Translator(s): D0dz Editor(s): XSSpeed, Yomigaeru Proofreader(s): Yomigaeru TLC(s): Yomigaeru
Aiming for [Living without having to work skill]At an inn, slaves aren"t counted as lodgers.
It seems that a slave is considered to be their master"s property, so they can"t stay in a separate room.
Because of that, we were being guided to a single person room at the corner of the second floor.
「I"ve returned the debt, Ashtarte. Are you satisfied?」
『We give thee our blessing.』
The response is faint, as if echoing in the distance.
『Cecyl and……thou.…』
「It"s Nagi. Souma Nagi.」
『Nagi and Cecyl, we bless your future. May you find… happiness…I give you both my blessing.
I want……to be happy……』
The voice gradually fades away.
During Ashtarte"s final moments, they taught me about my 『Reconstruction ability・Structure skill』.
『Reconstruction ability LV 1』
The skill"s concept is the ability to rea.s.semble and create new skills.
Skills are expressed in sentences like『verb……』『object……』to『target…………』
At least two skills are required for reconstruction.
Reconstructed skills will be LV 1 regardless of the original level.
Once the skills have been reconstructed with 『Reconstruction skill』, they can"t be reconstructed again.
The skills being reconstructed must belong to either the user themselves or a slave under contract.
There is a tendency for a master and a slave to produce more powerful skills when their own skills are being reconstructed.
This is due to the special effects created by the mutual magical powers being mixed together.
………Surprisingly, there were plenty of restrictions.
I understand why the reconstructed skills become LV 1.
For example, it would be awful if one combined a high level『Weapon』『Give damage』to『Dragon』 skill with『Cleaning』 LV 1 skill to create such 『Clean』the『Dragon』with『Cleaning tools』skill.
The laws of the cosmos would be thrown into disarray.
After that, I can"t change other people"s skills arbitrarily.
Should I just use existing skills? Or should I go and buy more somewhere? ………what remains………
……is to tamper with Cecyl"s skills.
I look at Cecyl who is sitting quietly on the floor.
Although I told her that it"s fine to sit on the chair or the bed.
When Cecyl stares at me, I become nervous and straighten my back.
「Err,…can we have a talk?」
「Y-yes.」
*bikun* Cecyl nods as she stays sitting.
Her ears are twitching up and down.
Cute.
「It looks like Ashtarte has vanished…so are you alright?」
「Yes……」
Cecyl holds her small chest and exhales out a long breath.
「I"m alright.Because Ashtarte said that this day would come sooner or later.」
For Cecyl, Ashtarte was like a guardian deity.
Cecyl"s family was the last survivors that lived hidden in the mountains.
But, 2 years ago, they were dragged into a conflict between humans and got killed.
Sold to the slave merchant, Cecyl"s only hope was Ashtarte"s voice.
「Ashtarte said that someday I"ll find someone who will cherish me.
Each time I moved from town to town, this time for sure………next time for sure.
I didn"t believe it but……but…」
The tears run down from Cecyl"s bright red eyes.
「At last, I met the person who Ashtarte acknowledged.From here on, please treat me well.
My master.」
「Please stop calling me Master.」
I felt like a criminal when a flat-chest little elf girl called me master.
「Nagi is fine.」
「Yes, Nagi-sama!」
Cecyl *rin* touches her collar and it gives off a sound.
「It might late for an introduction.But, my name is Nagi.In this world, my name has been decided as Souma Nagi.I guess that you probably have heard it from Ashtarte but I"m a『visitor』from another world.
「My name is Cecyl Pharott……uhm, I"m from the demon race.」
Cecyl said it while fidgeting.
「Nagi-sama.Can you keep my name 『Pharott』as a secret?」
「Sure but why?」
「The family name of the demon race is supposed to be taught only to those who are really close.That…it"s a bit ticklish when one is called using his family name.」
「Yeah, I understand.Cecyl Pharott.」
「Hau」
「It"s alright.I"ll keep it secret, Cecyl Pharott.」
「Hyan.」
「I absolutely won"t tell anybody.Cecyl Pharー」
「Nagi-samaaー……」
While rubbing her thighs together, she gives me a resentful glare.
Sorry.
Somehow, it was fun.
