Furs and a wild look — a barbarian.
Tousled long hair, purple eyes, the wild-blood-charged founding ancestor of House Walt.
He’d been the third son of the Walt family, a robe-noble line in the royal capital.
Unable to inherit, the First had broken away and pioneered a frontier village to make his own.
He’d split from the robe-noble Walts, opened up untamed frontier forest no one had touched. That was the First.
Back then, around the territory, there were people called barbarians. He’d absorbed them too. The man who’d made the beginning of House Walt.
The reason he’d broken off, though—.
“My first love came from a baron’s house. To marry, you need standing, right? So I figured, pioneer the frontier, get my baronetcy, then go fetch her…”
I was, somehow, in the council room — the unconscious version of me, sitting in.
Hearing the First’s story, the rest of them wore complicated faces over the fact that their family’s origin was the First’s puppy love.
“So what you’re saying is — you fell in love with a girl, signed up for the pioneer corps, and that’s how we got House Walt as a country line? …No wonder things were dicey even after you got married!”
The Second, bringing up the First and his wife.
Apparently the marriage hadn’t started well.
“When I came back to the capital, my first love had already gotten married off! Of course I was sad!”
The First grabbed at the Second’s collar; both held their ground, refusing to back down.
“Wait — could the conditions in the family precept… have been because of this Alice person?”
The Third asked. The First looked a little embarrassed.
“Heheh. If I couldn’t marry her, I’d set conditions only the right person could meet, was what I said at the drinking party. Said it was House Walt’s precept and everyone backed off. Honestly, I never figured it’d actually become the precept. Surprised somebody met it, too.”
The First, laughing. The Second, screaming.
(Stop yelling — my mana — also, I really did not want to know this.)
“YOOOOOOOOOU!! Do you have ANY idea what I went through?! Everyone, everywhere — ‘It’s House Walt’s precept’ — because of YOU my marriage was delayed, and you grew the village out with zero planning so I had to clean it ALL up — AAAAAAAA!!”
The Second was losing it. I turned to the Seventh.
“Sorry, why am I here? And — anything happen after I passed out?”
“Mm. The thing is—”
According to the Seventh, the First had called this emergency meeting.
Apparently, the First had heard about House Rockward’s crisis and was insisting they save them.
The Sixth, addressing the First.
”…That’s nice, but no. We are not loaning out Zelphy, our instructor. You’re saying Novem-chan’s dowry money goes to waste?”
The First crossed his arms, brow furrowed.
“True, but. The spitting image of my first love is here asking for help… you lot get this feeling, surely?”
The Fifth, calm.
“Cannot relate. We had no freedom in romance. We essentially married for the territory.”
“Cold-blooded! Are you even human?! Whose blood made you, anyway?!”
In order, starting from the Second—.
“Ma.”
“Mother.”
“Mother, yes.”
“Mama.”
“Mother.”
“Honored mother, yes.”
(Wow… rare consensus.)
“You sons of—!!”
The First shouted, the Second cut him cold.
“More to the point — what about my feelings when I had a mother and you wanted me to go save your first love? And by the way, Novem-chan was angry.”
“Eh, really?”
The Second looked at me with a complicated face.
”…You know, the Aria kid shook Lyle till he passed out. Novem-chan looked about to cry.”
(Ah — I can picture it.)
They’d apparently confirmed the situation at home after bringing me back.
The ancestors had picked up the rest from there.
I could imagine Novem flustered. As a child, she’d been even less collected than now.
“And by ‘help,’ specifically, what would I be doing?”
The First leapt in like he’d been waiting.
“The thieves are a bandit gang. Holed up in the abandoned-mine ruins near Darion. We sneak in and take back the gem — the ‘Jewel.’ You with me?”
He was glaring like do it. The Second and the others pushed back.
“No. Bandit gang — even Zelphy might struggle. Too little intel, too much risk.”
The Third agreed.
“Tell the knight order, or Darion’s soldiers. Isn’t this a lord’s problem, anyway?”
The others said similar things.
The Seventh, my safety first.
“To begin with — sending Lyle to subjugate bandits is absurd. His magic is gated; just Lyle and Zelphy, then? Novem’ll insist on going too, but how much combat power does she actually bring?”
The enemy was a bandit gang, plural by definition. Total enemy numbers unknown. How much could we field? Too many unknowns; the ancestors opposed.
“I want to help! I never even got to confess! And now Lyle’s the one being asked for help… this is fate!”
“No — this is a coincidence.”
The Fourth, dropping the guillotine. The First sank into a chair, shoulders down. Watching it was sad — but being told to go after bandits was its own problem.
I’d only ever fought a person once: Ceres.
Useful versus not useful — not useful, I’d say.
But here the First muttered.
“That’s right. My blood, after all. Even up to count rank, the inside’s the same, isn’t it.”
A faint… click sound, I thought I heard.
“Sorry. Stupid of me, thinking you might have anything. With royal blood mixed in, I thought maybe Lyle, but yeah… You really are just my descendants. About what I’d expect.”
The First’s transparent provocation, and the whole room was visibly irritated.
“Eh, um… e-everyone?”
”…We could do it. There’s just no upside.”
The Fourth. The Second agreed.
“Don’t lump us with you. If we got serious, a bandit gang or two — wiped out instantly!”
The Third, quiet anger.
“You’re underestimating us. I led troops as a lord and personally subjugated bandits, you know. Different era from yours, First.”
The First pushed harder.
“Yeah, sure, sure. You all say you saw war, but basically you watched from behind, made your subordinates do it, right? I mean — you’re nobles, that’s fine, that’s the job. You shoving to the front would’ve gotten your men in trouble.”
