V1C4

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Slaves weren’t considered regular customers. They were treated more as their master’s property so they couldn’t stay in a separate room; we were lead to a single person room at a corner of the second floor.

“I’ve repayed my debt, Astarte. Are you satisfied with it?”

“Bless you.” A weak, indistinct voice that seemed so far away answered back. “Cecyl and… what was your name?”

“Nagi, it’s Nagi. Souma Nagi.”

“I bless you, Nagi, and also Cecyl’s future; I wish… for your… happiness…” The voice slowly fades away.

In the end, Astarte told me about my unique skill, [Skill Structure].

[Skill Structure]

By restructuring the skill’s concept, one can produce a new skill.The skill’s general concept is <Skill Target><Auxiliary Information><Action>You need at least two skills to restructure.Regardless of the skills’ original levels, the resulting skills’ levels will always be lvl 1.Skills that were restructured by [Skill Structure] cannot be restructured a second time.

Restructured Skills always turning out to be Level 1 seems reasonable enough.

Imagine, if, for example, you have a high-level skill that <Deals Damage> to <Dragons> with < Weapons>, and you combine it with a Level 1 [Cleaning] skill. You could potentially make a ridiculous skill that <Cleans Up><Dragons> with <Cleaning Tools>. It’d shake the fabric of this universe.

Now, here comes the important part.

The skills allowed to be restructured are skills possessed by the user, and skills possessed by the contracted slaves only.When skills are restructured while they remain inside the master’s and the slave’s bodies, it becomes easier to make more sophisticated skills. This is due to a special effect that takes place when their two different magic energy interact and mix.

In other words, [Skill Structure] already assumes I own a slave, since the only skills I can tinker around with, are my own and my slave’s.

However, this skill’s highlight is that if I mix my and my slave’s skill, we can change it into an amazing one.

Though I’ve restructured by myself, I can only make those kind of skills that I’ve sold to the slave trader. If I do it with two people, how much stronger will it become?

In other words, in order to use [Skill Structure], it’s either I tinker with my own skills, get other skills from somewhere else, or… tinker with Cecyl’s skills. Those are my only options, I suppose.

I saw Cecyl sit on the floor, even though I told her that it’s fine to sit on the bed or the chair. She was looking at me, back straightened with tension.

“Um, is it fine if we talk for a bit?”

“Y-yes.” She twitched in surprise from where she was sitting and nodded her head. Her ears were twitching up and down as well… Cute.

“It looks like Astarte disappeared, are you holding up okay?”

“…yes.” Cecyl clutched at her small chest and released a long breath. “I’m… fine. He had said that this day would come…”

It seems that for Cecyl, Astarte was akin to a guardian spirit. Apparently her family, the last vestiges of the Demon race, used to live in the mountains in hiding. However, two years prior, her family encountered some humans and everyone aside from her, ended up getting killed. She, however, was sold into slavery. Thereafter, Astarte’s voice served as her only hope.

“Astarte told me that, ‘someday, I’ll find someone who will take good care of you.’ We moved from town to town… By this time… I was starting to lose hope… But…” Tears started to spill from her bright, red eyes.

“I finally met someone that Astarte believes in. I’ll be in your care, Goshujin-sama.”

“You don’t have to call me that.” Having a beautiful tsurupeta elf call me that way makes me feel like I’m committing a crime. “You can just call me Nagi.”

“Yes, Nagi-sama!” Cecyl said as she stroked her chiming collar lovingly.

“I just said my name, but might as well formally introduce myself. I’m Nagi, I guess it’d be more appropriate to introduce myself Nagi Souma in this world. I don’t know if you’ve heard from Astarte, but I came from a different world as a ‘Visitor’.”

“I’m Cecyl Pharott, umm, I’m a Demon.” Cecyl then started squirming before asking, “Nagi-sama, if it’s possible, can you keep ‘Pharott’ a secret?”

“Sure, but why though?”

“We Demons usually only tell people we’re close with our family name, so being called that makes me feel all tingly.”

“Alright, I understand, Cecyl Pharott.”

“Hauu~”

“It’s fine. I’ll keep it a secret, Cecyl Pharott.”

“Hyan~”

“I definitely will never tell it to anyone, Cecyl Pha-“

“Nagi-samaaaa…” She started squirming again, rubbing her legs together as she glared at me reproachfully.

Sorry, I enjoyed it way too much.

“Anyway, because I came from another world, I won’t do anything bad to you, so you don’t have to worry. I promise.”

