Chapter 2

“This world was apparently in big trouble a long time ago,” I say while munching on beans and tossing some to my companion.

“At first, humans were living comfortably, much like in medieval times,” I continue. Well, maybe not exactly medieval, but up until around the Viking era, Earth’s history followed a similar path. Our country is even named ‘Britannia,’ after all. The old United Kingdom.

“But then,” suddenly, ‘monsters’ appeared. These creatures were huge, had multiple attack functions, and had a strong tendency to attack humans.

“And just like that,” humanity was on the brink of extinction. It felt like a fantasy.

“In this almost apocalyptic fantasy scenario,” salvation arrived.

“An entity named ‘Goddess Sophia’ descended,” taking the fantasy to the extreme. Anyway, she got to work. She created a ‘Sacred Zone’ where monsters couldn’t enter. With this, humanity found safety.

“But then she disappeared somewhere,” leaving us wondering, ‘Aren’t you going to hunt down those monsters?!’ Protecting us is all well and good, but it doesn’t solve the root problem, right?

“…Well, it’s not like we can complain too much.” After all, doing inexplicable things is a common occurrence for mythical gods.

“Anyway, the ‘Sacred Zone’ proved useful.” Humanity started to recover its numbers there. And then, the mysterious goddess secretly genetically modified humans. Newborns began to be born with ‘Skills’, possessing one to three powers each.

“Apologies, Goddess, for saying you weren’t doing your job.”

But then…

“Humans hadn’t received proper explanations,” leading to confusion. Some committed infanticide, suspecting the babies were ‘minions of monsters’. Conversely, other children with uncontrollable Skills ended up killing people. It was chaos.

“Honestly, what was the goddess thinking?” Surprise twists aren’t necessary, you know?

“Anyway, despite all this,” humanity acquired a ‘fortress’ called the ‘Sacred Zone’ and a ‘spear’ called ‘Skills’ to fight against the monsters.

And so, for hundreds of years, humanity expanded its habitable areas in a circular pattern around the ‘Sacred Zone’. We’ve reclaimed quite a bit of land now.

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

“It’s a heartwarming story, isn’t it? Makes you think not to underestimate human power,” I say.

But…

“It’s different, though. In reality, everyone hated fighting monsters to reclaim land,” because even with extraordinary powers, we’re not immortal. Who would willingly fight monsters?

“However,” within the ‘Sacred Zone,’ the population grew too much. As a result, outcasts were expelled. They reluctantly started hunting monsters, creating villages. And that’s how we got to where we are today.”

It’s hard to describe, but it’s a ‘human-like’ way of moving. I’ve come to accept that humans are the same in this world. It feels like eating a hamburger in a foreign country.

“By the way, the history I just mentioned, is it a secret story you heard from the Dark Elf? In the public eye, it seems like a straightforward ‘everyone fought bravely’ story, so it’s best not to say anything strange. Especially not in front of nobles who know the truth.

“Well, maybe it’s unnecessary to be cautious with you.

“‘Because you’re just a chick,’ you say?”

[The chick makes a sound: “Piyo~?”]

The little chick at my feet tilted its head. Clearly, it had no idea what I was talking about.

“Well, I guess you wouldn’t understand. With your tiny brain, discussions at this level are…”

[The chick makes another sound: “Piyo~yo?”]

The chick continued to tilt its head. It might even lose its neck doing that.

By the way, this chick isn’t a pet. It’s the one that popped out of a troll’s stomach, nearly digested, after I defeated the troll. We’ve had a bond for about three minutes.

“Your health seems fine now.”

I couldn’t just leave it there. After using my skills to disinfect and heal it, the chick seemed to take a liking to me. I also used my skills to remove any unpleasant odors. I’m quite particular about cleanliness.

[The chick makes more sounds: “Piyo piyo piyo~yo?”]

“What’s that?”

I don’t really understand, but having a little chick follow me around might be nice. I picked up the chick with its tiny legs and placed it on my shoulder. It felt like having a trusty companion. Plus, it’s yellow.

“Alright, let’s get along, Piyo-chu.”

[The chick responds: “Piyo!”]

The chick chirped enthusiastically.

And so, for some reason, it dashed into my messy, unruly black hair.

[The chick makes more sounds: “Piyo~”]

Apparently, it had decided to settle there. Why? Well, whatever.

“But please, don’t poop there.”

[The chick responds: “Piyo?”]

“Oh, forget it…”

As we continued walking, we approached the checkpoint to enter the city. Several soldiers were engaged in conversation.

“Good day, everyone. Thank you for your hard work.”

I bowed politely, and they responded with smiles. We’ve known each other for nearly ten years now.

