[[Skill: <<Appraisal>> activates]] [[Target Evaluation Result——Combat Aptitude: Grade E / Non-Combat Type・Information System / Recommended Placement: Non-Combat Division]] "…What?" I hadn't meant to say it out loud. But it slipped out naturally. Eutie Silvanus——a tall young woman with jet-black short hair swept diagonally across her face, standing in a white-walled judgment chamber. White collared shirt, black slacks, a light leather coat draped over her slender frame. The silver piercing in her left ear caught the light from the steam-powered mana stone lamp. Her deep amber eyes were——in this very moment——quietly observing the examiner's face. Her expression didn't move. Only the magical rune on her left index finger pulsed faintly. The examiner didn't even look up from the documents, reading aloud once more. "Silvanus Eutie. Magical Knight Corps Aptitude Judgment——Non-Combat Type, Information System, Grade E. That concludes it." The lightness of those final words carried a strange weight. ——Seven years. The Imperial Magical Academy. Seven years of mandatory residence. The highest institution of magical education that the Velshen Empire boasted. Approximately three hundred admitted students, fifteen percent of graduates advancing to the Magical Knight Corps. Twelve hectares of grounds spread within the castle walls of the capital, Felgeshtat. Eutie had spent those seven years here. And today, this was the endpoint. Someone from her cohort exhaled quietly in the seat next to the judgment chamber. That particular kind of breath——whether pity or relief——Eutie felt she'd heard it seven years ago as well. ——The flashback came abruptly. Age seven. The Imperial Magical Academy entrance examination. An oversized examination room, a high ceiling. Seven-year-old Eutie stood before the examiner and demonstrated her ability for the first time. When she focused her consciousness on an object——numbers appeared. The hardness of the desk. The remaining mana in the quill pen. The examiner's stamina value. When those became visible in the air, silence fell over the room. "…Is this your ability?" The examiner exchanged glances with a colleague beside him. Seven-year-old Eutie couldn't understand the meaning in those gazes. But the fact that she couldn't understand it was precisely what burned it into her memory with perfect clarity. "What use is that on the battlefield?" Someone whispered it, and stifled laughter spread. Present-day Eutie observed that memory from seven years' distance. She wasn't unmoved because she'd grown accustomed——she was unmoved because she'd known from the start. This nation favored combat-useful abilities. Producing fire, manipulating lightning, blowing opponents away. In a place where such power was valued, something like "seeing the numerical values of objects" was nothing but dead weight. The Velshen Empire's magical aptitude evaluation system measured mana quantity at three months of age and determined attribute and system at age seven. Seven ranks from S to F. That evaluation literally determined one's life path. Grade A appeared once in ten thousand people. Without Grade B or higher, one couldn't even qualify to take the entrance exam for the Magical Knight Corps——the elite unit of the imperial regular army, monthly salary of forty-five gold coins, social status equivalent to lower nobility. Where did Grade E belong? The answer was already known. She received the assignment order thirty minutes after the judgment. "You are assigned to the Frontier Police, Turage District Station." The personnel officer's voice was polite. That was what stung the most. It would have been better if they'd shouted. Speaking in a polite voice while processing the paperwork meant this was merely one cog turning in a vast machine. Eutie Silvanus disappearing to the frontier would create no friction whatsoever in the imperial apparatus. Eutie accepted the assignment order. For just a moment——her hand turned white from gripping the paper so hard. That was all. --- When Eutie returned to her lodging, she set down the wooden supply box on the floor. On the side of the box was burned the inscription: "Standard Equipment Set for Frontier Police Assignees." She unlocked it and opened the lid. [[Equipment Appraisal beginning]] The first thing that came out was a short sword. "…" Rust was blooming on it. Three places with chipped edges. Blade length approximately twenty centimeters, the grip tape half-peeling away. The appraisal value floated automatically into her vision——Durability: 12/100. Estimated usable count: 8-12 times. Next was an overcoat. When she spread it out, there were moth-eaten holes. Three repair marks. The color of the patch cloth was subtly different from the main body. Cold resistance value: 31/100. Waterproofing value: 14/100. "…I see." Eutie murmured expressionlessly. Then she pulled out the next item. Boots. The soles were different thicknesses on left and right. Left three centimeters, right two-point-five centimeters. She hadn't measured it, but the appraisal value told her honestly. If she ran in these, her lower back would give out in five minutes. And finally——a single booklet emerged. "Frontier Duty Precepts——One Hundred Wisdoms for Improving Survival Rate (Seventh Edition, Revised and Expanded)" The fact that it had been revised through seven editions made Eutie pause for a single second. Revision meant the content had been updated with something. What had been updated? She didn't want to think about it. She turned the pages. First Precept——"Prioritize not dying above all else" Third Precept——"If you make eye contact with a Fang-Jaw Beast, do not run (running is futile anyway)" Seventeenth Precept——"If you witness a companion being eaten by a magical beast, it is not recommended to cry out, as this reveals your position" Eutie quietly closed the booklet and returned it to the box. She said nothing. She showed no surprise. As if