Looking in the mirror, I ran a hand through my blue hair.
The me in the mirror had a horribly tired face. Some of the bandages were still showing through with blood, but the wounds had closed.
The burn marks didn’t show either — maybe a medicine had been used.
“How are you feeling, young master?”
I turned at the voice behind me and thanked the old man.
“Thanks. I feel a lot better now.”
The old man was a gardener who lived in a small shed he’d built in the manor’s garden. He had family somewhere, apparently, but ever since his wife had died he’d been living alone in the shed.
The shed itself, hidden away in one corner of the manor’s vast garden, was a converted storehouse, the kind you used for tools.
“That’s a relief. It was a close call. If the manor’s doctor had treated you, he could’ve done a more thorough job, but…”
The old man looked apologetic. Despite appearances, he was an ex-soldier. He clearly knew his way around wound care — the treatment had been clean and efficient.
But what he really seemed to find hard to talk about was —
”…My parents have completely given up on me. Hah. Hah hah. What else can I do but laugh.”
Watching me laugh weakly, the old man — [Zel] — sat down on a chair in the room. At seventy-something, Zel had been spending his days tending to one section of the wide garden.
There were several gardeners on the estate, but Zel was the only one who had built a shed and lived on site. My parents, I’d heard a few times, hadn’t been able to ask Zel — who’d served since Grandfather’s generation — to move out, and were quietly stuck on the matter.
It was Zel who had carried me, wounded, to his shed, and who had nursed me through the three days I’d spent unconscious.
Sitting on the bed, I thanked him again.
“Thanks for saving me, Zel. Even if I can’t really repay you.”
I’d cracked a joke, but Zel sighed deeply.
“I’m relieved you seem to be alright. Honestly, the state of the manor recently is — strange.”
The reason for Zel’s sigh was that the manor had become a different place over the last five years.
I’d had questions about it myself, but living inside the family, there were a lot of things I’d missed.
“This whole business with you, young master, and putting Lady Ceres forward as heir… If the former lord had heard of it, I shudder to think how he would’ve raged.”
My grandfather, [Broad Walt], had been a strict noble. He’d held the rank of Count and a rural territory, which meant he also commanded soldiers.
House Walt had served as advisor to the royal family. In my grandfather’s time, my father liked to brag, he’d had the chance to speak with His Majesty in the royal capital many times.
He was also an extremely severe man.
A man who was strong on the battlefield and threw himself into governance back in his own territory.
Even the previous king had said he was one of the leading nobles in Banseim. But — he had a soft spot for his grandchildren.
His first grandchild, me, had been doted on.
“My memory of him is just kind. Though I’d hate to face him after losing the right to inherit.”
I had betrayed my grandfather’s hopes. The thought emptied out everything I’d put effort into until now.
I’d already lost everything.
“Young master… don’t drive yourself into a corner. You’re still young. Please look forward and live the rest of your life.”
“Thanks. But I don’t have a goal anymore. Until now, my goal was to become the lord. Without it, I don’t know what to do. Pathetic, isn’t it.”
I gave a self-deprecating laugh. Zel got up and went to the kitchen to prepare a drink. I sat there with my head down, trying to think about what came next.
(I can’t stay here. I’ll have to go somewhere.)
On the fifth day of being looked after at Zel’s, the bandages came off.
Maybe because he’d used some very expensive medicine, I was healing fast.
Even so, I felt guilty staying with Zel forever. And I had been disowned — being kept hidden here might bring trouble down on him.
Over dinner, in the middle of a conversation, I brought it up. Zel had been telling me stories — running across battlefields with my grandfather, or stories from the royal capital.
Recalling the conversation from the third night, I said:
“Zel, I’m going to become an adventurer.”
“An adventurer? It’s true that some sons of nobility who can’t inherit do become adventurers. But you have magic, young master, and education. With those, you could find official service.”
I shook my head.
I might cause trouble for whoever took me in. House Walt was a large family — they had power. Threatening some other house into rejecting me — that was something Ceres would absolutely do.
“I’ve lost everything. So it feels right to start from zero and earn something with my own strength.”
”…I see. If that is your path, young master, then so be it.”
“From what you’ve told me, famous adventurers don’t have to worry about money. Someday I’ll come back and repay you — when I do, I’ll come back as a proper adventurer.”
“Hahaha, I’ll look forward to that, young master.”
Zel laughed loudly. He was playing along with my joke.
Truthfully, I didn’t think the adventurer’s path was that easy.
I was, after all, the would-be heir of a territory. I’d come to understand adventurers, as a lord-in-training, all too well. They challenged the unknown, brought treasures back from labyrinths — sure, a story to make kids dream. But in practice, they were mostly a gathering of brawlers and ruffians.
