I could see my status.
At the same time, the results of the status appeared on a screen-like surface at the front wall. The screen was connected to the Appraisal Stone so it could display the results. Apparently, this world had no concept of “personal information.”
For me, the Appraisal results appeared in Japanese, but on the screen, they showed up in the language spoken here. I’d been wondering what would happen if it displayed in Japanese, but I guess the system accounted for that kind of thing.
Voices stirred throughout the room.
The king raised his voice and attempted to calm the crowd, but the tumult continued unabated.
My status must have been unusual to warrant that reaction.
Honestly, I kind of figured something like this would happen.
My magic-related stats were relatively high. Anna had guaranteed that.
By comparison, my physical ability was appropriate for my age.
Well, it was still a lot higher than average, but it didn’t deviate from the standard as much as my magic.
So my stats were pretty unbalanced.
As for the skills, a voice called the Word of God informed me whenever I leveled up a skill or gained a new one, so I already knew about most of them.
But there were two I didn’t recognize.
One was Divine Protection, and the other had a name that looked like corrupted text.
Curious about these, I tried Appraising them.
<Divine Protection: You are protected by the heavens, making it easier for you to gain the results you desire in any situation.>
<n% I = W: Cannot be Appraised>
✦ ✦ ✦
What’s that?
The Divine Protection thing was crazy. Definitely a skill that could be considered cheating.
However, the phrasing “easier for you to gain the results you desire” must have meant that things won’t necessarily go the way I want every time. It was still an awesome skill, but I shouldn’t depend on it too much.
What I didn’t understand was the other one.
Its name and the results of the Appraisal were equally cryptic.
I had no idea what kind of skill it might be.
The fact that the highest-level Appraisal Stone available still yielded this result was especially mysterious.
If this Stone couldn’t tell me, there was probably no way to find out the details of this ability.
I didn’t get it.
“Isn’t that like the duke’s daughter?”
“Yes, that prodigy…”
“But His Highness is just as much of a prodigy as her…no, even more so!”
As the nobles continued their chatter, I heard repeated references to a “duke’s daughter.”
Was there someone else who had similar stats?
I thought Sue was the only one besides me…
“Quiet down!”
In response to the king’s exceptionally loud shout, the ceremonial hall finally simmered down.
The king handed me a piece of paper.
It was a record of my results, magically printed from the screen connected to the Appraisal Stone.
I accepted the paper reverently. Then I bowed and stepped away.
With this, my Appraisal Ceremony was over.
Now it was Sue’s turn.
Needless to say, another uproar filled the hall when Sue’s Appraisal showed results similar to mine.
However, unlike me, Sue didn’t have Divine Protection or any mysterious corrupted skills.
✦ ✦ ✦
Aside from the minor uproar, the Appraisal Ceremony ended more or less without incident.
But our unusually high stats wasn’t the only cause of the disruptions.
Listening in on the nobles with my enhanced hearing, I learned that skill points were normally only awarded when a person leveled up, so having a hundred thousand skill points at level 1 like I did was highly abnormal.
Which reminded me: Sue had 0 skill points, too.
I figured this was probably because I was a reincarnation, but what really interested me was that the duke’s daughter was apparently born with skill points as well.
From what I could tell, her Appraisal Ceremony had been just a few days before mine.
And like me, she’d had incredibly high stats for her age and skill points that she shouldn’t have had.
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
Apparently, the duke’s daughter even had that garbled skill of corrupted text.
A certain suspicion began to well up inside me.
If my hunch was right, then I had to meet the duke’s daughter at any cost.
An opportunity came sooner than expected.
After the Appraisal Ceremony, a small reception was held in a separate venue.
The king brought Sue and me to the center of the hall, where we ended up greeting a line of nobles.
The guests were all accompanied by their children, who were mostly the same age as me or slightly older.
So basically, the purpose of this get-together was to introduce young nobles who were close in age.
And that was where I met the aforementioned duke’s daughter.
