45-45 The Boy Without Talent (2/2)

However, no matter how hard he tried, this boy could only develop one skill: the ability to reduce the sound of footsteps.

That in itself is not bad. It's one of the most basic ones.

However, even if he could only eliminate signs, if he could not use it in combination with other abilities, it would be difficult for him to be useful as a [bandit].

Not only that, but the boy also had other major problems as a thief.

He was clumsy in dealing with the traps and devices that were set.

Thieves are supposed to be able to unlock locks and detect traps and other dangers, but this boy would always destroy a locked box if you gave it to him, and he would always set off a trap if you approached him.

If you don't let him touch the lock, he won't destroy it, but if he goes into a corridor with multiple traps, he'll set off every single one and come back.

Somehow, even the traps that are broken and in need of repair somehow work properly when the boy approaches them.

You could say that it's almost divine.

I thought he might have some kind of skill or [Gift], but he doesn't.

Even when I brought out the magic tools that showed this, there was no response.

All I could say was that he had natural bad luck and clumsiness.

However, although the boy always triggered the traps that were set for him, he was undaunted by any threat.

With his bare hands, he knocked down the poisonous arrows that flew at him, caught the large iron ball that rolled to crush his body, crushed all the heads of the countless vipers that attacked him from the ceiling, drained their blood, and brought them home.

I was told that he was going to cook them for dinner later.

That's not the point.

Yes, the boy defeated all the traps head-on.

Not by detecting, disarming, or evading them in advance.

He triggered the traps and then crushed them head-on.

That's great, but it's wrong.

This is bandit training.

I appreciate your bravery, your acuity, your reflexes, your survival skills, but that's not what this is about.

いや、罠にどう対処するのが本当は正解だ、というのは実際はないのだが、最低限のことは教えてから訓練を始めるべきだったとカルーは後悔した.

ともあれ、いくら罠を発動させたとしても、この少年自身は大丈夫だと言うことは分かった.

だが、これではパーティで行動した時、巻き込まれる方はたまったものではないだろう.

この少年は集団行動には致命的に向かない.

──この少年は【盗賊】職としては完全に失格だ.

あくまで、冒険者志望の【盗賊】職としては、だが.

「どうしても冒険者でなければいけないのか？」

「ああ. 俺は冒険者になりたいんだ」

カルーはそれ以上何も聞かなかった.

この少年は、簡単に意見を曲げるような人物には見えなかったからだ.

そういう性格も含めて、カルーはこの少年を好意的に受け止めた.

この少年はまあ、そんなに悪くない.

気配を殺すことには長けているし、恐ろしいほどに勘がいい.

──だが、それだけで【盗賊】職として合格点にはならないだろう.

訓練期間が三ヶ月を迎え、別れ際にカルーは少年にはっきりと言った.

「冒険者としてやっていきたいのなら、罠のかかった宝箱の開錠もできない、気配察知スキルももたない……おまけに触った罠を片っ端から作動させていく斥候(スカウト)などお話にもならない. 【盗賊】に関しては全く才能はないから違う職を探せ」

とはいえ、カルーは知っていた.

この少年は【剣士】、そして【戦士】の才能もなかったという.

あのミアンヌがまともな訓練を行ったとは考えにくいが【狩人】もダメだったらしい.

自分が面倒を見た【盗賊】職でも碌にスキルは身につかなかった.

残るは、【魔術師】と【僧侶】のみだが、おそらく望みは薄いだろう.

となると、この少年は規定上は『冒険者』になる最低要件を満たせないということになる.

そう考えて、カルーは仮面の下で笑った.

──そうか、それならば都合がいい.

この少年の意志は固いようだが、もし今後、彼が『冒険者』への道を諦めざるを得ないのなら、ちょうどいい.

自分の王都諜報部(職場)にリクルートしよう.

確かにこの少年には何のスキルもない.

罠を片っ端から作動させてしまうのも困りものだ.

だが、この少年の気配の消し方と、周囲の異変を察知する天性の勘は優れている.

何よりも余人に代え難い忍耐力と執念がある.

それは自分のような職業を生業とするものにとっては、何よりの資質だ.

きっと将来、優秀な諜報部員として活躍してくれるだろう.

これはいい人材を見つけた──.

そう思いながら、カルーは期限が来ても【盗賊】の訓練の継続を希望する少年を訓練所からつまみ出した.

そして尚も、【隠蔽】を使っている自分の姿を察知し、必死に追いかけようとしてくる少年の姿を頼もしく思いながら、夜の闇に紛れ姿を消した.

◇◇◇

「……【魔術師】の……訓練を、受けさせてくれ……！」

涙でぐしゃぐしゃになった顔で、【魔術師】の訓練所の門を叩いていた少年を見かけた時、【魔聖】オーケンは首を傾げながら自慢のあご髭を撫でた.

