Looking into the mirror, I combed through my blue hair.
The reflection staring back at me looked utterly exhausted. The bandages were stained with blood in places, but the wounds had closed up.
The burn scars seemed to have been treated with medicine too—they were gone.
"How are you feeling, young master?"
I turned toward the voice behind me and thanked the old man.
"Thanks. I'm feeling much better."
The old man was the gardener who lived and worked out of a small cottage in the garden. He apparently had family, but since his wife passed away, he'd been living alone in the cottage.
The cottage sat in a secluded corner of the mansion's expansive garden—it had apparently been converted from a storage shed.
"I'm glad to hear that. It was touch and go there for a while. The mansion's doctor could have treated you more carefully, but..."
The old man looked apologetic, but he was a former soldier by trade. He seemed to know his way around treating wounds, and he'd done a neat job of it.
Still, what he seemed reluctant to bring up had nothing to do with the treatment...
"...My parents have completely given up on me. Ha ha ha—nothing left to do but laugh."
Seeing me laugh weakly, the old man—Zell—took a seat on a chair in the room. Now well into his seventies, Zell spent his days tending a portion of the large garden.
Several gardeners worked at the mansion, but Zell was the only one who lived in a cottage. I'd heard more than once that my parents were at a loss over how to tell Zell—a man who'd served since grandfather's time—to vacate.
It was Zell who had carried me into the cottage after my injury and nursed me back to health during the three days I lay bedridden.
I sat up on the bed and thanked him once more.
"Thank you for saving me, Zell. Not that I can really repay you."
Seeing me crack a joke, Zell let out a deep sigh.
"I'm glad you seem alright. But the atmosphere in this mansion lately has been truly strange."
The reason for Zell's sigh was that the state of the household had completely changed over the past five years.
I had my own questions about it, but living inside those walls, you became blind to a lot.
"Your situation is one thing, but making the young lady the heir... If the late master heard that, I can only imagine how furious he'd have been."
My grandfather, Broad Walt, had been a strict and rigid nobleman. He held the title of Count and, as a landed noble, controlled territory of his own.
That also meant he maintained his own soldiers.
House Walt had served as advisors to the royal family. Father used to boast that during grandfather's era, he'd met with the king himself many times in the Royal Capital.
But he had also been an exceedingly strict man.
On the battlefield, he was formidable; within his domain, he devoted himself to governance.
Even the previous king had called him one of Baim's finest nobles. Still, he had a soft spot for his grandchildren.
As his first grandchild, I had been doted upon.
"I only remember him being kind. But I can't face him now—I failed to inherit the house."
I had let down the grandfather who believed in me. When I thought about that, every effort I'd made until now felt hollow.
I had lost everything.
"Young master... Don't push yourself into a corner. You're still young. Live the rest of your life with a positive outlook."
"Thanks. But I have no goal. My whole life, I aimed to become a lord. Without that, I don't know what to do. Pathetic, isn't it?"
When I laughed bitterly, Zell stood up and headed to the kitchen to prepare something to drink. I lowered my gaze and turned my thoughts to what lay ahead.
(There's no staying here. I'll have to go somewhere.)
Five days after I'd begun staying at Zell's cottage, the bandages came off.
He must have used some expensive medicine, because the healing had been remarkably fast.
But I felt bad about imposing on Zell any longer. Besides, I was going to be kicked out of the house eventually.
Sheltering me could get Zell in trouble.
And so, during dinner, while Zell and I were talking, I brought it up. Zell had been telling me stories—of his days on the battlefield with my grandfather, and of his time in the Royal Capital.
Remembering what I'd heard on the third evening, I spoke to Zell.
"Zell, I think I'm going to become an adventurer."
"An adventurer? Noble-born youths who can't inherit do sometimes become adventurers, but you have magic and knowledge. With those skills, you could secure a position as a court official."
I shook my head.
It could cause trouble for whoever employed me. House Walt was a powerful house. They had political influence, after all.
Threatening my employer—Ceres was exactly the kind of person who'd do something like that.
"I've lost everything. So I want to start from scratch and build something with my own strength."
"...I see. If that's the path you've chosen, then perhaps that's for the best."
"From what you've told me, famous adventurers never have to worry about money, right? Someday, I'll come back and repay this debt. When I do, I'll be a proper adventurer."
"Ha ha ha—I'll be looking forward to it, young master."
Zell laughed heartily.
He was probably just playing along with my joke. That said, deep down, I didn't actually think being an adventurer would be easy.
After all, I'd once been the heir to a lordship.
As a future lord, I understood the adventurer profession all too well. They ventured into the unknown and brought back treasures from dungeons.
It sounded glamorous enough to captivate children, but in reality, they were nothing more than a gathering of misfits.
