Shujinkou Janai! - CH 39

The unfortunate difference in common sense regarding equipment has somehow been resolved.

As for the way Resilia and the others were looking at me, I had a feeling that the situation hadn’t been fully resolved, but I guess it was a lost cause if I kept being bothered about it.

It really is a bad idea to bring them to the Arena on the spur of the moment.

Having just thought of something at that moment, I asked Maisie to go out, change her clothes and Class Change, while I got things ready.

Frelia’s Arena has several venues, and the one we rented was a relatively small one used for preliminary rounds of tournaments.

However, even though this Arena was small, this was still a God’s Relic.

In addition to the function of “preventing people from dying even if their HP reaches zero”, there are other special features that aren’t found in other Arenas.

The most famous feature is the ability to summon the illusions of registered monsters to fight, but what is important this time is the special rules for dueling.

The rules can be set in great detail, such as whether or not the Inventory can be used, how much HP must be lost before the player is defeated and so on, but there’s something interesting in the “Dueling Format” section.

(The format is a level-adjusted match. As for the other settings, I’ll just randomly fill them up.)

When I finished setting up, the stage in the Arena lit up, seemingly ready to go.

Maisie returned at just the right moment.

[U- Ummm…… Is this okay?]

However, her tone was different from usual, and she sounded somewhat unsure.

[Yeah, that’s good. Well then, let’s begin.]

[I- I understand.]

Seemingly not feeling well, her demeanor was as quiet as a borrowed cat, but there was a reason for that.

When she stepped onto the stage, she didn’t have her usual biki…… her distinctive armor and weapons, and was instead equipped with normal clothes that provide no defense.

To call her a female warrior now, her impact is somewhat lacking for that.

[I’ll ask just in case, but you’ve Class Changed too, right?]

[Y- Yes. Ummm, I’m a as you instructed……]

Holding my notebook and quill in my hand, I asked her, to which she nodded in a frightened manner.

Maisie, looking restless, seems like an ordinary town girl, and the honorifics she must have been unaccustomed to sound kinda fit her appearance now.

Incidentally, the is the only Class weaker than the , which has only two additional aptitude values, and is the ultimate weakest Class with no growth compensation or learnable skills.

In a manner of speaking, the equipment and Class, which are the lifeblood of an Adventurer, have been reduced to their weakest, which of course has its meaning.

[Alright, your name is Maisie, Class is ……]

[U- Ummm!]

As I was idly jotting down words in my notebook, Maisie impatiently asked.

[U- Ummm! What should I be doing now? I- I guess I really should strip after all……]

[No, I just finished.]

[……Eh?]

[Look, these are your abilities.]

Thereupon, I pushed the page with her ability values to Maisie, and only dumbfoundedly muttering “Hwoehh?”, she stiffened on the spot.

※　※　※

Honestly speaking, the method to reveal them is quite simple.

The , just as its name suggests, is a duel of the “souls”, disregarding one’s “body”.

In other words, it’s a rule designed for “a duel between characters of different levels”, in which the characters fight based on “their aptitudes”, without regard to “their current growth rate”.

Characters who participate in this rule are “forcibly changed to Lv 25”, regardless of their current level, and their ability values at that time are based on their “current growth rate”, with no effect on their previous training or Class Changes.

To be more specific, her Status would be “if she grew at her current Class from Lv 0 to Lv 25 at her current growth rate”.

And she’s currently standing on the stage with “equipment that provides no growth compensation” and “Class with no growth compensation”.

In other words, the only thing that determines her current Status is “her own aptitude”.

Hence…..

Her Status in the is now easy to understand and reflects her own aptitudes.

Her ability value at Lv 25 is equivalent to 30 times her growth value.

So, if we divide her ability value by 30……

———————-

Maisie

STR – 2 (Bad)

VIT – 2 (Bad)

MGC – 4 (Good)

MND – 4 (Good)

AGI – 2 (Bad)

FOC – 4 (Good)

Total – 18

———————-

In this way, I can easily determine their aptitude values.

[This is my talent……?]

However, Maisie herself was puzzled by the talent evaluation I gave her.

She stood there looking confused as she looked at her current ability evaluation, trying to check towards me with her gaze over and over again.

……Well, that’s not unreasonable.

Having such ability values with those base aptitudes, she herself must have fought mainly as a warrior-type.

