Chapter 24
Izumi looked up for several moments.
"Hmm... this is a bit complicated, but I'll explain briefly how I ended up in this world."
Inside her heart, Izumi added something she did not say aloud.
It's better if I don't talk about my gender changing.
It would be very strange if they found out.
Izumi looked back at the four girls in front of her.
"Basically, after I died, I met a rather strange person."
"I don't really know how to explain it."
"She said she was an... Outer God or something like that."
"Then she offered me a chance to live again in another world."
Nera immediately stood up from her seat.
"G-GOD!?"
"A God!?"
"You met God!?"
"The one and only God!? The creator of this world!?"
Izumi immediately shook her head.
"Umm... I don't think so."
Nera froze.
"Eh?.."
"Then?.."
Izumi thought for a moment.
"I don't know."
"I think she was incredibly powerful."
"Even though she was a woman."
"Anyway, she's the one who brought me back to life in this world."
"And she's also the one who gave me the Creation Skill."
Welly, Nera, and Liliy nearly shouted at the same time.
"SKILL!?"
Berin, who had already heard everything earlier, simply leaned back comfortably.
"Yup."
"You all have exactly the same reaction I had when I first heard it."
Welly stared at Izumi in disbelief.
"So..."
"You have a skill!?"
Izumi nodded.
"Yes."
"I have two."
Nera, Welly, and Liliy immediately froze.
"T-TWO!?!"
"TWO SKILLS!?"
Izumi nodded again.
"Yeah."
"Although I don't know what my second skill does."
"It's a passive skill."
"I can't activate it whenever I want."
"And even now, I still don't know what effect it has."
Welly immediately began thinking hard.
"It could be a buff skill."
"Or a debuff against enemies."
"Or perhaps some other hidden ability."
Izumi shrugged.
"Hmm... maybe."
But Nera still looked shocked.
"Rumi..."
"You have two skills..."
"Two..."
"An ordinary human has two skills..."
"Not a Player..."
"But an ordinary human..."
Berin laughed softly.
"That's why I said."
"That reaction is normal."
Suddenly, Nera looked excited.
"If I report this—"
"NO!!"
Izumi immediately stood up.
"Don't!"
"Please!"
Nera was startled.
"Eh?.."
"Why?"
Izumi took a deep breath.
"I don't want to become the center of attention."
Nera frowned.
"But I can make your identity anonymous."
"If the world learns about your existence..."
"No..."
"The future of the human race could change completely!"
"Nera..."
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Izumi called her softly.
But before she could explain, Berin interrupted.
"Nera."
"You're really dense, aren't you?"
Nera turned toward her.
Berin continued.
"Rumi doesn't want anyone to know about all of this."
"You should protect her secret."
"Just like I do."
Liliy immediately looked shocked.
"Wait."
"So you already knew Rumi had a skill?"
"Since this morning."
Liliy let out a long sigh.
"No wonder you seem so calm."
"Huh..."
Nera lowered her head.
"Umm..."
Izumi smiled faintly.
"Nera."
"Don't worry."
"Someday, I'll reveal myself to the world on my own."
Nera blinked.
"What do you mean?"
Izumi answered calmly.
"One day, I'll tell the world about my existence."
"But not now."
"Because I'm still weak."
"Very weak."
The four girls immediately looked at her strangely.
Izumi continued.
"I don't know anything about this world."
"Items."
"Artifacts."
"Skills."
"The System."
"Players."
"Monsters."
"And many other races I haven't even seen yet."
Izumi lowered her gaze.
"I'm sure."
"If I suddenly reveal myself to the public."
"Many groups will come looking for me."
"They might even try to capture or kill me."
"And the people close to me..."
Izumi looked at them one by one.
"You."
"Might get dragged into it too."
"I don't want that to happen."
"Because..."
"You're my friends."
The room suddenly fell silent.
Nera slowly began to understand what Izumi meant.
Her face became filled with guilt.
"Eh..."
"I'm sorry, Rumi."
"I didn't think that far ahead."
Berin also finally realized it.
"Ooh..."
"So that's the reason."
"No wonder you didn't want me to report it."
Berin looked at Izumi.
"If the whole world knew about you."
"A lot of races would definitely come looking for you."
Welly nodded slowly.
"Especially if the strongest races started moving."
"I'm sure every human on this continent could be wiped out because of it."
Izumi smiled inwardly in relief.
Thank goodness they understand.
I need to learn more about this world.
At least five years?
No... that's too long.
Three years?
Or even sooner if possible.
Suddenly, Berin raised her hand.
"So..."
"The ice cream you gave us earlier..."
"Was that also created with your Creation Skill?"
"Yes."
That short answer made them fall silent once again.
Without realizing it, time continued to pass.
They talked about many things.
About Izumi's original world.
About skills.
About Players.
About many things they had never known before.
Before they noticed.
The sky began to darken.
Night had arrived.
Nera stood up first.
"Rumi."
"Hmm?"
"Do you want to come with us?"
"Come where?"
Nera smiled.
"To the hot spring."
"It's good for your body."
Izumi immediately became interested.
"Ooh..."
"It's been a very long time since I took a hot bath."
Nera smiled.
"So?"
"Are you coming?"
Izumi almost answered immediately.
"Of course—"
But she suddenly stopped.
Is this really okay...?
But I'm a woman now...
This body is a woman's...
It should be fine...
No no no no...
Nera tilted her head.
"Hmm?"
"What's wrong?"
Izumi quickly shook her head.
"Ah, nothing."
"It's just..."
"Oh right."
"I changed my mind."
"I just remembered something I need to do."
Nera looked slightly disappointed.
"Ooh."
"I see."
"Then we'll go first."
Izumi nodded.
"Yeah."
Not long afterward, Nera left with the others.
The room became quiet again.
