Overpowered Reincarnation Perks! - Chapter 16.4
Arvan stood up.
“Durak. Take our comrades and escape through the south gate. I’ll go to the square alone.”
“Arvan alone? It’s dangerous. If we’re going, we should all go together…!”
“No, it’s more dangerous if we go as a group. If I go alone, they won’t try to kill me right away. They need to restore the command’s shattered pride.”
They might try to imprison and torture him, but Arvan knows how to escape from jail. So he says it’s best if he goes.
“Ju-in. If negotiations have failed, there’s no reason to stay in this castle. You need to take shelter.”
Arvan stroked the back of my hand as if to reassure me, with a calm face.
“Ju-in, don’t worry and take shelter with the other comrades first.”
“That’s right. We’ll leave the rest to Arvan, and John should come with us… Huh?”
Durak looked at me and made a puzzled expression.
“Huh. No. Is that really John?”
“Yes, it is.”
I lost my magic stone glasses in the high tower, so I wasn’t wearing glasses today. Does my face look that different?
“Were the glasses a beauty seal? Why did you suddenly become pretty? You usually looked dull, but my goodness…”
Durak showed unnecessary interest in my face and came closer. I thought I didn’t need to hide my face from my comrades anymore, so I showed my bare face, but this distance is uncomfortable. Especially with a face that’s not handsome.
“Don’t come any closer.”
“Oof!”
Callion pushed Durak’s face away and hid me behind his cloak.
“Don’t shove your face in so carelessly, Durak. You’re startling Ju-in.”
Arvan approached from the side and put his arm around my shoulders protectively. Somehow, I feel like I’m being overprotected by these two men.
“Even Arvan… Isn’t this too much? I was just surprised because John’s face changed!”
“You looked closely enough to notice the change.”
“Uh, huh?”
“Don’t look carelessly. Don’t be curious either.”
As Arvan gave a cold warning, Durak flinched and stepped back.
I’m grateful they blocked the gaze, but it was clearly an action driven by jealousy rather than consideration, which was embarrassing. Shouldn’t they avoid doing this in front of our comrades?
Arvan, you’re surprisingly possessive.
“Arvan, don’t be so harsh with our comrade.”
How are you going to deal with the aftermath later?
“I’m not being harsh. We need to maintain boundaries to keep relationships lasting. Even among friends, there are lines we can’t cross. Right?”
“Uh, yeah…”
Durak responded, clearly deflated.
Clearly, the other side is a monster hunter and Arvan is just a neighborhood doctor, but I don’t know why Arvan seems like the more fearsome predator.
“Arvan, don’t be so harsh with our comrade.”
How are you going to deal with the aftermath later?
“I’m not being harsh. We need to maintain boundaries to keep relationships lasting. Even among friends, there are lines we can’t cross. Right?”
“Uh, yeah…”
Durak responded, clearly deflated.
Clearly, the other side is a beast hunter and Arvan is just a neighborhood doctor, but I don’t know why Arvan seems like the more fearsome predator.
“We don’t need to escape from the castle. I have a way.”
I opened my skill window.
Position Reversal Lv.4
Screaming Lv.2
Virtue of the Victim: Healing Lv.2
Fortification Lv.1
Charm Lv.1
Insight Lv.1
Position Reversal leveled up again after using it to escape from the central palace. The cooldown has been shortened to 20 minutes, so now even if I use it on someone outside the party, I only need to wait 40 minutes. It was a good change.
‘I explained my skills to Arvan while talking last night.’
Since Arvan couldn’t see the skill window even if I opened it, I only explained the general effects, limitations, and cooldowns. He listened seriously to my unrealistic abilities without questioning them and gave me advice.
─ For now, it’s better to keep your healing ability a secret.
It was the same reaction as when Callion first learned about my ability. If my healing ability becomes known to others, some might try to exploit it, and since it requires physical contact, it could easily lead to troublesome situations.
So, excluding ‘Healing’, and also ‘Charm’, and ‘Insight’ because it’s vague to explain. ‘Screaming’ only works on allied party members, so it’s useless to explain to other comrades.
In the end, what’s left are ‘Position Reversal’ and ‘Fortification’. Especially the latter was the most useful ability at this point.
Arvan said that even the lord can only create safe zones in limited places to avoid beast attacks. Being able to use the ability anywhere as long as there are allies is a great advantage, he said.
Come to think of it, I wonder why it’s only a defensive shelter that’s created when the skill name is ‘Fortification’.
‘Will offensive capabilities develop as the skill level increases?’
I took a deep breath and answered.
“I can protect the people in the castle from beast attacks with my ability.”
Since it’s unlikely that monsters will attack simultaneously from multiple directions, creating safe zones in the direction the monsters are approaching and protecting people should be enough to buy time. Although I can’t protect the entire castle like the lord, it’s a useful ability to counter beast attacks.
If the beast hunters and this castle’s soldiers cooperate to defeat the monsters while I buy time…
“Is that possible? How does John have such an ability?”
Durak was surprised, as if it were nonsense. If I had said I was creating shelters with magic stones, they would have all just accepted it, but since I said it was my ability, they don’t believe it.
“Durak, how can your tongue touch your elbow? Can you explain the principle?”
“What? Me? I just, well, it just happens?”
“It’s the same for me. I can only say that I can just do it.”
If I knew the principle, I wouldn’t be struggling like this. I want to know too.
“I see. So you were born with it…”
I tried to preemptively block questions about parts I couldn’t answer, fearing I’d become a question mark murderer, but surprisingly, Durak accepted it quickly.
It was fortunate that he was simple-minded.
“But Ju-in, it’s dangerous for you to go. You just saw it too. Those guys don’t follow common sense.”
“That’s right. Those bastards probably aren’t thinking about protecting the castle at all. It might be safer to leave the castle instead.”
Normally, that would be true. But I can’t leave this castle. It’s because of the two hidden quests I need to complete to revive after death.
The reason the system revived me inside the castle in the first place was likely related to these hidden quests.
‘If I leave the castle, it’ll be hard to get back in. It’s better to do what I can while I’m here.’
I firmed my resolve.
“Don’t worry. I’ll negotiate with the commander on the condition that we safely retrieve our dead comrades’ bodies.”
“Didn’t the negotiations already break down?”
“No, not yet. We haven’t given our answer, have we?”
In other words, the castle’s leadership is now making a ‘proposal’ for us to come forward and admit our wrongdoing voluntarily. It was almost like causing a scene, but the fact that they’re demanding our response shows it’s still a ‘proposal’.
‘It means they want us to come find them instead of running away.’
If so, we still have a card left to play.
‘I just need to point out that they’re hiding the lord’s death.’
If the lord’s death becomes known, the inside of the castle will fall into panic. It means the power protecting them is gone, so there will be chaos in all districts. Then, no matter what kind of execution or stimulating show they put on, it will be impossible to quell this confusion.
Mr. Welga, who had been sitting quietly and listening all along, asked me.
“John, you don’t have any means to prove your ability. Do you think those guys will believe it?”
“They will believe it.”
Because the commander’s target is me.
