Blessing from the Goddess and Transfer to Another World! No Thanks, I Don’t Need a Special Ability

Chapter 1: Hero Summoning and Imperial Capital Banishment

When class ends and preparations to return home are nearly finished, the view suddenly changes.

The usual classroom transforms into a large, medieval European-style hall. When I look around, I see fellow students from the same class nearby. There are also students from other years and some teachers a short distance away.

[Is this a dream?]

It seems like one of those rumored daydreams. No—this is a lucid dream with self-awareness. However, the information coming through my five senses is far too vivid. At that moment, I concluded that it wasn’t a dream and decided to analyze the situation.

Among the people nearby, half are panicking while the other half are dazed. Wow, one of my childhood friends (male) looks as calm as ever. That guy is fearless. I’ve never seen him shaken.

I notice people observing us from farther away. They’re wearing medieval European-style clothes and are clearly not students from our school. Some are in robes (TL Note: Priest clothes, I guess), some in suits, and others look like soldiers clad in iron armor. Standing in this Middle Ages-style building, our modern clothes look completely out of place.

In the meantime, one of the people steps forward.

[Everyone, please listen to me.]

The voice belongs to a girl, probably around our age. She’s wearing a gorgeous dress, and her presence is striking—even though others are dressed similarly. Oh wow... just from a few words, you can tell she’s a princess. Thank you. By the way, there’s an old man next to her who looks like a king, but he’s completely overshadowed by her.

[I am Princess Christia of the Eludia Kingdom. This world is called “Arcs.” It is different from your own. All of you were summoned here through a hero summoning ceremony.]

She really is a princess.

She picks up the hem of her skirt and bows gracefully as she introduces herself. Most of the boys blush and are clearly captivated. Most of the girls are just as enthralled.

Me? I think she’s beautiful, but I’m not that affected. My childhood friend (male) is the same way.

I can more or less grasp the situation from the princess’s words. It’s the classic “summoned to another world” scenario. Usually in novels, the next thing they say is a request to defeat a demon king or some evil deity.

[I want everyone to save this country and defeat the Demon King.]

Yep. This is the typical fantasy setup... Even though I already confirmed that it’s not a dream, I still feel uneasy.

Just to be sure, I try pinching my cheek. Ouch—it hurts. Definitely not a dream.

[What is this?! Why did you suddenly bring us here?!]

A boy from another school year shouts. It’s a natural reaction. However, he’s the only one reacting so strongly. Strangely, the others around him don’t seem to support his outburst. Normally, if one person reacts, it would trigger a crowd.

[We apologize for summoning all of you here for our own selfish reasons. We are truly sorry.]

Princess Christia bows deeply. When she looks up again, I see tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

[Ugh…]

The male student who shouted flinches. Making a beautiful girl cry will definitely hurt your image—especially with the girls you’re not close to.

However, something about the princess’s tears feels off to me. [Spec: I read too many novels not to know what this means. XD]

[However, the goddess told us that the only way for humanity to survive was to summon heroes!]

The princess cries out in a sorrowful voice. The boy who raised his voice is now being glared at coldly by the surrounding students.

The word “goddess”… That sounds important. Yep, this is classic fantasy.

Maybe there’s even a holy sword involved?

[I’m sorry for the confusion. Could you explain the details to everyone?]

[Please leave it to me. I will explain in place of the princess.]

A civil officer takes over for the teary-eyed princess and begins explaining the situation.

To summarize—because that guy’s explanation was overly grand:

This is a fantasy world of swords, magic, demons, and a Demon King.

1. The Demon King seeks to destroy humanity.

2. The Demon King is the enemy of the goddess.

3. The hero summoning was performed based on the goddess’s oracle.

4. Everyone from our school was summoned here as heroes.

5. Those summoned will receive blessings (Gifts) from the goddess.

6. The blessings (Gifts) are special abilities or skills.

7. The method to return to our original world is currently unknown.

8. If the Demon King is defeated, the oracle will reveal the way back.

When everyone hears there’s no way to return, they fall into despair. But then we’re told the method will be revealed by the goddess’s oracle after the Demon King is defeated. That just makes it worse—like some scam trick.

I think it’s dangerous to trust everything just because it came from a single source. Especially that part about the oracle—it sounds way too convenient for them. For all we know, the people who summoned us might not have good intentions. In some stories, the summoning country turns out to be the final boss.

However, since we know so little about this world, I guess the safest course of action is to go along with what they say for now—at least until we’ve gained some strength and knowledge.

First, it needs to be checked what kind of blessing (Gift) we, the heroes, have. There is a magic tool (magic item) called the “Sacred Gem of Blessing” in this country. It looks like a large crystal. When the holder of a blessing (Gift) places their hand on it, it shines and displays what kind of power they have.

Right now, we have to wait in line because the country only has 10 Sacred Gems of Blessing. There are 800 people in our school. Assuming it takes 1 minute per person, it should take around 80 minutes.

By the way, the spoken and written language here is completely in Japanese. It matches up with hiragana, katakana, kanji, and simple English (Japanized English) from our world. I thought it might be due to translation magic, but it’s just standard Japanese.

Was this world made by Japanese people?

My turn finally comes. I’m about the 60th person. In other words, it’s been about an hour since the summoning. I place my hand on the Sacred Gem the same way as everyone else.

I hear excited voices from the people waiting for their turn. It’s that strong-minded girl group from the next class. Nothing good ever happened if you got involved with them back in our world.

I think there was a timid girl in the same class as them. Maybe.

The leader girl is mocking the timid girl.

[Why don’t you have any blessing (Gift)? You really are garbage.]

[Seriously, everyone else received a blessing (Gift) except you.]

[That is…]

The timid girl looks pale. A nearby soldier gives instructions in a hurry.

[Inform the king and princess immediately.]

It seems that timid girl doesn’t have a blessing (Gift) for some reason. I assumed that might be possible based on what the civil officer explained, but judging from the soldier’s reaction, it’s a big deal.

Also, from how those girls are talking, it’s obvious she was bullied back in our world too. Something like that was happening right next to my class… It’s just sad.

By the way, the timid girl is quite cute. She has braided hair, glasses, and a book committee-style outfit, but the material is noticeably high quality.

[Huh?]

It doesn’t shine when I place my hand on the Sacred Gem either. It’s been a while too. Still no reaction. It looks like I’m in the same situation as that timid girl.

[There’s another one here without a blessing (Gift)!]

The soldier in front of the Sacred Gem raises his voice. Looks like they’ll report me to the king too. I’ve got a bad feeling. A really bad feeling.

Shortly after that, the king and princess rush over. The old man next to the princess is the king, after all. The timid girl and I are lined up in front of them.

[Are these the two who didn’t receive a blessing (Gift)?]

[Yes, the Sacred Gem didn’t shine.]

At the soldier’s confirmation, the king and princess look troubled.

[All heroes summoned from another world should have received a blessing (Gift) from the oracle of the goddess.]

[Umm… I can’t believe the oracle was wrong.]

[The goddess can’t be wrong. She is an absolute existence.] [Spec: I’ve seen a lot of this kind of mistake before. :P]

No, how can she be absolute when there’s a demon king running around? It seems the princess blindly believes in the goddess. Faith is one thing, but ignoring reality isn’t wise.

[Then, these people aren’t heroes.]

[Umm… maybe they’re low-born or committed a great crime in their world.]

The king and princess start saying whatever they want, completely based on their own assumptions. Of course, I’m not some criminal. At least, I don’t think so.

They summoned us for their own convenience, and now they’re treating us as worthless just because we don’t have powers. Uh, that boy who shouted earlier was right. At this point, my opinion of this country is firmly in the negative. And the goddess who caused all this? Same score—minus.

The looks we’re getting from the others are unnatural. Like we’re criminals. Even my acquaintances are among them. There’s a childhood friend (female) who has known me since we were kids. Childhood friend (male)? His expression hasn’t changed, but he doesn’t try to help either. That’s just how he is.

This whole conversation is going downhill fast. Speaking of which, maybe they’ve all been brainwashed.

Meanwhile, the timid girl who had been staring at the ground suddenly speaks up.

[I-I didn’t do anything wrong! I’m sure the goddess just forgot to give us a blessing!]

She couldn’t take it anymore and interrupted. I agree with her, but criticizing a religious figure in front of a fanatic might not be the smartest move...

[You dare insult the goddess! Such people cannot be heroes! Kick them out of the castle immediately!]

As I feared, the princess gets furious. And even though I didn’t say anything, I’m being kicked out too.

The fact that no one tries to stop this proves it: the summoned students have been brainwashed. Anyone not brainwashed would clearly see what’s happening. These people summoned us for their own benefit and now cast us out. They don’t have good intentions.

The soldiers grab my and the timid girl’s arms. My childhood friend (male)? He still doesn’t move.

[No! Let me go!]

The timid girl and I are dragged away by the soldiers and escorted out of the castle. I feel somewhat relieved, honestly. She said some pretty bold things. These people really don’t have our best interests in mind. If they’d decided to kill us on the spot, it wouldn’t have been surprising. In that sense, being thrown out is much better. Actually, if they had killed us in front of the others, maybe it would’ve broken their brainwashing...

Of course, if they try to kill us, we’re not going down without a fight.

Everyone abandoned us because they’ve been brainwashed. I shouldn't dwell on it. Their fate probably won’t be any better than ours.

While I’m thinking that, we leave the imperial castle. Well, should we explore the town first? The royal family and nobles are trash, but maybe the townspeople are better. According to the civil officer, this is the imperial capital. Either way, we shouldn’t stay here long.

[We’re out of the castle now. Can you release me?]

I ask the soldier. He replies with a disgusting smile.

[No. You two aren’t just banned from the castle, but also from the capital.]

[A true exile. Go die on the road outside the city.]

From those words, I finally understood just how rotten this country is.

They kicked us out not just to be rid of us, but to make sure we don’t meet the other heroes again. If people without blessings are forced outside the city where demons roam, their chances of survival are slim. Even worse for people like us, who were summoned from another world, know nothing about this place, and have no blessings.

That’s enough. I don’t need to tolerate this anymore. These people have given me more than enough reason to abandon this country.

Let’s prepare ourselves. Prepare to live in this world.

While we were being taken by the soldiers, I confirmed the state of the city. It is medieval European style, just like the castle. I wanted to go sightseeing and see some of the beautiful buildings inside the capital if I could. However, with our current situation, I don’t want to come here ever again.

This city is surrounded by walls and has one gate on each side. We arrived at the north gate.

[Get away quickly.]

[Why were those guys summoned here...?]

The soldiers released us outside the gate. It was basically abuse. Moreover, they told the gatekeeper not to let us near the imperial capital.

[gusu~, gusu~]

The timid girl sits down on the spot and cries bitterly. I want to leave quickly... but I couldn’t just leave her alone.

I try to approach her as gently (not gently) as possible.

[I’m 2-B Shindo Jin. What is your name?]

The timid girl looks up at me. Her features are nice when I see her up close. Her crying face ruins it a little, but her good looks don’t change...

[gusu~. I’m, 2-C Kinoshita Sakura... desu.]

[Kinoshita-san, right? What will Kinoshita-san do from now on?]

When Kinoshita-san hears my question, her expression turns to despair.

[It can’t be helped... being thrown out into a place like this... I’m going to die...]

Her mind seems greatly weakened. Uh, it's natural to think like that. We are penniless in a different world. We have no connections. And we’re in a hostile relationship with the royal family. It’s checkmate. Truly checkmated.

[Kinoshita-san. I’m going to walk along this road and try to reach another village or city.]

Kinoshita-san looks back at me, confused after I said that.

[There are demons outside! We’ll be killed before reaching a village! Besides... if I stay here, someone might help me enter the city. Maybe people from our school will come, and the soldiers at the gate will defeat the demons...]

That’s wishful thinking. Weren’t you driven out of the castle by this country? It’s really sad—I could shoot down every hope Kinoshita-san is clinging to.

[It might be impossible. I think traffic will decrease soon because it’s getting dark. The people from our school don’t know we’re outside the capital, and they won’t leave the city right away since they aren’t heroes yet. The gatekeepers were ordered not to let us in, so they might not help if we’re attacked. And above all...]

[Above all?]

[I don’t want to be in this city. I don’t want to be in debt to this city. What about Kinoshita-san? Do you want to stay here, or do you want to help me?]

If she’s unhappy, I’ll go alone. Kinoshita-san looks down and thinks after hearing my words. Then, ten seconds later, she looks up, resolved.

[I also... don’t want to be in this unpleasant city. If I accept help from here, I probably won’t be able to go to another city—or no, I want to go to another country.]

Kinoshita-san has the same idea as me. Right now, we don’t just hate this city—we also hate the royal family who sits at the top of it. We simply hate this whole country.

Kinoshita-san keeps looking at me and speaks.

[Please. Please take me with you. I’ll do anything. I’ll try hard not to drag you down. So, could you...]

[Understood. Let’s go together.]

[Eh?]

Kinoshita-san looks dumbfounded. Well, when you ask for something and get a yes, isn’t it strange to act like that?

[Is it okay? As you can see, I’m slow. Even though I said I’ll work hard, I probably will drag you down.]

She suddenly changed. It seems she has no self-confidence. She’s really a girl with low self-esteem.

[From the beginning, even if Kinoshita-san didn’t say anything, I planned to invite you. Isn’t it natural for people who were thrown out like this to help each other?]

[Ah...]

When I said that, tears spilled from Kinoshita-san’s eyes.

[W-What’s wrong? You’re crying again—what’s the problem?]

[No... I haven’t heard such kind words in a long time... These are tears of joy...]

The environment that surrounded Kinoshita-san must have been harsher than I thought. The bullying in the class next door made her this emotional just from hearing a kind word. Such an unfortunate person is vulnerable to kindness. Kinoshita-san’s tearful eyes glitter as she looks at me.

[So we’re settled. Let’s move quickly. We should reach another village before the sun sets...]

[Understood. I will follow you. Err, what would you do if I wanted to defeat the demon king and return to our world?]

Just because we don’t follow this country doesn’t mean we’ve given up.

[Just because the demon king is defeated, it doesn’t mean we can return. There’s no guarantee of what the goddess or princess said.]

[There was certainly no evidence.]

If I’m not mistaken, there could be another way.

[So, as the princess said, when the hero defeats the demon king, the oracle from the goddess will come and inform us of the method to return.]

[Yes. She said that.]

Everyone heard that. I felt a sense of incompatibility at the time...

[I didn’t hear a single word from the goddess during that conversation. In other words, it’s possible that the goddess knows the method of return.]

[Ah...]

I arranged the words clearly.

[I don’t think the goddess will teach us the method to return, even if we defeat the demon king, since we don’t meet the requirements of being heroes. Then we might as well look for it ourselves. Although we don’t know if we can return or not, let’s hang it out there as bait for the time being. The possibility might not be that low either.]

[That’s amazing. I never thought of that...]

You may praise me more.

[You’re totally different from me, who could only cry...]

These are sorrowful tears now. Sad cry → Happy cry → Sad cry. You do nothing but cry, Kinoshita-san.

It’s good to be praised, but it’s a problem when it turns into self-pity. I have to help Kinoshita-san.

[Don’t worry. Because I will protect Kinoshita-san. So, let’s go together.] [Spec: flag is raised!!!]

She wipes her tears and replies.

[......Understood. Although I’m a careless person, I’ll be in your care from now on, Shindo-kun.]

[Same here, Kinoshita-san.]

Although there’s a slight awkwardness in our greeting, Kinoshita-san ends up taking my hand. She puts in some effort and stands up.

Thus, me and Kinoshita-san—who were driven out of the imperial capital—begin our journey through this different world.

Chapter 2: First combat and Special power

We leave the imperial capital and walk along the road until the gatekeeper is out of sight. I tell Kinoshita-san about our plan once we're alone.

– Walk along the road and head toward a village or another city.

– Collect information about foreign countries so we can go there without any issues.

– When demons appear, I will fight. Kinoshita-san has to stay behind me.

– We will run away together if the number of enemies is three or more.

Kinoshita-san is surprised when I say I’ll fight two demons at once. Well, I think demons around the capital aren’t very strong. According to the usual RPGs...

The reason I set the condition for retreat when three or more demons appear is because I’m worried I won’t be able to protect Kinoshita-san. It’s natural to withdraw immediately when enemy reinforcements arrive mid-battle.

I set my conditions based on the enemy’s strength. According to Kinoshita-san, I should withdraw if I judge I can’t handle it. I might be fine on my own, but it’s impossible for me to keep watch on our surroundings alone. I expected her to provide objective judgment.

[But... could you really fight? If it becomes too dangerous, we should run away…]

[Of course. However, it will be dark soon. Since it’s dangerous to travel at night without preparation, I want to reach the first village before nightfall.]

[In that case, I believe it's more reasonable for us to run away to ensure our safety…]

Kinoshita-san clearly wants to avoid fighting. However, I need to make sure she understands that I won’t back down when it happens.

[For now, let’s start with one monster. Even if I look like this, I have some experience in martial arts. I’m also worried about the strength of demons in this world. So, let’s discuss it again after the first fight, okay?]

Because I’m not backing down, Kinoshita-san agrees.

[Understood. Let’s withdraw immediately if we think it’s impossible. Safety first.]

[Understood. Let me test my strength with the first demon that shows up.]

After that, a demon finally appears about ten minutes later.

Two wild goblins appeared.

Two goblins with clubs block the road in front of us. Even in games, goblins are a common enemy, and the goblins in this world are particularly ugly.

[Gishaa]

[Hii~…]

Kinoshita-san shrinks back at the goblin’s shriek. I can tell they’re not pleasant to look at.

[Those are goblins. I’ll fight them. Kinoshita-san, step back a bit.]

[G-Good luck…]

[Alright~]

Kinoshita-san backs away while I step forward. I face the goblin on the right as it swings its club. I position myself so the other goblin can’t move forward while keeping Kinoshita-san behind me. I focus on evading without attacking for about two minutes.

My body doesn’t move quite right. But this position gives me a wide field of vision, so dodging after reading their movements isn’t a problem. It seems the martial arts I trained in my previous world weren’t lost when I came here.

