Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: 5. Orphan Awakening System Open
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Though I usually complained that it was useless, objectively speaking, my ability was pretty decent.
Talent or aptitude detection wasn't a bad power at all. It was a good one, sure, but the truth was that right after being transported to this world, it was something I really didn't need.
Shouldn't I just go into HR or become an advisor? Yeah, right—like you'd quit your job after listening to some street fortune teller and start your own business. Without solid backing, skills, track record, or connections, that's all my credibility amounted to.
On top of that, after nearly getting my eyes gouged out for naively spilling the beans about my ability, I kept it completely under wraps. That's why I chose to become an adventurer, a job where I could make money without special powers or a backstory, scraping by and occasionally playing up my "keen eye" to make use of it.
'Thanks to that, it took some real effort to figure out the details.'
I didn't understand my ability right away either. At first, I just thought there was something wrong with my eyes when people suddenly started glowing.
Unless it came with a status window spelling out traits or limits, the only way was for me to test it out one by one.
That's how I summed up the features of my ability: three of them.
1. Targets only glow when they engage in actions matching their aptitudes or talents. The total amount of talent never changes afterward.
2. If I want, I can make it so they don't glow even when doing something suitable.
3. It doesn't consume any mana or mental energy, and no one can detect it.
...Something like that. The blind spot here is in the first feature—the essence of the ability, talent confirmation itself.
The "suitable actions" or "aptitude/talent-matching actions" mentioned here are pretty vague. Take Karen: she glowed just from picking up a magic book, even though she had no intention of using magic. It's hard to pin down a clear benchmark.
To deal with that, I stocked up on as many items as possible and had the kids touch them, but the real issue is that you ultimately need the target to do something—anything—related to their talent to confirm it.
Take 3-Star Orphan Kyle as an example. He had leadership talent, the ability to guide others. You can't detect that just by touching objects. If he hadn't been leading the group of orphans, I would've still pegged him as a 1-Star Orphan.
Like that, there are talents you can't judge from handling items, and cases where preparing related objects or actions is extremely difficult. Even if I classified them as 1-Star or 2-Star Orphans, their real talent could be something else.
Even so, I can proudly say I did my best to identify talents. Those kinds are hard to spot in the first place, and even when you do, they're usually extremely rare. From a business perspective, there's no reason to chase such inefficient prospects.
That was definitely true.
'......Insane.'
The scene before my eyes was shattering all my business rules.
A 1-Star Orphan, Laila, was emitting light. A brilliant glow not inferior at all to Tricksy or Kyle's... the light of a 3-Star Orphan.
And it was the talent of a Spiritist, no less?
'No wonder I didn't know.'
Being a Spiritist is actually a subtle talent, hard to call a true "talent." It's less about possessing the ability and more about having qualities that spirits like.
Spirits have wildly different tastes, some liking you while others don't, and spirits themselves are so rare you might encounter one once in a lifetime. Even I couldn't provide a way to test for a Spiritist talent.
And yet, of all people, Laila had it.
She was even drawing interest from a spirit that looked stronger than that old coot's!
'Though for that old coot, the spirit was more of a support than the main act.'
A 1-Star Orphan had become a 3-Star Orphan. "Orphan Awakening" didn't even begin to cover it.
Orphan Mythic Awakening? Orphan Unique Awakening?
In a word, this was...
'Jackpot!'
The fact that Richard brought Laila straight here suggested he'd sniffed out her talent, but he was trying to swallow her whole? A 3-Star Orphan at 1-Star prices?
As a merchant, I'd nearly gotten royally screwed. Thinking back, he'd probably suspected it since the avalanche. No matter how much he liked her, why obsess with massive donations every month? So that's why.
He must've wanted to keep it hidden to buy her cheap. But with the situation as it was, he couldn't hide it anymore.
And now that I knew...
'Time to renegotiate the deal.'
How much should I sell a post-awakening 3-Star Orphan for to build a good reputation? As I pondered that...
[Not bad...]
'It speaks? The spirit?'
Spirits don't speak human languages. More precisely, they don't need to.
They communicate telepathically with their contracted Spiritists anyway, and they ignore other humans.
In other words, this spirit was either old enough to have met multiple Spiritists or learned human speech.
Naturally, the higher the spirit's rank, the higher Laila's price would go. Laila approached the ice spirit as if entranced, and the tiger-shaped spirit moved fluidly within the ice.
Far larger than Laila, big enough to reach the ceiling of this massive cavern.
"This is..."
The hand guy—no, Count Richard—also groaned in awe at the ice spirit's power. Perfect. That meant I couldn't openly haggle too hard.
Plus, wasn't it thanks to that ice spirit that the Beril Count Family hadn't been overrun yet? If Laila contracted with it? Oh dear, the family's survival would be in my hands now?
