Chapter 85 – The assassin discovers Dia’s skills
Chapter 85 - The assassin discovers Dia’s skills
Translator: VALIANT
We left the royal capital and returned to Tuatha Dé.
A lot happened before we came back, it was more than I expected.
…There was that chance meeting with Meena the snake demon.
And then, Princess Farina’s request to assassinate the Second Prince.
Both of these were incredibly serious matters.
[Hmmm…! Home, sweet home.] (Dia)
The moment we were back home, Dia declared so as she stretched.
Hearing her say that, I snickered.
[Ah! Lugh, how can you laugh at me!? That’s mean!] (Dia)
[Sorry. I wasn’t making fun of you. It’s just that you said it so naturally, and I was feeling so happy that you had truly become part of Tuatha Dé. …You girls must be tired after such a long ride, right? Take your time to rest up until lunch. This afternoon, we’ll finally use the appraisal sheets.] (Lugh)
[This is so exciting. I hope my skills are nice.] (Dia)
[I agree. If I have strong skills, I will be able to make myself even more useful to Lugh-sama.] (Tarte)
This was our main topic during our ride in the carriage.
We could’ve used them immediately, but Dia suggested that we put it on hold.
She said it would be more interesting if we all used them at the same time in an environment where we could test our skills.
I agreed, because I understood that feeling.
…I should go back to my room as well.
There was something I wanted to do before I got too busy.
We gathered in the training area, enjoying the lunch Mom had made for us.
I handed what looked like mere blank sheets of paper to Tarte and Dia.
Those were appraisal sheets.
They were extremely valuable, so much so that even noblemen couldn’t quite get their hands on them.
I managed to get some with my authority as the Holy Knight.
[There are exactly three of them.] (Tarte)
[When I say ‘go’, we all use them.] (Dia)
[I won’t use mine.] (Lugh)
[Eeehh!? Why not?] (Dia)
[I’ve already used one before, so I know what skills I have.] (Lugh)
To be precise, I knew because the Goddess told me about them before I was reincarnated. But there was no way I could tell them that, so I lied.
[Aww, no fair! But then, why did you order three of them?] (Dia)
[I thought I’d keep one in reserve, since I can’t get any without this kind of opportunity.] (Lugh)
At the moment, my assassination team consisted of four people with Dia, Tarte, and Maha.
Since Maha wasn’t part of the operational unit, there was little need to check her skills.
However, there was the possibility that I would add members in the future, even if I had no plans for that.
[Hmm, so it’s for a new companion, huh… Lugh, if the next one is another pretty girl, I’m going to start suspecting that you gather nothing but girls on purpose.] (Dia)
[You’re right, it could be another girl. But I choose my comrades for their personalities and abilities. I don’t take gender into consideration. I never did, and I never will.] (Lugh)
It was an indisputable fact.
The fact that Dia became my teacher happened by chance.
The fact that I met Tarte in the Tuatha Dé domain while I was searching for a child with mana also happened by chance.
And the fact that I met Maha at that orphanage in Milteu also happened by chance.
I had never once looked for female companions in my life.
[I know, but can’t you be a little more panicked? You used to be so much cuter than that. You would always cling to me and call me ‘big sister’.] (Dia)
That was quite a tall order. And that second part was a complete forgery of our past.
[Anyway, I want you two to use your appraisal sheets. Hold them and put your minds to it to use them.] (Lugh)
[The time has finally come. …But, what if I don’t have any skills?] (Dia)
[I’m not at all confident in myself. I don’t have many redeeming features.] (Tarte)
[You’re great at cooking, Tarte.] (Dia)
[Dia-sama, if my skills turned out to be made for cooking, I would feel depressed instead…] (Tarte)
Unlike earlier when they were filled with anticipation, now that they were going to use it, they seemed to be more anxious.
Nevertheless, there seemed to be a certain amount of anticipation in them as well, and the two of them clutched their appraisal sheets together and focused on them while making a fuss.
Doing so, the names and descriptions of their skills appeared.
No physical laws, magical theories, or scientific mechanisms could explain how this worked.
This phenomenon was a mystery, or a miracle, so to speak.
There were only a very limited number of people who could make those appraisal sheets, and they were heavily protected.
It was even rumored that they weren’t made by human hands.
And seeing how those appraisal sheets were actually used, I had every reason to believe that this rumor was true.
There was no way humans could create something like that.
…And supposing a human could make them, they would have to borrow the power of something supernatural for that.
[Phew, mine is not blank, which means I do have skills. I’ve got three of them.] (Dia)
[Me too.] (Tarte)
Dia and Tarte came running up with their respective appraisal sheets.
[Let’s take our time to check them out.] (Lugh)
I spread out the appraisal sheets on the desk provided in the training area.
Dia’s was first.
The skills she had were written on it.
Apparently, the appraisal sheet didn’t show the skills she had gained through【My Loyal Knights】.
[I always thought I was an expert at magic, but I didn’t think I had skills like these. And one of them is called【Genius】! Hehe…! I really am a genius!] (Dia)
[It makes a lot of sense. Your mana control has always been off the charts after all…] (Lugh)
Dia possessed three skills: an A-rank skill, a B-rank skill, and a D-rank skill.
Only one person in a million could possess an A-rank skill.
