A Quiet Departure, Unbeknownst to All; A Quiet Encounter, Guided by Fate (1)

This world has Skills, and they can be acquired through Skill Orbs. Skills require a certain number of slots to acquire, depending on their rarity. And every person is limited to eight Skill slots—that was knowledge Old Man Hinga had taught me.

But I have sixteen slots. I assume that's because I have a previous life—that of a Japanese male high school student. Perhaps because of that previous life, I knew things that children my age didn't even know before I remembered my previous life. Well, I didn't always know the words for those things, so I rarely had a chance to show off my knowledge.

"In this world, Skills really are everything... Oh, this is good."

The fist-sized blue apple-like fruit I had bitten into was juicy and pleasantly tart. A single one had grown at the tip of a branch that bent like a fishing rod with a big catch on the line. 【World Ruler】 told me it was "harmless," so I plucked the fruit. The branch sprang upward with a swish, which I found amusing.

I was walking through the forest, carrying as many of these mysterious blue fruits as I could hold in both hands and eating them as I went.

I wasn't wandering around aimlessly. When I saw Old Man Hinga off, I had spotted a place where smoke like that from a cooking fire was rising, so I was heading in that direction. I assumed it was probably the town nearest the mine, but I didn't know for sure. Since many mine guards traveled along the road connecting the mine and the town, I was keeping as far away from it as possible.

Humus made from fallen leaves covered the ground. There were patches of undergrowth and occasional rises and dips, but the terrain was easy enough to walk across.

"I want to reach the town before nightfall..."

Thanks to 【World Ruler】, I knew there were no dangerous animals nearby. But I only knew about things "within the range I could sense," so I had no idea what would happen once night fell and I could no longer see. Even in Japan, deer and wild boar only came down from the mountains after dark. There had to be wolves in this world, too, and even wild dogs would be a serious threat to me right now.

Maybe 【World Ruler】 wasn't as all-powerful as I had thought...

The "Appraisal" Skills that appeared in the anime and novels I knew could tell you a plant's name, origin, and rarity, and sometimes even how much it was worth in trade. But 【World Ruler】 only conveyed a vague impression. I wouldn't know anything unless I tried to find out.

It felt as though I were viewing the scenery through a distorted lens... I suppose.

But since I couldn't know anything unless I sensed it, that meant the "distorted lens" was me! Damn it!

"...Oh, it looks like it's that way."

I discovered a stream. Following its flow, I reached the edge of the forest and emerged into a vast grassland. Beyond it, I could see a town where stone houses stood in rows, surrounded by a simple defensive wall made by piling up earth.

I hurriedly hid behind a tree. About a hundred meters away, three slaves and more than ten mine guards were fighting. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen a single slave on the way here. Where had they all gone...?

"Ah."

Outnumbered and overwhelmed, all three slaves collapsed on the spot. Then the mine guards hurriedly raised their hands. A short, portly man in flashy clothes came lumbering out.

What were they doing...?

The man held a hand over one of the fallen slaves—and the slave began to glow faintly. Then a Skill Orb emerged from the slave, like bubbles rising from the bottom of a body of water.

"Could that be 【Orb Removal】!?"

One of the mine guards looked in my direction.

"..."

I hurriedly ducked my head and held my breath. Don't come. Don't come, don't come. Don't come...

Several minutes passed. The time felt impossibly long to me, but nothing happened around me. When I slowly raised my head, most of the mine guards and the portly man had already left. The remaining guards carried the slaves' corpses between them, entered the grassland, and threw them down there.

If they left them there, something would take care of them—in other words, wild dogs or something similar would come and eat them at night. Then again, perhaps it wouldn't be wild dogs, but something more fantastical.

"Phew... That startled me. I need to be careful."

Even though this was my second life, all I had ever experienced was life as a Japanese high school student in a country without war or survival struggles. In this world, where people lived by violence, I was literally just a "kid." 【World Ruler】 was capable, but I shouldn't expect to get by simply by relying on it.

"...Still, isn't this kind of pathetic for a ten-star Skill, 【World Ruler】?"

I leaned against a tree trunk and complained while eating one of the mysterious blue fruits.

"That 【Orb Removal】 from earlier was incredible. It can turn a Skill into a Skill Orb, no questions asked, right? You just hold out your hand like that, and out slides a Skill Orb..."

A black Skill Orb shimmering with rainbow colors slid out of my chest.

"...Huh?"

Sure enough, I was holding 【World Ruler★★★★★★★★★★】 in my hand—

I panicked. I panicked like crazy. On top of that, my body went limp, and I couldn't move for a while. I curled up and twitched like a beetle larva—and I couldn't even wipe the drool hanging from my mouth—while I forced my brain to think.

There was no sign of 【World Ruler】 remaining inside my body. That meant I had pulled the Skill Orb out myself. Could anyone do that? No, of course not. If they could, people would trade Skill Orbs much more casually, and I had never seen or heard of the slaves doing anything like that.

That meant I had automatically learned the 【Orb Removal】 Skill I had watched from a distance.

I had that kind of talent!?

No way. This was it—the true potential of 【World Ruler】.

"Phew..."

Once my fatigue had finally faded, I sat up. I picked up the mysterious blue fruit I had dropped, brushed off the dirt, and bit into it again.

"That man was completely unfazed after removing the Skill Orb, wasn't he...? He didn't even look tired."

That meant I could use other people's Skills, but I probably couldn't handle them as freely as the people who originally possessed them.

When I absorbed 【World Ruler】 back into my body, the fog that had settled over my brain cleared away, and I was enveloped in a sensation of omnipotence. This could get addictive... I wouldn't take it out again, though. It left my body feeling dead tired.

"Wait."

I suddenly remembered. The slaves had been using Skills. In particular, the cafeteria lady's magic.

Could I use that, too?

"Um... She was making wind like this, I think."

I held out my right hand and braced myself with a grunt.

"..."

But my right hand produced neither a gust nor even the slightest breeze.

"Huh? It doesn't work...? What about fire?"

When I stared at my right hand and willed it to happen, a little flame suddenly flickered to life there.

"Yes! I did—"

At that moment, I became dizzy and toppled sideways. I was so sleepy that I closed my eyes.