Schrödinger’s Cat

I was born in a small village a little way away from a large city. It was not especially wealthy, but I spent a happy boyhood there without any particular hardships.

My childhood dream was “to become an adventurer.”

Clad in a steel sword and armor, I would hunt large monsters with companions I trusted, and leave my name in legend—

The small me back then spent his days with his heart burning for such a golden future.

“Ios, happy tenth birthday! I hope you get a skill that will help you on adventures!”

My kind parents blessed me.

Yes, when someone turned ten, they were granted a “skill” by God.

Skills.

They were special abilities granted to that person. If it was Cooking, they were good at cooking; if it was Swordsmanship, they were good at handling swords; if it was Magic (Water), they had talent in water-type magic.

What kind of skill one was granted was completely random.

Everyone wished they could get a skill close to the future they dreamed of.

Since I aimed to be a warrior, I spent my days fantasizing that Swordsmanship would be nice, or that at the very least I wanted something like Increased Endurance.

One month later, I was riding in a carriage headed for a large city.

It was to have my skill appraised.

Riding with me were the ten-year-old children who lived in the village and the adults chaperoning us.

“Ios, I hope you get a good skill.”

The one who said that to me was Grail.

Grail was my childhood friend, a brown-haired boy. And he aimed to become an adventurer, just like me.

He was a friend who always practiced swordplay with me—and a companion who had sworn to form a party with me.

Grail smiled.

“Let’s pull god-tier skills together!”

“Yeah.”

“With you and me, that’ll make two god-tier skills. Then we’ll be the strongest, won’t we?”

“We will.”

“We’ll be legends! Let’s make a legend! Today is the first step!”

Those were the words of someone who completely believed in his own shining future.

I also believed in it—my own shining future.

Before long, the carriage arrived in the city. From there, we headed to the large church that would appraise our skills for us.

An elderly priest welcomed us with a smiling face.

“May blessings be upon your futures. Now, we shall conduct the skill appraisal.”

The village children stepped forward and held their hands out toward the crystal ball placed on the table.

The crystal ball emitted a dim light.

The priest read out the skills in order.

“Horus’s skill is Horsemanship!”

“Akku’s skill is Woodcutting!”

“Fai’s skill is Firestarting!”

The children’s reactions were poor. That was because none of them were particularly excellent. But that was normal. Even useful skills were rare, and god-tier skills were like once-in-a-lifetime good fortune.

Before long, Grail’s turn came.

“Pray that I pull a god-tier skill, partner.”

After patting me on the shoulder, Grail walked toward the crystal ball with nervous steps.

He held his hand over it.

The crystal ball emitted light—it was not huge, but it was stronger than anyone’s so far.

“Congratulations.”

The priest said that with a smiling face, then continued.

“Grail’s skill is Swordsmanship!”

“Hoooooooraaaaaaaaay!”

Grail thrust his clenched fist high into the sky.

Swordsmanship. A skill that applied a correction to attack power when wielding a sword. It also opened the path to becoming a swordsman, an advanced warrior class.

There was no way Grail, who aimed to be a warrior, would not be happy.

It was by no means a god-tier skill, but it was a skill that could sufficiently be called a “hit.”

Grail returned looking satisfied.

“Ios, you’re next. Follow after me, okay?”

“Of course!”

I stepped forward to the crystal ball.

I held my hand over it.

The crystal ball emitted light—it was a brilliance that far surpassed anyone else’s so far, even Grail’s light.

What on earth was this……?

“……Th-this is my first time seeing this skill. What is this—?”

The priest’s face twitched.

After a brief pause, the priest announced the skill’s name.

“Ios’s skill is Schrödinger’s Cat!”

Schrödinger’s Cat?

Back then, I had spent my days looking at skill names and fantasizing about my future self. So I had memorized quite a number of skills.

And yet.

I had no memory of a skill with that name.

Of course I would not have any memory of it.

Because—

“Ios-kun, this is most likely a unique skill.”

The priest told me that.

A unique skill!?

It was not just me. The village children behind me also stirred.

A unique skill was a skill that did not exist in the existing skill system. Of course, that meant it was “super rare.”

A fire of excitement was lit in my childhood heart.

It was as if I were a human chosen by God. I had now obtained a power that no one else had ever obtained.

