Prologue – Doushi’s Forthcoming

“Ooohh! Elise, your belly has become quite big, hasn’t it!? The delivery is right around the corner!

“Elise is soon going to become a mother, huh?”

At this point Elise’s belly has become so big that anyone could clearly see that she’s pregnant. Probably worried about her, Doushi and Nina-sama, Elise’s mother, have visited to check on Elise. Since I’ve suddenly received a message that they want to come over, I used 『Teleport』 to the capital to pick them up.

As far as I’ve heard, Doushi has been asked by Nina-sama to accompany her. Come to think of it, I’ve heard that those two are siblings hailing from different mothers, the part about them going into action as soon as they decide on something is so identical that it’s pretty clear for them to be siblings, despite the big differences in their appearance.

Arriving at the Baumeister mansion and spotting Elise whose belly has become quite big, both are very happy. From my future child’s point of view, Doushi registers as its granduncle, and Nina-sama is going to become its grandmother. Putting aside Doushi, Nina-sama doesn’t give one the impression of being a grandmother.

“It means I’ve grown old as well, doesn’t it? Very soon I’m going to become a granny.”

“You don’t look like it at all since you’re so young.”

“Wendelin-kun, you’re quite skilled at flattery, aren’t you?”

“No, seriously…ouch!”

“What’s wrong, Wendelin-kun?”

“Nothing, I just bumped my little toe against the chair’s leg…”

“Oh my, you have to be careful.”

Just because I flattered Nina-sama by calling her young with the intent of giving her some lip service since she’s my mother-in-law and doesn’t look like a grandmother at all, Elise pinched my butt for some reason. These two are like twins when it comes to their appearances and the size of their breasts, but Elise’s character takes after her father, I guess.

Nina-sama completely takes after Doushi.

“I wonder what it’s going to be, a boy or a girl?” Nina-sama drops yet another bomb.

There are extremely many people voicing their wish for Elise’s child to be a male heir, and although I haven’t touched upon that topic in an attempt to not give her unnecessary mental stress, her mother directly stabs at the core of the matter.

It’s not like she’s a nasty or overbearing person, but Erw and I somewhat flinch back due to the words and conduct of Nina-sama who plainly can’t read the mood. Elise also looks a bit peeved. The others…oh, all of them have already escaped the room. They’ve called it consideration, saying that they’d just be nuisances since Elise’s mother has made the effort to especially visit us.

Thinking about it now, it was a smart move to get out of here, I suppose. Albeit they won’t do anything like that if only Doushi is present.

“It doesn’t matter what gender as long as the child is born healthily. Elise is still young, so she can give birth to a number of children. Father-in-law-sama also said so, that he’s simply fretting because of his own age. Even though it looks like he’s going to be easily okay for another 20 years.”

Certainly, Cardinal Hohenheim might stay healthy for at least that long, but for Nina-sama to calmly voice out what everyone else finds difficult to speak about…no doubt, she’s Doushi’s younger sister just fine.

“No matter what gender the child might have, it’ll be a sturdy child resembling me, especially if it’s going to be a boy!”

“Oh true, I’m sure it’ll grow up full of spirit, if it resembles you, Brother.”

“Eh? Resemble…Doushi?”

Erw’s short comment rings all alarm bells in my head. Now that he’s mentioned it, I remember that Elise is connected by blood to Doushi as his niece. I’ve known about this for a long time now, but the two don’t resemble each other at all, which caused me to completely forget about it.

“(A child resembling Doushi?)” Unintentionally I end up imagining my soon-to-be-born child.

◆◇◆

『Father! Join me in my special magic training!』

It’s the scene of an old-man-like child similar to Doushi forcefully inviting me to join his magic training without even caring about my own circumstances. Moreover, for some reason that child has a pineapple haircut, Doushi’s trademark.

“(If it’s going to be a boy, that might still work somehow…but, if it’s a girl…)”

『Father! Join me in my special magic training!』

The scene of my daughter, who has a pineapple haircut and looks just like a female pro wrestler, inviting me to train magic with her without caring about my own circumstances surfaces in my mind.

◆◇◆

“…”

“Wend, your face is ghastly pale. Yours too, Elise.”

It looks like Elise also suffered a shock from imagining something similar. Erw points out that we’re both looking unwell.

“Having said that, I also used to be a small, lovely boy in the past. Right, Nina?”

“You’re right, Brother.”

“””…!?”””

Neither Erw, Elise, or I know how we should answer here. No matter how you look at it, I can’t imagine something like a cute, young Doush. All that appears in my mind is the figure of an old-man-like child.

“I’m the second son of the Earl Armstrong House! Because my older brother was scheduled to inherit the house, I left to the outside world as an adventurer in my youth, and trained myself greatly!”

Maybe he’s saying that he’s been shaped into today’s form by his daily hardships as an adventurer, despite having been a truly cute boy in the past?

“(No, Doushi’s brother has the same feel about him, hasn’t he?)”

With Erw pointing this out in a whisper, I increasingly feel that Doushi’s statement sounds fishy at best. Even though Doushi’s brother hasn’t really set forth into the world to train himself, he resembles Doushi quite a lot. Or rather, I’ve heard from Elise that the men of the Earl Armstrong House mostly have physiques like that of Doushi.

“Even though he was really cute in the past… Brother, how about we show them a portrait of your younger days?”

“Nina! That’s a marvelous idea! Look at my cuteness as a young boy, and be surprised!” With those words, Doushi retrieves a small portrait from his magic bag. “Here, take a look!”

Staring at the portrait handed over to us by Doushi, we’re confronted with the frail face of a pretty boy who would completely look like an androgynous beautiful girl if we hadn’t known about him being male.

“””E───eh! This is Doushi (Unlce-sama) in his youth───!?”””

It’s only natural for us to be surprised. If this is really supposed to be Doushi, it makes me actually wonder whether he hasn’t been cursed to become a wild beast in an underground ruin, or used some special magic potion…that’s how much of a difference exists between his current appearance and the one in the portrait.

“Ah, but, the hair and eyes of the person in this portrait are blue, aren’t they?”

“Oh, you’re right.”

Elise notices the weird part after looking at the self-proclaimed 『Portrait of Doushi』. The color of Doushi’s hair and eyes is gold, and it’s very unlikely for both to change in color because of aging.

“Huh?” Doushi checks the portrait, which I gave him back, once more. “Ooohh! Sorry! This is someone else!”

“Uncle-sama, who is that person? I have never met the person in that portrait…”

“He is…Bruno is my best friend! Come to think of it, the anniversary of his death is just around the corner. Maybe that’s why it has appeared from within my magic bag? He’s not of this world anymore, but I was fourteen and still had some traces of cute childishness left to me when I met him…”

“””…”””

We couldn’t help wondering, 『Just who had a cute childishness?』, but Doushi’s story continued, not giving us a chance to retort.

“Having turned fourteen, I had decided to leave for the world!”

For some reason, the topic has completely digressed, and Doushi arbitrarily began to talk about the memories of his past.

Chapter 1 – Departure

“(Mother, tomorrow I’m going to set off on my journey to the outside world! Please have a peace of mind as I will return after becoming a man grown by one or two sizes!)”

Right now I’m standing in a cemetery exclusively for high-ranking nobles located close to the royal palace. My mother, who has given birth to me and my elder brother, is resting here.

My mother passed away due to her weak body soon after giving birth to me. I have almost no memories of her, but my father and brother always told me that my mother continuously worried over my well-being as I was born when she was on the verge of dying.

In addition, even nowadays I clearly remember the warmth of my mother’s embrace.

I must become a man stronger than anyone else so that my mother can spend her time in heaven without a worry! That’s what I strongly vowed to myself while offering a multicolored bouquet of flowers in front of my mother’s gravestone.

“Ah, Klimt-onii-sama. So you were here?”

“Ohh, Nina! What’s the matter?”

Nina is my half-sister. Her mother comes from the Earl Vitalsen House, rumored to have many schemers among their ranks. Immediately after my mother passed away, Nina’s mother married my father, as people said, 『The family head of the Earl Armstrong House, the leading family of the military faction, needs to have a level-headed first wife of good pedigree』.

People like Cardinal Hohenheim, an authority in the church, frankly suggested, 『I won’t tell you to wait for the whole mourning period, but can’t you at least wait for one year?』, but the Vitalsen House didn’t heed his advice. I heard that Earl Vitalsen hated the idea of having a march stolen on him by another house.

There was also the matter of Nina’s mother having lost her husband to sickness just around that time, immediately after marrying into the Viscount Windland House. Because there were rumors circulating along the lines of 『She’s an ill-omened daughter who lost her husband right after marrying him. No, we’re talking about the Vitalsen House here. They are quite capable of poisoning their son-in-law』, Earl Vitalsen, who dotted on his daughter despite being a schemer, hurried to remarry her.

Of course there’s no way for the Vitalsen House to have poisoned their son-in-law or anything like that. It’s just, in noble society such rumors are often spread with ill intent to sabotage rivals.

I’ve just heard that Nina’s mother, brother’s and my stepmother, married my father after some complications. Leaving aside myself as a second son, what would happen to my brother’s standing if my stepmother gave birth to a younger brother…

Because such worries existed, my father discussed the matter with the Vitalsen House, and they apparently agreed upon brother being the heir of the Earl Armstrong House. However, those worries proved to be unnecessary. My stepmother only gave birth to Nina.

Only father and stepmother know whether this was coincidence or intentional. But because of that, my stepmother always treated my brother and me well, despite not being connected by blood to us. I never felt unhappy with my stepmother.

“Wondering where you might be planning to go, I followed you, Klimt-onii-sama. I thought that you might intend to go on a date with a cute girl while hiding it from me.”

“That’s out of the question. I’m unpopular with women.”

The men of the Earl Armstrong House have big, muscular bodies, far detached from being handsome in appearance. There’s no way for me to be popular with women or children.

“Is that so? I think that you’d definitely be popular with women, though.”

“I’d be happy if this was the case, but… I’m envious since you’re such a beauty, Nina.”

Nina completely comes after her mother, and will definitely become a pretty woman in the future. Although it’s a complete mystery, the women of the Earl Armstrong House never become as muscled and largely-built as the men.

“I’ve heard that you’re going to marry into Cardinal Hohenheim’s family, Nina!”

“It looks like it. Grandfather said that it’d be bad for the Earl Armstrong House to be only blood related to military-based nobles, and that I should get married to an influential person of the church to offset this a bit.”

I heard that Nina’s marriage into the Hohenheim family was a scheme by Earl Vitalsen. Since my father accepted my stepmother, Earl Vitalsen helped with this marriage to repay the favor.

Even if he had some selfish motives in this, Earl Vitalsen wouldn’t fail to follow his debt of gratitude.

“So, what kind of person is the heir of the Viscount Hohenheim House?”

“Hmmmm, I think you could describe him as a kind man.”

A kind man, huh…? Then again, the current head of the family, who’s a cardinal of the church, simply stands out too much, resulting in the other family members fading in his shadow.

“I’m pretty sure it’ll be alright. Rather than that, Klimt-onii-sama, you’ve come to bid your farewell to Lela-sama as you’re going to leave, right?”

“You’ve heard from father?”

“Yes.”

As always, father has a soft spot for Nina. Lela is the name of my mother, who’s resting in this cemetery.

“But, why to the outside world? Klimt-onii-sama, you can use magic, so wouldn’t it be possible to remain here?”

Regardless of small or large noble houses, the standings of second sons and further down are difficult in noble houses. However, if it’s high-ranking nobility at the level of the Armstrong house, I can look forward to a reasonable treatment as long as I don’t ask for too much. Much more so as I was born with the talent for magic. Far from being allowed to stay at home, talent in magic is precious enough to negate any blood relationships.

Rather, it’s normal for magicians to be detained from leaving home.

But!

“I have no intention to discard my status as a member of the Armstrong house! However, I’m still inexperienced! I want to experience the outside world, broaden my view, and become a full-fledged magician!”

My abilities as a magician are lacking. Because I’m still young, my mana capacity continues to grow. Having said that, I can only use elementary spells. It’s still a precious talent, but currently the types of spells I can use are simply too limited, and I also don’t know for how long my mana might continue to grow.

Therefore I’ve decided that I should experience the harsh outside world for some time.

“That’s why you’ve made up your mind to enroll into an adventurer prep school?”

“Quite so.”

I’m 14 years old right now. I’ll study for a year at the prep school, become an adventurer, and strengthen my combat skills, including magic. This will be the most ideal way to help my brother with magic, as a member of a soldier family.

“It’s for the sake of helping brother!”