The Fifth glared.
“Hah? We commanded from the front. And — it’s not us, it’s Lyle subjugating, right? I never said I couldn’t.”
The Sixth was the same.
“‘Coward’ is uncalled for. This time, it is Lyle subjugating. The current situation makes it difficult. But I never said I couldn’t.”
The First kept going.
“Don’t worry about it. Calm down. …Yeah, weak men make the most noise — that one’s true. Oh, not aimed at you all.”
“Not aimed at you all” — while smirking and sweeping the room.
The Seventh stood up, pointed at the First.
“You want it done but you won’t lift a finger?! You won’t help Lyle, but you’ll order us to save them?!”
The First slammed a fist on the table.
The boom hit; the room went quiet.
“If it’s to save the Aria kid, I’ll help with everything I’ve got! My Skill, the applied form, I’ll teach Lyle the works! ON CONDITION we save her!”
The irritated room visibly relaxed.
I just looked around, dazed.
The First’s eyes went wide too — he was surprised. The Fourth took control.
“Then it’s settled — the First will assist Lyle. Excellent. One problem resolved.”
”…Eh?”
The First, behind the wave. The Third smiled at me.
“Good for you, Lyle. Now you can use the Skill.”
“R-right… uh, um… what just happened?”
The Fifth, tired, explained.
“He provoked us, so we used the provocation to lock him into a commitment. There’s no taking back what he said in this room. Right? You wouldn’t pull something that soft, would you, First?”
“M-men don’t break their word!”
Everyone stood up and went to their respective rooms.
The Sixth called over about next steps.
“Lyle, when you wake up, get information from Aria. Also, while you’re here, ask the First about the Skill. Going to be busy.”
The ancestors went off, laughing.
What remained: me and the First.
”…Um?”
“S-snookered, was I…”
The First, genuinely chagrined. Meanwhile, I was wondering what was actually going on in the real world.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“Right. Skill explanation, then.”
After everyone had returned to their rooms, I was taken to the First’s room.
The room was apparently the house the First had lived in. To me, it looked like a shack.
“Yes. Um, in general a Skill is one per person, right? What’s the ‘applied form’ bit…”
I asked.
“It’s one Skill at the root. Sealed in the gem, the basic usage is the only thing accessible for someone else’s Skill. With talent, you can stretch — that level. For you, I’m teaching you.”
In gem form, the holder couldn’t pull a Skill’s full performance.
In Jewel form, different.
“You know my Skill.”
“Full-Over.”
The First’s Skill — Full-Over. Simple, and effective because of it.
“Performance-wise, ten to twenty percent ability boost. Just figure ten to twenty percent stronger.”
“Right.”
The First explained, but seemed to understand that the basic Skill alone wasn’t going to cut it against bandits.
He’d been a lord, however much later in life — yes, he sensed the situation.
And yet he was trying to save someone who was the spitting image of his first love.
“There’s an applied form. 【Limit Burst】. Augments past your normal cap, and… how to put it… lets you fight while regenerating.”
“While regenerating?”
“Yeah — I don’t know the mechanism. Push past your limit, normally your body breaks.”
“Normally” — the way the First said it, like he wasn’t normal.
(I mean — he doesn’t look normal.)
The barbarian-style First glared.
“You’re thinking something weird right now.”
“N-not at all!”
“Anyway, continuing — that limit-overriding augmentation Skill, you’re going to use. But your body can hold up for, what, about three minutes?”
“Eh, that’s a crucial number! Don’t say it vaguely like that!”
The Skill had a hard limit.
The reason: my body couldn’t sustain it.
“Listen, this Skill on yourself is augmentation. Use it on an injured person and it speeds healing — premium. Even buffs recovery!”
A genuine premium Skill.
Simple, but on reflection, outrageous.
“Now. Use the Skill.”
”…How?”
And so my training with the First began.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
I woke up to the rental’s ceiling above me.
Sitting up, my body felt sluggish.
Novem was beside me, nursing.
“Lord Lyle?!”
“Novem… how many days has it been?”
I needed every minute I could get.
“It’s nearly morning. Not a full day, but you’ve been out that long. I was really worried.”
“Sorry. Aria Rockward, was it… go bring her. Zelphy too. They haven’t left for the bandit subjugation yet, have they?”
I figured both were still in town.
From Zelphy’s reaction in the cafe, she hadn’t been on board.
Even that tomboy-looking ojou-sama wouldn’t take on bandits alone.
”…Lord Lyle, bandit subjugation is the lord’s job. Or the watch’s.”
She’d grasped my intent. Novem looked at me seriously, trying to stop me.
But I had my reasons.
(It’s a chance to win the First’s approval. And—)
“Good girl, Novem-chan. Properly understands it’s the lord’s job. Now, Lyle… from here, this is our specialty area.”
The Third, addressing me.
Right — as a lord, bandit subjugation was a significant pain point.
Successive heads — the Third onward, especially — had wrestled with that exact problem.
“Novem, this is my decision. Sorry — I’m helping recover the Jewel from the bandits. Can you wait at home?”
“I can’t do that. If we’re helping, I’m coming. But we don’t know the size of the gang.”
Right — we didn’t know. Size, gear, ability—.
So we’d find out.
“Investigate the bandits first. The hideout’s already known, so it’s not a big gang. We need to find out why the lord isn’t deploying, too. Lots to do.”
I turned to Novem.
“Novem, lend me your strength… and — this is a war we can win.”
Hearing that, Novem nodded silently.