Overlimit Skill Holder
Book 1: Chapter 5

* Adventurers *

「…Is he asleep?」Dante asked, while adding branches to the bonfire.

「Yes, looks like it.」Mimino answered, sitting next to the sleeping Reiji.

Everybody took turns to keep the bonfire alight. Dante was in charge right now, but Mimino had been watching over Reiji until he fell asleep.

「A slave child, huh… I think there was a skill orb mine around this area.」

「I don’t care where he came from. To think someone forced such a small child to work as a slave… And till he became so thin… He was eating that cheap meat like it was the most delicious thing he had eaten in his life.」

Mimino reached her hand and brushed aside Reiji’s hair from his eyes.

「Mimino. Reaching out to the poor is your virtue, but keep it moderate.」

「…Is that a general view? Or is it wisdom of your experience?」

「It is true in general and also my experience.」

「I will never abandon you, who got petrified while protecting your friends. Just like the others.」

「………」

「………」

The two fell silent, and indulged in their thoughts while looking at the bonfire.

「Sleep now. Or you’ll wake up sleepy tomorrow.」

「…Okay, I will.」

Mimino laid down a blanket by Reiji, and lied down.

「I won’t abandon you either, Reiji-kun. I will protect you.」

* *

Apparently, I was welcomed into the party due to being a “pitiable child”. Sure, if a slave-looking child clung to cheap meat, while crying, that might be true.

Adventurers form a team with several people, call it “party”, and take on quests on a “party” basis. The name of this party seems to be “Silver Balance”. Originally, Dante-san and Mimino-san were active in the same party, but the party broke up when Dante-san, the strongest member of the party, was inflicted by Medusa’s curse.

Since then, Dante-san has been treated by his daughter, Non, but the petrification could not be healed, so they decided to head for the Saint Knight Kingdom. Dante-san said he originally formed a three person party “Silver Balance” with Non-san and Mimino-san, who was in Dante-san’s original party, and picked up Raikira-san during their journey.

「Raikira was in the same situation as you, Reiji. He was passed out from hunger, and Mimino saved him.」

「Really?」

「Even after he was saved, he said things like, “I don’t want to join someone like you who helps a suspicious beastmen like me” at first, and eventually joined Silver Balance after a while. You saw Raikira’s movement, right? He’s movement skill is extremely high. He must have surely been a well-known mercenary or an adventurer.」

Raikira-san, who seemed to be a well-known mercenary or adventurer, stared at me from time to time. Perhaps being wary of me.

Apparently, the reason why he was not near the bonfire when the Git Snake attacked, was because he was inspecting if there were any monsters nearby. Beastmen have good senses, so Raikira-san seems to have volunteered to scout for enemies. He would’ve noticed the Git Snake had he been nearby, and even Dante-san and Mimino-san would’ve usually noticed, but they were distracted in preparing food, it seems.

「Raikira is a beastmen and Mimino is a halfling. Keith Gran Federation is a federation of the human race. They have strong prejudice against demi-humans.」Dante-san said, with a bitter look.

Silver Balance advanced through the forest. Not by the highway, but through the forest. Because that was less troublesome.

…I didn’t know that humans were so exclusive of others.

「Okay, I did it. Reiji-kun, come here~」

The next night, Mimino-san called me over to the bonfire.

「Here, this is for you. The colours might be a little mismatched becaused I added some scrap cloth, but it’s better than the clothes you’re wearing now.」

Mimino-san measured my size and put together a piece of clothing for me. The type which you tie together with a waist strap in front. The base was a dark red colour and the sleeves were green.

「I-Is it really okay?」I asked.

However, just the fact that someone took the time to put together a piece of clothing for my sake, meant the world to me.

「Of course~」

「Heh, what is that thing…? If it was me, I wouldn’t wear something so embarrassing.」 Raikira-san remarked, as he passed by.

I hugged the clothes and started crying again. Not good…. I am easily moved to tears lately. I have to behave more decently…

「Come on, try it on!」

「Ah, wait–」

Mimino-san started undressing me. I noticed that her eyes were moist, too.

「Your body is full of dirt, so let’s take this opportunity and wash you.」

「W-What?」

The back of my head started feeling cold and suddenly water washed over me.

…Wait a minute. Mimino-san didn’t have any water, did she? And even the water in the pot was not drawn from somewhere.

「M-Mimino-san, is t-this w-water….」I asked, while Mimino-san poured water over my head.

「Oh, this is my skill 【Convenience★】. You’ve never seen it?」

「No…」

「There are so many things you can do, like produce drinking water, setting fire, blowing wind, creating a stove, smoothing out clothes, etc. It’s literally a convenience magic that fits your life.」

「Is it a unique characteristic skill?」

「Yeah. If you’re an adventurer, having someone with this skill makes things a lot easier. Okay, that settles your head. Next is your back.」

「Ahya!」

As I wiped my wet hair with a cloth, my back was being scrubbed. This person wants to treat me like a child no matter what, it seems. It’s embarrassing for me, who has experienced life as a high school student, to expose my scrawny body in the presence of other party members.

「Um, I can do it on my own.」

「Children shouldn’t be shy.」

「No, I’m already 10 years old.」

…16 on the inside, though.

「Eh?! 10 years old?! I thought you were 5 or 6 for sure.」

「I am not too far off from Mimino-san…」

「Wha?! Yes, you are! I am 20 years old already!」Mimino-san pouted, as her face turned red.

「Buhaha! No matter how you look at it, Mimino is only about 13 years old! Ahahahahaha…-Ouch!」Raikira-san laughed.

The stone thrown by Mimino-san hit Raikira-san in the head.

Mimino-san was only slightly taller than me. Just shy of 150cm. But Mimino-san is 20 years old. So, that means she can legally drink alcohol in Japan. Fantasy world sure is amazing… However, if Mimino-san drank alcohol, it would totally be perceived as a crime.

By the way, Dante-san was 35 years old and the oldest member in the party, and his daughter, Non-san, was 16 years old. Raikira-san was 18 years old.

If Non-san was born in my world, who knows, we might’ve been classmates. It’s kinda amazing when you think so. You can’t really see because she wears loose clothes, but she has very big breasts. Boys would’ve surely gone crazy for her.

On the contrary, Mimino-san was a cutboard. No further comments.

Non-was was also taller than Mimino-san, and slightly large for a woman. Maybe she will grow larger still. Dante-san and Raikira-san were larger by a wide margin.

Mimino-san was the smallest member of the party, but she might be feeling happy now since I’ve taken that spot from her. Can’t say I share her feelings.

「Oh~ It suits you! But you might grow out of it quickly.」Mimino-san said, happily, as I put my arms through the sleeves.

And then, Non-san approached me with a smile, and a razor in her hand.

「W-W-What is that?」

「Let’s give you a haircut.」

Oh, just my hair… I was scared there for a second. Sometimes I can’t really tell what Non-san is thinking, so I was startled when she approached me with a razor.

After a short haircut,

「Okay, we’re done.」

「Oh~」

I felt that my hair was quite neat. When I was a slave, I just sort of cut it when it grew too long and it became a hindrance to my work.

Seeing Mimino-san clap her hands, I wonder if I became slightly better looking.

「U-Uhh… Once again, nice to meet you all.」

「Yeah, nice to meet you~ Reiji-kun.」

「Yeah, me too.」Dante-san said.

「Nice to meet you.」Non-san said.

「…Tsk.」

While lying down, as though sulking, Raikira-san clicked his tongue.

「Raikira!」Mimino-san exclaimed, kicking him in the butt.