Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? Volume Chapter 4

In the Kingdom of Analeit, there lived a boy named Schlain Zagan Analeit.

As his name suggested, he was a member of the royal family.

He was the child of a concubine of the king and lived as the fourth prince.

But this boy possessed memories of a previous life.

In that life, his name had been Shunsuke Yamada.

I’ll be honest: The boy is me.

My last memory from my previous life was of sitting in Classical Japanese class.

At the time, I noticed a crack in the air above the classroom, and that’s where everything went black.

Rifts in space weren’t a normal occurrence back on Earth.

So whatever happened then is most likely why I died.

Then, inexplicably, I was reborn with memories of my previous life.

Which was how I came to live in this gamelike world where skills and levels are real.

In this world, you actually have a “status.”

How can this exist in reality outside of a game? I did wonder about that for a while, but I eventually gave up trying to figure it out.

Instead, I realized it would be more fun to focus on the positives of living in this kind of world. Training would improve my abilities, and it was pretty fun to hone my strength like that.

However, this world has its inconveniences, too.

You can’t see anyone’s status. The concept exists, yet you have to clear extremely strict conditions if you want to perceive it.

See, there’s a skill called Appraisal.

With Appraisal, you can see statuses, but few people possess that skill.

In order to acquire it, just like becoming a judge or an appraiser on Earth, you need a thorough education on how to judge the values of things, powers of observation to figure out the composition of substances, and other such high-level skills. No amateur would be able to manage that.

And even if you could get the Appraisal skill, it’s extremely difficult to raise its level, so very few people have it in the first place.

Really, all it actually takes to acquire Appraisal is paying the right amount of skill points.

But even though that’s technically possible, you can’t get any further once you have it.

Raising the skill level of Appraisal only requires using it.

Every time you use Appraisal, your proficiency rises, and if you reach a certain level of proficiency, the level goes up as well.

However, it’s using the skill that’s the real problem.

On the one hand, it doesn’t require any magical power or energy.

I know what you’re thinking: “Couldn’t you just use it whenever you want, then?” It’s not that simple.

The catch is this: Whenever Appraisal is used, the user gets hit with a headache and a drunken feeling.

The degree seems to vary depending on the individual, but in the worst cases, some people will faint after using it only once, and even more talented users can’t Appraise more than two things at once.

Since each use is so rough, using the skill over and over to increase your proficiency would be incredibly punishing.

As a bonus, the Appraisal skill is worthless until it reaches a very high level.

And so, very few people bother acquiring it.

In fact, there are a handful of families that make a living serving as Appraisers, passing the skill down through generations.

So if you’re wondering how anyone checks their status, the answer is with Appraisal Stones.

An Appraisal Stone is a magic tool made through a special process, which allows the holder to temporarily use the skill.

The level of the skill allowed by one of these stones depends on its quality. The number of stones in the world that grant level 10, like the one belonging to the royal family, can be counted on one hand.

Naturally, you need special permission to use it, so basically only big nobles close to the royal family have any chance. Since I’m royalty myself, I can technically use it, but it’s not like I can do that whenever I want. I pester Anna the maid about it repeatedly, but it can only be used once you reach a certain age.

In fact, it turns out that your first time having your status Appraised is considered a special occasion, so nobility and the like always hold a big, formal ceremony for it.

And I had to go through that ceremony, too.

In addition to the Appraisal, this ceremony serves as the child’s debut to greater society.

Your Appraisal results are revealed to everyone present, and all the adults start judging your value right then and there.

I had more skills than the average person my age, so I knew it probably wouldn’t be a problem for me. But apparently, if your stats are super-low, your family might reject you, so that’s a frightening prospect.

Anyway, me and my younger sister, Sue, a child of the king’s wife born around the same time as me, were about to undergo our public debut.

Sue and I had to change into the ceremonial children’s clothes for the occasion and hear about the schedule over and over again.

The current king—in other words, our father—was also attending.

Aside from that, there would be a who’s who of other important people present, so making a mistake and embarrassing myself was not an option.

me ow no vel.com is releasing your favorite novel

Despite being a kid, I was still a member of the royal family.

I was about to play a leading role in the ceremony, so I needed to carry the dignity of the royal family on my shoulders.

