Banseim Kingdom’s capital, Central.
As the kingdom’s capital, a metropolis crowded with people.
They say people and goods from across the country gather here; one look at the scale — different from any other city — and you have to accept it.
A Central where clean main avenues and dim, well-worn back-alleys coexisted.
In such a place, Lyle Walt — called Deadbeat Lyle in Darion — was visiting with my former fiancée Novem Fuchs and Aria Rockward, the comrade I’d picked up in Darion, a town kind to rookie adventurers.
A noble’s son turned adventurer, currently in Central preparing to head for our next home town.
Central was the kingdom’s hub but a city unfriendly to adventurers.
Reason being — jobs were available without being one.
Safety was maintained by knights and soldiers; adventurers’ role was minimal.
Even when there were jobs, named adventurers tended to be the ones taking noble or merchant requests.
The rest were just hand-to-mouth ruffians.
Central wasn’t a place to home-base out of.
That said, people came and went, and the roads were in order.
A convenient place to stop through when moving elsewhere.
Novem — bright brown hair in a long side-ponytail — was finishing tea after lunch at a café.
White skin, violet eyes you could fall into.
If there was one thing about me I could brag on, it was this overqualified former fiancée.
Though — too overqualified somewhere. She’d taken my throwaway harem plan line seriously and was trying to execute it.
Perfect, but with some screw loose somewhere — maybe.
That Novem, and one more…
Aria, with the slight curl in her red hair, length to about her shoulder blades.
Met in the bandit-subjugation, and since then a Darion-grown member of the team.
The three of us were around a round table in a café.
Done eating, each of us reported the intel we’d gathered.
I’d start.
“After several days of going around weapon and armor shops, the free city Beim seems a little early for us. The shopkeepers all said build up power somewhere else first.”
Beim was a merchant-run city — plenty of work for adventurers, livable.
But outside the merchant districts, public order tended to be bad.
Heading to Beim without strength meant young adventurers like us would get marked as prey.
I had the confidence to repel that, but starting fights wasn’t a good play.
Novem agreed.
“Same here. I went shopping with Aria-san — they said Beim was rough. Small head-count is also an issue, apparently.”
For adventurers, three was on the small side.
Numbers were power; alone, that made enemies hesitate.
But small parties and adventurers in their mid-teens, like us, tended to be targeted.
Aria too.
“They said young girls heading there as adventurers was a bad idea. Lots of mercenary bands stationed there too — types you don’t want to be near.”
It was livable, but the public order was undeniably bad.
Still, for adventurers Beim was indispensable for climbing. Many famous adventurers had made their names there.
— My final goal wasn’t success as an adventurer.
Or — I had no goal.
I was adventuring to live; earnings could be modest and that was fine.
But it wasn’t only up to me.
“All right, Beim’s off, then. If we go, after rounding out our numbers. If there’s a party of appropriate size somewhere…”
Novem looked dubious.
Two- or three-person parties teaming up wasn’t unusual. Cooperate during the job, no involvement otherwise — common enough.
But Novem opposed.
“I’m against it. The leader of this party is Lord Lyle. By age, both Novem and Lord Lyle are fifteen. Join with another party and we’ll certainly be treated as the juniors.”
Aria muttered, irrelevantly.
”…I’m sixteen, by the way.”
“Indeed. Let’s keep being friends, Aria-san.”
Novem wasn’t budging on me-as-leader.
In Darion we’d been taught by an experienced instructor.
Three months of basic knowledge and experience.
But only basic.
“If joining other parties is out… the alternative is recruiting people into the party. Are there going to be adventurers who want to join us?”
We were young as a rule.
More still growing than prime working age.
Buying us on potential meant comrades, sure — but in those cases, large parties recruiting next-gen combat strength was the usual pattern.
A new party of only-juniors rarely worked out.
“Given that, what about the scholarly city? Aramsus has the great library, and private academies and dojos, I hear. There’s a school that admits young people broadly.”
It almost sounded like she was telling me to go to school.
But me, and Novem too — born into noble houses.
Reading, writing — we had education.
Aria too — reading, writing, arithmetic, no issues. Some etiquette as well.
“Study something specialized? Hard to allocate time and money for that. I don’t plan on attending a school for several years.”
Novem shook her head.
