A servant told me that Epona was asking to see me.

As I was dressing myself, I spoke up.

[Tarte, can you come with me?] (Lugh)

[Yes! Always happy to serve.] (Tarte)

[As for me, I’ll stay here and wait.] (Dia)

Tarte and I left the room.

From the look of it, Epona would use her skill to lend me some of hers.

…Such a bait was too good to be true, but I probably couldn’t refuse it, and I did trust Epona to a degree.

I made up my mind and stepped out.

***

In this castle, the height of the floor levels was proportional to the rank of the nobles who occupied them.

The top floor could only be used by royalty, and the floor below was used by the people who were next in the hierarchy, such as the duke.

We were taken to the second level from the top.

It was a place I, the son of a baron family, would have normally never set foot in.

I guess that’s just how much importance they give to the being known as the hero.

As I walked down the corridor, I attracted the attention of a lot of onlookers.

It seemed that they knew who I was.

[Are there portraits of me going around or something?] (Lugh)

Although I disguised myself by changing the color of my hair and my facial impression whenever I carried out assassinations, I wasn’t fond of this situation.

Then, we were brought to a garden that was arranged so it stuck out of the castle.

The floor and ceiling were all made of special grass, making it look like there was a flower bed in the sky.

At the center of it was Epona the hero.

As soon as she saw me, she ran to me and bowed her head.

[Lugh, I’m so sorry! I know you told me to keep quiet about it, but I got carried away and opened my mouth! Because of that, you’re in such an alarming position!] (Epona)

Epona bowed her head multiple times.

[Don’t worry about it. I don’t blame you.] (Lugh)

[Still, I’m sorry.] (Epona)

[Really, I’m not mad at you.] (Lugh)

I understood that Epona was the sort of person who would get emotional while addressing those kinds of topics, and I decided that I would handle her on that basis next time. Never again would I make the same mistake.

[Um… So, you know… Well… I thought just saying sorry wouldn’t cut it, so I decided to make use of one of my skills. It’s called【My loyal knights】.] (Epona)

Moving on to the main subject, huh.

[What sort of skill is it?] (Lugh)

I asked her anyway since it seemed like a legitimate reaction.

[Well you see, I can lend my power to up to three people in my lifetime. Though I say this, it doesn’t mean that my power will be gone once I lend it, it means that I can make others stronger while remaining strong myself. More specifically, I can increase their physical strength and mana, and they will be able to use some of my skills.] (Epona)

[That would be a great help. Since I’ll be fighting demons, I’d better get as strong as possible.] (Lugh)

[But there are a few conditions. If you go against my orders, the effects of【My loyal knights】will wear off, and if you lose a battle where something important is at stake, you will lose that power. Also, you can’t use it if I die. And once the power is gone, I can’t use it on the same person again.] (Epona)

The description was as I remembered.

If I disobeyed her orders, the power I borrowed would disappear, so it would be a hassle to do as Epona says, even if her demands were a bit unreasonable.

However, the main problem with this would be that in case of defeat, the effects would be gone.

Once you had this skill, you couldn’t lose.

…However, I wasn’t aware of that part about fighting for something important.

If what Epona said was correct, then losing during training or regular fights was most likely not a problem.

[Have you ever used it on someone before?] (Lugh)

[Actually, only once. When I had my awakening as the hero, I used it on a man with massive blue hair near the border of Swoigel.] (Epona)

A man with massive blue hair?

I could only think of one man that fits the bill, but was it really him?

[Since the power I lent him hasn’t returned yet, I’m sure he’s doing fine.] (Epona)

[By the way, what kind of skill did you lend him?] (Lugh)

[【Berserk】, among a few others. Apparently, I don’t get to decide what skills I give, it’s【My loyal knights】itself that chooses what skills are best suited for the other person.] (Epona)

…It was only a hypothesis, but could it be that Setanta, the guy I fought to protect Dia, had actually been empowered by Epona?

He said that he’d never had a decent fight in his life, so he must’ve been incredibly strong to begin with.

Then he received Epona’s power and became monstrously powerful.

When I confronted him, I thought that his perfect combination of【Berserk】and a skill that allowed him to maintain his sanity even in a violent state was too good to be true.

But it may have been the other way around. It could be that【My loyal knights】, which grants skills that suit its targets best, chose to grant him【Berserk】precisely because he already possessed a skill that allowed him to remain sane in any situation at any time.

If so, then this was bad news.

Somehow, that guy was still alive, and he hadn’t lost his powers.

I would probably run into him somewhere sooner or later.

…Something important was at stake in that duel I had with him. Does the fact that he didn’t lose his power in spite of this mean that he didn’t think of it as his loss because I hit him with a surprise attack? If so, then losing power due to being defeated seemed to be a pretty loose condition.

