Kays Translations

Chapter 31: "My Skill"

"Bah, nonsense! The elves invaded the demon territory and took her away. And the one who was kidnapped... the princess of the demon race , Karla-sama," Gale said, clenching his fist tightly, trembling with anger.

It's not just an individual issue. It's a complete violation from a racial perspective.

"We don't hold any grudge against the humans, but if things continue like this, we'll end up fighting the humans to rescue the princess, even though we know it's an elf's scheme," Gale said.

"Why were you keeping an eye on Arthur?" Takumi asked.

"The 'Sword Saint' is the strongest man among humans. He is trusted by the king, and he must know about this incident. However, we can't meet him directly. If the 'Sword Saint' harbors hostility towards the demons, it could lead to an all-out war between us."

Gale looked at us.

"That's why we targeted humans who frequent the 'Sword Saint's' mansion. We staked our hopes on the possibility of them knowing something."

"I see. However, it's impossible to ask for Arthur's cooperation. King Melkid can't go against the elves," Takumi replied.

"I see... In the end, we have no choice but to forcefully rescue the princess," Gale muttered, firming his resolve.

Mia looked at me with a expression suggesting she wanted to say something.

Don't worry. We've already decided what we're going to do.

"We'll help too. We have our own grudge against the elves," Takumi said.

"Thank you. However, I can't incorporate you guys into this rescue mission. We don't have enough time to gain the trust of all the members. This is my selfish request. If our rescue mission fails... N-No, it's nothing. Forget I mentioned it."

Indeed, it's not wise to disclose important plans to someone you just met.

I distanced myself from Gale and gestured to Mia.

Mia approached quietly.

"Mia, there's only the two of us here, so I'll tell you. If the demon princess rescue mission is in danger of failing, we'll help the demons. Please keep this conversation a secret from anyone else," I said.

"Hehehe, understood. When things get tough, we'll help them on our own!" Mia replied.

Gale slowly turned his body and faced away from us.

"...I apologize. Thank you, truly. I was just talking to myself," Gale said.

Mia and I laughed.

◇

After that, Gale said that he was going to meet his friends and parted immediately.

We decided to look for an inn for the night.

Not far from the tavern Gale led us to, we found a slightly more luxurious inn than usual.

We decided to splurge and stay at that inn.

After all, we only have two days in the capital, today and tomorrow.

――After we just finished our meal.

"There's something I'd like your advice on later," I said.

"My advice? If you’re alright with me, feel free to consult me about anything!"

Mia looked happy.

"Actually, I want us to think about my skill together," I said.

It had been a lingering question for me.

The phenomenon of "neutralization" where barriers created by the "Heart Wall" skill disappear when they collide with each other.

No matter how many times I tried Mia's "Deformation" skill, I couldn't create a "Heart Wall" that bypassed the neutralization.

In other words, even with Mia's "Deformation" skill, there are things she can do and things she can’t.

My "Tampering" skill is the same. There are definitely things I can do and things I cannot.

I called out to Mia to investigate the unmentioned rules of what can and cannot be done with our skills.

However, there was one thing I had to be careful about.

If I gave Mia unnecessary preconceptions, it might impose limitations on her "Deformation" skill.

For example, using her "Deformation" skill on a stuffed elephant to make water come out of its nose.

My guess is, there would be no limit to the amount of water that can be produced from the nose.

But if I were to tell her before using the "Deformation" skill, "You can store about 10 liters of water in the elephant's nose, and you cannot produce an unlimited amount of water," it would impose a restriction on the amount of water that can be produced from the nose.

I'm afraid of that.

For us, who want to resurrect Kukuto-san and Marle-san, that would be disastrous.

However, I also want to discover the "hidden rules of skills" while searching for the items necessary for  Kukuto-san and Marle-san.

That's why I came up with the idea of discussing "My Skill."

Since it's about "My Skill," it has nothing to do with Mia's skill, that's the theory.

What's important is whether Mia can perceive the upcoming experimental results as something unrelated to herself.

I will guide the discussion in a way that prevents connecting the results of the upcoming "Skill" experiments with Mia's "Deformation" skill.

We moved to my room.

The room was spacious, thanks to our splurge.

The cheap inns where we usually stay only have one bed in the room. But this room had a four-person table set beside the bed.

We took our seats.

"I'm going to write down my skills now. Since there might be things I haven't realized, I want to hear your opinions freely,"

I wrote down my skills on a piece of paper.

------

Skills

"Analysis": Obtain information by touching the target. The acquired information can be displayed. The longer the contact with the target, the more detailed information can be obtained.

"Tampering": Change one character of the written text on the touched target.

"Spoofing": Change the displayed content of the status to false information.

------

After thinking for a while, Mia nodded and raised her face.

Her eyes sparkled.

That expression meant she had come up with something.

"The 'Tampering' skill is too amazing. Can you change a stone into a cat, for example, by altering just one kanji character?"

It was an incredibly innovative idea to transform an inanimate object into a living creature. She really threw it out there all of a sudden.

"I think that might be beyond the capabilities of my skill," I replied.

If I could do that, I'd probably become a god...

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