Skill Investigation

I returned home, where I wet the rags with the water that I drew from well and then wiped my body down.

I will go to the residence where Roxy lives tomorrow. I wonder if my appearance is a little better with this? I light the candle and look into the broken mirror.

It didn't change much? Worn-out clothes with several patches, there is no use to worrying about my appearance now.

I gave up and then lie down on the bed made from straw. I look up at the ceiling which has been stained with the traces of the rain leaks, and recall what happened today. .

I received cruel violence from Rafal's group in the morning. However, after knocking down the thieves with Roxy at midnight, I'm invited to work for the Heart Family. It's a dream-like story.

Suddenly, I remembered about the inorganic voice that I heard after I killed the thief.

If I'm not mistaken, it said that my status had been added to.

Skill Appraisal and Mind Reading were added… and what else was there? I forgot. Even so, Appraisal is an unusual skill, I can look up any information on things that exist in this world.

With this skill, my life might have turned for the better.

I pray silently in my mind . And then,

・Fate Graphite ・Level 1

Endurance: 121

Strength: 151

Magic: 101

Spirit: 101

Agility: 131

Skills: Gluttony, Appraisal, Mind Reading, Concealment, One-handed sword mastery

My status and skills appeared in my head.

[Eee! What is this about!]

Calm down, me.

First of all, I just saw my status. Originally, my statuses should be very close to 1.

There are three digits now. With this strength, I should be able to fight against low-class monsters.

Next are the skills. I should only have Gluttony. But, right now there are Appraisal, Mind Reading, Concealment, and One-handed sword mastery. I can't believe this…

However, since I can see my status and skills, it's proof that I have the Appraisal skill.

Oi oi, if I have this skill, I can switch jobs from gatekeeper to appraiser. Not just anyone can become an appraiser so the pay is good. Oh, what the hell is going on?

Calm down, me.

I used Appraisal and checked the other skills.

Mind Reading: Reveal and read the mind of the subject that comes in contact with you.

Concealment: Conceal possessed skills from the Appraisal skill..

One-handed Sword mastery: The offensive power of the one-handed sword is increased. arts can be used.

I was aware of my Mind Reading skill. When Roxy grabbed my hand, her voice could be heard because this skill was activated.

From considering various things, I have reached a conclusion at last. Or rather, when I killed the thief, the inorganic voice gave me the answer. The answer to when the Gluttony skill is activated.

The cause of this phenomenon, Gluttony was a skill that I had thought I would not be able to use at all.

I used Appraisal and examined the Gluttony skill again.

Gluttony: Become hungry.

Yeah, I get it now. This is the same description that the Appraiser who visited in my hometown village saw. In other words, this skill has a hidden power that cannot be seen by Appraisal.

The power to devour the souls of those the user has killed, and take the victim's skills as the user's own. As a side-effect, it fills the user's stomach..

This is a skill that can strengthen me quickly depending on how much I use it. However, I cannot become a murderer. Then, what should I do?

The answer is easy. There are many monsters in the outskirts of the Royal Capital Seyfar. I just need to defeat them and then absorb their powers.

Someday, after I get even stronger than the Holy Knight, I'll take my revenge at Rafal's group and Burix Family.

While I was thinking about it, I was driven with feelings of wanting to go to hunt monsters now.

However, it's still dark. Went hunting right now is dangerous. I need to sleep properly and go to hunting tomorrow morning.

Actually, I need to work as gatekeeper as substitutes for Rafal group, but let's ignore it. I don't need to obey their instruction anymore.

I have Roxy-sama as my new employer. Since I have an interview with her father at tomorrow noon, I need to return to the Royal Capital at that time.

Then, good night! When I close my eyes, my consciousness fades away in a blink of an eye.

=====

I woke up from the birds' chirping and singing, mended my bed hair looking at broken mirror, brushed my teeth with the branches of a tree, and then dressed up.

I took out a small leather bag hidden in the gap of the cracked wall. These two silver coins are all of my wealth that I saved the last five years. 100 coppers are worth the same as one silver coin. By the way, one gold coin, which I have never gotten before, can be exchanged with 100 silver coins.

The others would be laughing if they knew about my two silver coins, however I have been struggling and bleeding my blood to save this much. This money was originally saved as a escape fund for the time when I am about to be killed by Rafal's group.

For the time being, let's not worry about it anymore. With this, I can buy equipment to fight monsters.

Now then, I grasp the two silver coins and the dash out from my run-down home.

The Royal Capital Seyfar consists of four divisions. Each district is divided into the east, west, north and south, with the castle at the center.

Holy Knight district (East): This is where the upper-class people and Holy Knights of this country live.

House district (West): Where the commoners such as I live.

Commercial district (South): Many shops such as armories, general stores, restaurants, etc, open their business here.

Military district (North): The Holy Knights' training area and also where their special armor is developed.

From this kind of division, we can see how much preferential treatment is being given to the Holy Knights.

The place that I will go to right now is the most crowded place in the Royal Capital, the commercial district.

After passing through the residential district and wading through the crowds, I entered the commercial district, lined with buildings made of red brick.

Now, to the alley. Over here, the stalls are lined up all the way down the street, with vigorous voices hailing to the passerby..

This is normal in the commercial district.

Why did I come to this place? My war funds are just two silver coins. With this, I can only buy a worn-out weapon.

And, with my current appearance, I won't be able to enter the high-class armor stores.

Thus, I came to the flea market which gathered various items that others did not need anymore.

I searched for a second-hand weapon in this open air market. Then, a middle-aged man gently called me. He showed an amiable smiling face.

[Dear customer, are you looking for weapon?]

[You seem to understand me well]

[That's because I have done this business for years, you came from the other side looking only at weapons and didn't look at anything else.]

This man is sharp. So this is a merchant?

I am a little surprised.

[How is it? Do you want to check them out?]

There are many armors being displayed. It's my first time looking at so many of them arranged like this.

There might be a weapon that is suitable for me. I nod silently to the storekeeper words.

[Then, may I know how much is your budget?]

And then, after the storekeeper heard the amount of money I had on hand, his attitude changed immediately.

There is no gentle look from the storekeeper's face anymore. It's like Rafal's, the eyes that looked down on the people.

[Tsk, as I expected, a poor person. My hospitality was wasted. Hora, since you only have two silver coins, you can only get a garbage weapon from the corner over there. It might suit you well]

It was obvious that I didn't have enough money to buy a decent weapon. Even if I were to get irritated at dealing with this stall and head off to another, the same thing would just occur again. In that case, since there are still a variety of rubbish weapons here, it would be more beneficial to buy a weapon from this stall where I have more to choose from

By using skill, I checked the old weapons with my hand. Most of them have reached the limit of endurance, it seems they will break after I use them several times.

And then, when I pick up an old black sword, a voice flows into my head.

(Buy me. I'll never let you lose.)

What I have heard with is the faint voice of a man.