“Klimt-onii-sama, you’re kind. But, I have a hunch that you’ve also got another objective. You do hate stiff formality after all.”

Ugh! Nothing less of my sister who’s descended from the Vitalsen house! She has realized my other desire!

“I think you understand, but……..”

“…Klimt-onii-sama, I’m looking forward to your presents and interesting stories of the outside world.”

“Leave it to me!”

There’s another reason why I’m leaving home. It’s…because the Earl Armstrong House will never release me, seeing how I’ve been born with a talent for magic. And since I can’t escape my fate of helping my brother in the future anyway, I’ll fully enjoy the outside world until then!

In other words, this is my period of grace that also serves as an opportunity to train myself.

Mother! I promise you that I’ll enjoy the outside world to the fullest!

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“I see. That’s enviable. The outside world, huh…? It’d be great if I could freely leave this place as well…”

Parting with Nina at the cemetery, I go to inform a certain person of my departure. That person is my best buddy and my childhood friend, His Highness the Crown Prince of the Helmut Kingdom.

The reason for me to have become His Highness’ friend stems from me having been summoned to the royal palace as His Highness’ playmate during my childhood, and immediately hitting off with him. Although I’m the second son, I’m still a family member of the prestigious Armstrong house. That also means there will be opportunities for me to get in contact with royalty.

According to His Highness, he apparently got interested in me because I’m an unconventional, funny guy for a noble. Thanks to that, I’m nowadays allowed to enter His Highness’ private rooms.

Today I’ve visited to tell him that we won’t be able to meet for a while since I’m going to be busy with my life at the adventurer prep school.

“Your Highness, that would be problematic since you’re slated to become the next king!”

“You know Klimt, to be honest, it’d be wonderful if the royal family had a tradition of letting one experience the outside world as training for kingship… Well, half of the reason for your leaving is the wish to have a blast in the outside world anyway.”

“You’re correct! I see I can’t trick Nina and you, Your Highness!”

“Your cute sister, huh? It looks like she’s going to be married to the son of that demon.”

“Demon…you say?”

“Despite having just passed his 50th birthday, he still seems to quarrel with father every once in a while. He’s a man you can’t take lightly, really.”

Now then, I wonder who is meant here, Cardinal Hohenheim or Earl Vitalsen!

“Since his son seems to be a sensible, capable man, your sister should feel relieved as well, no? Becoming the wife of that demon would make anyone choke, I’m sure. The son should be the better option, right?”

“Now that you’re asking, I feel like she’s relieved.”

But, since we’re talking about Nina here, it could be that she regards Cardinal Hohenheim’s son as lacking.

“A student’s life over the period of one year, eh? It makes me jealous.”

“I must still become much better at magic!”

If possible, up until intermediate level…but, having said that, reaching intermediate level until adulthood might be harsh at the current rate of my mana growth!

Hence it’s necessary for me to lower the amount of mana used when casting a spell, make sure to increase the firepower at the same amount of mana, and generally boost my fighting abilities by combining my magic with combat skills that don’t rely on magic.

One year will never be enough for all that. I’ve got no choice but to train myself in real combat as an adventurer after graduating from prep school.

“It definitely won’t be a stroll in the park.”

“But, I still envy you, Klimt. You’ll be able to enjoy the outside world before coming back here. I guess it feels like the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. But you see, I’d like to also try living like a commoner for a while.”

“Your Highness…”

Thoughtless people might be jealous of His Highness for having been born into royalty. Same could be said about my position as well, but although I’m bound by my duties as a noble, I’m also responsible for the lives of the commoners. Many nobles and royals wish that they could carefreely live as commoners for some time.

Of course they’re well aware that a commoner’s life isn’t all fun and sunshine. Some of them let their sick children die as they’re unable to get them treated because of their poverty. Some rot away in the slums of the capital after leaving their territories as they couldn’t inherit their family’s fields.

Us nobles are striving to somehow improve these circumstances, but politics are complicated, and nothing you can solve easily. All of this is too difficult for me. But, I’d like to help His Highness to become a marvelous king in the future.

This is something I believe from the bottom of my heart.

“But, I already know that you’ll become a much stronger man in the outside world and then come back, Klimt. And then you’ll stand by my side.”

“Your Highness.”

“I’m looking forward to all the nice stories of your travels. Since we’re talking about you, I’m pretty sure that you’ll experience plenty of funny things.”

“Your Highness, I’m a very decent and sensible man.”

“I guess you’re right. Do as you see fit while watching out for yourself.”

With this my farewell from His Highness came to an end. In the evening of the same day, my father, brother, stepmother, and Nina held a farewell party for me, and then, early in the next morning, I departed the Earl Armstrong House’s mansion.

Chapter 2 – Misfit Magician

“Nothing less you would expect from the adventurer prep school in the capital! It is full of magicians!”

In the morning of the next day after I left my family, the school entrance ceremony was held at the capital’s prep school. I also participate, and once all the formal stuff finishes, our class moves to its classroom.

Having received a recommendation for being a magician, I’ve been naturally assigned to the magician class. My lineage…shouldn’t play a role here, but I don’t have overly much mana, and my enrollment exam results fall into the upper area of the class’ bottom bracket. Right now I can’t use any emission-based spells because of my lacking mana, resulting in me not really seeming to be a magician at a first glance.

Currently I want my mana capacity to grow as fast as possible so that I can use all those flashy spells, typical for magicians.

“I see. You’ve got a tall, sturdily-built body, so I thought at first that you’re a great sword or battle ax user.”

The frail boy sitting next to me has apparently considered me to be a swordsman wielding those weapons when he saw me for the first time during the school entrance ceremony. Hence he’s quite surprised after discovering me in the magician class.

Certainly, he might consider me to be a swordsman, but…in reality, I’ve also trained swordsmanship and other weapon arts at the Earl Armstrong House. However, unlike my older brother, I lack ability, making it quite difficult for me to insist that I’m strong at handling weapons.

My strength exceeds that of my brother, but that’s only because I’ve been unconsciously enhancing it with mana. Without that, we’d probably be about even.

“Can you use 『Body Strengthening』 and 『Magic Barrier』?”

“More or less, yes.”

However, it’s a peculiar 『Magic Barrier』 that only covers my body, and its uptime is short because of my little mana pool. Casting 『Body Strengthening』 and quickly beating up an enemy is faster than deploying 『Magic Barrier』.

“Are you a Magic Combat Style practitioner?”

“I have never studied that style.”

Well, it might resemble my own combat style, but I’m still clumsy at learning martial arts. I can’t memorize all the martial art forms either!

“Oh, okay. Ah, sorry for being late with introducing myself. My name is Bruno. I’ve got no family name since I’m a commoner. What about you?”

“I’m Klimt Christoph von Armstrong!”

“Hee, your family is quite prestigious. Though I had expected you to hail from a noble family anyway.”

Am I so noble-like that you can immediately identify me as one?

“I think many people won’t think so because you seem to be a gruff guy at first glance. But, your fingers are pretty, and you’re sitting on your chair with a proper posture. Such things come from an education received during one’s childhood, so children of commoner families won’t be able to act like that. Take a look.”

The boy sitting in the chair ahead of Bruno’s finger has a completely messed up sitting posture. Or rather, it looks like he’s not used to sitting on a chair. My fingers being pretty comes from having servants do all the chores for me, even if I might be just the second son.

“You’ve been educated in your childhood how to properly sit on a chair. You had adults, private tutors and lecturers cautioning you whenever your sitting posture was bad. That’s why I judged you to hail from a good family.”

Bruno is quite small and his body lines are also very slender, but he has the guts to talk to me, someone from the Armstrong house, without any shyness, and on top of that, he’s a pretty perceptive guy.

“You are not scared about talking to me?”

“Well, I won’t say that I’m completely fine, but those learning at the adventurer prep school, and especially magicians, are said to become successful in life if they don’t shy away, even if they’re dealing with royalty or nobility.”

Since adventurers and magicians live in a world where ability is all that counts, those who act timidly or sell themselves lower than necessary just because the other party is a noble won’t ever become bigshots. Especially if it comes to magicians, it’s a well-known fact that the nobles actually beg them to serve in their houses instead. That means Bruno is already paying attention to this for the sake of making a name for himself as a magician.

“Or do you actually want me to revere you by calling you 『Highly esteemed noble』?”

“Right now we are at a place where such differences in social standing do not matter! Just call me Klimt, Bruno.”

“I expected you to say that. Nice to meet you, Klimt.”

Since he’s small and child-faced, he doesn’t seem to be the same age as me, but I really like Bruno for his great guts!

“How old are you, Bruno?”

“14.”

“The same as me, huh…?”

For him to be as old as me…but then again, I only feel like that because I’m usually judged to be much older than I actually am.

“I’m envious of your big mana pool, Bruno.”

His mana capacity exceeds mine by far. According to him, he’s soon going to hit the intermediate level. In this class he enters the category of being quite excellent with his great exam results. Given that 80% of the class are at the elementary level, Bruno, who’s able to reach intermediate level, has undoubtedly a promising future ahead of him as magician.

It’s very enviable!

“Having said that, we have Edgar Tretter with us this year. He’s said to be the biggest upstart in this class.”

The frail man, who’s surrounded by intermediate magicians in a place slightly away from us, already owns a mana in the advanced level, resulting in him being hailed as a very hopeful newcomer.

“You are right…his aura is…!”

“Now then, I wonder how much Edgar’s mana can grow and how much the number of spells he can use will increase until he reaches adulthood. I hear that the teachers of this school, the adventurer’s guild, and the high-ranking nobles and major merchants wishing to hire him are all paying close attention.”

I see. A huge difference with me who’s also a magician!

“Everyone has arrived, right? Unlike with the other classes, this class is exclusively for magicians. Please introduce yourself first. You will study in the same class for the next year, and even after graduation, it often happens that you will remain connected through your work.”

Upon the instruction by our homeroom teacher, we end up introducing ourselves. Some students are surprised after hearing my name, but parentage plays no role for magicians.

Edgar Tretter, who’s this year’s promising new star just like Bruno, limits his introduction to a light greeting with a refreshing smile.

“I see. The prodigy and guaranteed top student sure acts calm. So he has no need to act sarcastically towards someone with bad grades, huh?”

“Talent gives birth to leeway!”

“That’s for sure.”

This is how I safely entered the prep school and started my new life.

◆◇◆

“Today’s your first day, so I think I’ll have you show us your abilities for a bit.”

The lesson starts immediately after we finish our introductions. Having said that, there’s not much time left anymore since lessons only take place in the mornings at the prep school.

Accordingly, the teacher in charge of magic, Hack-sensei, sets up a doll made out of wood and straw on the field where we’ll have our practical lessons, and tells us to attack it with our best spells.

The school should have grasped our abilities through the interviews and examinations, but I guess he simply wants to take a look with his own eyes first? Still, it’s definitely a simple and quick method.

My classmates, who are called up in order, attack the doll with their strongest spells.

“Most of our classmates use fireballs.”

“It’s commonplace, and many people are capable of using it. Besides, it looks quite flashy, wouldn’t you say?”

“Because the doll burns, huh?”

Many of my classmates, who are mostly at the elementary level, demonstrate 『Fireball』 which goes up in flames if it hits the doll. Some of them pack quite some power with their spell, and others even destroy the doll in a blaze of fire, but many of them had received special training from a master in magic before entering the school.

Those who released 『Fireball』 with lacking firepower, will improve their magic under Hack-sensei’s tutelage for the next year while those who haven’t reached the limit of their mana capacity yet, will put efforts into that area as well. I guess that’s the basic idea here.

“They’re a minority, but some of our classmates also use spells of other attributes.”

Just as Bruno has pointed out, some of my classmates knock down the doll by hitting it with 『Waterball』, 『Pellet』, or 『Wind Cutter』.

Still, it looks to me like their firepower is still lacking when at elementary level.

“I’m next, I guess.”

“Bruno, what magic do you specialize at?”

“Just look forward to finding out.”

Being called out by Hack-sensei, Bruno immediately casts his spell at a place around twenty meters away from the doll.

“『Frozen Blade』!?”

“Correct. I have an aptitude for water and wind. I tear enemies to pieces by using ice blades.”

The crescent-moon-shaped 『Frozen Blade』 unleashed by Bruno beheads the doll in one blow.

“There’s nothing to criticize about your control and firepower. I think that your mana will doubtlessly grow up to intermediate level. I’m looking forward to your growth, Bruno.”

Hack-sensei seems to have a high opinion of the talented Bruno.

“Next up, Klimt, but…have you been able to learn any emission-based spells since then?”

