“LET IT RIP, LYLE!!!”
The First’s voice. Watching the great axe descending toward me, I smiled.
The big man, seeing my face — either he thought I’d snapped, or he hadn’t worked out what was about to happen…
Either way, the match was decided.
“Limit Burst.”
If Full-Over enhanced your overall ability by ten to twenty percent, Limit Burst pushed past your normal limits.
The brutal backlash that came with it was canceled out by simultaneous healing — that was the Skill.
The moment it activated, time around me flowed differently.
Slow, terribly slow. Senses sharp.
I drew my spare sabre with my left hand, brought both blades against the axe, and redirected the strike.
Sparks flew off the sabres on impact; the shock kicked back into me.
I let it flow through, twisted, and kicked the big man — head.
“Wha—”
He didn’t fly back, but he toppled, took the direct hit, staggered.
He braced himself up using the axe as a cane, looked at me like he couldn’t understand what he was seeing.
“That’s a convenient Skill. I’m jealous.”
He shouldered the axe again.
Whether by Skill or natural resistance, the man was tough against impact. Maybe both.
He charged, axe swinging wildly, shouting.
But it wasn’t a threat-shout.
In that one exchange, he’d registered that my movement had changed. The Skill that had been a guaranteed kill hadn’t worked.
When your trump card fails, panic.
“M-MONSTER!!”
A man who can’t win calling me a monster — rude. I redirected another swing with both sabres and kicked again.
A single sabre, alone, would’ve snapped.
(So this is the Skill… incredible.)
This time, a kick to the gut.
He dropped to his knees, eyes on me like he was seeing something impossible.
“Why. I’ve got speed and power. How can a thin, girlish runt like you—”
Sure, he had the power, with the Skill boost.
Speed I had on him.
But strength too, with mana manipulation, came up. With my training, the man wasn’t a “power type” by any real measure.
He was just temporarily strong.
His technique was wildly inadequate.
I checked the surroundings with the Skill. The other bandits were already restrained.
Only the big man remained.
I walked toward him. He dropped the axe and raised both hands.
Then begged.
“W-wait! I — I like you, kid! With you, I could dream big! Make me your subordinate! Or my men — soldiers, drudges, whatever, take ‘em!”
His tone collapsed.
The dropped axe — out of reach.
But the First.
“Oi. This one’s a snake. The cowardly types—”
He noticed my eyes shift, drew a hidden knife, and started the prep stance for the Gem’s Skill.
The Gem clenched in his left hand glowed faintly.
The big man flashed a leering grin.
“FOOL!”
“—always have a weapon or two stashed.”
The Fifth, dry.
“Could you tell us a little earlier next time?”
“Hah. Enough for Lyle.”
By the time the First had spoken, I’d already leaped and kicked.
The kick caught the jaw. The Skill misfired.
When I looked around, the adventurers had me surrounded. They looked relieved.
They’d thought I’d take the surprise hit.
I’d been careful, but maybe I’d let my guard down.
(The Skill saved me. Limit Burst… outrageous performance, this one.)
Continuous use was capped, but the performance — quirky each, but useful.
I dropped the Skill and looked at the unconscious big man.
“Good. Lyle, before he’s handed off, take from the left—”
I pulled the cord off his left hand and retrieved the red Gem.
The red Gem glowed faintly.
(This one seems much more useful, actually—)
I looked at the red Gem in my hand, then at the blue Jewel glowing at my chest.
A Jewel that complained, that gated my Skill use.
A Gem that didn’t pick its user, taught its Skill methods, and let you wield freely.
If asked which I’d pick — I’d pick the latter.
”…Oi. You’re thinking something.”
The First, by wild instinct, had caught the thought. Low voice.
Novem and Rockward rushed over.
The bandit boss was surrounded by adventurers, getting bound.
“Lord Lyle… well done.”
Novem, slightly teary, smiled at me.
Rockward, looking at me, was visibly flustered.
She wanted to say something about the red Gem in my hand. But she hadn’t done anything, so she felt she couldn’t.
(Awkward person.)
I was thinking that when a voice came from the adventurers.
“Hey, this one’s a wreck.”
“Bleeding all over? Skill backlash?”
“Mm, alive is fine. Hey, moving him out.”
I turned. The bandit boss was bleeding from all over. The adventurers were applying potion to the bleeding spots.
(Mm, alive is the goal.)
Skill over-use. His body hadn’t been able to take it.
(Seeing this, I get why the ancestors throttle my Skill use.)
Watching the bleeding big man, I resolved to be careful with Skill use.
Rockward called over.
“U-um…”
Face deeply troubled, eyes swinging between the Gem in my hand and my face.