'Perfect.'
No need to worry. Laila was going to inherit the Beril Count Family anyway, so I wouldn't uproot the whole pillar.
But tacking on a 20% "orphan premium" on top of delivery fees? That should be fine. Gotta charge for raising the merchandise like this.
So, once Laila contracted with that mountain lord—
[Contract with me. Just reach out your hand...]
"...No."
[What?]
"I don't... want to contract."
"Huh?"
What.
Who hit the B button mid-evolution?
The Orphan Awakening had failed.
As I reeled from that, Count Richard shouted loudly.
"Laila! What do you mean by that!"
"Count..."
"I know I don't have the right to yell. But if you care about our family even a little, please...!!"
"Count Richard, a moment."
"Director Yujin?"
"I'll talk to Laila."
"......I can't give you much time. You have my apologies in advance."
"That'll be enough."
From my perspective, rival orphanages were already camping out in front of our place. He must be struggling to stay rational.
The agitated Count Richard left the cavern first, and I approached the hesitant Laila, stroking her head.
"Laila."
"Director..."
"Can you tell me why?"
Honestly, I was a bit agitated too. It was a chance for a 1-Star Orphan to evolve into a 3-Star, and she was refusing it herself. Naturally.
But it'd been nearly two years since I met Laila. She wasn't just merchandise anymore; I knew her like a cherished item.
'She's not the type to do this without reason.'
Laila, who was a grubby little kid when we met, had grown into a proper young girl. In another two or three years, she could even have her debutante ball.
If it were any other merchandise, I'd gaslight them straight away. I wouldn't hold back on Laila either, but at least I could ask for her reason first.
Laila looked into my eyes for a moment, then turned toward the ice spirit—the mountain lord.
"It feels like... it wouldn't work out if I do it now."
"A gut feeling?"
"Yes. I have this certainty that if I contract now, I won't be able to do anything."
Laila nodded with an odd confidence. Even when we couldn't get a carriage right away, she'd wanted to help the Beril Count Family somehow. Whether to prove herself after adoption or out of personal debt to them, her desire to help Count Richard was genuine.
Normally, that would mean contracting with the mountain lord and stepping up to protect the family.
But Laila was saying she shouldn't contract now. Because of a hunch, with no solid evidence.
I had no intention of dismissing that hunch lightly.
Especially since it was a Spiritist's intuition, of all things.
'That old coot had killer intuition too.'
Of course, I don't trust intuition in every field. What I trust is a Spiritist's intuition toward 'their spirit.'
The old coot could pinpoint items or food his spirit would like uncannily well. He'd sense dangers like magic harmful only to spirits or traps ahead of time.
With that experience, I couldn't ignore Laila's intuition about the mountain lord.
It feels like it wouldn't work if she contracts now...
Which meant...
"Would it be okay to contract later instead?"
"......That feels risky too. It's like... I'd regret it forever."
"Regret, huh."
Laila looked like she didn't quite understand her own words, but then it clicked for me.
Earlier, right before contracting with the mountain lord, Laila had glowed as brightly as a 3-Star Orphan. Impressive, sure, but on second thought, it left questions.
That mountain lord ice spirit was clearly near spirit king level—tremendously powerful. Contracting with something like that at just 3-Star?
At least 4-Star, maybe even pushing 5-Star... okay, 5 might be a stretch, but it couldn't end at 3-Star.
'Though talents observed by my ability never change.'
Spiritist is the exception. It's less a talent and more dependent on the spirit's rank and favor.
In other words, the mountain lord had no real intention of contracting with Laila right now.
'Damn spirit.'
We'd nearly had a disaster. I got so caught up in the 1-Star awakening that I ignored the result.
It's not like every Eve X evolution is good. Turn into a fairy or dark type, fine—but fire? Disaster.
Laila's— the Spiritist's—intuition was spot on. With the mountain lord's attitude, even if she contracted now, she'd be no proper Spiritist—just a slave.
But skipping the contract would make Count Richard push back hard.
So, what to do?
"Director?"
"Stay here, Laila."
"Yes?"
"I'll be right back."
I'd thought it over a dozen times, but there was only one answer.
Why had Count Richard arranged this spirit contract in the first place? Because of the Snow King's army bearing down on them.
Conversely, if the Snow King's army was dealt with, there'd be no need to force the contract.
"Ulfrik, you here?"
"Ah, Senior! I helped the knights like you said and came back... Senior?"
Tch, no helping it.
"Ulfrik."
"Yes, Senior."
"Grab your extension cord."
"Got it!"
I really didn't want to, I'd already retired, I'd started the orphanage to avoid this crap in the first place.
But for better orphan sales...
It was time to return to the field after so long.