「ホッホウ──随分と若い訓練志願者じゃの？　確か、普通は最低でも１５歳からじゃったような気がしたが……受付年齢が急に下がったのかのう？」

I got a referral from my uncle in the guild. ......!

Please, let me take it. ......!!!

It's really the only place I can go. ......!

Please ......!!!　Please, ......!

”Ho ho, you're a boy with a funny way of talking... well, just try.

And so he began his training as a sorcerer, but... as expected, it was no good.

In a word, the boy had no talent for magic at all.

Surprisingly, magic power did not flow through his body.

Magic can be learned at an early age through familiarity with magic and learning the theory behind it.

But this boy stumbled at the very beginning of the process.

The boy's magic is too entrenched.

Maybe he started moving his magic a little too late.

But even so, ...... it's rare to find a person with so little magical talent.

At his age, he should be a little softer than that. ...... Is there something wrong with him?

It's not that this boy doesn't have magic in his body.

In fact, he probably has a lot of it.

But it's so stiff that he can't move it at all.

You can't use what you can't move.

On the other hand, it's possible that you have a strong resistance that allows you to survive a strong magical attack.

I told the boy frankly that he had no chance even if he tried, but he refused to leave the training center.

”Hmm... Let's see what happens.

Oaken decided to leave him alone for a while.

A lot of people quit because they get sick of it, but if he doesn't want to leave, we'll just let him do it until he's satisfied.

However, this [sorcerer] training school is a place where people who have acquired a certain amount of knowledge and skills come.

The only thing this have-not boy could do was to meditate in the Resonance Room.

In a space shrouded in complete darkness, completely devoid of sound and light, he trained himself to face only his own ”magical power.

In that room, there is a device embedded that sharpens all the senses many times over, making it highly effective for learning [skills], but at the same time, it also amplifies fear, anxiety and pain, so some people go crazy within a few minutes.

Some people go crazy within a few minutes. Many people can't take it anymore and come out within a few seconds... The boy was not intimidated by this explanation and wanted to undergo the training.

Well, everything is an experience.

You can let him try.

I'm sure he'll come out soon enough.

Oaken lightheartedly allowed the boy to enter the resonance room.

But after a few minutes, a few hours...

The boy did not come out of the room.

The next morning, when he realized that the boy had not come out of the room, Oaken's face turned pale.

Oh, no.

He might have fainted inside.

No, he might be ...... dead.

When Oaken hurriedly looked inside, the boy was just sitting there quietly as if nothing had happened.

When he found Oaken, who had come to check on him, he told him to stay out of the way and threw him out of the room.

Since then, the boy has been staying in the room.

Except for occasional visits to eat and use the bathroom, he never came out of the room, and the ”Resonance Room” became almost like his own room.

Oken became concerned and asked him repeatedly if he was all right and if there was anything wrong with his body, but the boy only replied that he was fine.

Oken wondered what was going on.

Although he had made him do it out of the blue, what the boy was doing was a very high level of training that would make even a skilled magician run away - in this training center, it would be the hardest kind of training.

But even after all that, it seemed that he hadn't acquired any of the important [skills].

Oaken twisted his head again.

He wondered if this was possible.

And so, three months passed.

When the deadline for the training period was approaching, a boy who was still coming in and out of the resonance room stopped Oaken.

The boy said that he had finally acquired something that looked like a [skill] and wanted to see it.

Oaken watched the boy use the skill without much expectation.

He knew that the boy had a constitution that allowed him to move very little magic power.

Well, whatever it was, he had worked so hard to acquire it.

Whatever it is, I'll give him some praise.

That's what I thought.

But the moment he saw it, he was astonished.

(What the hell is he doing?)

What the boy showed him was a 【Petite Fire】.

It's the lowest level of the [Sorcerer] skill set.

Well, that's okay.

It's not a problem in itself.

The problem is that it comes from two fingertips, one at a time (・・・・).

In other words, [double chanting].

A little kid who just touched this kind of magic is doing [double chanting]?

(What the hell is this guy doing? ......!

(What the hell is he doing? !?!!) Oaken was stiff with surprise.

(What the heck is he doing? !!) Oaken stiffened in surprise.

When I was young, it was said to be an illusion, and I was quite surprised when I manifested it.

It took me fifty years to reach that point.

It took me fifty years to reach that level. After I had achieved it, I got carried away and taught the trick to people in bars everywhere I went, and a few decades later, I heard a good number of people say that they had become able to do it.

But there were no such people before I taught them.

And yet, this guy.

He did it on his own, without being taught anything, in just three months (・・・・・・).

(What the hell is this guy doing?

(What the hell is this guy doing? !!!!) Oaken was so surprised that he repeated the same line three times in his head.

Something terrible is happening right in front of my eyes right now.

An extraordinary situation that will shake the history of magic.