I should attack soon—if I take too long, other demons might join in. I charge at one of the goblins and strike its stomach.

[kurae!]

Dogo~. Gosu~. A heavy thud echoes from the fallen goblin. Uh, I defeated it. The fact that the goblin didn’t disappear proves we’re not in a game.

[Eh?]

Kinoshita-san looks dumbfounded. I wonder if it’s that surprising.

[Did you just defeat it with one punch? Why did it look so easy...? Was the enemy that weak?] (Spec: LOL One Punch Man.)

Well, I have no real comment about that. But I guess this proves I can defeat goblins with “this.”

[I didn’t think about it that much. Goblins are famously low-grade demons in games. If Kinoshita-san were to fight one now, it probably wouldn’t go this smoothly. It might take two or three hits to bring it down.]

As for the club—it would hurt if it hit. For someone as frail as her, it could be fatal.

Speaking of death, Kinoshita-san’s face turns pale as I keep talking.

[Then why? Why do martial arts from our previous world work so well here?]

I honestly hadn’t thought much about that... but it’s no good hiding things from my companion. I decide to tell her my secret.

[There’s a reason. I think it’s pointless to hide it anymore. Could you keep this a secret?]

I have a reason for not telling anyone. Kinoshita-san looks concerned.

[Understood. I won’t tell anyone. So please, tell me.]

After hearing her promise, I begin explaining.

[Actually... I can see this world like a game.]

[......Huh?]

Uh-oh. That clearly wasn’t enough. She looks confused.

[Like in a game, I can see my HP and MP, my attack power, my status. I can see it all here, too. More importantly, I can also see other people’s statuses.]

Back in that battle, I checked the goblins’ statuses first. I chose to fight because I compared their stats with mine and knew I could win.

[There’s a top-down map of this area, like in a game. I can also see enemy positions.]

Because of that, I don’t have to worry about Kinoshita-san being ambushed or enemy reinforcements sneaking up on us.

[Just like in a game, I can compare strength and spot enemies.]

I gave a short explanation, but Kinoshita-san seems to understand. She must have played games to some extent.

By the way, the status and map appear in my field of vision. I can toggle their visibility, so they don’t block my sight. Since I know enemy positions, surprise attacks don’t work. Since I can see their HP, playing dead doesn’t work either. It’s kind of unfair.

[Well, that’s unusual.]

[But is that related to you defeating a demon in one blow? I think it’s convenient, but it doesn’t explain Shindo-kun’s strength.]

That’s unexpectedly a bit rude. But thinking about it, she’s right. Just having more information doesn’t explain the overwhelming power.

Of course, I plan to explain that too.

[That’s a separate power. I have the ability to steal a demon’s skills and stats. It lets me grow stronger while weakening them. That’s why I can beat them so easily.]

I can take their skills and stats while viewing them. I can confirm enemy positions using the map. There’s no real way for me to lose. My only defeat condition is if Kinoshita is attacked while I’m fighting three or more demons.

As I explain, Kinoshita-san’s face shows shock.

[How can Shindo-kun do that? I can’t do anything like it. No one at school ever mentioned it either.]

Because no one else can. I checked many people’s statuses back at the castle and in the capital, but nobody had the same ability.

So I never told anyone until now. That’s also why I was forced to leave the capital without protest.

[By any chance... is this your blessing?]

[It isn’t.]

The concept of blessings came up unexpectedly. Mine isn’t like that. It’s not something granted by this world’s rules. My ability operates differently.

[This is... a special power.]

[A special power...]

Kinoshita-san repeats the phrase. It’s a power I received when I came to this world.

[It’s better if you see it yourself instead of just hearing about it.]

I pull a memo pad and pen from my breast pocket. All the bags were left at school in our previous world, but the things on our bodies were summoned with us.

[What are you doing?]

[Wait a minute, I’ll write my status.]

--

Name: Shindo Jin

Sex: Male

Age: 17

Race: Human (From another world)

Skills: <Body Reinforcement LV3> <Sword Mastery LV2> <Spear Mastery LV3> <Blunt Weapon Mastery LV1>

Special Powers: <Power of Life and Death LV1> <Clairvoyance LV->

--

[This is a simple version. Here.]

I hand the paper to Kinoshita-san. Her expression grows more serious as she reads it slowly.

[This is really amazing... I want to hear more about it.]

[What do you want to know?]

[Well, first, let’s put aside the name and race. I can already tell that much just by looking at you.]

[You’re right.]

I was surprised too when I saw “Human from another world” written under Race.

[What about the skills? Are those blessings?]

[It's different. Blessings are one-of-a-kind skills. A skill contains natural talent or effort. The ones given by the goddess are blessings.]

There are unique and rare skills too, but let's set those aside for now.

[What’s the difference from a special power?]

[Special powers are abilities outside the rules of this world. They might look like skills, but their effects are totally different. Because I have a special power, I didn’t receive a blessing. I guess they’re incompatible…]

It’s outside the system—basically a cheat. How could you receive a blessing with that kind of power?

[So, that <Power of Life and Death> and <Clairvoyance> are Shindo-kun’s special powers. Could you tell me what kind of powers they are…?]

I already explained a bit, but this time, let’s go into more detail.

[<Power of Life and Death> can be described as give and take. It lets me steal skills and stats from enemies and give them to someone else. Do you know what stats are?]

[Yes, I’ve played games before… But the way stats work varies depending on the game, right? How does it work in this world?]

So Kinoshita-san does have some knowledge of games. There are many kinds of stats in games. I write them down again, checking the sub-column of my status screen.

[These are the stats in this world:]

LV: Overall strength level

HP: Health points. If it reaches 0, you lose consciousness, are dying, or die.

MP: Magic points. Used when casting magic.

Physical Strength: Determines power of physical attacks.

Endurance: Stamina. How long you can keep fighting.

Magic: Determines power of magic.

Agility: Speed. Affects movement and evasion.

Defense: Reduces physical damage taken.

Resistance: Affects resistance to magic and abnormal status effects.

Luck: Influences various events.

[There are a lot after all. These are basically the same stats I’ve seen in games. And you can actually take them from others…]

[Of course. I can take from demons as well as people. When I take their stats, they become mine. Oh, and there are some stats that are hard to explain, but let’s leave those for later.]

By the way, both Kinoshita-san and I are level 1. Experience from our former world doesn’t transfer here. Still, even though we're level 1, our movements aren’t any worse than in our original world.

[So you became stronger by taking stats from the goblins.]

[Not just goblins—I also took from the soldiers who kicked us out. Goblins use clubs, so they don’t have sword or spear mastery.]

Both the goblins and soldiers had <Body Reinforcing>. But I probably got most of my power from those soldiers, since they were trained for war.

Here are the skills of people I’ve taken from so far:

Soldier A

LV7

<Body Reinforcing LV2> <Sword Mastery LV1> <Spear Mastery LV2>

-

Soldier B

LV6

<Body Reinforcing LV2> <Sword Mastery LV1> <Spear Mastery LV2>

-

Goblins x2

LV3

<Body Reinforcing LV1> <Blunt Mastery LV1> *Note: Small green ogres. Among the weakest of demons.*

[How did Shindo-kun manage that while being taken away...? Now that I think about it, you did have some time back then.]

[Well, I already knew about my special power at that point. I had my doubts about the people who summoned us, and my patience was at its limit. Think of it as compensation. Not that I asked for permission.]

[Then doesn’t that mean those soldiers are weak now?]

[Uh, there’s a limit to what I can take. They won’t die from being hit with a rock or something.]

They have armor anyway, so they should be fine. Still, they were hostile. I honestly thought I might have to kill them as we were being thrown out.

[That’s a bit much…]

[I think it was the right call. I won’t forgive anyone who’s hostile to us. I made preparations while being exiled from the city—including the decision to kill if necessary.]

I stated it clearly. That’s my resolve to survive in this world.

[I'm still not ready for that. I can’t do anything in this state... I’m very sorry.]

Kinoshita-san shrinks back as she says that. Honestly, it would be bad if a high school girl suddenly got used to killing. If we get too used to killing demons—or people—we might not be able to return to normal life.

As for me? I guess I’ll be fine. I’m proud of my adaptability.

[It’s okay. You don’t need to go that far. Fighting is my role. Now, should we get back on topic?]

[Okay. Your other special power—<Clairvoyance>.]

[It lets me see a system window. Like in a game. It has three functions: status check/compare, map, and help.]

I used to think just having a system window would be cheat-level.

[It can do all that?]

[Yeah. It’s a convenient power.]

Honestly, we could probably survive in this world with just that one ability.

[I know the first two from earlier. What about the last one?]

[I don’t fully understand it yet, but it’s kind of like a glossary and a Q&A mixed together.]

[So it gives you quick answers to questions. That alone is enough to be called clairvoyance.]

Kinoshita-san seems to get it. It’s like having a cheat sheet no one else can see.

[That’s amazing… Wouldn’t they treat you like a hero if they knew?]

[No way. They only care about “heroes with blessings.” And that country’s acting suspiciously fast regarding the summoning. I’m sure they’ll make a move soon. I’m also worried our classmates might get brainwashed…]

[P-Please wait! Did you say brainwashed?!]

Kinoshita-san shouts in surprise. Oh, she didn’t realize it…

[Well, if they weren’t brainwashed, wouldn’t someone have stood up for us before we were thrown out? Weren’t our friends and teachers there?]

[Uh… I don’t think anyone ever wanted to protect me. People used to dump water on me in the restroom, and everyone just ignored it... Even the teachers laughed sometimes…]

I think I just saw a glimpse of Kinoshita-san’s dark past. Not only was the bullying known—it was tolerated. That probably has nothing to do with brainwashing though.

I swear I just saw the light vanish from her eyes. I panic and try to give her a sympathetic look. (Spec: I think I see the first sign of Yandere here XD) (NeroD: Looks like MC’s future is gonna be rough.)

[Oh, I’m not worried about that anymore! I’ll be fine, as long as Shindo-kun is here.]

Well, she’s opened up to me now. I’d better not dig any deeper into her past.

Let’s get back to the topic.

[We were driven out anyway, so why should I complain when I was transferred to another world alone with a schoolboy? That’s unnatural too.]

Kinoshita-san composed herself completely.

[I think you’re right. Everyone was way too calm in that situation.]

[The reaction of the boy who shouted was normal in that kind of situation. What was unnatural was that nobody followed him. The possibility of brainwashing is very high, especially if you include all the things the princess said.]

[The princess’s lines... Ahh!]

Her reaction looked like she recalled something.

[Please let me apologize.]

When Kinoshita-san said that, she dropped into a seiza without worrying about getting dirty.

[Apologize? Why?]

[Because I said something unreasonable to the princess, and Shindo-kun ended up being driven out with me. I’m really sorry for getting you involved.]

She placed her hands on the ground and lowered her head. In short, a dogeza. No, wait—why is a high school girl performing a dogeza in front of her male classmate?

[Wait, why are you doing a dogeza like that!?]

[If it had only been Shindo-kun, I think you might have been able to stay. You wouldn’t have ended up in the worst situation like being kicked out of the city. It’s all because I spoke without thinking. And worst of all, I screamed at you when you tried to help me. So I have to apologize and thank you sincerely from now on.]

Kinoshita-san spoke while keeping her head lowered.

I see. I could say her outburst did make the situation worse to some extent.

[Understood. I’ve received your thanks and apology, Kinoshita-san. But it’s not that big of a problem. The princess might’ve still kicked us out anyway. I think she just used your remark as an excuse.]

Kinoshita-san looked up, her expression anxious.

[Really…?]

[Yeah, without a doubt. If you were the only one driven out, I was planning to follow you anyway.]

I didn’t say that just to be nice. I had to live in the same situation as her now.

[Err, t-thank you for that.]

Kinoshita-san blushed slightly. Oh, she looks a bit happy.

[If Kinoshita-san had been kicked out alone, it would’ve been hard for me to live with the other students who got blessings.]

[That’s true. I really need to thank you.]

[At the very least, your special power should be known—]

[Eh?]

Kinoshita-san’s eyes opened wide. Eh? Did I say something strange?

[Shindo-kun… did you say I have a special ability?]

[Didn’t I say so earlier? You can’t receive a blessing if you have a special power. Kinoshita-san, you’re the same.]

Q: Can someone with a special power receive a blessing?

A: No. People with a special power cannot receive a blessing. However, not all people who are summoned without blessings will have a special power.

By the way, this is the official answer. It’s absurdly convenient, so let’s call it “Help Sensei.”

Kinoshita-san stood up and looked at me.

[What kind of ability do I have!?]

[Who knows?]

[Who knows!?]

Well, even if you look at me like that, your status doesn’t say…

[I’ll write down Kinoshita-san’s status.]

I copied the information from the status window onto paper.

[Here.]

---

Name: Kinoshita Sakura

Sex: Female

Age: 16

Race: Human (Human from another world)

Skill:

Special Power: <???>

Title: Summoned Person, Person with Special Power

---

[The special power column is usually blank for other people, but in your case, it says ???. Maybe it’s because you haven’t realized what it is yet.]

[No way…]

[It’s alright. It’ll show up eventually. Until then, I’ll protect you.]

[T-Thank you very much.]

Kinoshita-san blushed again. Although I’d only seen her pale and tearful until now, I finally saw her smiling. Ah, the blushing face of a cute girl is really something.

Q: What can you get from defeating a demon?

A: Equipment. Parts. Demon stones. Many demons have a demon stone inside their body. These stones are useful in daily life and can be sold.

Q: What is a demon stone? Give more detail.

A: It’s a demon’s core. Destroying it kills the demon. If the demon dies and the stone isn’t removed, it might turn into an undead. When selling, both color and size determine value. Generally, darker and larger stones are more expensive.

Since the help function tells me all this, I smashed a nearby rock with my club and used it to make a makeshift knife. Then I removed the demon stones from the goblins.

[Then, let’s go. According to the map, we should reach the village in about an hour.]

[The map is really convenient.]

I’m glad you understand. I want to reach the next village before dark, if possible. Looking at my watch, it’s around 17:00. Considering the time and season, we have about 1–2 hours before sunset. We might make it in time.

Come to think of it, my status has increased a bit. I should write it down more clearly.

---

Name: Shindo Jin

Sex: Male

Age: 17

Race: Human (Human from another world)

Skills:

<Body Reinforcing LV3>

<Sword Mastery LV2>

<Spear Mastery LV3>

<Blunt Mastery LV1>

Special Powers:

<Power of Life and Death LV1>

<Clairvoyance LV->

<???>

<???>

<???>

<???>

<???>

Title: Summoned Person, Person with Special Power

---

Well… maybe it’s a mistake that I have seven special powers.

Chapter 3: The first village and The forest of goblins

It has been about one and half hour since our first combat. Because we knew the location of the village on the map, we should arrive there by the end of the day and Kinoshita-san’s tragic emotion has disappeared.

I’m collecting the monster stones from the goblins now. Since this one and a half hour I have meet with 3 goblins, I defeated them with stomach punch after taking their ability. When I look at the map, there are other kind of monsters like slime but we only met with goblins only. Goblin’s moving distance and numbers are big, I think that is why we met them so easily.

As Kinoshita-san who moves away during the battle sees me removing the monster stones, she moves closer.

[I’m sorry. Shindo-kun, may I ask a question?]

[I don’t mind. What do you want to ask help-sensei?]

There is no problem to answer the question. If I don’t know, I could ask help-sensei for the most of it.

[It’s different. It is about the combat a little while ago. Why did you do nothing but evade after the fight started? I think other enemies might come…]

[Oh, about that…]

I fought 4 times and defeated 10 goblins. At the beginning, I did nothing but evade. It is really strange for someone who could defeat them with one strike.

After seeing it so many times, Kinoshita-san also thinks it was unnatural.

[My ability taker can’t take all at once, it has to do it little by little. I have to keep evading until I finish taking their ability. The effective range of this ability is about 2m. So I have to approach them and evade.]

Because effective range is 2m I need to get close. I can’t defeat them before I finish either. The limitation is really troublesome. Of course, it is still a strong cheat.

[Is that so? Then it will be difficult to take abilities in the middle of battle if the opponent is too strong.]

[That’s right. I can’t take abilities from corpses and I don’t get much experience from defeating the enemy after I take all their ability. So I might stay at level 1 for a while.]

We receive experience value when defeating an enemy. If accumulating enough, the level and status will rise. When taking status from an enemy, their level is artificially lowered (Level itself doesn’t lower). So experience value we will receive will drop to almost 0 after I finished taking their ability.

[Well, what kind of benefit do leveling up in this world have? I think Shindo-kun ahould confirm it now.]

[Uh, I don’t really know about it but I’m familiar with the concept.]

I don’t need to worry. What is the benefit of level up?

Q : What is the benefit of level up?

A : Status rises a lot when level up. But status can be improved with related activity but efficiency is worse than leveling up. Another, magic is related to level.

[Oh, I confirm the basic now, it is basicly the same as status. But some part of magic is related to level.]

[For example. I guess a chance of instant death for enemies at lower levels.]

Oh, I didn’t see this quite often in games. In that case, it will be dangerous for low-level no matter how high one’s status is.

Q : Is there magic?

A : Yes, there is. Specifically, magic damage will be magnified with level difference.

[I confirmed it won’t be instant death. Is there anything you want to confirm?]

[No, it is fine not to go that far. But we should get some experience sometime.]

That’s right. Being at level 1 doesn’t look good either.

I will check about the experience value.

Q : What is the experience value?

A : The battle experience. When experience value is above certain point, level will go up and status improves. Experience value is divided equally among the party. There is also a bonus when deal a finishing blow. Mock battle could give experience point but quantity is lower because you don’t deal a finishing blow.

Q : What is a party?

A : A battle group. In party, there are some benefits including experience sharing. You can create party just from acknowledging each other and become party member in sense.

[But I’m only person who can see level, The gap between level and strength, is hardly a problem.]

[You are right. In case of the game, it is cheat-like.]

[Well, special power is basically a cheat.]

People in this world don’t know about skill and status other than blessing (Gift). This ability could detect weak point or strong point of another person. Let’s check the skill a little.

