Chapter 84 (Self Edited) – The Ryuujin and Skills
“By the way, I have been thinking of this for a long time.” (Soma)
Soma opened his mouth to utter such words by the time he descended to the fifth layer. It took him about thirty minutes to reach this level. It was quite a good pace, but… now, Hildegard was tilting her head, thinking Soma might have problems.
However, what came out from that mouth after that was something that she didn’t expected.
“Why are you using such a strange tone?” (Soma) (TLN: The word ‘you’ here is Kisama.)
At that moment, she didn’t think that Soma called her by using that word…
“No, I didn’t expect you to call me that.” (Hildegard)
He wouldn’t do such a thing.
No matter how pleasant it was, he might be pretending.
She couldn’t think other than a joke.
However, when such Soma turned his face toward her, he looked wondered. As if he completely said nothing wrong–…
“No, I also didn’t say anything from the beginning, but it was different long time ago, right? Well, if I have to ask, why do you have an appearance of a little girl? Are you a female?” (Soma) (TLN: The word used is メス. It means female (animal))
“…” (Hildegard)
Hildegard definitely stopped breathing for a moment. Those words gave that much of impact. His meaning was probably obvious.
No, she certainly thought that he wasn’t holding back, but still, this was too unexpected.
“Why… No, when did you notice it?” (Hildegard)
“I’m not really sure what is going on, but… if you were that dragon, I can notice it in a glance, I guess? Perhaps, I should say it’s not that I haven’t notice it.” (Soma)
That made her lost at words again.
However, at that time, suspicion rose.
If he knew this since the beginning–…
“…On the other hand, does this feel extremely normal to you? Well, you killed me before right? If it so… there should be something more than this.” (Hildegard)
“No, even if you told me that, it is true that I killed you. But, I didn’t kill you because I hated you. I thought of you as an opponent.” (Soma)
As Soma said so, he looked at her with the similar look he had before. But that was good enough to understand that he didn’t tell a lie.
That was so frustrating to the point Hildegard sighed immediately after that.
“Ugh… Although I came all the way to surprise you… it really feels awkward to have failed from the beginning.” (Hildegard)
“Aah, was that the reason? As expected of the headmaster, you are so free.” (Soma)
“You’re noisy!” (Hildegard)
In other words, she couldn’t do anything even though she was next to him. On top of staying up all night waiting for this moment, she earnestly thought how to deal with this variously.
Even if Hildegard told to do this in two hours, that was just a barely estimate that he could do it. She decided to proceed with the plan and specifically told him to do it up to the tenth layer, but these conditions seemed to be problematic.
“By the way, you haven’t answered my question yet.” (Soma)
“Hmm? Your question?” (Hildegard)
“Your appearance of a little girl… no, to begin with, I have a feeling that dragons are genderless, right?” (Soma)
Soma’s doubt was right. Dragons basically had no gender. Dragons were made up of illusions of people, and since their number wouldn’t increase through breeding, it was unnecessary to determine their gender.
But…
“Well, this body is small because it hasn’t lived for fifty years yet, but… it is something within expectation because I am trying not to become too large when I grow up. So, that’s the reason, but… look, weren’t I originally quite large in size?” (Hildegard)
“You’re right. Thinking of you as a dragon, you were considerably large.” (Soma)
“Hmm, that’s why I chose this little body this time. Were you surprised? Everything is due to my plan… to defeat you. In other words, to close the gap.” (Hildegard)
“…Hoou?” (Soma)
At that moment, Soma looked away, but it was unusual for him to say that. So, why…? Whether he was shocked with this, it was the situation where she became mellowed.
Where was the failure of this perfect scheme? She couldn’t understand it.
