Chapter 11 | The Assassin Learns Tarte’s Skills
Now that I had finished looking at Dia’s skills, it was Tarte’s turn.
“These are so cool!” exclaimed Tarte.
“I don’t know about cool, but…they’re very you,” Dia responded.
“Yeah, to an almost scary extent,” I agreed.
The three of us read the appraisal sheet. As had been the case with Dia’s, the skills from My Loyal Knights were not present.
Servant’s Devotion (A): Activates upon forming a contract with a person whom the user recognizes as their master. The agreement is forged through confirmation via mucous membrane contact between master and servant. If the user’s soul does not recognize the person as their master, the contract fails. The master cannot be changed. While active, all abilities of the servant and their master are strengthened. It also grants the servant the ability to sacrifice their own life to save their master in the event of their master’s death.
Spear Arts (C): The bearer’s physical ability is increased when they wield a spear. This also increases the force, speed, and precision of their spear attacks.
Hard Worker (D): Grants the bearer the ability and disposition to devote their full efforts to their work. Concentration and mental energy recover quickly.
“The process for activating Servant’s Devotion is fine if the master and servant are opposite genders, but what would you do if both of you were the same gender…?” I wondered aloud.
“That’s simple. There’s nothing wrong with two people of the same gender kissing each other,” responded Dia matter-of-factly.
“I suppose that’s true.”
Servant’s Devotion, like Rainbow Sorcerer, was a skill that you likely couldn’t activate unless you knew about it. Not only did it require a deep relationship with someone you recognized as a master, you then had to go out of your way to confirm that bond using a rather unusual method. It was difficult to imagine anyone would trigger it organically.
“Um, my lord, we should use this skill right away! It will make both of us stronger,” Tarte stated, looking at me expectantly.
The conditions for activating Servant’s Devotion were very strict, but the payoff of strengthening all abilities of both parties more than made up for it. It was undoubtedly an incredible skill.
It was significantly more potent than other A-Rank skills. Its few undesirable qualities likely kept it from being an S-Rank skill. The servant couldn’t swap their master, and they had the power to sacrifice their own life to save their master’s. People also tend to change over time, so there was a chance the servant could lose faith in their master.
It was also a drawback that the bearer was only empowered while Servant’s Devotion was active, rather than all the time.
“Tarte, I need you to promise two things. First, I want you to make full use of the increased ability this skill offers,” I began.
“Yes, my lord,” she responded.
We needed to verify the rate of stamina and mana consumption as well as the extent to which we were strengthened while the skill was active, but that was still no reason not to take advantage of the boosts.
“However, you must promise me that you will not use the ability that gives up your life to save mine,” I added.
Judging from the name, that was probably the main purpose of Servant’s Devotion. I wanted no part of that, however.
Eyes downcast, Tarte replied, “…I’m sorry. I can’t promise that. I am absolutely going to use it if the time ever comes. I will not lie to you, my lord.”
“Then I won’t form the contract,” I decided.
I no longer thought of Tarte as a tool. I wanted no part of a skill that required a member of my family to forfeit their life.
“Lugh, I don’t think that makes total sense,” said Dia.
“In what way?” I asked.
“You’re saying you don’t want to use the skill because you don’t want to sacrifice Tarte. Yet that ability can only be used if you perish. Are you planning on dying?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Then don’t worry about it. Servant’s Devotion will make you stronger and thus harder to kill. Forgoing making yourself even more powerful and gaining greater survivability just feels silly.”
Dia could have phrased it in a less confusing way, but it did make sense.
“My lord!”
I saw determination burning in Tarte’s eyes. She then grabbed the back of my head and forced our lips together, drawing me into an open-mouthed kiss.
I could have avoided it, but once I saw her expression, I lost all desire to do so.
“Please become my master. And please don’t die so that I won’t. Even if I didn’t have this skill, if you ever disappeared…I would, too,” insisted Tarte.
That’s not fair, Tarte. There’s no refusing if you say something like that.
“Understood. Then I’ll ask this of you again. Please become my servant.”
As soon as I said those words, something hot tied our two souls together. A tight bond of master and servant had just been formed.
“I feel your presence flowing within me, my lord. I know that I can use the skill now. Servant’s Devotion,” Tarte called, activating the ability.
The moment it triggered, I sensed Tarte more deeply than I ever had before. I also detected that my physical abilities, mana, mental faculties, and more were all enhanced.
Tarte touched a hand to her chest. “I’ve gotten stronger, and I feel so close to you, my lord. It’s so peaceful. I want to stay like this forever.”
“Yeah, it’s a nice feeling,” I agreed.
I hadn’t merely acquired power. I could sense Tarte’s feelings.
Actually, it went beyond that. I understood what Tarte was thinking.
Was that kiss too daring? What if Lord Lugh thinks I’m indecent? But it felt so good. I want to do it again. I’m burning up. I’ll go to his room later… Wait, am I perceiving Lord Lugh’s thoughts? What?! No way! Uhhhh, ah, yes, meat is good for dinner tonight. Understood. Huuuuuuuhhhh?!
It seemed like we could read the other’s mind while the skill was active. I decided to experiment with it a bit.
Tarte, if you can hear me, raise your right hand.
Tarte, if you can hear me, kiss me one more time.
I ran two different ideas through my brain at the same time. One was a surface-level notion, while the other was more repressed.
Tarte raised her right hand. However, she did not kiss me.
Evidently, the skill didn’t share those thoughts kept more deeply within the mind.
As a countermeasure, assassins could willingly sort mental concepts and memories between the surface or the depths of their brains. If someone were to use truth serum on me, the only information they would glean would be from the upper levels of my brain, leaving all intelligence from the lower portions untouched. This was an ability one had to train to acquire.
