My 'Trash Skill' Called Observer's Eye Could Actually See Everything - The Bottom of the Stage, Fragment of Light

The innkeeper brought the sealed letter the night after we rewrapped Sophie's bandages. Heavy paper stock. A seal pressed in wax—the crest of the Waldheim Adventurer's Guild headquarters. Riko took it and opened the contents. Three seconds after reading, her face went pale. "…U-um, Kei. This…" Her hand trembled slightly as she held out the paper. Kei checked the text. It was brief and cold. *'Summons for interrogation regarding the authenticity of Kusano Kei's skill, Observer's Eye—Report to the Royal Capital Regnoa Inquisition.'* The signature of the Guild Inspection Division. A date. "…I'll go alone." He folded the paper. He couldn't drag the two of them into this. Sophie still had bandages wrapped around her shoulder. Riko's expression had been dark ever since that night. "I'm coming with you." Sophie rose from the bed, pressing her bandaged shoulder. Her golden eyes looked straight at Kei. "Sophie, your shoulder—" "I can move. No problem." "You need to rest for at least three more days." "I said I can move." And she drew her sword with one arm. A metallic clang. She nearly lost her balance. "Sophie! That's dangerous!!" Riko lunged and grabbed the blade. Sophie wouldn't let go. Riko wouldn't either. The two of them began spinning around the room. "Let go!" "I can't! It's dangerous!!" "I decide!" "If Sophie collapses, I'll be the one suffering!!" The innkeeper poked his head out from the hallway and stared blankly at the scene. Kei, still gripping the letter, watched the two of them. Then he let out a small sigh. "…Understood. Please come with me." Both of them stopped dead. Riko's face lit up. Sophie answered with a short "Yeah." There wasn't a trace of hesitation on her face. The innkeeper shook his head and muttered "Young people are so confusing" as he left. ──── The carriage ride to Regnoa was bumpy. Every time it ran over the gravel road, the vehicle rattled and shook. Sophie gazed out the window at first, but after a while, she grew quiet. When Kei glanced over, Sophie was dozing, cradling her shoulder. With each bump, she tilted slightly toward Kei's shoulder. *(Should I wake her?)* He started to reach out, then stopped. Observer's Eye quietly reported: 【Sophie Almarea: Pulse stable. Pain present. Expression peaceful. Sleep state.】 There was pain. Yet she could still sleep. If he woke her, she'd have to face that pain again. Kei decided to leave her as she was. Across from him, Riko watched with a grin on her face. "Kei, you're really kind, aren't you?" "…She'll get angry if I wake her." "That's not all, though." Riko giggled. Kei didn't answer. He turned toward the window. The scenery along the royal road flowed past. Wheat fields. Stone walls. The ridge of distant mountains. *(Maybe it would've been okay to be scolded.)* He said nothing more. Sophie's head slowly rested on Kei's shoulder. The center of his chest grew warm. Kei couldn't quite sort out what that feeling was. ──── The Royal Capital Regnoa's inquisition chamber was located in the public court of the palace district. Passing through the triple stone walls, crossing from the citizen's quarter into the noble's quarter, a circular hall opened beyond the heavy doors. The gallery could seat about two hundred people, and today it was nearly full. The stone walls echoed, and the murmur of the crowd resonated low. The moment Kei stepped onto the platform, the murmur in the gallery grew slightly louder. Gazes pierced him. All of them directed at him. Facing the platform were the inquisitor's seats. Three royal magistrates and two guild inspectors. All five had expressionless faces. "Kusano Kei." One of the inspectors stood. Sixties, white beard, his voice oddly clear. "Skill appraisal name: Observer's Eye. F-rank outcast. Currently conducting team activities, completing requests under false pretenses—is this understanding correct?" "…That's not true." The words barely came out. He tried to continue, but his throat tightened. Two hundred gazes were heavy. "What do you mean, 'not true'? Observer's Eye received an F-rank evaluation. F-rank adventurers cannot independently accept requests. Isn't that a violation?" "That's—" "Answer clearly." Laughter erupted from the right side of the gallery. "See? He can't say anything." "Trash skills should act like trash." Familiar voices. Senior adventurers from Kalen—the ones Kei had carried luggage for three years at the guild—occupied a cluster of seats on the right side of the gallery. They chuckled. Another inspector stood, holding documents. "Calling a witness." The man who took the witness stand was in his forties. Kei didn't recognize his face. He had a composed expression and held documents in his hand. "Kusano Kei repeatedly ignored his companions' safety during requests, and in the most recent mission, he placed Sophie Almarea in a dangerous situation—this is the testimony. Sophie Almarea's injury is a direct result of Kei's incompetence." On the platform, Kei fell silent. "That's a lie!!" A voice rose from the gallery. Sophie had stood up. Pressing her bandaged shoulder, she looked straight at the witness. "Kei protected me. My injury was the result of my own chosen actions!" "I'll testify too! Kei has always protected us with everything he