The World Is Not Free
The new ability of my SSS-rank skill.
There is no free lunch in the world
◎All of your party members’ stats—including health, mana, attack power, defense, and everything else—will be amplified.
◎You will transfer all of your experience points to your party members.
◎The transferred experience will be completely reset when the buff is removed.
◎To activate this skill, you must remain within a 100-meter radius of your party members.
◎If you leave the party, the buff will automatically be dispelled.
◎If you reveal the details of this skill to your party members, the buff will be canceled.
I used to complain a lot about why the hell something like this was rated SSS. In my memory, even an S-rank skill was strong enough to let someone live comfortably for life. SS-rank skills were so rare that across the entire Pangaea continent, you could count the owners on one hand. There was even a behind-the-scenes story about the great sage who fought the Demon King for over seven days seven hundred years ago—the only person who ever managed to inflict a serious wound on the Demon King—and that technique was SS-rank.
But SSS-rank? Honestly, I’d never even seen one while playing the game. I always thought SS-rank was the absolute ceiling. Which meant There is no free lunch in the world was an insanely powerful skill. Maybe even the one and only SSS-rank skill in existence.
It turned a failing factory into a massive corporation that joined the merchant guild. It transformed an ordinary ranch into a giant in the livestock industry. And it took a pathetic, talentless Hero Party that never lifted a finger and let them casually wipe out the Eight Protection Army just by having me around. That was the true power of There is no free lunch in the world.
And this skill still had one secret I had never told anyone.
◎When the buff is removed, a portion of the lost experience and stats will later be inherited by new party members.
◎You can temporarily use all the strengthened abilities at once. (Chaos Mode)
This was it.
Everything I had built up in the factory, at the ranch, and in the Hero Party didn’t disappear. It was stored temporarily and then partially passed on to my new party member, Vanessa. That meant Vanessa could now wield Leonhart’s power as the Hero and even Cynthia’s magic.
This time, I transferred the abilities of the elf Sharon to Vanessa. She had the most useful techniques out of all of them, after all.
—Of course, she could only use that power temporarily while she was in a party with me.
Once I stole the Rune of Resurrection from them, it would be goodbye forever.
By the way, Chaos Mode was a time-limited ability that only lasted five minutes. In other words, it wasn’t partial. It was everything. It was my ultimate super move that slammed the full power of Leonhart, Cynthia, Jeanne, Theresa, and Sharon straight into my body all at once.
I had never used it even once.
“I see. I prayed to the Goddess, and suddenly my body feels so light, Vanessa. I feel like I can do anything. Is this the Goddess’s blessing?”
Think whatever you want. Thanks to the activation conditions, I couldn’t tell her I was the one who gave her the buff anyway.
“Then, Vanessa, Werther. I wish you both good fortune. I will head to the border first.”
“Wait a second.”
“Hm? What is it? Do you still have something to say?”
The journey so far had been pure hell. Carrying the luggage of six people and marching over unpaved roads for more than ten hours a day was something I never wanted to experience again. I was done with the kind of trip where I did all the dogshit work like before.
“Since this was your suggested plan, you’ll obviously cover the travel expenses, right?”
“…How much do you want?”
“One million shillings.”
“What?!”
Protector Zero’s face looked like a thorn had gotten stuck in his throat. He was even breaking out in a cold sweat, which was rare for him.
“Do you even understand how much money one million shillings is? That is enough for the people of Yohannes to live on for three full years.”
“Oh, so you can’t pay it? Then I guess I can’t kill the Eight Protection Army for you either.”
“…………”
“I don’t want to walk all the way to that distant border, so you’ll also need to prepare a carriage, plenty of food, and alcohol. As the Protector, you can manage that much, right? If you don’t want to, just say so.”
“…One million shillings, plus a carriage, plus food…”
There was a saying about sunk costs. Zero had already shown far too many of his cards. He had even confessed his inner desire to overthrow the Emperor. Backing out now just because it cost too much money? Then how was he going to shut my mouth?
“Haa… If I take it from the national defense budget it will leave traces… which means I’ll have to cover it with my own money… my entire fortune… ugh…”
“Looks like you don’t want to. Then let’s just forget it ever happened. I’m going back to the cabin. Take care.”
“Wait!!”
In the end, the one who was desperate was Zero. The way cold sweat poured down his face like rain showed just how much he hated losing the money. Well, one million shillings was… when I thought about how I only earned one shilling for an entire month of physical labor at the factory, it really was an unimaginable sum.
Still, when I considered it payment for all the dogshit suffering I had endured, it didn’t feel that excessive.
“F-fine. One million shillings… I will provide one million shillings. Just so you know, this is nearly my entire fortune. My annual salary is only ten thousand shillings.”
Protector Zero went to the bank and returned carrying a bundle heavy with gold coins. The way his lips pouted and the strange strength he put into his grip when handing over the bundle was a very human display of his lingering attachment to the money.
Even a Protector would hate to lose money. He was still human, after all.