If an adventurer called themselves a mercenary, that's what they were. And those mercenaries thought nothing of raiding villages and stealing food.
Precisely because they dealt with monsters on a daily basis, adventurers were nothing but a nuisance.
That said, not every one of them was a bad person.
Famous adventurers could secure positions with excellent compensation. Those who also ran mercenary companies were hired at premium rates for their strength.
"But adventurers, hmm... For the real thing, the free city of Baim seems like a good fit."
I listened to Zell's words intently.
"Baim? It's a merchant-governed city with no lord, isn't it? I thought it was a trading hub with foreign countries?"
"Exactly. It's not managed by any nation, making it a comfortable place for adventurers. Of course, the same could be said for criminals."
Many adventurers turned to crime. When that happened, they were expelled from the Adventurer's Guild and became wanted criminals.
But if they fled to Baim—a free city engaged in trade with foreign nations—no country could openly lay a hand on them. I'd heard stories, but the prospect of actually heading to such a place made me a little nervous.
Zell seemed to pick up on that.
"Don't worry about it. As long as you don't go to the places where those sorts gather, you'll rarely be bothered."
"R-Right. I'd been thinking the Royal Capital might be fine, though..."
The Adventurer's Guild existed in House Walt's territory too, but since my father—the lord—could interfere, I had to avoid it.
That meant I had to pick somewhere within the country where my father had no influence. When I considered that, the Royal Capital was the obvious choice.
"Among the court nobles in the Royal Capital, there are many houses with ties to ours. It wouldn't be a bad choice, but I can't call it the best either."
"I see. But getting to Baim requires travel funds. Plus, I'd like to know how far my abilities actually go."
Baim was a city of merchants. At the same time, it was home to many adventurers seeking work. That meant you had to be skilled to survive there.
"Indeed. Then perhaps visiting the Royal Capital first might be a good move. Though I wouldn't recommend staying long."
"Besides the Royal Capital, where else could I go?"
I decided to take the opportunity and consult Zell. Having charged across battlefields alongside my grandfather, he knew of all sorts of places.
We'd never really talked before, but once we started, he turned out to be an old man full of fascinating stories.
"How about Darion? It's close to the Royal Capital and a nice place to live."
"Darion? I've only ever heard the name."
"In terms of development, it's lagged behind this territory. But that means there's no shortage of work."
"Work? You mean fighting monsters?"
When I said that, Zell pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, looking slightly exasperated.
"Well, there was little reason to teach you about the outside world, so I suppose it can't be helped."
Zell explained the world of adventurers to me. In my mind, they were people who delved into dungeons and occasionally fought on battlefields as mercenaries.
But according to Zell—
"Adventurers will take on any kind of job. In the beginning, they do fight monsters and explore dungeons, but there's plenty of grunt work too. Fresh recruits earn money doing odd jobs to buy equipment."
"R-Really? But wouldn't there be people who specialize in that kind of thing?"
"The guild puts out calls for day labor. Essentially, they act as job brokers. That's how the guild maintains good relations with local residents. Of course, you could also say they profit from cheap day labor."
Zell told me the side of adventuring people didn't want to hear. As expected, not everything went smoothly.
"But adventurers work their way up from the bottom like that to equip themselves. It's not all bad—if you fault them for it, the adventurers would be more inconvenienced than the guild."
"Is that how it works? I really don't know."
Having been raised to become a lord, this was undoubtedly a world I couldn't imagine. But Zell seemed... a little happy about something.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's just... I've served since the days of the previous master, but I never thought I'd have a conversation like this with you, young master. The current head of the house has been a Count's man from the day he was born."
It was in grandfather's generation that House Walt had finally become a Count's house.
The generation before that had reportedly spent a fortune to buy their rank—something Father still spoke of bitterly.
Father's grandfather—my great-grandfather—had apparently resorted to rather underhanded means.
Because of that history, Father had been raised from birth as a member of a Count's household. Grandfather, who had been the head of a Viscount's house, had still led armies into battle.
As it turned out, Zell had never had any connection to any of that.
"...By the way, young master—have you ever had any strange experiences in this house?"
"Strange experiences? No... Ah!"
I'd been about to tell Zell nothing came to mind. Compared to being kicked out of the house, most things seemed trivial.
But then I remembered.
"At the brink of death, maybe? I heard Grandfather's voice. It was a nostalgic voice... But I heard other voices too. Maybe it was just a dream."
I said it was probably just a dream and went back to eating.
Zell, however, was staring at me with wide eyes.
The next morning.
I put on the clothes Zell had lent me and threw on a robe.
"They were clothes my son left behind, but they fit you well."
"I can't thank you enough. I'll definitely pay you back."
