A hero who wants to help others wants to live a normal life - Chapter 7

Chapter 7   Skill Acquisition Completed

“What’s the matter? Haven’t you started yet?”

While I was thinking about how to proceed, maybe blending in with my classmates and pretending to touch the orbs, Kiriya approached me.

“Oh, Kiriya. Well, it’s just that trying to squeeze in over there seems like a hassle. It’d be troublesome if I attracted too much attention by getting too close.”

“Ah, true. In that case, I guess I’ll wait a bit longer too.”

Honestly, having him around at this moment was inconvenient, but I couldn’t just brush him off. If I did, it would make me look even more suspicious.

“Hey, what kind of skill do you think you’ll get?”

“Who knows? You can’t really know your own heart, can you? Maybe I’ve got some kind of self-destructive desire and end up with a skill that makes me explode or something.”

“Ah, maybe. But I doubt they’d have a self-destruction skill here.”

“Probably not. But there might be something along those lines, right?”

I don’t really think there’s a skill for self-destruction, but there could be something like a skill that involves hurting yourself to achieve some kind of effect.

Then again, it’s not impossible that there’s a skill like that. It wouldn’t be strange if they had a way to smoke out potentially dangerous people, to nip future threats in the bud or keep them under surveillance.

“Seems like it’s about time, right?”

“Yeah, looks like it. Alright, let’s get going then… Just don’t end up pulling a skill for killing people or something.”

“I’d pass on that too, thanks.”

After chatting for a bit, it seemed like about half of our classmates had already acquired their skills, and the area around the pedestals was starting to clear up.

So, we stopped talking and each moved towards the orbs, reaching out to touch them one by one in turn.

“Figures, mine’s here too.”

When I touched one of the orbs, after several tries, something deep within my chest reacted. In that instant, I understood—no reasoning, just a simple certainty—”this is it.”

Finding my own “skill” made me frown unconsciously, but it wasn’t really surprising. I’d suspected it might be there. After all, the upper echelons of the government knew I was a “Blessed One.” I’d been tested, and I’d even helped in the creation of this skill. The school knew about my existence, so it would have been strange if they hadn’t prepared it.

“I’d love to destroy it… but I can’t, right?”

“That would cause a huge problem, so no,” Inori, who had somehow come up beside me, reprimanded me as the words slipped out of my mouth, expressing my discomfort at seeing my own “wish” manifested here like this.

“What? You’re done already?”

“It was just an act.”

Well, Inori is also a “Blessed One,” so it makes sense she’d finish quickly, just like me, by touching a few of the orbs and pretending to react appropriately. While the other classmates showed various reactions—surprise or deep emotion—we had none of that.

Still, while my skill was here, Inori’s probably wasn’t. Her skill would be meaningless in the hands of anyone else. The government surely wouldn’t want to increase the number of people who have a skill like hers.

“Hey.”

After I finished reporting my skill to Momochi-sensei, Kiriya came over. He must have finished acquiring and reporting his own skill, too.

“Hm? Oh, Kiriya. Welcome back. So, what skill did you get?”

“A sword. Seems like it’s a skill that can turn anything shaped like a stick into a sword.”

“That sounds like a pretty dangerous skill. Did you secretly wish to be a street slasher?”

“No way! It’s probably because my family runs a dojo. I’ve been learning swordsmanship since I was a kid.”

“Oh, I see… Well, that makes sense. You do look like someone who’d be in the kendo or soccer club.”

“Aren’t you just judging that based on my haircut?”

He’s right. With a well-built body, a bit of a tan, and short hair, it’s only natural to think of him as the athletic type.

But he did mention his family was some kind of notable house, and it turns out it’s one known for swordsmanship. In that case, it makes sense for his skill to be related to swords.

“So, what skill did you get?”

“I got body enhancement. I guess it’s a pretty common one, isn’t it?”

“Ah, body enhancement. I hear there are a lot of different classifications, but yeah, it’s a pretty common type.”

There are many different desires, but they often lead to similar outcomes. Body enhancement is one of those. Whether it’s wanting to protect someone, defeat enemies, or simply get stronger, different desires often result in the same outcome: body enhancement.

If you break it down, there could be various effects, like increased speed or improved durability, but it all falls under the umbrella of “body enhancement abilities.”

“As for me… it’s telekinesis? Something like the ability to grab and move objects… I guess?”

“What do you mean ‘I guess’?”

“I haven’t used it yet, so I can’t say for sure. You can’t be certain until you actually see it in action.”

Of course, I know it better than anyone, but it’s safer to play dumb for now.

“—Still, we couldn’t figure out who the ‘Blessed Ones’ are in the end.”

After that, I continued chatting idly while watching my classmates’ reactions. Seeing the last person finish their report, I couldn’t help but mutter to myself.

There hadn’t been any special effect or anything to make the “Blessed Ones” stand out, so it wasn’t surprising that we couldn’t identify them. Still, it was a bit disappointing, as I had hoped for something.

“Yeah. Well, those who are ‘Blessed’ probably wouldn’t go around advertising their abilities. They might show them during training, but I doubt they’d voluntarily talk about the details.”

“Given their position, that makes sense. If they had abilities like that, it could lead to secret conflicts or even attacks.”

In reality, though the circumstances might differ, we were hiding our abilities too. There’s no way people with the status of a princess or a big corporation’s heir would reveal their secrets so easily.

“But there seems to be at least one person who’s not a ‘Blessed One,’ but still stands out. Look.”

Inori pointed towards a group—or rather, a particular person.

“Hm? Ah, the ‘Saint.’ That makes sense. It’d actually be a problem if she weren’t one.”

According to the rumors, she was expected to acquire a healing-related skill, and from what I was hearing, it seemed she did indeed acquire such a skill.

“It seems interesting to watch, at least.”

“Don’t even think about it. Since we’re in the same class, we’re bound to get dragged into some kind of trouble sooner or later.”

True enough. If the “Saint” had ended up with some kind of self-destructive skill, the atmosphere in our class would have been far worse. Thinking about it, everything going according to expectations was probably the best outcome.

“—It looks like everyone has acquired their skills. We will now move to another location to test them, so until then, please refrain from using your skills.”

With those words, Momochi-sensei started walking immediately, and we followed her out of the orb storage room.