“Your personal ethics are irrelevant. The strength of your soul is related to the strength of your ego. Oh—it looks like time’s up.”
And as she said that, my body was enveloped in a red light.
“I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah—wait, ‘later’?”
“Yep. There are still four other worlds that have summoned you.”
Seriously? But before I could even express my surprise, I disappeared from the goddess’s world.
“For humans, having a strong soul is not necessarily a good thing,” the goddess murmured once I was gone.
“Hail, hero! Welcome to our world! I am the first princess of Sarfia Kingdom, Canna Sarfia. Please lend us your aid in saving our kingdom!”
All right, here we go again. For the fourth time too. And this time, it was night.
“Oh, you need my aid?”
“Yes! The demon king—”
“Well, let’s just set that aside for now.”
“Huh?” The princess stared at me in surprise.
She had short, light-blue hair, with eyes to match. She was a very cute girl, but this was not the time for me to be ogling her.
“If I’m the hero, I’ve gotta have, like, some kinda special ability, right?”
“Y-Yes, that is correct.”
“Watch how you speak to the princess, knave!” barked a man who looked like he was part of the imperial knights or something.
I couldn’t have cared less, though—I didn’t have the time to choose my words carefully. I was on a timer.
“Is there a way to see what ability I received?”
“Y-Yes. You need but touch this gem.”
“You dare ignore me, knave?! You—” The man screamed at me again, but I didn’t understand why. It wasn’t like the princess was making a big deal out of this or anything. You’re supposed to be protecting us while we talk, not interrupting. Do your damn job!
I touched the gem, and some letters surfaced on it, spelling out the words: “Gift: Skill Pilfer. You have a fixed chance to steal a Skill from your target by touching them.”
“A ‘Skill’?” I asked.
“I’ve never seen an ability like this before!” The princess seemed surprised by my Skill, but that wasn’t important to me right now.
“So this world has ‘Skills’?”
“Yes. Do they not exist in your world?”
“Nope. So, if you wouldn’t mind explaining...”
“You impudent little—”
“Shut up!” The guard had gotten on my last nerve, so I hit him to shut him up.
To my surprise, one hit from me, a complete amateur, was enough to knock him out. And you call yourself an imperial guard?!
“Um, well, a Skill is a fixed action that one can obtain after they have risen to a high enough level of proficiency. Each comes with its own buff that either increases the efficacy or volatility of the user’s action. The strength of the Skill rises with the level of its user.”
Okay. So I understand that it’s a strong power, but can I use it in other worlds where Skills don’t exist?
“Do you have such a thing as a hero contract?” I asked, closing in on the princess.
“Y-Y-Yes, we do.”
“How does it work? Can we do it right now?”
“Y-You’re too close!” the princess said, turning red.
Usually, I’d enjoy something like this, but I didn’t really have the time to relish it.
“Hurry up and tell me already!”
“Th-The ritual of commitment is performed on the highest floor of the spire over there.”
Dammit, there’s a ritual? Do I have enough time? “Let’s go. I wanna commit myself to you right now.”
“C-Commit?!”
“I’m not saying anything weird, am I? Come on, let’s go!” I tried to pull her by the arm, but she had frozen up.
“U-Um, I’m very grateful that you’ve so quickly decided to work with me... However, would you not like to take a month to think it over? We could return you to your world in a month’s time.”
Look, I appreciate it and all, but this kindness is so not necessary right now!
“I’ve already made up my mind. I want to spend the rest of my life here, with you. Come on!”
“Th-The rest of your life? With me?!”
Oh, for fuck’s sake! You’re too pure! Just as I was considering forcefully carrying her to the ritual site, a black magic circle appeared beneath my feet.
“Wh-What?!”
“Damn, I’m out of time.”
Not wanting the princess to get dragged along with me, I let go of her. She looked yearningly at my hand, but that didn’t matter anymore.
“Sorry, Princess. It’s been fun, even if it was short. You’re gonna need to get someone else to save your world.” As those words left my mouth, I vanished from her world.
“I-I forgot to ask his name...”
Unfortunately, I never got to see the way a princess like her looked when she was disappointed.
“Argh... Dammit! I was so close.”
“Poor you. Couldn’t bag the princess, huh?”
“That wasn’t my main goal, anyway.” Wait, had she been watching?
“Welcome back.”
“I’m getting pretty sick of this.” Maybe it’d be best if I just laid back and waited to be summoned at this point.
“But hey, look how many cheat abilities you have now.”
“They’re really starting to stack up, huh?” No wonder I one-shotted that knight—I still had my vampirism.
Between my immense strength, my Magic Eyes, and the fact that I was no longer human, there was a lot going on with me.
“Oh yeah—can you tell me what’s up with my eye color?”
“Your right eye is black and your left eye is gold.”
What a weird contrast. “Can I cover my left eye with an eyepatch or something, so I don’t stand out as much?”
“Actually, it might be better if nobody really looked at your eyes in general. It’s difficult to see because it’s black, but there’s also a cross in your right eye.”
“Really?!” I lay down on the...ground? Floor?
“Should you really be lazing around right now?”
“Look, lady, I’m mentally exhausted.”
Too much had happened, after all. To be specific, I was being summoned like crazy to different worlds. As I was lying there, a magic circle appeared beneath me once again, enveloping me in a black light.
“Three more times?” I asked.
“So long as nobody else summons you.”
“Ugh... Don’t jinx it.”
And just like that, I was whisked off to the next world.