I expressed my gratitude, but Zell shook his head.
"No, you've repaid me plenty. Also, young master—take this."
What he handed me was a leather pouch. Palm-sized, it was filled with money.
"I can't accept money..."
The amount was trivial to me, but it meant something different to Zell. I understood our different sense of finances, so I refused. But Zell pressed it into my hands.
"You'll absolutely need it. How do you intend to get by with no money? Besides, if you can repay me, I'll consider it an investment."
Hearing that, I accepted with a thanks.
Inside were silver coins.
"I'm sorry. For everything..."
"It's fine. This way, I've finally fulfilled my promise to the late master."
"Promise?"
When I tilted my head, Zell held out a small wooden box and opened it before my eyes. Inside was a blue gemstone—a Jewel.
Silver filigree adorned its edges, making it clear at a glance that this was an expensive piece.
"No, I can't accept something this valuable—"
"This was the late master's—or rather, it's a gemstone passed down through House Walt for generations. The craftsmanship used rare metals, forged by a renowned blacksmith and finished by a famous artisan."
I looked at the gemstone set into a pendant—the stone was roughly two centimeters across.
"Grandfather's? I knew he had it, but didn't Father inherit it?"
"The late master had it decorated to match his Count's status, but he passed away at a terrible time... When it reached the stage of setting the gemstone in, I went to check on it and brought it home. But I wasn't able to meet with Maisel."
Father was busy.
Because of that, even his own retainers sometimes couldn't get a meeting with him unless it was important. Zell, who was already a source of worry, would have had an even harder time.
I took the gemstone pendant from the wooden box.
The Jewel—a thing whose manufacturing method had been lost to time—served to record the Skills an individual generated. The specifics had since been replaced by simple Mana Tools and faded from common knowledge.
A person could only produce one Skill in their lifetime. They could polish it, but never create more.
The Jewel recorded such Skills and made them usable by others.
"And besides, I can't give this to Maisel, the current head. It's my own judgment, but I want you—Lyle—to have it. That's how I can repay the late master's kindness."
I put the pendant around my neck and gripped the Jewel.
"...Thank you truly, Zell. Someday, I'll come back to repay this debt."
"I'll be waiting, Lyle."
With that, I left Zell's cottage behind.
Zell looked around the room that had felt so cramped for six days, now suddenly vast.
This house had once been home to a family, and it had also been a hideaway where the previous master, Broad, would occasionally visit with sake in hand.
Gazing at the portrait of his wife he'd had painted in town, Zell murmured:
"Hey, dear... I've finally put down this burden."
He lay down on the bed, pulled the blanket over himself, and closed his eyes.
"Still, to think he and I had the same taste. He loved stewed meat too."
What Zell remembered was the liveliness the house once held.
And he recalled the day Broad had entrusted him with the gemstone passed down through the generations. Broad had been older, and in the end, bedridden.
Zell had wept at the sight of Broad—once so dignified, once someone he'd looked up to—looking so frail.
"You knew you wouldn't live to see it finished. So why did you ask me... But the duty is done now, Broad."
Memories flooded back of the days he'd charged across battlefields alongside the young master.
"But to think I could hand it to Lyle in the end... I'm truly glad... Dear, I'm coming to join you now."
The old man took one deep, peaceful breath, and his face settled into a gentle smile.
Having left the mansion, I arrived at the city at the heart of the territory and was speaking with a traveling merchant at the gate in the city wall.
It was past noon. If I could hitch a ride on the cargo wagon leaving now, I'd reach the waypoint town by nightfall.
"To the waypoint town? I don't mind, but we'd arrive at night and I can't guarantee there'll be rooms available. I have lodging arranged through contacts, but this time of year it gets crowded."
The traveling merchant looked reluctant, but for my part, I wanted to leave this land as soon as possible.
"That's fine. Could I ride along?"
"Sure, but can you fight? If not, carrying you means I'll need payment."
When the merchant said that, I conjured a flame in the palm of my hand.
I'd lost my saber, but I could still use magic. That should prove I was strong enough to protect myself, at least.
"Color me impressed. Magic users—so you're nobility? No, looking at your appearance... Well, that was an unnecessary inquiry. Fine. If you can serve as a priority guard for my cargo wagon, I won't charge you. If anything, depending on your work, I might pay you."
The middle-aged man flipped his palm and agreed to let me ride along.
"Thank you. As for what comes after the waypoint town—"
Before I could finish, a voice cut through our conversation.
I turned around, and there stood someone I knew well.
"U-Um! Please take me with you too!"
A girl with distinctive side ponytails.
"...Novem."
The name of the girl with her head bowed was Novem Foxes.
She was the second daughter of a baron's house.
And, formerly, she had been my fiancée.