But the boy standing in front of the excited Oaken said in a sad voice.

”This is the best I could do. No matter how hard I tried, this is all I could do.

When Oaken regained his composure, he was unable to speak to the boy, whose shoulders slumped.

It was true that the boy had an outstanding sense of magic.

However, his constitution is fatally bad.

What this boy has accomplished is amazing.

But when you think about it, you can't be too happy.

Because Oaken would know.

Unfortunately... this boy will never be a great sorcerer.

There is no future for this boy as a sorcerer, unfortunately.

It's because he's a saint who has spent nearly three hundred years studying magic that he knows this.

What a waste.

This is really a waste.

The optimistic old man, who usually does not grieve over anything, was unusually grieving from the bottom of his heart.

If only his constitution was different, this boy would have made a name for himself in this world as an unparalleled magician.

”Well, whatever the case, this is no place for you. You should find another way. Find another way, one that you're comfortable with.

With that, Oaken sent the boy off to finish his training at full term.

As I watched the little back walk away from my sight, the thought of taking him in and raising him came to mind, but I decided against it.

There is something about this boy that no other human being has.

Even if I let him go on like this, he would be strong enough to manage on his own.

This boy will probably have to find his own way.

This kind of person does not need a teacher.

I'm not sure what to say.

I'm not sure what to say.

I want to be a monk. Let me train.

It was a snowy morning when a boy with a dazed expression, as if he had given up on everything, came to the church that served as the contact point for the monk training center.

Somehow, without any prior preparation, the boy said that he wanted to become a monk.

”Just out of curiosity, did you receive a 'blessing' ceremony when you were little?

”A ritual?　What's that?

Sein felt sorry for the boy.

Unfortunately, you can't become a monk that way.

To become a monk, you need to have a certain level of background, so don't do it.

Unfortunately, I decided to turn him away.

It's a pity, but it's really impossible.

Without the blessing of childhood, a person cannot handle miracles.

Normally, a ritual is performed shortly after birth to introduce a 'spirit' into the body, and the amount of that spirit determines the range of 'miracles' that can be performed afterwards.

There are no exceptions to this rule, unless you have a truly special Gift.

It's not something you can just say you want to do later.

The people who come here to be trained are decided years in advance.

We can't accept you if you show up suddenly, and this is the only place where we have an aptitude test that other training centers don't have.

I wonder if the adventurer's guild staff who stamped the boy's training permit knew about this.

If they did, they would not have done such a thing.

The permit was probably a mistake. Only predetermined students are allowed to take training here. I'm sorry, sir.

Thane briefly explained why he could not accept the boy.

But the boy was stubborn.

”I will not move an inch from the gate until I am allowed to train.

The boy's will seemed to be firm.

But Thane, who also served as the director of the orphanage, was used to dealing with children and knew that this kind of selfishness was only temporary.

It's hard for a child to stand still in the snow like this.

Thinking that he would eventually give up and go away, I decided to leave him alone and start working.

But around noon, a patrolling officer came to report with a puzzled look on his face that the child was still standing in front of the gate.

He asked me if I wanted to send him away, but I told him to leave him alone.

That day was a busy one, so Sein moved to another work place, and the day passed.

The next morning.

The child was still standing at the gate.

”You haven't been doing that since yesterday, have you?

”Yes, I have.

I knew that the kid was lying.

It was unthinkable that such a child would stand in this weather for a whole day without wearing a coat or anything.

If it were true, I don't think he would have the stamina to give a proper answer like he does now.

You can visit me every day like that, but it won't make a difference.

I won't move an inch until you give me some training.

I see.

As the day before, I decided to leave the boy alone and go about my business.

However, he was curious about the boy's condition, so he looked down at him through the window from time to time while he worked, and noticed something.

He noticed something: ”...... You really haven't moved an inch from the gate. ......

The boy hadn't moved an inch from the gate that afternoon.

I wondered if he had really been like this since yesterday.

When he saw that the boy was still standing there when the sun went down, he could no longer say that it could not be true.

Thane hurried over to the boy standing at the gate and called out to him.

I'm really sorry, but no matter how long you stand there, I can't teach you anything. It takes a special quality to become a monk. I'm not saying this to be mean or anything.

”But I still want to do it. Please. Please.

What I can't do, I can't do. Please, just give up and go home.

”I have nowhere to go.

It didn't seem to Sein that the boy was lying anymore.

It seemed that he really had nowhere to go.

”Then why don't you come to our orphanage?　There are many other children there and you will make friends.

If I go, will you train me?

I can't do that.

Then I won't go.

Well, then you'll have to stay there until you're ready.

Thane was a little lost, but decided to let it go.

The boy didn't look weak, and fortunately there were many staff here who were skilled in the art of healing.

He told the staff on duty that if the boy collapsed, he would take care of him, put him in a warm room, and call him back to him immediately.