「Anyways.Because I came from another world, rest a.s.sured, I won"t do anything cruel to you.
I promise.」
「………Y-yes.Nagi-sama is the one who saved me.That"s why I trust you.」
I"m glad.
Neither of us has many acquaintances in this world, so we have to work together.
「But, Nagi-sama is really amazing.
You have a lot of rare skills to the point of selling them, don"t you?」
「I created that one by using my own skill.」
「That"s more amazing! To be able to create rare skills is the same as having a mountain of treasure!」
「Well, I"m not going to sell rare skills anymore.」
「……Why?」
「If the fact that I can freely create rare skills gets exposed, it"s going to be a ha.s.sle.」
This time I (probably) convinced them with「I came from the east.
This rare skill is a memento of my grandfather.」
That sort of trick can only be used once.
If the same person comes many times to sell rare skills, as one would expect it, he will stand out.
Furthermore, let alone skills, even the humans are being traded too.
I"m not yet familiar with this world.
If I got trapped, and as a result had to sell『Reconstruction ability』, then that would be the end.
I"d become nothing but just an ordinary person.
In the worse case, it"s possible that I myself would be sold as a slave.
「It would be better to make money by making use of rare skills rather than selling them.
If possible, the best option would be to make skills that earn money without having to work.」
「Nagi-sama"s objective is to pursue an ordinary happy life, isn"t it?」
「Yeah but that"s not all of it.」
I better talk about it with Cecyl.
My true objective in this world.
Cecyl who is sitting on the floor takes a deep breath and gulps.
My objective is
「Low fuel consumption, high output.Maximum resultss with minimal effort.
To survive in this world without overexerting myself or putting in a serious effort.
「……Nagi-sama…what was that just now?」
「Hide my true ability.Don"t carelessly accept every job request. Devise jobs with high rewards, clear them to save up money, and after that think of ways to spend my life idly.」
「Even though you possess an amazing skill?」
「If you say 『I can do it』carelessly, you will suffer……」
It was a mistake to say that 『My laptop is my forte』carelessly on my previous part-time job.
Originally, there were just simple tasks and yet before I knew it, I was given the tasks of inputting and calculating the receipts, and since I knew how to use a laptop I must be able to make a homepage, so I bought a book out of my own pocket and made a good looking homepage, then I decided it was enough already but if I quit 「Then who is going to update this page!? Isn"t it a fundamental principle of society for people not to bring trouble at the workplace? Aahh!」And I threaten the upper ups 「If you need me to maintain the homepage then I demand that you double my wages for my trouble」, but in the end, my demand was regarded as incomprehensible.
I said that I would report them to the labor bureau, but the last parting threat of the other party was「Coward! Garbage!」
I don"t really understand.
「……Did Nagi-sama come from a world ruled by a demon lord?」
Cecyl looks surprised.
I was supposed to be in a civilized world though.
「Anyway, if you inadvertently show 100% of your strength to try to make other people happy, the other party will start to take it for granted.
Eventually, they will get accustomed to it and reach to the point where they will demand another 120% from you.
And the demands will keep coming and someday you will hit your limit.
It is good enough to show people 40% of your strength.」
I won"t back down on this one.
Hide your true ability, never show off your power, plan out the rest and survive.
Whatever kind of cheat it is, it"s pointless since other people will get used to it.
「There is a certain parable in my world.」(TN: )
It is a useless tree that can keep living.
A straight tree is cut down and made into furniture.
A strong tree is cut down and made into lumber for shipbuilding.
A tree that bears fruit has its branches snapped and taken away.
A soft tree is cut down and made into firewood.
Pretending to be useless to others as much as possible.
That way, I"ll be able to live peacefully.
「In other words, 『Survive in society by hiding my strength and pretending to be useless.』」
「……Haa.They are Nagi"s words but they are not cool at all.」
「In other words, 『An idle nature makes the world my plaything』」
「Eh? Ehh……? You suddenly become cool!」
Cecyl is impressed, teary-eyed.
Word choice is really important.
「That"s why.First of all, I need to know about this world.」
At last, back to the main point.
It was not only because I was asked by Ashtarte that I hired Cecyl.
The reason is that I wanted someone who knows about this world to be on my side.
My goal is 「To survive normally with low fuel consumption」but in the first place, I don"t know what is a normal life in this world would mean.
