Chapter 1: Part 2

Name : Tsukuru Sumeragi

Job : Chef, Level 1

Skills : [Cooking] [Ignition] [Dismantling] [Detailed Appraisal] [Material Storage]

The characters appeared, and the armored man who read my status wrinkled his face in disgust. From his expression alone, it's pretty obvious my status is lousy. I never thought that I'd be the one with a bad job like in the cookie-cutter stories.

However, I can imagine that a job such as [Chef] can't be used for fighting.

I returned to think that it can't be helped even if it was too much for me, but I saw that man in armor reporting about me to a man who was well-dressed and the well-dressed man was also wrinkled his face.

If we go with the trope, you'd have to consider the possibility of being discriminated against, or even erased because you're useless.

"What kind of job did Tsukuru-kun get?"

I was surprised when someone behind me called my name. When I turned around, it was a girl with beautiful black hair, snowy white skin, and a gorgeous, well-shaped face: Suzuno Ichinose, one of the top-three beauties at school. She was looking at me with a gentle smile.

"I got the [Chef] job. How about you?"

"I'm a [Saintess]."

I already knew about that. The soldiers had gotten really excited when Ichinose showed her status, so I heard what it was back then. No matter what anyone says, I think it's a cheat job.

"Who cares about a [Chef] Job? I'm a [Holy Warrior]! Those old farts were going crazy when they heard about me!"

That was Kai Saruyama, who came butting in on the conversation between me and Ichinose. He was interested in her beauty, and I'd say has somewhat suspicious intentions toward her. There are plenty of guys like that hovering around her all the time.

"Isn't that great? Ichinose is a [Saintess], so we're aligned with the same Holy job, aren't we?"

"Oh yeah, man! You totally match her job!"

He's a simple idiot. He might have come to make fun of me as a [Chef], who wouldn't be much use in battle, but if I lift him up like this, he'll be in a better mood.

"Actually, I wonder if there are any other Holy jobs?"

"Well, it's not unique, there'll be other jobs like it!"

Ichinose doesn't seem to like Saruyama very much, so she just laughed nervously and pushed him away. However, Saruyama has neither the brain nor the consideration to respect Ichinose's feelings.

Plus, they didn't seem to realize it yet, but we're all going to be auctioned and sold. There is a chance that Saruyama will be sold to the same country as Ichinose, but I think it's more likely they'll end up in separate places. I want to see what kind of face he makes when he figures that out, but I'll leave it at that or it might cause trouble.

And so, the auction has started.

There were two categories of students: those who understood they were going to be sold, and those who didn't. The expression of those in the first category was quite gloomy.

"First up, Kazuki Fujisaki, Job rank C, [Berserker], a job that can be relied on in combat! Bidding starts at one million!"

Fujisaki was the quiet type who didn't stand out so much, but he apparently got a job with high fighting power called [Berserker].

The prices went up really fast; many countries were competing for him. In the end, his auction was won by one of the countries called Rade Crude Empire with an offer of 8.9 million. I don't know if 8.9 million is expensive or cheap, but it seems to be what Fujisaki is worth.

However, while it didn't appear in the status, it seems every occupation has a rank. This rank probably represents their usefulness in combat.

The auction continued. Some students were outraged about being sold off, but each person generally went for about 3 to 5 million. I don't know if that's high or low.

"Next, Hideo Kujou. Job rank S! [Sword Saint]! As you all know, this is a core job of the hero party!"

Hideo Kujou, who was apparently the central figure of the hero party, was the student council president, and quite handsome besides. When he was introduced, all the well-dressed people looked at him more intensely. I think that job might also count as a Holy one.

The initial bid was set at five million. We can understand how much they're expecting from a [Sword Saint] because Fujisaki, the highest bid so far, went for 8.9 million, and now there's about 30 people competing for Kujou.

His price went up like a rocket, exceeding 30 million in the blink of an eye, and soon breaking past 40 million. The closing price was 55 million, from the Rade Crude Empire, the same country that bought Fujisaki.

"Next, Kai Saruyama. Job rank S! [Holy Warrior]! Bidding starts at four million!"

Saruyama also has a high starting value because his class has Holy in the name of it. Yet again, it was the Rade Crude Empire that won. The relative power of each country has become roughly clear.

If you ranked the fifteen countries, the Rade-Crude Empire wouldn't just be the highest rank, it would be two or three ranks ahead of the one in second place.

About 80 of us had been sold so far, and 14 countries had won bids. The last one is presumably at the bottom in terms of scale and finances.

"Next is Suzuno Ichinose. Job Rank S! [Saintess]! Starting bid is five million!"

As expected, Ichinose also had a high starting price. She just frowned about the whole thing, considering it was pretty unpleasant, and ended up being sold for 44 million. It was hard to say whether the bidding had gone downhill or not, but prices remained at just a few million for a while. Eventually, more than 100 people had been sold.

"Tsukuru Sumeragi… Rank G [Chef] …we'll start at 10,000."

The auctioneer introduced me in such a casual voice, and from the reactions of the buyers, it was obvious nobody cared. It was a pretty bad rank, even though I was expecting it. With the low rank and the starting bid of 10,000, both the foreigners and students chattered in the same way.

Even the students were looking down on me, to say nothing of the locals.

"Uh, the bidding has begun, so… does anyone have an offer?"

"…"

This development is just as you'd expect. However, I was experiencing all this for real, so I was sweating buckets.

"Is there anyone who wants to bid?"

"..."

"...…"

"There's no one who'd want to bid for that useless trash!"

"Come on! This is a waste of time!"

"Hurry up and show us the next one!"