That was a heavy load for a former lower-middle-class commoner.

However, when I saw how majestically my sister was carrying herself next to me, I felt a determination to do things properly that bordered on impatience.

“Are you ready?”

I nodded silently in response to Anna’s final check.

“Then please proceed.”

Anna pushed us forward, and Sue and I walked side by side through the door to the ceremony hall.

As soon as we passed through the entrance, the ceremonial space loomed large before my eyes.

A red carpet extended from the door in a straight line toward a pedestal, behind which a man stood waiting.

A huge crowd of people lining the wall watched us in silence.

Everyone here was a high-ranking noble.

Sue and I walked across the carpet without a word.

Our steps were measured and dignified, the way we’d been taught to walk in anticipation of this very day.

I could feel the gazes of the assorted nobles piercing me, but I did my best to ignore them.

Eventually, we reached the front of the pedestal. Sue and I halted and knelt down.

Standing at the ready behind the pedestal was the king, our father, Meiges Derra Analeit.

“The Appraisal Ceremony will now begin.” The king’s majestic voice boomed throughout the ceremony hall.

Although he was my father, I’d only met this person a handful of times. He felt more like a high-ranking relative than a parent.

This only made my nervousness worse.

The king was still speaking, but I couldn’t quite process what he was saying.

“Now, Schlain Zagan Analeit. You may rise.”

“Yes, sir.”

I stood up.

You can read this novel at m eow no vel.com for better experience

“Let the Appraisal begin.”

I advanced onto the stepping stool in front of the pedestal.

Without the boost, I wouldn’t be tall enough at my current height.

A black stone was fitted in the pedestal.

This was the Appraisal Stone. Smaller than I’d expected. If I were an adult, it would fit in the palm of my hand easily.

Masking my surprise, I placed my hands on the Appraisal Stone.

Just as I’d been taught, I thought: [Appraise].

My status displayed with unexpected ease.

LV 1 NameSchlain Zagan AnaleitStatus:HP: 35/35 (green)MP: 348/348 (blue)SP: 35/35 (yellow): 35/35 (red)Average Offensive Ability: 20 (details)Average Defensive Ability: 20 (details)Average Magical Ability: 314 (details)Average Resistance Ability: 299 (details)Average Speed Ability: 20 (details)Skills:Skill Points: 100,000Titles: None[Magic Perception LV 8][Magic Operation LV 8][Magic Warfare LV 6][Magic Conferment LV 5][Magic Attack LV 3][MP Recovery Speed LV 7][MP Recovery Speed LV 7][MP Lessened Consumption LV2][Swordsmanship LV 3][Destruction Enhancement LV 2][Mental Warfare LV 2][Energy Conferment LV 1][Concentration LV 5][Hit LV 1][Evasion LV 1][Vision Enhancement LV 4][Auditory Enhancement LV 7][Olfactory Enhancement LV 2][Taste Enhancement LV 1][Tactile Enhancement LV 1][Life LV 5][Magic Mass LV 8][Instantaneous LV 5][Persistent LV 5][Strength LV 5][Solidity LV 5][Alchemist LV 8][Protection LV 7][Running LV 5][Divine Protection][n% I = W]

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.

meow novel . com will be your favorite novel site

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.

me ow no vel.com is releasing your favorite novel

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?”

You can read this novel at m eow no vel.com for better experience

“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.

I remembered what it was like when I first realized I had reincarnated.

I definitely couldn’t say that I didn’t miss my old life. If anything, I was full of regrets.

I was still at the height of my youth, and I wanted to spend more time hanging out with my friends. I never even got a girlfriend.

meow novel . com will be your favorite novel site

Besides, I felt terrible for not only dying before my parents, but even my grandparents.

When I realized I would never see my family again, my heart sank lower than you could imagine.

I was curious about the state of the school after I died, too.

I remembered the rift in the air and the moment it split open. If I died from that, what happened to everyone else? Kyouya, Kanata, Hasebe who sat next to me… Did they all die along with me?

The thought terrified me.

That morning had been perfectly ordinary, but now I could never see any of them again.

I’d been fighting against that crushing fear ever since I first reincarnated. With no idea what was going on, I suddenly woke up as a baby, so it was only natural that I felt anxious. On top of that, the country of my rebirth wasn’t Japan. In fact, it wasn’t anywhere on Earth. This was a different world entirely.