Call an adventurer a mercenary and you got a mercenary. And mercenaries had no problem raiding villages for food.
Because they routinely fought monsters, adventurers were a troublesome bunch by default.
Not all of them were villains, of course.
A famous adventurer could get hired into service on great terms. The kind who ran a mercenary company on the side would get paid handsomely for their strength and would be wined and dined.
“But adventurers… if you really want the real thing, the free city of [Beim] would be a good destination.”
I listened seriously.
“Beim? That’s the merchant-council city without a lord, right? A trading hub between countries?”
“That’s exactly why. It’s not controlled by any one country, and it’s an easy place for adventurers to live. Though the same goes for criminals.”
A lot of adventurers slipped into being criminals. When that happened, they got expelled from the Adventurers’ Guild and put on bounty lists.
But if they fled to Beim, a trading hub, no country could openly reach in to grab them. I’d heard of such places, but actually aiming for one myself made me a little nervous.
Zel seemed to pick up on it.
“You don’t need to worry too much. As long as you don’t go hang out in the places those types gather, you’ll rarely get tangled with them.”
“R-right. I was thinking the royal capital might be okay too…”
There was an Adventurers’ Guild branch in House Walt’s own territory. But my father, as the lord, could meddle there, so I had to avoid it.
Within the kingdom, that meant going somewhere my father’s influence didn’t reach. The simplest answer was the royal capital.
“Many of the robed nobles in the capital have ties to our house. It’s not a bad option, but not the best one either.”
“I see. Beim… I’d need travel money, though. And I want to know how far I can get on my own ability.”
Beim was a merchant city. At the same time, lots of adventurers gathered there looking for work. Which meant you had to actually be skilled to survive.
“True. Going to the royal capital first might be one approach, even so. I wouldn’t recommend a long stay, though.”
“Anywhere besides the capital?”
I figured I might as well consult Zel. He had ridden the battlefields with Grandfather and knew a lot of places.
I’d never spoken with him before, but talking with him now, I found he had a wealth of interesting stories.
“How about [Darion], near the capital? It’s a comfortable place.”
“Darion? I’ve only heard the name.”
“As a territory it’s behind ours in development. Which means there’s no shortage of work.”
“Work? You mean monster hunting?”
Zel pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, looking a little exasperated.
“Well, since no one ever taught you about how the world really works, young master, I suppose it can’t be helped.”
Zel proceeded to tell me what adventurers really were. In my mind, the image was: people who delved into labyrinths and occasionally fought on battlefields as mercenaries.
But according to Zel —
“Adventurers will take on any kind of work. Yes, they start by hunting monsters or challenging dungeons, but a lot of it is odd jobs. Newcomers do odd jobs to earn money for their first set of gear.”
“That’s how it works? But — odd jobs would have professional laborers for them, wouldn’t they?”
“That’s where the Guild posts day-labor jobs. It’s a form of work-brokering. The Guild uses it to keep on the good side of the local population. Though, honestly, they’re also making money off it as a labor-broker.”
Zel was telling me the parts about adventurers no one wanted to hear. Of course it wouldn’t all be glory.
“Through that kind of grunt work, adventurers put together their first equipment. It’s not all bad, and if anyone tried to abolish it, it would hurt the adventurers more than the Guild.”
“That’s how it works, huh. I don’t really get it.”
I’d been educated to be a lord — that world was entirely outside my imagination. Zel looked a little pleased about that.
“What’s the matter?”
“No — I’ve served since the former lord’s time, but I never thought I’d be sitting and talking with you like this, young master. The current head has been a member of the count’s family since he was born.”
It was during Grandfather’s generation that House Walt had finally been raised to the count’s rank.
Before that, apparently, my great-grandfather had paid a fortune for the title — bought it, basically — and was talked about behind his back for it. My father still brought it up bitterly.
My great-grandfather was, according to the talk, a man who hadn’t been above using nasty methods.
Because of that history, my father had been raised as a count’s son from birth. My grandfather, on the other hand, had been the head of a viscount house and had still personally led troops into battle.
In all of that, Zel had never really had a chance to interact with my father.
”…By the way, young master. Have you experienced anything strange in this house?”
“Strange? No… ah!”
I almost answered “no” out of reflex. Compared to being thrown out, most things felt small.
But I remembered.
“On the brink of death — I heard my grandfather’s voice. A voice I missed. But… other voices too. It could’ve been a dream.”
I waved it off as probably a dream and went back to my meal.
Zel was watching me, eyes wide.
The next morning.
I dressed in clothes Zel had lent me and pulled a robe over them.
“They’re my son’s old clothes, but your height matches.”
“Sorry to keep imposing. I’ll definitely repay you.”