However, there was something that bothered me.

When I checked the skill from the status that only I could see, this was written there.

I did not understand what the skill effect meant.

Even so, a unique skill was a unique skill. It was a rare stroke of good fortune.

When I turned around, wanting to share my joy with my best friend—

Grail had pressed his lips together and was staring fixedly at me with cold eyes.

---

I entered adventurer school at the age of twelve, and after completing the five-year education period, I became an adventurer.

One year passed after that—

At the age of eighteen, I was diving into a dungeon with a five-person party that included my childhood friend Grail.

We were fighting five goblins we had encountered.

Goblins were fairly popular monsters, and they were creatures about 150 centimeters tall that walked on two legs like humans. Their skin was brown, and their heads were large. Their features were yellow eyes without pupils, a large mouth split all the way to the ears, and fangs.

“Magic Arrow!”

The white arrow fired by our companion, the female mage Misha, struck a goblin.

A different goblin broke through the gap between us in the front line and charged toward Misha with a knife.

“W-w-wait! Help meee!”

Misha screamed and fled in panic.

“I’ll go!”

When I turned around, I slashed at the goblin chasing Misha.

“Take this!”

I swung down my broadsword, but the goblin dodged with quick movements.

“Gihii!”

The goblin raised its dagger with an irritating cry. I parried it with my small shield—a buckler.

As I was fighting the goblin like that,

“Jeez, what are you doing against trash mobs!”

A voice like that flew over.

He must have already defeated the goblin he was facing. Grail fiercely cut in and cut down the goblin I had been struggling with in a single blow.

He was strong.

Our levels should not have been that different, but the difference made by the Swordsmanship skill was clear. It granted a fixed +100 to attack power, and on top of that, it raised overall attack power by 20%.

Grail’s attack power was 540—about 1.5 times mine.

With Grail at the center, the goblins were annihilated in no time.

“……Don’t drag us down!”

“Sorry.”

I apologized to Grail, who clicked his tongue. This was the usual scene. At some point, Grail had increasingly begun to be harsh toward me about everything.

However.

This time, it did not end there.

“……Yeah, no. Not happening.”

“Huh?”

“Hey, Ios. Do Schrödinger’s Cat.”

“Huh?”

I did not understand what he meant. There was no reason to activate Schrödinger’s Cat at this timing.

“It’s fine, isn’t it? I’m the leader, and I’m telling you to do it. Are you saying you can’t show your comrades?”

“……No, it’s fine, but……”

I opened the backpack I had been carrying on my back and took out an empty bag tied shut with a string.

“There is no cat inside.”

After opening the mouth of the bag and showing it to Grail and the others, I closed the bag and activated “Schrödinger’s Cat.”

With a bulge, the bag swelled.

“Come on out.”

One cat appeared from the opened bag.

It was a long-haired cat I had kept since my student days. Its name was “Nyankoromochi.” The pattern of its fur was black and white with a split-face marking.

“Myaaaow.”

Nyankoromochi looked at us and meowed in an adorable voice.

“Hah, hah…… So cuuute……”

The female mage Misha trembled.

Misha seemed to like Nyankoromochi, and often touched it while saying, “So cute~”

This was the effect of Schrödinger’s Cat.

By making its existence ambiguous, I could make a cat appear and disappear. That was all. It had no other effect whatsoever.

Truly, that was all.

Schrödinger—the name of a saint who left his name in legend. This ability expressed exactly the words he had spoken.

“The world is more ambiguous than you think. Whether the cat inside the box truly exists even now is not determined until you open the box. It both is and is not.”

If possible, I wished he had used something other than a cat as his example……

The pastoral atmosphere that had begun to drift over us—

Was blown away by Grail’s loud laughter.

“Ahahahahahaha! Ahh, yeah, no way. What the hell is that trash skill! Schrödinger’s Cat? What are you gonna do by bringing out a cat! It’s not useful for shit. If that’s all it does, even Firestarting would still be better!”

And then, at the end, he added this.

“Yeah, no. I don’t need you.”

I was shaken by the sudden words.

What had Grail just said?

Ignoring me completely, Grail continued.

“You’re expelled, Ios! Get the hell out of my sight. You’re in the way!”