“We needn’t enroll. We call on graduates or on young people aiming to become adventurers in the scholarly city.”
Aria nodded.
“Right, court-nobles’ children in Central also go to the academy. Second and third sons who can’t inherit, second and third daughters — picking up skills and going into the king’s service. — Though just as often, it falls apart and they become adventurers or mercenaries.”
Novem picked up.
“If there are young people with some level of knowledge, experience, and technique, why not recruit in Aramsus? There’s no rush, so we can take Guild jobs while we study ourselves.”
Aria added, like she’d remembered something.
“Aramsus, being a scholarly city, has lots of weird requests, I’ve heard. And adventurers like us, plenty. People staying to find comrades or parties, plenty of those too.”
I listened, weighed Aramsus.
Then a voice from the blue Jewel at my throat.
The Jewel — a person, recording the one Skill they manifest, in a Gem; the Jewel is what eight such Skills together become.
A device with the means to convey stages of a Skill and methods of use that a plain Gem can’t.
Mine was a Jewel that generated support-type Skills.
Aria’s red gem, front-line Skills.
The yellow gems, rear-line Skills.
But there was one big change when a Gem became a Jewel.
“A library… in my time there was no scholarly city. — It was the Sage’s Town, was it? Said to be a gathering of stubborn old men.”
The Third’s voice.
The third head of my rural-noble House Walt — Sleigh Walt.
Right.
The memories and the heart recorded into the Skill — those were what taught me the method of using the Skill.
Though that wasn’t only a good thing.
Hair to the shoulder, blond, silky.
House Walt was a count house now, but in the Third’s time it was a viscount house—.
One rank above the lowest knight-rank.
He’d left his name in history for guarding the king’s retreat in a major battle… but the man didn’t strike me as a heroic general at all.
Smart, always smiling — a friendly older brother with blond hair and blue eyes.
That kind of person.
The Fourth’s voice followed.
“Truly fond of books, you. If you’d put that much passion into administration while you were alive, the family would’ve been better off.”
A sarcastic jab. The Third laughed and answered.
“Moderation in everything. Besides, I had subordinates back then; the Second’s plan worked, so I let the work happen.”
The first of rural-noble House Walt to leave his name in Banseim’s history, the Third was, in truth, easygoing and not really interested in things.
Especially not administration or war.
(Truly — how did this man become a heroic general…)
I was thinking that. Novem noticed my dark expression and worried.
“What’s the matter, Lord Lyle? Are you unwell?”
Aria, by contrast, came at me coldly.
“S-stayed up too late, that’s why! S-saying all that…”
Aria, red-faced. I came back.
“All that? — I went to bed early last night. Late night was our first day in Central. And the sleepy one was you.”
She reacted strangely strongly.
“Wh-whose fault is that?! Whose!”
Note—
The Jewel voices weren’t audible to those around me.
And the number of Skills equaled the number of heads-of-house in the Jewel speaking to me.
Seven of them — or, had been.
Six ancestors talked to me now. Their voices not being audible to those around me caused various problems.
The Second, in hunter style, said:
— And the Second through Fourth heavily favored Novem.
Aria, not so much.
“Loud woman.”
The Sixth agreed.
“Truly.”
The Seventh — my grandfather — wrapped up.
“Either way, if Beim’s a no, Aramsus is fine. The Third wants to read books, and we can fill out party numbers there and head to Beim later. Above all, the scholarly city is known not just within Banseim but in the surrounding region for knowledge and technique.”
Sometimes loud.
Sometimes noisy enough to drain my mana and drop me.
Sometimes advisors.
The ancestors.
I took their opinions and decided.
“Right. Safer than Beim and useful.”
Or, accurately, the heads-of-house personalities lived in the recorded Skills.
That was all — but the Jewel had recorded the heart as well.
Genuinely annoying, and genuinely a blessing, all six…
“At any rate, let’s prepare and head for Aramsus as soon as possible. Lord Lyle, we need long-distance coach tickets.”
Novem pinned Aria down and pushed for ticket-buying.
A long-distance coach was a coach with linked cars. Plain as that — moves a large number of people or goods.
Made possible by Magic Implements that ease the horses’ fatigue and amplify their strength.
One of the transit options connecting major cities and towns.
