Zack had gotten impatient, taken a gamble, and lost.

  So, he made his way back to his bare room where he found his earth clothes neatly folded in an unusual way, likely [Maid] Abigail’s work, and there was a lone cookie sitting on his desk.

  He smiled softly to see it.

  At least his relationships with the castle’s maids and knights were going well.

  He picked up the cookie, gave it a sniff, then a nibble, and then, confirming none of the signs of poison from the book he had liberated from the castle’s outdated book storage room, ate it.

  It was delicious.

  And so for the next hour or so, Zack prayed.

  Getting the [Prayer] skill might be exactly what he needed to satisfy all three other members of the [Hero’s Party].

  [Priestess] Maria might be a long shot, but Bradley would be happy he was picking up skills, and it was Rosimund who had directed him to do it.

  So, he gave it his best shot.

  He tried everything Maria had recommended during her small lecture, which had worked for Bradley.

  And yet, the Goddess refused to respond to his prayers.

  Even when he focused on his [Paranoia] skill, to see if She was watching him, he couldn’t detect anything.

  He recited the poems, and even tried singing one of the songs.

  Nothing.

  After several hours of [Prayer], all he had achieved was sore knees and a stiff back.

  This…

  Wasn’t normal.

  [Prayer] was a skill, and he should have picked it up by now.

  The Goddess said She had no intentions for him…

  Had She blocked him or something?

  The idea would have been silly if She hadn’t been doing Her Godly business using a computer tablet.

  Once Zack had that thought, he got worried.

  If he was really blocked… Then he’d never be able to do any of the [Prayer] stuff anyone else could do.

  That was going to lower his value to the party, and he was already on thin ice.

  It wasn’t crucial, but…

  He needed a win, here.

  He looked over his notes from earlier in the day, when he had been studying in the Castle book room.

  Offerings.

  Was it blasphemous to think they were the kinds of things a teenage girl would like?

  Sweets, songs, poems…

  How old was the Goddess, anyway?

  Did Gods have ages?

  Were they timeless beings to whom the concept of age didn’t apply?

  Zack felt his mind starting to wander, and he forced himself to refocus on his [Prayer] training.

  Well, the last thing to try was a physical offering of pastries. Strawberry flavor, if he could manage it.

  After multiple thwarted attempts, Zack had a good, honest reason to go to the castle kitchens.

  And so, late at night, he slipped out of his room and made his way through the castle halls.

  As he went, he thought about his skills so far.

  [The Learn], [Conceal], [Paranoia], [Private Conversation], [Running], [Reading], [Archery], [Writing], and [Eavesdropping]…

  Of them, he suspected his [Running] skill might be level two, while the rest were probably still at level one.

  And he had no way to check, himself.

  As he reflected on each skill he had picked up, trying to think of any reason why [Prayer] would elude him, he found his body moving somewhat automatically.

  [Eavesdropping]—his ears perked up, listening for anyone around.

  [Running]—his footsteps fell into a rhythm, even though he was walking.

  [Private Conversation]—he monitored the sounds of his footfalls, and adjusted his steps to reduce the noise…

  *ding!* The skill [Soft Step] has been acquired!

  His pace adjusted itself, and the previously audible sound of his feet striking stone floor faded almost to nothing.

  The difference was striking.

  It was as though he’d been stomping around loudly before, and now with a little effort he was almost inaudible.

  Zack stifled a sigh.

  Clearly his unique skill was working.

  Just not on [Prayer].

  At least this sounded like a [Scout] kind of skill.

  Loathe as he was to give up his personal information, perhaps he could offer this up to the party instead, as a sign that he was making a good-faith effort to pick up [Scout] type skills...

  He continued making his way towards the kitchens, and walking almost silently, overheard a quiet conversation through one of the doors along the way. It was a large, fancy door near one of the intersections of the large hallways, and the door was just slightly ajar. Only the smallest crack.

  It was Rosimund’s voice.

  [Eavesdropping].

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  “...somewhat incompetent. Especially when compared to the [Hero], who improves markedly every day. I had hoped that he could serve a utility role, but with so little improvement and his suspicious behavior… Yes, your Excellency… I agree, with no place in the Goddess’ plans… Disposal? That may be wise… Losing control of another unique skill holder would be unacceptable… yes…”

  Zack backed away from the door as quietly as possible.

  His heart was pounding.

  He hadn’t been able to hear the other half of the conversation, but Rosimund had called him ‘your Excellency.’

  His mind flashed back to the [Appraisal] Ceremony.

  The King, or…

  The Pope.

  The obscured man riding the palanquin, to whom even the King had bent the knee and bowed his head.

  The one who had [Appraised] him and Bradley moments after they were summoned to this world.

  His heart still pounding, Zack hurried back to his room, thoughts of sneaking to the kitchen to grab an offering for the Goddess forgotten.

  This was bad.

  He made it back to his room, stepping softly the whole way, closed the door and sat down on his bed, mind racing.

  Elevated heart rate.

  Sweating despite the cool spring evening temperature.

  Zack Adder was losing his composure.

  But he wrestled himself back under control.

  Deep breaths… Focus on heart beat… Fear is the mind killer…

  How did that whole thing go?

