After I finished examining Dia's skills, it was finally the tart's turn.
　I thought Dia was amazing, but she had an excellent set of skills as well. It goes well with the skills I gave her in [Knights who follow me].
　And.........the tart.

''It's a cool skill!
It's more tart than cool.
Yeah, it's kind of a perfect fit and it's almost scary.

The three of us look at the appraisal paper.
　There is written on it, except for the skills given in [Knights who follow me].

・【Squire's Devotion】.
　A Rank.
　It can be activated by entering into a contract with a Lord that his own soul recognizes.
　The contract is made after mucous membrane contact, when it is confirmed and accepted that they have become master and servant. It must be with a person approved by the soul or it will fail. The Lord cannot be changed.
　All abilities of himself and the Lord are enhanced during the activation of the ability. Also, when the Lord dies, he can be revived and restored in exchange for his own life.

[Spearmanship]
　C Rank.
　Incremental corrections to physical abilities when equipped with a spear, and to the power, speed, and accuracy of attacks with a spear.

・【Effort】.
　Grade D.
　Talent for hard work. A personality that puts in a lot of effort, concentration and mental strength are easily restored.

''[Squire's Devotion], this is fine if you're of the opposite s*x, but what can I do if you're of the same s*x...''
Just let the men do it to each other.
That's true, but...

........This is another skill that can't be activated unless you know it.
　At any rate, you have to have a deep relationship with the person you recognize as the master in the first place.
　And I can't think of a situation where you would bother to do something like that and immediately confirm that you are the master-servant.

''Um, Master Roug, you should use this skill right away!　Because we can be strong together, me and Master Rouges.

Tart is looking at me with expectant eyes.
　Indeed, it's an unbelievable ability that's too much of an enhancement of all abilities for two people for the tougher conditions.

It's probably because it's disposable that it's head and powerful compared to the other A-ranked ones.
　You can't change the person you've set as your Lord. If the master dies, or is separated from his or her master, the skill becomes a complete death skill at that point.

Also, the fact that it's not a constant enhancement, but only during activation is also a negative.
　That's probably why it's treated as an A-rank, unlike [Knights who follow me].

'Tart, promise me one thing. All ability enhancements should be used aggressively.

Although it is necessary to verify the strength and magic consumption and the range of enhancements when and while activating, there is no reason not to use it.
　However..........

The second half. You'll save me in exchange for your life. Promise me you won't use that ability.

I'm sure the latter is the main skill, considering the name of the skill.
　But I don't want that.

''........I'm sorry. I can't make any promises. Because if I did, I would definitely use it. I can't lie to Rougu-sama.

Tart mutters depressingly.

'Then I can't make a deal.'

Tart isn't just a tool anymore. I don't need a skill that is designed to sacrifice my family.

'Lug, that's kind of weird,'
Strange what?
'I mean you don't use that skill because you don't want to sacrifice the tart. The only time you'll use it is when the rogue dies. Are you planning to die?
I didn't mean to.
'Then don't worry about it. Having [Squire's Devotion] makes you stronger and harder to die. It's weird to think about what happens after you die when you have no intention of dying and it makes you more likely to die.

I'm talking about messing up.
　But it makes sense.

"Master Lug!

I turned my attention to Tart and found him staring at me with determined eyes. Then he put his hands on the back of my neck and forced my lips together. An adult kiss.
　I could have avoided it if I wanted to.
　But when I saw the look on Tart's face, I lost the urge to do so.
　The long kiss ends.

'Please be my master. Then don't let me die, please don't let me die. I don't need this kind of skill to die, but I would die if Master Lug died.

You can't let the tart die so that it doesn't die.
　...that's not fair. You won't be able to escape from this.

All right. I'm going to ask you again. I want you to be my squire.

The moment I released those words, me and Tart's souls were bound together by something hot.
　A bond of master and servant. That kind of thing binds us firmly together.
　I feel the tart with my soul.

Master Lugues are pouring in. I feel like I could use this skill now. [Squire's Devotion]

The tart activated the skill.
　At the same time, he began to feel the tart more strongly.
　Physical ability, magic power, kinetic vision, reflexes, reflexes, thinking ability, calculation ability, and all kinds of abilities can be felt to improve.

I'm getting stronger. And I feel comfortable being so close to you, Master Lugue. I want to stay like this forever.
Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

It's not just the power. I can feel the tart's feelings.
　.... no, this is not on that level. I know what Tart is thinking.

''Was the kiss just now too bold?　What if Master Rogues thinks I'm a naughty boy? But it felt so good. I want to do it again. You're hot from kissing me. I'll be in Master Rogues' room, and he'll be listening to this, and I can't believe he's thinking, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, I don't want meat for dinner. You want meat for dinner tonight? Eeeeeeeeeee.'

It seems that when the ability is activated, our thoughts can't detect each other's thoughts.
　Then, while we're at it, let's try another experiment.

'Tart, if you can hear my thoughts, raise your right hand.
'Tart, if you can hear my thoughts, kiss me again.

The two thoughts run in parallel.
　Tart raises his right hand.
　But he doesn't kiss it.
　I see, the thoughts on the surface are shared, but the thoughts on the depths are not heard.

