NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2
A Loner, Being Given a Terrible Skill and A Dark Knight’s Blessing
“W, what is this?!”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Shun?”
Not paying attention to Yuuma’s voice, Shun, who had his eyes opened as wide as they could, focused on the single sheet of paper.
T, this…is really serious!
Shun’s status───was like this:
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Kondou Shun
Male
Human Race
Lv1
HP 100
Attack 100
Magic 100
MP 100
Agility 100
Endurance 100
Skills
None
Innate Skills
Abnormal Status Doubling (Lower Rank)
・The effects of any status abnormality are doubled
・It is added whenever an abnormality occurs in your body
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
Heeeeeeeeeeeey?! What’s with this shitty skill?! Doubling status abnormalities…this isn’t something that should be doubled! Is this some kind of joke!! Why is this happening?! My…my innate skill…is useless…or rather, it’s a hindrance! How stupid! What am I supposed to do…If I get poisoned, my HP is gonna drain like crazy…Let’s see what my status values are…What’s with this lack of this diversity?! It’s way too uniform! There’s definitely a god out there that went “Whatever, I’ll just put down 100 for everything” on my status…Hey god, show yourself!
Many things like that popped up in Shun’s head.
“H, hey, Shun! You okay?!”
“…Ahaa…Haha…”
“This is bad! He’s cracked!”
Yuuma was concerned about Shun, who was looking into the distance with an ominous laugh.
“Hey…Yuuma…show me your paper.”
Maybe we’ll be the same…?!
Thinking so, he vigorously unfolded the paper:
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Asano Yuuma
Male
Human Race
Lv1
HP 130
Attack 250
Magic 150
MP 90
Agility 100
Endurance 70
Skills
None
Innate Skills
Master Swordsman’s Knowledge
・Amount of experience needed to level up swordsman skills is halved
・Durability and sharpness of carried weapons (limited to swords) are doubled
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Oh…so that’s how it is…
“………………”
“What do you think, Shun…? My innate skill is about master swordsmanship so I’m thinking about becoming a Warrior.”
“…………………………………………”
“Shun? You’ve been acting weird for a while now.”
There was obviously something peculiar to Shun, who was remaining silent after seeing the paper.
Furthermore, upon close inspection, Shun’s shoulders were shaking little by little.
“Yuuma.”
“Hmm?”
“I might die…”
Shun handed over the paper containing his status to Yuuma while grumbling,
“I have to be really careful…around posion…haha..ahaha…”
Reading silently, Yuuma was gradually struck by surprise.
“This is…?!”
After he was finished reading, Yuuma looked over to Shun and spoke with his eyes wide open,
“Y…you and I have gotten strong…it seems…”
“No…don’t even try to say something like that while making that face.”
Shun smiled bitterly, as he was a little jealous of Yuuma and at the same time, was feeling gloomy.
I’ve got nobody in the same boat as me…*grumble*…
In the end, excluding one person, the other 29 people were delighted upon seeing their status on a sheet of paper.
And so, in light of this spectacle, his only thought currently was how to survive in this world.
“Alright…is everyone done checking their status?”
“Yup!” “Yup!” “Yup!”
“Then next is decide your profession. Once deciding on one, you will be presented with weapons that suit your profession, after which veteran adventurers and soldiers will teach you combat techniques and knowledge. Choose carefully, as you will have to stick with that profession.”
“Okay!” “Okay!” “Okay!”
It seems like they plan on examining us further…
“Then put your hands on this crystal again. It’s the same as before.”
The students lined up once more with self-indulgent faces of excitement over what profession they would get.
Shun, already having enough after the ordeal with his innate skill, was not that interested while waiting in line.
One by one they were examined, and one by one they were told their suitable professions.
In addition to the standard positions of Warriors, Priests, Knights, Spear Wielders, and Fist Fighters, there were also occasionally people who got high-ranking professions such as Sages, Battle Masters, Paladins, and Martial Artists.
Come to think of it, what did Minesaki become?
With that thought, he walked up to ask Karin, who was letting her delight show on her face, and asked about it.
“I’m a Sage. I never thought I’d get a high-ranking profession!”
“Huh, how amazing of you, Minesaki.”
“Is, is that so………………? Eheheh～”
As Shun said that, Karin let out a smile while embarrassed.
“What about you Shun? Did you decide yet?”
“Oh, right…I’ll be heading off then.”
With eagerness, he walked up to the desk with the crystal, and upon softly touching it───
“T, this is!”
The Shinto priest, whose job was to relay the information, widened their eyes.
“Huh?”
‘Going by that reaction, did something happen again?!’ Shun thought, feeling an unpleasant premonition.
───Within the crystal, a dreadful black aura rose.
Nearby knights, military officers, the king, everyone gazed his way.
The classmates, not understanding what was going on, looked on with faces of bewilderment.
The black aura, after spreading around in the crystal, gradually faded.
Eventually, the black aura disappeared and the crystal returned to being colorless.
“Wh, what happened…?”
With a cold sweat, Shun tilted his head with a confused expression.
The king called out to Shun with a frightened expression.
“You…it can’t be.”
“Come again?”
Everyone, who had touched the crystal and never had an outcome like Shun’s, now held a slightly unpleasant premonition.
───Shun held that same feeling from the beginning.
