Let's talk about skills.
Skills are what people call "God's Fragments," believing they exist because the gods grant them to those worthy... but that understanding misses the real point entirely.
Skills are something people develop through their own efforts and talents. Lacking either means you simply can't gain that skill. They're completely unrelated to the gods!
For example, Appraisal requires a talent for mana manipulation and the capacity for deep analysis.
Of course, I had both, so I gained Appraisal without much difficulty as a baby.
Secondly, reaching the max level in a skill can unlock a "derived" skill—something uniquely your own.
A Unique Skill!
For example, once my Appraisal hit max level, I unlocked: Akashic Records.
Technically, aside from the heavy mana cost, it works the same as Appraisal. The key difference lies in the depth of information.
Using Akashic Records, you can see all information about something or someone. And naturally, this was how I came to understand what skills and talents really were.
And… it was also the source of my despair, once.
Through Akashic Records, I learned that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't handle offensive magic. I lack the talent for it... No, it's more accurate to say my talent for attack magic is in the negatives. It's almost like a curse.
To be specific, here are the talents I have:
[
**- High Intellect**
- Deep Analysis
- Prodigy of Mana
- Mana Release Incompatibility
]
Those four.
And the last one is what killed my dream of obliterating monster swarms with a wave of my hand. Mana Release Incompatibility. Whenever I try to emit mana externally, it dissipates instantly—meaning all forms of offensive magic simply fail to activate for me.
Well, I still have defensive and self-targeted support magic, so it's not that bad… really.
Sniff!
No! I'm definitely not crying!
Anyway, why was I going over all this?
Because for the plan to mine the mountain, I have a specific role: searching for "good" workers.
More specifically, appraising Father's people to see if any of them have hidden talents. Mining or mineralogy talents, to be exact.
Not everyone has multiple talents, though. Most people only have one.
At worst, some have none at all.
Up until now, we'd only found three such individuals among the entire 1,500 people in the territory. Appraising all of them using Akashic Records—including recovery time for mana—took me two months.
"This can't go on," I said to Father. "With just three actual miners, the odds of finding a mithril vein are too low. We need more."
"True…" Father nodded.
"But there's nothing we can do about it. Our territory has a limited population, and poaching people from other territories could bite us back later."
His concerns were valid. However…
"Don't worry, Father. There's a surefire way to find more talent without inviting trouble!"
"Oh? And that is…?"
I smiled and gave my answer. "Slaves!"
Right.
In this world, slaves exist.
No—that's an understatement. They don't just exist; they thrive.
In fact, in our own residence, about half of the maids are work-slaves—laboring for a set period until they earn enough to buy back their freedom.
Of course, the reason they don't look like slaves is because most of them already paid off their debt years before I arrived in this world.
Though they're free now, they chose to stay with the Barony… or rather, with Father.
Damn his bewitching, handsome face!
"Slaves, huh… That's an angle I hadn't considered."
Father voiced his surprise.
It wasn't that he'd never thought of using slaves as cheap labor, I'm sure.
Rather, most slaves are considered talentless. The idea that a hidden gem could be found among them simply wasn't worth considering—to him.
But I'm different.
I know that everyone is born equal and thus has the same chance of possessing talent, even if it's largely random.
"Alright," Father nodded after some thought. "Then let's visit the slave trader tomorrow. Let's see if there's anyone worth investing in."
"Yes!"
Plan: successful!
Of course, I wasn't only looking for miners.
Like in the novels I'd read, I planned to choose a slave for myself as well. And maybe, if I got lucky, even build a slave harem!
Though my funds were limited, so I could probably only afford two or three at most…
Damn.
I really should've demanded a bigger cut from Father's ventures—which were originally my ideas!
---
"It's the Lord! Lord Claus is coming through!"
"Young Master Rex, look over here~! Kyaah~!"
"Ahh! God bless Lord Claus! God bless Young Master Rex!"
The next day, in town.
Just walking down the road drew greetings from everyone around us.
Returning all those greetings was tiring. Still, the attention and affection didn't feel bad. If anything, it was quite addictive.
If I weren't worried about getting kidnapped, I'd walk through town every day just to enjoy this pampering.
The people of Grendel Territory were kind, but that didn't mean there were no travelers or adventurers passing through—and those were always a risk, since verifying identities with this world's level of technology was nearly impossible.
Even with Akashic Records, I couldn't use it constantly. The mana cost was simply too high.
On the other hand, I kept Appraisal active around the clock—checking everything and everyone within my line of sight. Its low mana cost made that easy, and it was this trick that let Appraisal reach max level in five years rather than the twenty-plus it might otherwise have taken.
Anyway, after being held up by the excited townsfolk, we finally reached our destination.
A building that stood out clearly. Two stories tall, dwarfing everything around it.
The Slave Trader.