The Day of Determination.
This is the day of the ceremony that turns children into adults.
In this world is something called "Talents."
Every single person is born with a Talent.
It might be easier to understand it as an ability.
Be it sword or spear or what have you, there is a huge range of talents. And today is the day when that is confirmed.
The best ones are Talents related to magic.
People without Talents in the sword or spear can still learn them.
Even if they have no talent, there is a large range of growth that can be attained through effort and nurturing.
However, it is not so for magic.
To be blunt, it is absolutely impossible for someone without a magical Talent to use magic.
People who possess a magical Talent…… in other words, magicians, are very few in number. So they are given high salaries and offered extremely favored positions.
I actually think that a side goal of this Day of Determination is to find children possessing magical Talents.
Or perhaps they are even looking for Talents that rank even higher than normal magical Talents.
There probably are Talents like "Hero" and "Champion," but well, it"s none of this countryside village"s business.
"Line up."
We don"t even have enough kids to need a line.
The soldiers who"ve come from the city sure are serious about their job.
This year"s Ceremony of Determination at our tiny village of Albat involves me, my friend Nahbal, and Shieron, who"s one year older. Just us three.
Children who reach 15 years old have to go through this Day of Determination before they are considered adults.
But in the case of our village, there are very few children.
So that"s why the Ceremony is hosted only when there are at least 3 children of age. It"s either go to the city personally or wait until a year when there are 3 children. That"s why Shieron is one year older than us.
In this country, undergoing a Ceremony of Determination is mandated by law, so every single person has to do it once.
Our Village Chief and the two soldiers who"ve come from the city are standing together in the center of the square.
Adults aiming for the alcohol and children aiming for the food that will be served in the Coming of Age Banquet are watching over us.
——I don"t really like standing out, so I"d be grateful if this would be over soon.
Though I admit it might be partly just my disposition, but I am quite sensitive to other people directing their attention towards me. And with such a large crowd……
Oh well, this will probably be the last time in my life that I gather so many people"s attention at once.
Let"s just quickly get the Ceremony over with, eat some good food, go to sleep, then return to my solitary inconspicuous life from tomorrow onwards.
"Oi, Eil."
While Village Chief is going on and on about the meaning of becoming an adult or the significance of it or whatever, Nahbal whispers to me from my side.
"I"m definitely going to draw a Talent even more amazing than Horun"s."
Horun.
My elder sis, huh.
"Do your best."
Is all I can say, so I said it. Though this isn"t something that can be affected by effort.
"I wonder what Horun-chan is doing right now?"
Now even Shieron has joined in on the conversation. So I wasn"t the only one who was feeling bored. Of course, of course. Our Village Chief is pointlessly long-winded, after all. No one ever really listens seriously to his pointless speeches anyways. I think.
"Beats me. Probably just doing something random in the capital."
My older sister Horun drew a rare Talent, Shadow Hunter Warrior, two years ago during her Ceremony of Determination.
Receiving holy blessing from birth, a warrior that possesses the strength to resist and fight against evil…… is where her talent lies, apparently.
Talents are, at the end of the day, only what the person is talented in. Whether or not to use and nurture that talent is entirely up to the person.
It was a rare Talent that we had never heard of before in our village.
A child with such a rare Talent was naturally taken to the capital by the soldiers who"d come to perform the Ceremony.
The aim was to have her meet directly with someone of power in the royal palace, and if she is determined to be of use, then they"ll employ her at the palace.
After leaving for the capital two years ago, Horun has never come back.
Based on her infrequent letters, apparently she"s not employed at the palace, but has become an "adventurer" and is getting by as a jack of all trades with daily employment.
Completely opposite to me, my elder sis is active and conspicuous and energetic. Too energetic. So energetic that she"s just annoying.
All the adults who were looking at Horun being Horun were all whispering, "Horun is definitely too big to be contained within such a small village."
I think so too.
Probably even this country is too small to contain my elder sis. That"s how capable she is. I totally agree that she"s so not suited for working in the palace.
"Shieron of Albat! Step forward!"
"Yes, sir!"
Before I knew it, Village Chief"s speech is over, and the Ceremony is finally beginning.
Shieron of Albat is called first, and he steps forward.
"Your hand, please."
What one of the soldiers is holding is an unpolished lump of crystal. It"s around the size of an adult"s head.
It"s the Stone of Determination.
By placing one"s hand on it, the name of that person"s Talent would appear within the depths of that crystal.
It"s already the nth time that I"m witnessing this scene.
The other kids who used to play with me have all turned into adults in this way.
And now, it has become my turn to become an adult as well.
Nahbal seems to be holding huge expectations of drawing a Talent more awesome than my elder sis"s.
He"s said again and again that he wants to leave this tiny and boring village.
I don"t really care though.
Regardless of what comes out, I plan to continue living as a hunter.
I"m already doing work that no way pales in comparison to that of an adult"s, and meat from prey is delicious. This profession that I can do by myself and at my own pace is great.
In place of my aging mentor who will eventually quit being a hunter, I intend to become this village"s hunter.
Regardless of whether my elder sis wished for it or not, she will become someone amazing. But her younger brother only wishes to live in a tiny village like this, out of people"s sight.
If possible, it"d be great if it turns out to be a Talent useful for hunting.
Shieron got the Talent of Nursing.
Nahbal got the Talent of Woodcutting.
"Pretty much as expected, I guess……"
"So not interesting at all……"
Shieron"s mother is an herbalist, and Nahbal"s father is a woodcutter. It really is reasonable if you think of it as them having inherited their parents" Talents. It"s so reasonable that it"s just plain boring.
But that"s just how Talents are.
Most likely I"d just get a totally boring Talent like my dad"s "Relatively Good Chef" or my mom"s "Superstrength Farmer." My sister? She"s just, you know, mutation.
"Eil of Albat! Step forward!"
Shooting one last look at the two guys who look like the world has just ended, I step forward for my turn.
For the sake of this day, Shishou had brought down a fine specimen of a black mountain goat. That"s definitely gotta be delicious. That is the only thing I"m looking forward to today.
Let"s get this troublesome ceremony thing over and done with already.
"——me, ga, ne……? It says "megane," right……?"
Both soldiers and Village Chief are all squinting their eyes.
The unpolished crystal is lumpy and has an irregular shape. In other words, it"s kind of hard to see inside.
But the words floating up from the bottom of the crystal are, to my eyes also, as such.
Me, Ga, Ne.
Megane. Gla.s.ses.
What does it even mean that my Talent is Megane.
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