Q : What is skill level?

A : A skill proficiency. You will receive skill experience when using the related skill. Skill level will level up when skill experience value is above certain value. The highest level is 10, the upper limit isn’t different between individuals. However, the rate of skill experience value acquisition is difference for each individual.

Q : How do you obtain a skill?

A : It is mostly obtained by inherent. The most inheritance skills are race skills and natural talent. You can rarely obtain skills by practice, ritual or contact.

In other word, if anyone could get the first level, they could reach the highest level if they put in enough time and effort.

Beside, I can take the first level of skills from others with my special skill. And my special skill can ignore an effort to get the first level, it isn’t a normal advantage for this world.

After continue walking for 10 minute, the village is coming into our view.

Since we took about 2 hours to reach here, it is evening and the sun is about to set.

Even the distance is 1 hour on foot, it can’t be help since we have to fight and collect monster stones on the way. Since I fought, I want to take their ability and secure the monster stone. It will be hard if we don’t have ability to travel and we can’t do anything after entering the village if we don’t have money.

According to the map, this is Kabate village. Since there wasn’t any gatekeepers at the entrance of the village, we decided to enter without permission.

This isn’t a big village but the facilities seems to be in order since it is near the capital. There is a hotel and general store here too. But weapons and protective gears are in the general store, they doesn’t seem to have specialized shops here.

[We finally arrived. Is there a place we can stay in this village?]

[I looked at the map a little while ago. I saw INN is written on the map.]

Since Kinoshita-san is asking about the resting place, I tell her about the information I have.

[That’s is great. But your map is really game-like.]

[Yeah. But didn’t I say it before? It looks like a game.]

[Come to think of it, you were right.]

Two of us head to a hotel while smiling awkwardly. By the way, map doesn’t show the world’s area, only show the current area and adjacent area. This special power isn’t good in that area, it shows only a plot of land. City and village just show up with 1 area.

The inn has come into our view after walking for a little while. It wasn’t big and didn’t have many rooms but it seemed to have 1 empty room. Does the map know about this?

The uncle who sat at the reception desk calls us out when we open the hotel’s door.

[Welcome. Do you want to stay at the hotel?]

[Yes. Do you have any vacant room we could stay?]

I already know it from the map but I have to ask him properly. Because common people doesn’t know the existence of the map, I think I have to proceed as normal as possible.

[Oh. I actually have 1 vacant room. …err, did you two travel together? Is it okay to be in the same room?]

[Kinoshita-san, is it okay to be in the same room? Kinoshita-san could stay in hotel room alone if you don’t want to. I can sleep in the open somewhere…]

I want to sleep in a bed too but I have to confirm with Kinoshita-san. I should give priority to the girl (limit to beautiful girls only) if she don’t want to be in the same room. Well, I could manage to sleep in the open somehow.

[It is fine to be in the same room. It’s Shindo-kun’s money. I’m really thankful just from taking me together.]

Too bad we couldn’t take 2 separate rooms (Stick). It is unavoidable to sleep together because there is only one room left (Stick).

I head toward that uncle and give my conclusion.

[Understood. Then please. For money, could I pay with monster stones?]

I already confirm the market price of monster stones with help-sensei. The gold’s unit is almost the same as Japan.

Large gold coin : 1,000,000

Gold coin : 100,000

Large silver coin : 10,000

Silver coin : 1,000

Large copper coin : 100

Copper coin : 10

Iron coin : 1

On the other hand, 1 goblin’s monster stone is about 1,000 gold. Because not just defeating it, dismantling technique is needed too. Because of that, 10 monster stones from goblins I defeated on the way to this village is about 10,000 yen. It should be enough to stay for a night.

Uncle checked the monster stones I showed one by one and nods after all checks were done.

[Let’s see. Hmm, I don’t have any problem to buy 1 for 1000 gold for this size and color. 1000 gold for 1 night and meal are 500 gold per person. Extra charge for another help. There isn’t a bath but lending bucket and towel are 100 gold.]

It seems we have enough and still have some to spare. I confirmed it with help-sensei but the price is according to the market price.

[Then, it is 4000 gold for 1 night stay and 2 breakfasts per person for 2 people. You can get a bucket if you want.]

[Thank for your patronage. Your room is 201. Key is here. When do you want your meal?]

I hand 4 monster stones to uncle and receive a key in return. 201 is written on the key.

[Please tell me when it is ready since I will be in the room.]

[Understood. Supper is stew and bread. Since the stew is a pride of our hotel, please looking forward to it.]

[Okay. I will be looking forward to that.]

It is time to enjoy the other world’s cuisines, but I’m still a little worried about the hygiene for an medieval environment.

I open the door of the room on the second floor that has 201 written on the plate. It isn’t big but it has 2 beds.

[[Phew~]]

Two of us sigh after we enter the room and close the door. We are considerably tired for various reason.

We could settle down in a place with roof after all. To be honest, I don’t think we could lower our guard in the country where that princess is…

[I guess the first objective is complete. Today was hard in various ways.]

[You are right. We are considerably worn out. Although I want to take a bath but this hotel doesn’t seem to have it.]

Kinoshita-san seemed to want to take a bath but gives up because they offer a bucket so there is no bath here.

[Ah~. In medieval culture, it doesn’t have many baths.]

[A hard environment for modern Japanese people…]

I also want to take a bath if I could. Especially when I was fighting with goblins and moving a lot. But I don’t have victim’s blood. I may be bathed with victim’s blood if I fight with sword, I don’t have to worry since I only struck at their stomachs. I was careful not to take a blood when I took monster stones too.

That’s right. We should talk about future when we are resting. Looking for village was our top priority and we had to postpone on something.

[Let’s talk about what we are going to do from now.]

[Talk about what we are going to do?]

I decide to take a supplement because we don’t have any hint.

[Ah, our first goal was to reach another village. And it was accomplished when we arrived at this village.]

[Yes, it was possible to reach here alive because of Shindou-kun. I’m really grateful.]

I could feel a sense of respect from Kinoshita-san who thanks me. I have to make sure I have show my cool side in front of Kinoshita-san.

[However, to leave this country, I think our preparation isn’t enough. Like preparation for trip and the mental attitude to live in this world.]

I want to talk about the earlier. The malice of people won’t change no matter the world we are in. It is clearly that we can’t expect the law and public security when that kind of royal family is in power.

We need the mean to defend ourselves.

[Preparation? For now, the one who could live in this world is only Shindo-kun who has special power. I’m completely luggage.]

[I don’t think like that. Because a dependable boy has to protect a cute girl.]

[C-Cute. It is the first I heard that compliment.]

Kinoshita-san’s face becomes really red. It seems she isn’t used to be complemented. Seriously, the fellows at school really have bad eyes.

[Let’s return to topic. I think I will use this village as base. I want to improve our fighting force and make preparation for a trip while gathering the money by defeating monsters.]

[Ahem. I think collecting the money and making preparations are good for now.]

Kinoshita-san completely agrees with me. The current policy has been decided for now.

[For now, we will make a preparation for a journey in this village.]

[Uh, because I confirmed it with map, I know the general store has travel tools.]

For now, we have an outline for our plan. Kinoshita-san seemed to be getting used to it too, and the existence of the map could tell the prerequisite to some extent.

[Then the next topic. Only noble of this world has family name.]

[Is that so? But what’s wrong with that?]

I don’t think you will understand when I talk about this. But this story is important for our future.

[In short, we call each other by our surname, but it is unnatural for us who aren’t noble to have a surname. So, I think we should call each other by first name.]

[Is that so? Understood. It is fine to call you Jin-kun.]

Sakura obeys me obediently. No, it isn’t like that. But I have to keep my wildest desire deep down inside my heart.

[Oh, That’s right. Sakura.]

[!!!!]

She was surprised too much. Her face is red. I just called her by name without any honorific. It might be too soon for her.

[I guess it is too much. I’m sorry, Sakura-san.]

[It is okay… I was just surprised a little. Yes, you can call me by first name without any honorific.]

Kinoshita-san gives me the permission to call her Sakura.

[Then, It is fine for Sakura to call me by first name too.]

[Err…]

[Repeat after me. Jin.]

Sakura timidly says.

[Jin………kun]

[Disappointing!]

It was really disappointing. I thought it will be wonderful to have classmate that calls each other by just first name.

It can’t be help, but it isn’t your fault.

[I’m sorry. It is a little to hard for me…]

[It can’t be help. Don’t force it. Then Sakura, let’s move to the next topic.]

[What is it? Jin-kun…]

It is still embarrassing a little but we should get used to it after a while.

[Next topic is to strengthen Sakura’s status. Right now, if Sakura was hit by goblin, you will be seriously injured. I don’t want to see that. So I will give some of my status to Sakura. So I want you to able to protect yourself.]

[Power to protect myself…?]

Sakura is lost in thought. So let her hear my opinion.

[Oh, I’m only one who is going to kill enemy. I could manage it if it was one-on-one but in case of multiple enemies, I might not able to protect Sakura. At least, I want you to be good enough to protect yourself at that time.]

[Understood. I think being a nuisance is bad too. So, please let me fight too. Although it might be impossible for me to suddenly become competent, but I want to be useful even it is just a little.]

I was surprised a little. Because I think it is impossible for Sakura to fight as she suggested but it was a good step for Sakura’s self-confidence.

[Understood. I will give <Body Reinforcing> and all status.]

I hold her hand and distribute the point in my mind. It took several second to finish the transfer.

[For now, I have the same status as when I fought with goblin for the first time. I think it is enough for fighting and running away in the worst case.]

When I look at the status, it was transferred properly.

[Thank you. My body is lighter somehow. The influence of the status is considerably large.]

[Yeah, since it was taken from me, my body feels considerably heavier.]

[That is somewhat scary…]

That is true. The name of cheat isn’t just for show.

The map had changed. It seems that uncle is approaching here.

[We should hurry for now. The hotel uncle will be here soon.]

[Hey, meal is ready~]

As expected, It seems the meal is ready.

[Let’s go. Sakura.]

[Yes, Jin-kun.]

We go down to the first floor, the meal is on the table. It is middle ages style stew and bread as promise, it was delicious as he proclaimed.

After the meal, we decided to sleep without wiping our body because we are too tired.

Thus, our first day in a different world ends.

We woke up on next morning, had breakfast and went outside of the village. Because we are going to stay in this village for now, I handed the rest of the remaining monster stones to the uncle and rented the same room.

After I put the knife for extracting monster stones and the canteen that I brought from general store into my bag. My money is almost gone. I understand we can barely keep it going, but it is still very heart-breaking.

[Well, we are penniless again. Shall we defeat some monsters?]

[…Please don’t suddenly say something so gloomy…]

Sakura’s tension has fallen down.

[Well, we don’t have to worry since we have more time to earn money than yesterday. Honestly, yesterday’s pay was about 2500 yen per hour.]

Our base is settled. Sakura will join the fight for now. I also has knife for extracting. My status rises whenever I fight. Hey, there is no reason not to earn more.

[Beside, where are you going to fight monsters today? Are you going to wanderer around the road?]

[No, I’m going to enter the forest today. Because when I searched for a good hunting ground around here with help, the forest about 30 minutes from here was just the right place.]

[Forest? Isn’t it dangerous?]

She feels a little uneasy.

[Well, it will be fine because I have map. We won’t go too deep into the forest too…]

[Understood. I believed in Jin-kun map.]

When I said that, she seemed not to worry about it anymore. I think I was able to build a mutual trust with her.

We walk about 30 minutes and arrived at the nearby forest.

[Monsters in this forest doesn’t seem to appear on the outside most of the time. I don’t think we will be in danger if we don’t go in too deep.]

[Yes, let’s save money to buy weapons and armor first. Then save money for hotel’s fee and food expenses. Finally, let’s aim to save money for travel’s preparation.]

…It is simply a word [I don’t have money] when I see that. Poverty is an enemy.

[Gugyau!]

When we entered forest, we encountered 4 goblins immediately. Well, I already knew it from map. By the way, one of them has sword.

Goblin x 3

Goblin swordsman

LV4

<Body Reinforcing LV1> <Sword mastery LV1> <Blunt mastery LV1>

[The sword of goblin swordsman.]

Remarks : Goblin who has sword.

I was surprised at first, but I confirm it’s a weapon soon after that.

Sword of goblin swordsman

Classification : One-hand sword

Rarity : Common

Although I can’t swing the club around but I guess I could use a one-hand sword. By the way, I will give a rough explanation about the rarity.

Creation class (Genesis)

Myth class (God)

Illusion class (Fantasy)

Legend class (Legendary)

Treasure class (Artifact)

Rare class (Rare)

Common class (Common)

The top two class, the creation class and myth class don’t seem to be in human realm. It is finally starting to look game-like.

By the way, confirmation is over too, what should I do with this goblin?

I think about it calmly, I know this place because of map, I could take sword mastery skill from the goblin swordsman, and taking the sword itself shouldn’t be a problem… Nothing to say about being in pinch, I only see a sweet event here.

I give instruction to Sakura and concentrate on evasion while I keep taking their skills.

First, I will take all its status and then take its sword when its movement is dull. I was surprised at first when I pick up the real sword. I cut it down after I finish taking it then used the sword for defense afterward.

[Phew. How was it? The first combat?]

[With increased physical ability, it is enough to evade alone. The actual feeling didn’t come out…]

If you are good enough with evasion alone. I guess I could let her participate in the next fight a little.

[Next, after I tell you I finished stealing from them, go and punch their stomach.]

[I have to punch their stomach after all…]

Sakura’s face becomes complicate. No, a stomach punch is powerful. Because you can punch with all your power.

[I’m sorry. Isn’t good just to evade only? I don’t think I have confidence to take a life yet.]

Well, extermination speed don’t change too much with two people since I have to finish them off alone.

[Understood. Don’t overdo it and focus on evading.]

[Yes, thank you very much.]

I take out the monster stone while talking. The knife can be used to extract it easily. But it seem useless when the monster’s skin it too tough.

[Eh? the monster stone from the goblin swordsman is larger than the goblin.]

[That’s right, it seems to be a different kind of goblin.]

I heard about the types of goblin from help. Because there are so many types, so I asked about what in this forest.

(Order by monster stone’s quality)

– Goblin general

– Goblin healer (Rare)

– Goblin shaman

– Goblin sorcerer

– Goblin knight

– Goblin swordsman

– Goblin

It is really unexpected. Err, what is about other monster?

– No response

[This place is a forest of goblins!]

I unintentionally shout. What’s wrong with calling a forest that has only goblins a forest of goblins?

[W-What’s wrong? You suddenly shouted… Won’t it draw monsters here?]

[Fine, let’s them come! Because it is just a goblin anyway! There is only goblins in this forest!]

[This is forest of goblins… So, what kind of goblins are here?]

I tell her about goblin general to common goblin.

[Shaman and sorcerer… There is a goblin who can use magic too…]

[Magic skill came out at last. I want to obtain it at all cost.]

It is one of the skills that I want to learn while living in this fantasy world. When I check on the map, I see a rare healer is in the same place as general.

[Healer is near the general after all…]

[The importance of a healer is as high as in a game after all.]

General has <Command> and <Inspiration> skill. I think it is the center of the group. When I look at the map. I can see a shaman and sorcerer in position considerably far away. Should I challenge it after defeat them and taking their abilities?

*************************************************************

Shindo Jin

LV 1

Skill : <Body reinforcing LV4 up> <Sword Mastery LV2> <Spear Mastery LV3> <Blunt Mastery LV3 up>

Special Power : <Power of life and death LV1> <Clairvoyance LV-> <???> <???> <???> <???> <???>

Equipment : Sword of goblin swordsman.

--

Kinoshita Sakura

LV 1

Skill : <Body reinforcing LV3 new>

Special power : <???>

Equipment : None.

Chapter 4: Goblin General and Special Power enhancement

I confirmed that the goblin general was leading a crowd of 10 goblins with map, to avoid the fight with them, we made a big detour.

Our target is the goblin sorcerer, we have to defeat the goblins and goblin swordsman’s on the way.

With the one-hand sword I took from a goblin swordsman. It is a lot better than being bare handed. I decide to use a sword because when you think about fantasy, you think about sword and using a club is unpleasant, even if my <Blunt mastery> is higher than <Sword mastery>.

I use map to confirm the 3 goblin sorcerers’ position in the forest, it seems they act alone. Magician-type goblin except goblin healer and some of the goblin shaman seem to act alone. Magician-type goblin with direct fighting force might prefer independent action. Or people who are working hard alone could use magic? It is so sad when I think about that.

[Chanting is fundamentally necessary for magic. Although it called chanting, you don’t actually need to raise a voice, but you can invoke it with the right motion…]

I explain about magic while walking.

[Invoke with the right motion? Is it understandable by seeing it from outside?]

[While chanting, magic formation’s symbol and color will appear. Magic will be invoked after some time past depending on each incantation.]

Naturally, I could explain it with confidence because of help-sensei. Since help is my ability, it is the same as me knowing it.

[But in a game, to reduce chanting time, you need to get rid of something, How could we do it in this world?]

[Oh, we can. With skill <Chant omission> or <No chant>. It seems <Continue magic> is a magic support skill too.]

[But isn’t it rare for goblins to have that kind of skill?]

I confirm the status of the individuals we are approaching to make sure.

-

Goblin sorcerer

LV7

<Fire magic LV1> <Ice magic LV1>

Goblin magician’s staff

Classification : One-hand cane

Rarity : Common class

Remarks : Raise magic power a little.

-

[I confirmed it doesn’t have that skill. It seems this guy can use fire and ice magic.]

[That goblin can? I’m a little surprised.]

Sakura’s expression looks surprised. Although I didn’t imagine any goblin using magic, let alone use two or more types of magic.

[Well, it’s fine because magic can’t be invoked if I take their skills during chanting.]

[Come to think of it, what is our strategy to fight this time? Is there something I can do?]

Sakura shows her motivation, but unfortunately, there is nothing she could do in this battle.

[There is a strategy but sorry, it isn’t Sakura’s turn.]

[Is that so? It’s a little disappointing, and what is the strategy?]

