Explanations

That night, we make camp in one of the storage barns. It’s half filled with hay and smells amazing, even though the smoke has left its traces in here too. I managed to raise its durability to almost full, so everyone would have a place to sleep that night. I feared I might not have it in me to repair the main building with all its objects inside just now, but after a good night’s sleep…

Just outside the large doors, Nono has guided them on setting up a temporary kitchen, as the actual kitchen is still destroyed. The smell of roasting meat and the large pot of stew is irresistible. It’s some time to dinner yet, and my stomach is rumbling even more than the ground when the centipede rolled across it.

Apparently I either strained myself so much using manipulation or some of the centipede’s experience was also granted to me, because over my head, a message has been floating.

[Congratulations! Hiroyuki Satoyama has reached Level 12!
Stamina +20
Intelligence +15
Dexterity +5
Wisdom +10
Please distribute (30) skill points]

Just how many substats are there? I put a hand on my own arm once again and focus on myself to appraise my status.

[Appraisal skill is too low to appraise this individual.]

Of course. What if I can never level my skill enough to appraise myself? Or…

“What skill is required to appraise myself?” I whisper.

[Sufficient mastery of the Microscopic skill is required to appraise this individual.]

Ah. Of course. But for now I’d rather have a better skill in Manipulation to be able to reconstruct this farm faster. This much I owe to these people. Wait. Do I actually owe them anything, though? I fall on my back into the pile of hay behind me and stare at the wooden ceiling above me.

I suppose I don’t. Not personally. Not yet, in any case. But the people in Atol owe the Lylt family a lot. And since I am their hero now. Wow. Am I actually doing this? Being the hero of a whole nation? Me, a lowly HR manager, who has stared at computer screens all his life? Well, I can’t return to my world anyway, and I fear I might not forgive myself if I just crawled into a hole and did nothing. Damn my sense of morals.

“Yuki?”

I look up to see Poru standing next to me.

“Yes?”

“Are you alright? Should I check you for injuries? Heal anything?”

“That’s the fifth time you asked me. Pace yourself.”

“Alright. But if you have a headache or anything…”

“I just need food and a lot of sleep.”

Poru looks out to the fire.

“Food should be ready soon. As for our original plan, well…”

“What do you mean?”

“We planned to sneak by the frontline and make trouble inside the demon lands, but for now we need to help on the frontlines first, it seems.”

“No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.”

Poru sighs.

“Are you alright, then, Poru-in?”

“Me? Of course. I just had to expend a lot of energy healing and purifying.”

“Mhm.”

Poru sits down next to me and we both stare at the group at the fire outside.

“Do you think Lady Erya made me the Light’s Champion for a reason? I always thought there had to be a reason, but I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Why is that?”

“I was always too timid to even admit my talents or even think about going into battle, even as the situation turned dire. I am not as brave as you.”

“Poru-in, you made your way from the dark elf lands to Atol all alone. You trained your skills to an admirable level, so much so you’re able to purify even the centipede in one go. And you volunteered to join the hero’s party without a second thought. You are amazing and brave.”

He looks to the floor.

“Sometimes I wish I didn’t have these powers and could just stay with my family.”

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of. I also wish I was back in my world, yet I choose to fight.”

As I say it, I realise that I actually mean it. I choose to fight. I choose to fight for these people. At least for now.

“Thank you, Yuki.”

“Nothing to thank me for. Come on, let’s eat something.”

——

The food is surprisingly good, considering everything is improvised. I am taken aback by the variety of spices they use, which I haven’t tasted in the city of Atol proper. I’m ladling some more stew into my bowl when I feel Safrim’s eyes on me.

“Want some?” I ask.

“I’m good, thank you. I’d rather ask about what you did earlier and how you did it.”

That draws the attention of everyone in the circle around the fire. For a moment, nothing is audible but the crackling of the flames.

I don’t know if the concept of skill trees and level ups is something that is common in this world, so I phrase the matter as vaguely as I dare.

“My skill is not just called Appraisal, it is Divine Appraisal. Apparently it can do more than just appraise objects. I don’t know what I'm capable of myself—the possibilities are only slowly revealed to me by Erya herself. She spoke to me during the last battle.”