“Well, I’m going to ignore your nonsense for now… so, you want to defeat me huh? How do you plan to do that?” (Soma)
“Hmm? Of course, that is to have children.” (Hildegard)
“…Hou?” (Soma)
That look of him became something as if it was an unfortunate thing, but she couldn’t understand why. Even though she had stated something obvious…
“…I don’t remember earning favorable impression from you, right?” (Soma)
“What are you talking about? You killed me, so of course, you are recognized by me. So, it’s normal to think to have children with that opponent, right?” (Hildegard)
“Aah… So, that’s why the body is a woman, huh?” (Soma)
“Yes. I thought of making you into a body of a woman, but I stopped because you probably will not like it.” (Hildegard)
“Stop thinking… Hmm? Haven’t you said something ridiculous right now?” (Soma)
“What is it?” (Hildegard)
“Did you say that you reincarnated me?” (Soma)
“That’s right. There’s no mistake.” (Hildegard)
In that way, Hildegard looked surprised when Soma showed a surprised expression. It was better to properly say if one had his wish came true.
“Aah, I understood what were you saying just now, but did I wish for that… No, when I think about it, there is no way that you and I will reincarnate in the same world by chance, isn’t it? I mean, you could have done that though.” (Soma)
“Even so, I’m still a former G.o.d.” (Hildegard)
Basically, the world was different because she died. The reason why Soma wasn’t a G.o.d was slightly different, but speaking of similar situation, it was quite similar.
“By the way, this is a pure question to ask. How are you going to give birth to my children? I mean, is it possible? You aren’t human, right?” (Soma)
“Hmm… speaking from the aspect of race, I am certainly not a human, but I should be able to give without problems, you know? It’s because I am a Ryuujin. At least, it isn’t an existence of illusions ad I have a real body. So, I have no problem of giving birth.” (Hildegard)
To sum up, her situation was similar to the Elves. In this world, Ryuujin was cla.s.sified as human beings, but if there were differences, only at that degree.
So, it was like the Elves who could give mixed parentage birth.
“Well, the only problem is it takes 500 more years to become adult and to be able to give birth, but… that will be somehow manageable for you.” (Hildegard)
“That is impossible, you know.” (Soma)
Soma let out a breath of relieved as if he was amazed when saying that, but HIldegard sounded so serious.
In the first place, this meant that she fell from a higher order existence, but Soma’s att.i.tude didn’t change. Even though the body was a human being… well, it would be somehow manageable.
“That kind of talk doesn’t really matter to me since the possibility is not there. By the way, did you say that you granted my wish?” (Soma)
“Hmm, did I say that?” (Hildegard)
“Did you really understand about my wish?” (Soma)
“Of course. You want to use magic, right?” (Hildegard)
For that reason, she made him reincarnate in this world. This world was the nearest world where magic existed from that world.
“Hmm… if it so, there should be no problem. With that, the reason I can’t use magic is a side problem.” (Soma)
“Hmm? You can’t use magic, is it?” (Hildegard)
“Yes. By the way, is that also your doing?” (Soma)
“No, I heard that you said that you want to go into the dungeon, so I thought it was fine to go out here myself, but I didn’t know the reason…” (Hildegard)
Soma couldn’t use magic. That should be impossible.
Although Hildegard was a G.o.d, she wasn’t responsible for incarnation, so she couldn’t interfere too much. The best she could do was to transfer the soul from that world to this world. After that, she could do one thing only.
But, that was to give Soma a talent in magic. That was absolute since she said that his wish would come true. Fortunately, so to make the magic of this world could be displayed based on the body’s abilities, she engraved that to–…
“…I’m going to use [See] on you, alright?” (Hildegard)
“Hmm? Could that be something that you did during the entrance examination?” (Soma)
“Yes, it is similar. I need to check something again.” (Hildegard)
“Hmm… well, it’s not like I care anyway.” (Soma)
“Then, please excuse me. Let me see…” (Hildegard)
— Rule of Harmony – Eye of the Dragon G.o.d – Administrator of the World: Imitation – Omniscience.
At that moment, there was a huge amount of information reflected in her eyes. If she saw something bad, that would swallow her consciousness the moment she stared at it, so she had only focus on what she need. The only thing she need now was Soma’s current skill composition.
— Rule of Swords.