“About that, my mana is still too low for that!”

“I see…It’s because your mana is still growing as well, Klimt. Once your mana gains in quantity, I’m sure you will become capable of using emission-based spells as well.”

I was told the exact same during the interview held at the prep school’s examinations for scholarship students.

With my mana not really growing despite being a magician, I can only use 『Body Strengthening』, and a 『Magic Barrier』 that only covers myself. Additionally I can pour mana into my legs and fists to beat up enemies. There was a time where I took lessons from a magician tutor at home, but in the end I was never able to use emission-based magic.

According to my tutor, 『Klimt-dono, you should also become able to employ emission-based magic if your mana pool grows. Although your mana capacity continues to increase, its growth speed is abnormally slow. You have no choice but to patiently wait for your mana to increase far enough』.

Thanks to that, it’s been suspected that I might rather be a Magic Combat Style fighter than a magician. Father and brother praised me, who doesn’t seem to be much of a magician despite actually being one, saying 『Your combat power is high, suiting a member of the Armstrong House as we’re deeply rooted in military arts』.

I’m grateful for that, but seeing how I’ve been born as a magician, I want to learn magic befitting that description. That’s also why I’ve left home.

“Try attacking the doll in your own way.”

“Sure!”

In that case, I’ve got no choice but to use my usual attack style.

Covering my body in a 『Magic Barrier』, I ram the doll with my shoulder. Adding the strengthening of the 『Magic Barrier』, the weight of my body and my charge speed cause the doll to be smashed apart.

“I’d say you have quite the power. Your assignment for the future will be to work on emission magic, I think. And the highest priority will be an increase of your mana pool.”

“Okay, sensei.”

It’d be great if I reached a point allowing me to use emission magic within one year, but…

“That’s allowed?”

“That guy simply pulverized the doll with his big body…”

“Does that still count as magic?”

There are quite a few people criticizing me among those watching from the sidelines, but this is something I won’t be able to resolve as long as I don’t learn emission-based magic. But then again, the ones commenting on my performance are only the guys who had to put in all effort to burn the doll with a 『Fireball』. It’s pointless to concern myself with their opinion.

“Klimt, the attack just now is quite handy, isn’t it?”

“Is it?”

Bruno admires my magic attack effusively after watching it.

“This place is a prep school for the sake of becoming an adventurer, and the only ones capable of being employed after catching a noble’s attention are those producing achievements as adventurers. Advanced magicians won’t get scouted by nobles for just being advanced magicians. Magicians will be scouted when they retire after having accomplishments to show, using their magic.”

“That makes sense.”

“Your attack just now should be able to kill fairly strong monsters. Compared to that, 『Fireball』 is ill-suited for hunting monsters.”

For adventurers it’s best to bring down monsters without damaging them as much as possible so that their materials remain undamaged. Burning monsters, whose fur can be sold for a lot of money, with fire will lower the value of the raw materials. That means it’s most efficient to kill them with a body blow like me or cutting their vital spot apart in one attack with 『Wind Cutter』 or 『Frozen Blade』.

“However, with my current amount of mana, I can’t use this kind of magic attack overly often either. Anyway, currently increasing my mana takes the highest priority.”

“That also applies to me.”

The very last student called by Hack-sensei is Edgar Tretter. In the end, the star performer makes his appearance at the very end.

“By the way, Edgar also excels at fire-based magic.”

“In that case, the doll will disappear without leaving any ash behind.”

If it’s his mana pool and firepower, it wouldn’t be strange for things to pan out like that.

“You think a man like him will use such a simple fire spell with a high firepower?”

“You mean he is going to use a fire spell grounded on some elaborate finesse?”

“That’s what I think, yes.”

I’ve heard that he’s an outstanding talent with the biggest mana pool in this class and high expectations by the adventurer’s guild.

I thought he’d simply reduce the target to ashes through a blaze, but…suddenly the doll’s head drops down with a plop!

My classmates start to make a racket because of that unforeseen situation. I think it’s because the majority of them haven’t comprehended the underlying magic.

“What sort of spell did he use?”

“I suspect he probably burned it off. What terrific skill.”

Bruno has apparently seen the spell used by Edgar Tretter, but I didn’t see it at all! Currently I’m simply cursing my own lack of ability!

“I believe he caused the doll’s head to drop down by burning off its neck with a very thin fire thread.”

“Is something like that possible?”

“I’d say it is, for Edgar at least.”

Not only does Edgar Tretter have a big mana pool and lots of firepower, but he can also use his mana so precisely…

Burning off the doll’s head sounds simple, but the doll should go up in flames if you don’t manage to accurately burn through its neck with a terrifying speed.

If a fire magician can behead a monster in such a way, they should be able to work as an adventurer without any problem whatsoever!

“As expected!”

“To be honest, it makes me fully realize the existence of prodigies.”

Could Bruno possibly stave off Edgar Tretter? That’s what suddenly crossed my mind.

“I don’t have much mana…and even my firepower and magic accuracy falls behind his by one or two degrees.”

Even if you can somehow offset the difference in the firepower and efficiency through hard work, one’s mana pool is decided by birth. Bruno has apparently realized that the upper bracket of intermediate level will remain his limit, no matter how much effort he invests.

“Rather, aren’t you the one with the bigger potential here, Klimt?”

“I am as you can see.”

◆◇◆

I’m half-baked as a magician. As magicians are fairly rare, and since magic is completely unrelated to pedigree and heredity, the surroundings harbored big expectations when a magician was born into the prestigious military Armstrong family!

However, the growth of my mana pool is extremely slow, and currently it’s at the elementary level. My mana only allows me to fight by cladding my body in mana. If my mana keeps increasing from now on, even emission-based spells…but, at the current pace, it’ll be a miracle if I manage to exceed the elementary level until my growth stops. If you like this novel, support the translation by reading it at infinite novel translations.

『If he could at least reach intermediate level, he’d be more like a proper magician』

This was the surrounding noble’s assessment of me.

『A magician, huh? How nice, Klimt-nii-sama』

『Don’t mind them, Klimt. It’s just the jealousy of the nobles who can’t use magic』

『What’s there to feel ashamed about!? The men of the Armstrong House just need to be strong! You don’t need to pay any attention to the prattling of the gutless rumor mongers at the court!』

The only ones not speaking badly of my questionable magic were Nina, His Highness, father and brother.

◆◇◆

“Since my birthplace isn’t all that great, I don’t really understand the world of esteemed nobles, but only folks with too much time on their hands would criticize others despite being unable to use magic themselves.”

“It is a fact that there is a lot of worthless folks!”

It’s a situation making me believe that it’s great for me to have been born as the second son. It’s allowed me to leave for the outside world under the pretext of training!

“You might be able to increase the mana growth rate through clever training methods. Also, I believe that you’ll become quite the bigshot, Klimt.”

“Is that supposed to be flattery?”

“I’m a magician, so I won’t flatter others meaninglessly.”

Figures. At his level, Bruno doesn’t need to butter up to nobles. Even if he’s hated by a certain noble, other nobles, who oppose the first noble, will happily offer him a place of employment. That’s what being a magician means.

“We might have many chances to meet even after becoming adventurers. I’m looking forward to those times, Klimt.”

“So do I!”

Now then, I wonder how much I’ll be able to grow as a magician in this one year. It’s not like I have no worries, but having met Bruno is a huge boon!

◆◇◆

It looks like he’ll become a good friend!

Chapter 3 – Life at the Prep School

“Klimt, you’re definitely a son of that Earl Armstrong House, right?”

“What are you asking at this point!?”

“And you’re not getting an allowance from your parents?”

“I turned it down!”

“You sure went all-in there. But, I have to say, this room really has nothing in it.”

One week after prep school has started, I’ve finally grown accustomed to the lessons. Today my new friend Bruno has come to visit me. But, he’s immediately surprised after seeing how my room looks. The place I’m currently boarding at is the attic of Mrs. Walkt’s small home. She’s an old lady living by herself near the prep school.

The room only contains a board I’m using instead of a bed, several books about magic which I’ve put on a beam, my wand, several sets of underwear and robes, and a small wooden box filled with my personal belongings.

For a change, Bruno, who’s remained completely calm and collected during the entire week, is astonished by my livelihood, which you wouldn’t expect from a noble’s child at all!

“You refused an allowance?”

“That is only natural!”

“You call that only natural…?”

There would be no point in me leaving home to experience the outside world if I were to receive a high allowance from my parents! The whole point in me leaving home was to experience the life of commoners. I even went as far as deliberately choosing this lodging for being the cheapest I could get!

I’m frugally using the pocket money I’ve saved up until leaving home, so I think it’s about time for me to earn some money by hunting. Bruno’s visit today also has the objective for us to talk about this.

“I think it’d have been fine if you had handled it a bit more flexibly and obediently accepted the allowance. It’s also important to live while not feeling bad about receiving help from others.”

“That would be boring then.”

“Yeah, I expected you to say that, Klimt. You give people a much better impression than those guys.”

There are noble youths who are studying at the prep school like me. However, the higher the status of their families, the more extravagant their lives are, through getting high allowances from their parents and commuting from home, despite having finally come to the outside world. I have problems understanding what’s so fun about living like a noble in the outside world!

Of course the children of poor nobles act differently, though.

“Anyway, let’s talk about hunting. The capital’s prep school has quite a few limitations in regard to that.”

“Does it?”

“Well, the capital is a city after all.”

If this place were to be out in the provinces, it’d have been no issue for everyone to hunt as they please as long as they didn’t enter a monster domain until reaching adulthood. The countryside has lots of nature, and there are many places with plenty of game, while having only few people that hunt.

But, around the capital, places where you can hunt keep decreasing because the city proceeds to expand. Since the city has a big population, many citizens, and not just adventurers, make a living by hunting and gathering. If you add the prep school students, who aim to earn their living expenses by hunting, to this, it’d make the competition quite intense, Bruno explains to me.

“For this reason, it looks like students are only allowed to hunt twice a week.”

“That is a harsh condition.”

Since I want to refrain from using my savings as much as possible, I’d like to earn my living expenses for this year by myself.

“What are you going to do, Bruno?”

“Seeing how I don’t have as much leeway as you do, Klimt, I’ll pick up various part-time jobs by relying on my connections. Since some places also told me that they’d like me to refer people to them, I can introduce you as well, if you want.”

“Oohh! As expected of my friend! Please, introduce me by all means!”

Now that I’ve finally left home, I want to experience many things! It had totally escaped me that I would be able to do jobs other than hunting.

“What kind of work is it?”

“Various kinds. Seeing how we can only go hunting twice a week, I think you can view it as covering for the rest with short term or day work all over the place.”

“That sounds fun.”

“Fun, huh…? Klimt, you sure have a positive outlook on everything.”

“That is my only selling point!”

“Okay, let’s immediately start working from tomorrow afternoon.”

With this decision, I’d challenge earning money by working for the first time in my life.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Sir, I’ve brought him with me.”

“Sorry for the trouble, Bruno. Ooohh! This guy looks like he’s got some strength. Man, I’m glad that I’ve asked for your help, Bruno.”

In the afternoon of the next day, Bruno and I head to the first workplace. It’s a construction site where a building is being erected right now. The tanned, muscular foreman, who’s managing the place by himself, seems to be Bruno’s acquaintance.

“Bruno, you know him?”

“Well he’s a mister living close to my home. He’s also friends with my parents.”

“I’ve known Bruno since he’s been a little twerp. You need quite a bit of strength and stamina since it’s this kind of work, but lad, you sure got a nice body build. Looks like I can expect quite a bit from you.”

Physical work definitely plays into my cards, but leaving myself aside, is Bruno going to be alright? I’m worried about him since he isn’t all that strong, and his stamina is average at best, too.

“Bruno, you’re…”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got this covered with magic…”

“Oo───ii! Bring this block up to the to───oop!”

“Well then, you lads are up.”

The work at the construction site starts right away. I’ve heard that they’re going to build a three-storied building made out of stone. A scaffolding has been erected, and people pass the building stones, which are going to be used at the top, upwards, but setting me as someone with enough muscles aside, I’m still worried about the feeble Bruno.

“Here you go.”

“Oohh! No matter how often I watch it, magic is quite handy.”

“Even heavy stones take but an instant with Bruno’s magic, yep.”

“See, I’m going to be fine.”

“Yeah…”

Come to think of it, I’ve completely forgotten what magic can do. Even weak magicians can freely transport heavy objects as long as they can use 『Telekinesis』.

Bruno lifts up a stone as heavy as himself up to a height of around ten meters with 『Telekinesis』, and skilfully puts it down on top, following the instructions of the guy up there.