Oh, by the way, Chick-kun, my name is Jade. Jade. Got it?

[The chick makes sounds: “Piyo-yo?”]

“Oh, it seems like you got it?”

“You’ve returned without injuries again, Jade. As expected of the ‘always healthy’ Jade… But before that, why do you have a chick on your head? And you’re even talking to it…”

“Oh, well, when I defeated the troll, it came out of its stomach. Then it somehow ended up on my head.”

“I don’t really get it, but… well, whatever. And by the way, your friend Lure, he was trying to bring a goblin into the city the other day. He said, ‘I’ll incorporate it into a Dutch wife and make it a moving wife!'”

“Isn’t he an idiot?”

He’s not even fighting ethically, that guy.

He’s always thinking about dirty things, but now it seems like his brain is soaked in semen.

It’s like evolution in reverse.

“Alright, I’ll stop being friends with him.”

“Keep it that way, Jade… Oh, by the way, you mentioned casually that you defeated a troll, right? Does this mean you’ll give up the title of ‘Eternal Third-class Solo Adventurer Jade,’ with your reputation and achievements going up?”

“No, no, it’s not like that.”

It would be a happy thing for other adventurers, but it’s troublesome for me.

I’ll pass.

After all, I deliberately wander around as a third-class, so I’ll just bluff my way through.

“Even though it’s called a troll, I hunted down a guy who was covered in wounds and ran away from the ‘Untouched Territory.’ He was probably attacked by a powerful monster.”

Even monsters fight each other.

After all, they have unnecessarily large bodies.

To satisfy their hunger, they eat other large monsters.

“I see. But you’ve definitely defeated it. Depending on the size, you can get a decent reward by bringing back its ear, which is proof of subjugation.”

“Yeah, of course, I have it. Luckily, it was quite big, so I’m looking forward to that.”

“I see. We can celebrate extravagantly tonight.”

Congratulations, Jade, and the soldiers praised me with smiles.

At first, they were all indifferent, but communication is important.

Thank you very much.

“Thank you very much. If you’re interested, please come to the restaurant next to the guild tonight. I’ll treat you to a drink.”

“Oh, seriously? …You’re still the same. That’s why you’re called ‘Good-natured Jade’ and are being taken lightly by the newcomers, you know?”

Oh, come on, guys. It’s not that bad.

Rather than making fun of me, they seem more worried.

I appreciate that.

“Well, I don’t just treat anyone. I’m grateful to the soldiers for taking care of me. Thanks to you guys standing guard and patrolling, we can live in peace.”

Well, it’s true.

It’s precisely because everyone in this world has “skills” that if you make one wrong move, public order will really collapse.

Please keep doing your best.

“Kuu~ It’s still good to see you, Jade! There are a lot of rough adventurers out there.”

“Well, yeah, that’s true.”

It can’t be helped.

It’s a story that’s not unexpected.

In a world where everyone has “skills,” there are still individual aptitudes and strengths and weaknesses.

There are many people born with skills that are not useful in battles like my “Appraisal Analysis.”

Such people work in production and maintaining public order in the city, and conversely, those who can only battle monsters go out to hunt monsters.

And the latter group, the adventurers who can only battle.

The adventurers who open up undeveloped land, “adventurers,” tend to look down on the people in the city who only have skills that aren’t useful in battle.

“It’s something I don’t really agree with. Using strength as a club to boast, it’s honestly embarrassing.”

“…You, you’re really not like an adventurer at all. You’re polite and humble.”

Well, it can’t be helped.

After all, I used to be Japanese.

It’s impossible for me to speak informally to someone older or to someone I don’t know.

Rather than burdening myself with unnecessary worries, it’s better for both of us to interact politely.

“Thank you very much. Well then, everyone, that’s it for me.”

“See you later~”

As I was about to return to the city, one of the soldiers said, “By the way.”

“About that troll, it was covered in wounds as if it had been attacked by some kind of monster. It might be that legendary ‘individual,’ you know?”

The soldier’s eyes sparkled slightly.

Aside from him, who has a somewhat boyish face, I quietly groaned.

Hey hey, wait a minute. Are you trying to say…?

“A savior who, despite being a monster, didn’t attack people and instead exterminated all the other powerful monsters! A sacred evil dragon who brought light to the people despite having dark scales!”

S-stop it. Stop with that long and embarrassing explanation…!

“When asked ‘Who are you?’ by the people, that dragon declared! ‘My name is—'”

Ughhhh…!?

“‘My name is, “Dark Destruction Dragon, Genocide Dragon”!'”

Uwaaahhhh, it’s so embarrassing…!

After all, that’s me the dragon who just reincarnated…!