I bowed, but Zel shook his head.
“No — you’ve already repaid me enough. Also, young master — please take this.”
He handed me a leather pouch. A palm-sized one, with money inside.
“No, I can’t accept money—”
A small sum to me, but for Zel, completely different. Our financial scales were not the same. I tried to refuse, but Zel pushed it into my hands.
“You absolutely need this. What were you going to do without a single coin? And if you’re going to repay me, think of it as an investment.”
That decided it. I bowed and took the pouch.
Inside were silver coins.
“S-sorry. For everything.”
“It’s fine. With this, I can finally fulfill my promise to the former lord.”
“A promise?”
I tilted my head. Zel held out a small wooden box and opened it in front of me. Inside was a blue gem.
Silver detailing wreathed it — clearly an expensive piece of work at first glance.
“No — something this valuable, I can’t—”
“This is the former lord’s — no… a gem that has been passed down through generations of House Walt. The metalwork uses rare metals, was forged by a renowned smith and finished by a famous craftsman.”
The gem was about two centimeters across, set as a pendant on a necklace.
“Grandfather’s? I knew he owned it, but didn’t my father inherit it?”
“The former lord had it decorated to suit a count’s house, but his timing was poor — he passed away. At the stage of setting the gem into the new setting, I went to check on it and brought it back with me. I never managed to meet with Lord Mayzel after that.”
My father was busy. Unless something was important, even retainers didn’t always get an audience. And Zel — whose presence reminded him of an awkward situation — even more so.
I lifted the necklace out of the box.
The gem — its method of creation now lost — stored Skills produced by individuals. The exact lore was lost; today, simple Magic Tools took the role.
A person produced only one Skill in their lifetime. You could polish it, but you couldn’t create more.
Storing that Skill so others could also use it — that was a gem.
“And — I can’t hand it to Lord Mayzel, the current head. By my own judgment alone, I want you, young master — Lord Lyle — to have it. Doing so will repay my debt to the former lord.”
I put the necklace on and gripped the gem.
”…Truly, thank you, Zel. Someday, I’ll come back and repay this debt.”
“I look forward to it, Lord Lyle.”
And just like that, I left Zel’s shed behind.
After I’d gone, Zel stood looking around the room that, over the past six days, had felt cramped — and now seemed suddenly wide.
The house that had once been busy with his family. The same house where Broad would sometimes show up with a bottle and stay a while, as a kind of hideaway.
Looking at the portrait of his wife — drawn by an artist in town — Zel muttered.
“Hey, old girl. The weight’s off my shoulders now.”
He lay down on the bed, pulled the blanket up to his chin, and closed his eyes.
“To think Lord Broad and I had the same tastes. He loved braised meat too.”
Zel was remembering the house in the days when it had been lively.
And he remembered the moment Broad had entrusted him with the gem — the one passed down through generations. Broad, older than him, bedridden in the end.
The dignified, almost idolized Broad, reduced to that weakened state — Zel had wept then.
“You knew you wouldn’t make it to the finished piece, didn’t you. Why did you ask me… but with this, my duty’s done, Lord Broad.”
The memories of running the battlefields together in youth came back.
“And to be able to hand it to Lord Lyle at the very end — what a blessing. Old girl, I’ll be there with you soon.”
The old man drew one slow, deep breath, and a peaceful smile settled on his face.
I’d left the manor and made it to the city at the center of the territory. At the gate in the wall surrounding the city, I was talking to a peddler.
It was past noon. If I could catch a ride with a wagon leaving now, I’d make a way station by tonight.
“To the way station? Sure, I don’t mind. But we won’t arrive until night, and I can’t promise there’ll be a room open. I have a connection that’ll put me up, but this time of year is crowded.”
The peddler was reluctant, but for me, this was a place I wanted out of as soon as possible.
“That’s fine. May I ride along?”
“Doesn’t bother me — can you fight, though? If not, I’ll be carrying you in the wagon, so I’d have to charge you.”
I held out my palm and produced a flame.
I’d lost the saber, but I could still use magic. That should be enough to show I could at least defend myself.
“Well, this is a surprise. A mage — are you a noble? Looking at your clothes… well, none of my business. Got it. If you’ll prioritize protecting my wagon, no fare. Depending on how you do, I might even pay you.”
The middle-aged man’s tone flipped completely, and he agreed to take me.
“Thank you. About what comes after the way station—”
A voice cut in.
I turned around to find someone I knew very well standing there.
“U-um! Please take me with you too!”
A girl with a distinctive side ponytail.
”…Novem.”
The girl with her face downturned — her name was [Novem Fuchs].
The second daughter of a baron’s family.
And, with a prefix attached: my former fiancée.