Chapter 15: Encounter (Mia’s Point of View)

◇ [Mia’s point of view]

One day, when I woke up, I was in a pure white space.

There were a lot of people there, all of whom I didn’t know.

As I was looking around, I was surprised when I heard a voice in my head saying, “Choose your elements of skill.”

I read light novels and play games, so I know what “skills” are.

Given the situation, I didn’t doubt that I had been reincarnated in another world and would be able to use the skill I chose.

Since I majored in painting at an art university, I wanted to lead a slow life rather than becoming a hero and subjugating the Demon King. That’s why I chose the elements of “Material”, “Feature”, and “Expression” skills. I wanted to spend my time drawing pictures that I love.

After making my selection, I was about to transfer when a girl I didn’t know approached me.

“Hey, why don’t we teleport together? I’m worried about being alone from the beginning.”

She was speaking to the Japanese people around her and suggested that they all transfer together. Since the group consisted only of five women, I decided to accept her offer, feeling relieved that there were no men among them.

◇

――We were reborn in a city called Barcery.

Since everyone in the group loved light novels, we headed straight to the adventurer’s guild. We received instructions from the woman at the guild reception desk about the rules for registering as adventurers and that we are recognized in this world as people from another world.

After everyone had registered as adventurers, the leader who had approached me earlier, Masami, eagerly asked the others, “Hey, what profession did everyone choose? Don’t be surprised, but I became a hero!”

“Eh?! You took my job! I’m also a hero!”

“Fufufu, being a hero is tough if you don’t defeat the Demon King, and you might lose your rights. I’m a sage.”

“I knew it would turn out this way. We definitely need a tank in the party. Since I thought no one else would do it, I decided to become a holy knight.”

…What is going on?

Everyone was a hardcore battle maniac. They were the complete opposite of me, who wanted to live a slow life. What should I do? I can’t say my profession is a “painter.”

Masami, the leader, asked me what I had chosen, sensing my anxiety.

“What did you choose, Mia? Oh, I know! You’re a saint, right? It suits you.”

Please stop. You’re raising the bar…

“Uh, no, that’s not it… I chose ‘painter.'”

“….”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear you very well. Could you please say it again?”

“…I said I’m a painter.”

“PAINTER?!”

Everyone looked at me like they had just seen an alien or something they couldn’t understand…

“It’s okay. Even playboys can become sages if they change jobs! You’ll definitely be able to switch to an amazing occupation,” she said.

“Y-Yeah, that’s right,” they replied.

“Definitely. Being a painter is a rare job. It’s not something ordinary people can become,” she continued.

From then on, I was treated completely differently, as if I was a sore loser.

As we headed out on our quest, the atmosphere was awkward. And when we returned to the adventurer’s guild, I was removed from the party. The reason given was “At our level, we can’t fight while protecting Mia.” There was nothing I could do. While everyone else defeated monsters with their sword and magic skills, I couldn’t even win against a single goblin.

Two days later, I was told to leave as new adventurers had joined the party. I was at a loss as to what to do and started searching for a party to join at the adventurer’s guild to make a living. That’s when a party invited me to talk to them. It was a party consisting of an elf and some shady-looking old men.

I thought it was suspicious, but since I had no other options, I went to talk to them. As soon as I introduced myself, my occupation and skills were spread around the guild, and I was rejected from joining the party. After that, I couldn’t join any other party.

The next day, those old men were picking on a new adventurer named Takumi, just like they did to me. However, I saw Takumi sell a large number of magic stones, and I wondered how he could defeat so many monsters with his seemingly useless skills.

The following day, I went to the adventurer’s guild to look for a party to join, thinking that I might die, and found Takumi there.

I approached him, thinking that if he was in a similar situation as me, we could cooperate. I was determined to make him listen to me and thought that this was my last chance.

Despite his small and childish appearance, he was incredibly dependable and transformed my worthless skill into something amazing.

To be honest, when I was suddenly called to his room at the inn, I panicked a little. I had never been alone in a room with a man before. I hope Takumi-san didn’t know that my heart was pounding…

Although I had lost hope in this other world, I think I had the best encounter meeting him.

I’d like to enjoy a slow life, but right now I’m most excited to go on adventures with Takumi.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter