Chapter 30: The Fourth Prince’s Unique Skill

“………………”

Rain enthusiastically rambled on about manga. Sure, I had liked manga and video games before I became a corporate wage slave, but I didn’t think I’d been attached to them to that extent.

“…I-I get how you feel.”

Apparently Aoi, sitting beside me, could understand him a little.

Well, it’s true this world doesn’t have much in the way of entertainment. I’d been so focused on simply surviving that I’d never really stopped to think about it.

“I’d even been keeping a list for years! This manga in particular—I reincarnated just one week before the volume was released. You have no idea how devastated I was… I usually waited for the collected volumes, but that was the one time I truly regretted not reading it in the magazine first. It was the biggest regret of my entire life!”

The sheet of paper Rain had placed on the table was covered with titles of old manga.

We had already confirmed that a day in this world was the same length as one in Japan, and based on everything we’d learned so far, the timing of reincarnations and transmigrations was synchronized with Japanese time as well.

I see…

Around the time Rain had been reincarnated, these were the manga that had been serialized back in Japan. Quite a few of them had already finished by now.

…Still, couldn’t he have had at least one bigger regret?

“This manga was an absolute masterpiece. The first anime adaptation actually ended before the manga did, but the manga’s ending was even better!”

“Seriously!? Man, now I really want to watch the anime again! And the movie was controversial, but I actually liked it, so I’d love to see that again too! More than anything, though, I want to read the final volume!”

…Aoi sure knew a lot about that series.

Come to think of it, if I’d died just before the last volume of one of my favorite manga came out, I’d probably have been pretty upset too.

Maybe I could understand how the two of them felt after all.

“Kakeru-kun—no, Kakeru-sama! I’ll pay you a hundred times whatever it costs! I’ll do absolutely anything within my power! So please, I beg you, let me have manga! And if possible, anime and games too!”

“““………………”””

As he said that, Rain performed a flawless dogeza, pressing his forehead to the floor.

…Was that really appropriate behavior for royalty?

Still, I was relieved. His lingering regret was far less serious than I’d expected. Thinking about it, people burdened with regrets as heavy as Yuuka’s or Aoi’s probably weren’t that common. I wouldn’t even need to consult those two about this.

“All right. But I have a few conditions.”

“Sure! Name anything! Money, treasures—whatever you want! I’ll use my authority as the Fourth Prince to get it for you!”

…Abuse of authority really did exist in every world.

Just like with Yuuka and Aoi, I’d make it a condition that he never reveal my secret and that he’d help me if I ever needed it.

And while I was at it, there was something else I wanted to know.

“First, tell me about yourself—and your Unique Skill.”

“Of course. Ask me anything. My name in Japan was Kenji Araki. I was thirty-eight years old when I got hit by a truck, and when I came to, I’d been reincarnated into this world. I was born as the Fourth Prince of the Kingdom of Orion, and it’s been sixteen years since then. Only my family and a few trusted people know that I’m a reincarnator.”

So some people were aware of his true identity.

“In this world, children who are reincarnators are believed to inhabit the bodies of mothers who were destined to give birth to stillborn children, so they’re considered blessings from heaven. I told my parents when I was around eight years old, and everyone accepted me without much fuss. Though I suppose royal families tend to have weaker family bonds to begin with.”

“I see…”

…Right.

Unlike Aoi and me, who had been reconstructed into entirely new bodies, Rain actually had a family in this world.

Whether or not to tell your parents that you were a reincarnator would definitely be a difficult decision.

Perhaps people here were more accepting because reincarnators were viewed as blessings, but even then, there were surely plenty of parents who wouldn’t accept it.

Maybe keeping it a secret—even from your parents—was the norm.

So Kenji… or rather, Rain… had spent sixteen years living in this world.

He’d been older than me in his previous life, and he’d arrived in this world sixteen years earlier than I had. Yet physically, I was probably slightly older than he was now.

…The age relationships between reincarnators and transmigrators were complicated.

Maybe that’s why none of us ever really brought up age.

Still… getting reincarnated after being hit by a truck?

That really was a classic trope.

“And my Unique Skill is Malice Detection. It lets me actually see the malicious intent coming from living beings, whether people or monsters.”

“’Malice Detection’… So it’s a skill that senses danger directed at you?” 

Yuuka asked.

“It’s similar to a danger-sense skill, but not exactly the same. Because it detects malice, it can also pick up things like schemes or ill intentions that aren’t necessarily meant to cause physical harm. To be honest, this Unique Skill is how I knew Kakeru wasn’t harboring any hostility toward me. There are plenty of people who hate me simply because I’m the Fourth Prince, despite never having met me. So for both me and my family, this skill has been incredibly valuable.”

“I understand…”

So that was why he’d been willing to speak with us without his guards present immediately after meeting us.

Royalty undoubtedly had countless enemies.

It didn’t seem like an offensive ability, but it was certainly an incredibly useful cheat skill.

“The nice thing is that it also reacts to malicious intent directed at people other than me. The downside, though, is that I can only see what falls within my field of vision. If someone attacks from behind, I can’t detect it.”

So that was another difference from a standard danger-sensing skill.

If your only concern was protecting yourself, a true danger-sense ability might actually be stronger.

“…W-wait a second,” 

Aoi said.