— Vessel of G.o.d’s Sanctuary (TLN: The raw is 神域の器)
— G.o.d Killer
— Dragon Killer
— Divine Protection of Dragon G.o.d
— Absolute Slash
— Ability of Discernment
— Sword of Ten Thousand Demons (TLN: The raw is 万魔の剣)
— Battle Ready
— Special Rank Presence Detection
— Surprise Attack Void
— Fighting Spirit
— Ground Shrink
— Unrivaled Strength
— Serene State of Mind
— Single Mind
— Lightning Speed
— Limit Break
— Overdrive
— Self-taught – Imitation – Iron Cutting Sword
— Self-taught – Imitation – Demon Cutting Sword
— Self-taught – Imitation – Dividing Cut
— Self-taught – Imitation – Demon Fang
— Self-taught – Swift Blade
— Six Poetry Immortals (TLN: The raw is 六歌仙)
— Simultaneous emergence of talents and achievements
— Sword Flash
— Secret Technique – Flash
— Extreme Technique – Flash
— Decisive Secret Technique…
There were quite a variety of active and pa.s.sive skills. There was no difference from what she saw at that time, and she found it in one of them.
— Special Rank Magic
“Hmm…” (Hildegard)
There was no mistake on what she was seeing. That was certainly existed, and that made her let out a loud groan.
While watching Soma sliced and blown away the monsters that appeared from the edge of her view, she tilted her head. As expected, she couldn’t understand why he said that he couldn’t use magic.
Rather than Low Rank, it was Special Rank. For example, even if Soma made mistakes during the attempt, it should be easy to unleash at least one or two magic. After all, there was an exception to Special Rank.
It would be another story if it was sealed, but Hildegard didn’t think that Soma’s skills could be sealed. That would be impossible for the G.o.d of this world. Perhaps, if ‘It’ was here…
“…Hmm?” (Hildegard)
Then, Hildegard found the reason because she unintentionally looked at the details. There was a flavor text on the Special Rank…
— Talent in relation to the path of magic. Extra-large a.s.sistance to magic acquisition. Extra-large a.s.sistance to magic acquisition. Extra-large a.s.sistance to magic acquisition. Extra-large correction to intelligence and mana during growth. Pa.s.sive Skill. In addition, this skill couldn’t be activated by the effect of a superior skill.
“…Superior skill?” (Hildegard)
Suddenly, that did ring a bell. While thinking that happened by some chance, she looked at the Rule of Swords.
Then…
— By the authority of the Sword G.o.d. Maximum a.s.sistance to sword technique acquisition. Maximum a.s.sistance to sword technique acquisition. Maximum a.s.sistance to pre-owned sword technique. Maximum a.s.sistance to pre-owned sword technique. Maximum a.s.sistance to pre-owned sword technique. Pa.s.sive skill…
“Aah, this is probably the cause…” (Hildegard)
It was an invalid interference to the body. Because of that, Soma’s magic skill wasn’t activated. Consequently, the skill was granted by Hildegard who came from the other world, so it had been invalidated because it was regarded as the interference to the body.
This was an unexpected development.
“By the way, weren’t you told that you would never learn any skills?” (Hildegard)
“Hmm? You’re right, but is there any problem with that?” (Soma)
“I was thinking why you couldn’t learn it…” (Hildegard)
It seemed reasonable to say so. The reason was many of these skills probably wouldn’t be able to be seen through skill appraisal.
As for skill appraisal, one couldn’t guess it from its name, but it was a type of clairvoyance. To be specific, it was a type of future vision. It would guess the skills people would obtain based on the highest probability future from their current state. In other words, skill appraisal knew the skills that could be learn, but it wouldn’t be certain when the target was young. It was also hard to understand because the flavor texts were also seen, but the texts were merely extra.
Of course, the skill users wouldn’t know it, and what they understood was the result only. However, because of that, people misunderstood about Soma. The future vision carried out by the skill appraisal was interfering to the mind and the body since it would invalidate people resolution.
Perhaps, the skills probably could be seen if people were close to the G.o.d’s sanctuary, but there would be no meaning there. This could be understood well by comparing it with other flavor texts, but it was merely like a t.i.tle without any effect.