“It is a sincere pleasure to meet you. I am the eldest daughter of Duke Anabald, Karnatia Seri Anabald.”
She was a very pretty girl, with fiery red hair and an impressively strong-willed expression.
Her appearance alone was enough to grab my attention, but on top of that, my Magic Perception skill told me she had enormous magical power.
It was right about equal to mine and Sue’s.
Duke Anabald, by the way, was one of the most powerful nobles in the country.
His family had held important positions in the country for generations, and they came from a pedigree with connections to the bloodlines of heroes and the royal family.
People born into the duke’s family would all undergo a tough, thorough education, and they were brought up with the know-how to support the country.
Even so, the girl in front of me possessed a highly abnormal amount of magic.
It even exceeded that of the red-haired man at her side, who I assumed was her father.
“How do you do? I am Schlain Zagan Analeit. Yoroshiku.”
With a certain conviction, I pointedly spoke the last word, meaning “nice to meet you,” in Japanese.
The duke’s daughter’s eyes widened for a moment, then quickly narrowed.
Judging by that reaction, I was positive that my guess had been correct.
“Father. May I speak with this young lady for a moment?”
“Hmm?” The king’s response sounded a little taken aback.
This was only natural, I suppose, since there was still a long queue of nobles with their children standing behind the duke and his daughter, who were the first in line.
But I couldn’t afford to back down here.
“Must I not?”
“Eherm.” The king looked at me, then the duke, and then the line behind him before speaking. “Very well. But do not be long. You are to come back after a short while.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you very much.”
I grabbed the duke’s daughter’s hand like a child and ran off.
Behind me, I could tell that Sue was seething with fury, but I couldn’t worry about that at the moment.
I left the hall and entered a private room that served as a waiting area.
Nobles frequently left parties to discuss business and other private work-related matters, so there were always rooms like this near the assembly halls.
This place was supposed to be soundproof, and a guard was positioned outside the door, so we were safe.
“Whew. We should be okay here.” I was openly speaking in Japanese now.
“I can’t believe it. So the prince is a reincarnation, too…” The duke’s daughter replied in the same language. “Oh man… It’s been so long since I heard someone else speaking Japanese. I’m getting a little emotional, even.” She seemed as strong-willed as ever, but now her tone was rather light.
“So, if you don’t mind me asking, does the name Heishin High School ring any bells?” I tossed out the name of the high school I attended back on Earth.
“Yeah, of course. So you really were reincarnated into this world from the same high school as me…”
Just as I’d suspected, this girl was a former classmate of mine, dragged into this world by that mysterious crack in our classroom, just like I was.
“My original name was Shunsuke Yamada. What about yours?”
“Pffft!”
When I offered my name, the girl gave an uncontrollable snort of laughter.
“Ba-ha-ha-ha! Heh, ha-ha-ha! You, you’re, you’re Shun?! Shun, a prince?! Ah-ha-ha… That’s not you at all, dude!”
She was roaring with laughter now.
I got a strange sense of déjà vu.
I didn’t recognize the girl in front of me, but her speech and behavior made her a dead ringer for someone I knew very well.
“Y-you’re not…Kanata?!”
“Yep.”
Now it was my turn to burst out laughing.
My former gamer pal, my bro Kanata, was now an aristocratic young lady.
It was like he’d been reborn as the exact opposite of his previous self.
“Hey, don’t laugh. Do you know how depressed I was when I first got reborn like this?”
“Sorry, sorry. You laughed too, though, didn’t you? Now we’re even.”
“I guess. Damn, though, I’m glad we met like this. I’ve been pretty lonely all this time.”
“Yeah. You and me both. I’m glad I found you.”
Kanata and I punched each other in the arm.
At that moment, tears started to spill from Kanata’s eyes.
“Whoa, wha…? Ah, geez, sorry. I swore I wasn’t…hic…gonna cry…hic…”
Kanata’s sobs grew stronger.
Before I knew it, I was crying, too.