Appraiser 3

Test

The First Encounter Was A Rescue

Yuuri was pulled back from the sea of thoughts by a loud dying screams of monsters behind him. Oh, maybe the battle was over. Thinking such carefree thoughts, Yuuri peeked into the room from the hallway. 

Inside the stone room, the faces of the Scarlet Lynx group he had just seen were wiping sweat off lightly while putting away their weapons. It seemed they had indeed finished safely.

Time to introduce myself. Yuuri was about to step forward when he noticed "it" and instinctively screamed from the bottom of his stomach.

"Everyone, move to the wall!"

Startled by his shout but with good reflexes, the Scarlet Lynx members quickly moved to stick to the wall. In the next moment, the ceiling fell with a crash towards the center of the room. Or rather, it was a hanging ceiling, a typical trap. They would've been skewered had they stayed.

A thudding sound shook the ground, followed by chain sounds winding up just in time. If they had kept watching, the hanging ceiling would have returned as if nothing happened. It's just back to an ordinary stone ceiling. Dungeon traps are generally brutal. If Yuuri hadn't shouted, the Scarlet Lynx group would probably be under the falling ceiling by now.

"...We're saved. But, who's the kid?"

"...Um, lost child. Nice to meet you."

The one who questioned Yuuri on behalf of everyone was a bald young man. He looked extremely stern with his bald head and an eyepatch over his right eye. To be frank, he seemed intimidating. However, upon closer inspection, his features and gaze were intellectual, exuding a calm atmosphere. His irises seemed to change color like a rainbow, depending on the light, possessing mysterious eyes.

Only the bald young man stared at Yuuri, who introduced himself as a lost child. The other four approached Yuuri, expressing their thanks and getting closer. They patted his head, and shook his hand vigorously; he was being welcomed warmly. Considering he narrowly escaped death, he must be their savior in their eyes.

Yuuri's realization of the hanging ceiling trap was thanks to his skill [God's Eye]. It seemed to be a trap triggered upon defeating monsters. In sync with the monster's disappearance, the part where the hanging ceiling would fall lit up red, indicating danger. Understanding the danger, Yuuri instinctively shouted for them to move to the wall to escape the trap's range.

He still didn't fully understand how cheat-like his skills were. Probably because they were, clearly. Normally, one wouldn't expect appraisal to perfectly understand traps like this. Or, maybe it's possible, but the appraisers Yuuri knew weren't that skilled. He still thought his skills were too cheat-like.

"I'm Ali. Leader of the Clan Scarlet Lynx. We owe you for earlier. So, what's your name? What do you mean by 'lost child'?"

"My name is Yuuri. Actually, I just found myself in this room."

"...Teleportation trap or something sent you flying?"

"...Probably."

He had actually been teleported from another world, but Yuuri kept that to himself. He didn't know how much he should tell them. In the trope of being transported to another world, the first people you meet are usually good people, but even so, caution seems wise. After all, he hadn't endured being at the bottom of the school caste and living a loner life for nothing. It was better to be cautious.

Ali stared at Yuuri intently, perhaps trying to discern something. Feeling a prickling sensation similar to static electricity but slightly unpleasant, Yuuri shook his head lightly to dispel it.

At that moment, Ali widened his eyes in surprise, grabbed Yuuri's collar, and moved to a spot away from the others.

Wow, a person from another world indeed. Such strength. While thinking such carefree thoughts, Yuuri, faced with Ali's serious expression, tilted his head. He had no clue what this bald young man was concerned about. Well, Yuuri knew he was a suspicious lost child.

"...Who are you?"

"...Just a lost child?"

"...What's your job?"

"...Appraiser."

"Don't lie!"

Being tapped sharply on the head, Yuuri winced in pain and crouched down. He had been hit hard. It was lucky it wasn't a fist, but if it had been, it would have been worse. Looking briefly at his stats, Yuuri wanted to cry. Just from that one blow, his HP got halved. It was a terrible story.

Honestly, his parameter values were at the bottom. Well, he couldn't do anything with his level being one. Also, his school uniform seemed to have a divine blessing, but its level seemed infinite, yet his defense didn't seem to increase that much. Because it still hurt.

Yuuri looked up at Ali with teary eyes. The bald young man, seeing Yuuri looking up at him with teary eyes like a small animal, made a slightly apologetic face. He did apologize for hitting him, but his inquiries didn’t stop.

"...Kid, can you 'see' my status?"

"...Yes?"

Twisting his head, Yuuri focused on Ali. As expected, the status screen appeared with a 'boing' sound. The sound and the visible status seemed straight out of an online game. Yuuri nodded since he could indeed see it, all the while thinking how oddly carefree he was about it. Yuuri wanted to emphasize that he was just cautious and that his true nature was carefree and optimistic.