Novem said,
“Time to fulfill Lord Lyle’s goal.”
I passed the Gem to Rockward. I’d thought about tossing it — but considering it was an heirloom, hand to hand was better.
She received it with both hands wrapped around mine and started crying.
Face bright red. Wanting to thank me.
“Eh, um, I didn’t do anything but, that…”
She couldn’t string the words. Novem, gently:
“Please accept it. That is Lord Lyle’s wish. Isn’t it, Lord Lyle?”
Novem confirmed, smiling. I scratched my cheek and looked away, embarrassed.
“Well, um… my goal is achieved. So we’re good. More to the point—”
“Th-thank y—”
She couldn’t finish.
An adventurer was approaching. I turned.
“Sorry to interrupt. This is also business.”
“No, thank you. Your help was a real save.”
He pulled back the hood.
Sharp eyes, not an ordinary air.
Not really a bounty hunter — an adventurer with a tight relationship to a lord.
Skill, character, trust — all checked out.
Just — not a Darion adventurer.
Zelphy had reached out and arranged the cooperation.
I’d checked with the Guild that this wouldn’t be an issue. Hawkins had pulled a complicated face when he heard. “Officially, no good,” he’d said.
In other words: he’d look the other way. He’d been more worried about whether they’d actually deliver.
(I’d guessed Zelphy would lean in hard if it was Rockward — turned out right.)
The man looked relieved.
“Help cuts both ways. Now we can judge them on our turf. The lord’ll be delighted.”
Right — adventurers from a territory the gang had ravaged. Their best, attached to this subjugation.
“We’d like to claim what we were looking for from the pile. Sorry to rush you, but please witness.”
I nodded.
“Right, right. Move fast at moments like these. Their job’s not over. Let’s tell the adventurers we brought from Darion too — someone might get greedy with the bandits’ pile.”
The cheerful Third.
I’d be witnessing the inventory, so I asked one of the others to brief Darion’s adventurers.
“Relying on adventurers…”
The Seventh sounded reluctant.
The Third, exasperated.
“You had adventurers on retainer too, surely… Eh, I get the feeling. Adventurers run the gamut.”
But for our plan, top-tier adventurers had been essential.
“Mind if we take that battleaxe too? It was held by one of the lord’s sub-houses. Relatives have been searching. Your rights to it are clear — we’ll offer a fair price.”
The big man’s battleaxe.
Nicely made.
I wasn’t going to use it, so I let them set the price.
“Sure. Whatever you offer is fine. Shall we go check?”
“You make this easy. Are you certain? It’s an heirloom-grade weapon — you could push the price.”
I glanced over. Rockward, half-visible, flinched.
”…Not really in the mood.” (My goal’s already done. No point getting greedy.)
“All right. This way. We can’t move it, so it’s still in the mine. I’ll tell the original owner about the recovered axe — they’ll be very glad.”
“That’s — well, I’ll trust you on it.”
I almost said maybe don’t, but it was being offered, so I let it.
The adventurer and I went into the mine. Novem came along. Rockward saw us off.
Actually — she looked at a loss for what to do, standing in place.
Tension finally released, perhaps.
“Good. Truly good. Lady Alice’s Gem back with Lady Alice’s descendant… damn it, I’m tearing up.”
The First was apparently crying.
The Second:
“An old man crying — why is it always so ugly. Or is it just because it’s the First?”
“YOU BASTARD! Don’t talk to me like that while I’m having a moment! STEP OUTSIDE!”
“I CAN’T step outside! I keep telling you! LEARN, BARBARIAN!”
The usual. But—.
(Hey, stop! I just finished a fight, I’m tired — ah, dizzy.)
I started to wobble. Novem caught me.
“Lord Lyle?!”
“Hey hey, you okay? You did a lot. Want to rest first—”
“N-no… almost done.” (Will you people EVER LEARN!!)
Never sticks the landing.
This was becoming my standard pattern. Hated it.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
On a rattling cart—.
The bandits, hemmed in by iron bars, were crammed into three carts.
They didn’t know they were being taken out of Darion and back to the territories they’d ravaged.
“Dammit, we haven’t done anything yet!”
“Yeah! We haven’t done anything in YOUR territory!”
“Let us go! And give back our loot!”
The bandits’ self-serving complaints; the adventurers around them just smirked.
Not just smirked at their complaints. Like they knew what was coming.
The big man caught the wrongness.
“Oi — these guys are Darion adventurers, right?”
His jaw ached. He massaged it as he asked the man who’d been embedded as an adventurer in Darion.
“No. Never seen them.”
The big man looked around.
