#41: Farewell, Piptat — Only I Can Choose as Many S-Class Rare Items and Broken Skills as I Want With the Awakened [Schrödinger's Cat]! (WN)

Great Detective Grail thought this.

At that time—he had slipped.

Because he had slipped, his vision had wavered. Because of that, he had lost sight of Ios. The sight of Ios, who must have been running along with heavy, clumsy steps.

Taking advantage of that opening—

Cowardly Ios had slammed a blow into Grail’s stomach.

Thanks to that, Grail had lost his posture even further, flipped over, hit his head in a corkscrew fall, and fainted.

It was a deduction with absolutely no contradictions.

There was no other way to explain it.

That had looked just like the movement of the Sword Saint’s “Ground Shrink” he had heard rumors about, after all. Since that possibility was zero, if he were to explain it rationally—

“Yeah, that’s right. The only possibility is that I slipped…”

Kukukuku, Grail laughed.

It was true that Ios had won and run away, but Grail hadn’t lost by ability. At the very least, Grail’s pride had been protected.

“You’re such a damn coward, Ios! Damn it!”

As if spitting out his irritated feelings, he struck the ground.

“Tch! Piptat really was a damn place right up to the very end!”

Grail spat that out.

Grail had also decided. He would leave Piptat.

At the adventurers’ guild, he was someone people pinched their noses at. Even if he remained in this city, he probably couldn’t expect to make a leap forward.

He would begin again in a new place.

The heroic saga of the legendary adventurer Grail.

He hadn’t decided where to go, so he had vaguely stayed in Piptat, but after seeing Ios today, he decided.

“I’ll go back… to the land where it all began—the town where the adventurer school was.”

Adventurer school.

The place where Grail and Ios had learned the basics as adventurers.

There, Grail had shone.

The Swordsmanship skill. With its overwhelmingly high performance, he had received gazes of envy from the other students.

He had belonged to the school’s top group and spent the best days there.

“Kukukuku… That’s right. In the end, compatibility with a place does exist… When you’re in trouble, return to your starting point. A big man like me inevitably has to choose his stage…”

Grail recovered and stood up at the same time.

Then, he shouted in a loud voice.

“Iiiiiiiiooooooooos! I’m moving ahead! You can stay here in Piptat forever and keep hunting gray ghosts! Hold on to that victory over me—a victory that only happened because chance happened to be on your side! It’s the only medal suited to a worthless guy like you! Treasure it! While you’re soaking in your memories, I’ll move ahead—down the road to becoming the strongest!”

It still wasn’t enough.

Thinking that, Grail spoke words of oath. In order to flaunt a rank overwhelmingly different from Ios.

“I’ll be the one who becomes a Sword Saint first!”

Grail began walking.

Taking a step filled with the strong will that this very step was a step toward legend.

And then, finally, he spat this out.

“Good riddance, Piptat, the worst damn city ever! Like hell I’ll ever come here again!”

The day after settling things with Grail—

We decided to leave Piptat.

We headed toward the shared carriage. Nyankoromochi was clinging comfortably to Misha’s shoulder as she walked beside me.

“…Hey, hey, Ios.”

“Yeah?”

“Next, we’re heading to Ios’s old haunt, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

We decided to head to the town where the adventurer school I had attended was located.

Well, anywhere would have been fine, but—

“We might find out the mystery behind you, right, Nyankoromochi?”

When I poked Nyankoromochi’s cheek with a poke, Nyankoromochi let out a meow! in protest.

For the time being, we decided to try chasing Nyankoromochi’s mystery.

The place where Nyankoromochi and I had met was the adventurer school. If we investigated it, we might learn something.

“Nishishishi! That sounds fun!”

“I don’t have any special connections like you do, Misha. Don’t expect too much.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! I’ll just imagine what Ios’s school days were like!”

“I’ll help with guiding you around famous spots, at least.”

“Yay!”

At that point, I decided to change the topic.

“That said… we’ll probably take a lot of detours along the way.”

“Isn’t that fine? That makes it feel more like a journey!”

“That’s true. First, at some point, I’ll try changing classes.”

Yes, just as I had decided before, I would gather each class’s higher skills with Schrödinger’s Cat.

“Hmm. Have you decided what you’ll change class into?”

“I’m still thinking about it, but I’m considering Scout.”

Scout was a class that could use swords. My Sword Saint skill would come alive.

“I’m thinking of getting Assassin-type skills.”

“Assassin!? Scary!?”

“No, it’s not that I’m aiming to become one, though…”

One of Scout’s higher classes, Assassin.

It had powerful attack corrections for daggers. Daggers were also swords. In other words, it meant the double correction from Sword Saint and Assassin would apply.

Normally, mastering both would be impossible in terms of time. But with my Schrödinger’s Cat, I could make that impossibility possible.

How far would my attack power rise?

Besides, Scout also had many convenient investigation-type skills. Since we would be moving with these members for the time being, increasing what I could do wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Misha opened her mouth.

“Heh-heh ♪ Then, what should I change class into?”

“Huh? You’re changing class too, Misha?”

“I am! Because if I don’t change classes, I won’t be able to level with you, Ios!”

“That’s true…”

If the level difference was too big, experience points stopped coming in. That was why, when forming a party, people tried to pair up with others as close in level as possible.

“What should I choose ♪ I’m looking forward to it ♪”

As we were talking like that, we arrived at the shared carriage counter. Without hesitation, we bought A-rank seats and headed toward the meeting place.

Then—

“Oh, you two are?”

A middle-aged man said that and spoke to us.

I couldn’t immediately remember who he was, but—

“Ah, you’re Ryan-san, who was with us in the carriage half a year ago! It’s been a while!”

Misha responded instantly.

Amazing, you remembered him? Misha.

“Hahaha, so you remembered me.”

“I’m confident in my memory! Rather, Ryan-san, you remembered us well too, didn’t you?”

“A warrior-like man, a mage wearing a triangular hat, and a cat. It’s a combination that’s rather hard to forget.”

Ryan shrugged while laughing.

“Are you two leaving Piptat as well?”

“Yes. On a journey to new adventures!”

“That sounds fun! Did you like Piptat?”

“Yes, very much. What about you, Ios?”

Misha suddenly threw the conversation to me, but I wasn’t especially troubled.

Because that answer had already come out inside me. My natural feelings flowed smoothly from my mouth.

“It really was a good place. I sincerely think from the bottom of my heart that I’m glad I came here. I feel nothing but gratitude.”

“Hahaha! That’s good! I also think this city is a very good city. I can’t understand the feelings of people who speak badly of it. And—”

Ryan tapped my chest with his finger.

“I’m saying this as a merchant, but treasure that feeling. The people who succeed are the ones who can enjoy things positively. People who speak curses drive luck away, after all.”

Ryan waved at us.

“Well then, I’m on a different carriage. Good luck to both of us!”

After saying that, he walked away.

“Let’s go too, Misha, Nyankoromochi.”

“Nishishi! Yeah!”

“Meow!”

We took a step forward. Surely to reach the “wonderful moments” that existed in the future.

Did something like that truly exist?

I had no basis for it, but I had the confidence that I could do it.

Something very vague and uncertain.

But precisely because of that—I could grasp it.

My skill, “Schrödinger’s Cat,” scooped up existence and nonexistence from ambiguity.