As soon as Yuuri nodded, Ali looked up at the sky. If you were to describe it, it would be an 'Oh my God' kind of atmosphere. In Japanese, 'nante kotai' might be the closest expression. Yuuri, twisting his head without understanding, watched as Ali seemed to lose more energy looking at him like that.

"...If you can 'see' my status, you can't be just an appraiser. Appraisal-type skills can't see the statuses of those superior to them."

"...Oh..."

In a soft voice, likely to not be heard by his companions behind him, Ali’s words made Yuuri feel like he had messed up. He had tried to be cautious but ended up stepping on a landmine himself. From his last comment, Ali had deduced that Yuuri had a rare appraisal skill or was of a high level. His existence, which saw Ali's status, was out of the ordinary, and he felt his shoulders droop.

He felt like the peace and tranquility he sought were drifting further away.

"...Anyway, we'll check in detail later. Let's get out of the dungeon together."

"...Huh?"

"You may be lost, but leaving you behind, someone who saved our lives and doesn't seem accustomed to fighting doesn't sit right with me. And, leaving you without thorough investigation seems troublesome."

"Okay. Thank you for your help."

Yuuri replied in a relaxed, playful manner, and Ali sighed grandly. Despite his intimidating appearance with a bald head and eyepatch, Ali was quite caring and sensitive. Sensitivity, or perhaps just being sensible, described him well. Anyway, Yuuri felt relieved that he could gather information one way or another.

He didn't know what to do if he was treated like a monster and left behind here. After all, he couldn't fight monsters. He didn't have any food, so it was a choice between being killed by monsters or starving to death. He probably wouldn't fall for traps, though.

And so, Yuuri ended up leaving the dungeon with Ali's companions. Regarding why he was a lost child here, he was told there are traps between dungeons, so that might be the reason. It wasn't, but he kept his words vague, acknowledging that it could be true. Also, when asked about his hometown, he initially said Japan but was met with a puzzled look, so he said he was from a remote small country. Technically not wrong.

"By the way... Yuuri's outfit is quite different."

Smiling cheerfully as she spoke was Lelei, the martial artist girl.

She had short red hair and golden eyes. Her eyes sometimes narrowed like a cat's, and when Yuuri tilted his head, Lelei explained that she was a mixed-race with beastmen. Her father seemed to be a cat beastman. Yuuri thought it would be easy to see from his status, but he thought it would be an invasion of privacy and disrespectful to Ali to look without permission. He wanted to ask what would happen if Ali tried to look at him, but he couldn't argue when it was called confirming suspicious individuals.

...Also, ordinarily, no one notices Ali's appraisal ability. That means Ali must be quite high-level. Yuuri vaguely remembered skills just by looking at them and thought he must be strong. By the way, Ali's job class was an Authenticator. Yuuri guessed it had something to do with discerning truth from falsehood from the name alone.

"Is it different? In my hometown, students usually dress like this."

"Student? Is Yuuri wealthy?"

"No, in my hometown, children are basically students. They study before going to work."

Asking in surprise was Brooke, the swordsman.

With green hair and black eyes, Brooke had a cool handsome vibe. He felt like a Western-style samurai. He's not a knight. His vibe was somewhat samurai-like, but his appearance and demeanor were Western, so it felt like a blend of a knight's appearance with a samurai's inner traits.

"Heh, you can go to school? I thought only rich kids could do that."

"Well, things change with the place."

"...What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means characteristics and meanings change depending on the place."

"Yuuri is smart. You've got something going on, going to school!"

Praising him skillfully was Kuresh, the thief.

He's the youngest in the group, not much older than Yuuri. Because of that, Kuresh felt a close feeling to Yuuri and was quite curious. With round orange eyes wide open, Kuresh bombarded Yuuri with questions, and he answered with a smile.

Kuresh definitely had high social skills.

"It's unlucky to be so far from your homeland."

"...Yeah... But meeting kind people like you all makes me feel lucky."

"Hehehe. We feel the same. Thanks to Yuuri, we're still alive."

"I'm glad I could help."

Patting Yuuri's head and chuckling was Frau, the archer.

She exuded a dignified and noble atmosphere, hard to describe but definitely fitting. Honestly, she felt like someone you'd call 'onee-san'. She was tying her navy blue hair into a tight ponytail, her brown eyes were sharp for a woman. But it wasn't a fox-like impression, just dignified. ...In his mind, Yuuri thought, "If she wore Japanese clothing, she'd definitely be a yakuza movie onee-san.". But he kept it to himself since it wouldn't make sense.

And so, Yuuri was warmly accepted by them and walked through the dungeon with them. If monsters appeared, the Scarlet Lynx would take care of them. Sometimes, Yuuri would chip in about traps they hadn't noticed. That's how it went.

And thus, one way or another, Yuuri found himself with companions in this different world.