“So, first things first, has anything been bothering you lately?” Sera said as she got her pen ready to write.

“Ah… I guess there’s one. My new appraisal ability is kind of annoying. It keeps appraising things at random like it doesn’t know what it’s doing.”

Ding!

[That was uncalled for.]

The therapy session has begun! Kayden had to answer many different questions, like his recent eating habits, has he fallen ill lately, and whether or not he was using any substances. That alchemist cannot keep his mouth shut.

During the endless gush of personal questions, Kayden was stealing glances at the corner of the room where the city lord’s son was resting. He was afraid that the kid would burst out of the curtains and say: “I can’t beat the sh*t out of you without getting closer”, before beating him up for real. While the System had assured him that there was no longer a tracking spell on him, he knew not to take things at face value, les an accident happens again. It wasn’t until after the twentieth question, did she conclude the session.

“Hmm… There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong like you said. Last question before you go, what do you plan on doing in the future?”

“Ah, I’m planning to go explore the new dungeon. I’ll also try to form a new party or whatever since my master said so.”

Sera smiled but shook her head. “That wasn’t what I meant. I’m asking if you have anything you wish to do in the future. Surely you aren’t going to slay goblins for the rest of your life?”

“Well, there’s the new dungeon with skeletons. So not just goblins…” Kayden trailed off.

“My point still stands. Adventurers are called adventurers because they go on adventures, so why don’t you do that? Or perhaps there’s something else you want to do? “

“I don’t know…”

He thought long and hard, but at the moment, couldn’t really think of much. It’s not like his life was soon coming to an end, he could always decide what to do later. So far, he was pretty content with his life.

“How about school? From what I know, you’ve been taught solely by your master, right? School is a fun place! You can meet new people, learn new things, and even make lifelong friends!”

Kayden frowned. From the few times he broke into the local schools—Don’t even ask—he knew that school was a place of learning and not much else. To spend a good portion of his youth learning things that didn’t seem very important was wholly unappealing to him, even with what good the therapist had promised.

And the worst problem of all was that he couldn’t earn any money! Why learn math when you can earn easy money from killing goblins? And so, Kayden told Sera what he thought of schools.

“Sigh, it’s always money with you. Anyway, you’ve got the wrong idea about schools. There are some schools like magic academies, where they train you to become stronger. Many high-ranked adventurers come from well-known institutions, you know?” She stood up and held out her hand for a handshake, “Only at these places can you find the teacher that best fits you. Your master doesn’t use illusion magic, right? You would become a better adventurer by going to school.”

Suddenly, it all clicked like a lightbulb that just lit up above his head. It was so obvious that he couldn’t understand why he had thought of it earlier.

School + Me = More power

More power = More Money = 500 gold debt

He quickly did the mental calculations.

‘If a slay an average of twenty goblins a day, I’ll earn 500 gold in about seven years if I take away half for daily expenditures. School would probably not take so long, and if I manage to become a B or A ranked adventurer, the amount of money I make will drastically shoot up! Not to mention, slaying goblins is a bloody, stinky, and messy task, while school should be a piece of cake.”

“Hehehehe… The possibilities are endless!” Kayden rubbed his hands together as the System whispered in his ear,

“That’s an evil laugh if I ever heard one.”

“Kayden? Do you require another session? Why are you laughing?”

“… No thanks,” He stood up and shook Sera’s hand, which was a little warm. “I’ll be going.”

“Alright.”

With that, the session has come to a close. Kayden would no longer have to stay in close proximity to the person who put him into prison. With a pep in his step, he began to walk out of the room. As he opened the door, however, he couldn’t help but spare one last glance at the white curtains.

It was kinda funny. The kid who had been flying high in the heavens had been dragged back down to the ground, and now he couldn’t even communicate properly. Would you call this getting one’s just desserts? Kayden didn’t think so. The powerful had the right to be arrogant, and the kid was powerful.

However, it irritated him. Someone so powerful and capable was now no more than a vegetable, and after such a small incident too. The System noticed his gaze which lingered too long on the curtains and proceeded to explain.

“I’ll tell you the truth, my previous user was the brat right there. Since I can translate languages, he never learned how to speak or understand Common, especially since I have been with him since he was born. To him, it probably feels like permanently losing an arm or a leg.”

“Huh, that explains what you meant by putting a tracker on me earlier. The kid relied on your powers to chase after me,” Kayden suddenly thought of something. “Eh? Doesn’t that mean that I could have gotten away scot-free? I’m quite impressive, aren’t I?”

“Listen to what I’m saying! I generally know what kind of person he is since I’ve been with him for a while thirteen years and all,” the System had a voice that sounded like she was pitying him. “He’s the kind of person who panics and shuts down when things go wrong.”

“What? So, if he cuts his finger while cooking, he’s gonna shut down? He’s not even going to try and bandage the wound, just sit there and do nothing?”

“Well, not exactly but you got the idea. Back when he appraised you in the castle a few years ago, he got so scared he couldn’t walk anywhere without being accompanied. Only when someone asked what the problem was did he answer and ask for help. That’s just the kind of person he is.”

Kayden grew silent as he looked over at the sad sack of a person. This time, it was Sera’s turn to notice his gaze.

“Kayden? Did you need something?”

“Ah… I was wondering if I could speak with the kid. There’s something I want to say to him.”

