As Ryu and Sebastian began the financial review of the Landmark house, a man visited them.
He had black hair, black eyes, and wore glasses, which were rare in this world. He was tall and slender.
He was Professor Saiten, whom Ryu had made an appointment with the other day. He was supposed to be an incredibly intelligent teacher who could "appraise" people.
"Thank you for coming, Professor Saiten."
"No problem. I'm indebted to the Landmark family."
The head of the family, Father, directed his gentle smile toward him.
"I'd like to ask you to appraise the skills of my third son, Ryu, today."
Father said while pulling Ryu, who was standing with his brothers, towards him.
"It was the baptism ceremony the other day, right?"
"Yes, he had a skill that even the priest had never seen before. Our family members are confused by this skill that they've never heard of before."
"Even the priest? That's rare... Let's appraise it then. Ryu, is it alright if I appraise your skill?"
It seemed that there was etiquette even for appraisals. Although Ryu had been activating it since birth, he had never heard of it before. However, he couldn't appraise people, but he was interested as someone who also had "appraisal".
"Yes."
After hearing Ryu's answer, Saiten began the appraisal.
"Oh, this is Gokudo, right? I've never heard of this before. It's a skill that hasn't been reported even in the capital. It's really interesting."
Ryu remained quiet and still. However, he felt like he was being stripped naked and peeked at when he was appraised.
"I will perform an 'analysis' using 'appraisal'."
Was it an accompanying ability for appraisal? Ryu was also interested as someone who had "appraisal".
"Oh, this is surprising. In my A+ appraisal, I can hardly analyze this skill. That means, this 'Gokudo' is equivalent to an S-rank special skill. The only thing I've solved is that 'Gokudo' is an abstract skill to achieve the path," Saiten said.
"To achieve the path? What on earth is that?" Father asked
"It seems to be a type of skill that affects other skills... 'Jack-of-all-Trades' aside, it may have some influence on 'appraisal'... Since it's probably the first time this skill has been confirmed in the kingdom, we have to observe its progression from now on," Saiten explained.
"I see. If even Professor Saiten doesn't understand it, there's nothing we can do. Ryu, keep working hard on various things, and you'll understand it naturally," Father said as he put his hand on Ryu's head.
"Yes!"
It must be about yakuza after all. If it's written as "achieving the path", it means yakuza. But even as a former yakuza, Ryu couldn't imagine what kind of power it had. As Father said, he thought that he might understand something if he continued to work hard.
Father invited Saiten to have a meal together, but he politely declined. He wanted to compile a report on this matter.
"By the way, Ryu. When did you realize that you had 'appraisal' and started using it? Your 'appraisal' will probably be upgraded soon because the usage conditions will soon be met," Saiten said.
"Really!? I started using it when I was aware of things."
"I see. After all, it takes several years for the first upgrade of 'appraisal', but it's rare to upgrade it at that age. Normally, you learn it at 6 years old and work on meeting the conditions for many years, so I thought it was strange. Father, your child is amazing," Saiten said, praising Ryu.
"This child is a prodigy," Father said proudly.
"Don't tell people, Dad!" Ryu stopped him, feeling embarrassed.
"I heard about a prodigy who learned a skill in a short time by using it shortly after passing the baptismal ceremony at the age of six, even without a skill. Even if it's not related to the skill, it's wonderful to remember it at that point. That's exactly what makes you a prodigy," Saiten said, showing his surprise.
"That's right! We even discussed sending him to school regardless of his skill," Father said, boasting about Ryu.
Father couldn't stop talking about how proud he was of Ryu's accomplishments.