Chapter 12

Infinite Skill Copying with EX-Grade Interpretation Chapter 12

“Ah, yes, Father. Guild matters are important, yes... If only I’d worked harder.”

[Interpreting true intentions.]

[I came back alive after going through all that, and I’m upset that you’re not worried about me, Dad.]

Seriously... what a ridiculous family.

A father who spoke coldly while worrying about everything, and a daughter who felt hurt by that father.

It was so absurd that I almost burst out laughing.

Watching this ridiculous scene, I forced myself to hold back my laughter while quietly thinking.

Actually... maybe this was good because it was human.

Their outsides and insides were different.

But in a good way.

Wasn’t this actually a harmonious family, something difficult to find in this city?

Some parents borrowed money under their son’s name and sold him off to loan sharks.

The fact that they were this harmonious actually made me trust them more.

‘I can relax a little.’

Seeing their true selves eased some of my worries.

At the very least, they probably wouldn’t throw me away or dispose of me like a hunting dog once the hunt was over.

That was why I could speak.

Someone who, as a scavenger, had never even been able to stand in the same place as hunters.

Now confidently spoke before them.

“Nice to meet you, Guild Master. I’m Lee Yeonwoo, the benefactor of those two.”

“Benefactor?”

With that single word, the initiative shifted and the atmosphere began to change.

The flow of the conversation moved away from the affectionate squabble between daughter and father and back toward serious official matters.

And after hearing what I said, Yuri and Mr. Kleb began explaining things to the Guild Master on my behalf, as though we had planned it from the start.

From what had happened to them in the Tower and how they had nearly died, to how they had managed to return alive and well with my help.

The longer the conversation went on, the more the Guild Master’s expression changed from moment to moment.

He glanced at me, eyes widening, then seemed to estimate my level and looked even more astonished.

Who among the city’s other hunters would believe it?

That a former scavenger who hadn’t even properly reached third-grade had saved veteran hunters.

But as if to prove it, when the Guild Master met Yuri and Kleb’s gazes, his eyes curved and he simply smiled.

Then quietly.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I did not lose my dear friend and my daughter... As Guild Master, and as the hunter Gilbert, I offer you my gratitude.”

I could only be bewildered as he stood from his seat and bowed his head.

The Guild Master of the Scabbard Guild had bowed his head.

No, more precisely, an important person had bowed his head to a lowlife like me.

My eyes widened at the unbelievable situation as I looked around.

But the two people beside me were simply smiling as though it were only natural, nodding as they accepted the greeting.

“Lee Yeonwoo... was it? From now on, we will repay you as a benefactor of the Scabbard Guild.”

“Repay me?”

“If you ever need our strength, we will help you no matter what it is. That is the loyalty of the Scabbard Guild, which always repays its debts.”

If I needed their strength, they would help me.

I couldn’t even imagine how reassuring those words were.

Literally...

‘It’s like I have a tactical nuke, doesn’t it?’

I had gained the ability to request the military strength of the Scabbard Guild, something I had wanted so badly.

It was the same as gaining a chance to wipe out the bastards chasing me.

‘I didn’t expect things to go this smoothly.’

Borrowing the power of a guild was no easy matter.

It was true that I had done them a favor, but even so, I had assumed there would have to be some kind of transaction.

Veteran hunters were saying they would watch my back. I had obtained something whose value couldn’t even be measured in money.

“And... right. We cannot simply send our benefactor away.”

“Hmm?”

“May I ask which district you currently live in?”

“By district...”

The city was divided into several districts.

More precisely, districts were divided according to whether they were managed by guilds, and the development of those districts depended on the power of the guild managing them.

But where I lived couldn’t even really be called a district.

The back alleys.

A garbage settlement filling the spaces between districts, unmanaged by any guild.

Having grown up there, I didn’t even have a place I could properly call home.

“If you do not have a suitable place to stay... would you allow our Scabbard Guild the opportunity to host you?”

“If you’re willing to do that...”

“Good. I feel more at ease knowing I can repay you. Then... Yuri.”