[I see. So that’s how it is. But are you really sure about this? This is a skill you can only use on three people, isn’t it?] (Lugh)

[It’s okay. Because you saved me, Lugh. It’s because you’re here that I can be a hero. Besides, you kept your promise back then.] (Epona)

My promise to Epona.

That I would put her down if she ever became a monster.

And this was also the reason for my birth into this world.

[I understand. No hesitation, then. Give me your power, Epona.] (Lugh)

[Yes, leave it to me!] (Epona)

As soon as she said that, Epona put her hand on my shoulder.

It glowed a pale green, then that light was sucked into my body.

[Okay, it’s done. Now you should be able to use some of my skills.] (Epona)

[Was that really all it took?] (Lugh)

Though I didn’t care that it felt anticlimactic.

[All I did was use my skill, after all. Also, here’s another thing for you. Though it wasn’t reasonable, I got a hold of one of these.] (Epona)

Epona took out a sheet of appraisal paper.

They could be used to determine what skills you possessed.

They were quite valuable and hard to obtain, but I suppose being the hero made you flexible.

I immediately used it.

…I got five additional skills.

And two of them were particularly noteworthy.

The first one was【My loyal knights】.

To think that of all the skills she had, I would get the one that lent me those other skills itself.

Still, I felt grateful. Now I could make Dia and Tarte more powerful.

From here on out, I would also take them both with me to the battlefield against the demons. And just when I was thinking that regular training wouldn’t be enough.

And then, the second highlight was the【Egg of Possibilities】.

It was an A-rank skill, and one I head to get my head around before my reincarnation.

It was a skill that changed other skills according to the nature of the user.

Since it would range from S rank to B rank, I would hit the jackpot if I used the【Egg of Possibilities】on my A-rank skill repertory to change them into S-rank skills, but I couldn’t bring myself to take such a gamble.

It was a skill that responded to the nature of the user, so it was probably nothing deadly. I was impatient to try it.

The rest of the skills were A-rank and B-rank, all of which were highly versatile and powerful, and as expected, the ones that worked best for me were selected from what the hero had on hand.

[So what skills did you get?] (Lugh)

[Surprisingly, I got【My loyal knights】. Maybe because I’ve taught all kinds of things to many people.] (Lugh)

[I think it’s perfect for you, Lugh.] (Epona)

I’m sure it was not a coincidence since the skill picked what matched the other person’s aptitude out of all the skills the hero possessed.

[Say, Lugh… I think you’re absolutely capable of killing even demons. But still, if nothing works no matter what you try, then run away and call for help. And I’ll come running. Never mind what the king would say.] (Epona)

She passionately took my hand in hers.

Epona seemed to value our friendship more than I thought she did.

[I will if it ever comes to this. But I’ll do my best to make sure it never does. So Epona, keep focusing on defending the country. You protect, and I kill. Those are our respective roles.] (Lugh)

And this way, Epona should become less likely to bring disaster upon this world.

Although… it would be no laughing matter if my death was the trigger for that. So far, I was probably the only one Epona called a friend.

[Yeah, sounds good. Let’s protect the world together. You’re more of a hero than the hero himself, after all.] (Epona)

[Don’t say that. I’m the least suitable person there is for that title.] (Lugh)

I’m an assassin no matter where I go, after all.

[Well then, I should get going. I’m being summoned by the officials. I think you too will get more jobs like that, Lugh, but stay strong. …No actually, knowing you, I’m sure you’ll do much better than me. Bye!] (Epona)

Epona walked away.

The moment she was no longer in sight, Tarte, who had been following behind us all along, spoke up.

[Lugh-sama, you got this power so easily.] (Tarte)

[Yeah, I did. I wonder if I could call it a godsend. Plus, it’s even more powerful than I imagined.] (Lugh)

If this was the secret of Setanta’s strength, then I should now be as strong as he was.

I now had strength that matched that of an opponent I couldn’t defeat through regular means back then, leaving me no choice but to assassinate him.

There were so many things I wanted to test out.

[Tarte, once I’m done experimenting for a while, I’d like to use【My loyal knights】on you. But once I do, I’ll never be able to let you go for the rest of my life. Is that okay with you?] (Lugh)

[N… Never let me… For the rest of…!? Th… This… This is too good to be true! Please use it on me! For I belong to you, Lugh-sama!] (Tarte)

Excited, Tarte clenched her fist in front of her chest.

I couldn’t help but find her adorable like this.

[Shall we head back? Things are gonna get busy starting tomorrow. I hope you’ve remembered the rules of etiquette. You’ll have to be more cautious than usual when dealing with the other party.] (Lugh)

[You can count on me. I’ve practiced thoroughly so as not to embarrass you, Lugh-sama.] (Tarte)

What a reliable girl.

From the way she had been acting at school, she shouldn’t have any problem. If anything, I was the one who was in danger.

I got a good harvest right away.

Next, I was planning to get another souvenir or two. I would take what I could get for all the trouble I had been forced to go through.