Chapter 3: Townsperson A Secretly Slips Out of Town

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Skill: [Concealment]

Description: Allows the user to hide various factors, including presence, mana, and equipment. Proficiency increases the difficulty of detection and allows for the concealment of more complex information.

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That was my new skill. It was incredibly versatile, and I already had two specific applications in mind for it.

The first was moving in and out of various locations without being detected. In the game, this had been a top-tier "cheat" skill designed to help Amy and her suitors evade the Imperial Army’s pursuers. If it was powerful enough for that, then slipping out of this town or navigating dangerous areas unnoticed should be a walk in the park.

The second application was hiding the data on my Guild Card. Simply possessing the [Concealment] skill was enough to stir up trouble; the last thing I wanted was to be kidnapped and raised as some kind of state assassin because my potential was discovered.

According to my experiments, using [Concealment] to mask my existence made people perceive me as nothing more than a pebble on the side of the road. I had tested this on my mother last night after getting home.

The experiment was simple: I activated [Concealment], sat boldly in a chair in the middle of our room, and waited for her to return.

Eventually, the door opened.

"I’m home! Allen, it’s time for dinner."

Our home was a tiny one-room unit on the fifth floor of a dilapidated, illegally extended apartment complex. It shared a communal toilet and kitchen with the rest of the floor. Normally, you’d spot someone the moment you walked in, and yet—

"Allen? Where are you? Honestly, that boy... leaving the lamp on while he runs off somewhere."

Muttering to herself, she began setting the table with a soup made of vegetable scraps, a loaf of hard bread, and some dried meat. Then, she reached out to pull the very chair I was sitting in.

"Oh? Why is this so heavy?"

She gave up and pulled out the chair on the opposite side instead.

"Mom?" I said.

She jumped slightly and peered around the room, but her eyes slid right past me. Even though I was sitting directly in front of her, she couldn't register my presence.

I stood up, walked over to her side, and tapped her on the shoulder. "Mom," I repeated.

"Oh! My goodness! Allen? When did you get back? How long have you been in here?"

It worked perfectly.

"I was here the whole time. Here, this is today's pay."

I handed over a portion of the money I’d earned from the sewers. As our living situation made clear, we were poor, and I wanted to improve our lives however I could. She was my only family, after all.

"Thank you, dear. But don't push yourself, okay? Make sure you’re keeping up with your schoolwork."

"Yeah, I know. The lessons are easy, so don't worry."

By "school," she meant the local elementary school that met three times a week. It provided free lessons in reading, writing, arithmetic, and history every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning for two hours.

With the memories of my previous life, I didn't really need to be there for anything other than world history, but I made sure not to cut corners. I had to build a solid foundation if I was going to get into the Royal Academy later.

My next move required me to leave the town. There were ruins near Luluden said to be the remains of an Ancient Labyrinth. My goal was to head there and secure a Scroll of Appraisal.

Normally, an eight-year-old wouldn't be allowed past the gates alone. There was also the matter of monsters in the wilderness. While they were rare this close to the Royal Capital, there was still a risk of encountering bandits or common thugs.

That was where [Concealment] came in. I would slip past the guards, infiltrate the ruins, and grab my prize.

In the original game, the Scroll of Appraisal was an item meant for the heroine, Amy. During the summer vacation of her first year at the academy, she would visit the ruins with one of her love interests as part of an independent research project and stumble upon the scroll by pure luck. If I could find it in that same spot, it would be definitive proof that this world followed the game's logic.

But obtaining the [Appraisal] skill wasn't just about verification. To be frank, it was an absolute "cheat" skill.

As the name suggested, it allowed the user to identify items. That was useful enough on its own, but the skill showed its true worth when you "charged" it by consuming Magic Stones.

First, it unlocked Person Appraisal, which allowed you to see the name and skills of anyone at a lower level than yourself. It also granted the ability to detect treasure chests and traps, identify enemy weaknesses, and predict an opponent's movements in battle. It even went so far as to highlight the "correct" dialogue choices during social events with the capture targets and provide the answers for final exams.

Magic Stones dropped from defeated monsters, but the drop rate in-game was never enough to sustain the skill. To really exploit its power, you had to spend real money to buy stones. It was essentially a cash-grab mechanic for the developers, but it was an absolute necessity for my Scenario Destruction Plan.

I still remember saying goodbye to a ten-thousand yen note because of that mechanic in my past life. Rest in peace, Yukichi-san.

Shaking off the bitter memory, I approached the town gates under the shroud of my skill.

Nobody noticed me. I walked right alongside a group of departing travelers, and not a single guard looked my way. It was as if I didn't exist.

I decided to test the entry process as well. While commoners used the main gate, there were separate entrances for nobles and merchants. I headed for the merchant gate. If I get caught at the noble gate, I’m liable to lose my head.

I reached the line of wagons where merchants were handing over paperwork and having their cargo inspected. I walked right past the guards and through the archway. No one shouted, and no one reached out to stop me.

A cheat skill fit for a protagonist. Truly wonderful.

Through these tests, I had also learned a nuance of the skill: if I activated [Concealment] while someone was already looking at me, they wouldn't lose sight of me. However, if I activated it before entering their field of vision, they wouldn't be able to register me at all, even if they looked straight at me.

Satisfied with my findings, I turned away from the town and began the trek toward the ruins.

This is where the monsters start appearing. Time to stay sharp.