method".
The method was almost infallible, though it still remained new and poorly understood in all its implications. They’d used it on Zhao in the first semester, testing to see if his reports about Ren’s conduct had been truthful.
His nose had turned more blue than green, not from lies but from sarcasm and boredom, emotions coloring truth in ways that revealed attitude without invalidating accuracy. Still, many nobles had alleged that being so much on Ren’s side, Zhao could play with words or simply "truly believe" he hadn’t done "anything wrong", conviction masking complicity.
That’s why this extra effort with the Strahlfang observer.
’I don’t care what they do,’ Ren thought simply, looking at the watcher without expression, face carefully blank. ’I have nothing to hide.’
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