Chapter 26
‘A curse.’
In my childhood, my innate ability was nothing more than a curse.
I had been kidnapped by a band of thieves who wanted to use my stealth, and I was forced to live as a slave.
When the Empire exterminated that band of thieves, I was left gravely wounded, standing on the brink of death.
And it was none other than Princess Arlhardt who saved me from the abyss.
‘I will dedicate the rest of my life to serving the Princess.’
After being taken in by the compassionate Princess Arlhardt, that was the only thought I had.
From trainee soldier to regular soldier.
From regular soldier to special forces operative.
From special forces operative to royal guard.
Fueled by my desire to become the Princess’s guardian, I achieved my goal in just four years.
‘It’s no longer a curse, but a blessing.’
With the stealth I had once believed to be a curse, I was able to be of great service to the Princess.
‘If it is the command of the noble one, then I will see it through, no matter what.’
I had the ability and confidence to make such vows.
Not once had anyone detected my shadow stealth.
To even sense my presence, one would have to be someone like Professor Ruber, said to be the greatest mage in the royal family.
That was the sense of responsibility and pride I had built.
‘For the Princess alone.’
I had lived for the Princess, and I would never change.
Any command she gave, I would execute perfectly.
Princess Arlhardt had ordered me to watch over the second son of the Dedenkman family—Villed.
I carried out her command immediately and observed Villed, who was working in the livestock shed.
But something about him seemed… odd.
‘Of course, I would never doubt the Princess, but…’
It was baffling.
The first day.
Villed lay in his hammock, waving his hands at the air, then suddenly grabbed a shovel and went off somewhere.
He walked along the riverbank, then began digging into the ground with his shovel.
‘So he’s hiding something.’
It was obvious.
After years of watching countless people, my instincts told me so.
And I had heard the rumors about Villed myself.
‘As expected of someone infamous for his bad character—he reeks of suspicion.’
You could see it in those eyes, brimming with malice.
Surely, he would dig up buried treasure, or perhaps a corpse.
From the blazing sun at noon until the sunset glowed gold, Villed dug at the ground.
Then he returned to the livestock shed.
‘Just what could be so important that he buried it there?’
When he left, I approached the dug-up site, but there was nothing. Perhaps he had not dug deep enough.
If I observed him for a few more days, I would know his intent.
“He was… digging?”
I reported the first day’s findings to the Princess.
I thought perhaps Princess Arlhardt would recognize something I had missed, but she looked just as puzzled as I was.
“Hmm… Could it mean he’s hiding something? Or… trying to bury something?”
“I believe we’ll find out soon enough.”
“All right. Please continue tomorrow.”
The second day.
I hid within the shadow of a tree and watched Villed.
He had left the dormitory and was living in the storage of the livestock shed. It seemed the family had cut off their support after what happened recently.
‘I had heard Villed was a lazy man.’
Yet, even though it was the weekend, he woke at dawn, sharp as a blade.
He exercised lightly, then immediately filled barrels with water.
After feeding the animals, he ate a simple meal of just a few eggs.
‘He isn’t neglecting his farm work.’
It was surprising—he was nothing like the rumors. But that didn’t matter.
The Princess surely had not ordered his surveillance for something as trivial as this.
After his breakfast, Villed picked up his shovel and headed out once more.
I had already noticed he was taking the same route as the day before.
‘So he’s going to dig again.’
Just as I predicted, on the second day, he dug at the ground.
I watched him for a long time, wondering what he had hidden.
‘…But why is that animal near him?’
It was a rare sea otter.
It had already caught my attention yesterday, but today, it seemed even closer to Villed. Still, it did not appear connected to him.
‘…In any case, I still can’t figure him out.’
Villed dug all day, and by evening, he returned to the livestock shed.
How deep did he plan to dig? It still wasn’t finished.
Since it was the same as yesterday, I had nothing new to report to the Princess.
The third day.
Finally, I learned the reason for Villed’s digging.
He laid a large sheet of plastic over the ground he had dug, then went to the riverbank to collect pebbles.
At the sight, I was dumbfounded.
‘He’s… building a pond?’
The second son of the Dedenkman family, digging his own pond?
‘I don’t understand what’s going on.’
His bizarre behavior made no sense.
I briefly wondered if he was disguising something under the pond, but no matter how long I watched, it was nothing more than an ordinary pond.
“A pond?”
Princess Arlhardt looked completely baffled.
“Why build a pond by the river…?”
“I suspected it might be camouflage to hide something, but unfortunately, I found nothing.”
“Hmm… Is there anything else to report? Even something very small, trivial would do.”
Her voice carried a hint of expectation.
I hesitated, then finally spoke.
“…A wild sea otter has stayed close to him for three days now.”
“A sea otter…?”