Sakura doesn’t say something unreasonable and goes along with it obediently.

[Isn’t the goblin sorcerer alone? I could stop the chanting if I strike it in a 1-on-1 fight. I will take the skills from them during that time. I will defeat it after I’m done. It might be bad for Sakura but please deal with the other enemies when they come closer.]

I know the enemy’s position with map but it is still troublesome when they come closer. I’m sorry but I want you to cover for it when that happened.

[Since I can’t kill monsters now, can I just stall them?]

[Oh, you don’t need to overdo it. I can’t let Sakura to do something unreasonable just because I want magic.]

[Yes!]

Sakura joyfully replies but I forget to mention there is no monsters around the goblin sorcerer. They may come if they heard the sound of magic but we don’t need to worry because I won’t let it use magic.

We get closer to the nearest goblin sorcerer. We hide ourselves in the bush and start the briefing before the battle.

[Without <Chant omission> or <No chant> skill, invoking magic requires a certain amount of time. Two magics that the goblin sorcerer can use are fireball and ice ball. Chanting is about 5 seconds. So I have charge it without killing to prevent the chanting. When it starts chanting, I will hit it again within 5 seconds. I will take <Fire magic> and <Ice magic> during that time.]

[I have to watch out for other enemies during that time, right?]

[Yeah, our priority is magic, so I will defeat other goblins without taking their abilities during the fight.]

That is all I have to tell her, Sakura leaves quietly after that. This is because of the danger when in the line of fire in case of magic beening used.

I give a signal to Sakura who is slightly away. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Charge!

I rush out of the bush, charging at the goblin sorcerer. It’s surprised when it saw me came out suddenly. It starts to chant but it’s warrior partner is too far away.

[Too slow.]

-Don~-

My body collides with the goblin sorcerer, staggering it. Naturally, the chant is interrupted. I also start taking it’s skills too, taking magic skills is the top priority. When I look at sorcerer’s status, the points for <Fire magic> skill is decreasing rapidly. That points flows to me and I obtain the world magic that I want.

This idiot doesn’t learn, it starts chanting <Fire magic> again, but I didn’t charge it this time. Because the point of <Fire magic> will be 0 before it’s finished chanting.

The magic formation caused by the goblin sorcerer’s chant disappears after 2 seconds.

[Gyau?]

The goblin sorcerer doesn’t knows what happened. I use this chance to take <Ice magic> too.

Even though the goblin sorcerer doesn’t understand the situation, it starts chanting <Ice magic>. I must not let it finish before I take it completely… I approach the goblin again and charge it to stop the chanting. Good, <Ice magic> was taken too.

Goblin sorcerer doesn’t have any skill left but its magic status is still a valuable source of improvement for me.

[Gugya~]

I put an end to it’s life with my sword after I take all it’s status.

I defeat it without letting it cast any magic after all. If magic is invoked, Sound will draw other goblins and Sakura might need to act…

Sakura returns to me when I extract the monster stone.

[Thanks for your effort. It doesn’t seem to be any trouble for you.]

[Yeah, I’m glad this strategy works. I can obtain the magic I want.]

I check <Fire magic> and <Ice magic>.

<Fire magic LV1>

Fireball, Fire barrage, Firewall.

<Ice magic LV1>

Ice ball, Ice barrage, Ice wall.

Eh? The magic that goblin sorcerer can use is a lot. Well, since it’s nothing serious, let’s study it later.

[Let’s attack 2 stray sorcerers and return to the village. Since we have to sell monster stones and prepare to fight the goblin general and goblin healer.]

[Understood. Is the strategy the same?]

[Yeah.]

I confirm the goblin general’s location with map and move away while heading toward the rest of the goblin sorcerers.

In the end, I was able to defeat all of them with the same strategy. Because they tried to chant without thinking about anything else like the first one, I didn’t have any problemd dealing with them.

Of course, I took all their magic skills but I was surprised to see that magic has a lots of variation.

First

<Fire magic> <Ice magic>

Second

<Water Magic> <Thunder Magic>

Third

<Wind Magic> <Earth Magic>

Even all the skill points I took could turn into first level only, the result is really good. According to help-sensei, the basic attribute seems to have <Light magic> and <Dark magic>. By the way, I intend to take them too because goblin shaman has dark magic.

[Sakura, can you come here for a moment?]

[Okay, what is it?]

[I will use magic. I want to know what it feel like since I never used it before.]

[That’s right. It is the first time we use magic in this different world. I’m a little worried.]

I confirm we are far enough from the general, so I take some distance away from Sakura and start chanting.

Fireball flies straight and hit the tree I was aiming at directly.

-Bon~!-

The tree which was hit by the fireball burns intensely. Uh, I shouldn’t have shot fireball recklessly in the forest. I chant again and fire an aqua ball. Fire was extinguished but the tree was burnt badly.

Since I don’t know if this is suitable power level or not, let’s ask help-sensei.

Q : Is the power of magic normally at this level?

A : It is normal. The power of magic is decided by the amount of magic. Since you didn’t just take magic from soldier alone, you take it from a lot of monster, it is normal for power to rise up. When goblin shoots it, it doesn’t have this kind of power. The characteristic of goblin race limited the power of magic and kind of magic they can use.

Hee~, in short, goblin is the race that is not good with magic. So they can use fireball only.

[It is really powerful. It might be bad when a goblin shoots it…]

[No, It’s because of me. My magic went up by taking. Incidentally, goblins are really bad at magic, only ball type can be used but I, who take them can use other types too.]

[Is that so? It’s really great after all.]

I could see eyes full of respect from Sakura as usual. Well, that is a good thing.

[Let’s leave this place for now. Goblins might come here because of that loud noise.]

[Oh, you’re right. Let’s go.]

We leave that place in a bit of a hurry. When I look at the map, the group of the general was heading here. So we left the forest and returned to the village. We fought with goblins on the way back many times. It wasn’t a luxury but I want to fight against other monsters other than goblin soon. However, when I look at the map, I don’t see them at all.

We return and head towards the general store. I don’t think we need to hurry but I want to fight with the goblin general sooner after we finish shopping.

The salesperson in the general store is different from this morning, it was witch-like old lady. This is a general store. Because of this old lady, it looks like a shop that deals with doubtful medicine.

[Excuse me. I want to sell monster stones.]

[Alright, what kind of monster stones?]

I hand over one of the goblin sorcerer’s stone to that old lady.

[Hmm, did you defeat a high rank goblin? I will buy this monster stone for 3000 gold per pierce.]

[Then I’ll sell all 3 pieces. Please buy other goblin monster stones too.]

Then I present all the monster stones I have, that old lady is slightly astonished.

[This fellow is amazing. It seems you’re really capable. Did you get all these stone from the goblins in the forest?]

It is goblin forest after all. The official name is unquestionable. Err, to say I’m capable, I just had a proper fight for the first time yesterday.

[Yeah, I fought in the forest for a while.]

[That forest has a goblin general, it is a considerably strong demon. Please take care of yourself.]

I can’t say I’m going to defeat it now…

[Alright, the totally is 37,000 gold. Please wait a minute because I have to take some large silver coins from inside the shop.]

[Can I have some smaller coins that are easy to use?]

[Alright.]

[Thank you very much.]

It was only money I made this morning. We finish shopping at general store. I bought a backpack to put things we bought in. In addition to that, we bought potion to make sure. That potion is the same as the fantasy one’s should be. It recovers all the wound when you drink but it 2,000 gold per bottle. A little expensive. In the next fight, after obtaining <Recovery magic> we might not need it.

As I look at the map, weapon and protection gear are hardly sold here, I brought a light breastplate and gauntlets just to make sure. I think it will increase our chances.

We return to forest of goblins again after having a lunch at the hotel and taking a short break.

[Alright, we are finally going to fight against the goblin general.]

[Yeah, I confirmed most of its status.]

I gave some status and skills to strengthen Sakura. I gave her <Body reinforcement> as well as magic but a little this time. Goblin sorcerer’s cane raises magic power a little, so I gave <Blunt mastery> to let her use it as weapon.

I check map when I entered the forest, the Goblin general’s group is moving they are around the area where I used magic. The group number is still 10 and no magic user type except goblin healer. Shaman in the deep forest doesn’t move. …I guess they want to be alone after all.

[I will explain the next strategy.]

[Yes.]

I’m going to let Sakura acts this time.

[First, Launch a surprise attack with magic. Reduce their number if possible but be careful not to hit general or healer. While they are confusing, I will approach healer and take <Recovery magic> and defeat it. I will take skill and status from general while defeating the nearby small fries. I’m going to abandon everything except the general and healer’s skill. Sakura, please shoot magic at enemy that is in the far away position from me.]

[What should I do when enemies approach me?]

I made Sakura practiced art of stick fighting and magic before we enter the forest. Her movements are still clumsy but she won’t be easy to kill by other goblins except the general.

[In that case, let’s consider if they do. Sakura is strong enough to handle 3-4 of them. Just focus on evasion and defeat it when you have a chance. Wall-type magic can be used to protect yourself too.]

Q : What is the effect of wall-type magic?

A : A wall of each attribute will appear at a designated position. Radius of positioning is 2m. Effective range can be changed with the amount of magic.

[Understood. What should I do if 5 or more come at me?]

[In that case, head towards me, because I will take care of them.]

[Okay.]

When I finish giving instructions to Sakura, I check map and confirm the position of the general and every enemy around it. I better take the general’s sword, it looks better than swordsman’s sword.

Goblin x 8

Goblin swordsman x 2

--

Goblin knight

<Body reinforced LV1> <Spear mastery> <Shield mastery>

[Goblin knight’s spear] [Goblin knight’s shield]

Goblin knight’s spear

Classification : Spear

Rarity : Common class

Goblin knight’s shield

Classification : Shield

Rarity : Common class

---

Goblin healer

LV5

<Recovery magic LV2>

[Goblin magician’s staff]

Remarks : Goblin priest who wear white mantle.

---

Goblin general

LV8

<Body reinforced LV3> <Sword mastery LV3> <Leadership LV2> <Inspiration LV2>

[Goblin general’s sword]

Remarks : Goblin commander.

Goblin general’s sword

Classification : One-hand sword

Rarity : Rare class

Remarks : Knock back effect

Rarity isn’t high but it has a special effect. I think knock back can make enemies become staggered. My sword is just a swordsman’s after all. I want to take this chance to change my weapon. Don’t forget to collect it.

I give the signal and the two of us starts chanting and aiming at the goblins far away from the healer and general.

[[Fireball]]

We hit the monsters we aim at directly and blow them away. My magic hit the goblin’s head directly but Sakura’s magic just hit the arm, so it is still alive. I guess she is still not able to kill yet.

While those goblins are surprised, I ready my sword and rush toward the healer. General is looking this way.

[Gururu, gyaoooooo]

General shouts. Using <Leadership> and <Inspiration>, those goblins are calmed down. But I’m already 2m away from the healer and start taking it’d skill. <Recovery magic> is slowly transferred to me.

General swings its sword. I approach the healer and keep taking it’s skill while evading it. General moves to protect the healer but they are still in 2m radius of my skill taking ability, very convenient.

Since I don’t need to attack general and healer, I just have to be careful not to receive any attacks.

But the taking rate is a little bad for <Recovery magic>.

General swings its sword. I dodge it and cut down a nearby goblin. I don’t have any problems defeating other goblins except the healer and general. I will reduce their numbers when I have a chance.

Only 2 goblins are targeting Sakura, the rest, including 2 swordsman’s are targeting me. I was surround by 10 of them, but I reduce their numbers little by little, and now only 5 small fries goblin left.

[Uraa!]

I slash one of them nearby, but I can’t use my full strength since general and healer are nearby. Moreover, the defence from goblin knight’s equipment is high, I can’t defeat it.

It can’t be help, I have to attack general little by little. It is quite satisfy if their movement is worse than this. Goblin general is staggered a little and I use that open to get close to healer and <Recovery magic> is finally taken

[Eat this, healer!]

Since I gave up on healer’s status, I finish it. Because of the limit of space, I have to strike with all my strength. It might be overkill for the paper armor of the healer.

And then…

[Gyagyaaaaaaaa]

General stands in front of healer. Protect? It might think it can take this blow and recovered if healer still there. But this attack can’t be stopped anymore. That blow reduce goblin general’s HP to 0 from the status only I could see. General collapses. Skill column still has <Leadership> and <Inspiration> but I can’t take them from corpse.

[Ehh~~~! No way~~~! General is dying~~~!]

I think it was something unexpected. General thought it could endure my blow and protect healer without knowing that I went easy on them. Since it thinks it can recover with heal if it doesn’t die (Well, healer doesn’t have <Recovery magic> anymore). And it was no good to shave its HP down beforehand either. When consider status difference, if its HP was full, it is possible to resist that blow.

The result, I can’t take any skill or status from general.

> Jin levels up.

Oh, level up.

[What’s wrong? Jin-kun?]

Sakura asks while she is evading a goblin’s attack.

[General has been killed by my mistake before I could take its skill.]

[Then…, what are you going to do in this case? Take them?]

Goblins become panic when they saw general was fallen. It seems when the user of <Leadership> and <Inspiration> is down, bad status is returned.

[Nope. Let’s exterminate them.]

I vent my anger on the rest of the goblins and exterminate them without taking anything in exchange for experience point.

It doesn’t take much time to exterminate the rest of goblin. However, my mind is still not cleared up.

[Haa, no good.]

[It is alright. I’m sure you will get the chance to obtain them again.]

Yeah, you are right. But I still think my strategy was a mistake and I made a wrong decision in various ways…

> Power of life and death has became LV2.

> New ability has been released.

<Power of life and death (Give and take) LV2>

Skill and status from corpse whom was killed by owner of this ability can be taken. But it is impossible to give back to corpse. But it will be impossible if demon stone was removed.

[Wait a minute~~~!]

I unintentionally shouted. Timing is too perfect. Why does it become usable in a time like this? Oh, my level became 5 now. I guess the condition to unlock special power is level.

[What’s wrong? You suddenly made a loud voice.]

[<Power of life and death (Give and take)> has leveled up, it lets me take abilities from corpses.]

[Congratulations! We can now take and level up at the same time now. Lastly, we can use ability difference to defeat them, shorten the time we need to fight.]

[You are right. Various things will get easier from this.]

I see, one of the hardship until now has been reduced… It is possible to take power from general.

I approaches the general corpse and start taking its ability. I was able to finish taking ability safely. So I take this opportunity to take from nearby goblins. When I take it from corpse, I can take all status and skill.

Of course, let’s collect the monster stones. Oh, general’s monster stone seems to sell at a considerably high price. If all monster stones were sold, we can finish all preparation to leave this village.

With this, the only one left in this forest is…

I confirm the position of the lone shaman with map and approach it.

--

Goblin shaman

LV5

<Dark magic LV1> <Enchantment LV1> <Possession LV1>

--

It has some interesting skill that I haven’t seen until now. I approach it swiftly without use anti-magician tactic. My <Body reinforcement> went up to LV7, I can move so quick at a level I couldn’t before. I don’t need to wait until all skill are taken, so I slash it right in half.

I took <Dark magic> <Enchantment> and <Possession> from corpse and return to village.

*************************************************************

Shindo Jin

LV 6

Skill : <Sword Mastery LV4 up> <Spear Mastery LV3> <Blunt Mastery LV5 up> <Shield Mastery LV1 new> <Fire magic LV1 new> <Ice magic LV1 new> <Wind magic LV1 new> <Earth magic LV1 new> <Thunder magic LV1 new> <Water magic LV1 new> <Dark magic LV1 new> <Recovery magic LV2 new> <Enchantment LV1 new> <Possession LV1 new> <Leadership LV2 new> <Inspiration LV2 new> <Body reinforcing LV7 up>

Special Power : <Power of life and death (Give & take) LV2 up> <Clairvoyance (System window) LV-> <???> <???> <???> <???> <???>

Equipment : Goblin general’s sword

---

Kinoshita Sakura

LV 4

Skill : <Blunt Mastery LV4 new> <Fire magic LV1 new> <Ice magic LV1 new> <Wind magic LV1 new> <Earth magic LV1 new> <Thunder magic LV1 new> <Water magic LV1 new> <Dark magic LV1 new> <Recovery magic LV1 new> <Body reinforcing LV5 up>

Special power : <???>

Equipment : Goblin magician’s staff

Chapter 5: Resolution to kill and Escape from the village

Everything related to the goblins is done now, when we left the forest and head toward the village, Sakura asks.

[Jin-kun, Please let me kill some monster soon.]

[That’s sudden. Is there something that changed your mind?]

I guess she finished preparing herself. In that case, she has a gut more than I thought…

[Yes. Right now, I can’t do anything except being a decoy. How could you say that I was useful? To be honest, this role is more like forcing all the burden to Jin-kun alone.]

If you honestly say that. The fight today would become a lot easier if I had the status I handed to Sakura. Even if I have to fight those generals and other in my current state, I don’t think I will lose either. Although, it might take more time.

[I’m good-for-nothing, not helpful, completely useless. I want to become useful to you even a little.]

I see. She didn’t prepare herself and she ignored the conflict when it happened. I’m certain I could make her overcome this.

[Although your ability was strengthened, you couldn’t take advantage of it like me…]

With <Power of life and death (Give & take) LV2> which allows me take abilities from corpses, it let me obtain both experience and ability. And because of this power, I don’t have to deal the finishing blow by myself, I could let Sakura do it without giving up on the abilities. Of course, I have to give up of some experience.

[Yes, Please let me try several time. I want to be able to act in case of emergency. I won’t stop until I feel it is normal.]

I see, it is more efficient for me to deal the decisive blow, but some time I can’t. In that case, having an experience of dealing decisive blow might have an effect.

[Understood. I will weaken and take the skills so Sakura can finish them. With a stomach punch.]

[No, Stomach punch is impossible.]

Impossible? Stomach punch is strong.

[I plan to defeat them with magic from a long distance first and with the staff after that. Bare-handed is a little…]

There is no merit to defeat monster with bare-hand, especially when you have weapon.

[Err, that…]

[What’s wrong?]

She makes and indescribable expression, so I have to ask her again.

