Trust and Truth

**Typo on last chapter: Magic Enforcement => Magic Reinforcement**

“So… who’s going to learn it?”

As my question resonated through the quiet room, an almost tense silence filled the air. The girls all held startled expressions as they looked at my face, scrutinizing it, as if looking for an answer.

To me, I didn’t really care much for this skill. For one, the singular word, “Magic” already told me that I was incompatible with this skill. To put it simply, it would be a waste for me to learn it. And in a place like this, where valuable resources are limited as is, wasting anything valuable was definitely a bad idea.

In the stagnant room, the first to break the silence was Cielle. In a quieter voice than usual, she spoke. “Shouldn’t… shouldn’t Hide be the one to decide?”

Just as quickly, Hina muttered in agreement as she slightly dipped her head forward. “That’s right. After all, Hide was the one who killed it.”

The logic that ownership belonged to the winner, was a novel idea which was often used in MMOs and such. Considering the context, it very much fit our current situation.

After glancing repeatedly at Hina and Cielle, Cher hastily nodded as well. “Th-that’s right, Hide deserves it… I- I don’t even have the right to decide, I mean, it’s not like I helped very much this time around.”

Although she tried to hide her true emotions with a wide smile, the look in her eyes pretty much gave away whatever emotion she tried to conceal. A look of dejection… was it due to her own inability? A deep sadness because she was ultimately weak? Or maybe despair at the fact that she might not get the skill?

I wasn’t certain, but one thing I did now was, at the very least, Cher wasn’t as useless as I first presumed. Even if she is weak, even if her precedent actions barely contributed much in the long run, she still acted. Rushing forward despite the risk of death is not an easy thing to do.

I glanced down. I could still see the yellow stream running down the inside of her thigh. Her oblivious face pointed out the fact that she still hadn’t noticed. In normal situations, such a sight would indeed be considered pitiful, but right now, I didn’t see it like that.

I looked back up at every body. My eyes quickly gazed over every one of their faces before I sighed out deeply. I crossed my arms and looked up at the dome shaped ceiling, considering my options carefully.

After a while, I uncrossed my arms, and made a move towards the skill book in Cielle’s arms. She easily acquiesced, as I brought it close to me. I briefly looked at it before I turned back to face everyone else. “I’ve decided. This skill book will go to-”

I pushed the book forward into a certain girl’s hands.

“Eh? Me?” A surprised voice leaked out from a certain red headed girl. Her expression looked a bit pitiful, but it could not mask her surprised joy.

“A-are you sure about this?” Cher timidly asked while her opened hands gravitated towards the book.

“Well, I’ve thought about it.” I answered. “You can think of this as both a reward and a loan.”

“A loan?” She tilted her head, her excitement slightly dampened by confusion.

“Yeah… I mean, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a freebie or anything. I just thought that, you’ve been doing pretty well lately, as a slave. I mean, you’ve been working hard lately, following all my instructions… and your level’s been rising pretty steadily as well.” I stammered on. It might be obvious at this point, but I wasn’t very good at thinly veiled compliments. “A-anyways... What I’m trying to say is, continue working hard to pay of this debt (skill book). Don’t let my trust go to waste.” I said those simple words while I looked squarely at her eyes.

For a moment she just stood there, transfixed. She made no motion of receiving the book, nor of replying back. After a while though, she seemingly broke out of her self induced daze, as she received the book warmly. Her head slightly tilted down, as it gazed over at the skill book’s indecipherable paperback cover.

In a quiet, almost imperceptible voice, she whispered, “Trust, huh…”

As if to confirm my decision, I looked over at the other two once more. “No objections?”

Hina nodded in agreement, while Cielle walked over towards Cher. Positioning herself behind her, Cielle lightly patted her back while congratulating, “Good job…”

Hearing this, Cher muttered something about “mistress” before a happy smile plastered itself on her face. Seeing this scene unfold, I couldn’t help but crack a smile myself. While I did mutter something about “trust”, and while that was indeed true, that was only half of my motivation.

For one thing, if this battle is any indication, then our party will need a capable vanguard that can actually take hits. While I might be able to fill that role for now, in the future I would like to completely switch to offense. Cher’s current capabilities are lacking. To boost her defensive capabilities despite her low level… Something like a skill would be perfect.

Going by the context of the panel, that skill book was definitely defense oriented, probably something similar to my [Hard Scale]. So with that in mind, who better to learn a defense skill than our designated tank?

There was also one other thing too. A defensive skill won’t be that dangerous when it's pointed my direction. I can at least assure myself that my decision won’t instantly backfire on me. Although, I doubt Cher has the courage or intention to do something like that.

Pulling my mind out of the gutter, I looked back at Cher just in time to hear her mutter, “It really is true… being with Hide… If you're around him, then you will get a skill too…”

For some odd reason, her eyes were sparkling while her mouth curved in a pitiful smile.

“Gah, that’s enough about that.” I finally interrupted. “Quickly learn your new skill. If you’re going to be any useful, then you need to master it fast!”

