Back from the subjugation, I staggered through selling off the collected materials and filing the report at the Guild.
The Guild didn’t, as a rule, deal in demon-beast materials.
The one exception was the mana-stone — the small red stone harvested from a demon-beast. Those, the Guild controlled.
A precious energy resource, and simultaneously a Guild monopoly.
Adventurers sold materials to merchants and the trades, and sold mana-stones to the Guild for profit. The Guild profited from the mana-stone trade.
And the mana-stone trade was enormous.
The Guild ran on it — staggering profit.
Though none of that mattered to rank-and-file staff.
For adventurers it didn’t matter either; no point picking a fight with the body that monopolized your sales channel for stones.
As usual, I lined up at Hawkins’s counter and waited for my turn.
Blood-spattered Zelphy was at the bathhouse next door, washing it off.
While I waited with Novem, she asked, worried,
“Lord Lyle, are you really all right? Your color hasn’t come back.”
“I’m fine. Better than before. After this we just go home…”
I was trying not to worry her, but apparently the effort had the opposite effect.
“Just as I thought — weakling.”
The First. Sounding pleased at my breakdown.
(No, this is your fault.)
The Seventh, to the pleased First.
“Who was just bright red in the face a moment ago?”
“N-not me!”
“‘There’s no way you can—’ Delivered with such confidence. Embarrassing, wasn’t it.”
I could see the Seventh smirking.
But could they spare a thought for my mana.
“Lord Lyle, your color’s gone again… let’s rest tomorrow. You’re pushing yourself. I’ll let Zelphy know.”
“Uuu, sorry.”
Ancestors who burned mana the moment it regenerated — did I not have grounds to be angry?
“Next, please… Lyle! Your color’s awful!”
Even Hawkins worried.
“I-I’m fine.”
“No, that’s not ‘fine’… What in the world was Zelphy doing?”
Hawkins rushed the paperwork through. I went home, lay down, and stayed down.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
The day after monster-hunting was a rest day.
By default, when adventurers went out and engaged monsters, they took a rest day after — varied by skill level, of course.
For people working close to town like us, the pattern was usually: out one day, rest the next, repeat.
If you took rest days after slime alone, you wouldn’t make money.
This time, the goblin fight pushed up the take, and my condition forced the rest day.
Back at the rental, I was being nursed by Novem.
“Combat is exhausting in a different way. We’ll need to expand the party so Lord Lyle’s burden lightens.”
I wanted to tell her she was overprotective, but I couldn’t — because the ancestors all agreed with her.
Seven goblins, and I’d cleared them with one spell.
But that was only because we had a top-tier front-liner in Zelphy.
She’d held cover immediately and kept the goblins off me. With her absorbing the entire attack, I could spend on the spell.
The old sofa in the living room had cuts in the surface, stuffing showing through.
I sat on it, staring at a fireplace with no fire in it.
No — thinking.
(If we add party members, that’s front-line then? Depending on where I’m slotted.)
Honestly, at this point any slot worked.
A back-liner was fine. A front-liner gave us a stable three-man setup.
“Zelphy said three at minimum, after all.”
“Yes. Indulgent wish-lists could go on forever, but one more solid member and we’re stable for a while.”
“Numbers win fights.”
The Fifth cut in. Unusual.
I hadn’t heard from him today — apparently he was on duty.
“Correct as stated, but in Lyle’s current situation, what he needs to grasp is the appropriate number.”
(Appropriate?)
“Reaching numbers matters, but can you sustain them? Are they the right people? How do you grow from here? There’s a mountain of things to consider — individual capability, character, specialty, background… Leading people, scale aside, is hard.”
I looked at Novem.
She’d left the room for the kitchen. Making tea.
Under my breath, I continued with the Fifth.
“How do I pick someone to invite in?”
“Have a sense of the kind of person you need. But capable people get a lot of offers. Getting exactly the candidate you want is rare.”
(So — it is hard.)
“Should we try temporary partnerships, learn the candidates that way?”
“That kind of know-how, you should ask Zelphy. We don’t have adventurer know-how.”
“True…”
(Adventurer know-how… I’d lean on Second and First, but—)
The First and Second were essentially the originators of House Walt, founding a pioneer village. Not adventurers, but doing related work.
The Second had said it himself — the First had Skills useful for this kind of thing.
The Second’s Skill was the kind that activated in combination with another Skill.
Right now, the only Skill I could reasonably use was the First’s.
“The First’s help would be the easiest path, I take it?”
“Yes. Simple but useful Skill. I owed it a lot myself, so I know. Easy to use, combined with the Second’s, your combat strength jumps.”
The First’s Skill, in one phrase: enhancement of ability.
The Skill’s name: 【Full-Over】.
Pure raw stat-up, overwhelming the enemy by sheer numbers.
Simple, but enormously useful. Successive heads of the house had all leaned on it.
“Depends on the First, though… in our time, you used it freely, no permission required.”
Inside the Jewel, the Skills had developed will.
That will was the memory and heart of the past heads. The ancestors were the Skills.
Meaning — without their consent, you couldn’t use them.
“My Skill puts a heavy load on Lyle too. Not out of malice — your body genuinely can’t bear it. If you grow your mana steadily, the door opens…”
“But I don’t know how to do that. I’ve heard it grows with normal growth, but.”
To grow mana, there were training methods — cast spells, deplete and refill. Whether those actually worked was unclear.
Some effect, probably. But mana grew on its own as you aged regardless.
Among the folksier sayings: defeat demon-beasts and other stats grow too, not just mana.
But no one I’d asked back home could confirm it.
“If Lyle’s own Skill manifests, different methods might open up. Easy does it.”
“Haa…” (I have the Jewel that’s supposed to let me use Skills, and I can’t use a single one of them…)
Novem came back with tea, and the Fifth and I broke off.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
The next day.