“Got it. From today… if we can buy, departure tomorrow?”
Both nodded.
Novem, smiling.
Aria, red-faced, eyes averted.
(Did I actually do something?)
Wondering what I’d done to Aria, the Fourth — meticulous about women — sighed.
“You really don’t notice… Lyle, you ought to study more various things.”
I thought:
(Which is why I’m going to the scholarly city…)
◇
From Central on the long-distance coach, headed for Aramsus.
The highways were in order; we lodged in passing towns along the way and arrived in not quite five days.
A regular cart or walking would have taken much longer.
Past the wall surrounding the city, we entered and were struck by how the construction differed from anywhere we’d seen.
“Amazing.”
Novem, descending, agreed.
“They have many research facilities, they say, so it differs from other cities, naturally.”
Aria too.
She’d only heard about it; this was her first time too, and she was surprised.
“That central building is taller than Central’s royal palace, isn’t it? — But, well…”
I said it before her.
“Chaos.”
The city ignored scenery. Tall buildings packed in a dense thicket. And buildings with strange shapes.
Stacks of smokestacks pumping smoke. Nearby, a building that looked like a giant plant hollowed out.
Felt more cluttered than Central.
“Like things stuffed into a box, by force.”
When Novem said it, Aria nodded.
“Right — like a boy’s toy box. Things not put away neatly, just dropped in.”
Toy box — a memory came back.
Back when my parents hadn’t yet given up on me.
Father, bringing home toys.
Mother, angry that they weren’t put away.
A nostalgic memory.
But warm memories like that ended at age ten.
Cause: my sister, Ceres.
Stronger than me, smarter, loved by everyone.
Now, by the First — who’d taught me everything, who’d acknowledged me — Ceres was:
[Monster].
The First, having acknowledged me and ended the Jewel’s role, was no longer reachable.
What he’d told me to be wary of was my own sister, Ceres.
(If I learn here, can I surpass Ceres?)
Beaten to a pulp by my sister, defeated, kicked out — to me, my sister was simply an object of terror.
(…Don’t think about it now. But — someday.)
I made up my mind, picked up Novem and Aria’s bags, and moved.
“Right. Find an inn and rest. The constant moving’s worn us out.”
Aria came back:
“You’re the one who’s tired, Lyle. Don’t collapse on us again like usual.”
I’d had mana drained by the Jewel and collapsed multiple times. No comeback.
Novem covered for me. — Sort of.
“Lord Lyle has Grown, so he’ll be fine. Right, Lord Lyle?”
Growth… in this world, there were times you felt like you’d crossed a wall, or been reborn.
An event undeniably surpassing your previous self.
Same moment, also a moment of getting drunk on yourself.
Aria, watching, was covering her mouth, holding in laughter.
Novem looked at me with a warm, enveloping smile.
”…Stop. Please stop.”
Just remembering made me red.
People felt Growth earlier as a rule; I’d had my first at fifteen.
And, post-Growth, I’d gotten high on myself.
A memory I would never voluntarily revisit.
Aria:
“Lyle… that time was hilarious.”
I came back.
“I said stop! — Also, Aria — that time you said I was not like this! That means you did something, didn’t you?! You did, right?!”
“N-no, I didn’t!”
The Jewel:
The Fourth.
“That attitude with a girl… lecture later.”
Sometimes my consciousness got drawn into the Jewel.
That was how I met the ancestors.
Lecture later — I’d probably be summoned.
The driest, the Fifth.
“Leave the woman-broken guy. Find an inn. Don’t keep making a scene.”
Of the heads, the Fifth had taken the most mistresses and was talked of as House Walt’s biggest womanizer.
But in fact — he wasn’t particularly interested in romance.
Just soft on cute animals.
”…Tch. No point arguing here. Let’s go.”
”…Fine.”
I dropped my eyes from Aria’s glare and looked for an inn sign.
If I spotted a board, I’d ask about availability.
Novem looked at us, watching, and giggled.
“What?”
“Nothing — the two of you have grown closer than before. That makes me happy. Now, shall we go?”
I had no idea how to respond.
The one I really liked was Novem, and I’d confessed.
Novem’s answer had been: No settling until I build the harem!
Wondering where I’d gone wrong, I dropped my shoulders and walked the streets of the scholarly city Aramsus.