Isekai de Kojiin wo Hiraitakedo, Nazeka Darehitori Sudatou to Shinai Ken Chapter 0

“Now, who’s the next one? If anyone hasn’t confirmed your skill yet, place your hand on the crystal!!”

“Is there anyone else?”

“Everyone’s finished right?”

“No, we’re lacking one person… Ah, it’s just you huh. Hurry up!”

“Seriously, what an uncooperative bastard. They’re calling you so get going already!”

While receiving the cold gazes from his classmates, Naomi Masatsugu slowly advanced towards the king of this world. Or more exactly, towards the crystal that was in front of the Waltham king’s throne.

However, with utmost caution, I placed my hand onto the crystal carefully.

There was an air of superiority attached to my action. For some reason, my classmates seemed to be getting irritated, but I completely disregarded those fellows’ reaction.

Rather, why do you guys trust them so much? They abducted us just like that without any warning.

(A bunch of true fools...)

And just when I was thinking about such a thing, the crystal emitted a suspicious light, interrupting my thoughts.

The woman whose job was to read the innate talents of a person; a seer, began to read out the skills that are bestowed upon those that are summoned into this world.

That’s right, this is another world.

Due to the constant one-sided invasions by the demonic race and the surrounding countries, the Waltham kingdom is now in a predicament where they must rise up; is what those fellows explained to us. So in order to put an end to the current situation which had lasted for a thousand years, the magic to summon heroes from another world was used. That would appear to be how we ended up here.

And in order to return to our former world, defeating the demon kill will be necessary is what they had explained to us.

(What an impressively shady situation.)

Wouldn’t it be great if that was somebody else’s problem? If only that was the case, I can just sigh with ease. However, the bunch of us from the first year class A of Kawase Nodaka highschool ended up being the unfortunate target of the summoning magic.

Why would a bunch of normal humans get summoned?

That was what I initially thought, but the answer actually lies in the collection of stuff called 「Skills」.

When people are summoned from another world, unique skills will manifest among them. It is also said that such skills are their natural talents in this world.

It is a story that anyone will find hard to believe. However, it’s real. As usual, cold and piercing gazes came from my classmates, while the people of the Waltham Kingdom cast appraising looks at me. As I slowly fell back to where the summoning formation was, the lingering smell of perfume scattered around the throne tickled my nose… That once again taught me that this entire joke-like situation was very much real.

In particular, despite being kidnapped like this and being called as braves from another world, heroes to save this country, we can return to our previous world upon defeating the demon lord. My classmates who believe such childish words and are even enticed by it are truly at the pinnacle of foolishness.

“Ha? Wha, what did you say?”

The king raised his voice impatiently.

Apparently, the seer seems to have read out something unexpected about my skills.

“again, say that again!!”

“Y-yes! As I have said, they are 「protection」 and elementary 「appraisal」. This person really only has those skills, there’s nothing else!!”

“U-unbelievable… Such an incompetent person can actually get summoned...!?”

The king let out a voice filled with astonishment, while his vassals showed looks of disappointment. There were also those that brazenly made ugly faces while vomiting sighs of contempt.

(What a bunch of selfish fellows, they summoned me at their own convenience!)

On the other hand, I was starting to get fed up with them. Mainly because I was feeling disgusted thanks to their selfishness.

While I was thinking about those things, one of my classmates opened his mouth.

“Umm, excuse me, what kind of skill is Naomi-kun’s 「protection」? And about his elementary 「appraisal」...... Though that skill may not seem to be fairly useful, I hope you can tell us about it... To defend this country together, we also need to know about it in detail.”

Even though he said it seriously, his intent to make fun of me was fairly obvious. The edges of his lips slightly curved upwards as he gazes at me. I was utterly amazed at his bastardly character while enduring the urge to sigh at his acts of mockery.

To answer my classmate’s wishes, the seer briefly explained about my 「protection」 skill.

It is an extremely basic skill. When you and your companions are targeted by enemies, it will allow those supported by it to exhibit greater defensive capabilities than normal. According to what the seer said, this skill was not difficult to learn as long as one had enough qualifications to be employed as a soldier by the castle. In short, it’s a skill that lets you protect your allies through sheer spirit. However, some superior skills such as the 「iron wall」 will reflect all received damage. And there was also the 「magic barrier」 which is capable of nullifying all magic. Thus making the 「protection」 skill pretty useless.

To simply put it, my skills are extremely insignificant, they were skills that belonged to small fries.

Almost immediately, my classmates began to jeer and look down at me.

However, my response was simply

(Hm, it can’t be helped.)

So I thought about it calmly.

Other than me, why did those fellows receive the highest ranking skills? Skills such as the 「arc wizard」, 「paladin」 and 「magi-crafter」!

When compared with their skills, mine was equivalent to trash. Their reactions are bound to be expected.

“Ah… B-but you seeー”

The seer continued.

“Even though it is the same 「protection」 skill, enchanting it seems to be possible. If only we could further examine it in detail…...”

“You fool! There’s no way an elementary skill like 「protection」 is going to get enhanced even further! It’s a waste of time!”

The seer panicked as the king raised his voice, she quickly lowered her head and stepped down.

“Fumu, what should we do with you... I am thinking of placing you in the army or in the bureaucracy, but that’s going to cause lots of problems.”