Novem and I met up with Zelphy and learned the plan was changing.
After Guild paperwork, we sat down in an adventurer-heavy cafe to talk.
Apparently the place was fine with armed clientele — lots of adventurers.
A window seat was open; the three of us took it and ordered tea. Zelphy also ordered something sweet.
“I’m covering. Now — I told you to take on a partner. About that… let’s slow down. Don’t pull in just anyone.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Novem checked.
Zelphy laid out the reason.
She’d taken accurate measure of our skill, and the conclusion was: select carefully.
“Your skill level for newbies is way above the curve, never mind the balance. Setting Lyle’s stamina aside, he ranks at the top end among Darion’s adventurers. And Novem, your light element magic — I saw it for real — top-tier in Darion without question.”
I tilted my head at that.
Darion, as a kind town for novices, did have lower overall quality among its adventurers.
But “top-end in Darion” still meant comfortably professional.
(Praise like that, we should be able to find members easily…)
“That’s bad how?”
Zelphy’s face went a little troubled.
“It’s not bad — just complicated. Bad, in the inconvenient sense. I had you two checked out. Where you came from.”
Zelphy had looked into my background — into where I’d come from. Which meant she’d worked out my position.
That said, she didn’t seem to know the deep details. And probably didn’t want to.
“U-um, I wasn’t going to lie—”
I started, but she held up a hand.
“I’m not saying you did anything wrong. My way is to finish a job once I take it. I’m not bailing — penalty fees scare me too. Just — if there are circumstances, and you’re talented as adventurers, we have to think carefully about what comes next.”
I’d apparently been underestimating adventurers. I hadn’t expected my background to be checked that fast.
Novem listened seriously.
“You’re staying in Darion a while, yes? That’s fine. But eventually you’ll move on. When you pick partners, be careful, and pick someone trustworthy. No fun getting flagged by the wrong type.”
The wrong type: leeches who freeloaded off adventurer parties, and swindlers in the trade.
The former clung to a party, took their cut, did nothing.
The latter were mostly cons.
“So, about future plans—”
Just as Zelphy started, the cafe door flew open.
The bell mounted on the door clanged hard.
Footsteps came in our direction.
Novem stood up on alert; I rose too and looked toward the newcomer. But she wasn’t looking at us.
“Zelphy…”
Called by name, Zelphy looked slightly troubled and muttered.
The First overlapped her.
“Lady Aria…”
“Lady Alice! Why are you—!”
“Eh? Which—”
“Lord Lyle?”
I’d muttered out loud and Novem looked at me. She’d judged the newcomer non-hostile and lowered her staff.
I hurried to sit. Looked at both of them.
The girl Zelphy had called ojou-sama and the First had called Alice — red hair, about our age.
Red hair to her back, the ends curling and jumping.
Eyes a sharp purple, breath ragged in front of us. Visibly panicking. And also visibly the active sort.
She wore tight clothing built for movement.
Zelphy’s ojou-sama didn’t quite fit. The girl was pretty, and there was a hint of breeding, but her outfit was nowhere near ojou-sama.
“Please, Zelphy — help me.”
“Ah, but… I’m on a job.”
The surrounding tables had glanced over to ours but weren’t getting loud. Whispering about what was happening.
“Lover’s quarrel?”
“Blue-haired bastard, lucky guy.”
“Wait, isn’t that Aneki Zelphy?”
(Why am I getting glared at? Got nothing to do with it.)
I weathered the strangely hostile looks and listened in. Inside the Jewel, the First was already going off.
My mana was being shredded.
“The Rockward family’s Jewel was stolen! It’s been passed down for generations, it’s irreplaceable! Help me get it back!”
She wasn’t excited so much as frantic, the girl called Aria. I turned to Novem.
“What is this?”
“Hmm… a family member of someone Zelphy used to serve, perhaps? I thought she carried herself like a knight, and actually she really was, then.”
Zelphy corrected her.
“Not me, my father — wait — Ojou-sama, I’m not a Rockward retainer anymore. And I’m on a job. I can’t accept the request.”
Zelphy said it apologetically. Aria’s face fell.
She turned to me and pleaded.
“You’re the one who hired Zelphy? Then please — just a little. Lend me her time! It’s an irreplaceable heirloom… House Rockward’s Jewel. Passed down for over two hundred years! I’ll do anything, please lend me Zelphy!”
Novem stood up.
“We understand your urgency. But we have our own circumstances. We have a three-month contract with Zelphy, with a sizeable fee paid. We understand the feeling, but please withdraw. …And — Zelphy appears to be troubled by the request, doesn’t she?”
Novem said it. Zelphy looked down but didn’t refute.
Aria looked bitter watching it.
There was something there, but more than that, right now—.
“Lady Alice! Lady Alice, exactly as she was… my first love was never over!”
The First, on absolute fire, and my mana getting flayed.
(Hold on — my mana, more than ever, dizzy—)
My head was spinning.
The Second jumped in.
“Oi! Lyle’s in trouble! He’s already wobbling! Calm DOWN!”
“I CAN’T calm down! My youth, if Lady Alice doesn’t exist, can’t be told—”
That was the last I heard from the Jewel before it cut out.
At the same time — Novem refused, and Aria grabbed me by the shoulders.
“Please. I’ll do anything. Lend me Zelphy… it’s important.”
Tears in her eyes, desperate. In front of a girl pleading like this, no words came out.
Maybe out of pure desperation — she was shaking me forward and back. Head rocking, vision—.
“Let go of Lord Lyle! Lord Lyle? — Lord Lyle?!”
“Eh? What — KYAAA!!”
“Hey! Why is he passing out?!”
Consciousness sliding away, I thought:
(Th-this… isn’t my fault…)