“It’s not off or anything?”

“No, you placed it down perfectly.”

“Bruno, your control is awesome.”

He’s right. My precision in magic is unable to hold a candle to Bruno’s. I guess I’ve worried over nothing here.

“Lad, you can’t use magic like that?”

“I am bad at this type of magic.”

『Telekinesis』 belongs in the category of emission-based spells. Besides, even if I could use it, I’d quickly run out of mana anyway.

“Don’t mind it. You’ve been born with such a nice body. So might as well make best use out of it.”

“You are completely right!”

My merit is this trained, muscular body. I just need to work while capitalizing on it.

“Please bring a building stone over here, too.”

“Sure thing!”

I quickly pick up a stone placed on a stash of stones at the edge of the construction site, and climb upwards while using the scaffolding. Stones that weigh only this much pose no problem for me, even without using magic!

Since my father and brother have repeatedly told me to not be negligent in training my body, this kind of work is also convenient for me.

“It’s not heavy, lad? Usually a stone like this is carried by at least two people…”

“It is not that heavy. Where should I carry the next one?”

“Ah, sure…as long you’re alright, it’s all cool.”

What’s required of us young men is to do physical work like carrying heavy stuff around. Bruno used 『Telekinesis』, and I relied on my body. We worked until evening, resulting in me finishing my first job without a hitch.

◆◇◆

“Wow, how neat of them to give us a bonus.”

“In exchange, we’ve got to work for another three days over there.”

“Isn’t that fine? The students of the capital’s prep school can’t really earn much money through hunting. It means expanding a city too much has its own share of problems, too.”

“Once we graduate from the prep school, we can move our base of operations to the outskirts, but…”

“Something like having to spend another year at school because you lack credits as a result of being forced to travel far would be even more pointless.”

“That is certainly true. We have no choice but to earn our expenses with short term jobs on the days where we cannot hunt.”

“Well, I’ve got plenty of connections, so no need to worry on that front.”

“That is my friend Bruno for you!”

On the evening of the same day we are eating out in celebration of having received a higher wage than expected. Having said that, Bruno and I are poor fledglings of the prep school. We’ve chosen an old restaurant catering towards prep school students with cheap prices and big portions.

This place is also a restaurant Bruno has told me about. He’s well connected and familiar with society to an astounding degree when compared to me. I can’t believe that we are the same age at all. Having left home only recently, there’s still a lot I must learn.

“Let’s first have a toast. Of course, without alcohol.”

That’s inevitable seeing how we’re still underage. In reality, many teenagers secretly drink alcohol, but this restaurant is often frequented by school staff, too. Given that it’d become troublesome if we were spotted drinking alcohol by teachers, we limit our toasting to fruit juice diluted with water for today. No need to get impatient since we’re going to become adults in a year anyway.

“”Cheers!””

After toasting we start on our large serving of stew, pieces of bread as big as our faces, and heaps of salad. It’s not a menu that takes appearance into account like the dishes served back at my family’s mansion, but the taste is fairly decent.

Above all, it’s great that it’s so cheap!

“Klimt, your work really stood out. Boss and everyone were really pleased with you, weren’t they?”

“I want to get praised like you, if possible, though…”

Because Bruno could easily move heavy stuff with his 『Telekinesis』, he received raving reviews by the other construction workers. According to what I’ve heard, the construction seems to have fallen slightly behind schedule, but thanks to Bruno, they’ll finish on time. The foreman and the others were very delighted.

“Everyone was grateful since you quickly carried stones around that would usually require several people. I mean, the other workers are quite advanced in age, after all…”

“I am happy that things finished with me being of use, but still, I would love to become able to use 『Telekinesis』 as well.”

『Telekinesis』 is a emission-based spell that can be used easily even by magicians with a relatively low amount of mana. It’s even described as the easiest spell among the emission-based ones. Seeing how I can’t even use a spell like that, I’m definitely a dunce as a magician.

“Klimt, your mana is still growing, so you’ll become capable of using it soon.”

“It would be great if you are right.”

Certainly, my mana pool is still increasing. It’s not unusual for some of my classmates to have already reached their growth limit, so I’m lucky when compared to them, I suppose.

But…

“At its current growth speed, it is questionable whether I will be able to break through the elementary level even if my mana continues to increase until the age of 20.”

If possible, I want to reach the intermediate level like Bruno.

“It’s not said that it’ll always continue at its current rate. You don’t really need to worry about it so much, do you?”

“It is also possible that it will increase slower than it is now, though. The growth might even stop tomorrow altogether.”

“I’m sure it’s going to be alright. Trust me.” Bruno reassures me while tearing off a piece of bread and putting it into his mouth.

He appears to have a far more positive personality than I’ve thought. And, despite being slender, he definitely eats well since he’s a magician.

“In my eyes, it’s you who I’m jealous of, Klimt. I’m putting quite a lot of effort into it, but my body doesn’t want to build muscles at all. I wonder, what should I do to become as muscular as you?”

Bruno appears to be worried about his slender body and his height that’s smaller than average. He touches my arm while looking envious.

“Is it the food? But then again, I eat plenty since I’m a magician. And yet my body remains thin.”

“You have no choice but to eat more and train your body.”

My home, the Armstrong House, has been passing down methods on how to train your body as a family tradition, but in reality, those are used to not suffer an embarrassing defeat on the battlefield by forging the body to move well and react quickly.

It might be smarter of me to not mention that my body has become like this without me doing any particular training.

“I guess I might grow taller and improve my body build if I train for several years.”

“I am sure, you can.”

In the end it means that even Bruno, who’s talented as a magician, isn’t completely worry-free either.

Today I’ve safely finished my first day of work. After wolfing down the bountiful meal, I went to sleep with a great feeling.

◆◇◆

“Bruno, what kind of job are we going to do today?”

“Store tending at a bookshop. It’ll also include cleaning, book sorting and similar things.”

The work on the construction site has finished without a hitch after three days. Bruno and I were gushily thanked by the foreman and his men. It means we’ve perfectly fulfilled our role as helpers by quickly carrying the heavy rocks around with magic at a time when it looked like they’d be late with finishing the construction. Though I only used my muscle strength, and no magic.

Since Bruno would introduce me to the next workplace, we quickly headed over to the store in the afternoon after finishing our lessons at school. If I remember correctly, this area should be adjacent to the block with mansions of low-ranking nobles, even though it’s a shopping street. When I ask Bruno about it, he tells me that his family lives in this neighborhood.

By the way, unlike me, he seems to be commuting to school from home to save on the living expenses.

“Is the next place also run by an acquaintance of yours?”

“Yes.”

“Bruno, is your family running some kind of business?”

“My family runs a wholesale store for leather goods.”

They apparently buy animal and monster hides from the adventurer’s guild, and sell them to companies and workshops requiring those hides. Going by their location, it’s obvious that Bruno’s family is affluent, despite being commoners.

“Sounds like you are rich.”

“My family is. Well, my big brother is going to succeed the store anyway. I don’t need to pay any tuition as the prep school treats me as a scholarship student, but I have to earn my pocket money myself.”

“It is the same for me.”

“No, listen, I don’t think there exist any noble youths that would expressly turn down an allowance. Oops, we’re already here. It’s this store.”

The place we’ve arrived at is a fairly big book store. It doesn’t seem like the store is closed, but no customers are to be found. Only a shopkeeper-like, elderly man is intently staring at a certain book.

“Grandpa Zeno, are you looking at a new 『Romance』 book again?”

“Of course I am! If I don’t check the content with my own eyes as the owner of this store, I won’t know how much to stock, will I!?”

Certainly, the title of book he’s reading, 『Other’s Wives Taste like Honey』, is something you better don’t read in front of other people.

“You’ve already stocked up on it, haven’t you?”

“Ts, ts, ts, Bruno, you’re still a little child. New books sell to some extent right after the first batch is delivered. But it depends on the book whether it’s going to sell afterwards as well. If you don’t decide the number of books to order additionally after making a good estimate, your store will go bankrupt because of all the dead stock.”

“So, what’s the story of that book?”

“It’s about an affair between a man with wife and children, and a married woman. Which reminds me, since a similar work became a huge hit some time ago, the church has been bickering about it. The priest in question has been sleeping around with the wife of a certain noble. Far from censoring the book, it actually serves him right.”

“Grandpa, you sure are hard on others…”

It doesn’t happen often that priests have affairs with noble wives, but it does happen every now and then. Of course affairs between fellow nobles exist as well, though.

“Only an obstinate priest with a narrow view of the world because of an absolute belief in his doctrine, would consider something like censoring books. It means he can’t differentiate between reality and fiction.”

“Let’s leave the criticism of the clergy at this, okay?”

Grandpa Zeno seems to often quarrel with the church when it comes to romance books with perverted content. I wouldn’t feel like getting too involved with priests and their likes by choice.

“Isn’t it an option to not stock up on the romantic book to avoid pointless quarreling?”

“As if! You think I’m going to make any profits if I don’t stock romantic novels!?”

“Is that so?”

Reading books is for intelligent people like the upper class and clergy, and also many of the richer people – even among commoners. Since the customers have such qualities, romantic novels aren’t really needed, are they?

“Humans, be it kings, royals, high-ranking nobles, or wealthy merchants, love such works unrelated to their social standing. Is it any different for you?”

It’d be a lie if I told him that I’ve got no interest at all, but I prefer real women over the ones in books.

“The real thing and fictional characters are completely different, but…whatever. Bruno, I’d like you to sort, clean and watch the store, but you sure brought a fairly tall helper along for that.”

“He’s going to be handy, right?”

“He does look like it, at least. We won’t have many customers today anyway. So, once you’ve finished what I’ve asked of you, feel free to read the books in this store. If customers show up, take proper care of them.”

“You’re as vague in your work description as usual…”

“This shop earns the most income on vacation days. Keeping the store’s goods in order has always been my job. After all, customers will buy the books they desire if I’ve got them stocked. Either way, I’m counting on you, Bruno. The big lad over there, you too.” With these words, Grandpa Zeno exits the store, leaving us two behind by ourselves.

“Grandpa Zeno said that he’s going to stock up on books since many customers will show up on the upcoming vacation day.”

Customers mostly turn up on their days off unless there are some special circumstances. I guess Grandpa Zeno has gone to stock up in preparation for that.

“I see. So, what am I supposed to do?”

“First, sorting and cleaning, I’d say.”

Looking closely, the store is filled with many bookshelves. Since the upper shelves are rather dusty, wiping that dust away is a task that’s suited for me.

Bruno cleans off the dust with an adjusted wind spell, and puts away the books which guests haven’t returned to their proper place…and that wraps up this part of the job.

“I’m bored.”

“This job is rather easy, suiting the low wage it pays. The work we’ve been asked to do was done after one hour. All that’s left is to take care of customers if they visit, but if it’s customers who leave the store after reading for a bit, you can’t call that a job either.”

“Right?”

Or rather, this store really has no customers during the weekdays. Even as we sorted and cleaned the place, not a single customer showed up.

“Bruno, is there any meaning in having accepted this job?”

I feel like there exist jobs with better pay than this.

“It’s fine as long as we get to read this.” Without me noticing him picking it up, Bruno holds a thick book in his hand. Its title is 『Basics of Advanced Magic』. “This store has many books written by old magicians. They don’t seem to sell overly well, though.”

“Oh, so we get paid, and can read any book about magic for free, huh?”

“See? It’s a good job, right?”

“The best!”

This store is heaven for me who wants to increase his mana to become capable of using emission-based spells. It has all kinds of old books related to magic.

“In short, that grandpa was no romantic novels expert.”

“Even though he acts like that, Grandpa Zeno knows quite a bit about magic books, too. Since he won’t be able to make a living on just magic books, he’s also selling romantic novels, or rather…I think there’s more of such books in the store? But then again, it doesn’t look like he hates it either.”

This bookstore might be one of the topmost stores in the Kingdom when it comes to books related to magic! Simultaneously, the same could be said about its assortment of romantic novels…

It’s a weird place.

“In short, that grandpa is a romantic novels expert, too.”

“I guess so. But look at it like this, he’s stocking lots of romantic novels, but at the same time, he’s also got books related to magic.” Bruno picks out a book with the title 『Book of Extremely Practical Magic』 from among a great pile of romantic novels.

“Let’s take a look… The basics of the spells required to peek into the woman’s bath without getting noticed, and their application.”

“Magic that allows you to peep under the skirt of a woman as much as you like while pretending that it’s actually the wind blowing, and ways to adjust its power, eh…? It’s so retarded that it’s refreshing in a certain way, but since we’re men, it’s interesting, right?”