It’s not entirely a lie. Most of it is actually the truth, which is why I can say it with a mostly straight face. Some anxiousness is permitted if you’re an otherworldler with strange, new powers.

“So you can repair objects?” Safrim asks.

“Yes. And I also know how much damage they have suffered, by the grace of Lady Erya.”

It may be the first time I call her lady, but the situation demands some pathos and drama.

“So that’s how you knew my gloves should be repaired soon,” Poru says. “I have never encountered someone with the Appraisal skill before. Divine Appraisal might be wholly unique.”

“It is a hero’s skill, after all. People should not have been so quick to judge you,” Karina says. She takes my hand and smiles at me encouragingly.

“No, they were right to. It is not what you need,” I say.

“Look around. You have helped save this farm and even rebuild part of it. We would not have a roof over our heads tonight otherwise. With this power, people can return to their work tomorrow. This is exactly what Atol needs right now. We might have been able to defeat the centipede on our own, but this whole area would have been lost.”

I feel tears rise up and close my eyes to let them fall.

——

The night is deep and I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the hay. Yet I am awoken by a hand over my mouth not much later. I try to push it away, but my own hands are tied. Again. I look up in the dark, at a face half covered.

[Nono Lylt]
Attributes: Fire, Earth
Life Points: [100/100]
Skills: [####]

It is her, after all. All the time I spent myself doubting my memory was for nothing. I should’ve known. But how is she doing it? Why?

“I see you have decided not to take my offer. Don’t scream,” she whispers.

She takes the hand off my face and I take a deep breath.

“I haven’t taken it yet. You didn’t tell me it would expire,” I reply.

She chuckles. “It doesn’t. Well, not that it matters. There will come a time, during which you’ll fear for your life as your companions lie dead at your feet. Then you will beg the demon king to save you.”

And you joined me to hear me beg, is that it? I don’t say it out loud, but I want to so badly. In a strange way, it’s reassuring to have her here. She is a lifeline if all else fails. I don’t actually owe Erya any allegiance. If push comes to shove, I could save my own life.

“That might very well be so, but we are strong for now.”

“For now. Fine. Just know it won’t stay that way.”

With a rush of wind she’s gone and my hands are free again. It’s so strange. She could’ve killed me in my sleep so easily. Crush the hopes and dreams of the citizens of Atol. She didn’t. She even offered me help from my supposedly worst enemy.

It should be easy to know who to trust here, with an antagonist called the demon king and his soldiers burning farms… but I can’t bring myself to completely write her off. I should have confronted her. Next time… next time I will.

My head is buzzing. I look to the ceiling and open the skill tree again. It’s as large as the whole building. How much does this world expect me to do? Well, one step at a time. I need to distribute some points.

“Put all remaining points into Manipulation.”

[Skill points assigned to Divine Appraisal. Subskill leveled up: Manipulation (40/500). Main skill Divine Appraisal increased to Stage 2. 100 more points required to level up skill further.]

Oh? “What does Stage 2 mean?”

[With every stage, the general capacity for all subskills is increased.]

That’s not very flashy, but certainly useful. Maybe I’ll be less fatigued when working my miracles now. That would be a welcome change. I close my eyes and try to fall back to sleep with an assassin resting under the same roof.

——

The next day is dedicated to rest and rebuilding. With the increase in my skill, I manage to bring back almost the entire farm—at least the main buildings. The fields in the centipede’s approach are ruined, but the surrounding lands are untouched. Poru and the other light mage are part of the cleanup crew, systematically searching the area for leftover demon cores as if they’re cleaning landmines.

I’m sitting in the kitchen of the Lylt family home, cleaning vegetables together with Sophia and Jen, who have taken a shine to me after the initial shock. Shelling peas might be a mundane task after everything that has happened, but it feels good to do something so simple. I leave the organisation to the troops and the farmers and laugh with the sisters when another pea flies out of its shell and over our heads.

That night we dine together like a family and I put my knowledge of Nono’s true allegiance out of my mind. Seeing her happy with her family means more than anything else. I don’t know why or how she came to be here, but it’s clear that these people know and love her. Maybe later we’ll be enemies, but for now we celebrate together.