The Waltham king sounds troubled from the bottom of his heart.

(The one who wants to voice his frustration is me!)

I cursed at the other party in my mind.

Seriously, why does this have to happen? Just a few moments ago, I was still having class...

That’s right, it was just a usual Monday morning, the classes approached the third hour.

And after finishing an uneventful lunch break, I continued to listen to the boring classes.

Tedious, that’s the one word I will use to define my school life.

That was because I was a loner.

No, that might be a rather mediocre way of expressing it. To be more exact, I am a target of bullying and my classmates intentionally avoid me. That’s the correct way of saying it.

Even I do not understand the reason behind that.

However, foreign substances are naturally eliminated. Just like how a person who stands out in a bad way will be denied by the surrounding people.

If we were to think of it in that manner, I really do fulfill all of those requirements.

Because I have no interest in the conversation topics that goes around between my classmates. In the first place, what they talk about doesn’t even really have much meaning. Take for example “What’s the hottest songs?” or “Which artist is more popular?”. They can even debate about who’s the coolest or cutest person from the other class. I have absolutely no interest in such kind of gossip.

No matter what happens or who that person is, they will not give it any contemplation and simply treat it as a form of entertainment.

Was it that time that decided everything?

Each class will have a student act as a representative. The boy representative from another class suddenly decided to pick a stupid subject to engage with me in idle chatter.

From then onwards, similar situations started to happen a lot.

However, I did not find that amusing.

“Nonsense, how would that kind of talk be interesting?”

I said from the bottom of my heart.

At that moment, the air around my classmates froze. The boys, in particular, gave me a terrible glare.

Perhaps, it was that that moment, I have become the target for bullying.

…...Hm, now that I think about it, I was similarly childish back then, still wet behind the ears.

It resulted in me, having the least popular in the class. Well, not that I really care.

Even though it was bullying, they had never physically harmed me since I never neglected physical training. At best, the bullying was limited to being completely ignored, though it was a rather fresh experience to me.

Well, my parents were utter trash, so something like that isn’t really big problem for me.

When I was still a kid, my mother had an affair with another man and divorced my father. Thanks to that, father fell into alcoholism and began to abuse me. The times when my father raises his hand against me decreased as I grew older, however, his addiction to gambling got worse.

That was why I had to cook for myself ever since I was young. And during junior high school, I delivered newspapers as a part-time job every single morning. Doing the chores took up much of my time so I didn’t have the chance to mess around with my classmates. Following their conversations soon became impossible.

After all, those were things I had to do in order to survive.

I had no choice but to become independent from a young age, there was absolutely no time for me to engage in the idle chatter with my classmates. I could only briefly imagine what sort of interesting things they were talking about. Nevertheless, it might have been enjoyable to participate in their amiable laughter.

Well, I do envy those fellows from time to time.

In order to laugh and speak ill of others, one has to trick himself into believing that he is more superior than the others.

For a person like me who has gone through all sorts peril since a young age, I did not have any leeway to trick myself.

In a certain sense, my classmates who had been tricking themselves were foolish. Yet in a different way, they were amazing to be able to show that much contempt at something.

A sigh from the king could be heard.

“That’s correct. You’re called Naomi right? This castle has no place for an ordinary person like you. But I will not allow you to become a freeloader either. Let’s assign you a task that even you can carry out… If I’m not mistaken, there should be a rundown orphanage outside in the neighborhood. Yes, let’s assign you there. Even a powerless person like you should be able to take up the role of an orphanage director. You shall do your best there and to express our gratitude, I will generously supply you with some money. Now, get going already if you understand! I will immediately assign you a soldier to guide you to the location.”

With that being said, I didn’t waste another second and turned in the direction of my classmates. The cold expressions that they were directing at me changed completely. They started to speak and make arrangements for their future while smiles floated across their whole face.

(Shit, don’t screw with me!!)

…… I endured the urge to yell.

Resisting the orders of the king was easy, but it would be a bad move. I might have to pay the price with my life if I were to be thrown out into this unfamiliar world.

One way or another, I had to do anything to ensure my survival. It doesn’t matter if it’s being some orphanage director or something else.

At least, some money has already been obtained. The king’s offer was something I couldn’t refuse as I was familiar with the pain of not having any money. It is normal to take anything I could possibly get.

(However, to think that I ended up becoming the director of an orphanage…...)

I laughed at myself in self-mockery.

Because it is an orphanage, I will have to look after the orphans. But it will be very troubling if I am expected to take on the role of their parents.

That is because I never had a proper family in the first place. My mother went out with another man while my father had an abusive mindset. That kind of situation can’t be called to be a family. The very idea of a family is something very alien to me.

…...To assign a person like me to become an orphanage director. Is the king of this country blind?

“Well, I am a perfect example of a kid who had grown up without the love of a family. To let a child eat proper food and not starve is already important enough.”

While such things passed through my mind, I turned my back at the king and my classmates.

Likewise, they did not turn to look at me. They didn’t want to deal with me any longer. No, the thought that they were feeling relieved as the disgusting person disappears from their sight is highly probable too. However, I was thinking of the same thing.

Without glancing backwards, I began to plan for a future where I would be alone.

Chapter end