“Y-yes… Nagi-sama’s my saviour so I believe in you.”

That’s a relief. We both only have a few, if any, acquaintances in this world so we have to cooperate with each other.

“Still, Nagi-sama is amazing to have so much rare skills that you don’t care about selling them.”

“I actually made them with my unique skill.”

“That’s even more amazing! Being able to make rare skills is like having a gold mine.”

“Nah, I won’t be selling rare skills anymore.”

“…why is that?”

“If people knew that I could create rare skills at my whim, there’d be no end to the troubles it’ll bring.” This time, they might have bought my serendipitous encounter with the skill as an excuse. However, now that I showed my hand, I can’t use it again.

If I sell rare skills to the same person multiple times, I’m going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Besides, in this world, even people can be made into merchandise, not just skills. On top of that, I’m unfamiliar with this world; if they manage to catch me and sell my [Skill Structure], that will be the end for me. I’ll become lower than an average person. Worst case scenario, it’s possible I’d have to sell myself as a slave.

“Instead of selling rare skills, it’s better to make use of those skills to earn money. The best scenario is if I can make a rare skill that lets us earn without working.”

“Nagi-sama’s goal is to have a simple happy life, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, but it isn’t limited to that.” It’s better if I talk to Cecyl to prepare her for my true purpose in this world. She sits in the floor with bated breath as she waits for the rest of my response.

My true purpose is, “Low risk, high reward. Max results, minimum effort. Surviving in this world without doing anything seriously as much as possible or overdoing it.”

“Nagi-sama, just now, what-?”

“Hide your capabilities. Don’t accept their requests carelessly and say ‘I can do it!’. Be creative with lucrative jobs, clear them, and then save money. Afterwards, think up of ways to live without working.”

“Even though you have such a great skill?”

“If you say, ‘I can do it!’ without much thought, you’re going to have a terrible experience.” One time before, when I was working at a part-time job, I carelessly said, “I’m good with computers!” that was one of my failures.

What was supposed to be an easy job turned into me also doing their accounting. And since they thought I was good with computers, they assumed I can make a homepage for them. I had to buy a book for that. Once I made a really nice-looking homepage, I’ve had enough, so I thought of quitting. When I tried to quit, they guilt-tripped me, saying, “Who’s going to update the site when you’re gone!? You’re not supposed to make things harder for others in a workplace right? That’s the basis of society!”

When that didn’t work, he threatened me, “If you quit, I’ll charge you twice the amount of the hours you worked here as a nuisance fee from not being able to update our homepage!” He said something so nonsensical to me. If I refused to go to work, they would call me non-stop even at home.

When I said I’d go to the Labor Standards Inspection Office for consultation, the last thing they said was, “Pussy! Piece of shit!”

I really don’t get them.

“…did Nagi-sama come from a world ruled by a Demon Lord?” Cecyl said in shock. I was describing a civilized world though.

“Anyway, if you keep trying to please people and give 100%, eventually they’ll take it for granted. And when they get used to that level of effort, they’ll start demanding 120%. Keep on going down that road, and soon you’ll hit your limit. That’s why, it’s better to just show 40% of your effort.”

This is the only thing I won’t change my mind about. Hide my abilities; conceal my strengths; be creative and survive. After all, no matter what the cheat skill is, people will get used to them given time.

“There’s a parable in my world.”

Only a useless tree can live out their lives. The straight tree was cut down and used for furniture. The sturdy tree was cut down and used to build a ship. The fruit tree had its branch broken and taken away. The greasy tree was cut down and was made into firewood. By being of no use to others as much as one can help it, you will be left in peace.

“What I’m saying is, we need to hide our capabilities and act useless.”

“…haaa. The way Nagi-sama puts it sounds lame.”

“…in other words, frolic under the sun, let come what may.”

“Eh? Suddenly it sounds cooler! Eh? Ehhhhhhh?” Cecyl’s eyes started tearing up as she started to look moved.

The way you say it is important after all.

“That’s why, to that end, I need to know more about this world.” I said as we finally get back on track.

I didn’t just buy Cecyl because Astarte asked me to. I also wanted someone who knew a lot about this world by my side. Though my goal is to survive in this world with minimal effort, I don’t even know what the standard lifestyle here is.

Right now, I only know about Contracts and how much their money is worth. I only have a rough idea about skills. That makes Cecyl’s knowledge vital to me.

“You know the Demon Lord and his monsters, there are adventurers who fight against them right?”