had! This person is lying!!" Riko had also stood. Her light blue twin-tails swayed. Her violet eyes were blurred with tears. The inquisitor spoke coldly. "The testimony of accomplices holds no evidentiary value." "Accomplices? We're not—!" "Be seated." It was a quiet voice, but one that couldn't be defied. Sophie and Riko sat down, biting their lips. Laughter came again from the right seats. This time, a bit louder. "It's over." "Trash is trash." "Just revoke his license permanently already." The inspector continued. "The fraud suspicions regarding Kusano Kei's skill, Observer's Eye, are reinforced by multiple testimonies. I recommend permanent revocation of adventurer credentials." Kei stood on the platform, unable to move. He had to say something. He had to object. Words wouldn't come. ──── The laughter grew distant. Two hundred gazes pierced him, yet the sound faded. A different image entered Kei's mind. The day he touched the appraisal stone—white light, and the roaring laughter that followed. The voice calling it a "trash skill." Laughter. He couldn't remember what his fifteen-year-old self's face looked like anymore. Three years of guild chores. No one ever thanked him. He carried luggage in the morning, wiped floors at night, and repeated it. Every time party talk came up, his name was never mentioned. The morning of his expulsion, not even given time to pack. Dolku's thick finger pointed at the door. "Get out," he said. And then—the moment blood flew from Sophie's shoulder. He'd seen it all. The trajectory of Gorlane's sword, the next move, where it was heading—all of it was captured by Observer's Eye. Yet he couldn't protect her. His body couldn't keep up. He could see it, but couldn't reach it. *(I finally found comrades, and I dragged them into this.)* The reason Observer's Eye was called a trash skill—he understood it now, in this moment. It only let him see. It let him see but do nothing. He could see Sophie's shoulder being cut, but couldn't protect her. He could see Riko crying, but couldn't stop it. He could see this moment, but couldn't speak a single word. What was the point of this skill? Heat built behind Kei's eyes. His vision blurred. A tear fell onto the stone floor of the platform. ──── Laughter erupted in the gallery again. Sophie heard it and bit her lip. Kei on the platform was looking down. The lenses of his glasses reflected light, making his expression hard to see. But she could tell his shoulders had lost their strength. *(I didn't want to see that face.)* Sophie tried to stand—but the inquisitor's cold gaze stopped her, and she sat back down. Her bandaged shoulder throbbed. She gritted her teeth. Riko quietly took Sophie's hand beside her. It was trembling. Sophie squeezed back. The two of them watched Kei on the platform. ──── That was the moment. Kei's vision switched. Not by his will. 【Observer's Eye—Full Activation】 Information began overlaying his vision. The witness's right hand trembled slightly. 【Pulse: Approximately 1.5 times normal. Increased perspiration. Gaze fixed not on the platform but on the left end of the inquisitor's seats—matches bodily responses consistent with lying.】 The senior adventurers from Kalen—the cluster on the right side of the gallery—laughed while occasionally glancing toward the right entrance of the hall. 【Gaze pattern: Checking right entrance every 13 seconds. Waiting for someone's signal.】 One of the inquisitors' hands, turning documents, stopped. Something unexpected was mixed into the stack of documents. The inquisitor's finger paused slightly on one sheet. Kei's gaze was drawn to that bundle of documents. Observer's Eye focused. Even across the stone hall, it was visible. A copy of a bound ledger. Numbers were visible. The total line of request rewards. Payment records. The discrepancy between them and blank spaces. 【Ledger pattern matching—Accuracy: 100%】 *(This is—)* Numbers he'd seen at the desk in the Kalen branch guild master's office. Twenty percent of the rewards recorded nowhere. The pattern matched exactly. The ledger discrepancy he'd seen at the Half-Moon Inn window. Same structure. First case. Second case. And now, third case. 【Timeline matching: 15 years of fraud patterns confirmed present in current inquisition documents.】 The witness's lie. The senior adventurers waiting for a signal. And the copy of the Kalen branch ledger mixed into the inquisition documents—this wasn't coincidence. Someone had slipped this evidence in here. And someone else, unaware this evidence was here, was proceeding with this inquisition. Kei's tears stopped. His face lifted. His trembling hands went still. From the platform, he looked at the bundle of inquisition documents. The ledger copy was still there. He looked at each of the five inquisitors' faces, one by one. Observer's Eye quietly arranged the information. The witness's agitation. The senior adventurers' gaze patterns. The numbers in the documents. It all connected. It all was visible. *(It's not over yet.)* Laughter still rose from the gallery. But it was already distant to Kei's ears. In his vision, the numbers from that ledger floated clearly.

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Episode 5

Name: My 'Trash Skill' Called Observer's Eye Could Actually See Everything
Author: Novelia

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