Her brows furrowed as she considered Kayden’s request. Only after a while did she respond,

“Alright. I trust you enough to know you wouldn’t mess with the city lord’s son for no reason. Go ahead, but I doubt anything you say would get through.”

She pulled open the curtains and revealed the bed that Matou was lying on, and nothing seemed to have changed from before. He still had a dead look in his eyes and his body lay limply like a puppet that got its strings cut. His eyes sluggishly shifted towards Kayden as he approached.

Kayden gripped the railings on the side of the bed and took a deep breath, before speaking his mind.

[Translating Common to Japanese…]

“You! Yes, you! Your name’s Matou, right?”

Matou instantly sat up straight in confusion and surprise. Someone was speaking a familiar language to him, and he could understand the words!

“How… How did you—”

“It doesn’t matter! I have something very important to say to you!” Kayden wasn’t going to let him finish his question. Too many problems would arise if he had to answer.

“W-wha—”

“You’re incredibly stupid! Like, very very stupid. What kind of person shuts down just because they lost the ability to speak?”

Matou was stunned speechless. Ever since he was brought into this world, the people around him all showered him with praises. This was the first time someone directly insulted him right in his face, and he didn’t even know who this person was.

Kayden was relentless in his scolding. “What are you even doing? Grow up! Don’t you have any desires? How can you fulfill them if you keep going the way you are now?”

Kayden leaned in and looked straight into Matou’s eyes. Matou could see himself reflected in those cold, blue eyes.

“If you can’t speak, write. If you can’t write, sign. If you can’t sign, learn the damn language. When a problem arises, you damn well do the best you can to fix them. Only after you can confidently say that you've done everything can you despair.”

His voice lowered into a barely audible whisper, but Matou could hear it all the same.

“Greed is the root of ambition, and it is ambition that drives progress. You cannot move forward because your desire to achieve your goals isn’t strong enough. Maybe you should solve that problem first, eh?”

When Kayden finished delivering his speech, he turned around to leave. Sera soon broke out of her stupor and questioned him.

“Kayden? You can speak to him? What did you say? It looked like it got a bit intense in the end there.”

“It’s nothing,” said Kayden nonchalantly, and he began to calmly walk away.

“W-wait!” Matou reached out to grab the man who could speak Japanese, but the man turned around, looked at him, uttered an incomprehensible word, and vanished into thin air.

“Kayden?” Sera yelled as she too tried to grab onto the vanishing figure. The attempt ended up in vain, and she sighed while turning back to Matou.

“Young Master, are you all, right? Do you need anything?” She tried performing various hand gestures to get her point across, but she sadly wasn’t proficient in sign language, nor could Matou actually read them.

Matou held up his hand to stop the flailing therapist and was in deep thought. He was just flamed so hard no amount of water magic can put out the burns, and he couldn’t even find any words to defend himself.

“But it’s true. My desire is to live my second life to the fullest, to spend a life with zero regrets. Years of indulgence have made me forget this one simple thing. How can I achieve my goals if all I do is sulk?”

“Matou? D-don’t try to get up! It’s better if you rest for now. Your abilities might come back if you just rest…”

Of course, Matou couldn’t understand her words, but there was something he could try. The System could translate spoken or written words, but not how to write them. Thus, Matou had to painstakingly learn how to write every symbol in the Common language, which led to him learning the meanings of the words he had written.

He held up a finger and allowed his mana to pour out from it. A dazzling red flame burst from his finger, before gathering into a thread that formed some simple symbols.

It was the written word in Common for ‘Hello’.

“T-this is...” Sera’s eyes widened behind her spectacles. “I can’t form words with my magic! Hold on, let me go get your parents!”

Sera ran out of the room and arrived with three other people in tow within seconds. There was his mom and dad, and a woman he didn’t recognize.

Elaine was the first to go up to him. She once again clasped his arms in her own and asked in a worried tone. “Are you all right? Dear! Translate for me!”

Max made a face that was a mixture of disbelief and hope. He immediately raised his arms and a fiery etches curled around it, forming a kind of fiery tattoo on his forearm that wrote “Are you okay?”.

The light in Matou’s eyes that was lost began reigniting once more. A weak smile began to crawl up his face as he continued to write with his magic.

“I’m fine.”

Elaine hugged Matou in joy while his father breathed a sigh of relief. The family embraced each other again and soon after, Annie and Mia entered the room and joined in too. Everyone took turns to write and speak with Matou, desperate to catch up on the conversations they have sorely missed.

Not wanting to interrupt a heart-warming moment, Morgan, who had been standing at a corner watching the whole thing unfold until now, quietly teleported away, leaving the family to reunite in peace.

The family chatted for so long that Matou eventually completely ran out of mana to write and Sera had to kick everyone out, much to their reluctance, to give him some rest. She began to brew some tea for him, Matou couldn’t help but write. Now that he was all out of mana, he had to resort to pencil and paper.

“Who was the guy that spoke to me earlier?”

Sera looked over from her kettle and scribbled some words on her clipboard. She held it up for Matou to see.

Two symbols.

Kay-den

“Kayden…” Matou looked out of the window by his bed into the distance. The sun was shining brilliantly high up in the sky, unlike the sun that barely peeked over the horizon when he had just lost his System. Matou felt hope for a brighter future once more.

“Kayden. I’ll remember that name.”