"How do you awaken? I'm Locke. And those two are Rex and Fana."
Oh, they introduced themselves.
Two boys and one girl, huh.
"I'm Alan. When I got expelled from my family, my hazard skill awakened."
"Then why haven't we awakened? We've all been thrown out of our homes!"
Locke raised his voice.
"Hmm, I'm not really sure about that. The conditions for awakening seem to vary from person to person. Anyway, it's my turn now. Why were you guys expelled from your families?"
If it was a noble household, I could understand being kicked out for a hazard skill — not that I condone it — but for commoners, there shouldn't be any need to go as far as expulsion…
"The Church despises hazard skill holders to a pathological degree."
Locke answered.
"They kept saying stuff like, 'You are born bearing sins that will never fade, bringing calamity upon everyone! If you aren't expelled immediately, disaster will fall upon us all!'"
Rex continued.
"My family feared the Church too, and not wanting to get caught up in it, they drove me out."
Fana answered as well, on the verge of tears.
"Why does the Church hate hazard skill holders so much? The Sacred Misery Church in Raging also called us 'those forsaken by God,' but I don't think they ever went so far as to say we should be expelled."
Expelled immediately just for having a hazard skill — are these Church people out of their minds?
"I wouldn't know about that. You'd have to ask the Church."
Locke answered.
Well, yeah. That tracks.
Hey, you said your name was Alan, right? Help us out. I don't want to stay in a country like this anymore! It feels like we're being kept alive somewhere between life and death—not killed but not really living, just barely not dying.
Like a public example for everyone to see, huh.
But there's nothing I can do about it.
Sophia's Transmigration Bond tells me she's a reincarnator, but I can't awaken it, and I don't even know what the conditions are.
And if I did manage to awaken it only for it to turn out to be some Achilles-type thing, that'd be too terrible to even look at.
I mean, if she'd awakened on her own, that'd be one thing.
Oh, maybe in the past some Achilles-type went berserk, and that's why Junk Skills are despised now.
Even so, I don't think the Church's current actions are exactly great either.
"I don't want to stay in a country like this anymore!"
A heartfelt cry from Locke, who carries a Junk Skill.
Well, I get that.
If you haven't awakened, reversing your fate after being exiled would be nearly impossible, and the fact that they're stuck with Junk Skills probably means they're victims of the Goddess.
"...Hmm, what should we do? Hey, maybe I can do something with my skill—want to give it a try?"
"What kind of method?! Tell me!"
Locke pressed.
"I might be able to make your Junk Skills disappear entirely. But that would mean giving up the possibility that a Junk Skill could awaken and become something unstoppable."
"I don't care! If it means anything changes from how things are now!"
Fana, the girl, answered immediately—she must have had it really bad.
If I were a bad person, things could've gotten a whole lot worse here.
Not that I have any intention of doing something like that.
"What about the other two... Rock and Rex? You could have Fana try it first and decide after."
"Nah, do us all at once."
Rock exchanged a glance with Rex, then answered.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skills: [Reverse], [Divine Eye], [Sword God], [Fist God], [Spear God], [Scorching Magic], [Freezing Ice Magic], [Clear Storm Magic], [Rock Iron Magic], [Holy Magic], [Dark Magic], [Space-Time Magic], [Thunder God Sword], [Phantom Thief Gentleman], [Ninja Master], [Truth Seeker], [Monstrous Strength], [Pain Relief], [Complete Status Abnormality Resistance], [Dark Spirit's Protection], [Super Intuition], [Heaven's Gate], [Abyss Contractee], [Magic Hand], [Treasure Search], [Seduction], [Eloquence], [Great Luck], [Growth Speed x10]
Rank: Orichalcon
Thank you for reading!