[If possible, I don’t want to start with humanoid-type like goblin…]

Indeed, the reluctance to killing humanoid-type monster might be big. And that makes me notice 1 big fact.

Eh, didn’t I just defeat only goblins?

I answer to Sakura while being astonished that all enemies I defeated until now are goblin.

[Understood. Don’t worry because I can use map to search for monster other than goblin.]

[Yes, I want to take some distance and defeat it by magic first, and next is with staff. After that, I’ll defeat goblins with magic and staff, would you help me a few times?]

I see, it is better than I thought. Doing this will let you gradually get accustomed to magic and direct attacks.

This should work out since you will feel less reluctance to kill non-humanoid-type monster. But didn’t I just punch a goblin’s stomach? That was thoughtless.

Because it doesn’t trouble me much, I should at least let her fight a couple of times, and repeat each pattern.

[Understood. But please say if advancing to the next pattern is too painful. I know your feelings but I don’t want you to overdo it.]

[Yes. Thank you very much.]

I confirm the enemy’s position with map.

[Oh, there is a slime on the other side. You should defeat it easily with magic.]

[Slime? What kind of type it is in a game? A cute type? Or horror type?]

Their characteristic wasn’t much difference but their feature is vary. I inform Sakura about the detail I confirm.

[Usual horror type. Completely a mucus.]

[Uwa…]

It wasn’t a sweet round type.

[Well, you might be more reluctance if it was a cute type…]

[Yes…]

I’m the one who let a girl fight with a gel monster. Am I pervert? No, I didn’t force her to do it…

After walking for 5 minutes, we see the appearance of the slime.

Slime is nothing more or less than a lump of mucus. So let’s confirm its skill.

> Wild slime has appeared.

-

Slime

LV2

Skill : <Absorption LV1> <Split LV1>

Note : A light blue mucus monster.

-

Can I…split? When I take <Absorption> and <Split> skill, it shows up in my status column. It will be bad if my arm was torn off. It will slowly regenerate my body, limbs and face…

[What’s wrong? Why are you staring blankly?]

[What!]

Sakura’s voice pull me back from my own fantasy world into the fantasy world named Arc.

[Well, I was imagining myself growing from my torn arm.]

[That is somewhat scary.]

When I think I have divided into 100 or more people. It is really scary…

[I can’t punch that fellow’s stomach…]

[Where is its stomach…?]

Q : Can I divided? Is there a stomach somewhere on slime?

A : You can’t be divided. It can’t be used by other races even if they have this skill. The part that can be call a stomach doesn’t exist in slimes. (ED:What the hell is his obsession with punching things in the stomach)

Slime is getting closer during our trivial talk. I make Sakura to take some distance for the time being. Slime shifts its body and jumps at me. I evade it and start taking its ability.

I’m really impressed in my heart to see the slime ram its body like in a fantasy.

Slime rams its body at me several time, but I avoid all of it. It could be damaged if I hit it with my sword.

To be honest, I can predict it wasn’t too strong. I can take all its ability while avoiding it. Uh, its movement is obviously worse than the beginning.

[Sakura! I’m finished stealing, please strike it with magic!]

[Yes!]

When I shout, Sakura begins chanting. Since the enemy was weakened, a ball-type magic is enough. Her chant seems to finish five second later.

[Fireball!]

Fireball hits the slow moving slime, reducing its HP to 0. Thus, Sakura’s first subjugation is done just like that.

[Thank’s for your good work. How was it?]

[It was unexpectedly fine… Next is killing with the staff.]

Her tone is steady, her expression doesn’t change either. I think she will be alright.

By the way, I can’t use <Absorption> and <Division> as help-sensei said. But when I try to examine it once, my study is not deep enough.

[Understood. Since you have to be close to attack slime, next time you have to fight in close combat.]

[Okay.]

I check the map and confirm the location and move toward the nearest slime. I do the same and leave it to Sakura after taking all of its ability.

[Sei!]

A single blow from the staff smashes the slime and defeats it.

[I’m fine with this too…]

Her face looks more complex than before. It seems she is alright for now but next will be a goblin.

[Next is to defeat a goblin with magic, right?]

[Yes, I think I will be fine.]

Since a goblin will appear even if we don’t go looking for it, we decided to head towards the village. Just as I predicted, it came out after we walking for 5 minutes. I keep maintaining a distance of 2m from the goblin while taking all its ability.

[Fireball.]

Fireball hits the goblin, taking away all its HP.

Sakura crouches down on the spot and looks down.

[Next one is the last, can you keep going?]

[P-Please let me rest for a while.]

She stumbles on this after all. Since I don’t want her to overdo it, I let her rest for a while. 5 minutes later, I stand up.

[I’m sorry. Please let me kill it with magic once more.]

[Understood. Just wait a little.]

I search for goblin with map.

[Let’s go. there are a lot of goblins over there.]

[I’m looking forward to that.]

There were several goblin over there. I let Sakura finished 3 of them off, I think she is already alright.

[Then. next is to defeat a goblin with the staff.]

[Yes, let’s go.]

The hand that is holding the staff is filling with power.

She approaches the goblin whom ability was taken and strikes it.

[Sakura! Do it! Finish it!]

[Yes! …Ei!]

Goblin was hit. Of course, that goblin is dead. In short, Sakura killed a humanoid monster with her own hand.

[How was it? Was it too hard?]

[Yes, I feel a little sick from the feeling that remained when I kill humanoid monster. It seems hard getting used to this.]

[Well, it might be hard getting used to it like me, you don’t need to get used to it either. But this will help in case of emergency situations.]

[Yes. I’m fine with that.]

She should have some confidence. I feel a little bit relief for that.

I start talking about that with Sakura.

[There is 1 thing I want to ask…]

[What’s is it?]

[Yes. The tone. When I was going to kill it, you said『Do it! Finish it!』with an instructive tone. When Jin-kun talks with me, your tone usually gentle. I wonder about that for a while but, why?]

Did it appear for a moment? Well, she is right. How should I put it, Sakura seems sensitive about the tone and I absolutely will not use that tone when I talk to her, .

[Oh, that’s right. It was the tone I usually use, but I absolutely don’t want to use it.]

[Is that so? Could you talk with that tone?]

[Is it okay? Then, sorry for be impolite a little…ahem. Is this okay? This is my usual tone. Isn’t that a little too harsh to talk with girl from another class with this tone? Is it good enough?]

Sakura is blushing somehow. And she looks at me with her moistened eyes while speaking.

[It is okay. Please keep that tone…]

It touches Sakura’s heart somehow. This is more comfortable, so I will keep this tone when talking with Sakura.

[Understood. But still, Sakura also did your best. Won’t you get used to combat in this short time?]

[No, I just kill helpless enemies, I can’t say I’m really getting used to real combat.]

Is that so? Then, let’s change the idea a little.

[Then, I will let Sakura fight alone this time. With one who ability isn’t taken. But it is already too late for today…]

[Oh, it is isn’t it. I should experience the close quarter combat once more.]

[Do your best. I never killed a person either. I intend to work hard so I can kill a person. So let’s do our best together.]

When I said that, Sakura’s face looks awfully surprised.

[Isn’t that a high hurdle? I mean, are you going to kill a person?]

[Yeah. That is among the choice since I won’t show any mercy toward people who are hostile to me. I will warm up with a thief first. They are near our next destination.]

[Is there a thief nearby!? Map can detect that kind of thing too…]

According to map, about 10 thieves are gathering near the forest near the town which is our next destination. It looks like a hideout since all of them are in the same place. I will crush them later.

[Yeah, I plan to defeat them.]

[Yes. I feel a little uneasy, in case of Jin-kun, I think it will be fine.]

I’m blushing and embarrassed as Sakura praises me. It will be bad since Sakura is really sensitive about this.

Because it became slightly dark, we decided to return to village quickly. I instantly killed all monster we come across.

Since we arrived at the village before dark, I immediately go to sell the Monster gem.

[Oh, amazing. Isn’t this a goblin general’s Monster gem? Monster gems at this rank is 50,000G per piece.]

The same old woman from daytime become surprised when I show her the goblin general’s Monster gem.

Suddenly having 50,000G is great. I never thought the price is 50 times more than a normal goblin. Since I’m using the general’s sword, I don’t sell it. Healer was 4,000G, shaman and sorcerer were 3,000G and knight was 2,000G. I sold all Monster gems and received 70,000G in return. It seems the preparation for travel is done.

Since the sun hasn’t set yet, I have to make preparations for travel as much as I can. Our next destination after I talked with Sakura was decided to be a slightly larger city 1 day on foot from here. I try to become accustomed to camping during our travel.

[Tent for 2 people is better. 1 tent for 1 person is too bulky.]

[Yes. It is alright.]

The two of us slept in the same hotel room yesterday, no lovely event at all. Our distance will shrink more in case of the tent. Sakura is either getting used to it or her sense becomes paralyzed to agree with it willingly.

[Sleeping bag, preserved food…]

With the work of 2 people, our luggage grew as we brought all things we need. It was around 30,000G for all preparation. We come back to hotel, having a meal and talk to the uncle.

[Two buckets please.]

As expected, it is hard for high school student who lived in modern Japan to not take a bath for 2 days. At least, I want to wipe my body. I could take a shower with <Water Ball> but I can’t get naked outside either…

We decide to take turns wiping our own body in the room while the other pretends to have a drink at the first floor. And we locked the door so we can’t enter the room carelessly.

Uh. The unnecessary incident could break our relationship. It is still not a time to get impatient.

[Night~]

[Good night…]

We decided to sleep a little earlier. I didn’t forget to distribute the status and skills I took to Sakura before sleeping. By the way, I still left a small part of ability I own when I handed it to her.

I think it will be bad to give all skills and status that I obtained with my ability to Sakura.

Well, it might be a little special from common people’s point of view. The person herself happily said “I rarely fall down in a place with nothing at all”. It seems Sakura-san is a clumsy person… By the way, it just “Decrease”, not “Disappears”…

Next day, I saw a crowd outside when I looked out the window. I check the map and I see 4 soldiers from the capital is heading here.

[Sakura, it seems soldiers from capital have come here.]

[That is… Did they come looking for us?]

The possibility isn’t low. They need to see a corpse to make sure… Or it is related to the soldier whom ability I took.

[Let’s look at the situation a little. What are we going to do if their target is us?]

I might able to defeat several soldiers. The information I took from map is enough to defeat them. But we don’t want to create an uproar. Fortunately, we finished travel’s preparation yesterday. We don’t have any problem in case we need to leave this village quickly.

[For me, I think we should leave this village quickly so they won’t find us. Since it isn’t hard to annihilate them, I can massacre them if Sakura wants…]

There are several choice of destination from this village. It will be difficult for pursuer to track us after we leave this village. But there is a possibility that pursuer will come as long as we remain in this country. We should leave this kingdom as soon as possible.

It still is a high chance they just come to this village to buy Monster gems. It might be something shady… In that case, it is the money we have on our hand, for a power to defeat monsters that has Monster gems worth 50,000G.

I fail to hide our daily income in the village near capital. Shady soldiers might be coming for that.

[A strategic withdraw, please.]

Her eyes are a little frighten. Alright. A thirst of blood seems to be leaking out.

[Let’s gather some information on the first floor first.]

Our preparation for the trip was done, we came down to first floor, ready to leave this village at any moment and talk with the uncle.

[Good morning. When I looked outside the window this morning, why was a crowd there?]

[G-Good morning. It was because soldiers from capital came to this village.]

I already know that. I want more information a little more than that.

[Really? Do soldiers often come to this village?

[No, they don’t. Since this village is near capital, government officer could come here. However, it is rare for soldiers to come here at this time. Is there a wanted person around here?]

The possibility of them looking for us is raised. We need to leave quickly.

[Let’s escape.]

[Let’s get out of here quickly.]

Sakura and I talk in low voice. It seems we don’t have time to eat breakfast. I asked uncle to make some take-away meals for us. Since we didn’t plan to eat a breakfast, we have to pay the fee at the same rate as yesterday. And we checkout after it was done.

I sneak away from village in the direction that can’t be seen by soldier after checking with map. We are doing better than the time we left capital since we are prepared.

In the end, we left the village without any incident. The proficiency of that country’s soldier is too low.

Is map a cheat? Is this normal?

After we left the village, we walk proudly. It isn’t a paved road but a carriage road that doesn’t have grass.

[You should be able to defeat a thief by the end of the day…]

[Yeah, if it was according to schedule…]

Well, thief is a thief after all. It isn’t just sword and magic. I have to ask help-sensei about people who defeated thieves deal with thieves loot.

Q : How is thieves handled in this world?

A: It is a existence that take property and life from others by violence. In case of being attacked, There is no penalty to counterattacking and killing them. What a thief has robbed (when the owner isn’t in that place) the ownership moves to the person who subdued the thief. Adventurer guild might offer rewards too.

Q : What is an Adventurer?

A : Adventurer is a person who subjugate monsters and thieves. An occupation that collect parts and materials from monsters or response to a request. To become adventurer, you need to register at a adventurer guild to receive benefits. First of all, a lot of request comes to adventurer guild.

As for the thief extermination, the guild itself often becomes a client. If you report your subjugation with proof, you will get a reward. However, when a person belonging shows up, the former owner will come and negotiate.

In short, they will give a reward to person who gives their belonging backs. Of course by the subjugator right, adventurer could reject or raise the amount of reward. Though that is bad, the fact “You defeated the thief” doesn’t change.

In short, you can do whatever you want.

[Thief is an enemy whom has a fix rare drop rate!]

[That is cruel. Really cruel.]

Even she said that, I don’t feel like she criticize me seriously. Well, it more like a reaction to my joke. The sense of distance might become really close.

And there is no rare drop in this world. Because monster might have or don’t have any possession. There is hardly anything eo drop after I defeat it.

[I won’t feel pain if I kill a thief. And we can take the thief’s loot… Perfect!]

[I think it is impossible for me to kill them after all… But I’m still going to help you…]

[Yeah, you just need to follow me. I will show the power of <Body reinforcement LV7> which I got before I was aware.]

[Mine also LV5. It seems to go up quickly because a lot of opponents have it.]

At LV5, it is enough to instant kill modern Japanese athlete. You can outrun thief easily. But Sakura seems to fall down from time to time…

Around daytime, we suddenly found a big problem. It isn’t exaggerate to say this is the biggest crisis we had since we came to this world.

[[This preserved food is bad!]]

That’s right. The preserved food I brought from the general store has nourishment but it tastes awful. To be honest, I don’t want to eat it. It is more like an emergency ration than preserved food.

A delicious meal is necessary for us who had been living in modern Japan. We saw a horn rabbit <Jumping> at the corner of our eyes, so we instantly killed it and extract the Monster gem.

-

Horn rabbit

LV3

<Body reinforced LV1> <Jump LV2>

-

[Can you cook?]

[I’m sorry, it is impossible…]

[Me too…]

Horn rabbit is delicious but a heavy atmosphere is formed around us. The food problem in the different world is like a death trap…

[The most I can do was cooking nervously in a homemaking course.]

[Okaa-san, I’m really thankful for your food. Please teach me how to cook when I return.]

Sakura-san. You are escaping from reality.

[All I can do now is grill it. Let’s think about a meal later. However, LET’S ABSOLUTELY THINK ABOUT IT LATER.]

[Uh. Let’s think about it seriously…]

The bonds between us become deeper and resolution to live is dwelling in our eyes. Thank to our food problem…

*************************************************************

Shindo Jin

LV 7

Skill : <Sword Mastery LV4 up> <Spear Mastery LV3> <Blunt Mastery LV5 up> <Shield Mastery LV1> <Fire magic LV1> <Ice magic LV1> <Wind magic LV1> <Earth magic LV1> <Thunder magic LV1> <Water magic LV1> <Dark magic LV1> <Recovery magic LV2> <Enchantment LV1> <Possession LV1> <Leadership LV2> <Inspiration LV2> <Body reinforcing LV7> <Jump LV2 new>

Special Power : <Power of life and death (Give & take) LV2 up> <Clairvoyance (System window) LV-> <???> <???> <???> <???> <???>

Equipment : Goblin general’s sword

---

Kinoshita Sakura

LV 4

Skill : <Blunt Mastery LV5 up> <Fire magic LV1> <Ice magic LV1> <Wind magic LV1> <Earth magic LV1> <Thunder magic LV1> <Water magic LV1> <Dark magic LV1> <Recovery magic LV1> <Body reinforcing LV5 up> <Jump LV1 new>

Special power : <???>

Equipment : Goblin magician’s staff

Chapter 6: Finding the thieves and Extermination

To overcome the problem of unappetizing preserved food, we defeated horn rabbits for two meal (Total 4). The preserved food is unappetizing but it can’t be help because it has nourishment. And because it can’t be help, we chose to get rid of the aftertaste with horn rabbit meat.

It wasn’t difficult to cook the meat because there is <Fire Magic> and <Water Magic> in this world, although I’m reluctant to say it was a dish. <Water Magic> can be used as drinking water and <Fire Magic> can be used as light source at night too.

<Earth Magic> also aids in our travel somehow. Specifically, the toilet. We create the wall to hide ourselves and fill it up after we are done with earth magic. I don’t want to say too much detail. Since Sakura will become teary.

It seems our travel in this world is more comfortable because of magic.

It is already night time, we set up our camp. In the end, I wasn’t able to reach the thief’s hideout. I guess I took too much time hunting horn rabbits to solve our food problem.

I let Sakura fight with goblins along the way, there wasn’t any particular problem for her. I think most of her worry’s about combat is disappearing like this.

At last, let me introduce a new monster and skills that came out.

Mad Boar

LV4

<Body Reinforcement LV1> <Rush LV2>

Note : Monstrous wild boar. Their rush is scary.

--

Fang Wolf

LV3

<Body Reinforcement LV1> <Howl LV1>

Note : Monster wolf that has developed fangs.

---

Goblin Archer

LV4

<Body Reinforcement LV1> <Bow Mastery LV2>

Note : Goblin with a bow.

There is nothing in particular about combat. But I guess it was the first time we were attacked from long-range by the goblin archer. My dynamic vision seems to have improved along with <Body Reinforcement>. I was able to deflect the arrow with my sword.

