The road from the capital unspooled beneath the carriage wheels in a slow, rhythmic rattle, the kind that numbed the body while leaving the mind far too free.
I sat among ten other passengers, my back to the wooden frame, my newly granted Skills circling my thoughts like birds that had not yet decided where to land.
Home lay half a day away, on the outer edge of the Town of Lucas. A modest place of a thousand souls, close enough to the capital to prosper, small enough that everyone still knew the butcher's temper and the baker's morning song. Beginner adventurers passed through often, bringing coin, rumors, and the faint scent of distant danger.
It was lively.
It was mine.
"Well then… let's try using Appraisal."
I did not speak aloud. The Skill responded to intent, not to voice. As the carriage lurched over a rut, I turned my gaze to a man seated across from me, an adventurer in the prime of his life with a scar that split one eyebrow and a sword callus thick across his right hand.
Information rose in my mind as naturally as breath.
Name: Keith
Race: Hume
Gender: Male
Age: 48
Occupation: Adventurer (Rank C)
[Skill]
One-handed Blade
Cleaning
So this was Mr. Keith.
The contrast nearly made me smile. His face was stern enough to frighten children, yet one of his Skills was Cleaning.
Curiosity nudged me further, and as I focused on that Skill, more details surfaced.
[Cleaning]: Enables efficient and thorough cleaning. Proficiency increases effectiveness.
I see.
Appraisal did not simply display facts. It allowed me to search within them.
And the reason it could do so… was almost certainly because mine was Complete.
Among the information was a term that caught my attention.
Skill level.
There was no numerical value attached, but the implication was clear. The more a Skill was used, the more it grew.
Then Appraisal itself would evolve the same way.
If I used it often, the depth of information would increase.
A slow warmth spread through my chest. This ability was far more than I had first imagined.
With half a day still ahead of us and nothing to do but endure the shaking of the carriage, I turned my attention to the other passengers one by one.
Names. Ages. Trades. Modest Skills that spoke of ordinary lives.
Everything remained uneventful until the last man.
When his information surfaced, the air seemed to thin.
Name: Gaskarth
Race: Hume
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Occupation: Robber
[Skill]
Sewing
Dagger・Extreme
Swift Feet (Small)
Robber.
The word struck like a blade against bone.
Why was a man like that sitting quietly among us?
And Dagger・Extreme…
That was not a common Skill. It was the mark of someone who had survived many fights and ended them quickly.
Dangerous.
He sat with his eyes closed, his breathing steady, as though he were merely another traveler enduring the long road.
But if he chose to move, the carriage would become a coffin.
There were adventurers among the passengers, yes. But a surprise attack at that distance, in such a confined space…
It would be over before anyone could draw steel.
What is his target?
The carriage was bound for Lucas Village.
If he had boarded so calmly, then his aim was not here.
It was my town.
The gate inspections there were strict. Known criminals were turned away.
So how did he intend to enter?
No matter how I turned the question, the answer refused to appear.
Right now, I was the only one who knew.
If I spoke, he would hear.
If I accused him and was wrong, the one arrested would be me.
My hands curled against my knees.
There had to be a way.
Before he drew the dagger.
Before someone died.
But what could a boy who had only just received his Skills do?
For a moment, the answer was nothing.
Run when we arrived. Pretend I had seen nothing. Leave the danger to someone stronger.
Yet the thought of the other passengers—youths like me, girls who had laughed nervously when they first boarded—refused to let me rest.
If he acted inside the town…
Lucas would bleed.
What can I do?
I had only the abilities granted to me today.
Appraisal could not stop a blade.
Which left the other.
Cut & Paste.
I could not Cut a living person. Even if it were possible, striking first would make me the criminal.
But Paste…
My eyes drifted downward.
His shoes.
If they were fixed to the floor, he would not be able to rise immediately.
The dagger at his waist.
If the blade and the scabbard were fused together, he could not draw it.
The plan formed in a single, sharp line.
Before my courage had time to falter, I invoked the Skill.
A faint response echoed in my mind.
Successful.
No light. No sound. Nothing that would betray me.
Only the quiet certainty that the world had changed in two small places.
I exhaled slowly.
For now, the immediate danger was gone.
Even if he tried to move, he would stumble. Even if he reached for his weapon, it would not come free.
Keith-san and the other adventurers would have time to react.
But as the carriage continued its relentless journey, another thought crept in.
This solved nothing beyond the present moment.
He could remove his shoes.
He could buy another dagger.
If his true goal lay within Lucas, then all I had done was delay the inevitable.
The tension that had been gripping my chest loosened just enough for my thoughts to settle.
And in that calmer space—
an idea came to me.
An absurd.
Impossible.
Outrageous idea.