  *ding!* The skill [Calm Down] has been acquired!

  He snorted. That was a bit on the nose, wasn’t it?

  But the skill worked.

  His breathing steadied out, and his heart rate slowed back down. His muscles relaxed, and his thoughts grew more rational.

  It was time to take stock.

  He was alone in another world, without any reliable allies.

  He had a unique skill that aided in picking up more skills, and it was working. He’d been acquiring skills fairly rapidly, and the rate seemed to be increasing.

  But not [Prayer].

  He had beat the [Hero] in a spar, but they had both been level one. Rosimund was level forty, and who know what kind of skills he had and how high level they were. Without a doubt, Rosimund would wipe the floor with him. Even the other knights, from what he had heard of their monster slaying stories, could take him down in an instant.

  And everyone knew he had no high level skills, thanks to the [Appraisal] Ceremony.

  There wouldn’t be any bluffing.

  ...Zack Adder really didn’t want to know what ‘disposal’ had meant.

  Nor did he want to be controlled.

  Rosimund had said something about losing control of a unique skill holder.

  He’d had enough of being controlled back on Earth.

  He had gone to great lengths to back out of being a spy back then.

  Favors spent, records deleted and falsified, moving to a new city and assuming an entirely new identity…

  And then he got hit by a truck and sent to another world on a job by God Himself.

  There was no way other people found it this hard to simply be themselves and live normal lives.

  But this was no time to sit and feel sorry for himself.

  He tried praying again.

  Hey, Goddess Arianna, I really need a hand here. I’m trying to help your [Hero], you know?

  No answer.

  No indication his prayer was received.

  But, just as he was coming to the conclusion that it was time to bail…

  Just leave the [Hero’s Party] and the castle entirely and consider his mission a total bust…

  There was a knock on his door.

  Knock knock knock.

  “Sir Zack, are you awake?”

  It was the [Priestess], Maria.

  His first reaction was, what did she want?

  But her tone was…

  Friendly?

  “Yes, one second.”

  Cautious, he got up and opened the door.

  And there was Maria, smiling softly as though she were any normal [Priestess] or nun or saintess, holding an ornate silver platter on which sat a plate and a sweet roll slathered in honey.

  “May I come in?”

  “Er, sure…”

  Her politeness was almost off-putting.

  She gracefully stepped inside and placed the tray down on his desk.

  “I've come to apologize. After talking with Captain Rosimund and, after reflecting on my own actions, I realize that my behavior has been simply atrocious. This is for you—I know today they were telling you to restrict your portions at meals, so I thought you might be hungry... I hope you’ll accept this as a token of my apology. Honey is pretty expensive right now, so be grateful, okay?” She even winked at him. “We can just keep this a secret between us. How goes your [Prayer]?”

  Zack couldn’t help but frown.

  Why the attitude change?

  “It’s going poorly,” he admitted. “None of my [Prayer]s seem to reach the Goddess.”

  Maria sighed, and her expression fell. “I’m afraid that as one forsaken by the Goddess, your [Prayers] may never reach her. But you are picking up other skills, yes?”

  “Yeah…”

  She smiled beatifically. “Then simply do your best, Zack. Eat up, get some sleep, and train hard tomorrow. Everything will work out according to the Goddess’ plans. Have a good night.” She pointedly looked at the sweet roll. “Don’t let it get cold, now!”

  And then she left.

  Calmly.

  Without yelling at him or castigating him.

  Did that mean…

  The [Prayer] thing wasn’t going to be held against him?

  If so, perhaps he wasn’t so much on thin ice as he had thought.

  Maria had been his biggest critic and biggest problem up to now.

  But there was still what Rosimund had been saying.

  Zack closed the door and sat down on his bed, eyeing the sweet roll.

  It was positively swimming in honey, every bit of the surface covered in the golden liquid and the plate similarly covered.

  He was feeling a bit peckish…

  At first, he had been disappointed it wasn’t the kind of offering the Goddess liked, but given what the [Priestess] had said, there was a possibility she wouldn’t accept any offerings anyway.

  It was worth trying later, but tonight?

  If Maria had, for some reason, come around and was now on his side, maybe he could still make this work.

  It wasn’t as though Rosimund had recommended disposal.

  He had been talking to someone else.

  Maybe with a show of effort tomorrow, and the rest of the week until the Hunter’s Guild [Trainer] arrived…

  They had requested a trainer to come, after all.

  It would be premature to ‘dispose’ of him before he got real training, right?

  The stakes had risen.

  This was precisely where Zack would, normally, fall back on his team, his handler, and get guidance on how to approach the situation.

  But now, in this world, he was on his own.

  Eventually, he came to a preliminary conclusion.

  A tentative one.

  Earlier, he had gone too far, asking about secret magic spells directly.

  He could just take his time.

  Play the long game.

  So, he got up from the bed and sat down at his desk, the honey-slathered sweet roll before him. A fork and knife were next to the plate, resting on a cloth napkin.

  He cut a bite of the sweet roll, and as had become his habit, gave it a sniff before moving it to his lips.

  There was a nutty scent that jogged his memory…

  *ding!* The skill [Detect Poison] has been acquired!

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