Although the other two are eatable, their taste are worse than the horn rabbit. Despite it being a boar… I wonder should I be mad or not.

We setup two sleeping bags in the tent and lie down. Because night watch is hard for a 2 person journey. I set an alarm when enemy is approaching with map. I exterminated all enemies before sleep and set an alarm to sound when something enters 1km radius. Even if I couldn’t sleep soundly, I still have to make the most out of it.

Since the two of us are sleeping in our own sleeping bag, don’t expect any erotic development.

That is trivial, but isn’t it a bad choice to sleep in a sleeping bag in the place where monsters are roaming?

I detected and instantly killed a slime (doesn’t sleep) that was entering the detection range 3 times. Just for slime, I won’t wake up unless it enters the 10m zone.

For the most part, our traveling went well.

[I intend to fight against the thieves today.]

[Yes.]

Next day, I’m talking about my plan to do with the thief.

[I will take advantage of map and launch a surprise attack.]

[By the way, what kind of place is their hideout?]

[A cave. It seems that the cave is also part of the forest. So I know the internal details too.]

[How could we launch a surprise attack at the cave?]

It is unlikely to launch a surprise attack since the road is limited.

[Well, I know the enemy’s position, I can launch a surprise attack at anytime.]

[That’s right. Map really is a cheat.]

[Yeah. Those thieves might not expect this too.]

If we have a cheat, we use it. It is natural.

[I said I will kill those thieves, what will Sakura do?]

[This time, the enemy isn’t a monster but human. It might be impossible for me to finish them. So is it okay for me to stick with wall-type magic and give you recovery and support…?]

[Understood. That is enough.]

[Well, it relates to skill taking, I want to keep everything in this situation.

We enter the forest where those thieves are. Goblin doesn’t appear here, only normal forest animal and monster do. We saw a rare seen of a common wild boar defeating a demon too. The difference between animal and monster is basically a presence of monster stone. Since monster stone has massive magic power inside, it is natural for monster to have higher ability. The wild boar that defeated the monster is seriously a beast.

We approach thief’s hideout. There are totally of 10 thieves. By the way, when I say thief, it is because of the titles “Murderer” or “Thief” were shown on the map. Since they aren’t innocent people, I can kill them all.

Those thieves have a lot of interesting skills that I don’t.

<Axe Mastery>, <Unarmed Mastery>, <Assassination Mastery>, <Lock-picking>, <Threat>, <Thief>, <Torture>, <Monster Training>, <Night Eyes> and <Berserker>

Uh, they have a lot of dirty skills. And the most interesting is <Monster Training>. I wonder if the training skill is common or not. Two of them have it.

Thief A

LV6

<Monster Trainer LV2> etc.

--

Thief B

LV8

<Monster Trainer LV2> etc.

It seems I will reach level 3 if I take it from those two. I want to get it. Moreover, I spot something interesting when I look at the map. There is a monster in the cage inside the thieves treasure room.

Feather Dragon

LV2

<Dragon Magic LV3> <Flight LV1>

The feather dragon is white dragon with feather-like wings. Its appearance is somewhat adorable, very unusual for that race. I guess the thieves found it and caught it to sell. Apparently, it is still a child. But it isn’t in a tame state even there are some people with <Monster Trainer> around. Actually, one black wolf with tame state is sitting in front of the entrance of those 10 thieves’ hideout like a watch dog.

Black Wolf

LV7

<Body Reinforcement LV3> <Howl LV2> <Bite LV2>

Note : Black fang wolf.

When I look at the skill of common people in this world, I have a hunch those people are “Somewhat proud” at this level of skill. There isn’t a concept of skill, I unexpected understand what I can do myself.

It is a little off topic, it seems they live with tamed monster without noticing the <Monster Tamer> skill. But I think if they sell a tamed feather dragon, won’t it become more expensive…?

There was an answer from help-sensei. You need monster training LV3 to tame feather dragon.

On the contrary, I’m the only person who can tame it in this situation. I will defeat them and take their ability. There are a lot of things to think about in my mind when I tame it. For some reason, it is too organized for this situation. If I can’t tame that rare monster, I will tame the monsters in the surrounding area to level up <Monster Taming> skill. Isn’t this looking like god is telling me to tame it? Although, I don’t believe in the goddess.

I’m interesting in taming it myself. According to Help-sensei, monsters that have been tamed will have affection to its owner. It is likely to become the first companion we can trust in this other world. It doesn’t matter if the first one is a monster either…

[Sakura, don’t use magic. Especially inside their hideout.]

[What did you discover?]

[A tameable dragon. Those thieves don’t have enough skill to tame it.]

[Was it caught for selling? I don’t want to damage it, including the treasure.]

[Yeah.]

We hide ourselves and approach their hideout. Black wolf can detect out position with smell. Since the range of detection was shown on the map and we barely stay outside that area.

It is necessary to be careful about using weapon before we reach the cave. Don’t forget that people die easily even with status.

The preparation is finished, we are finally ready to raid the thieves hideout. The tactic is basic, I alone will launch a suicide attack while letting Sakura covers my back from a different direction. The status I gain from <Power of life and death (Give and Take)> is much higher than a normal level up.

[Wind Barrage.]

The battle is started. I cast wind barrage (Its power is low but it doesn’t cause much sound.) and defeat the guarding black wolf. The black wolf that was tamed by thief don’t have enough power to withstand my magic power despite it was just LV1 magic.

As this battle was quiet, those thieves didn’t notice and come out to check.

I enter the cave alone. Sakura also stealthily follows me from behind. According to the map, two thieves are talking. I approach them without being noticed.

[…Nobles from that town, they are going to buy feather dragon.]

[Really? How much?]

[10 million gold. It’s a huge amount of money.]

[Let’s hope we will get the share.]

I won’t hand over…that feather dragon…

[Oops! Shouldn’t you return to your post soon?]

[That’s right. If they know I’m slacking, my share will be reduced.]

Was he slacking and have a long talk in this place? I pull my sword and move toward one of the thieves when both of them turn their back to leave this place. The reaction of thief who turns his back to me is too late, I already take him down silently. HP becomes 0. The first murder I committed in this world end like that, disappointing. I don’t have any feeling either. It might be the influence of resistance status.

[E-Enemy―!]

Another thief started to call his companion loudly. Oops! Let’s stop thinking about unnecessary things. I take all the ability from the corpse. I also find a chance to take their ability during combat. I’m strengthened during the battle to the point I can defeat those small fries easily, it will become trickery if I go too far.

[Ku~, Alfred’s enemy―!]

I plunge the knife into thief that was talking. There are two things I want to say.

First, the name of the thief I killed is too cool. His name is an exaggerated name like hero somehow. I didn’t see the name of thief partners after all. I almost laugh.

Second, strike the enemy within reach is better than calling your friend. Was he try to buy sometime and take advantage with number?

[Fun~!]

Thief collapses with the flash of my sword. I can defeat enemy’s at this level with one strike.

Actually, I take the ability from this fellow too because he has <Monster Taming> skill. Only 1 person left.

4 thieves come from the interior. Completely armed and ready for battle. Uh, their response is surprisingly fast.

[Alex and Alfred are done for…]

[Damn you, an adventure!]

I could feel the thirst of blood from those thieves eyes and weapons. Oh well, I’m too late, the last 4 thieves also join the fight.

[Leader! Alex and Alfred were killed! Perhaps, by that adventurer!]

A person who they called leader is a huge 2m tall man. His weapon is a broad axe called battle axe.

Doug

LV22

<Body Reinforced LV4> <Threat LV3> <Night Eyes LV2> <Thief LV3> <Axe Mastery LV4> <Berserker LV1> <Unarmed Mastery LV2>

[Broad axe of grudge]

Broad axe of grudge

Classification : Large axe, cursed

Rarity : Rare class

Note: It will be strengthened according to number of people from same race that was killed.

It has some scary effect… It is the only weapon which is used by that thief. Oh, it seems to reset when the owner is changed.

Leader is staring at me cautiously.

[Are you an adventurer? Why do you stand in front of me alone? It is normally a lot of people when it comes to subjugation quest…]

I analyze the current situation calmly. Why? If your companion was killed, why don’t you just attack?

Since there seem to be a lot of misunderstanding, I have to correct it.

[I’m sorry but you are wrong in various ways, I’m not an adventurer, just a traveler. So, this isn’t a subjugation quest, and I’m alone.]

[What did you say!? You are just a decoy for ambush! Do you think I’m going to fall for obvious lie!?]

Leader looks suspicious while answers.

Well, it was the truth (Except Sakura is behind me). The ambush isn’t needed for the straight road in this cave.

[But it is true… Oh well, forget it. Although it isn’t a quest, I intend to defeat you…]

I ready my weapon. Leader is paying more attention after hear my strange declaration.

[chi, it seems this guy doesn’t understand the situation. You stand in front of us alone after killing our companion, you won’t leave this place alive! Kill him!]

I start dashing when leader’s declaration is over, and swing my sword toward leader, since he swings his broad axe, I have to back away at once.

Leader swings his broad axe repeatedly. However, his swing was more careless than I thought. His swing is too eccentric and more likely to hit his own subordinate who doesn’t dodge quick enough. Then again, his subordinates attack and pull back when he swing his broad axe.

If he swing his axe with all his might uncertainly, my maneuverability will be limit.

[ora ora, run like a chicken, bastard! What about your brag!]

How could I fall for the provocation? This fellow is bad, he isn’t careless at all. Not to say about friendly fire, his movement matches with his subordinate perfectly.

He restraints me with his large swing. I admire and have difference impression of how he use his broad axe. Of course, when I think about thieves, I didn’t expect teamwork from them.

[Why did you become a thief even though you have such skill? Is teamwork a recently a trend for thieves nowadays?]

[…Is there a problem if a thief fights with tactic? Is there a problem for thieves to have teamwork? Is there a problem for a thief to have intelligent? We have to do this because we are small band of thieves in this region!]

Apparently, teamwork is the leader’s idea. In short, it is because of leader. However, just the leader’s intelligent alone couldn’t order those rowdy thieves for long, he has charisma too.

This standoff continues for a while. Neither the leader’s restraint nor subordinate’s hit & run tactic are enough for decisive blow.

Honestly, this is the first time I’m fighting with this many people. Those thieves have a splendid cooperation…

If this deadlock continue my hidden card will be reveal. Therefore, I start chanting thunder magic while in the middle of close quarter combat.

[What? Is this fellow a magician?]

[In addition to that, this guy is chanting during the close quarter combat!]

His subordinates seems to be surprised a lot. However, as expected from leader. He gives an instructions immediately.

[Hey, magic is nothing. His evasion drops because of the chanting too! His chant will be stopped with one hit!]

However, that is too late. Thunder magic LV1, Thunder Barrage, chant time is about 5 seconds. Those thieves who retreated are too slow to stop my magic…

[Thunder Barrage!]

I invoke thunder magic. Their body is numb and their movement is worsen, I also add a slash too. This make 8 vs 1 into 7 vs 1.

[Shit, it happened again.]

Leader spits out irritatingly. However, he keeps attacking instead of running away. However the flow of the battle doesn’t change, his subordinates are falling one by one. 3 people were killed, leader screams as he has only 4 people left on his side.

[Hey you guys! You part is done! Get away!]

His subordinates were startled when heard his instruction and immediately move close to the cave wall.

[Uooooooooo!!]

His eyes become bloodshot, his muscle expands. This is the effect of <Berserker> skill. It reduces the reason in exchange for increasing combat efficiency.

[guriiiiiiiaaaaaaa!]

Leader approaches me with speed that can’t be compared with earlier. However, it is a bad move. The reason I had a hard time fighting thieves because of their tactic and teamwork. This attack threw away the brain which is their strong point…

[Fu~!]

[Ahhh…]

He isn’t my opponent.

Thud. I make a clean hit and the leader falls down.

[[[U-Uwaaaaaaa]]]

<Berserker> skill is their trump card, his subordinate when they see their leader has fallen, tries to escape outside the cave. I can’t let them go because I can’t let the one with <Monster Taming> escape. I have to hurry…

[Firewall!]

Their feet stops as a wall of flame appears.

[What!?]

[I won’t let you pass this point!] [Spec: You shall not pass! XD]

It seems Sakura covered it up.

I strike down the rest of the thieves whom their escape were cut off. Those 3 people soon lied down on the ground.

[Phew, all enemies were exterminated.]

It was a huge fight this time. It isn’t just as simple as skill and status. I didn’t think those thieves will teach me the importance of tactics.

However, this outcome is just as we planned. First, I sealed some part of my status and skill when fighting with the thieves. There are some reasons for this.

With my ability, my status will keep growing. However, the power I obtain by status alone tend to become simple. I was thinking about training after my ability was sealed to prevent my power from becoming too high to improve my own potential. However, I did this in the middle of combat and my first killed, I don’t know if it is good or bad.

Next is about the feather dragon. Since it will become our companion, we need to give ability’s to it. I think I will give all abilities that I took but didn’t use. If our companion is increased in the future, it might be safe to become accustomed to the limitation since individual combat power would fall.

[Thank to Sakura, we did it without missing the taming skill.]

Sakura’s follow-up is… I asked her not let those thieves go outside the cave. Since our victory condition was exterminating enemies this time. Because those thieves backed away when leader used <Berserker> skill, when leader was defeated, they almost escaped. I never thought Sakura will have her own turn.

By the way, the current Sakura is…

[oeeeeee]

She is vomiting at the corner of the cave. Yeah, she is vomiting. Since I fought this battle with sword and tension of the combat make me decapitated enemies and create this grotesque scene. And I’m bathed with victim’s blood too. Is there a demand for blood-soaked boy and vomiting girl?

Let’s take a breath and return to our topic.

[Ehehe… this is nothing…u~, ueeeeeee]

[Don’t force it.]

After I took all the abilities from the corpses. I safely acquired <Monster Taming> LV3. I decide to store <Berserker> skill away since it isn’t my fighting style.

<Threat> and <Thief> skill are absolutely unnecessary, but I keep it anyway. There might be a situation that I have to depend on these skill.

Anyway, Sakura definitely became useful this time. If thieves got outside of the cave, it would have become troublesome for sure.

[First, I have to thank you. Even it just this much, I’m certain it was really helpful…]

[I’m glad. I become useful.]

[Yeah, that’s correct. I will be in your care from now on too.]

[Yes.]

Sakura who has finally recovered smiles. The edge of my lips lift up a little.

I use <Earth Magic>, to dig a hole, put their bodies in and cover them with dirt. <Water Magic> to wash away the blood and clean the clothes. After take out the water, I use <Fire Magic> and <Wind Magic> to dry it as much as I can. It is easy to control a simple water and fire without offensive power at LV1. Not all magic skills are offensive skill.

By the way, there is <Life Magic> skill that can clean the body and clothes instantly when used.

Chapter 7: Dragon taming and Special power awakening

We arrived t a the treasure room, according to what I confirmed with map. The door is made from metal, it looks strong. Since leader had the key, it is natural that I already took it. I can’t wait to meet with the feather dragon. It seems a lot of valuable treasures are in the room too. However, because the amount of object we can take is limited, we have to decide what to take. That has a low priority, we can do it later.

But the dragon is a different story. We have to tame this dragon right now.

[Is this a treasure room…? It seems to be heavily protected by that door.]

[Perhaps this band of thieves is considerable big shots. 10 people aren’t a lot but fighting power and intelligence of the leader is high. It is possible to have treasures other than the dragon.]

I opened the door. Even if it looks heavy, it moves smoothly. Is that because my power is rising?

I already know it from map but the inside is quite large. It is filled with barrels and wooden boxes. And there is a small cage on the table at the center of the room. I approach it without hesitation.

[kyuuiii]

Feather dragon reacts to us and cries. My eyes matched with feather dragon when I looked inside the cage. It looks like a dragon with white feather, its face looks charming and honestly cute. Uh. I will absolutely tame it.

Q : How do I tame monster?

A : <Monster Taming> is needed. You can take wild monsters with you but they aren’t in “Taming state”. First, you need to use <Monster Taming> skill on a targeted monster. If your level is enough, fight with that monster until it recognizes you as its master. Monster normally recognize the user as their master when their HP is around 20%. Time limit is 2 hours, it will fail if time is run out and has 1 month cool down time before able to use on the same individual.

[Jin-kun…Are you going to begin?]

[Yeah, In case of failure, we will stay here for a month.]

[No, let’s give up…]

[No way.]

If I fail, and we have to stay here for month or keep traveling while taking the cage along. It is almost the same activity of the thieves.

[Then, I will start.]

[Please do your best!]

Sakura becomes slightly desperate. I don’t know if it is because she want to give me support or she just don’t want to stay here. …I think it is the latter for sure.

I found myself looking at the cage, staring. It never averts its eyes from me. Staring. Staring. Staring. Staring. Staring. Staring. Staring. Staring. Staring. (Spec: Why do I feel that stare is a puppy stare?)

[Aren’t you going to tame it?]

[Hya~!?]

I tripped but I returned to my senses. But I don’t look away. I use the skill immediately. A slightly different magic flies toward feather dragon. And it starts the war (Not peaceful). (TL note: 陣(Jin)=War and 仁(Jin, protagonist’s name)=Benevolence.)

> Feather dragon was tamed.

> Please give a name to feather dragon.

Eh? Combat? No, it couldn’t start a fight because it was still in the cage…

[What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to fight?]

[…Well, Taming was succeeded without combat.]

[……Is there something like that? Did help make a mistake?]

[Help-sensei doesn’t make mistakes.]

I say it with confidence. But I ask help-sensei just in case.

Q : How can I tame monsters without fighting?

A : The fight can be avoided when monster recognize the user from the beginning, in the critical state and need helps or want to be tamed in the first place.

[It seems I was recognized from the beginning or it needs help, so I got approved immediately when I started taming. It seems we don’t need to fight.]

[Oh, I see. I’m sure it thinks Jin-kun is a gentle person and will free it from the cage.]

I think looking at me without avert its eyes is the main reason. I let it out of the cage immediately. <Lock-picking> skill from the thief becomes useful immediately.