“Yes. They usually do. Unlike soldiers however, they do jobs that are closer to home, wherever that is.”

Yeah, just as I figured.

“Well then, let’s become adveturers too, shall we?” Cecyl nodded in response.

“There’s 2 main reasons we’re doing this. One, by taking quests, I’ll be able to learn more about this world’s geography, lifestyle, and culture, among other things. And another thing, we’ll be able to use our skills; we’ll complete the easiest possible quest that can give us a lot of money. Once we’ve met our lifestyle goals, then, we can think about what do from thereon… What do you think?”

“That… even though Nagi-sama came from another world, you’re grounded in reality.”

“Yeah well, that’s because I was forced to learn by circumstances, like my shady jobs and child neglect.”

“I can’t really wrap my head around it completely but, you’ve had a hard time, didn’t you?”

“Same goes for you, right?” Well, even if we lick each other’s wounds, nothing would come out of it. “Anyway, there should be adventurer’s guilds right?”

“Yes.”

“Ok, then tell me about the biggest town closest to the royal capital that also has an adventurer’s guild. That’ll be our next destination.”

We shouldn’t stay at the capital for a long time. First of all, there’s a possibility that the King has his eyes on me. After all, I still am a person from another world, even if I was thrown out. On top of that, it’s someone whose cheat skill was unknown to him. If I were him, I’d be watching my every movement.

Secondly, I’ve shown a rare skill to the slave trader and the skill shop. If they ever learn about my identity, the could possibly find out about my skill that can create rare skills. Even if they don’t think that way, they might just think I have other more rare skills.

So I think our best move, and first order of business, is to leave this place and start over at another big town.

“Understood.” It helps that Cecyl is quick on the uptake. Come to think of it, when I was negotiating with the slave trader, Cecyl was the first to see where I was getting at.

Is it part of being a demon or is it just Cecyl’s acumen? I’ll have her show me her skills and parameters later.

“If one talks about a big town near the capital, it has to be Metecal. It’s a fortified city that’s two days walk due east of here. It also has a big adventurer’s guild. Metecal, the City of Commerce, as it’s called, is fairly well-known to other countries, not only because of the size of it, but also for its lord being self-governed, or so I’ve heard.”

“Let’s go there then.”

“Um, Master… Nagi-sama?” Still sitting on the floor, she called out to me with upturned eyes. Uwaaa, that sent shivers down my spine. “Why do you have so much trust in me?” Cecyl asked as she held her hands in front of her small chest, looking straight at me.

“You just came from a different world right? You got kicked out by the king and even got scrutinized by the people of your world, so why… are you so…”

“Hmm? Doesn’t the slave contract force you to obey my commands without resistance?”

“It’s only if you command me while using your ring.” Is that so? On my left ring finger was the ring that materialized when I contracted Cecyl. So if I touch this while making a command, slaves can’t resist.

“Have you even considered that I might be lying to you and trying to deceive you?”

“I mean, well, I owe it to Astarte, that I work together with you, so even if you lie to me there’s nothing I could do.”

The slave contract doesn’t allow Cecyl to escape from me, and she also can’t intentionally hurt me. The only time the contract is cancelled is either when I pass Cecyl onto another master or if I die.

Alternatively, Cecyl can also buy out her contract for 120,000 Arshe. It will be offset by the amount of work that Cecyl will do. When we complete quests, Cecyl’s share of the rewards will go towards the payment of her contract. Of course, if she’d rather receive money, it doesn’t really matter to me.

In other words, for the meantime, Cecyl will be with me. So even if I do have doubts, there’s nothing else I can really do.

“As for the reason I trust you…”

Me, the Visitor; and her, the lone Demon. Though we were born in different worlds, I feel like she’s a kindred spirit somehow.

“I guess it’s because, you, just like me, don’t carry any luggage, maybe?”

“‘Carry any luggage?'”

“You know people like the King, my boss from my previous part-time, and other numerous big-shots, they usually carry the weight of their organizations on their backs. As such, they also often use people from outside their organizations as well…” They use ’em with the excuse of protecting their organization.

Even the King, with the reason of protecting his people, summoned us, “outsiders”.

“But you and I are by ourselves. We don’t carry such burdens. Even our goals of surviving coincide. That’s why I can trust in you.”

“Nagi-sama…” Cecyl murmured from where she sat, hiding her face by looking down. “Thank you very much! I’ll, I’ll do my best!”

“Alright, well then,” I said as our conversation started to wrap up. “Can you sit on the bed? I want to play around with your body.”

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