“If that’s your Unique Skill… then how did you find out about Kakeru-sama?”Chapter 30: The Fourth Prince’s Unique Skill

“………………”

Rain enthusiastically rambled on about manga. Sure, I had liked manga and video games before I became a corporate wage slave, but I didn’t think I’d been attached to them to that extent.

“…I-I get how you feel.”

Apparently Aoi, sitting beside me, could understand him a little.

Well, it’s true this world doesn’t have much in the way of entertainment. I’d been so focused on simply surviving that I’d never really stopped to think about it.

“I’d even been keeping a list for years! This manga in particular—I reincarnated just one week before the volume was released. You have no idea how devastated I was… I usually waited for the collected volumes, but that was the one time I truly regretted not reading it in the magazine first. It was the biggest regret of my entire life!”

The sheet of paper Rain had placed on the table was covered with titles of old manga.

We had already confirmed that a day in this world was the same length as one in Japan, and based on everything we’d learned so far, the timing of reincarnations and transmigrations was synchronized with Japanese time as well.

I see…

Around the time Rain had been reincarnated, these were the manga that had been serialized back in Japan. Quite a few of them had already finished by now.

…Still, couldn’t he have had at least one bigger regret?

“This manga was an absolute masterpiece. The first anime adaptation actually ended before the manga did, but the manga’s ending was even better!”

“Seriously!? Man, now I really want to watch the anime again! And the movie was controversial, but I actually liked it, so I’d love to see that again too! More than anything, though, I want to read the final volume!”

…Aoi sure knew a lot about that series.

Come to think of it, if I’d died just before the last volume of one of my favorite manga came out, I’d probably have been pretty upset too.

Maybe I could understand how the two of them felt after all.

“Kakeru-kun—no, Kakeru-sama! I’ll pay you a hundred times whatever it costs! I’ll do absolutely anything within my power! So please, I beg you, let me have manga! And if possible, anime and games too!”

“““………………”””

As he said that, Rain performed a flawless dogeza, pressing his forehead to the floor.

…Was that really appropriate behavior for royalty?

Still, I was relieved. His lingering regret was far less serious than I’d expected. Thinking about it, people burdened with regrets as heavy as Yuuka’s or Aoi’s probably weren’t that common. I wouldn’t even need to consult those two about this.

“All right. But I have a few conditions.”

“Sure! Name anything! Money, treasures—whatever you want! I’ll use my authority as the Fourth Prince to get it for you!”

…Abuse of authority really did exist in every world.

Just like with Yuuka and Aoi, I’d make it a condition that he never reveal my secret and that he’d help me if I ever needed it.

And while I was at it, there was something else I wanted to know.

“First, tell me about yourself—and your Unique Skill.”

“Of course. Ask me anything. My name in Japan was Kenji Araki. I was thirty-eight years old when I got hit by a truck, and when I came to, I’d been reincarnated into this world. I was born as the Fourth Prince of the Kingdom of Orion, and it’s been sixteen years since then. Only my family and a few trusted people know that I’m a reincarnator.”

So some people were aware of his true identity.

“In this world, children who are reincarnators are believed to inhabit the bodies of mothers who were destined to give birth to stillborn children, so they’re considered blessings from heaven. I told my parents when I was around eight years old, and everyone accepted me without much fuss. Though I suppose royal families tend to have weaker family bonds to begin with.”

“I see…”

…Right.

Unlike Aoi and me, who had been reconstructed into entirely new bodies, Rain actually had a family in this world.

Whether or not to tell your parents that you were a reincarnator would definitely be a difficult decision.

Perhaps people here were more accepting because reincarnators were viewed as blessings, but even then, there were surely plenty of parents who wouldn’t accept it.

Maybe keeping it a secret—even from your parents—was the norm.

So Kenji… or rather, Rain… had spent sixteen years living in this world.

He’d been older than me in his previous life, and he’d arrived in this world sixteen years earlier than I had. Yet physically, I was probably slightly older than he was now.

…The age relationships between reincarnators and transmigrators were complicated.

Maybe that’s why none of us ever really brought up age.

Still… getting reincarnated after being hit by a truck?

That really was a classic trope.

“And my Unique Skill is Malice Detection. It lets me actually see the malicious intent coming from living beings, whether people or monsters.”

“’Malice Detection’… So it’s a skill that senses danger directed at you?” 

Yuuka asked.

“It’s similar to a danger-sense skill, but not exactly the same. Because it detects malice, it can also pick up things like schemes or ill intentions that aren’t necessarily meant to cause physical harm. To be honest, this Unique Skill is how I knew Kakeru wasn’t harboring any hostility toward me. There are plenty of people who hate me simply because I’m the Fourth Prince, despite never having met me. So for both me and my family, this skill has been incredibly valuable.”

“I understand…”

So that was why he’d been willing to speak with us without his guards present immediately after meeting us.

Royalty undoubtedly had countless enemies.

It didn’t seem like an offensive ability, but it was certainly an incredibly useful cheat skill.

“The nice thing is that it also reacts to malicious intent directed at people other than me. The downside, though, is that I can only see what falls within my field of vision. If someone attacks from behind, I can’t detect it.”

So that was another difference from a standard danger-sensing skill.

If your only concern was protecting yourself, a true danger-sense ability might actually be stronger.

“…W-wait a second,” 

Aoi said.

“If that’s your Unique Skill… then how did you find out about Kakeru-sama?”