The sun has begun to set as the orange light falls on my eyes; it's much more pleasant than the painful midday sun.
I walk beside the girl dressed in a maid uniform. She is about one head shorter than me and has pretty modest assets. Her emerald eyes matching her moss-coloured hair seemed to shine in the evening sun.
"So Eileen, are you like a real maid or is that just cosplay?"
"None of your business."
"Ah, OK..."
She is tough to talk to. I am not even sure what these two are up to. Are they trying to recruit me or something? Actually, I don't even know where we are going.
"So, uh... Where are we headed, Eileen?"
"I... don't know, I was about to ask."
For once she isn't talking with a blank expression; she has her head down in embarrassment. Maybe she was just anxious and stiff rather than being cold.
"Ahh... uhh," Eileen lets out a quiet scream as she trips over a rock while walking with her head down; fortunately, she didn't fall.
My initial impression of her made her seem like a competent assistant, but she seems more like a klutz.
I decided to take the initiative and make the plan for our next step.
"So, I know that you are trying to find me a girl so that I can use my divine skill, but I am not exactly good at this kind of stuff, you know. Even if you push me to it, it wouldn't change the outcome."
"I see." She seems to be thinking about something. I decided to wait for her to let her formulate whatever plan she is devising.
"Can you kneel to my face level?"
I was surprised, not getting the intent behind it, but I decided to follow regardless.
She brings her face closer to me. Wait, is this what I am thinking about? I got flustered and tried to speak up in words of protest, but before that, I feel my forehead come in contact with hers as an emerald light glows between us.
"Huh?" That seemed like magic, but it wasn't something I was familiar with.
"It's one of my skills; I can peek into others' memories."
Skills and magic are two types of special authority given to sentient beings of this world. Skills are innate abilities, and only the chosen few can use each type of skill. Meanwhile, magic is a universal authority which everyone can use if they put effort into learning, but what you can accomplish is still limited by your mana.
Well, I get what she was trying to do, but isn't it a huge invasion of privacy? I decided to keep that thought inside my mind and wait for her next words.
"So... Yura is off limits, right? She seems precious to you. I wouldn't want to ruin things between you."
"Uh.. yeah." I guess she is quite empathetic.
I first met Yura when I was just beginning to learn to read, so about age 5, during the third spring since my birth. There hasn't been a day we have been apart since we met. She is like family to me, and while I would prefer if our relationship grew further, I don't want it to happen just because I wanted to use the divine skill.
"I have an idea, let's go to the tavern," Eileen speaks up.
The night is near, so the tavern should be about to get customers. A lot of people I am close with gather there, so I guess it's not a bad idea for our goal.
We begin to head towards our destination. Eileen seems to already know the location from my memories.
"Zeth, do you know how to use your skills?"
"Use? Aren't my skills passive types? Shouldn't they be always active?"
"That's not true, you can turn on and off your passives with your mind. Do you usually keep them active?"
"That's... new."
There are very few skill owners in this village and none with a passive, so there was no one to actually teach me that, and we didn't really have a book about that in the limited collection of our village library.
I decided to put my mind into it and see if I could do it. I felt something dim inside my consciousness and decided to reach out to it.
"Ughhh," I felt a slight sense of disorientation as I opened my eyes. I felt like everything in front of me was disorienting its outline.
I see, it seems my skill was a reality manipulation type. It forces the world around me to change to accommodate my skill. The world itself will bend together to get me in situations where I can utilise my skill.
After focusing for a bit, I feel my vision settling and the world returning to look normal, but I can feel that my skill is still in effect.
Now marks the real start of my otherworldly life.