“Indeed.”

Maybe I’ll also be able to learn emission-based magic if I strongly wish to flip up skirts. Still, since I’m someone hailing from the renowned Earl Armstrong family, I don’t have any choice but to avoid putting it into practice.

“Either way, with the cleaning and sorting done, we can devote ourselves to reading the many books in this store. That’s the advantage of this part time job.”

“Got it.”

In the case of a normal bookstore, you’d be frowned upon if you were to browse the books without buying them. Given that many of the books related to magic cost a lot, it’s very welcome that I can read them for free.

“Okay, I think I’ll also use the time to read some then.” Bruno starts to enthusiastically read magic books which has apparently been his goal from the outset.

“I wonder which I should read…oh, a customer.”

Although I’ve heard that customers rarely show up around lunchtime on a weekday, a customer has suddenly entered the…the store…

“It’s a young lady.”

“In this store? Is she a magician?”

“She doesn’t look like it.”

Her age is around 12 or 13 I think. She’s wearing very cute clothes, and resembles Bruno quite a bit…causing me to look at him reflexively.

“Oh? Is that you, Liese? Do you have some business with this store…yeah, okay, that’s very unlikely…”

“Brother, I’ve heard that you’d be tending Grandpa Zeno’s store today, so I’ve brought you some refreshment. I baked cookies.”

“I’m happy to hear that. Oh right, let me introduce you. The guy standing next to me is a classmate from prep school.”

“I’m Klimt.”

“Uwaaah, completely opposite of brother, you look like a fairly reliable man.”

“While you might be my sister, could you not be so blunt about it?”

Certainly, there might be some women believing that Bruno isn’t reliable as a man because of his frailty…though such women should be in the minority, seeing how he’s such a handsome man.

“Mister, you’re manly and attractive.”

“You think so?”

So far I’ve been often told that I’m big by many women, but it’s the first time for a woman to call me attractive.

“Klimt, this girl is Lieselotte, my little sister. We’re alway calling her Liese, though.”

“Klimt-san, thanks for taking care of my brother.”

“It’s I who gets taken care of by Bruno.”

Still, she’s a cute sister.

“Looking at you, Liese-jou, I’m reminded of my own little sister, Nina.”

“What, so you had a sister as well. Come to think of it, there’s no way for commoners like us to fully know the family structure of the Earl Armstrong House, I suppose.”

“Oh, you’re the son of a high-ranking noble, Klimt-san?”

“So far as it goes. You would not really think so going by my appearance, and I am not the successor either.”

Besides, my birthplace doesn’t matter in the world I’m going to experience from now on. It’s not like the traps in historic ruins or monsters take such things into account.

“Klimt-san, you seem to be a good person, seeing how you don’t act arrogantly despite being a noble.”

“I will not do anything so meaningless.”

Occasionally you will find such people at the prep school, but most of the time those people don’t have real abilities to speak of, despite aiming to become adventurers, and thus cling to their lineage. They’re sad, weak folks.

“Please excuse me then.” Liese-jou puts down the basket with her cookies, and goes back home.

“I wonder whether Nina is doing fine.”

“Were you reminded of your sister back home after seeing Liese? What kind of person is your sister, Klimt?”

“She resembles me quite a lot!”

That’s why she’s my prided, little sister.

“…Umm, so you’re saying she’s a strong person? Anyway! Since it’s a great opportunity, let’s read after eating the cookies.”

He’s right. Bruno and I are working at this store aiming to read the books here. After enjoying some tea and the cookies made by Liese-jou, we immediately go back to reading books.

“『You mustn’t! Even if the two of us aren’t related by blood, such a relationship as big sister and little brother is…! The grip when Dustin seized my shoulder was stronger than expected, making me fully realize that my cute brother had turned into a man』. Erm, yeah, okay.”

“No, not that. Read books about magic.”

“You are right about that, but father and brother said in the past that I wouldd need to know about such things as well.”

“Well, it’s not wrong to know a bit about such things…I guess those things are the same for commoners and nobles alike.”

Father and brother have hidden those kinds of books away in the library, and have shown them to me every once in a while. But then again, mother-in-law and sister-in-law were fully aware of it, although both planned to hide those books from them.

“Anyway, read another book, okay?”

“Then…『Around fifty meters ahead were two cute girls with no people around them. I flipped their skirts with 『Squall』 while getting closer to them. One wore white laces, but the other one had violet panties which excited me. For sure I hadn’t expected such a cute girl to wear such daring panties. Now then, the next target is…』.”

“That’s not right either!”

This is wrong as well, huh?

“It is talking about magic, though.”

“That’s simply a story about a lecher magician, completely unrelated to magic theory.”

I guess this won’t be much of a reference for magic even if I read it…

“Or rather, this is a book with an interesting backstory for which the church persecuted the publisher. It seems like a higher-up of the church got offended after children of low-ranking magicians imitated the book.”

Certainly, this much should be easily copyable.

“So this book escaped the prosecution…?”

“Excuse me, please sell me this book.”

There’s a maniac who’s been looking for this romantic novel which had most of its edition confiscated after getting prosecuted by the church. It looks like he’s been searching the bookstore in the capital during the week. The finely-dressed, middle-aged man asks me how much he’d need to pay for that book about a skirt-flipping boy.

“How much does it cost?”

“10 cen…”

“It is 200 cent!”

“Eehh!? Klimt?”

“Anything wrong, Mr. Clerk? Here you go, 200 cent.”

“Thanks for your purchase.”

Leaving aside Bruno, the customer doesn’t seem to consider 200 cent expensive. Since relatively many of those with a hobby to read have a good income, it’s only natural.

“Klimt, don’t you think that it’s a rip-off to sell a book that costs 10 cent for 200 cent?”

“Seeing how their numbers are limited after the prosecution, it is only reasonable to raise the price of a product with rarity value.”

It stands to reason to raise the price if the supply falls far behind the demands if there are other collectors of this work. Father and brother have also collected such books that were prohibited by the church.

“I see, I guess that’s a very noble-like thinking…”

“Let us stop goofing around, and read books related to magic.”

Until Grandpa Zeno returned, Bruno and I continued to read books…books related to magic.

◆◇◆

“You might have sold it for 250 cent if you haggled a bit harder. You’re still quite wet behind the ears as well.”

We didn’t get scolded for it, but Grandpa Zeno still told us that we might have sold that romantic novel for a higher price.

◆◇◆

Doing business is quite complicated.

Chapter 4 – At the Bar

“Thanks for waiting. Here are your two ales.”

“Three ales coming up for this table.”

Still I must say, Bruno has really many connections. He’s been introducing me to one part-time job after the other. Doing one-time or short-period jobs is a lot more welcome to me than doing the same job all the time since it allows me to get to know the outside world well.

Tonight I’m working at a bar after having been introduced to the owner, who’s close to Bruno’s parents. This bar is close to the adventurer guild’s headquarter, resulting in many of the guests being adventurers. Given that we’re on our way to become adventurers too, it’s definitely not a wasted effort to learn about full-fledged adventurers in advance.

“Hey, big lad, bring us three ales as well. Also, another serving of stew.”

“Got it.”

Adventurers put a lot of emphasis on ability and don’t really care much about manners. I don’t have any talent in serving customers, but since it’s no issue as long as I can carry the orders around, I’ve been doing my job without running into any troubles.

“Say, what party are you going to join after graduation?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“Wanna come to us? We’ll gladly welcome a magician.”

“Hahaha…I’ll give it a thought.”

Bruno is really popular with the female adventurers. He’s often chatted up when bringing the orders to a table surrounded by just female adventurers. I’m also a magician, and it’s not like I don’t get any invitations either, but as expected, I guess, I’m not all that popular with female adventurers.

“Haah…I’m pooped.” Coming back to the kitchen in the back while holding empty plates and mugs, Bruno spits out a sigh as soon as he enters.

“It must be difficult to be popular.”

“Klimt, you have it nice since you’re only getting invited by male adventurers, you know?”

“Even I have been looking forward to an invitation by female adventurers.”

“It’s not all just sunshine when you’re approached by many people.” The middle-aged cook, who’s been preparing the stew in the kitchen, speaks up, obviously forcing himself into our conversation. “You gotta be careful with female adventurers who come to a bar in a party and try to recruit young male adventurers and prep school fledglings. Especially you, Bruno.”

“No kidding.”

“What is this about?”

Getting many invitations should be great since it’ll give you a wide selection of places to go to after graduation. On top of that, the party consists of women. It’s just proper as a human being and man to gently help them out. Otherwise they’ll have it tough in the adventurer’s world which is mostly dominated by men.

“Haa───ah, you truly come from a good family, don’t you? In contrast to your appearance.”

The part about my appearance was unnecessary.

“How is it related to coming from a good or bad family?”

“You see, many women struggle as adventurers since it’s a world dominated by men where only skill and strength count.”

Probably because of that, many women give up on it once they get married. At the very least, I hear that there’s many women who drastically cut down on the number of jobs they do.

“But you see, the ones needing special attention are the women who have surmounted those hardships or are doing fairly well at present. In many cases, such female adventurers will bare their fangs instead. Especially if it comes to newbies like Bruno. The position as a young adventurer is weak in a party made up of women, but if a capable male adventurer enters their little circle, it happens that their human relationships break down,” the cook explains. “It’s not like all female adventurers plan to continue being adventurers until the bitter end. Some will marry and retire, if they get a chance to do so. Now imagine someone like Bruno entering such a place. Even a child would understand that it’d develop into a fierce scramble over him.”

A young, handsome, capable magician has entered their workplace. All the women would aim for him, turning those, who were friends so far, into rivals. He’s right, it’d definitely bring about various troubles.

“It’ll be alright if the party only dissolves over this, but there are also bad cases where party members kill each other or abandon a wounded member in a monster domain. If such things are found out by the surroundings, it’s usually the male party member who gets shunned the most.”

“Makes sense, seeing how he’d have completely destroyed a party that worked properly. If you’re actually the cause for that, you won’t find a new party anymore either, I suspect.”

“Even the adventurer’s guild will keep a very close eye on you. A magician might find plenty of other jobs, but for ordinary adventurers it could spell the end of their career. Of course there also exist tough guys wandering from one female party to the other without paying much attention to such a bad reputation.”

Because such guys usually don’t have any real abilities, but only look handsome, the female adventurers accept them into their parties against their better judgment.

“So they’re like parasites, huh?”

“That’s how it is. There are all kinds of men. The same can be said about women. Youngsters, who believe that female adventurers are all good women only thinking of the best, are going to have the rug quickly pulled under them. You need to watch out, guys.”

“Indeed.”

“Hmm, I see.”

As expected of a cook who’s watched various kinds of adventurers from his kitchen over many years. His words are a trove of knowledge!

“It is a foregone conclusion for you, Bruno, but I must be careful as well!”

I’m a youngster, and a magician albeit an elementary one. Since magicians are rare, adventurers compete over them, so it’s possible that some will try to cheat me as a young and innocent student. Moreover, I’m still a minor and a novice. It’d be best for me to stay cautious.

“Thank you very much for your warning. I will be careful!”

“Umm, listen lad, considering it normally, you’re not wrong, but in your case it might be slightly different.”

“What do you mean?”

“Unlike with Bruno, it’s obvious that things would escalate if they were to try cheating you. You seem like a scary guy to piss off, and going by your appearance and physique, you don’t look like an inexperienced youngster either. Won’t it all work out if you play things by the ear?”

Hmm, true, my body is big, and I’m often regarded as much older than I actually am, but…I wished he hadn’t deliberately retorted on that part!

◆◇◆

“Hey, let’s have some fun once your shift’s over.”

“I need to clean up the store afterwards.”

“Aww, no need to worry about that. Just leave that task to the other folks working here.”

“I won’t do something like that.”

“Hey, bitch! Does that mean you’re turning down my invitation?”

“Dear customer, could you please stop yelling?”

◆◇◆

After a while of normally working as a waiter, I notice how the poster girl of this bar, who’s working as a waitress right now, suddenly starts to quarrel with an adventurer at a nearby table. This place serves alcohol as one would expect of a bar, and thus it regularly happens for guests to forcibly try making moves on the waitresses after becoming drunk. It’s nothing unusual, and the poster girl would skilfully ward them off since she’s accustomed to those kinds of incidents.

It’d be fine to not pay that much attention to it, but since there are also times where things escalate more than usual, we’ve been told to step in to defend her when necessary. And right now it might be such a situation.

“Listen girly, just follow me to the next store.”

