kscans

Chapter 183 - The Worst Skill

According to Arc, Frontier was once destroyed.

"Is that something you should be telling me?"

"It’s probably the limit of what I can say on my own authority. But you can’t go spreading it around, okay?"

"I won’t. We came here in secret, after all."

Well, I’ll probably tell Kaede-chan, Nanapon, and Satsuki-san.

"Hm? In secret?"

"You guys sent a letter, right? The higher ups saw it."

"Really? But I wrote it in our script so no one would understand. I figured you had a translation skill."

So that’s why no one but me could read it. I know that if I drink a Translation Potion and then write something, the characters become readable to anyone. I had been wondering why they didn’t do that, but it seems they were being considerate.

"Even if they can’t read it, a letter from Frontier is going to cause a stir. Especially since you shut ins have never sent one before."

"Ah, sorry. But we didn’t have any other way."

"It’s fine, I managed to smooth things over. Also, I don’t have a translation skill."

In fact, I don’t think a skill like that has even been confirmed yet.

"Really? But we’re communicating just fine."

"Arc-sama…"

Mia spoke to Arc.

"What is it?"

"It is not just Eleanor-sama who can understand us. Yoshino-sama can as well."

"Oh, you’re right…………huh?"

It seemed Arc hadn’t noticed until now.

"We drank Translation Potions."

"Seriously? That’s like, a super rare item. With that, you could even read the ancient texts that were lost when the world was destroyed."

People say I’m a bad negotiator, but I’m better than this kid.

"Is that so? Well then, I’ll try making a sales pitch to your father."

It sounds like I can sell them for a high price. If Arc hadn’t said that unnecessary thing, I would’ve sold them for pennies.

"Arc-sama…………No, it is nothing."

Mia, noticing Arc’s blunder, tried to admonish him, but it seemed she realized it was already too late.

"Mia, it’s good that you’re kind, but you need to be a little stricter, you know?"

"My apologies…………"

"Hey! What kind of relationship do you two have!? You look like a parent and a teacher!"

Who’s your mama.

"Just keep talking. So, it was destroyed, and then what?"

"Oh, right. The main cause of the destruction was war. That’s why we survivors despise it."

So that’s why they keep contact to a minimum. Well, peace is a good thing.

"So that means you had a reason you had to make contact anyway, right?"

"Right, right. Since we were destroyed once, we’re short on supplies, and we’ve lost a lot of different technologies. So we used far-seeing magic to find a prosperous world and asked for aid."

"And the land you lent out was the payment?"

"Yup. We have a small population, so we have more land than we know what to do with. It’s like, we don’t need it, so you can have it. Well, officially it’s a loan, just in case our population grows as we rebuild in the future."

I see. So it’s like, you can use it now, but give it back when we need it later.

"Won’t that cause conflict?"

Their reasoning is sound since they’re just lending it, but it seems likely to leave a grudge. Would Earth’s side really agree to that?

"If that happens, we’ll just close the Gates."

So it’s just goodbye, then.

"Hmm, well, that’s a long way off."

"Right, right. Either way, it’s a matter for hundreds of years from now, so there’s no point in us thinking about it."

"I understand you’re short on supplies. And you want my items, is that it?"

"Yup. As for what we’ll give you in return, you don’t need this world’s currency, right?"

So Frontier uses paper money too.

"Of course not. You don’t need our world’s money either, do you?"

"Of course not. So is bartering okay? I’ll listen if you have other ideas."

"That’s fine. That’s what I had in mind, too."

"Got it. I’d like you to negotiate the details with His Majesty. I’m just here to give you the rundown before the talks."

Uh huh. Thanks for all the information.

"Can I ask something?"

"If it’s something I can talk about, sure."

It looks like I can squeeze a little more info out of him.

"What’s a Status Card?"

"Oh, that. Just think of Frontier as that kind of world. A Status Card is something that proves a person’s identity. And something to manage them."

"Manage?"

"It’s said that a Status Card is bestowed by a god when a person is born. I don’t know if that’s true. And the royal family manages the Status Cards."

So it was a gift… But I have two of them. What’s up with that?

"Why do you guys manage them?"

"To keep track of who has what skills. Especially…………uh, I’m not supposed to say this, but you’ll be fine. We have to keep track of unique skills. Those things are dangerous."

So unique skills are a thing here after all.

"Unique skills?"

What’s that? Eleanor has no idea.

"That was a refreshingly blatant attempt to play dumb. Especially for someone with a unique skill… oh well. Since you guys got Status Cards when you came here, you should know, but certain individuals sometimes have unique skills. Those unique skills can be useful, but they’re extremely dangerous. They’re one of the reasons the war that destroyed this world happened. And a lot of people with unique skills are abnormal."

Ehhh…………

"Heh heh, you abnormal person."

I patted Yoshino-san’s shoulder.

"You’re the abnormal one! You psycho woman."

"Huh? What’s Miss Unique talking about!"

"Stop fighting~"

Being told off by a kid half our age, both Yoshino-san and I stopped our bickering.

"Hmph. Anyway, so you keep track of your citizens’ skills to suppress crime."

"That’s about right. You two prove that unique skill holders are dangerous. I mean, the person with you is a unique skill holder too, right?"

This kid always has to say one thing too many.

"That’s right. Well, I’ll just say it’s not a dangerous skill. By the way, don’t you have the Provocation skill?"

"Huh? You can tell? Actually, yeah. I have that skill even though I’ve never provoked anyone."

Is he a natural… ? So there’s no malice behind it… That just makes it worse.

"I can tell. And isn’t teleportation magic a unique skill?"

"Whoops, can’t say. But well, it’s something like that."

So it’s not officially a unique skill. The fact that the royal family can use it means any royal can use it. So it’s not unique.

"Mia, do you have a unique skill?"

I tried asking Mia.

"Those with unique skills cannot serve by the side of the royal family. I possess only common skills."

In this world, people with unique skills are considered quite troublesome, it seems.

"Hmm, by the way, Arc."

"What is it?"

"How do you know that I have a unique skill?"

"Huh!? Be, because, you’re abnormal…………I mean, you’re unique."

This kid’s provocation level seems high…

"You say that so definitively though, don’t you? Just now, you pointed at Yoshino-san and said, ‘this person is a unique skill holder too,’ so you’re clearly certain about it, right?"

"Um, well…"

Arc started glancing at Mia, asking for help.

"Mia, this is a time for this child to grow. Don’t help him."

"…………As you wish."

Mia nodded obediently and stopped offering a lifeline.

"Hey! You guys really are like my mom and my teacher! Isn’t this weird!?"

"Just say it. I won’t get mad."

"I would hate a mother like this…"

I’d hate it too. Calling me a mother is weird in the first place.

"Come on, just say it."

"I, it’s not that I figured it out, but the items you have are abnormal."

"That I have a lot of them?"

"That too, but invisibility potions don’t drop from the monsters in the area we’re lending to your country."

Oh, really. I thought they might drop from Hide Skeletons, since they’re transparent.

"And?"

"So I think your unique skill is the one that was even called the worst unique skill…………Alchemy."

He knows about Alchemy… And apparently, it’s the worst skill.

"Why is Alchemy the worst?"

"I told you earlier that one of the causes of the war that destroyed this world was a unique skill, right? The thing that triggered the world war was the fight to capture an alchemist."

Okay! My Alchemy skill must absolutely not be exposed! In fact, I’m officially retiring!