At first, I didn’t realize.

I couldn’t understand the language, and I rarely got to leave the nursery. So there were a lot of things I didn’t know. At first I thought I was somewhere in Europe.

But the first time I saw magic, I realized that wasn’t the case. This happened when a powerful priest performed a blessing on me. I was enveloped in glittering light, and I felt power flowing into me. That was when I sensed the existence of magic for the first time.

Initially, this was exciting to me.

But then I became anxious again.

Could I actually make my way in a world with magic? I had just been an ordinary guy in my previous life.

Back in Japan, I didn’t really experience any hardships. But in this world, where I was born into an elite family, mediocrity was not an option.

Could I live up to that expectation? I was worried.

And since I was a baby, I couldn’t get my body to move the way I wanted it to, which was scary. Being unable to live without the help of others added to my stress.

What if the people raising me suddenly decided to stop?

I wouldn’t be able to do anything but weaken and die.

On top of that, the people bringing me up were maids, not my real family.

Since they had no blood relation to me, there was no guarantee that they’d continue to care for me.

Plus, since I still remembered my previous life, my real parents in this world seemed like strangers.

So wasn’t it possible that these parents had just as little attachment to me and could potentially discard me at any moment?

My mind was so worn down that I started having those wild delusions.

Meanwhile, I desperately started trying to learn the language.

Not knowing any words was more frightening than I would have ever imagined.

I didn’t understand what anyone was saying. Who knew that would give me such hopelessness?

It made me feel completely alone.

I worried about being reborn in another world. Fretted about not understanding the language. Agonized over whether I’d be able to make it in the future.

What soothed my troubled mind was the presence of my little sister, sleeping peacefully beside me.

This half sister of mine wasn’t concerned about a single thing.

She was totally carefree, as if there were nothing in the world to be anxious about.

Well, I guess that’s natural for a baby.

A weak little creature that leaves its fate in others’ hands and depends on the world for everything…

That’s what a baby is supposed to be like.

The only reason I was so concerned was that I possessed memories of my previous life.

Then I realized something…

Since I had my memories, I should at least be mentally above my sister.

So why was I so full of anxiety when she was right beside me, being happy?

I was her older brother. I shouldn’t act so pathetic in front of her, I realized. An older brother is supposed to be cool.

Maybe that was just pretension.

But after that point, I stopped worrying so much. I hadn’t completely gotten over my fears, but I knew I wanted to at least protect my defenseless little sister.

I gradually learned more words, and slowly but surely I began picking up more information about this world from the bits of conversation I caught.

Wanting to regain the range of motion I was used to as quickly as possible, I whipped my baby body into shape by moving around as much as I could.

Thanks to that, I learned to crawl much sooner than normal.

In this way, my desire to show up my younger sister motivated me.

I wanted to be a big brother she could be proud of.

However, I hadn’t accounted for the possibility that she would turn out to be a ridiculous prodigy who would imitate me and become nearly as strong.

Kanata must have experienced at least as much anxiety as I did.

I mean, it must be jarring to live your whole life as a man and then suddenly be reborn as a woman.

I tried to picture enduring the stress of newly found womanhood on top of all the fears I’d faced.

That must have been harder than I could possibly imagine.

And then I was reunited with my friend, whom I thought I’d never see again.

me ow no vel.com is releasing your favorite novel

I couldn’t help being overcome with emotion.

Without thinking, I moved to embrace the weeping Kanata.

At that moment, a thunderous roar came from the door to the private room.

“What was that?!”

Kanata looked flustered.

I panicked for a moment, too, but calmed down once I realized who was standing at the door.

No, actually, I just panicked in a different way.

A second roar blew the door inward.

Standing outside the entrance with a magically fueled fist at the ready was Sue, who’d enhanced her physical strength with magic.

Sue eyed the two of us, then locked on to Kanata.

“Sue, stop!”

If I hadn’t hurriedly thrust myself between them, Sue’s fist would’ve blown Kanata away.

“You can’t have my brother!” Sue muttered, latching on to me instantly.

“Your sister’s scary, dude,” Kanata muttered in Japanese.

That was the day I was reunited with my first classmate.