“Customer, I’m currently in the middle of work.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve made a lot of cash today, so I’ll take over your work’s pay for today.”

“This bar lacks manpower, so I can’t leave.”

“That’s nothing you’d need to worry about, right?”

“Customer, could you please give her a rest?”

“Shut up! Don’t butt in!”

Since the guy keeps pestering her no matter how much she refuses, the bar’s owner steps in, but the male adventurer doesn’t listen to the owner at all. He’s probably drunk quite a bit in celebration of having earned a good amount of money.

He’s definitely annoying, but since it’s still not at the level where you’d call the guards, it’s my turn, I suppose.

“I will handle it!”

“Me too.”

“Bruno, you stay out of this.” As Bruno and I are about to head over to the poster girl, the cook holds back Bruno. “It’s unfortunate, but if someone with your appearance goes there, guys like him will just look down on us all the more. It’d be best for just the big lad to head there. After all, it’s not like this requires big numbers.”

“You heard him. I am off!”

This also means that my threatening appearance has its usefulness!

“How regrettable. It’d have been a great opportunity to get on the good side of this bar’s poster girl by saving her gallantly.”

Certainly, that girl does look cute. That’s likely the reason why many guests try to invite her, but since it doesn’t seem like Bruno likes her, I’m sure he’s just joking around.

“Okay, then I will get some affection points with her!”

At once I head over to the table with the drunk adventurer to rescue her.

“Customer, this place is not that kind of a store!” I step in-between those two with those words.

“What? Who the hell are you? Are you bastard really complaining to Zippo-sama, the ace of 『Brigade of Dawn』…!?”

“Customer, is something wrong?”

Although he’d been so energetic at first, it’s a total let-down how he’s become so meek all of a sudden. No matter how threatening I might look, the other guy is the ace of his party and a veteran adventurer. Something might be wrong since it’s not like he’d need to be frightened of an adventurer fledgling like me.

I must make sure to not get careless!

“I’ve got business with that girl, so you should stay out of it as an outsider!”

“Maybe, but she is in the middle of her work. It is not very admirable of you to get in her way.”

“It’s got nothing to do with you!”

“No, I am working here tonight, so it does matter to me.”

“Uugh…”

Considering that he’s been boldly hitting on a woman, that guy sure doesn’t man up now. But, that’s nothing I should think about now!

“Shut up, and get lost!”

I see. That’s an experienced adventurer for you. Judging that he can’t win against me unarmed, he tries to draw the sword hanging at his waist!

But, it was obvious to me that he might try to do something like that! After all, I belong to the Armstrong house, an authority in military circles.

“You shall not!”

“Wh-!?”

But, just as the adventurer has placed his hand on the sword’s hilt, I grab the hilt, covering his hand with mine! This is a secret technique of the Armstrong family, allowing our men for generations now to prevent an opponent from drawing their sword with our big palms.

A long time ago, at a time of a lot of bloodshed between nobles because of the continuously on-going wars, this technique was used to stop battles inside castles and similar. Nowadays it’s only passed on among families like my own, though.

“Let go!”

“Give up.”

With his level of strength, he’ll never be able to draw the sword against my will.

“Fuck! You an adventurer or what!?”

“I am still a prep school student.”

“Liar!”

No, I’m really an under-aged student!

“You gotta be a veteran adventurer! Why are you doing a part-time job at a bar!?”

“I am truly an under-aged student…”

“As if there would exist any under-aged students like you!”

It’s something I’m often told, but I’m telling the truth here! I’d like him to believe me!

“Give it a rest. Your behavior is a pain to watch.”

At this point, someone chides the drunk adventurer from another table.

“Who do you think you are, asshole!?”

“You really want to know? I’m not a self-alleged celebrity like you, though.”

The one leaving his seat with those words isn’t as tall as I am, but he’s a male adventurer looking to be in the midst of his twenties with a muscular body. Since he’s carrying a special, order-made greatsword on his back, I think there’s no doubt about him being an adventurer.

However, his way of talking is quite peculiar. To be honest, it gives me the impression of not really suiting him.

“Don’t bother me with that weirdo speak, dude.”

“I can’t help it. I’ve been talking like this since my birth. However, look, my way of speaking does not trouble anyone, but your behavior is trouble for others, isn’t it?”

“That ain’t anything I wanna be told by you!” The drunk shouts at the other adventurer.

“You’re yelling at me while unable to draw your sword and being one-sidedly cornered by a child who isn’t even an adventurer yet? How laughable.”

“What was that!? You think that’s an attitude you can take with Zippo-sama, the ace of 『Brigade of Dawn』!?”

“I don’t know you. I mean, you’re completely unknown. Even I should be more popular than you.”

“Now you’ve said! Who are you supposed to be!? It’s going to be a huge disgrace if I don’t know you!”

Hm───m. This drunk adventurer is ignoring me completely, huh? Even though he still can’t draw his sword because of me…

“You see, I’m called Candy. Other people call me 『Bloody Candy』.”

“Hey, Bloody Candy…he means that Blood Candy who’s slaughtered a pack of wild bears all by himself without receiving a single scratch?”

“I’ve heard he’s called bloody because his body was full of bloodstains despite being completely unhurt.”

“Or rather, he frequents this bar as well? There have been no rumors about him showing up in any bars, though.”

“He definitely looks fairly capable. Almost as if you’re going to be cut down if you show the tiniest opening.”

“Still, the way he talks is weird as heck.”

“The name’s Candy, so I was sure it’s about a woman.”

“So he was a guy, huh?”

“His way of speaking is somewhat womanly, I’d say?”

I can hear various people whispering among each other around us. I didn’t know, but it looks like adventurers with awfully brutal nicknames like Bloody Candy exist, despite the name sounding like that of a woman. Well, it appears he’s the living example of that.

“Bloody Candy, you say…”

“Oh my, it looks like you know me? So, what is it going to be? Are you going to fight me after having that boy remove his hand? I’m sure it’ll become a huge disgrace for you. Or…”

“I’m leaving!”

The effect of Bloody Candy’s fame is tremendous. The drunk adventurer pays his bill in a hurry, and rushes out of the bar as if running away.

“Sorry for all the trouble. Everyone, please enjoy yourself.”

Thereupon, the usual atmosphere immediately returns to the bar. Still, for such amazing men, who aren’t even magicians, to be around… The world of adventurers sure is full of unknown surprises! I want to quickly graduate from prep school and become a full-fledged adventurer!

◆◇◆

“Thanks, Klimt-san.”

“No, do not mind me. I feel like I have not done anything anyway.”

After the bar closed, I’m thanked by the poster girl for the timely rescue, but I can only regard it as Bloody Candy having been of much more use than me.

“That’s not true, you know? You splendidly stopped the drunk adventurer from drawing his sword.”

“Every once in a while some stupid adventurer will draw their sword after getting drunk, but I think you’re amazing for preventing that. It’s precisely because of your decisive action that the man called Bloody Candy could drive away the drunkard without it developing into a fight.”

Being praised by Bruno and the bar owner doesn’t feel bad, to be honest.

“Still, he was awesome.”

“He had no openings.”

Even though I didn’t feel any mana from him, he chased away the drunk adventurer, only using his fame and intimidating air. I’m sure he’s as capable a man as the rumors say.

“His way of talking was odd!”

“Well, you see…going by the gossip, he’s calling himself a girl.”

“A girl?”

Such a rough girl shouldn’t exist in the first place. Maybe he’s a woman who’s disguising herself very skilfully?

“No, that’s unthinkable. He was born as a man, but he considers himself a woman. In our business we see all kinds of people, but occasionally you’ll also encounter people like him.”

I see. People are all different.

“Klimt, you don’t really pay much attention to such things, do you?”

“I can’t help it since I was born like that!”

It’s not like I chose to be born into a noble family or anything. I guess that’s just how I am.

“It looks like it’s not just your body that’s big, but also your heart.”

“True, it kinda feels very manly.”

I’m praised by the bar owner and the poster girl, but I can’t really make much out of their words. I’m still a bloody youngster, after all.

Chapter 5 – Great Magician

“Today your senpai is going to come to teach you magic and chat with you. Have some fun, okay?”

“Sensei, who’s coming?”

“Listen and be surprised! He’s said to be the best newcomer among the younger magicians – the famous Alfred Reinford!”

“Woooww!”

“I always wanted to get taught magic by him.”

“Me too.”

I’ve been continuing my prep school life without any particular problems. In the morning on a fine early summer day, Hack-sensei suddenly begins to talk about a guest lecturer who’s going to teach us. It sounds like he’s a high-achieving, young magician.

“I wonder what kind of person he is.”

“It looks like you’re really not messing around. Klimt, for you to not know about Alfred Reinford…”

“Is he a celebrity?”

“Of course. With the condition of it being limited to magicians, though. …But look, we’re magicians, so yeah.”

“I hear about such a man for the first time.”

“Klimt, you’re truly amazing. Despite even Edgar Tretter focusing on him.” Bruno is looking at Edgar Tretter while commenting.

He’s right, Edgar is excitedly speaking with the students close to his seat.

“Edgar, you are aiming to become a magician equal to Alfred-sama in the future, right?”

“Correct. I want to become a magician who chases after him, and eventually surpasses him.”

“If it’s someone with your level of ability, I’m sure Alfred-sama will directly call out to you, Edgar.”

“That’d be nice.”

“I’m totally sure it’ll happen, Edgar.”

Since Edgar is usually a bit calmer than this, he must be idolizing that Alfred guy quite a bit. For that prodigy to lose his calm to such an extent; I’m sure Alfred is an amazing magician.

“I think, in a certain sense you’re a big-shot as well for not knowing Alfred-sama, Klimt.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep, I guarantee it.”

And then the special lesson with the famous magician Alfred began at long last.

◆◇◆

“What a cool man.”

“God doesn’t give with both hands, eh?”

Certainly, the young magician standing in front of me is tall, albeit not as tall as I am, has a handsome face, and smiles in a way that gives others a good impression. Because of that, the majority of our female students are charmed by his looks.

“I see. He’s definitely an amazing person.”

“You’re right.”

On the other hand, Bruno and I sense just how amazing he is from just his presence. It’s difficult to explain why he’s amazing, as I can only describe it as the unique intuition of a magician.

“It looks…like we’ve got a lot of excellent magician fledglings this year.” Alfred addresses us with a gentle voice.

I hear that the number of moody and arrogant people among the higher-ranking magicians isn’t low by any means, but his calm way of speaking immediately succeeds in giving us all, regardless of gender, a favorable impression of him.

“If I remember correctly, you were Edgar-kun, right?”

“Yes! I’m Edgar Tretter!”

“You don’t need to be so nervous. You guys will also become adventurers in a year. Once that happens, you’ll be equal to all other adventurers.”

For the usually calm Edgar to be so tense… I suppose it’s proof that Alfred is excelling that much as a magician.

Once you leave the prep school, all adventurers are equal. Many of the students are deeply moved by that statement. But…

“Hrmm…”

“(What’s wrong, Klimt?)”

“(He is someone saying some harsh things. It is probably because he is kind, but…)”

“(Harsh? You mean Alfred-sama’s statement just now?)”

At a glance, the statement that all adventurers are equal sounds nice and shiny. But, that equality only refers to an equality in the chance of succeeding. Adventurers also have equal chances to fail and die, or to retire and move on into their second life. I suspect that he wants to say that the adventurer world is a place where birthplace and difference in social standing play no role.

“(I suppose you can also consider it like that. You’re unexpectedly discerning, Klimt.)”

“(You can cut out the unexpectedly there.)”

As I’m whispering with Bruno, I suddenly sense the look of someone. Once I follow it, I see Alfred meaningfully smiling at Bruno and me.

“(We were found out?)”

“(Well, he’s an amazing man in various ways.)”

◆◇◆

It’s a special lesson, but the part about him telling about his past adventures in the first half is no different from other magicians. Next we go out on the schoolyard for some personal tutoring, but the one in the center of attention is Edgar Tretter, as might be expected.

Since he’s a prodigy, it’s inevitable!

Next, Bruno gets some tutoring as the one said to be the second strongest in our magician class.

“Your future also looks promising.”

“But, my mana growth is a bit…” Bruno honestly admits that he can’t win against Edgar while glancing at Alfred.

“That’s no reason for you to be disappointed. Your mana has been increasing well, and you’re still 14 years old. Your mana should continue to grow for a good while.”

“Okay!”

Bruno looks also very happy to be praised by Alfred.

Afterwards Alfred continues to give individual training, following the order of mana capacity, and I come up as fourth from the bottom. Well, my current mana capacity is simply that low.

