Chapter 1

This is a new work. Please treat it kindly.

＜No Skill＞.

That’s what the priest who examined me announced.

At the age of fourteen, one becomes an adult. At that point, everyone undergoes the Blessing Ceremony and is granted a skill by the gods.

This was no exception even for orphans like me.

No one knew what skill they would be given. Therefore, it was a law set by the country that all orphans must visit the church upon turning fourteen and report what skill they had been granted.

If one received a useful skill, they might even be taken in by the castle.

And becoming a knight, a magician, a priest, or any other prestigious occupation was not just a dream.

In other words, the Blessing Ceremony at the age of fourteen was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for orphans like me to escape from a life of extreme poverty.

However, that chance ended without any impact for at least one person—me.

＜No Skill＞.

That was the result I was given.

“Wow, this time the results were even better than I imagined!”

The middle-aged priest who conducted the ceremony said this.

“Three people with the highest-level skills. When they grow up, they will surely become the pillars of the country.”

Around me, people were cheering, saying things like “Yes!” and “Unbelievable!”

They were the other orphans who had come to receive the Blessing Ceremony, just like me, having just turned fourteen.

In fact, they were the companions I had lived with until now, helping and supporting each other because we had no parents.

Riber.

Zeta.

Cleodor.

All of them apparently possessed very rare and powerful skills.

“Cleodor’s skill, ＜Great Sage’s Potential＞, surpasses even the ＜Sage’s Potential＞, which is at the top of magical aptitude skills. If you aim for the path of magic, you will eventually master all spells and become a great magician whose name will be recorded in history.”

“Yes! I will definitely become the world’s greatest magician!”

Cleodor said with a voice full of hope.

“Zeta is particularly rare. Having two skills, ＜Holy Wave＞ and ＜Healing Hand＞, is very unusual. Normally, one person can only have one skill, but having two is extremely rare, though there are precedents.”

“Surely the gods are telling me to be of service to people!”

“Yes, that’s right. Both of your skills belong to the holy category, so you should join our church. You will surely be remembered as a legendary saint for generations to come.”

“It’s like a dream!”

Zeta, the only girl among the orphan companions, was trembling as if she had ascended to heaven.

“And Riber. Your skill is quite special. It’s difficult to handle, but if you can master it, you might even be recognized by the king and become a hero.”

“Me, a hero!? Is that true!?”

Riber, who had been the leader among the orphan companions, seemed to understand that he would become a hero.

“Amazing…! To think I, who have lived in the slums until today, could become a hero…! Is this really true? Is it not a dream!?”

The priest, who had conducted the ceremony and granted each of them their skills, spoke solemnly.

“That is the power of skills. The gods have bestowed upon us, the pitiful humans, the grace of skills to combat the terrifying monsters and demons.”

“Thus, we humans have the obligation to make use of the skills we are given. Do you understand? If you are born with a useful skill, regardless of your background, you will be given a position and responsibility that comes with it.”

“Yes!” “I will work hard!” “I will use the skill given to me by the gods for the world!”

The former orphan companions, who had been chosen by the gods and given powerful skills, had a glow on their faces that made them seem like completely different people.

As if they were saying, “We are the chosen ones.”

I, on the side, could only watch.

“Oh, you’re still here?”

The priest’s gaze turned to me, a look of disdain that was completely different from the one he gave to Riber and the others.

“The Blessing Ceremony is over. Those who have completed the skill diagnosis should leave immediately. Especially you, who have received no favor from the gods, are a failure.”

＜No Skill＞.

That was the judgment I received from the Blessing Ceremony.

While my companions were given splendid skills one after another, I was given nothing.

“Let me tell you as a consolation, cases like yours are not rare. In fact, there are more people who do not receive skills than those who do. It is unprecedented for three people, all with the highest-level rare skills, to be granted skills at once this year.”

Among the four of us who received the ceremony this year, only I was not given any skill.

“So you don’t need to be overly disappointed. Just go back to your original life. That is the fate of an ordinary person.”

“Ryua!”

Someone called my name.

It was Riber.

My companion who had lived in the slums with me until today, like a brother.

“You were… an important companion.”

Riber said.

“We were able to survive until today, abandoned by our parents, because we helped each other. I am grateful to you. …But”

His eyes, which looked straight at me, had a definite tinge of disdain.

The disdain that the chosen, the superior, have for the unchosen, the inferior.

“We are different from you now. We will become great with our skills. …It can’t be helped, can it? Because you have no skill.”

“Here, we part ways with Ryua. I’ll be sad, but I won’t forget you, Ryua! Try hard with your garbage scavenging from now on!”

“We will each fly to places where we can make use of our skills. You, too, should try hard to live in the place where you belong.”

My companions, who had lived with me until now, treated me as if I no longer existed.

As if I should be discarded here.

“But Zeta, that’s a bit heartless, isn’t it? Really, you won’t forget such a useless person?”

“How silly, you should at least be able to say something nice. The world we will live in from now on is a high-class one.”

“Yeah!”

“Such a skill-less scum should feel honored to be used as a practice dummy. We are not street orphans anymore! We are useful people with powerful skills!!”

I was grabbed by the shoulder and dragged out.

The soldiers who accompanied the ceremony were dragging me out, telling me to leave.

“Didn’t I tell you to leave? The virtue of the powerless is only obedience. You should know that now.”

The priest looked at me as if I were filth.

“Oh, right, let me give you some advice as a servant of the gods to you, the incompetent. Every year, there are always people like you, ＜No Skill＞. And those who are told they are ＜No Skill＞ always think the same thing.”

—‘If I don’t have a skill, I just need to level up.’

If I can just become strong enough by leveling up, I can compensate for the handicap of being ＜No Skill＞ and stand on equal footing with many skilled people.

“But that’s just a fantasy. Leveling up means accumulating experience by defeating terrifying monsters and demons. How can you defeat monsters without a skill?”

The priest said with disdain.

“Most people who are judged as ＜No Skill＞ leave the city to try to level up, fight monsters in the wilderness or forest, and are eventually devoured. That is the reality. It’s for your own good to give up on such unrealistic dreams and live an ordinary life as an ordinary person.”

I was pushed and fell to the ground.

Outside the church. The door was cruelly closed after confirming that I had been thrown out.

“Well, if you still want to die, go ahead. After all, the world is run by those with useful skills. The death of an incompetent person who was not given a skill is no loss to the world.”

And the door was closed.

＜No Skill＞, I was discarded from the mainstream of the world like a stray dog.