At the Guild Master’s call, Yuri, who had been smiling beside him, raised her chin and answered.

“What?”

“Show our benefactor around the guild and guide him to his accommodations.”

Yuri apparently agreed, because she simply took my wrist with a small smile.

At this point, I was beyond bewildered...

What did I just hear?

Being treated as a benefactor?

Accommodations?

Huh?

“Come along quickly~ Sir Benefactor.”

Yuri simply smiled and genuinely led me away.

______________

I was beyond bewildered. I felt dazed.

Was it really okay for me to be treated this well?

Being treated as their benefactor?

Okay, that much could happen.

But the fact that the Scabbard Guild itself was providing me with accommodations was a little confusing.

There were people who paid fortunes just to live in districts managed by guilds.

Some were even driven out because they lacked the qualifications to live there.

And they were giving me a place?

This completely changed all the plans I had made until now.

I no longer needed to spend my nights awake, afraid of those bastards attacking me.

Wasn’t that obvious...

‘What lunatic would openly attack me inside a district protected by a guild?’

Committing a crime inside a guild-managed district was practically the same as declaring war, which meant even those bastards in suits couldn’t touch me if they had any sanity...

“This is where our dear benefactor will be staying.”

“Just talk normally. It’s uncomfortable.”

“Hell yeah~! This is the new barracks, so I guarantee the facilities. Look, even the bed looks different, right?”

Yuri was right.

They called it lodging, but to me, it looked no different from the hotels I had only heard about.

There was a bed, a refrigerator... Was that an air conditioner on the ceiling?

It was practically heaven.

A heaven that couldn’t even be compared to the places where I had lived until now.

“Now, this is the dining hall. If you’re hungry, just tell the guys here. Even outside mealtimes, they usually have snacks available, so just ask.”

A large dining hall.

Even the smell drifting from it was good.

A dining hall clean enough that there wasn’t even a single rat... It actually made me curious.

What kind of food did they serve in a place like this?

And.

“This is the training hall... Hmm. There are set training hours... I’ll explain that again later.”

After introducing the guild’s facilities one by one, Yuri once again pulled me along and took me to another room.

No, could it even be called a room?

The moment I stepped inside, what I saw was an enormous bookshelf.

The rows of bookshelves were so massive that calling the place a library wouldn’t have been an exaggeration.

And strange patterns were drawn across the floor...

“And this is my laboratory. Welcome. You’re the first outsider to ever come in here, so feel free to be proud.”

True to its name as a laboratory, the enormous room spread before me was truly fascinating.

‘This is on a completely different level from the laboratory that sage used.’

Until now, most of the places I had seen called laboratories were either small rooms inside the shelter made by the elves or temporary dwellings built inside caves.

They were old places to begin with.

Compared to them, this place definitely looked the part.

So all of this was related to magic?

As I looked over the covers of numerous books and the countless mixed languages, my field of vision gradually widened, and soon...

[You have observed runic script.]

[The proficiency of Interpretation increases.]

[Experience is accumulating in ‘Crude Mana (D).’]

[‘Crude Mana (D)’ has changed to ‘Crude Mana (D+).’]

‘As expected...’

As I skimmed through the books in front of me and read them little by little with Interpretation, my proficiency increased.

Should I say my ability had grown another level stronger?

Or would it be more accurate to say I had taken another step forward?

And that wasn’t all.

Runic script.

By actually looking at things related to magic, it had developed another step.

Hadn’t it even grown into a stronger skill?

‘Nice.’

I had merely followed her around, yet I was growing.

I felt like I was going crazy with happiness.

“And I’m also the kind of person who feels uncomfortable unless I repay a favor personally, you know? If there’s anything you want in this laboratory, just say so. If there’s anything you need, I’ll give it to you.”

“Really?”

“Want me to teach you some of the magic I was researching? Teaching it personally takes quite a while, so in about four months you should be able to acquire it as a skill...”

“No, I’m good.”

Why would I spend months just to get one skill?

I rejected Yuri’s offer and quietly looked around the laboratory for a moment.