“Hm───m, you’re a slightly tough case.”

“Tough case?”

Don’t tell me! He’s not talking about it being a tough case for me to make a living as a magician, is he!?

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant. There’s just some parts that make it hard to imagine what kind of magician you’re going to become.”

“Hard to imagine?”

So he means the advice about what training regimen would be best or what direction to follow as a magician he’s given my classmates?

“What should I do?”

“Hm───m, I feel like you’ll become a magician where the experience and knowledge I’ve cultivated until now won’t apply. It’s even possible that my advice would do you more harm than good. I think it’d be best for you to proceed in a way that feels the best for you.”

“Haah…I understand.”

Is that going to be of any use?

Even though it was one of the few, special lessons, it ended with me receiving a somewhat incomprehensible advice from Alfred.

I wonder what my future looks like.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Yo, Al. Good job with the babysitting duty.”

“Teach. If you keep pushing work you don’t want to do on your pupils, it’s going to impact the level of respect your pupils have towards you.”

“Sorry ’bout that. I’ll treat you lavishly in exchange. Just accept this as lil’ payment and fix up your level of respect, okay?”

“Why yes, thank you.”

“It sure is nice to have a cheap pupil.”

“Is it? Then, please bring me teach’s prized gem of a wine.”

“Gladly, customer.”

“Hey! Master! Cancel that order!”

“Burkhart-san, you promised your pupil to treat him lavishly. What would people think of you as a teacher if you broke that promise?”

“Absolutely right, master.”

“Master, you just want us to quickly use up the prized wine, which has been stored away for a long time now, as fast as possible, and buy the next prized wine, don’t you!?”

“I won’t say that it’s bad to set wine aside, but in the end wine exists to be drunk.”

“I got it… I’ll help out with emptying it! There’s no point in leaving the bottle half-empty anyway!”

◆◇◆

I’m a fairly renowned magician, but since the work accompanying that popularity is a pain in the ass, I usually push it on my pupil. Well, as a matter of fact, my pupil is highly praised as number one of the young magicians, so I was sure that the prep school would be happier with him handling the lesson anyway. It’s definitely not because I considered the brats of that adventurer prep school to be a pain to deal with, or anything like that.

Since I’ve treated him with plenty of expensive wine as an apology, we should be even. In reality it’s a wine I wanted to drink after letting it lay for a bit longer, but…

“So, how was it?”

“It was an array of fairly outstanding talents.”

“If I remember correctly, Edgar Tretter is in that class? I remember the adventurer guild’s geezer bragging about his expectation of that boy.”

A magician’s grade of excellence as a graduate also influences the profit they bring to the adventurer guild. So it’s quite understandable for them to pay attention to promising talents.

“It’s no exaggeration to call him a talented student.”

“Humph, talented student, eh?”

If I remember correctly, Edgar Tretter is rumored to be a prodigy appearing once in a decade, but according to Al he’s a talented student? It’s probably not wrong, but I kinda feel like the title of a prodigy appearing once in a decade is a lie.

“It kinda makes me feel like asking why my exceptional pupil calls him a talented student then.”

“Let’s see, I’ll tell you if you sponsor another cup.”

“Deal.”

Al usually doesn’t drink that much, and yet he’s quite a good drinker. Moreover, since he’s such a damn picky drinker, he friggin’ always goes for the expensive stuff. I suppose I’ve got to give up on the prized wine we opened just now.

“It’s a great wine. Especially its aroma.”

“You can stop with the wine evaluation, and tell me about Edgar instead.”

“It’s simple. Edgar Tretter has had a big amount of mana as a child, allowing him to reach advanced level early on. Even now his mana continues to increase, and he’s not affected by the ideology that firing big spells is the best as commonly believed by magicians with big mana pools. He’s also eager to improve his magic accuracy. He’s repeatedly investing great efforts into increasing the number of spells he can use. He appears to be the top student of the magician class, which basically means he’s seriously tackling his studies of magic, too. I’m pretty sure that he’ll become a great magician and adventurer. And even after retiring, I believe that he’ll be in high demand at many places. He’s a hard worker with a calm character, and he’s also capable of meshing with others.”

“Ain’t that a perfect mark then?”

Unlike me during my prep school time, he doesn’t have any flaws, does he? Even compared to Al…that guy sounds like he’s naturally skilled and knows how to deal with things. I’ve also heard that he’s liked by his classmates and teachers.

“Isn’t he similar to you?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“How is that not the case?”

He’s excellent and cooperative. To me it sounds like Al and Edgar are similar.

“I don’t know how to describe it, but right, he’s got no outstandingly shining individuality.”

“What’s that about?”

“It’s difficult to explain… Magicians like Edgar appear once every few years. They’re definitely superior, but that superiority remains in the range of what’s expectable.”

“Isn’t that fine?”

Among the magicians with a big amount of mana exists a fixed number of weirdos, messed up personalities, and folks unable to work with others. Even if such people might be outstanding prodigies, they’re hard to use for anything.

“But, it’s somehow not enough. Isn’t it dull? Such magicians won’t leave their name in history, will they?”

“It’s more than enough if magicians like the one you’re talking about appear once in several decades, you know?”

Something like heroes are unnecessary in these peaceful times.

“In short, you don’t want to take such a boring 『talented student』 as pupil, correct?” I ask Al half in jest.

Al laughs it off while nipping the wine in his glass. Since Al has already become an adult, I don’t think it’d be a problem for him to take a pupil, but for some reason he doesn’t feel like doing so.

I’m sure Edgar Tretter isn’t to Al’s liking.

“I also believe that it’d be great if some day a pupil appears whom I could teach all I know.”

“So you’re saying now’s not the time.”

“Yes…it’s not.”

“But, there was a student who piqued your interest more than Edgar in the special lesson. Correct?”

I’m Al’s teacher, so I can tell what he is thinking to some extent.

“Yeah. I think his potential hasn’t shown itself yet. Since it might be me just imagining things, I won’t tell anyone, even not you, Teach…”

“Hm───m, you spotted such a guy in that class, huh?”

It’s not like I’ve actually seen them for myself. So I can’t contradict Al’s opinion.

“Besides, he’s not someone I could teach anyway.”

“What kind of person is he then?”

“I feel like he’s the manifestation of Great talents mature late. Besides, even without me teaching him the ropes, I think he’ll become strong on his own. And someday he might surpass me as well. He might come to challenge me to a duel once he’s grown strong. I’m really looking forward to that.”

Afterwards Al wouldn’t mention anything further about this matter. It looks like he doesn’t plan to tell anyone about this mysterious newcomer.

“Well, it’d be great if that anticipation proves to be right.”

“Indeed.”

Since I’m bad with passionate stuff like measuring your strength with a younger magician who’s grown up, I’ll leave them to their own devices. Still, that damn Al has downed more than half the bottle of my prized wine!

Though, I’ve drunk the other half.

Chapter 6 – Graduation

“Today all of you are going to graduate. Since those who’ve become 15 years old are now officially regarded as adults, it’s fine for you to form parties and challenge monsters, and if you judge that to be too dangerous, you can also earn your money by hunting. You have only one life. Cherish it. Anyway, congratulations on your graduation.”

“That’s quite the casual, simple graduation speech, isn’t it?”

“It’s better than him going on about it on end!”

After one year of prep school, our class has graduated. Since anyone would be able to graduate from the adventurer prep school as long as they didn’t mess up quite drastically, the question of how we’d lead our lives as adventurers from now on was the most important one.

“What are you going to do, Bruno?”

“I’ve been scouted.”

“Okay, that makes sense in your case.”

In this year, Bruno had increased the different types of spells available to him even further. He’s popular as someone who can be used in combat right away, and it looks like the party he’d be joining has been decided long ago.

“What about you, Klimt? You should be an immediate asset to any party as well, no?”

“That is…”

My mana pool has increased a bit as well, but it’s still in the middle of growing. Magicians, even if they’re elementary, are highly sought after, and different parties scramble for them, but for some reason not a single party has called out to me.

“My combat style consists of reinforcing my body with mana, and beating my opponent to death. Because I only use close combat, everyone is worrying too much that something could happen to me in the worst case.”

Even if being an adventurer has nothing to do with social standing, in the unlikely case that I were to die…expecting retribution from the Earl Armstrong House, there’s no party willing to take me in.

“It is truly troublesome.”

I’ve got no choice but to somehow try to alleviate the worries of other adventurers since it’s not like father or brother would hold them responsible for anything either.

“Want me to ask my party’s leader? It’s actually Bloody Candy-san. The party is called 『Twilight of Dawn』. It’s a quite famous party.”

“For now I will try to somehow handle it myself.”

I’m not overly keen to depend on Bruno once again. I think it’d make sense for me to at least decide the party I’m going to work with on my own.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I will be in your care if things do not work out at all.”

“Sure. If you’ve got any problems, feel free to talk me up.”

Thus I turn down Bruno’s offer and start looking for parties by myself.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Humph!”

“Ooohh, you brought down another one?”

“Hey, you’re quite good, man.”

It’s often said that it’s easier to do something than endlessly ponder about it. Even the party search, which I’ve thought would be a tough challenge, is immediately resolved with the arrival of scouts. My new party is called 『Sword Strikers』 and consists of five swordsmen. I was immediately able to join after they concluded that I’d pose no problem as a combat asset.

Today is yet another day of me breaking the neck of a deer monster with a lariat after pouring mana into my arm in a monster domain located a little distance away from the capital. My new party members praise me, and also keep taking down monsters with practised moves.

So far I can’t use any emission-based magic, but becoming independent as an adventurer comes first for now. I just need to wait for the time to come since my mana is still growing, albeit slowly.

“Klimt-kun, this is how far we go today. Get ready to withdraw.”

“I can still keep going.”

I appeal to the leader of 『Sword Strikers』 that I’ve got more than enough strength left to bring down another two or three monsters.

“I fully understand your wish to hurry in gaining achievements since you’re a rookie, but rookies tend to ignore their physical exhaustion as they’re too impatient. Some get injured, or in the worst case die, after forcing themselves while believing that they’re still good to go. We’ll raise the pace little-by-little once you get used to the current pace in a little while. At a glance it looks like it’s a detour, but in reality this way of doing things is the quickest shortcut.”

“I see.”

That’s an experienced party leader for you. He’s truly calm and composed.

“Okay, let’s go back to the inn.”

“Roger.”

Having said that, including my share, the loot of 『Sword Strikers』 is quite something. Once we return to the village near the monster domain, we sell off today’s spoils at a vendor directly managed by the adventurer’s guild, and evenly split the pay among the members. Without telling me that I’d get less since I’m a rookie, I get an even share of the reward upon the leader’s instruction, who also mentions that it’s because I’ve properly done my share of work.

It’s not that I didn’t have any worries at first, but I must say, it’s a very good party. Not just the leader, but all the other members treat me kindly. However, there’s just one point that causes me to wonder.

“Now then, we’ve finished eating dinner, so Klimt-kun, it’s time for you to go to sleep in preparation for tomorrow.”

“Haah…”

“You’re still young. You won’t be able to grow up properly if you don’t get enough sleep.”

“I’ve heard sleep also affects the growth of mana.”

“There’s no nightlife to enjoy in such a rural village anyway.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing how much money you can save until we go back to the capital.”

『Sword Strikers』 always does its adventurer job while booking inns in rural villages in the vicinity of the capital. Even if that part’s fine since it’s true that there’s more than enough game to be found in the countryside, I still wonder about them always telling me to quickly go back to the inn and sleep once we’re done with a day’s work.

Certainly, shops operating at night don’t exist in the villages where 『Sword Strikers』 books inns, but…

“I will go to sleep to be ready for tomorrow.”

“That’s how it should be.”

Today as well I obediently answered that I’d go sleep at the inn, but since it’s unavoidable for me to be curious what my party does while I’m sleeping, I just pretend to go sleep, and instead follow them as they leave the inn at night.

They continue walking to the end of the village while relying on the illumination of a single torch. Given that I don’t have a light with me, I do my best to keep up so as to not lose sight of them.

After leaving the village, and furthermore following some deserted animal trail, I came out at an open place inside a forest. I can see a torch shining on the leader and the others on the other side of the space. It looks like they’ve arranged a meeting with someone in advance.

“Mountain!”

“Valley!”

“It’s the same lineup as everytime, but using the password remains the rule either way. Come to think of it, is the young master sleeping peacefully today as well?”

“Well, yeah. He comes from a good family, so he’s an obedient guy. Besides, outwardly we’re a middle-tiered adventurer party with proper achievements. There’s no reason for him to suspect anything.”