At that point, Dia was a special existence. You could even call it a miracle that she also had a B-rank skill that only one in ten thousand people had.
?【Rainbow Mage】
A-rank.
Increases the user’s mana control and mana output.
Furthermore, it enables them to convert their elemental affinities. The conversion process consists in casting a spell of the desired affinity. Said affinity cannot be modified for one hour afterwards.
?【Genius】
B-rank.
Makes the user a calculating, reasoning, learning and creative genius.
?【Aging Resistance】
Inhibits the user’s aging rate after the development of their secondary sexual characteristics.
The【Rainbow Mage】skill was the centerpiece of her skill set.
It boosted both the accuracy and the power of her spells, while also allowing her to switch affinities.
In my case, I could use all four basic elemental affinities, but I couldn’t use light and dark.
However, Dia could even use those two unique elemental affinities.
[This is amazing, Dia-sama! All your skills look so powerful and practical!] (Tarte)
[Though until now, they were just craftily hidden wasted opportunities. I didn’t know I could switch affinities. I mean, no one ever thinks of trying to chant spells of an affinity they don’t have. It wouldn’t work anyway.] (Dia)
[You may have a point. Aside from you, there are probably many others who are unaware of the activation conditions of their own skills and let them go to waste. Good thing you used an appraisal sheet. Even prodigies would envy your skills.] (Lugh)
The【Genius】skill was extremely versatile.
So much so that before I was reincarnated, I had a hard time deciding between that and【Limitless Growth】.
[…But, I kind of have mixed feelings about this. I thought I was able to cast my magic through hard work, and also that the spells I created were the results of my efforts. But now that I know what skills I have, I realize it was only because of them.] (Dia)
Dia smiled sadly.
[That’s not true. Skills are just talents. No matter how many talents one has, it means nothing if they don’t develop them. It’s because you developed them that you became who you are today. And I respect you for that, Dia.] (Lugh)
I had seen many people who had talents, but were so consumed by them that they couldn’t help themselves anymore.
Properly developing them was terribly difficult, and only a handful of individuals could do it.
[…Lugh, you sure can say the corniest things sometimes.] (Dia)
[…Ugh, I’m aware of that.] (Lugh)
[But thanks. It really makes me happy. I’ll try and switch attributes right away. If I have the choice, then maybe I’ll give light or dark magic a shot. You and I have already made use of all the other affinities before.] (Dia)
Whenever we created new spells, we analyzed the existing ones, deduced their rules, and developed original spells.
We divided the work between us, remembered pretty much everything about the spells of the four affinities, and used those data for analysis.
However, the special affinities, light and dark, remained untouched.
If she changed her elemental affinities and casted light and dark magic over and over again to get new spells, we should be able to discover new rules.
This would also make for a big haul.
[I know someone who can use light magic. I’ll send a letter to ask for a light spell formula.] (Lugh)
[Now that’s a nice surprise. So you know someone like that?] (Dia)
[Yeah, we recently got acquainted.] (Lugh)
…It’s someone I met in person very recently, even.
It was Nevan, the duchess of Romanlung.
She was also known as the Shining Princess because of her rare ability to use light magic.
In the past, I would’ve been too afraid to ask her for help, but now that I was taking part in the assassination of the Second Prince, I had an excuse.
I was convinced she would cooperate.
As Dia and I both got fired up, Tarte stared at the last skill of the list.
[【Aging Resistance】. I’m so jealous. You can stay beautiful forever. I’m sure Lugh-sama likes it better that way.] (Tarte)
[Whether I like it that way or not, nobody wants to get old. It’s an amazing skill. …Could it be that all the women of the Viekone family have inherited it? I bet you anything that Mom has it too.] (Lugh)
I could picture in my mind my mother, who looked like a twenty-year-old despite being over forty, smiling and waving her hand.
I heard once that in a few special families, skills were hereditary.
If so, then that would explain my mother’s unusual youthfulness.
[I can’t deny it. But I don’t think I want this skill. I mean, it’s got to be the cause! This skill has to be the reason why I’m so short and my chest won’t grow any bigger! I don’t know what it means by ‘secondary sexual characteristics’, but not aging means not growing up! If it weren’t for this, I would be just as developed as Tarte!] (Dia)
Dia was grudgingly shifting her stare between Tarte’s chest and her appraisal sheet.
…I didn’t dare to tell her that the development of her secondary sexual characteristics lasted until her late teens.
Meaning that at this point, the negative effects of her skill hadn’t kicked in yet.
[Ahahaha… But large sizes bring their own share of troubles, you know?] (Tarte)
[…That’s what the tall and shapely always say. Anyway, that was all my skills. Now let’s see yours, Tarte!] (Dia)
[Yes, here’s my appraisal sheet! I’m so glad that I have an A-rank skill as well!] (Tarte)
Tarte possessed three skills too: one A-rank, one C-rank, and one D-rank.
It wasn’t just Dia, Tarte also had an A-rank skill.
This was probably not a coincidence.
The Goddess most likely had a hand in it somehow.
I should be suspicious about this, but I was genuinely grateful that she had an A-rank skill.
Not to mention, it was a powerful one at that.
…And an interesting one too.
When I saw Tarte’s skills, I chuckled to myself from the bottom of my heart while admitting that those skills were typically what I expected her to have.