So far the things that I understand are the value of currency, contracts and the existence of skills.
Therefore, Cecyl"s knowledge is very important.
「Since this world has a demon lord and demonic beings in this world, there should be adventurers as well who fight them right?」
「Yes.They do generally.They are different from soldiers as they undertake more local jobs.」
Yeah, it is as I expected.
「Then, let"s become adventurers too.」
Towards my words, Cecyl nods.
「There are 2 merits.
To be able to complete the quests, and to get the gist of this world"s geography and the lifestyles and cultures of its people.
The other is to make use of our skills.
If possible, let"s do quests that could give high profit and after that, think about what kind of lifestyle to live. How about it?」
「Nagi-sama……You came from another world, yet you"re really realistic.」
「Of course, since I have been forged by neglect and exploitative labor practices in my original world.」
「I don"t really understand but it must have been hard for you……?」
「The same goes for you, Cecyl.」
………And we can"t help but comfort each other.
「And, is there something like an adventurer"s guild too?」
「Yes.」
「Then, tell me about the nearest major city to the royal capital that has an adventurer"s guild.That will be our next destination.」
I can"t stay too long in the royal capital.
First of all, there is a possibility that the king has his eye on me.
Even though I was expelled, I"m still a person who came from another world.
They don"t know what kind of cheat skills I possessed.
As the king, you would really want to keep me under observation.
Second, both the skill shop and the slave shop have seen the rare skill.
They might have realized my true ident.i.ty as someone who can create rare skills.
Even if they haven"t, they might still think that I possess some other rare skills.
For now, the best solution is to leave this place and move to the next biggest town to start over.
「I understood.」
It"s quite helpful since Cecyl could grasp the idea quickly.
When I think about it, the time when I was negotiating with the slave merchant, Cecyl was the first one to notice my intention.
Is it a special trait of the demon race or Cecyl"s talent?
Afterwards, I need someone to teach me about skills and parameters.
「As for the nearest town to the royal capital, that would have to be Metekal. It"s a citadel city with a large adventurer"s guild, about 2 days" walking distance to the east. It"s well-known even in other countries as the Commercial City, Metekal. I"ve heard that, due to its size, its feudal lords have independent self-government.」
「Well then.」
「Uhm, master……Nagi-sama.」
Cecyl looked at me with upturned eyes while sitting on the floor.
I somehow feel chilly.
「Why do you trust me that much?」
「Oh? Since there is a slave contract, Cecyl won"t be able to defy me, right?」
「That"s only when you command me with the power of the ring.」
That"s right.
The time when I made a contract with Cecyl, a ring was born on my fourth finger of my left hand.
If I touch this ring and command something, it seems that the slave can"t disobey the order.
「Doesn"t Nagi-sama think that I might lie and trick you?」
「No, I owe Ashtarte and I"m going to act together with Cecyl, so you can"t tell me false information.」
Based on the contract, Cecyl can"t run away from me.
And, she can"t hurt me deliberately.
The conditions for 『Cancellation of the Contract』are either I hand over Cecyl to another person by making a contract or until I die.
Or until Cecyl is able to pay back the 120,000 Arusha.
It will be offset by any money Cecyl makes from working.
When we are doing the quests together, distributing the rewards, Cecyl"s share will count towards the 120,000 Arusha.
Of course, I don"t mind if Cecyl wants it in cash.
For the time being, it has been decided that Cecyl will remain with me.
That"s why I have no doubt about it.
「But when I hear it again……The reason for believing……I wonder if it"s because we don"t have any responsibilities?」
「……No responsibilities?」
「The chief at my former workplace in my original world and the king……they are great people but they have the responsibilities of an organization on their back, and they exploit other people ………」
While making excuses for the sake of protecting the organization.
As the king tried to use us who were summoned 『from another place』in the pretext of protecting the citizens.
「Both Cecyl and I are alone, as there are no responsibilities that could hold us down.
Since we both have agreed that the objective is to survive.That"s why I thought that I could trust you.」
「……Nagi-sama.」
Cecyl who is sitting on the floor bows her head to me.
「Thank you very much! I"ll do my best.」
「Yes.Then, without delay.」
I say, since the talk has settled down.
「Can you sit on the bed over there?I want to mess with your body.」