She said I could ask for anything I wanted, right?

I was rummaging through the shelves, wondering if there was anything useful or expensive.

“Hmm?”

─Crackle!

[The ability ‘Interpretation’ is reacting to runic script.]

[Attempting interpretation.]

[Ancient runic script discovered.]

Hmm?

My gaze was drawn toward one place.

An old sheet of paper fixed onto a small desk.

And several layers of winding letters were inscribed across it, looking strangely familiar...

“What... is this?”

At my question, Yuri, who had been watching beside me, casually explained.

“Ah, this? I got it from the Tower last time... Where was it again? I think it was a reward from killing a boss.”

“A reward...”

“Why, do you want this?”

I immediately nodded at the question.

Wasn’t that obvious?

[Scroll Engraved with Magic]

─A scroll engraved with magic.

“Yeah.”

“Seriously? I tried interpreting this thing, but tsk. It didn’t seem promising. There are magic tools over there too.”

“No. This is enough.”

A scroll.

That one word snapped my mind awake.

Just as skills were obtained from the culmination of a person’s lifetime.

Scrolls were also one of the methods for obtaining skills.

Magic scrolls that appeared in the Tower... If you completely interpreted and understood everything engraved within them, you could supposedly obtain a magic skill.

Of course, I had heard that interpreting a single scroll took years, so many hunters never even attempted it in the first place.

In that case...

“You’re serious? No, you’re satisfied with just this?”

“Yeah... This is enough.”

‘No, there’s real magic engraved on this thing. Of course I’m taking it...’

Avoiding Yuri’s worried gaze, I held the paper and quietly sharpened my eyes.

I focused my gaze and scanned the letters on the scroll one by one.

Examining the contents.

[Using the ability ‘Interpretation.’]

[Interpreting the contents of the scroll.]

Through my ability, I organized and understood them one by one.

The things arranged by Interpretation were engraved into my mind and began being recorded one by one.

Before long, only one thing appeared before me.

The organized magic became a skill and was engraved into my body.

[You have acquired a skill.]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Acceleration (B+).’]

─Accelerates you for an instant.

I smiled as I looked at the newly acquired skill.

I had finally learned a movement skill.

“Haaah... This doesn’t sit right with me. If you want, should I interpret it for you and give you the results? I may not look it, but I’ve interpreted a lot of this stuff. Even if it isn’t the scroll itself, I could spend some time translating it into common language so it’s easier to read...”

“No, I already finished interpreting it.”

At those words, the air around us seemed to grow heavy for a moment.

Yuri’s eyes widened.

Then she simply stared at me and the scroll with her mouth hanging open, as though speaking with her eyes.

[Interpreting behavior.]

[Identifying true intentions.]

─Really? Seriously? No way.

“Yeah, of course... My ability is Interpretation. A scroll like this is nothing.”

“Bullshit... Wh-what kind of ridiculous ability is that? No, an ability like that actually existed in this city? Then why hasn’t anyone heard about it until now!”

Because my parents weren’t hunters, and right after awakening, I got caught by loan sharks and couldn’t properly work as a hunter.

“That’s seriously a cheat ability. That’s cheating. Do you know how hard everyone else has to work to interpret things!”

What?

Overpowered cheat?

Did I hear that wrong?

That hit a nerve a little.

Do you know how much I suffered because of this ability?

Do you know how desperately I survived as a scavenger, and now this woman says what?

A burst of irritation flared up inside me, but I forced myself to endure it.

“Seriously... I can’t believe something this absurd happened.”

Yuri still shook her head from side to side in disbelief, glaring at the scroll.

Is that how it looks to other people?

Interpretation, in the first place...

─BOOOOM!

“Wh-what was that?”

“Where’s the window?”

At the enormous roar echoing from outside, Yuri and I were startled and quickly ran toward the window hidden behind the curtains.

There was no way a noise like that would normally happen in the city.

Something must have...

“What the hell is that...”

“Fire? Th-there’s a fire?”

Far in the distance, a building was burning as explosions erupted from it.

“No. What the hell happened now?”