“Y-yes!” In an excited voice, she began reading the book. After a few minutes of silent reading, her expression soured while she tilted her head to the side. “Is this really a skill book? This is more like a fantasy novel… or history text than anything else.”

“Just read it all the way until the end.” I reassured. I had pretty much the same experience when I learned my new skill.

“O-okay…” She hesitantly said. “Although, this story… it’s pretty interesting, you know… Should I read it out loud for you guys as well?” She turned excitedly towards Hina and Cielle, who quickly nodded their heads. After all, it was a story from another world, who wouldn’t be interested.

Just as I was about to speak up, a tiny memory in me resurfaced, jogged by the recent events. It was about the time I read my first skill book, and about the “secret” it revealed.

“Oi, Cher, before you-”

But it was too late. Enamored by the story’s contents, without even realizing it herself, Cher had began reading the book out loud.

Even though I wanted to stop her, there was nothing I could do, Cher continued reading while she narrated the contents of the book, revealing everything it had to offer.

In basic summary, the Cyclops were a similar existence to the werewolves. A race that originated from a human variant species possessing a singular eye, called Monoeyes, Cyclops were the portion of the race which was negatively affected by the particular phenomenon known only as “the Collapse”. Like with the werewolves, they came from a world known as Alterworl.

A familiar tale of lost humanity, and descent into madness. the Cyclops lost almost all of their reasoning, as they mutated and became an existence feared as monsters. The actual fact that they still had enough intelligence to use things such as armor and weapons symbolizes the little bit of humanity that might still remain… or the remnants of something irretrievable.

After Cher finished reading the last page of the book, the skill book itself glowed faintly, before it seemingly disintegrated, not a trace of it to be seen.

“....”

A heavy silence descended on the room.

Thanks to Cher’s narration, we knew full well what our constant Cyclops killing symbolized. In the end, we had killed something that used to be human. Something that might still have been human. It was the same type of secret I tried hiding back when I read the skill book depicting the werewolves.

As if vocalizing my own internal worries, a quiet voice abruptly began speaking. “In the end… what have we been doing all this time…?” Hina voiced out, as she spoke solemnly to no one in particular.

“Surviving.” I responded back. I hadn’t even thought about the answer, and merely answered, almost on instinct. “We killed to survive. No- that’s a lie actually… We killed to get stronger. And in the end, getting stronger means surviving.”

My words, even to me, were hollow.

When you're raised in a peaceful society, a society that valued face and social connections the most, a society which inhibited one’s darkest, most inhumane desires in order to coalesce with everybody else… even when it's logical, it's still a difficult concept to grasp.

But in the end, down to our very core, humans want to live. Life is what justifies our actions. Life is what justifies death. Be that death our or someone else’s.

Our situation is no different.

Reassuring her dead eyed sister, Cielle put a comforting hand around her shoulder. The expression on her face, the words that she whispered into her ears, I could did not recognize any of them.

A long stretch of time passed with no one uttering a single word. Lost in whatever thoughts, what ever reasoning they formed, not a single one of us dared to break the silence, that is until-

“Killing people in this world is normal.” A sudden declaration came from Cher, who until now, had kept quiet all this time. Her expression had a hint of longing, but was nonetheless curved into determination. “I-I’ve seen people kill before. I’ve seen people die too… In the end, I couldn’t do anything about that… simply- I was simply swept up in the pace.”

Regret… was something not visible on her face. Rather, a willingness to survive might be an accurate interpretation.

“The reason I joined up with Satou was because I was afraid of dying. The reason I stuck around him was because I was afraid of being killed. It’s the same thing… when I begged Hide to take me… I was simply afraid of being killed.”

Her words sent a tremor through her own body. Those small, deceptively small balled up fists lightly shook as she kept looking down, and continued speaking. As if she wanted to release all the pent up emotion she had been saving up until now, her slightly parted lips kept moving. “But now… I feel that I’ve changed. Rather than fighting to not be killed… I feel like I’m fighting to live.

I- I don’t really know how to explain it.” She stammered “I-It’s a weird feeling. I-I, back then, I thought that, even if I don’t get killed now, I’ll simply die later, but now… It’s a minor change, I think. Fighting to not die versus fighting to live. They’re practically the same thing, but worded differently…. but still...but still...

At the very least, I think- I think I can kill.”

I didn’t really understand. Honestly, like Cher said, fighting to not die, and fighting to live are the same basic concept. Isn’t that just sophism?

Although that’s what I kept a seed of doubt deep within me, I still took her words at face value. The expression she made was… it was slightly less pitiful.

“...” Once again nobody spoke. Whatever type of emotion Cher’s speech had festered in us, we kept it to ourselves. Eventually though, Cher spoke up once again. She aimlessly talked about her new skill, a poor attempt at changing the subject.

Magic Reinforcement was both a semi-active and semi-passive skill, sort of similar to my [Sensory Remapping]. It passively increased the defense stat by a proportionate amount of the total mana the skill owner had. In its early stages, the increase was insignificant, but as one’s level grew higher and as [Magic Reinforcement]’s skill level increased, it gave a noticeable change.

The active portion of the skill was as a temporary boost in defense in exchange for mana. In short, it was a buff, a useful buff for any prospective tank.

