Chapter 3

Is a Stroll a Skill?
Did I mishear?

The skill name is [Stroll]... um, the kind of slow, relaxed stroll where you just amble along, right?

It isn't as if I can swing a sword, nor as if I can use magic.

It's just walking.

Can something like that really be a skill?

I must have been so nervous that I misheard Priest-sama.

Yeah. That has to be it.

I'd better check one more time, right?

"S-sorry! I think I misheard you, so could you tell me the skill's name once more?"

When I asked with a faint hope in my voice, Priest-sama lowered his brows, troubled.

"The skill granted to you is, without a doubt, [Stroll]."

"... So it really is a stroll?"

"Yes. The letters floating in the crystal are indeed [Stroll]."

Priest-sama answered, sounding apologetic.

His voice echoed through the quiet church, and from behind me came hushed, stifled voices.

"Isn't a stroll just walking?"

"Even something like that becomes a skill..."

"First time I've ever heard of it. What on earth would you even use it for?"

No one laughed out loud.

But each hushed word being exchanged pricks the depths of my chest like tiny thorns.

I didn't have the courage to turn around.

Even so, I can feel the many gazes gathering on my back.

People staring in surprise.

People watching me with pity.

People who quietly looked away so our eyes wouldn't meet.

The church, which until moments ago had been blessing the other children's skills, now felt like a completely different place.

"Hey, it's a stroll!"

Someone couldn't hold it in and let out a small burst of laughter.

When I turned toward the sound, Gale, who had been granted [Swordsmanship] earlier, was pressing a hand over his mouth.

"Walking's something anyone can do, skill or no skill."

"Gale."

His father, standing beside him, scolded him in a low voice, but Gale only shrugged.

"Well, it's the truth. With [Swordsmanship] I can aim to be a knight, but what is she supposed to become with [Stroll]? A stroller?"

At his words, several people let out a laugh.

It wasn't a loud laugh.

That made it all the more painful.

I took both hands off the crystal and clasped them tightly before my chest.

My palms are cold.

Up until I came to the church, I had thought about it many times.

Cooking, sewing, or cleaning would all be fine.

I won't ask for anything extravagant.

I'd thought that if it was a skill leading to work that could sustain just me, that would be enough.

But how am I supposed to earn money with a stroll?

Would just walking get me food?

Would just walking let me rent a place to sleep?

Would just walking let me buy new blankets for everyone at the orphanage?

No matter how much I thought, I couldn't find an answer.

"Umm... Priest-sama."

While desperately holding back a voice that threatened to tremble, I looked up at Priest-sama, who stood beside the altar.

"What kind of effect does [Stroll] have?"

"That is..."

Priest-sama did not answer right away.

He furrows his brow, troubled, and turns his gaze to the crystal once more.

Just seeing that reaction gave me a bad feeling.

"I have served as a priest for a long time, but this is the first time I have seen a skill called [Stroll]."

"First time..."

"Even in the records kept at the church, there is probably no mention of it. At the very least, I have never heard of it."

The faint hope that had remained in the depths of my chest deflates soundlessly.

If it were a rare skill, it might hold some special power.

For just a moment, I had thought such a thing.

But if even Priest-sama doesn't know what it does, then there's no one who can teach me how to turn it into a livelihood.

"Then, after all... is it a useless skill?"

At my question, Priest-sama was at a loss for words.

"All skills are granted by Goddess-sama. We cannot simply decide that one is useless."

They were kind words.

But he didn't say it would be useful either.

"There are cases where the effect becomes clear as you keep using it. For starters, it would be good to actually try using [Stroll]."

"... Yes."

Try a stroll.

In other words, all I have to do is walk?

I already do that every day. I always went everywhere on foot, whether fetching water for the orphanage, helping in the fields, or buying things in the village.

And yet, what is supposed to change starting today?

"This concludes today's Coming-of-Age Ceremony."

When Priest-sama announced the end of the ceremony, the taut air relaxed, and the gathered people began to move all at once.

Children running to their families.

Children happily talking about the skills they had been granted.

Children beginning to discuss their future work with their parents.

Among them, I stood alone before the altar.

There is no family waiting to welcome me.

And there is no one here to think about my future together with me.

From today, I am an adult.

So I have to decide things for myself.

I knew that, and yet I couldn't suppress the loneliness spreading in the depths of my chest.

"Let's go home..."

Muttering it so softly that no one could hear, I started walking toward the exit.

Ironically, the only thing I could do now was truly just walk.