Copy Skills with Affinity!

Chapter 1

Kidnapping

When you get involved in things beyond your means, you are bound to get hurt.

Aiden’s father, who had been a petty thief in some unimpressive back alley but was always quick-witted and sly, used to drill this into him over and over.

“You’re not cut out for big things, son.”

“Why not.”

“You’re no good at anything except coming up with little schemes and pulling small cons.”

“Why do you have to talk like that about your own flesh and blood.”

“Live within your means. Don’t go making trouble trying to swim in bigger waters. For people at our level, just being a petty back-alley crook suits us fine.”

“Can’t you at least say something encouraging to your son?”

“I’m doing that right now.”

“...Is that really how it works?”

At some point, even Aiden himself had accepted those words enough to admit he was a man who wasn’t particularly good at anything.

Average. Plus or minus zero.

A nobody whose life consisted of occasionally playing small, annoying tricks on people to survive—so insignificant that it was hard even to remember.

Oh, of course, not the big scams. Only the little ones that were just mildly irritating for the victim.

Even as a criminal, there was a line one shouldn’t cross.

That mindset had shown itself clearly in a conversation he once had with his younger sister.

“You’re a criminal anyway, so why bother keeping up appearances?”

“If you commit big crimes, you end up attracting attention and get hit back hard. Even if you happen to run into a victim, you should only have stolen enough to get a beating, nothing more.”

“...”

“I feed the family, look out for myself, and never do anything that makes someone bear a grudge. That’s how you live long.”

Aiden Kellermain’s life had been exactly like that. A plain, insignificant conman.

Even after he had gone through a bizarre event—smacking his head hard enough on the floor to awaken memories of a previous life on a place called ‘Earth’—that fact didn’t change much.

-Status Info

< Aiden Kellermain >

▶ You do not meet the access requirements to view your status!

▶ Your influence on the main story is extremely low!

▶ Interact with important characters to unlock special abilities!

Even after a white, square box with these words appeared before his eyes and he realized he was a character in a game world—

After spending several days thinking it over carefully, he had come to the following conclusion.

“Do I really have to live doing something grand?”

Main story, special abilities. Those were phrases people who wanted to stand out would have liked.

But.

When you did grand things, you were easily exposed to grand dangers. If you lived safely, nothing much ever happened, but nothing would threaten you either.

So Aiden decided to remain exactly where he was.

A petty criminal so insignificant that even the authorities felt no need to step in. A worthless conman whose crimes made his victims feel more pathetic pity than hatred.

And when you lived such a life—

There were people you could be certain you would never have any cause to cross paths with.

[-Sir Noel is entering through the Arch of Triumph!]

[All imperial citizens, please greet her with thunderous applause!]

For example, the woman who was appearing right now on the old TV he was watching.

“Oh, for crying out loud.”

He let out a sigh as he looked at the TV screen.

The sight of the woman riding her horse into the Arch of Triumph was enough to deserve that reaction even when seen only through the screen.

Hair like obsidian, as if it devoured all surrounding light, skin as white as snow, and red eyes so dazzling that describing them as flashing lights wouldn’t have seemed strange.

Some even called her the incarnation of Karva, the chief deity of the Empire and goddess of struggle.

Not simply someone who was “beautiful,” but someone who exuded an aura.

‘...If she’s the goddess of struggle, I suppose it does suit her.’

Noel Astrea Simus.

The greatest warrior ever known since the Empire came into existence.

The four lion-head medals displayed proudly on her chest more than proved that fact.

The Lionhearted Medal. Among the honorary decorations awarded by the Imperial military, it was the highest honor.

If you considered what kind of feats usually led to such an award, the fact that she had received four of them meant she was a monster in human shape—someone capable of single-handedly changing the course of a war.

A “Knight” who could shatter boulders with her fists, fly through the sky with her bare body, and, armed with a weapon, break through a fortress alone.

A once-in-a-thousand-years talent who had rewritten every record in the Imperial military archives.

Someone born different from the start.

