It Seems My Job Aptitude Didn't Come with Human Rights

Chapter 26

Repelling the Dragon 26

"Master Lars...? It's dangerous! Please stand back!"

In a hurry, Irinya tried to pull me to safety.

「Thank you, Irinya. But I've already been effectively exiled from my count's family. So, you should prioritize your own safety over mine.」

When I said that, Irinya burst into tears.

「Please don't say that! Mikel and Rolf are buying us time! There's no need for Master Lars to sacrifice himself as well!」

Irinya desperately tried to hold me back. Her words seemed to reach Mikel and Rolf as they shouted.

「We're planning to survive too!」

「Stop dawdling and just run! Lars isn't going to change the situation by staying!」

Hearing their words, Irinya nodded tearfully. It wasn't meant in a bad way, but the three of them didn't see me as a fighting force. Well, it couldn't be helped.

However, I had realized something over the past few days. It was about my job aptitude. I'd spent many years taking actions to raise my proficiency and level as a merchant. Normally, I would have been ready to acquire advanced merchant skills by now.

Yet, there was a sense of discomfort. It wasn't just a premonition. It was a certain feeling that I could sense the existence of skills outside the realm of being a merchant.

Looking back, I had chosen the reincarnation system with a character that reached the highest level as a magitech engineer. If the character's stats and skill points had been inherited, then it was possible that I already had the aptitude for a magitech engineer and was just waiting to use my skill points.

If that hypothesis were correct, then I might have been raising my magitech engineer proficiency while intending to raise my merchant proficiency. Since a magitech engineer is an advanced profession of a merchant, and the merchant skills can be acquired at any time, it was entirely plausible.

Why hadn't I noticed that my job aptitude was for a magitech engineer? It was simply because I refrained from wasting skill points, and I couldn't afford to perform any reckless experiments. The biggest reason, however, was the job aptitude assessment result I heard from Irinya.

Having been told I was a merchant, I believed it without question. However, thinking about it more deeply, considering that the magitech engineer vocation was entirely unknown, could the person conducting the assessment have accurately stated the results? This is purely speculative, but it's likely that the assessment couldn't evaluate advanced professions. It was simply that I possessed the aptitude for a merchant as a talent, so the result was labeled as 『Merchant』.

I realized this just before arriving at this forest, when we were attacked by the dragon. When I felt my life was in danger in the carriage, I had an undeniable sense of being able to learn one of the magitech engineer's skills, bunker.

I didn't know what triggered it, but it was a memorable sensation. After regaining consciousness in the village and being too busy to level up properly, the feeling of potential skill acquisition meant I had already reached a sufficient level of proficiency.

It was worth trying.

「... It's okay, Irinya. Don't you trust me?」

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked back with a troubled expression while trying to smile. Thereupon, Irinya, still with tears in her eyes, released her grip.

「N-no, I trust Master Lars.」

Nodding at Irinya's response, I turned to face the direction of the dragon and kicked off the ground to start running.

「Mikel! Rolf! Move away for a moment!」

I shouted as loudly as possible. Instinctively following those words, Mikel and Rolf leaped away in large arcs, distancing themselves from the dragon. They widened their eyes when they saw me running towards them.

「W-what the...!?」

「Lars! What are you...?」

Ignoring the astonishment in their voices, I focused on my newfound power.

My original job aptitude was as a Machine Meister, a magitech engineer. And surely, I had accumulated enough proficiency.

In my mind, I imagined skills for battling the large dragon. Unlike others who were grasping around for skills, I had a clear advantage in skill acquisition. As a top player in LOG, I had thoroughly researched every corner of the game. That included, of course, the knowledge of each skill.

I had all kinds of information in my head, from the time it took for a skill to activate, its effects, and the skill points it consumed. Thus, as long as I had the necessary proficiency, it meant I could learn merchant and magitech engineer skills at any time. This gave me the confidence to speak.

「... Magitech Automaton - Machine Golem, Create!」

The moment I said that, I felt as though some kind of power was being drained from me. And then, the skill activated. A massive, bluish-white magic circle emerged on the ground before me, and from its center, a colossal human figure appeared.

Though it resembled full-plate armor, there were slight gaps through which a bluish-white light escaped. The armor and its limbs were engraved with characters—a sight I recognized as my companion, the Machine Golem, from countless game experiences. However, seeing it manifest in reality, it was more imposing than I had ever imagined in the game.

I could hear Mikel and Rolf shouting in amazement from a distance, but there was no time to explain. The dragon, rumbling, was gathering strength in its hind legs, ready for battle.

「Command Golem!」

Upon issuing the instruction, the magitech automaton crouched low and began to move. Simultaneously, the dragon let out a roar and charged forward. Its gaping maw, filled with massive fangs, approached, and the magitech golem launched its fist. The intense impact reverberated through the air, making the dragon's head jerk upwards.

This initiated a fierce exchange, with the magitech automaton enduring the dragon's claws and fangs upfront as it continued to swing its arms. Hit by the golem's attack, the dragon attempted a stronger retaliation, twisting its body and lashing out with its tail at terrifying speed, which the magitech golem caught with all its might.

「Golem! Throw it!」

Even though it was an outrageous command, the magitech golem wrapped its arms around the dragon's tail and, employing a throwing technique, spun its body around. The dragon's massive form rose briefly into the air before being forcefully slammed headfirst into the ground.

As I witnessed this spectacle, my vision gradually dimmed.

-------------= Author's Notes -------------=

If you found yourself curious about 'what happens next,' it would make me happy if you could press the ☆ button at the bottom of the page!

It motivates the author!・:*+.\(( °ω° ))/.:+

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌ )】

Nice.