[Kyuii..]

Feather dragon which came out of the cage flaps its small wings and cuddles in my chest. This creature is really cute. I just pat the feather dragon happily for a while.

…That’s right. A name.

> Named [Dorako] ←

> Named [Dora]

> Name [Yukari]

…My choices are hopeless. First 2 are quite cheap. And the third one is the name of my first love. It is a pervert idea to name the tamed monster (♀) after the name of the first love… I just settle with [Dora] for now. Perhaps, we will find a better one.

[Your name is [Dora]]

[Eh, that is…]

[It is Dora.]

[Err, that…]

[It is Dora.]

[O-Okay.]

[Or perhaps, cherry.] (Spec: Sakura=Cherry)

[Please stop. Please name it Dora.]

Sakura seems to detest it from the bottom of her heart. Well, I will be mad too if the pet almost have the same name as me.

[Kyuuiiii!]

It might be please. Rather than be called [Dora], I guess it is more happier to be named. Although I don’t have pet in my former world, it is surprisingly good thing. Is it a pet or a small animal?

That remind me to confirm Dora’s status. Since I can’t put a lot of information on map, I saw only simple information. Since it will become companion, I need to know all the detail. It is mortifying when I didn’t check its status before taming to see any change.

Name : Dora

Sex : Female

Age : 5 years

Race : Feather Dragon (Dragonewt)

Skill : <Draconic Magic LV3> <Flight LV1>

Title : Jin’s follower, Princess of dragon race (Spec: What!?)

Dragonewt? I never heard that word before. Let’s ask help-sensei.

Q : What is a dragonewt?

A : Dragonewt is one of the dragon family. They can take dragon form or human form. Their status is based on dragon form, which is consider one of the high-ranked dragon. Despite that they have equal intelligence to human, they are considered as monster, Tame level also the same as dragon form.

I thought it was dragon pet but she turned out to be dragon girl.

In other word, A rare feather dragon (High-ranked dragon race) can take a shape of draconic people…

Since I’m interested, I make Dora to take human form.

[Err…Can you show your human form?]

[What is it?]

Sorry, Sakura. I will explain it later.

[Kyui]

Dora nods and cries, her body shines up. Her silhouette becomes bigger and 5 years’ old girl is there when the light is settled. Naked… Uh. Not wearing any clothes…

She has a nice face, waist-length hair and white skin. Her pupils are blue and have the same shape as her dragon form. Although her dragon form is cute, her human form is absurdly cute. However, I can’t stare at naked girl forever. (Spec: You will have title of perverted + lolicon.) Since we don’t have any clothes for her, I have her revert back to her dragon form.

[Can you return to your dragon form?]

[Kyui]

Her body shines again and return to dragon form. Come to think of it, the appearance of 5 year’s old girl in her human form is according to her real age.

[W-W-W-What was happened!?]

>Sakura becomes confused

[Dora is of the draconic people. That was her human form.]

Even with my straightforward and endless explanation, Sakura is still confused.

[What is this!? Is there a race like that!? Jin-kun, didn’t you just tame a human-being!?]

[Please calm down. I will explain it properly.]

[Okay…]

It seems she calms down a little when I tell her with calm tone.

[First, there are a race of draconic people. It is called dragonewt, the race who can take dragon and human form. My map couldn’t detect them, and it treats them as common dragon. It is the same reason I can tame it since they were treated as dragon. In short, she was treated as monster.]

[Are they be treated as monster even though they look like a human-being?]

Perhaps, my explanation is too vague.

[Perhaps. According to the rule, it is possible to tame them.]

It might be fine in a sense. The one concern point was that the feather dragon is a rare monster, it was unexpected that we encounter her.

[Come to think of it, if she can take human form, can she speak human language?]

It seems she could understand human language, but can she speak? Because I’m interested, Let’s try to ask her.]

[Kyuiiii…]

She shakes her head. Is it impossible? Let’s ask help-sensei for the reason.

Q : Can dragonewts speak human language?

A : They can. But both 5 years old dragon and human form are too immature. It should be about 10 years old to talk normally.

If in human form, I want her to understand the intention. If she is just a pet, it doesn’t have much need for communication but It is necessary when she in human form. This is trouble.

Some information was added to my head while I was thinking.

> New special power is unlocked.

<Infinite Storage(Inventory) LV->

You can send an object you touched into invisible storage space. Or take it out. Capacity is unlimited. Living creature can’t be stored. Organize and search are possible.

> New special power is unlocked.

<Bond of Contact(Engage Link) LV->

It is an ability that allows the owner to form a contact with a subordinate (subordinate, slave or monster). It will form an invisibility line that can (Pass) or (Share) thoughts with the other party who formed the contact. It is possible to let other people use your status, skills and special power. In addition, it is allow [Telepathy] to transmit thoughts without saying a word too. The detail of ability can be decided by owner and owner will be master (Leader), it is possible to create a network with slaves (Subordinates).

> Power of life and death has become LV3.

> New special power is unlocked.

<Power of Life and Death (Give and Take) LV3>

Skill points can be converted. The conversion efficiency is 5:1. It isn’t possible to use with skills that doesn’t have a level.

My special powers spoil me. All problems I have were solved with my special power.

First, <Infinite Storage(Inventory) LV->. That means I can have infinite belonging. I don’t need to tell you how convenience it is. I can take all the loot from the thieves hideout. Storing living creatures is impossible but corpses are possible. Beside, it is almost the same as that blue cat-type robot’s [4th dimension pocket]. In short, [Infinite storage] is what those guys yearn for.(ND:Now he just need a anywhere door)

Next is <Bond of Contact (Engage Link)>. I confirmed it with help, it is an amazing ability. First, I can make people who is in contact with me take ability’s from enemies. The hunt efficiency will rise up considerably with <Infinite Storage(Inventory)>.

As for passing, the distance is unlimited. If I make a contact with tamed monster and let them fight, I could be strengthened while relaxing in a room. Since the number of contact is unlimited, it isn’t hard to achieve that. And lastly, we can share our thought. In short, we can contact each other without speaking. That allow me to perform any strategy without speaking during combat. In addition to that, I can ignore the vocal cords of partner when communicating. In short, I can talk with Dora.

I make a contact with Dora at once. The approval is unnecessary when another party is monster.

I chant silently and aim at Dora.

<<Dora, can you hear me?>>

<<!? Uh, is this the voice of master?>>

Oh, I did it. Dora seems to be surprised too. I see. Dora called me master. I will give a simple explanation to her.

<<That’s right. With my ability, Dora can talk with me without speaking>>

<<Amazing. As expected from master>>

Perhaps she doesn’t understand it good enough. Her intelligence might be around 5 years old child.

<<Dora, how did you end up here?>>

This is what I want to know if we can communicate. I have to leave Sakura out since mutual understanding with Dora has more priority.

<<You see. I went out of the house since I have free time. When I was hungry and looking for the meal, those scary uncles caught me.>>

I see, you were caught when you went out to play. When I think about her home, I see a scary word in her title column.

Titles: Jin’s follower, Princess of dragon race

It smell like trouble.

<<This place is stink, meal was bad and I never thought anybody will come to help me, until master came. And then, I realize you are my master.>>

Judging from monster side, is this recognition? That moment might be when I tamed her.

[You remained silent for the whole time, what’s wrong?]

Sakura, who was left behind, asks s question. I have to give an explanation to her soon.

[Oh, sorry for being silent. My special powers were unlocked and I can talk with Dora with my mind.]

[Special power again? After we encountered some trouble, Jin-kun’s power solves them again.]

Sakura smiles awkwardly. I think she is right on spot.

[Other is <Infinite Storage(Inventory)>, this special power is like a warehouse where we can put stuff inside infinitely.]

[Really! Did you receive 2 special powers at once? How many special powers do you have, Jin-kun!?]

I didn’t tell her about the total of special power I have. Should I take this opportunity to explain this to her?

[About 7. And I’m certain Sakura also has 3 in your status.]

[7! And 3 of them are unlocked already! It is a cheat, totally cheat!]

I think Sakura’s character is broke down a little. I have to explain the detail of special powers to Sakura.

Few minutes later…

[…Understood. Dora-chan can talk properly when you use your special power.]

[Yeah, that is correct. However, I can use this special power only on my subordinates. It seems you need to be recognized as my subordinate to let my use this special ability if you aren’t a slave or tamed monster.]

[Understood. Then, I will be your subordinate and let you use your special power to me too.]

[Eh?]

I thought Sakura had calmed down, but she suddenly says that. Perhaps, she didn’t calmed down at all?

[Sakura. Please calm down. Did you hear the conversation? Do you know if you become my subordinate, your position will be the same as a slave and tamed monster? Are you okay with that?]

For a high school girl to become a subordinate of a high school boy, it is sound indecent.

[Yes, I’m fine with it. There are a lot of benefits when applied with the special power, right?]

[Yeah, as I explained before, we can talk with our mind and <Power of Life and Death(Give and Take)> is easier to use. It basically has no disadvantage.

I think it will ease a lot of problems if I use this power on Sakura but it isn’t something I could do easily. It was honestly unexpected hat Sakura would say that.

[It isn’t a bad thing since it will be bad if I don’t receive it and become a burden for you.]

[Well, you have your point. But I have to say, this isn’t my intention…]

It isn’t a problem about effectiveness, it is a problem of the girl who receives it.

[That isn’t a problem. It isn’t possible for current me to refuse Jin-kun’s instructions, and I don’t plan to either. Aren’t I already Jin-kun’s subordinate since I’m under your protection?]

You are right. Our relationship doesn’t change and I have no intention to treat my subordinates badly.

[If possible, Please let me prepare my heart when you request for something indecent…]

Sakura’s face becomes bright red when she said that.

Hey, what did you just say? How could you think about something like that so daringly? I mean, did you make a resolution that far? Is that okay?

[That is…]

[Let’s talk about this next time. I’m ready to become subordinate of Jin-kun at once. Beside, didn’t I say “I will do anything. I will work hard so I won’t be your burden.” When we started travel together? It is up to Jin-kun’s feeling.]

If you said that, it isn’t possible for me to decline…

[Understood. Don’t regret it. I might work you like a horse.]

[Yes! Please leave it to me since I will do anything!]

Sakura answers back so lively. If Sakura is okay, I don’t have any problems either.

[Then please take out your pinky finger immediately.]

[Pinky finger?]

[Yeah, we hook our pinky finger with each other and pledge to let me use this ability to partner whom newly becomes a subordinate.]

There is an actual requirement for me to tie my little finger to the partner’s body. The moment the partner accepts it, it becomes complete and that partner will become my subordinate. The partner don’t need to use their pinky finger because it is possible that they won’t have it. If partner is human, pinky finger might be good.

[It is a cute requirement somehow.]

[Don’t say that… Because I think so too…]

I said that while Sakura puts her pinky finger out. The two of us become slightly red, It is shameful for us to do a pinky pledge at this age. The requirement is fulfill.

I see an invisible path from Dora and Sakura to me. I try to talk with both of them.

<<Hey. Do you hear me?>>

<<Uwa, it feels really strange… Yes, I can hear you.>>

Sakura seems to understand how to use it at once, me and Dora try to talk with her.

<<Yahho~. Sakura-oneechan. Nice to meet you~>>

I didn’t tell her but Dora seems to recognize Sakura and greets her.

<<This voice is Dora-chan, right? I’m looking forward to be friend with you.>>

<<Uh!>>

Dora is also glads to have more partners whom she can talk with. Enough to become emotionally attached to Sakura.

Come to think of it, I have one more ability.

[I’m going to check <Power of Life and Death(Give and Take) LV3> , could you two talk to each other for a while?]

[Yes, understood.]

<<Okay~>>

It was displayed <Monster Taming LV2> until now, but this isn’t accurate. It actually showing <Monster Taming LV2(9/20)>. The rightmost parentheses is (Current point/Level up point) and Level up point is equal skill level x 10.

For example, when <Body Reinforcement LV1(9/10)> is increased by 1 point, it will become <Body Reinforcement LV2(0/20)>. <Body Reinforcement LV2(19/20)> is increased by 1 point, it will become <Body Reinforcement LV3(0/30)>. By the way, <Power of Life and Death(Give and Take)> is handled only with total points not level. In short, when I take <Body Reinforcement LV3(0/30)>, it means I take 10 + 20 point for <Body Reinforcement> skill. Actually, My <Monster taming LV3(13/30)> is the sum of <Monster taming LV2(9/20)> and <Monster taming LV2(14/20)>.

Next is about <Power of Life and Death(Give and Take)LV3>. It allows me to use remaining points of a skill to strengthen another skill. I plan to make use of the 5 points of <Absorption> and <Division> which I can’t use into a point and use 1 point for <Inspiration LV2 (19/20)>. It become <Inspiration LV3 (0/30)>.

The conversion efficiency of 5:1 isn’t good. However, with just 1 point, it is become a big advantage. For example, I could take 1 point of the rare skill from people in town, put those free point in and return 1 point back to them. I won’t create a hard feeling for partner whom has the skill I want but not be hostile with this method. Of course, I still feel guilt to take it without permission…

For now, I won’t do that to the residents of this country for now. I don’t want to do something to be indebted with. Although they are stranger, they are still resident of this country, I don’t want to be indebted with. I still use <Power of Life and Death (Give and Take)> on resident of this country only if they are enemy, and I will kill and take all ability without remorse.

Chapter 8: Sakura’s special power and town arrival

It’s already one more special power, and it isn’t mine. I discovered Sakura’s special power when I check her status. I immediately tell Sakura who is talking with Dora.

[Sakura, I checked your status and your special power is unlocked.]

[Really!? What kind of power it is? Oh, I finally escaped from being a good-for-nothing!]

Sakura smiles happily. However, while being slightly regretful. I already told her many times that she isn’t a good-for-nothing. Nobody would expect her to have a huge potential. If she was thrown out alone for be incompetence, I might not have known it.

[I said I don’t think you are good-for-nothing…]

[I know. Jin-kun doesn’t need to tell me about that. But I’m conscious of myself for being a good-for-nothing. I want to have something I can be confident with.]

[I see, Then your special power should give you confidence.]

I write Sakura’s special power on the paper while I’m talking.

<Magic Creation (Magic Create)>

???

It seems to be a great special power.

[Magic Creation? What is the effect?]

[I don’t know.]

[Don’t know? Does help not know it either?]

Sakura seems to be at a lost. I’m too, this is unusual. There is no answer when I ask this question.

[It seems special powers are off the rules of this world. It seems help only knows about this world. It is difference from my own special powers, it can show just the name of other people’s special power. We can share it with <Bond of Contact (Engage Link)> but it is troublesome if we don’t know what it can do.]

[Do you know what kind of power it is?]

[No, I don’t. In my case, <Clairvoyance (System Window)> will give me an explanation but I still don’t know the nature of my own special powers. In short, it is important to know the nature of special power. Since you know its name, why don’t you try ask yourself about that?]

Because I don’t have any proof, I can’t do anything but let’s Sakura do it herself.

[Understood. I will try. …I will ask myself about special power. …I will ask myself about special power.]

Sakura recites that phase while closing her eyes. She suddenly opens her eyes 30 seconds later.

[Ah, I know it.]

I guess it is easy to comprehend if you know it. She turns toward me and starts to explain.

[Err, you see. It is the ability to create new magic that that this world doesn’t have with imagination.]

[Isn’t that an amazing ability? Won’t we able to return to our world with this power?]

We should have done this earlier if this power allows us to return to our former world… Perhaps that is too good to be true.

[Please wait for a moment… …It is impossible. I think there is some obstacle for it.]

It wasn’t omni-potential after all. Too bad, but it wasn’t Sakura’s fault. Just give up.

[First, that kind of magic require huge amount of magic power and to have that much magic power, you need a huge amount of MP too.]

That is certainly a demerit. It is a restriction. However…

[Well then, what kind of magic the current Sakura can use?]

I think your power has some condition like my <Power of Life and Death (Give and Take)> and <Bond of Contact (Engage Link)> or something, right?

[It is impossible. I can’t use my own power properly and still in Jin-kun’s debt in the end. I’m sorry.]

Sakura said that but I have some hypothesis in my head. Sakura doesn’t say it by herself but she tend to depend on what I tell her. Come to think of it “Special power will appear according to the owner’s wish” or something like that. When my special power level’s up or unlocks, it is often in the time when I have a problem. I think I could understand the characteristic of special powers.

By the way, when consider the character of Sakura based on “Sakura wants to become useful. However, she didn’t hope for power to become independent.” Like that. Sakura apologized to me as if she did something wrong, but that is what she wishes for.

[Let’s confirm Sakura’s special power later. Because we have to check what my <Infinite Storage (Inventory)> can do…]

[Understood. How should I help you?]

[No, it’s alright. Just touch something in this room.]

Just holding it in your hand isn’t a problem. You can choose what you want to hold as you want.

[Understood. Then, you should tell Dora-chan properly.]

[Please.]

<<Yay. I want to hear Sakura-oneechan’s story again~>>

[Dora-chan. You are cute…]

Sakura is completely charmed by Dora. Like she is an angel. I also pat Dora’s head before start storing.

<<It feels good~>>

[You become happy just from this…]

[You are right…]

2 of us were healed by Dora. Since we don’t make any progress, I have to tearfully part from Dora.

<<Pat me again~>>

[Uh, I will do that later.]

I store random items while moving clockwise around the room. I confirm the contents of barrel. There are blood-stained accessories. These might have been taken from merchant. Other than that are a lot of weapons and armor. When I open the wooden box, potions and medicine are piled up inside. Of course, a huge amount of money and goods existed too.

Since it is troublesome to put everything from the wooden box with <Infinite Storage (Inventory)>, I use <Infinite Storage (Inventory)> to store all of them and use <Clairvoyance (System Window)> and identify what inside them. I can confirm the detail later.

It is an easy job, I just need to check that there aren’t any strange thing entering <Infinite Storage (Inventory)>.

During that, I was bothered by a certain pouch. It is unusual for that pouch to be put there. I thought it was an expensive item and checked it, I was surprised by what I found.

Item box.