For an ordinary man like Aiden, it was doubtful whether he could ever muster the courage even to speak to such a person once in his entire life.

And Aiden alone could have added a single note to that assessment.

‘That’s a main character.’

That woman was one of the major figures of this world he now belonged to this “fantasy game.”

A person fated to overcome adversity and, together with the game’s “protagonist,” lead the continent through an unprecedented crisis toward salvation.

And among them, Noel was a particularly striking and distinctive figure.

[There are rumors that high society is in an uproar over Sir Noel’s marriage—]

[Just the list of candidates alone is astounding—]

That’s right. Marriage.

One of the most important turning points that decided Noel’s own fate and the entire “axis” of the main scenario.

[Well then, whoever she marries, may Sir Noel’s future be blessed by the Pantheon!]

At the host’s remark during the triumphal procession broadcast, Aiden let out a dry laugh.

‘I doubt it’ll be so full of blessings.’

From what he knew of the game’s story, the moment Sir Noel got married, her life would take a sharp turn for the worse. That was about when the main story also plunged into chaos.

Noel herself, at this point, would have no wish to get close to any of the candidates.

If he remembered right, by this stage, she would do anything to avoid the marriage.

And honestly.

None of that mattered in the slightest to Aiden.

Talk about the marriage prospects of someone he’d never have any reason to meet in his life was just gossip for busybodies to chatter about.

Whether she saved the world or got married that was the business of “main characters,” not his.

Yes, he was sure he thought so.

Until just a few days ago.

“You’re awake.”

“...?”

Now,

“You’ve woken up.”

Sir Noel herself was saying those words with a faint smile right before his eyes.

At a distance so close they could have counted each other’s freckles.

“...??”

Aiden looked around in a daze.

This was unmistakably an unfamiliar place.

At the very least, he was quite certain he’d never fallen asleep in a dark basement, tied by the arms to a chair.

While he blinked stupidly, the woman before him clipped some fluttering papers into a file and continued speaking.

Glancing sideways, he saw that the papers, stamped with the Imperial military’s watermark, contained all his personal information and the list of his “clients.”

Which meant they’d already dug up every last detail about him.

“Aiden Kellermain. I heard you’re a conman with quite a long career. It’s nice to meet you.”

“...Sir Noel?”

“Yes. Noel Astrea Simus. I’ve come because I have a special request for you.”

Before he could even pull himself together, that emotionless voice fell over him like snow.

Why was this woman, of all people, doing this to him, and for what purpose?

Before he could even finish shaping that question, his mouth reflexively mumbled an answer.

It must have been a professional reflex. Always reacting sensitively to a client’s words.

“...A request, you say.”

“Yes. A conman’s job is to deceive someone, isn’t it? And you are an experienced conman. I also need to deceive someone.”

He didn’t know if he deserved to be called “experienced” he certainly didn’t think he was all that impressive. While he was thinking that—

“I don’t like beating around the bush, so I’ll be direct.”

After saying that, Noel paused briefly.

“Let’s get married.”

All of a sudden.

“Just for one year—would you pretend to be my husband?”

“...”

“I’d like you to deceive the entire Empire.”

She dropped a bomb made of words.

One that came with a truly dreadful aftershock.

 System Message

▶ You are interacting with “Lionhearted,” Noel Astrea Simus.

▶ This is a most critical figure in the story. The fate of the world will be determined by how you influence her!

▶ Your influence on the main story has increased.

▶ New special abilities have been unlocked!

▶ New events have been unlocked in the main story!

When you get involved in things beyond your means, you are bound to get hurt.

It was the phrase Aiden’s father had always muttered like an incantation.

 System Message

▶ Skill “Weaver of Fate” has been unlocked.

▶ You may copy 1 skill from target “Noel Astrea Simus.”

▶ Interact with other important figures in the main story to unlock additional abilities!

And now—

He was standing on the verge of a once-in-a-lifetime upheaval that would break every rule of the philosophy his father had drilled into him.