Chapter 251: Potential

"Wait... Shangguan Wan’er, that’s going a little too far..."

"Too far!? Why is it too far!? If anything, you guys deserve to hear at least this much! You don’t actually want to get involved in this mess yourselves, do you!?"

Ah... She’s got a point.

Viktor was even quietly nodding along.

"Well, even so, I’m going!"

"...Huh?"

"I’m saying I’ll head into the Demon King’s territory because that’s what I choose to do. Honestly, I’m absolutely furious about having this whole mess dumped on me, but I was brought to another world, wasn’t I? I’m going to enjoy this world to the fullest!"

...Isn’t Shangguan Wan’er way too strong?

Qiu Nuoya, the middle aged man who had spent his entire time in this world running away from trouble and avoiding anything troublesome, was starting to feel a little ashamed of himself.

This is what you would call the qualities of a Hero.

Come to think of it, why was Shangguan Wan’er even a Saintess in this world?

Her outfit made her look more like a female knight, and she certainly was not the type to stay behind everyone else and simply provide support and healing. She was clearly the kind of person who would charge straight into the front lines herself.

So why was she a Saintess?

Qiu Nuoya wondered if there was something he was missing, so he decided to take a look at Shangguan Wan’er’s status.

The status screen appeared as usual. At the top were her name, race, occupation, favorability rating (?), and a mysterious number.

[ Shangguan Wan’er. A Revolutionary from Another World. Saintess (Provisional) ? 382 ]

There are way too many things to question here! Where am I even supposed to start!?

What did "Revolutionary" mean?

What was the "Provisional" supposed to mean?

And that number! What did it mean for it to be over 300!?

Qiu Nuoya assumed the number was probably the combined levels of all her skills. If that was the case, did Shangguan Wan’er actually have a higher total than Viktor?

Incidentally, the color inside the heart symbol that seemed to represent her favorability rating was a pale pink.

Okay, at least that’s normal.

He could not check the levels of her individual skills, but judging from that number, Shangguan Wan’er either had an enormous number of skills or had raised most of her skills to an extremely high level.

However, considering that she was only a provisional Saintess, perhaps she simply possessed such a wide range of talents that she could easily change to another occupation if she wanted to.

Qiu Nuoya himself had been asked countless times why he was a Magician rather than a Tamer, despite being a tamed monster user. His levels in swordsmanship and martial arts had also continued to rise simply by learning and practicing them.

To put it another way, his level as a cook was already close to the maximum as well.

In this world, where the things a person could do were reflected in their levels, those numbers seemed to represent a person’s potential.

And Shangguan Wan’er’s number was already over 300.

It would probably continue to rise from here as well.

Provisional Saintess, huh...

Could Shangguan Wan’er have become a Hero if she had been chosen by the Divine Sword instead?

Two boys and girls had suddenly been summoned from another world. Perhaps because one was a boy, he had been recognized as the "Hero," while the other was a girl, so she had been recognized as the "Saintess."

But perhaps, in terms of their actual qualities, Shangguan Wan’er might have been the Hero, while Xiao Tao could have been the Saint.

Qiu Nuoya could not help wondering if that possibility had been overlooked from the very beginning.

Shangguan Wan’er had been judged to possess the qualities of a Saintess and was welcomed into the kingdom as one. Xiao Tao, on the other hand, had fled, so no one had ever examined his potential or aptitude. He had simply been left with the title of "summoned Hero."

Qiu Nuoya suddenly felt curious and decided to take a look at Xiao Tao’s status as well.

[ Xiao Tao. Summoned Hero (?). Wielder of Dark Magic. ? 82 ]

There’s a question mark next to Hero.

And his level was low.

Well, considering that Xiao Tao had effectively skipped the three years that Qiu Nuoya and the others had spent in this world, perhaps the number was actually reasonable.

If the average level of an ordinary citizen was somewhere around 50 to 80, then Xiao Tao’s number was actually somewhat high.

Still, one thing caught Qiu Nuoya’s attention.

The color inside the heart symbol, which Qiu Nuoya assumed represented Xiao Tao’s favorability toward him, was almost completely white. ℯ

Even Shangguan Wan’er’s heart had a slight pink tint, yet Xiao Tao’s was white.

No, now that Qiu Nuoya looked more closely, it almost seemed slightly gray.

Does Xiao Tao actually dislike me?

If that was the case, Qiu Nuoya would be a little depressed.

In the first place, there had never been any tutorial explaining how this status system worked, so Qiu Nuoya had no idea how he was supposed to interpret any of this information.

I should have just listened when God told me to try saying "Status Open" instead of complaining about it.

"Hahaha! Even Father is completely helpless when it comes to Shangguan Wan’er!"

Laughter echoed through the chaotic audience chamber.

The voice belonged to Prince Lucien, who continued laughing as though he found the entire situation absolutely hilarious.

"Lucien, show some restraint. You are in His Majesty’s presence!"

The queen, who had been standing silently beside the king with a stern expression, scolded the prince.

She was Prince Lucien’s mother.

"Sorry, Mother. Hehe... It’s just that the exchange between Father and Shangguan Wan’er was so funny. Ahahaha!"

"This is not something to laugh about, Lucien. Those were insulting remarks directed at His Majesty the King. That is blatant disrespect."

"But Shangguan Wan’er was not wrong. And despite understanding the situation perfectly well, she is still doing everything she can to help us. Mother, don’t you think she is the very embodiment of a Saintess?"