It enabled me to keep Tarte from learning things I didn’t wish her to.
Tarte’s face had grown so red that it looked like steam could start blowing from her ears.
Ohhhh, I’m so embarrassed. I can’t think anything weird—especially not anything indecent. Wait, can he hear me telling myself not to think indecent things?! That’s embarrassing, too. I need to stop thinking entirely to be safe… Lord Lugh’s pecs are so…NO, STOP! Trying to keep my mind quiet is making my head hurrrrrt…
This power seemed dangerous for Tarte. I found it funny, though.
Being able to read each other’s minds may have seemed like a drawback at first, but it could serve us very well if we used it for telepathic communication. The ability to relay concepts in real time without speaking would undoubtedly be a huge advantage.
“Lugh, why are you just standing there grinning?” Dia questioned.
“Tarte’s been making me laugh,” I explained. “Did you feel any fatigue when you activated the skill, Tarte?”
“Huh? N-no, not at all,” she replied.
“I see. Let’s perform a few tests, then.”
Now that Tarte had activated the skill, I decided we might as well try some things out.
The first thing I confirmed was the area of effect. I moved away from Tarte until our connection was finally severed at roughly two hundred meters. When I came toward her again, we did not automatically reconnect.
Tarte attempted to activate her skill again but found that she couldn’t. I instructed her to try once every minute.
Servant’s Devotion must have been the kind of ability that became unusable for a while after triggering it. I wanted to know how long that interval was.
“Um, I’m so sorry, my lord, for all the weird things I was thinking,” Tarte apologized.
“It’s fine, and I found it cute more than anything else. Still, we’ll have to work harder on your mental training. You need to remove idle thoughts.”
“Yes, my lord, I’ll do my best!”
Although Tarte had superior focus in combat, she couldn’t achieve that level of concentration in other situations.
“Your remaining skills are Spear Arts and Hard Worker. Both of those are pretty simple,” I remarked.
“I’ve always believed Tarte was incredibly talented with a spear. This explains it,” said Dia.
When I’d selected my C-Rank skill, I’d picked the versatile Martial Arts because I wanted to grow proficient with any weapon. It was a jack-of-all-trades, master of none situation, however. Going with a skill geared toward a single weapon ensured the best results with that armament.
“This is going to make me even more confident with a spear! Also, with a skill called Hard Worker, I have no excuse not to give everything my very best!” cheered Tarte.
I was positive that Tarte was destined to be a workaholic even without that skill.
“We have to decide what to do with your training from here on. Since you have Spear Arts, maybe it would be best if you ditched the gun and focused solely on your polearm,” I suggested.
“I don’t think we should do that. Guns’ speed makes them convenient. When someone gets close to me, I can do this!” Tarte lifted her skirt and drew a firearm that was set in a holster on her thigh. It was a quick and elegant motion. Her training was clearly paying off.
“If you can draw it that swiftly, then perhaps you’re right,” I commented.
“Yes, my lord. If anyone gets too close for my spear, I can just grab this and blast them! Also, drawing my gun is much faster than putting my spear together, which is useful for sudden battles. Spears are also difficult to wield in narrow rooms.”
Pistols had a limited range, but they were easy to handle.
“Hey, Lugh. This skill activates when she uses a spear, right? Why not make a spear that can shoot bullets?” suggested Dia.
“Would that even be a spear anymore? …It wouldn’t be impossible. Might as well try it,” I answered.
I decided I would base the design on a bayonet.
“Yes, please make me one!” exclaimed Tarte eagerly.
“Don’t get your hopes up. It would be impossible to fold it like your current weapon, and its structure would make it brittle. It wouldn’t function very well as a spear,” I explained.
“Having access to long-range attacks would still be nice,” said Tarte.
Tarte had the wind affinity, which didn’t lend itself very well to offensive spells, and she wasn’t incredibly competent at magic. As a result, Tarte couldn’t fight from a distance. Perhaps she was jealous of Dia and me in that regard.
“All right, now we know all of your skills,” I stated.
“We don’t know yours yet, Lugh! You just learned our skills, so tell us yours,” insisted Dia.
“Ah, I want to know what you have, too!” exclaimed Tarte.
Grinning, I explained that my skills were Rapid Recovery, Spell Weaver, Limitless Growth, and Martial Arts, plus the ones I had acquired from the hero.
“That’s insane! How do you have one from every rank?! I’ve never heard of that before,” Dia exclaimed with incredulity.
“I was fortunate,” I responded.
“Wait, you didn’t mention a D-Rank skill, my lord. I remember you told me once that everyone has a D-Rank skill,” Tarte pointed out.
“That one’s a secret… I’m keeping it for a surprise attack, and it will only work once. I’ve decided not to tell anyone about it,” I explained.
The skill was worthless the moment people knew of it. Yet it was a perfect trump card so long as it remained undisclosed. Not even Dia or Tarte could be permitted to learn what it was.
“Oh, come on, keeping it private after we shared all of our skills is no fair. Now I really want to know,” whined Dia.
“…Me too. But if you wish for it to remain secret, my lord, I won’t ask,” added Tarte.
They were both unhappy that I wouldn’t confide in them, but I had my reasons.
“Okay, let’s return to the estate. Maha sent us some delicious and interesting sweets from overseas,” I stated abruptly.
“Changing the subject, I see.”
“Wait, my lord!”
At last, we were aware of Dia’s and Tarte’s skills. Making effective use of them was going to push us to new heights. All that remained was to hatch Possibility Eggs. My investigation into that matter was progressing steadily. The time to start working on them was fast approaching.
For now, however, I decided I would enjoy some tea and sweets. Taking breaks was important, too.
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