Only Izumi remained.
She stared at the ceiling.
"Why does tonight feel so lonely..."
Five minutes passed.
Another five minutes.
And another five minutes.
Suddenly, Izumi got up from her bed.
"I guess walking around the city wouldn't be so bad."
"It's boring here."
She immediately left her room.
When she reached the first floor, she met Uncle Zix.
"Eh?"
"Rumi?"
"I heard the girls are going to the hot spring."
"Aren't you going?"
"It's good for your body. Helps keep you from getting stiff."
Izumi answered briefly.
"No."
Zix raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm."
"Then where are you going?"
"I don't know."
"I just want to walk around the city."
"Oh, I see."
Izumi looked at him.
"What?"
"Ah, nothing."
"It's just that if you're hungry, there's a pretty good restaurant nearby."
"Food, huh..."
"I'm not interested."
Izumi immediately walked away.
"Eh..."
Zix could only stare at her back.
Outside.
The night air was fairly cold.
Magic lamps illuminated the streets of Monotiz City.
The atmosphere was peaceful.
Comfortable.
And very different from the world Izumi once knew.
She walked slowly while observing the scenery around her.
"This feeling..."
"If my world had never experienced war..."
"Would it have felt like this?"
Izumi continued walking.
Farther and farther away from the inn.
While enjoying grilled squid skewers she had created herself using the Creation Skill.
Eventually she arrived in front of the tallest building in the city.
A massive tower stretched into the sky.
Izumi looked up.
"I wonder if I'm allowed to go up there."
Suddenly.
Someone appeared directly behind her.
Izumi hadn't noticed at all.
"!!"
Her reflexes immediately kicked in.
She spun around.
And instantly grabbed a dagger.
The tip of the blade pointed directly at the person.
"Hmm?"
An old voice sounded.
"Young Miss Rumi."
"So it really was you."
Izumi blinked.
Then recognized the face.
"Oh."
"You."
"The old man who made my adventurer card."
Rey Renold laughed softly.
"Hahaha."
"As always."
"The way you talk is completely different from other girls."
But Izumi did not laugh.
Instead, she stared at Rey seriously.
What was that...?
How did I not notice him at all...?
As a former war veteran.
That was a fatal weakness.
If an enemy managed to get behind her without being detected.
She would already be dead.
Rey seemed to understand what Izumi was thinking.
"You're wondering how I appeared behind you?"
Izumi nodded.
Rey raised a necklace.
"Because of this artifact."
"Artifact?"
"Yes."
"This artifact has the ability to erase the user's presence."
"Even high-class Detection Scrolls cannot detect it."
Izumi's eyes immediately sparkled.
"An artifact that can completely erase someone's presence..."
"That's extremely useful."
Rey laughed.
"Of course."
"Because it's a Legendary-class artifact."
Izumi fell silent for a moment.
"Hmm?"
"Aren't Legendary artifacts extremely rare?"
"That's true."
"But only for the lower classes."
"For the upper races."
"Legendary isn't anything special."
Izumi frowned.
"Why is that?"
Rey asked in return.
"Do you not know how to obtain Legendary artifacts?"
Izumi shook her head.
Rey laughed softly.
"Hmm."
"So you really are a village girl."
"Why are we talking about that again!?..."
Rey laughed even harder.
Then he began explaining.
"There are four ways to obtain a Legendary artifact."
"The first."
"Defeat an Elite-class Monster."
"Even then, the chances of getting one are still small."
Izumi immediately asked.
"Huh?"
"Elite-class Monster?"
"What does that mean?"
Rey stared at her for a long moment.
"Don't tell me you don't know monster classifications either?"
"No."
Izumi's flat answer made Rey massage his temples.
"Hmm..."
"Alright."
"Monsters use a different classification system than items or artifacts."
Rey then began explaining.
1. Continent-Class Monster
2. Nation-Class Monster
3. Island-Class Monster
4. Region-Class Monster
5. City-Class Monster
6. Fortress-Class Monster
7. Village-Class Monster
8. Elite-Class Monster
9. Magic-Class Monster
10. S-Class Monster
11. A-Class Monster
12. B-Class Monster
13. C-Class Monster
14. D-Class Monster
15. E-Class Monster
16. F-Class Monster
Izumi immediately felt her head starting to hurt.
There was too much new information.
"That is the order of monsters from strongest to weakest."
Rey observed Izumi's expression.
"Was my explanation too fast?"
"Ah, no."
"I'm just trying to remember everything."
"Oh, I see."
"That's good."
Izumi then asked again.
"Do dungeon monsters use the same classification system?"
"More or less."
Izumi nodded.
In truth, there were still many questions she wanted to ask.
A lot of questions.
Because the longer she stayed in this world, the more she realized how little she actually knew.
"Old man."
"Hmm?"
"I actually still have many questions."
"But..."
"Do you have free time?"
Rey laughed.
"Hahaha."
"Of course."
"I have plenty of free time."
"From five in the evening until seven in the morning."
Izumi blinked.
"Eh..."
"Don't you have a wife?"
"Of course I do."
"So you have children too?"
"Yes."
"Then why don't you spend time with them?"
Rey smiled faintly.
"They live in a village."
"Very far from here."
"By horse carriage, it would probably take eight days."
"Eight... days..."
"Oh right."
Rey pointed toward the city streets.
"Rather than standing here."
"Want to go have a drink?"
"I know a good place."
Izumi thought for a moment.
Then nodded.
"Alright."
"I'll come."
Inside, Rey smiled.
I know she's already eighteen years old.
But I didn't expect her to agree so easily.
As if she'd been drinking for years.
And I still have many questions about this girl.
So that night.
Izumi followed Rey Renold.
An old knight.
The former strongest Holy Knight of the Kingdom of Monotiz.