That was why the appraisers could see something without having to interfere, but although it was evidence that they were getting to the realm of G.o.d, it was a mere show, and it had no effect on itself. In other words, it happened that Soma’s abilities and skills didn’t mesh together. Well, it would extremely hard for him and the surroundings especially in this country.
Hildegard suddenly remembered the situation outside of the academy that was quite noisy recently, but she basically didn’t care. She guessed that might be related to Soma, but she didn’t have anything to do with it now.
Now, the main problem was… whether she should tell this fact to Soma. Watching Soma’s back while he proceeded regardless of anything… she hesitantly opened her mouth.
“Tentatively, there are two things I understand. First, you have plenty of skills. There’s no mistake that you are able to do a lot of things. However, because of that, the skill appraisal can’t confirm your skills.” (Hildegard)
“Hmm… It doesn’t make much sense in the end.” (Soma)
“…Well, I agree.” (Hildegard)
Although she emphasized it, it was meaningless if Hildegard couldn’t testify. The skill which was the backbone of this country could be observed only through skill appraisal. If she said anything about what she discovered here, she would probably called as liar and that would only create unnecessary confusion.
“Well, I will only tell you what I know, but you are the one who should decide what to do with it. If necessary, I can testify you as much as I can.” (Hildegard)
“I have no problem until this moment, so I wonder if don’t have to do anything in particular for now. Leaving that aside, what’s the other thing that you found?” (Soma)
“Uhm… the reason why you can’t use magic… it might be because of me.” (Hildegard)
“I thought you said you know two things.” (Soma)
“Don’t mind about it because it’s the same thing.” (Hildegard)
“I don’t really mind, but… what do you mean when you say that you are the cause?” (Soma)
“Uhmm, that is…” (Hildegard)
There was no way to confirm already what the original magic talent of Soma’s body was. If it was a Low Rank, he basically could learn magic, but… what did Hildegard do had interfered with Soma’s wish.
Although she was a bit scared to tell it to him, she couldn’t stay silent. While hesitating, she clearly told him that–…
“Hmm… I see. In other words, there is no change to what I’ve been doing until now, is that, right? In that case, there’s no problem.” (Soma)
“N-no, there should be problems, isn’t it?” (Hildegard)
“I know from the beginning that I can’t use magic. Better, since I know the cause, I can move forward. Hereafter, on top of taking that matter into consideration, it is alright if I can try various things. Well, in short, you don’t have to worry about anything. I mean, when I think that you made me reincarnate in this world, that much is already good enough, you know.” (Soma)
Since Hildegard only saw Soma’s back all the time, she didn’t know what kind of expression he made when he said those words. However, at least not much difference was felt from that voice.
Hildegard let out a relieved breath and loosening her cheeks a little.
“I see… that mean, you and I can have children together, right!?” (Hildegard)
“No. Why does it have to be like that?” (Soma)
“Hmm? That is definitely my true feelings, but aren’t you having the consideration toward me here? So, let’s have children!” (Hildegard)
“…How should I say about this? This is getting ridiculous in many ways, but you can try that again when you are at least physically able to do that.” (Soma)
“Ugh… There is nothing I can do if you told me that.” (Hildegard)
While lamenting that this body was a Ryuujin… the loosened cheeks remained as it was. As Hildegard was following Soma, both of them headed deeper in the dungeon.
—
TLN:
- If anyone can tell more about these terms; Vessel of G.o.d’s Sanctuary (神域の器), Sword of Ten Thousand Demons (万魔の剣) and Six Poetry Immortals (六歌仙), it will be helpful. Thanks!
- The word ‘superior’ (skill) is translated from 上位. It also can mean higher order. It’s different from the term ‘Advanced Rank’ which is translated from 上級.
- I a.s.sume Soma can’t use magic because Hildegard overwrote (or rather buffing too much) the original talent for magic, so the G.o.d of the current world balanced it out with a skill stronger than Special Rank. Maybe, I don’t know.
- Hildegard wants to defeat Soma in a battle of feelings, rather than in a battle of might. That’s where the idea of having children come.