Chapter 8: Acquiring a High-Tier Skill Using Game Knowledge
“Young Master Cain! Good news! Good news, I say!”
Suddenly, the butler, Lancelot, came rushing over, shouting loudly.
“When I had the soldiers investigate the place Young Master Cain mentioned, an unknown cave… a Mithril Mine has been discovered!”
“Oh, is that so…!”
“With this, this land will undergo great development! The Master is also extremely pleased!”
I was wondering what I’d do if it wasn’t found, so this was a relief.
With this, it’s certain that the game’s land and the real land are the same.
“…By the way, what were you doing?”
Lancelot looked at us, in the middle of our “photoshoot,” with a bewildered expression.
“Ah, no. There’s a profound reason for this…”
If he saw me putting a collar on Servia with a smug look on my face, I’d definitely be misunderstood.
Servia is drenched in sweat and panting heavily… Ah, this is way too suspicious.
If I witnessed such a scene, I’d report it to the cops immediately.
“That’s right, Lancelot. This is an act of love between the two of us!”
“S-Such a thing, in broad daylight?!”
“No, well, yes, but that’s not it!”
I hurriedly denied Eris Onee-san’s attempt to cover for me, which wasn’t helping at all.
“…Please don’t misunderstand. This is something to deceive Prince Leon’s eyes.”
“Ah, Lady Servia. Is that so? My apologies.”
“But perhaps it was a bit too extreme for outdoors. I’ll reflect on that. Brother Cain, then let’s do the bondage in the room.”
“Whaaaaaat?! No, I said we’re not doing that!”
Wh-What is Servia saying? Does she even understand what it means?
No, well, it might be necessary, but…!
Treating my absolute favorite heroine like property by putting a collar on her… my mental state is on the verge of collapse.
I decided to forcefully change the subject.
“Th-That’s right, Lancelot. Actually, I have a favor to ask. You used to be the kingdom’s strongest knight, right? Won’t you teach me swordsmanship?”
In the game, Lancelot, as the villainous noble Cain’s bodyguard, stood in the way of Hero Abel.
To be frank, he was far stronger than Cain, and maneuvering to avoid fighting Lancelot was the trick to clearing the early game. He was what you’d call a formidable enemy designed for New Game Plus playthroughs.
“…Oh, swordsmanship, is it?”
Lancelot’s gaze sharpened.
“Are you serious about that?”
“Of course, I’m serious. My goal is to win the Royal Capital’s Martial Arts Tournament.”
“Then, please acquire at least one combat-related skill. That is the condition for becoming my disciple.”
“Understood. I’ll achieve it right away.”
“Oh?”
Perhaps taking that as a boast, the air around Lancelot grew more intense.
“Eh? Skills aren’t something you can learn easily, are they? They require long training, right?”
“Brother Cain, are you sure about this?”
Eris Onee-san and Servia blinked their eyes.
In the game “Apocalypse,” you could acquire skills by clearing difficult conditions. In many cases, that required long and steady training.
“…Very well. Then, please inform me when you have acquired a skill.”
Lancelot bowed once and left.
His back seemed to say, “Try it if you think you can.”
“Brother Cain, if there’s anything I can do to help, please tell me.”
“Yes, yes! I’ll help too!”
“Thanks. If you two are willing to help, that’d be a huge help.”
The conditions for acquiring skills are certainly all strict, but there were some with loopholes.
We moved to the training grounds.
“Alright then, Eris Onee-san, Servia. Both of you, throw balls at me, one after another. Slowly is fine.”
“Is that all? Okay!”
“Yes!”
The two girls lightly tossed balls at me.
I easily deflected them one by one with a practice sword.
After repeating this several times…
“You have deflected projectiles 30 times in a row.”
“Congratulations!”
“You have acquired Skill [Arrow Deflection].”
“Your success rate for deflecting projectiles increases by 50%.”
A mechanical voice echoed in my mind. It was the system voice I was used to hearing in the game.
I didn’t think everything would be this identical to the game.
I couldn’t help but strike a victory pose.
“Alright! I got my first skill!”
“Huh, eh? Really? You can acquire a skill with something this simple?”
Eris Onee-san seemed skeptical.
“There are skills that can be acquired if you just mechanically fulfill the conditions. In the case of [Arrow Deflection], you just need to deflect incoming projectiles 30 times in a row, so even slow balls thrown by girls are fine.”