“I’ve been thinking… instead of money, how about I show my sincerity in another way?”
“What kind of bullshit is this?”
“This will actually be more helpful than money.”
Zero gave an awkward cough, then pulled a pocket watch from his coat. It was a locket engraved with the imperial symbol of Lydorphia on the front and the Protector’s crest on the back.
“If you carry this, you will hold the same authority as me, the Protector. At least within Lydorphia, this will grant you free passage almost anywhere, and you can command local officials and soldiers as if they were your own limbs.”
“Oh, that sounds good.”
“Right? This kind of concrete support would be far more useful than money. So about that one million shillings…”
“I’ll take the one million shillings and the pocket watch too.”
“………”
“What are you waiting for? Hand it over.”
“………”
Zero stubbornly refused to let go of the pocket watch.
“If you keep acting like this, I might accidentally cough! and let it slip that Zero is trying to overthrow the Emperor. Ugh! The words are rising all the way up my throat. I guess I’ll have to shout it to the world. Protector Zero is—!”
“Take it already.”
That’s what I’m talking about. One million shillings, a carriage, food, and even a pocket watch that let me wield the authority of the Protector. Now this was starting to feel like a proper trip.
This pocket watch had a nice antique charm to it. I actually liked it quite a bit.
“Then, one last thing… I would like to say something.”
“What? If you’re going to take it back, I’m really not interested.”
Zero said that wasn’t it, then suddenly bowed at a perfect ninety degrees. It was an apology steeped in aristocratic solemnity.
“I have heard about the hardships you endured over the past three years. The Rune of Immortality does not remove pain… it must have hurt terribly. I was once captured by the demon race and tortured as well, so I understand it very well. That pain still appears in my nightmares. Even though you were still so young, you endured it all. Any ordinary person would have gone mad long ago…”
“…………”
“I know this as well. True suffering comes from the fact that no one acknowledges your pain. After all the sacrifices you made, receiving the title of Marquis would not have been excessive, yet all you got in return was the stigma of traitor and the Emperor’s wrath. The sense of betrayal and emptiness you must feel is only natural. As the Protector of the Empire, I wish to offer you my sincere apology on their behalf.”
“…………”
Ever since I was a child doing all the dirty work, I had realized one thing. When humans rise to high positions, their backs stiffen. They treat apologizing like it’s a terminal illness and stubbornly refuse to admit fault. Even a mere foreman on a construction site gets drunk on the tiniest bit of power, and even internet forum moderators abuse their authority all the time. So for someone like the Protector of the Empire to admit his wrongdoing and bow his head in apology to a mere commoner… by the values of this world, it must have required an incredible amount of resolve.
“…That doesn’t mean I’m giving the money back.”
“This is not a trick. It is a sincere apology.”
Fundamentally, Zero had never done anything directly wrong to me. Once, when some noble lady collapsed clutching her stomach at a party, I tried to hand her diarrhea medicine. Her mother screamed at me, treating me like a suspicious person, but Zero stepped in and said, “This person is a member of the Hero Party. Please treat him with respect,” and took my side.
For a noble to stand up for a commoner instead of another noble was actually quite unusual here.
“You don’t need to apologize. The ones I really hate are somewhere else.”
“However, as the Protector of the Empire, I cannot completely escape responsibility.”
“Then just work hard to find the Rune of Resurrection and hand it over to me. I’ll generously forgive you.”
“…Heh. I see. Then let us meet again at the border.”
Zero gave a final polite bow and left. Strangely, with every step he took, he seemed to vanish into the distance. He was probably using some kind of teleportation magic. By his tenth step, he was completely out of sight.
“Vanessa, that was the first time I’ve ever seen the Protector bow. Werther brother, are you actually an amazing person?”
“Not at all. More importantly, can you drive a carriage?”
“No. Vanessa is scared of animals.”
“You’ll probably be able to do it. Just try driving it once.”
“Yes. Werther brother is using the fact that Vanessa cannot refuse your orders to torment me, right? Understood. Poor Vanessa will play the role of masochist exactly as her sadist master desires.”
That’s not what this is about. You’ve already inherited the abilities of the previous party members. The elf Sharon was close with animals and her carriage-driving skills had improved noticeably during our journey, so all of that growth should have transferred straight to you.
“Whoa! Vanessa is a genius!”
Sure enough, with a single crack of the whip, Vanessa skillfully drove the horses. I set all the luggage down on the ground and lay comfortably in the carriage. It was a far more relaxing journey than the previous ones where I had to carry heavy loads on my shoulders and walk on my own two feet.
“I’m sorry, Werther brother! You must have been expecting Vanessa to make constant mistakes and cry. If you want, I can deliberately make mistakes to satisfy your sadism. Vanessa is an all-weather type who can handle both S and M roles.”
“I don’t need that, so just keep going straight. I’m going to take a nap.”
“Yes sir!”
—This time, I would make the Hero Party use all the power they had gained thanks to me for my sake instead.
Because in this world, there is no free lunch.