Assassins use their thoughts and memories on the surface and on the depths in response to torture and confessions.
　Even if they use a truth serum, only the surface can be dredged up, not the depths. This is a skill that can be learned with special training.
　........It seems that if you use this, you can avoid letting them hear the thoughts you don't want them to hear.
　On the other hand, Tart's face turned red and he was blowing smoke.

''Ugh, this is embarrassing. I have to try not to think about weird things. He's asking me not to think about s*xually explicit things, especially not s*xually explicit things!　It's also embarrassing. I have to stop thinking about it to avoid thinking about s*x, Master Rouges' breastplate.......no. If you try not to think about it, it's too much, and it's going to go to your head again.'

This power seems dangerous to the tart.
　It's funny, though, from my point of view.
　And it's not all bad. Being able to use telepathy is convenient.
　Real-time communication is a huge advantage when it comes to coordination.
　It can be used for secret talks, for example.

"Rogue, you're smirking at me.
The tarts are crazy.

It's really pretty.

'Tart, do you feel any fatigue from the invocation of your powers?
What? Ha, ha, yes, I don't feel it at all.
Well, then, let me continue the experiment.

Now that I've activated the ability, let's try various things.
　First, I checked the area of effect.
　As I moved away, the connection was broken at approximately two hundred meters.
　Even if I approached again, it wouldn't connect automatically.
　I tried to activate it again, but it didn't work.
　Every minute he told it to try again. It seems to be the type of skill that can't be used for a while once it's used. I need to know how long the interval is.

''Um, Roug-sama, I'm sorry. I was thinking a lot of weird things.''
Okay, she's cute. But you know, you've got to work on your mental training a little bit more. You'll always have your mind clear of distractions.
Okay, I'll do my best.

''You can show excellent concentration in battle, but not being able to do that at all times is a problem.

''The remaining skills are [Spearmanship] and [Effort]? Both skills are easy to use.''
'I've always thought Tart's spear-handling was amazing, but he had skills.

I chose 【Body Technique】 on the premise that I'm going to focus on versatility for C-rank, or in other words, I'm going to use every possible weapon, but if you're going to fix a weapon, this kind of skill is stronger.

''Yes. From now on, I'll be more confident in my spear!　Besides, if hard work is a skill, you have to work harder than that. I can work harder than others!

I'm sure Tart is a hard worker, even if he doesn't have those skills.

''What do we do now? If you have [Spearmanship], you might want to stop training in guns and focus on that one.
Not really. It's convenient to use at a moment's notice. Like when you're in my pocket or something like this!

Tart flips her skirt and pulls out a pistol set in a thigh holster and holds it up.
　Fast and flowing. A quick draw at god's speed.
　You can see the signs of effort.

'With that kind of speed, you'd make a good enough weapon.
Yes, I'll bang the spearman as he enters my pocket to defeat him. Also, it's much faster than assembling a spear, and it comes in handy when you suddenly get into a battle.

Handguns have a short range, but they are easy to handle. We can do tricks like that.

'Hey, Roug. If it's a spear, the skill is activated, right? So why don't you make a spear that can shoot a gun?
It's a spear. Well there's nothing we can't do. All right, let's just try it out.

The bayonet is extremely close to that.

However, if you use it, you don't fight mainly with the spear and use the gun if you're in the pocket, but rather, you fight at long range with the gun, and if you're able to close the distance, you treat it as a spear.

''By all means, please!''
'Don't expect too much. It's impossible to fold it up like it is now, and the structure will be brittle. It's not much of a spear.
Still, it's nice to be able to attack from long range.

In Tart's case, he can't attack at long range because of wind, an attribute that is unsuitable for attack, and he doesn't have much magical talent himself, so he can't attack at long range.
　That's why he was probably envious of us who could attack from a distance.

''Now we have a grasp on the skills of the two of you.
'Rogue's not ready!　We taught you our skills, so teach us.
Oh, I'm curious too!

I smile and explain my skills.
【Super Recovery】, 【Formula Weaver】, 【Growth Limit Breakthrough】, 【Body Technique】, the skills I got from the hero.

''It's so messed up!　Why do you have skills of all ranks? I've never heard of that before.
I got lucky.
''That, I don't have a D-rank skill. Master Rougu taught me a long time ago that absolutely everyone has a D-rank.
It's a secret. .... this is a trump card, for a one-time, sneak attack. So I've decided not to tell anyone.

That's what I decided to do from the moment I acquired that skill.
　The moment it's known, it's worthless.
　But as long as it's not known, it can be a trump card. Even if it's against Tart and Dia, I won't tell them.

Wow, we told you everything and you want to keep it a secret, that's not fair! I'm really curious about it.
...me too. But if Master Rouges decides to keep it a secret.

They both have grumbles, but they don't say what they don't say.

'Well, let's get back to the mansion now. Maha is sending me some tasty and interesting snacks from abroad.
Yeah, he's running.
Wait, Mr. Roog!

We've figured out the skills of both of you.

Knowing the skills and using them effectively will make us stronger.
　All we have to do now is give back the [Egg of Possibility].
　We're also in the process of investigating that side. We'll be making an effort to do that soon.
　But let's just enjoy some good tea and sweets today.

Rest is important, too.