Note: Magic item that can store a fixed amount of items.

In this world, it doesn’t have <Infinite Storage (Inventory)> but it has a lot of means to store items.

One of them are item box and the pouch in front of me. A so-called magic item that can store many things, a type of magic that was cast on bag or box. It seems the quality is decided by capacity, higher quality is, the more capacity it will be. The cheapest is storeroom size. And that is surprisingly worth 100,000g. Because of that, that pouch-sized item box is a considerable high-quality item. I understand why it was place inside the treasure room.

Another method is <Space Magic LV1> ’s “Storage”. It allows user to store item inside a sub-dimension and size is dependent on the user’s magic, and that is why space magicians doesn’t need to carry a bag.

<Infinite Storage (Inventory)> is more than that, it is better than those inferior one, I’m glad I have this power. Because of <Infinite Storage (Inventory)>, I can deceive others. If the guy that isn’t space magician puts an item in and out of empty space it is unnatural.

Concerning the pouch-type, I decide to let Sakura have it. Of course, I give her an explanation about item box too.

[I think I can put half of items in this room there.]

[Why? cant <Infinite Storage (Inventory)> put everything here inside without question?]

[If someone asks, you can show the item box which we took from the thieves.]

I don’t know when these troublesome things will happened. Of course, I can get away if my ability was exposed.

[I see, shall I put something expensive inside here?]

[Yeah, please. Anything that look expensive will be put in <Infinite Storage (Inventory)>.]

Similar with function of <Infinite Storage(Inventory)> and <Clairvoyance(System Window)>, it can be used to fetch the item you want. <Infinite Storage(Inventory)> can remove the blood-stain on item that was put in, and become perfectly clean when pulled out.

I start pulling out items from <Infinite Storage(Inventory)> and put it inside Sakura’s item box and took the expensive items from her instead.

Next is the equipment those thieves stored in this room. Those thieves dismantled everything except the particularly expensive items. I also don’t want to talk about item box as much as possible too.

I put the huge axe inside <Infinite Storage(Inventory)>. Since it is big and bulky, it should be fit there better than item box. Items those thieves used are extremely high quality. I have no choice but it take it. Let’s pretend I got them from somewhere else.

[I wonder what’s the total value of everything here are…]

[That’s right. But I think that isn’t important.]

<<Did you finish cleaning up?>>

I see, Dora saw us as if we are cleaning the room…

[Yeah, we are done. We are going to leave now.]

<<Understood~ Should Dora be in dragon form? Or human form?>>

Perhaps, she asked that question because she doesn’t know which form she should take.

[Please stay at dragon form for a while. You can be in human form after we buy you some clothes in town.>>

<<Understood~>>

[And Dora, do you mind if I want you to go out and fight?]

<<Do you want me to fight too? Understood. I will do my best~>>

[Dora-chan, can you fight?]

It seems Sakura doesn’t want Dora to fight if possible.

[Yeah, she can fight. I saw her ability is good enough for a fight.]

Her <Dragon Magic> seems to be strong too, I want to see that.

[Before that, I plan to give you some skill and status.]

<<???>>

I didn’t give her the details. So I give her an explanation while performing it. Dora’s reaction is…

<<Master is really amazing~>>

It doesn’t seem she understands it. Well, it won’t be a problem if she knows I’m amazing. Err, am I sweet? I don’t know.

<Bond of Contact(Engage Link)> gives me the ability of long range communication. First, I plan to give ability I took from those thieves to Dora.

<<I feel stronger somehow~>>

It seems she can feel that her ability has improved. In that case, she will be useful during the battle.

[Well then, Let’s talk about Dora’s combat style. Your feather dragon form can move freely and fire <Dragon Magic> from mid-range.]

<<Understood~ Please leave it to me~>>

Dora answers cheerfully. But Sakura who stays on the side has a curious face.

[<Dragon Magic>? What is that?]

[Oh, I forget to explain it to Sakura. <Dragon Magic> is magic which only dragon can use, no chanting, high power, has many properties and incredible stuff. It isn’t possible to use it for a while. In short, it has a long cool down.]

[If you had such a great magic, why didn’t you break out of the cage?]

Come to think of it, you are right. Won’t you be able to escape if you want? Sakura and I are looking at Dora. Dora just tilt her neck slightly why look at us curiously.

[Err, ojii-chan told me not to use <Dragon Magic> outside. So I didn’t use it in the cage.]

From Dora’s title, it looks like she is strong. To the point she was forbidden to use it outside…

[Eh, is it possible to use it when Jin-kun wants?]

<<Uh, because I like master more than ojii-chan, I will do what my master tells me to.>>

I’m happy when you said that. But I feel sorry for her grandpa.

[Well then, preparation for Dora to join the battle is end, Let’s move out.]

[Yes.]

<<Osu~!>>

We left the cave after our preparations are done. I intentionally put a backpack on. It makes me look like a traveler. It is too suspicious to travel without anything , even if you have item box.

I defeated the monsters I met in the forest. Because I don’t want to see the power beyond comprehend of <Dragon Magic> in the forest.

After we left the forest, Our first encounter (On purpose) is a goblin whom I decided to use as test subject.

[Dora, please use <Dragon Magic> at that goblin.]

<<Understood~>>

Dora flies into the sky and take a breath when approaching the goblin. Flame gushed out of her mouth violently as she spitted it out. The fire spreads out and burn everything within 10m and 40 degree in front of her. Of course, the goblin whom was within the range is completely charred.

Not to mention Sakura, I was surprised too. I’m not sure I tamed a monster with a powerful attack like this…

<<It is done~>>

Dora said that while she approaches me. After checking her status and taking the abilities from the goblin, we received an experience point too.

[Oh, thank for your good work. What an amazing power.]

<<Err, it was greater than this since I didn’t use it for a long time~>>

And this wasn’t her best. This girl’s specs is high…

[Dora-chan is really amazing…]

<<Praise me, Praise me more~>>

She approaches Sakura and rub her cheek.

Since I confirm Dora can fight and can take abilities of enemies she defeats, I think we need to practice our teamwork in the future. Because if those thieves can do, we can do it too.

After walking for 3 hours, We see the town. Dora likes the horn rabbit meat we were eating on the way.

<<I want to eat horn rabbit’s meat again~>>

[Maybe later. Because you can eat a lot of things inside the town, please looking forward to that.]

<<Yay~>>

I want to let Dora eat something good in the town.

When we enter the town, I decided to let Dora hides herself in the backpack. I’m certain the feather dragon and naked girl will stand out. First, I have to buy her some clothes. Bring her to hotel to get change. Take her along in little human girl form. There is no problem if she can’t talk. When we think about this setting, we don’t need to hide anything.

We arrived at the town. This “Town” is larger than a village, it has a properly maintained wall and gate. 1,000g for entrance fee. I’m sure our loots is worth more than 1,000g when we sell them. We can sell our loots inside the town.

Gatekeepers are the most trusted occupation to handle that. Conversely, if the town’s gatekeeper can’t be trusted, the town couldn’t be trust either. This town’s gatekeepers seems to do their job properly. We pay 2,000g (Not include Dora) and enter.

This town’s name is Tizo. It is a lot smaller thanthe capital but still a lot larger than Kabate village.

[It seems to be a clothes shop over there.]

[The map is convenient as usual.]

I look for clothes shops with map at once. There are several but that is the nearest place from the gate.

[Welcome~, what are you looking for~?]

Because our setting doesn’t look unusual, we are looking for children’s clothes.

[I’m looking for children’s clothes. I want to buy some clothes for my 5 years old younger sister.]

I bought a blue dress that was recommended by the female shopkeeper. …The price is 10,000g. Our budget was about 20,000g. Isn’t that a little bit too high? No, I told her it will be a birthday’s present, it can’t be help if she recommended something special. Well, it is my first present too. I also a cute child like her to wear something good too.

I purchased 2 cheaper clothes (1000g each) too.

Next is looking for a hotel that meet our conditions. I found a slightly good place with 1,000g for the meal and 3,000g for the room. We pay hotel charges for 2 people and enter the room.

[Alright, Dora. Please turn into human form and wear these clothes.]

It is 10,000g clothes. Since this is the first time. I want her to wear good clothes.

<<Okay~>>

I watch Dora turn into human form. Yep, just watch. And I watch Dora put the clothes on. Yep, just watch again.

[Eh? Why does Jin-kun watch her?]

Sakura noticed but it is already too late. It will be a waste to overlook someone cute to do something cute.

[Because I’m her master.]

[That isn’t a proper reason… But I’m also your subordinate, right…? The more I think, the more I found it is strange, this world is…]

Sakura is lost in thought. Even if this is another world, it isn’t a proper reason for someone to look at little girl changing her clothes, even if she is a tamed monster. I will become disadvantage if I say that… I mean I behave myself like a gentleman to Sakura, how could I show her a strange desire… I have to careful.

<<I’m done changing~>>

[yoshi yoshi. You were doing well.]

<<Ehehe~>>

Dora becomes happy when I pat her white hair. Dora’s hair is white, not that white but it looks beautiful like polished silver. It is so smooth and feel good when touched too. Do I really love Dora? Am I a lolicon? Or something like that? But I like her dragon form too.

[Well, enough with admiring Dora, shall we go to the guild for report?]

[You are right. The sooner is better.]

1 thing we need to do in this town is to report about thieves extermination. As I explained before, thieves extermination was requested by the guild and that information is important for merchant and resident in the surrounding area.

I have no obligation for this country, but for the innocent residents, it is different. I should at least give a report. By the way, I won’t register to the guild. I don’t want to leave too much information behind nor use this country as a base.

We arrived at adventurer guild. This building gives that kind of atmosphere. I heard a clamor from inside the brick building. There might be a lot of rowdy people too. But there is the another entrance specialize for accepting request other than the main entrance. Certainly, I don’t want to enter that kind of place from the front door either.

In our case, we decided to enter because we have some business to settle.

[Sorry. I want to report something for a moment…]

[Welcome. What is your business today?]

A polite interaction. The female receptionist might be a beautiful oneesan after all.

[Yes. I want to report about thieves extermination…]

[Extermination…? Not just report about their hideout?]

[Yes. Totally 10 people. The leader was a large axe user.]

After hear that, receptionist was surprised and ponder on something.

[With that information… did they have a “Black Wolf”…?]

[Come to think of it, I saw a tamed wolf too.]

If I’m not mistake, that wolf was black. I didn’t notice the feature of that tamed monster. In the end, I just know only a name.

[It is without a mistake. I will contact guild master for a moment.]

She said something to nearby receptionist. I have a feeling it will be important, it is a small matter and I want to end it as soon as possible… Miss receptionist turns toward me again.

[Err. Are you an adventurer? Because I never see you around here before.]

[No, just a traveler. I don’t have any guild card. I’m just somewhat skilled…]

Guild card is the proof of adventurer who registered to the guild. There are some example about ranks too. It can be issued in any country but you still need to update once you go to another country.

[Really? Then, will you register? You can register and you will receive reward as soon the extermination is confirmed.]

[No, I’m certain I still receive half of reward without register.]

It is sound ungrateful but I want money after all. Is that bad!?

[Err, there isn’t a disadvantage for registration, and the compensation of extermination isn’t small either…]

[Sorry. But I promised with my friend to register with the guild in other country…]

[Is that so? It can’t be help since you have promised.]

The sign of the registered country will be carved on guild card. That would be a complicated situation, so let drop the subject. I didn’t tell a lie because I made a promise with Sakura who is behind me.

[Who defeated the “Black Wolf”?]

A stern old man came out. He might be around 40. He give me a feeling of veteran.

[Yes, guild master. This person here.]

[Hmm. You, prepare the reception room.]

Receptionist who called for guild master went inside the guild again. There is a reception room. I have a feeling this will turn out to be troublesome.

[My name is Joseph. The guild master of adventurer’s guild in this town. I want to hear the detail. Is it okay now?]

The Reception room was prepared… I have no right to veto. Well, that isn’t a problem.

[Yes, it is okay. Should I bring my companion too?]

[Umm, I don’t mind.]

Guild master and receptionist lead me to reception room inside the guild. It is a beautiful room. I never thought a room like this existed in a place where rowdy people are gathered. Oh, the main purpose is for clients…

[Well then, let’s get to the point, where is the “Black Wolf” hideout?]

Guild master said that while unrolls the map.

[In the nearby mountain. In a cave.]

His map is less accurate than my map, I can only point a rough position on that.

[Hmm, it was closer than expected. Can you explain the fighting detail or anything else?]

[Okay. I entered the mountain to harvest something while I’m traveling. I saw the wolf in front of the cave. When I defeat that wolf and enter the suspicious cave, I fought with thieves. I killed 10 people and came to this town for the report.]

Guild master is listening. It is okay. My story doesn’t have any contradiction. I didn’t lie too. But the harvest part = Treasure of those thieves.

[How was the fight with boss who is using a large axe?]

Guild master asked me a direct question. Perhaps, a lead question…

[It was tough. He swing the axe with all his might. It seems he also has the cooperation with subordinates. The instructions were precise and make me wonder how those thieves could come up with that.]

[…It doesn’t seem to be a lie.]

Guild master is murmuring. I could do that because of <Body Reinforced>.

[Well, I understand. I heard all of you are unregistered. Since it was already too late today, guild will confirm the extermination tomorrow. If it was confirmed, you will get half of the reward. If you want to register. You can get the remaining half.]

I don’t need that.

[That’s right. What is about the loots? There should be left on their hideout.]

[No, It is already taken, I don’t know where they kept. There wasn’t much left but you can take it as you like.]

[Understood. I will add that to the reward of investigating team. I want you to stay in this town for a while in case of repurchase…]

[That is fine. However, I will give priority if there is an urgent business.]

To put it simple “Sorry, I might disappear suddenly”

[That is no use. Even if we don’t, someone with authority might restrain you guys.]

[As for the report, I plan to report to the guild as much as I can before leave this town.]

[That would really help. If possible, I want you to tell me your current address.]

It isn’t preferable to let someone know the place we live carelessly. It is possible someone will chase us.

[Please restraint from that because we will have a trouble when someone intrudes for repurchase.]

[I won’t reveal it… There is another method. Could you show your face at guild twice at 10 AM and 6 PM?]

[I don’t mind that.]

So our task during the stay is settled. It is unlikely to become too serious.

[However, you are really great. “Black Wolf” was causing trouble around here recently. They was a notorious band of thieves.]

[I was lucky.]

[Leader’s cunning is famous. I don’t think luck alone can defeat that guy.]

Of course, I didn’t fight them with luck but I have to say that. As the guild master want to hear the details of the fight…

[Sorry, I don’t want to explain how I defeated them. Because there is something I need to conceal too… However, you know about thief leader really well. Was he your acquaintance?]

I refuse to explain how I fought lightly. Guild master looks bitter when I asked him back.

[A little while ago… They were registered adventurer of this guild.]

His face look gloomy as he talks. Reason? I don’t know the detail but it should be a history between guild master and the thief leader. But I’m not interested in the story between old men.

[Well then, I got to hear about it. Thank you. Please enjoy this town.]

I will tell you in exchange. Since I report what is necessary and return skillfully.

[Then, I will take my leave.]

[Umm. Please come again tomorrow at 10 AM, even if no one comse to repurchase.]

I bow, Sakura and Dora also bow too.

We left the guild. I thought we were going to be picked as prey because we have woman and child. After hearing the story, it won’t be a problem if you pick a quarrel with a fellow adventurer, but it will be a crime if you do that with common people. In the worst case, you will be expelled from guild. Because of that rule and I had a talk withthe guild master, they thought we are someone they should not be involved.

We return to the hotel after shopping, the meal is ready. By the way, I pay the hotel charge and meal for Dora’s part too. Since she will have less problem in human form and I feel sorry for her if she can’t have a meal in the hotel.

<<It is delicious~>>

[Don’t eat too fast. The meal won’t run away.]

Perhaps, Dora has been dreaming about eating human food in the first place. I heard dragonewt usually stay in dragon form without changing into human form and eat the meat of wild monster to live. It is natural because they can’t cook complex meal in dragon form.

[The meal has to be delicious because the price is high after all.]

[That’s right. The camping time is terrible…]

[Yeah, you are right…]

The tension of me and Sakura are dropped down as we eat a delicious meal.

We need to think about our eating habits during travels soon. I have a few idea to think about. I can put a newly made meal inside <Infinite Storage(Inventory)> for now.

*************************************************************

Shindo Jin

LV 12

Skill : <Sword Mastery LV5 up> <Spear Mastery LV3> <Blunt Mastery LV6 up> <Shield Mastery LV1> <Bow Mastery LV5 new> <Martial Art LV3 new> <Axe Mastery LV5 new> <Fire magic LV1> <Ice magic LV1> <Wind magic LV1> <Earth magic LV1> <Thunder magic LV1> <Water magic LV1> <Dark magic LV1> <Recovery magic LV2> <Enchantment LV1> <Possession LV1> <Leadership LV2> <Inspiration LV3 up> <Monster taming LV3 new> <Lockpicking LV3 new> <Theft LV4 new> <Threat LV4 new> <Torture LV2 new> <Body reinforcing LV7> <Jump LV4 up> <Night eye LV3 new> <Berserker LV1 new>

Special Power : <Power of Life and Death (Give & take) LV3 up> <Clairvoyance (System window) LV-> <Infinite Storage (Inventory)> <Bond of Contact (Engage Link)> <???> <???> <???>

Equipment : Goblin general’s sword

--

Kinoshita Sakura

LV 6

Skill : <Blunt Mastery LV5 up> <Fire magic LV1> <Ice magic LV1> <Wind magic LV1> <Earth magic LV1> <Thunder magic LV1> <Water magic LV1> <Dark magic LV1> <Recovery magic LV1> <Body reinforcing LV6 up> <Jump LV3 up>

Special power : <Magic Creation LV- new>

Equipment : Goblin magician’s staff

---

Dora

LV 3

Skill : <Dragon Magic LV3 new> <Body Reinforcing LV6 new> <Flight LV1 new> <Rush LV3 new> <Howl LV4 new> <Bite LV2 new>

Equipment : None.