The Princess tilted her head, then sighed deeply.
“What a truly incomprehensible man.”
I lowered my head in agreement.
He really was an impossible man to understand.
The Fourth Day of Surveillance.
The next day was the same. As if it were his destiny, he kept on building the pond.
‘Hm?’
But today, something was different.
Villed stopped his work and started talking.
To none other than the sea otter I had been watching with him for the past few days.
‘Does he think wild animals understand human speech?’
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Yet, surprisingly, it looked as though they were communicating.
‘…Is it not a wild animal?’
It seemed accustomed to human contact, as if it had been trained.
‘Could it be a pet Villed once raised?’
At any rate, that wasn’t important.
‘…How should I even report this?’
After four days of surveillance, the result was simply that he was building a plain pond.
I wondered what intention lay behind this pond.
‘He’s different from all the others I’ve watched.’
There was nothing shady about him.
‘I thought a few days of surveillance would reveal something.’
Whether it was a general of the Empire or a mage involved in treason, a single day of surveillance was always enough to expose their hidden side.
‘But in Villed, I couldn’t find a shred of malice.’
All he did was genuinely build a pond.
I was still unsure how to report this to the Princess when—
‘…Hm?’
As I pondered, Villed suddenly rose to his feet and slowly turned his gaze toward me.
Our eyes met.
‘…He’s looking at me?’
It wasn’t my imagination.
His gaze stopped exactly where I was, staring for a long time.
Could it be that he had detected my stealth?
‘…Impossible.’
Goosebumps crawled across my skin.
It had been years since I last felt fear while hidden.
My heart began to pound.
---
bleYou can perceive allies or enemies in stealth.
‘Stealth detection ability…’
I blinked at the sea otter card.
Though I kept my face composed, inwardly I was stunned.
I hadn’t hoped for anything extraordinary, yet here I was with such a remarkable skill dropped right into my lap.
‘This is a jackpot among jackpots.’
According to the Yggdrasil Wiki, stealth detection was classified as a high-tier passive skill.
Not just in theory—when used directly in the game, its true value became clear.
‘It’s not something I can use immediately, though.’
In the early episodes, there were no characters or monsters that relied on stealth.
But later, stealth would be used extensively by many enemies.
Thanks to that, stealth detection would eventually become an invaluable ability.
‘A skill bound to play a major role.’
Here in the early part of the story, I wouldn’t be able to use it much.
But time would prove how essential it was.
At least, that’s what I thought—until.
‘What is this?’
All my nerves went taut.
A strange sensation washed over me, one I had never felt before.
The powerful feeling of someone’s gaze.
‘…Could it be the passive skill activating?’
There was no way I’d already run into someone with stealth.
Or so I thought. I turned toward where the sensation came from.
‘There.’
In a tree about ten meters away, I caught sight of it.
A faint, translucent human form within the tree’s shadow.
I kept my eyes on it, sinking into thought.
‘…What are you?’
I hadn’t expected the skill to show its effect the moment I acquired it.
Who was watching me, and for what purpose?
I could only make out the silhouette, not the details.
‘If he’s hiding in shadows, then…’
Only one character came to mind.
‘Curio of the Shade.’
A specialist in assassination, wielding shadow powers of the darkness attribute.
‘He was useful in-game, both in performance and in lore. Didn’t he pose as a student?’
His loyalty to the Princess was just as strong as his abilities.
It was no accident that he had become her bodyguard.
And now, that very Curio was spying on me.
It was odd, but—
‘I think I know the reason.’
He was one of the Princess’s closest aides.
‘She must have ordered him to keep an eye on me.’
But to assign someone like Curio, a high-grade operative, just to watch me?
‘That feels like a waste of talent.’
But there was something more important.
‘He’s been watching me for days.’
Days?
No—perhaps even longer.
And what if he continued to watch me from now on?
‘Better to end it here and now.’
Even if it meant raising suspicions, it was worth the risk.
It was far better than being watched indefinitely.
The thought was long, but the action was swift.
“The sunlight is so warm today.”
I spoke aloud, almost casually.
Then, with cold eyes toward the heavy shadow of the tree, I added,
“How long do you plan to hide in such a gloomy place?”
The shadows, which had been empty just moments before, began to shift under my gaze.
“……”
From that darkness, a human figure emerged.
He wore a school uniform, with short brown hair and delicate features.
But his face was pale, sweat streaming down his forehead, his composure utterly broken.
He seemed at a loss for words before finally forcing some out.
“…Since when did you notice me?”
Since when, he asked.
‘Truth is, just now.’
But considering Curio might have been watching me for days already, it was best not to give a precise answer.
After quickly weighing my options, I replied,
“From the very beginning.”
Curio’s expression darkened even further.