“Seize this man!”
“Huh..?!” “Huh..?!” “Huh..?!”
With the sudden words of the king, everyone, including Shun, were shocked.
“At your command!”
The knights obeyed his orders without any hesitance.
“Why?!”
“You just stay quiet and come with us!”
Shun forcibly opened the door between the king and the attacking knights and ran through the castle at top speed.
“Why are you doing this?!”
Karin suddenly held a fierce anger towards the king trying to capture Shun.
“It’s because…we’ve discovered that his existence is extremely close to that of the Demon Lord army.”
“This is tyranny! How can you say such a thing?!”
Yuuma, as did everyone else, got aggravated and let out an angry voice towards the king.
“His profession is Dark Knight…a black aura came forth from the crystal, that is sufficient enough evidence to definitely point him as being a Dark Knight.”
While most people where saying “Huh?”, inquiring for further elaboration, Karin let out a voice that carried her wrath in it,
“Even if that’s Kondou’s profession, I can say with certainty that he’s not the kind of person to start a revolt!”
“Even so, I am this country’s king and I have a duty to protect the citizens. I will not leave even the slightest hint of a security risk behind.”
Yuuma laughed scornfully at those words.
“An obligation to protect? Then do you take an active role on the battlefield…?”
“This is different from that
. I can not take an offensive role on the battlefield, but I can be on the defense.”“Then let us also make the distinction between this and that~. Shun and I actually just wanted to try subjugating the Demon Lord, so…I’m stepping down and going with Shun.”
“Then do as you please.”
The king let out a sneer, thinking ‘how can just one person make a difference?’
“Alright───everyone, let’s go.”
“OK!” “OK!” “OK!”
“……No wait a moment!”
Unexpectedly, as everyone was on the verge of going, the king grew greatly flustered and threw some words of restraint.
At those words, Yuuma turned to glare at the king and said “Oh?”
“Why do you go so far for that little brat?!”
“…You know, I’ve decided to place priority on my few companions rather than someone from a different world that I don’t even know that well yet.”
“What are you insinuating?! Are you going to say that you trust that man, who’s a Dark Knight, over me?!”
“That’s the gist of it. Why would we trust you guys who we’ve only met today?”
This brat…is getting carried away…!!
“Enough! Get out────”
*Bam*
“…?!”
Immediately after the king shouted that, there sounded the loud noise of the door opening.
“…Father?”
Within the chilly air of the room, a cold female voice filled with anger was audible.
“L, Leele…?!”
Tracing back to the source of the voice, there stood the beautiful girl Leele, who had an attractive figure with blond hair, blue eyes, a bit of a voluptuous chest, and it could certainly be said that her voice held the aura of a beautiful princess.
“…Why did you deliberately order the knights to chase around that young man?”
Leele asked that question with a cold voice while smiling.
“He’s a Dark Knight…so I let the knights run after him───”
“───Are you an idiot?”
“Huh?”
“That person was someone who was transferred here, he’s not even supposed to know the circumstances of this world, you see. Even if you said that he was a Dark Knight he wouldn’t even know what you were talking about. Furthermore, by suddenly trying to seize him, you’ve certainly made him harbor ill-feelings towards this country, right…? His companions would surely also bear ill-feelings to this country as well, wouldn’t they?”
“Hmmm”
The king thought about it.
“You made a bad first impression of this country, you know. Do you know how many people have been bothered by your selfish thoughts and selfish actions? The maids were talking about how to knights in the castle were in the way…The knights themselves also find it a burden having to search to someone…Actually, the person they’re searching for is right here───It’s okay to come in now, you know.”
“Huh…?”
To those words, the king unintentionally let out his voice.
一When Leele finished her lecture to the king, her cold expression turned into a sweet smile once she started talking to what was at the door.
The door behind Leele opened.
“───Pardon the intrusion…Huh? I really came back here…”
It was Shun who opened the door.
“Heh heh…this royal castle is quite grand, isn’t it?”
“Right…I didn’t think the layout would loop back to here…How grand.”
“Ah…ah…”
The king was flapping his mouth while pointing at Shun.
“So, here’s Kondou Shun. Is there anything you want to say, Father?”
“Ah…um───”
“───Father?”
Under Leele’s guidance, the king faced towards Shun, bent forward 90 degrees on the spot, and began to apologize,
“I’m very sorry…!”
Upon seeing that, everyone felt relieved for Shun and let out a sigh towards the king who was bending forward.
“Well…um…it’s fine.”
It’s odd to have a king lower his head and apologize, I’m a bit embarrassed…
Shun scratched his cheek while thinking so.
“F, forgive me…!”
“Like I said, it’s fine.”
Shun walked over to the king and patted his back.
Seeing that spectacle, Leele and the classmates naturally became less tense.
“Shun’s quite kind, isn’t he. Despite this foolish king.”
“Ugh…”
Those words struck through the king’s heart.
“Shun’s quite kind, isn’t he. Even to this old man who keeps misunderstanding things.”
“Guh…”
Another blow.
“Kondou…are you alright? Are you hurt? Sorry, we couldn’t stop this person from acting rashly.”
“Oof…”
Another blow…and a thud.
“Stop it already…! This is overkill!”
Such a strange sight arose where Shun had to defend the king, who became the victim of everyone’s verbal attacks.