If I had tried to deflect arrows shot by archers, acquiring [Arrow Deflection] would have been absolutely impossible unless I reached a high level.
However, if you understood the acquisition conditions, you could learn it even at a low level.
“That’s amazing. Brother Cain, where did you learn such knowledge?”
Servia looked at me with respect in her eyes.
“Ah, no. It’s something I heard from an adventurer I happened to meet.”
“Eh, by chance? I’ve looked up the acquisition conditions for publicly known skills at the Royal Library before… but [Arrow Deflection] wasn’t there. Could this perhaps be a considerably high-tier skill?”
“Eh, is that so?!”
While the acquisition conditions for low-tier skills are publicly available, high-tier skills are monopolized and kept secret by certain organizations and privileged classes, like the Royal Guard Knights or S-Rank Adventurer Guilds.
Knowledge is power. This is a measure to maintain their own power.
Oops. There’s no way an adventurer would carelessly leak such valuable information… But I can’t explain it as game knowledge from my previous life, so I’ll have to bluff my way through.
“That person was an S-Rank adventurer who had decided to retire. They said they were no longer bound by the guild’s rules, so they specially taught me.”
“Heh. So that’s what happened! I had no idea!”
“I-I knew it. I’ve heard that truly exceptional, hero-class adventurers bestow their wisdom upon those they deem worthy, to nurture the next generation of heroes. Brother Cain, you were chosen by such a hero-class adventurer, weren’t you?!”
“Eh…?”
Servia, having misunderstood something, had sparkling eyes.
Wh-What is she talking about? Was there such a legend?
It was a setting that didn’t appear in the main game, so I didn’t know.
“As expected of Cain! So that’s how it was! I’m so proud of you!”
W-Well, whatever.
If I say too much, I might expose myself, so I just nodded vaguely.
“…If it’s this skill, I think I can learn it too. Brother Cain, I’d also like to learn [Arrow Deflection], if that’s alright?”
“Eh, Servia too?”
“Yes. So that I can help Brother Cain in times of need. I want to learn skills and magic too. I don’t want to drag you down ever again, Brother.”
Servia’s eyes were completely serious as she said that.
She wants to become stronger for my sake?
Servia is so cute.
Come to think of it, Servia has always been like this since we were kids. Whenever I started something, she’d imitate me, wanting to play together.
Whether it was fishing or tree climbing, she’d follow me, calling out, “Brother Cain, Brother Cain!”
“Then, let’s work hard together, Servia.”
“Yes!”
Servia showed a smile like a blooming flower.
“Okay, here I come!”
“Please!”
Eris Onee-san and I lightly tossed balls to Servia one by one.
Servia easily hit them back with her practice sword.
“I did it! I learned [Arrow Deflection], Brother Cain!”
Overjoyed, Servia hugged me.
I couldn’t help but get flustered.
“Whoa, you did it…!”
“Next, next, what should I do to get stronger? Please guide me! I’ll do anything!”
“Eh, anything? …W-Well, let’s see. Next, I think I’ll have you learn fire magic. It should have excellent synergy with Servia’s inherent abilities.”
“Studying fire magic, then. Understood.”
Servia nodded obediently.
Actually, there was a hidden trick to drastically increase the power of fire magic using the [World Tree Saint]’s abilities. Moreover, it was a method that would ensure no one else would ever find out Servia is the [World Tree Saint].
In the game, it was called the “Saint Servia Firepower-Focused Build.”
It was an expert-level build that turned Servia, originally a character skilled in healing and support, into a firepower monster.
“You did it, Servia! B-But, I… I can’t go on…”
Eris Onee-san collapsed on the spot, exhausted. I had made her keep at it for quite a long time, after all.
“Thank you very much for your cooperation, Eris Onee-san!”
“Eris-neesama, thank you very much.”
“Th-This much is nothing. It’s for my beloved Cain, after all!”
Whoa. She says some really nice things.
However, there’s something that worries me a little about Eris Onee-san.
In the game, it wasn’t just Father; Eris Onee-san didn’t exist either.
It might just be that the development company didn’t bother to include the family of Cain—who’s nothing more than an early-game boss—in the game, but…
Perhaps, in the three years leading up to the start of the game, something might happen to Eris Onee-san as well.
If that’s the case, I want to save not only Servia but Eris Onee-san too.