“I see… it’s a useful skill for Cher, isn’t it?” Hina unexpectedly replied back. Her expression had lightened somewhat, as she smiled directly at the redheaded girl.

Cielle also agreed, bobbing her head up and down.

“...” Cher looked blankly at them for a second. She was at a loss for words, before she blinked once, and faintly smiled. “It really is a good skill.”

****

Afterwards, I pushed the girls out of the room.

Our original goal for visiting the Observatory wasn’t too kill the Cyclops leader, but rather, to pick up a telescope. Despite that, I felt that letting the girls stay in this sort of room was detrimental in more ways than one. Besides, I planned on dissecting the Cyclops corpse, and following my usual pattern, I wanted to hide my less than questionable actions. On the pretense that I didn’t want them to see something more gruesome than these corpses, I firmly insisted that they leave the rest to me.

With an excuse like, “Killing might be manageable, but at the very least, leave the dirty work to me, alright?” I was left alone in this circular, corpse filled room.

Before anything, I walked over to the Cyclops corpse. It lay face down on the ground, with its legs sprawled along the floor. The first thing I did was remove its gauntlets, and the plate armor it wore. These were fashioned for a giant, but I was confident I could refurbish them into something suitable for human use. Putting that to the side, I began my normal routine.

Rather, than getting myself lost in the intricacies of this foreign body, my mind was a bit preoccupied, both by the current events and what awaited in the near future.

In short, I lamented.

Lost in my own thoughts and worries, before I even realized, I had sculpted out most of the corpse. The only thing remaining was its untouched head. With a bit of effort, I was able to flip the body topside, as I stared directly at its giant, hollow eye. The Eye itself was about the size of a fist, and it was completely dyed in red. Blood apparently seeped into the eyeball during our battle. Looking closely, I could see the damage Hina’s fireball had caused. At that time, this giant, sensitive sensory organ had merely been a target for that girl.

With careful, well practiced movements, I excavated the sphere out from its crevice before quickly severing the tissue that connected it to the rest of the head. I brought the orb up to the light, and watched its translucent surface catch a faint glimmer of sunlight.

Without hesitation, I used [Identify].

Magic Eye of Gunther

The sole eye of Gunther the Lesser Cyclops. Due to how its original owner lived its life, a bit of magical power has stored itself into the eye, although since it has been damaged, it will be hard to harness.

A rather vague description, but if I felt like it might be a somewhat useful item. Although I currently didn’t know how, making something like a staff or wand might be possible in the future. For now, I’ll just set it aside.

With that out of the way, I moved away from the corpse, and began looking around the room. I was currently on the look out for anything that might prove useful, be it a working radio or something similar. I also wanted to grab a telescope.

There were several telescopes in the observatory. When I used [Identify] on each of them, they gave practically the same description. In the end, I picked the one that had vaguely better descriptions than the rest.

This telescope was a practically undamaged piece of machinery that had been used as a sort of hanger for corpses prior to my arrival. While it had numerous blood stains all over its frame, the silver metallic body of it was still clearly visible.

Afterwards, I began searching the room, looking for anything that might remotely be useful. While most of the machinery within the room had already been broken, probably even before we had arrived, I did find an unused first aid kit, which was tucked away in a corner of the room and saved for emergencies.

As I searched the room, I also grew curious regarding the boar corpse near the back of the observatory. Much like a lot of the corpses in this room, it had been chewed up and eaten. Only remnants of bone and fur remained.

I later confirmed that it was indeed the Species leader for the tusk boars, a creature that went by the title “Albino”, probably a name derived from its white fur. Unfortunately, too much time had already passed, and nothing salvageable remained of its corpse.

As I haphazardly searched its body, I discovered something. Stuck between the blood stained tiles of the observatory floor, and its hunkering corpse, was a small paperback book. It was a familiar object, and upon closer inspection, revealed itself to be none other than a skill book.

Most likely, it was a monster drop from when the tusk boar was defeated. Luckily for me, the Cyclops either did not realize it was here in the first place or had no clue how to use it. Either, way it was a rare bonus.

Quickly, inspecting it, I used [Identify].

Rushing Dash

An old record that details the special ability that is most associated with boar type monster. This book allows one person to learn the active skill [Rushing Dash].

Effects:

New Skill - Rushing Dash

Equip Bonus

+ 10 Agility

When compared with the previous skills books I’ve encountered, this one seemed a bit lackluster. Nothing impressive really, but nonetheless, a skill is a skill, and beggars can’t be choosers.

Obviously, I myself wanted to learn this skill. For an agility oriented person like me, a dash skill was perfect. Rather, it was essential. Of course, before I learned it though, I

d have to consult with the others, it seemed only fair to do so. Although I had a fair bit of confidence that they would easily acquiesce to handing this skill over to me.

First of, Cher recently got a new skill, so she should be satisfied. And Cielle and Hina aren’t really close combat builds, so they’d probably be okay with giving this skill up.

With somewhat greedy intentions, I took the newly acquired skill book, gathered the rest of my collected loot, and left the death ridden observatory.