But that night, Thane had a sleepless night.

There was no word from the staff.

Had the boy given up?

No matter how stubborn a child is, he would never be so stubborn that his life was in danger.

But the boy seemed to have an opinion.

And there was no place to go back to.

Perhaps I should have brought her home, even if I had to force her...

As I waited for the call from the staff on duty, the sun rose and morning came.

It was still snowing that morning, just as it had been the day before.

Curious, I went to the church earlier than usual and found the boy still standing at the gate.

He was still standing at the gate. ”Are you sure you've been there all this time ......?

Instead of answering my question, the words that came out of the boy's mouth were the exact same ones I heard yesterday.

I won't move an inch from the gate until they let me train.

Thane felt a chill run down his spine.

And then he realized.

This boy, if left alone, would stay here the next day, and the next, and the next, until he lost his life.

If he didn't, his life was in danger.

At this point, Thane had no choice but to break.

I understand... if you just want to learn from me. I'll let you participate in the training of the monks.

”Really?

But there's no guarantee you'll be able to do anything. You have to understand that.

Yeah, I know. ......!　Thank you ......!

And so the training of the [monk] began.

However, this boy does not have the ”blessing” that anyone who wants to become a ”monk” should have received.

In order to be sure, I used an instrument that can measure the amount of spirit in the body to check, but it only brought to light the fact that the boy has no background.

A person in the priestly profession exercises miraculous powers by introducing spirits into the body.

That is the system that embodies healing miracles such as [Heal] [Holy Art], and there is a prerequisite for its use in the first place.

This boy does not have that.

Therefore, accepting him into the training center would only mean imparting that knowledge to him.

I thought so, but I asked him to train to ”handle” the miracle like other trainees who have the spirit in their body with the Blessing.

I told him that this was not possible, but his will did not seem to bend.

He wanted the same training as the others.

I had no choice but to let him do as he wished.

I felt sorry inside that he would never get what he wanted.

But then the strangest thing happened.

As a result of the boy's reckless training, he acquired the 【Monk】skill of 【Low Heel】, even though it was the lowest level.

This was something that should never have happened.

The [Monk] skill can never be used without having the [Spirit], the catalyst for miracles, acquired in your body.

You can't use more power than what you have in your body.

However, this boy is actually performing miracles that could only be accomplished by using the power of a spirit.

In other words, he is using his own power to perform the miracle without the help of the spirits.

Performing miracles on his own, without the help of spirits...

How outrageous is that?

That means that he can handle the power of the miracle almost inexhaustibly (・・・・・), without being bound by the amount of spirits in his body.

How is it possible to do such a thing?

I really can't believe it.

According to Thane's common sense, it was very hard to believe.

But he couldn't help but admit it.

He knew that in some respects, this boy had reached a realm far beyond his own.

The boy has made Sein realize that he needs to improve himself.

How foolish I was.

I felt sorry for the boy.

Thane regretted his treatment of the boy, but at the same time he was grateful.

He was grateful for the presence of the little master in front of him who had raised him to a higher level.

But the boy's expression did not change.

”Isn't this a skill?

Unfortunately, I don't think [Low Heel] can be considered a useful skill for an adventurer. ...... But it's amazing that you can do so much without any blessings from your childhood. You may not be able to feel it right now, but ...... it really is an amazing thing.

”Well... I guess it didn't work.

The boy's shoulders slumped pitifully.

Despite Thane's wishes, the boy did not get what he wanted.

Tomorrow, three months had already passed since the boy had visited the training center.

That night, Thane thought.

The boy's talent might not sprout right away.

But if you take the time to nurture him, he'll probably turn out to be a tremendous person.

He might even become good friends with the recent arrivals at the orphanage, Inez and Gilbert.

With this in mind, Thane decides to invite the boy to his orphanage.

So the next morning, when Thane went to call on him, the boy had disappeared from the training center.

He didn't say goodbye to anyone, he just disappeared.

One of his men who saw him said that he was headed in the direction of the Adventurer's Guild.

When Thane learned of this, he immediately called all of the Six Saints together for a meeting.

In order to ask all of them what they should do with that boy with tremendous qualities, Noor, in the future.

And it was unanimously decided that the entire [Six Saints] would take custody of the boy and raise him.

However... at that time, the boy had already disappeared from the royal capital.

According to the guild staff who last saw him, the boy had left without saying where he was going.

When he learned of this fact, Sig immediately announced that he would quit all his jobs and go on a journey to find the boy, which caused a huge commotion in the royal palace, but the king and the people around him managed to stop him, and they cooperated to find him.

But after that, no matter how much effort was made, the boy's whereabouts remained unknown.

Somehow, none of them could even catch a glimpse of the boy.

And so, time passes in disappointment...

It would be more than ten years from that day until they were reunited.