this were all within her expectations——and in truth, it was——she calmly closed the lid. As she continued organizing her belongings, a single certificate fell to the floor. Old paper, yellowed edges. She picked it up and recognized the format immediately. An ability registration certificate issued at age seven. The text "Appraisal・Grade E." With the official imperial stamp. Eutie looked at it for just one second. Then she buried it deep in her belongings. --- The carriage departing Felgeshtat set out before dawn. The driver was a taciturn middle-aged man who didn't turn around even when Eutie boarded. That was actually a relief. Through the carriage window, the capital receded. Stone buildings sinking into morning mist, the orange light of mana stone lamps, the reflection on the Miele River's surface——Felgeshtat. Population six hundred twenty thousand. Located west-center on the continent, the heart of the empire. The Imperial Magical Academy's grounds, the Magical Knight Corps headquarters, the imperial residence "White Radiance Palace"——all were here, the center of this world. Eutie was moving away from it. The journey would take approximately seven days. Heading east through imperial territory, crossing the Kaspar Pass through the Gelvahn Mountains, then another one hundred ninety kilometers east. The destination was Turage District——the empire's easternmost frontier, approximately eight hundred twenty kilometers from the capital. Population approximately three thousand two hundred, monster appearance rate fourteen times the imperial average. A region called the empire's "disposable land." The carriage swayed. Eutie watched the passing landscape through the window. Trees along the roadside. When a trunk entered her field of vision, numbers floated automatically. Density value: 78. Estimated growth years: 42. Water content ratio: 61 percent. This was how Eutie's world appeared. Everything had numerical values. Trees, stones, horses, people. When she glanced sideways at the horse the driver held the reins of——Fatigue Resistance: 54/100, Current Fatigue: 23 percent——floated into view. It could run without issue for another three hours. That kind of information flowed in whether she wanted it or not. If asked whether it was convenient——she would hesitate to answer. The numbers were accurate. Unwarped by emotion. They didn't lie. She could know a wood's true strength. She could know a person's true stamina. One could argue that on the battlefield, she could grasp enemy capabilities. But the empire didn't evaluate it that way. It had discarded her on a single point: she couldn't fight. (I see the world accurately.) Eutie thought vaguely. (But the world doesn't see me accurately.) If one were to name this asymmetry——loneliness, perhaps. The unbridgeable gap between the world she saw in numbers and others who lived by emotion. Every time she'd spoken with her cohort over seven years, she'd felt that subtle discord. "That's amazing," they'd say, but they didn't think it was amazing. "That sounds convenient," they'd say, but they didn't envy her. Eutie's own face reflected in the carriage window. Jet-black bangs swept diagonally, slightly hiding her left eye. Her amber eyes——she thought, looking at herself——seemed to reflect nothing. She wasn't depressed. This was simply her face. A face where emotion didn't show outwardly. Some of her cohort had called it "scary." Scary, huh. Well, that was fine, she thought. Only the sound of the driver's horse striking the stone pavement continued. Eutie closed her eyes in rhythm with it. --- On the morning of the fourth day, the carriage approached the Kaspar Pass through the Gelvahn Mountains. Altitude two thousand one hundred meters. The air thinned. The view outside changed——from gently rolling fertile plains to rock, mist, and gray sky. At the pass's imperial side stood "Gelvahn Gate," a checkpoint, but only three soldiers were there. One with sleepy eyes confirmed Eutie's assignment order and said, "Go ahead." That was all. The moment they crossed the pass, the landscape's color changed. The green of the fertile plains vanished, leaving only mist. The shape of the trees changed. Conifers increased, branches overlapped, sunlight couldn't reach. The sky's color shifted from white to ash-gray. Eutie didn't take her eyes from the window. She felt——not in her head but in her body——that this was the crossing from "the empire's side" to "the abandoned side." She didn't put it into words. Simply, the air of imperial territory and the air here were different. As if she'd stepped into another world——or rather, been forced into one. (So this is the frontier.) She had no other impressions. --- On the evening of the seventh day. The carriage stopped. "Glentzer," the driver said. That was all he said. Eutie picked up her belongings and descended. The first impression was——quiet. No stone pavement. Dirt ground. Wooden fences enclosed the settlement's perimeter, some old and leaning. Buildings were ash-gray, windows had few lights yet. Evening mist drifted thinly, distant trees blurred in the haze. This was Glentzer in Turage District. Population approximately six hundred eighty. The empire's easternmost settlement. Eutie searched for the Frontier Police station. She found it quickly——a two-story wooden building with a board nailed to the exterior reading "Frontier Police Turage District Station." The board was slightly warped. She pushed the door open. The hinges creaked. Nearly coming off. Inside, there was no sign of people. The first floor was an office and holding area. In the evening light streaming through the window, dust floated. On the wall were marks where something had been carved with a blade. "Left by the previous occupant," Eutie thought. She couldn't read what had been carved. She opened the weapon storage shelf. Rusted blades lined it. She pulled out the equipment ledger and opened it. "Missing," "Missin