Chapter 110 - Uncommon and Rare
Friday
“Thank you for the meal!”
Lunch on the first day of the long weekend was sauce yakisoba with plenty of pork bits and vegetables. Miki’s annoying habit is that she won’t eat carrots unless they’re thinly sliced.
“It was nothing. More importantly, Miki, did Mashiro-nee send any word about when she’s coming home?”
“No, there has been no such talk.”
She said that, then chugged down her apple juice.
Hmm, there are issues with meal prep and all, so she should at least let us know when she’s coming back.
“Could it be that she’s not planning to come back?”
“That also I do not know. In the first place, it is unlikely that Nee-san would act according to a schedule.”
No, that’s true, but… ah, crap!
“Miki. Are you free next Wednesday?”
“Hmm, I have no particular plans during the long weekend. All my classmates are at cram school lessons, so I have no one to play with but Aniki.”
“Well, I guess so. No, that works out perfectly. I’ve been invited to Mion’s house, and I was hoping you’d come with me.”
Miki’s eyes widened at my words. It felt like a long time since I’d seen her surprised…
“Are you finally going to ask for ‘her daughter’s hand in marriage’?!”
“No, I’m not!”
Miki burst into cackles when I replied.
“Well, if you’re going to play, then of course I’ll come along!”
“Ah, that’s what it is. Though I’ll have to explain a bit about the club activities.”
I also told her that I needed to meet Mion’s mother because the club activities were basically a part-time job. It would be a hassle if it came out later.
“Hoh~. Then I shall accompany you as your guardian.”
Miki started smirking, but there was no point arguing with her here; I’d just lose. It was best to quickly change the subject.
“Oh, right, was yesterday’s live stream just walking around town the whole time?”
“Indeed. The goal was to walk around town and highlight the areas where we are currently lacking.”
I see. So Bell-buchou helping with [Stone Wall] construction also had that intention. …Though 90% of it was probably just for the bit.
“I kind of get it, but are there really areas where you’re lacking?”
“It would be fine if it were just a matter of insufficient manpower. But actually, we haven’t found any players or NPCs with the [Civil Engineering Skill].”
“Huh? [Civil Engineering Skill]?”
I didn’t even know it existed, so it’s probably not a skill ordinary players acquire.
“No, what exactly does [Civil Engineering Skill] even refer to?”
“Aniki, if you say such things, Mother will be angry! What Mother does is precisely civil engineering.”
“Eh? Mom does design, right?”
“Aniki, it seems you are still mistaken, but Mother’s ‘design’ is not the kind where one draws lines on paper, you know? It’s the kind of design that means planning the development of an entire region.”
“Eh, so that means urban planning? Ah, is that why she rarely comes home…?”
It’s so embarrassing that I misunderstood what my parents did for a living.
“Now, now, there’s no need to be so dejected. Nee-san also remains under the same misunderstanding, you know.”
Miki laughed as she said that. Mashiro-nee, she’s a university student and still misunderstands?
No, wait.
“The reason I was mistaken was because Mashiro-nee told me, ‘Isn’t she someone who draws house blueprints or something?’”
“Indeed. Hearing that, I also thought, ‘It can’t be just for something like that that her assignment lasts so long,’ and so I asked Father.”
Grr, she’s my sister, but too smart… No, that wasn’t the point right now.
“Well, it’s fine if you just say I’m an idiot. But what is civil engineering? I mean, I understand civil engineering work, but…”
“Well, broadly speaking, it encompasses all living infrastructure. While architecture refers to buildings, civil engineering covers everything else.”
“Living infrastructure… so, it’s the skill for building roads, bridges, tunnels, right? Shouldn’t people who have [Carpentry] have it?”
“It seems there’s some prerequisite, so it’s currently unobtainable.”
“Seriously…?”
Prerequisites are usually for some Uncommon or Rare skills… But why isn’t a seemingly normal skill like civil engineering a Common skill?
“So, you have an idea why it’s unobtainable?”
“Hmm. At present, it is merely a hypothesis.”
Miki then explained, after that preface, that the skill classification in the world of IRO contains not only names but also their proper meanings.
“If a Common skill is true to its meaning, it would be ‘common technique’. That is, a technique everyone knows. Thus, anyone can learn it.
Next is Uncommon, which means ‘unusual’ or ‘splendid’.
Above that is Rare. It is superior to Uncommon, meaning ‘scarce’ or ‘supreme’.”
“So, Uncommon and Rare skills are rare and precious techniques even in that world, huh?”
“Indeed. They are techniques, or skills, that ordinary people in that world would not know. Though occasionally, there are NPCs who do know them.”
It’s not just names like ‘Common,’ ‘Uncommon,’ ‘Rare’ that are common in games, based solely on ranking or drop rates.
“If you’re speculating that much, you must have some basis, right?”
“Indeed. The Uncommon skill [Noble Etiquette] that I have acquired was taught to me by a tutor introduced by the Viscount.”
“What are you doing, you…?”
Miki, probably with a smug look, laughed at me as I slumped onto the table. Apparently, 4 of the 20 BP I received at character level 10 were used as SP for that [Noble Etiquette].
Apparently, the Viscount approached her, saying it might be necessary for guarding Lady Emily.
“So, by that logic, there might be NPCs who are knowledgeable about civil engineering?”
“I haven’t the slightest clue about that. Rather, I’m anticipating your screw-ups, Aniki.”
“No, that’s impossible… Still, it’s surprising that there are proper roads and bridges even without a [Civil Engineering Skill].”
At the very least, the Royal Capital I saw in Miki’s stream had beautiful [Stone Pavement] roads. I think I even saw bridges in the promotional videos, so I thought civil engineering work was being done normally.
“It seems those are all things that have been repaired and continuously used since the time of the [Ancient Magic Civilization].
Well, roads and bridges can be managed by imitation, but underground sewers and such seem to have become [Lost Technology].
The Royal Capital can use ancient existing infrastructure, but new villages can only dig drainage ditches.”
Hmm, in that case, it wouldn’t be strange for [Civil Engineering Skill] to be Uncommon or Rare…
“But what could the prerequisite be? Do you have any ideas?”
“Elemental Magic, which has things like earth walls and stone walls. Spirit Magic, which allows one to command earth spirits. Or perhaps both…”
“It seems like an [Elf] who can command earth spirits and acquires [Elemental Magic] would fulfill it.”
“Indeed.”
Well, if I could contract with an earth spirit, I could verify it.