I can understand why it would be hard for her to follow if she was suddenly told “Mage is the most suitable Class for you”.

[M- My head understands. I know that you, no, that Rex-sama isn’t lying……]

Maisie’s voice trembled as she talked to herself.

[B- But! But you see! My initial Class was Fighter! I did Change Class before, tried becoming a Thief and a Soldier, but somewhere, in the back of my mind, I thought I really must be more fit as a warrior…… But then, suddenly being told that my talent is more towards magic, I just……!]

I walked over to Maisie, who had crouched down on the spot, holding her body with both hands.

Words of comfort and encouragement will be meaningless now if she herself isn’t convinced.

That’s why, there’s only one thing I should say here.

[If that’s the case, you should just try it out?]

[Eh?]

As Maisie looked up at me like a lost child, I smiled.

[Did you forget? This place is originally for that purpose.]

※　※　※

[Haahhh!]

I watch Maisie fighting on the stage from the audience.

What she’s fighting isn’t me, but a monster illusion.

This is one of the functions of the .

You can’t gain EXP or items here, but you can enjoy fighting against monsters without the danger of death or worrying about your HP and MP.

Incidentally, this was a new feature implemented as the second DLC of the game, and although it was necessary to purchase paid DLC to fight some of the cool additional monsters, but as expected, I didn’t bother buying this one.

[Gaaaaaahhhh!]

The monster attacking Maisie is an .

The is a monster that falls between the beginner and intermediate levels, and she should have no trouble with it, but she now continues to fight in the state.

In addition to a slight reduction in STR, she’s holding a and a that can be borrowed from the Arena.

She was still unable to settle the match because of her equipment, which was easy to handle but had less performance than Iron equipment.

[Take this!]

However, even though her abilities and equipment had changed, the experience she had acquired as a warrior remained the same.

She continued to safely handle the Orc’s attacks, and in the end, she managed to cut down the Orc’s HP without a scratch.

[I did it!]

I gave her a thumbs up as she turned around with a smug look on her face.

Perhaps her mood was getting better, Maisie smiled and rubbed her nose with her sleeve.

However, the crucial moment begins here.

Her expression quickly became serious, and gently placing the sword and shield she had been using outside the stage, she instead took the rod she had placed next to it.

At the same time she readied her rod, an illusion appeared from the other side of the stage.

At the sight of it, she backed away for a moment, seemingly faltering.

[Maisie!]

I shouted, and she immediately raised her rod toward the Orc.

The she holds in her hand is only of the lowest class in performance, just like her sword and shield.

However, it has a special ability that allows anyone who holds it to use the basic magic, .

She has probably never used magic in her entire life.

Unlike when she was holding the sword earlier, her face was tense.

Still, she stretched out her arms as best as she could toward the approaching Orc and shouted.

[————!]

At that moment, a huge burst of flames shot out from the tip of the rod, engulfing the body of the Orc that was about to Maisie in flames.

The Orc writhed in pain upon the sheer power of the flames and was unable to escape.

[Eh……]

The person who shot the magic was the most incredulous about the result.

However, this result is quite natural considering her Status.

Right now, the level of her MGC is double that of her MGC.

If the level of her equipment is the same, the difference that appears was palpable.

[Gaaaaahhhh……]

While she’s perplexed, the Orc desperately escapes from the flames and staggers toward Maisie.

However, from its appearance, by all accounts, it’s dying.

[F- Fire!]

Maisie’s hand was shaky and her aim was off, but it was enough against the dying Orc.

The , as powerful as her first shot, consumed the Orc.

[Ah……]

Without even time to scream a cry of despair, the Orc illusion readily vanished.

The enemy that she had taken so much time to defeat with the sword only took her two shots.

While there was indeed a difference in instantaneous firepower between magic and swords, the difference between her wielding the two of them was clear.

Even without knowing the detailed specifics, Maisie knows that draws out the power of the individual and that doesn’t provide any status compensation.

That’s why, this victory is an unchangeable “proof”.

Clang! The rod Maisie was holding slipped out of her hand.

[I really do…… have the talent for magic……]

Looking up to the skies, drops of tears trickle down her cheeks.

I don’t know whether those tears were tears of joy at the discovery of her unexpected talent or tears of sorrow at the days of idleness she spent not knowing about this.

However……

[————Rex-sama. I’m going to be a Mage.]

Her face, after she wiped away her tears and turned towards me, was very, very radiant.