”…Where the hell are we going. Crossed territory lines? What is this?”
An adventurer pulled close to the bars on horseback.
“When did we tell you we were Darion adventurers? You lot are heading back to the lands you ravaged. To be judged.”
The bandits’ faces drained.
In the Banseim Kingdom, lords held strong local power.
Common law existed, but local intent often dominated.
Criminals who crossed territory lines were often let go.
Push it far enough, and a famous bounty hunter would come for you — but otherwise.
“What the hell?! We were in Darion! You have no reason to come for us!”
The boss, panicked. The men panicked harder.
The adventurers laughed.
“We just happened to catch you when you ran our way. Darion’s adventurers drove you to us, and we happened to be there to take you in. Inconvenient, those Darion adventurers… they owe us a big one.”
The adventurers each had separate commissions.
Recover something precious the gang took.
Avenge a family member.
A whole assortment of jobs, all rolled into one operation that piggybacked on the Darion subjugation.
The adventurer who’d reached out to the lord-connected man — that was Zelphy.
“H-hey, this is a joke! Why are you doing this?! Because we’re criminals?! There are WORSE criminals!”
The big man wasn’t wrong.
By extreme-villain standards, they were light.
Just — by extreme-villain standards.
Their own crimes were heavy.
They’d raided villages, burned them down. Hit the village lord’s residence. Women, children—
A list of crimes, accumulated.
The lords they’d hit, with no way to retaliate after the bandits fled, had their face crushed.
The townsmen’s frustration accumulated. Unreliable lord.
“How would we know. Bad luck. After running wild, complaining now is rich… we’ve got men among us who came from villages you raided.”
The big man looked around.
Among the smirking adventurers, a few were not smirking. They held up weapons — see this?
“Y-you’re judging us, right? You can’t kill us here—”
“Hah? What are you talking about? One or two missing, judgment’s just mass execution. We need some number to deliver.”
The bandits went sheet-white.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Back in Darion, we released the assembled personnel and returned the carts and gear we’d borrowed.
The bandits’ hoard, mostly returned to its owners — once we’d settled all the payments, what was left came to sixty gold.
(Done normally, a major loss. The lord whose territory got ravaged is in for a headache.)
When we put out the job, we’d hired strong Darion adventurers as a precaution too.
So a sizable amount went out.
The bandits’ loot — finding a place to convert it was a pain, so most of it went straight to the cooperating adventurers.
Everything wrapped. All that was left was the Guild report.
“Finally a stopping point.”
I stretched. Novem.
“Well done, Lord Lyle. So — what was Lord Lyle’s real goal here?”
Asked. I was caught.
Should I tell her about the Jewel and the ancestors, or shouldn’t I?
(Now’s the time, probably. She saw me use Skills firsthand — at least there’s some basis.)
Then Zelphy rode up, leading her horse.
“Good work, you two.”
“Ah — good work, Zelphy.”
Novem, then me.
“Hit the bath, then go check in at the Guild. Hawkins is probably worrying himself sick.”
I could picture him.
Short acquaintance, but the man was genuinely a good one.
“Will do. And — you’ve got business with us, don’t you?”
Zelphy’s eyes widened.
She scratched her hair and looked away, awkward.
”…Tch. Thought you were a frail kid. Turn out to be a hell of a brat.”
She sighed.
“After you check in at the Guild, come with me to the lord’s mansion. There are things you ought to know.”
She mounted up and left.
Novem smiled at me.
“When did you notice? That Zelphy was a lord-connected adventurer.”
I raised both hands — surrender.
“Probably after you did. And it wasn’t me who noticed, anyway.”
The Third’s voice, proud.
“That’s right, I noticed. Hah, she was capable, gathered info immediately, suspicious from the start, but only truly convinced by the time Aria—”
“Yeah, that’s enough. We need to move on.”
The Fourth cut him off. I turned to Novem.
“I just had a suspicion. From the moment Hawkins recommended an instructor. Even at a lower price, Zelphy would have shown up, I think.”
“You suspected from the start?!”
“Of course. He recommended an instructor to obviously-suspicious newcomers like us. And not to the others, apparently.”
Novem, soft laugh. Then why pay the high fee, I wondered. She read my face.
“An instructor delivers in proportion to the fee. For Lord Lyle’s great ambition, this is no place to economize.”
“That so?” (My — great ambition? Did I say anything to Novem about ambition?)
Some of it didn’t add up, but the Guild report was waiting. We headed for the bathhouse.
Several days of grime to wash off, too.
(…My great ambition? I don’t remember saying anything… becoming an adventurer was a kind of drift, the only thing that came to mind, basically.)