“Really?”

“I mean we basically took in the young master of the Earl Armstrong House as protection against the guards. Even the guards would never suspect the party of a high-ranking noble’s young son to smuggle illegal magic potions.”

“That makes sense. The potions are produced in the mountains near the capital, and you guys take it with you into the city as adventurers to sell it off. With this method we won’t be found out so easily.”

“Yep. Anyway, pass me today’s share.”

“Okay.”

Gunununu! And here I believed 『Sword Strikers』 to be a wonderful adventurer party! For them to smuggle illegal magic potions…unbelievable! What pisses me off above all that is how they’ve been using me.

No! They used the name of my home, the Earl Armstrong House!

At this rate it will hurt my father and brother’s reputation! I’m deeply sorry towards the two who have listened to my selfish wish and helped me to head for the outside world!

Now that it’s come to this, I’ll arrest you people!

“Wait right there!”

“Who are you?”

“Bah! Isn’t that the young master!?”

Leader, no, the smuggler has apparently realized my identity even within this darkness!

“So you invited me, thinking that the guards would not suspect anything, allowing you to escape an investigation, as long as I am in your party, huh?”

“Obviously, no? Any normal party would be troubled if they took you in and you died on them. Just consider yourself thankful for us having let you join.”

“Ununu…!”

“Having said that, your luck ran out the moment you witnessed the trade, I suppose. Even if you might be a child of the Armstrong House, we need you to disappear now.”

“You mean you are going to kill me?”

“We will kill you here, and get rid of the evidence by having a monster eat your corpse later on. Something like a noble brat dying after trying to do the impossible does happen every once in a while. It might earn us the hate of the Armstrong House, but it won’t be much of a problem if we dissolve 『Sword Strikers』 and form another party thereafter.”

“Earning all those achievements from scratch as a new party so as to not get suspected will be a pain, but…seeing how we’re doing dangerous business anyway, we’d never cut corners in these matters.”

『Sword Strikers』. I thought that all their members are serious adventurers, but for them to be so deeply involved with criminal acts…

The five members of 『Sword Strikers』, and the five people in charge of producing the illegal potions who are present here; in total ten people. At the very least five adventurers with skills that are above average, and there should be at least one magician among the production folks seeing how they’re dabbling in the manufacturing of magic potions.

One vs. ten. Fighting just like that would likely result in me dying. In that case!

“Got the jitters?”

“You should have obediently stayed asleep in the inn. Realize that there are times where unnecessary curiosity costs one their lif…gahaa!”

“Rambling pointlessly also costs one their life!”

It looks like they’ve completely let their guard down as they felt safe from having the advantage in numbers. They sure hadn’t expected me to launch a swift attack from my side. I charged at the one of 『Sword Strikers』 who held the torch at full speed, and knocked him out with a blow I had charged with mana.

Now that I’ve blended in among the remaining 『Sword Strikers』 members after the torch has gone out, they shouldn’t be able to do much within this darkness. If they don’t know my exact location, they might hit their comrades if they swing their swords. Even the magician, who should be among the group of producers, might hit 『Sword Strikers』 if they unleash their magic imprudently, although I don’t know how skilled that magician is. Still, there’s no way that they’d attack their precious business partners!

“He’s gone into hiding!”

“Hey! Don’t use your swords! Or do you want to hit one of us!?”

As expected, the members of 『Sword Strikers』 don’t know my current location, and can’t attack as they fear to hit their allies.

“Leader! Grasping that guy’s location with everyo…ugaah!”

Two down!

“With one blow!? As thought, blows filled with mana are…uguuh…!”

My opponents need to be careful of friendly fire, but since everyone’s my enemy here, I just need to pummel them with my mana-filled blows as soon as I sense the presence of someone. With this, I’ve lowered their numbers by three!

“Hey! Tandolly! Help us with your magic!”

“Impossible! I might end up hitting you guys.”

The leader of 『Sword Strikers』 asks the magician of the producer group for help, but he can’t unleash his magic either since he might hit his allies. An excellent magician would have many ways to handle a situation like this, but a guy, who helps out with the production of illegal potions, can’t be much of a magician anyway. An excellent magician can earn money and fame without resorting to such dangerous work.

It’s not like there are no precedents of elementary magicians becoming criminals because of their unhappiness over not getting acknowledged despite being magicians. I have to be careful as well…

“Four down.”

Only the leader of 『Sword Strikers』 is left now, but since the group of producers is still around as well, it’d be better for me to hurry!

“Don’t think I’m like the others just because you’re not visible in the darkness! There!”

“Humph! 『Rock Fist』!”

As might be expected of the leader. Even within this darkness he still precisely swings his sword at me, but I concentrate mana in my fist, and succeed in breaking his sword.

“My sword! Is this guy really a rookie adventurer!?”

“You let me into your party while thinking so, didn’t you? Five down!”

With this all members of 『Sword Strikers』 have been knocked out.

“『Sword Strikers』 has been annihilated! He’s totally aberrant for the likes of a rookie! Tandolly! No need to worry about friendly fire anymore! Finish him off!”

“Got it. This rookie seems unable to use emission-based spells. I can easily beat him.”

One guy from the producer group orders the magician to kill me. However, considering that he hasn’t used the 『Light』 spell so far, it looks like his ability as magician isn’t all that great, just like mine.

“Let’s go! Illuminate!”

Upon the magician’s order, the other members of the producer group ignite their spare torches, and begin to search for me.

So he was a magician like me who can’t use 『Light』, huh?

Once they finally illuminate me with their torches, a magic flame is already burning on the right hand of the magician.

“Being unable to use 『Light』…you are a poor excuse for a magician!”

“You’re the last person I want to hear that from! You’re just running around hitting people after reinforcing your body with mana!”

Since both of us aren’t overly capable as magicians, there’s no need for him to get so worked up.

“But! I have 『Fireball』! Eat this!”

He releases his spell after expressly telling me its name. It seems like he’s not very accustomed to combat. Though it’s not my place to talk about others either.

“A───haha! Turn into pitch-black charcoal!”

“That is impossible!”

Burning me to cinders with a 『Fireball』 won’t work out for a magician with lacking abilities. Moreover, if he fires his spell after taking so long to do so, it’s only natural for me to adopt countermeasures.

I’ve lifted up one of the fainted members of 『Sword Strikers』, using him as a meatshield. The magician’s fireball directly hits my shield, but as I expected, it’s power is kinda weak.

“As expected! It is just a puny 『Fireball』!”

“Are you a brute or what!?”

“That’s nothing I want to be told by the likes of a magician who dabbles in crimes! I have no mercy when it comes to villains!”

“Eeei!”

The magician fires another 『Fireball』 in response to my provocation! But, I handle that with my meatshield.

Of course that’s no plan which would work against a superb magician, but it’s simple for me to take such a countermeasure against someone as unskilled as a magician as he is.

“Shit!”

“Okay, let’s finish this!”

I toss my meatshield at the magician. Unable to dodge, the magician goes down alongside the 『Sword Strikers』 member. I think he’ll be out of commission for a while. At the same time I close the distance to the rest of the producer group, and keep knocking them out one after the other as they are totally shaken by their magician, their strongest combat force, having been taken out.

It took me less than five minutes to win this.

“Pheeew… All that’s left is the manufacturing workshop for the illegal magic potions.”

Since we’re in such a remote place, I’ve got no choice but to wake up one of the production guys and have him spill the beans. I have to make sure to not make any mistake in the adjustment of my threatening.

“But before that, I need to confiscate their weapons and tie them up.”

Winning a battle of one vs. ten isn’t difficult, but dealing with the aftermath is a hassle in various ways. It’s because I’ve got no comrades to help me out, but this isn’t anything I can fix right now. After lighting up a torch I picked up, I began with the necessary work, but around the time when I was done with everything, day had already dawned.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“And thus I destroyed all evil without a hitch.”

“But, because of that, your party got dissolved, didn’t it? Things simply don’t want to work out for you, huh?”

One week after the arrest of the adventurer party that got involved in the smuggling and sale of illegal potions, I’ve met up with Bruno for the first time in a month. It looks like he’s got a day off from his work as an adventurer today, and thus he humors me by listening to all my complaints.

Certainly, I’ve got the achievement of exposing their wrongdoings, but it’s also the actual reason for the first party I’ve joined to have disbanded in less than a month. Afterwards I got questioned by the adventurer’s guild for a long time, and when I searched for a new party, I was always told that they didn’t need a guy who’d suddenly crush his own party for such a reason.

Why do I have such bad luck despite having supposedly done the right thing?

“Well, I’m on your side since I also feel like it’s a glorious achievement.”

“It is all about people thinking that they would need to deal with various complicated issues since I am related to nobility!”

I’ve entered 『Sword Strikers』 without knowing anything. But, even among the guards and the adventurer’s guild there are some people who don’t believe that part. They think that the Earl Armstrong House itself might actually have been involved with the smuggling and sale of illegal potions.

Of course they’d immediately know that this wasn’t the case if they checked, but there’s quite a few nobles thinking that it’d be nice if it was true, and since those nobles were loudly fanning those suspicions, it caused trouble for father and brother in the end as well.

“Some nobles were maneuvering around, in the hope that they could rise in power if the Armstrong House were to fall over this scandal. In the end it took time and effort to dispel all doubts.”

Still, they somehow managed to get rid of the suspicions. Another reason for this having been blown out of proportion was the fact of me being the rookie adventurer who caught his fellow adventurers dabbling in illegal actions, although it’d be truly a great achievement under normal circumstances.

“Nobles have it really hard.”

“For that reason, the achievement has been evened out by the bad rumors. It is as if my meritorious deed never happened. That is what I have been sarcastically told by the higher ups in the adventurer’s guild.”

“How nasty.”

“Still, it’s a probable story.”

“Candy-san!”

“Ye───es! You having a day off, Bruno-chan, naturally means that I have a day off as well. So, when I was aimlessly wandering through the city, I spotted you two.”

Since we’re currently sitting in an open-air cafe, it’s not strange for Bloody Candy to find us.

“You see, 『Sword Strikers』 has been doing its work properly for the sake of their camouflage. Since they’re gone now, I feel like wanting to complain to you as well, Ron-chan.”

“Ron-chan…it is?”

“Amstrong, that’s why Ron-chan. No good?”

“If you are fine with it…”

“Totally.”

In truth I wonder what to think of such a nickname, but once I see his (?) gaze, I end up unable to object. Although Candy-san isn’t a magician, he has a presence that’s far beyond that of the members of 『Sword Strikers』.

“But, Candy-san, 『Sword Strikers』 are criminals.”

“The other people are well aware of that. Ron-chan’s actions were correct. Since he arrested them after finding out about their wrongdoings, people other than adventurers praise Ron-chan for this achievement. But, the top brass of the guild, which lost income through the disbandment of 『Sword Strikers』, isn’t all happy with it, and the nobles want to use it to sabotage the Armstrong House. In other words, everyone plays their own little games.”

I suppose, nothing less of the leader of a famous adventurer party. You can’t underestimate his ability to gather information.

“Also, no party wanting to take in Ron-chan as member stems from everyone wanting to avoid troublesome things. Even well-running parties often fall apart over small things.”

I’m a seed of trouble since I hail from the Armstrong House, eh…?

“Even though I have actually left home…”

“You might think so, Ron-chan, but it’s questionable whether other people assess it in the same way, right?”

“I cannot deny it…”

Even though I’ve come to the outside world at long last, I cannot afford to trouble my father and brother any more than this…although they praised me for the case this time…seeing as I can’t work as an adventurer, I might have no choice other than going back home.

“Ron-chan, you’re a strong, fine man, so it’s wrong for you to be so depressed. Since you’ve suppressed the members of 『Sword Strikers』, who were known as middle-tiered adventurer party, and a group of potion makers, who had an elementary magician among them, all by yourself, it proves that you’ve got ability. It’d be okay for you to come to us.”

“Really?”

Candy-dono says that he’s going to accept me with my complicated circumstances. I wonder what he’s aiming for.

“It’s not like I have any particular motives in this. I mean, Ron-chan, you’ll be a good combat-asset, and you’ve got a promising future, too.”

“My family is the Earl Armstrong House, though.”

“So what? Kicking up a fuss over something of this level is the fault of the geezers over at the adventurer’s guild, right? I wonder whether it simply means that they’ve grown old and senile? Birthplace, upbringing, gender, or age don’t matter for adventurers. All that counts is ability. Though, in our youth we’ve criticized the elders above us who would pay attention to the common rules while saying so. Anyway, if you feel like it, Ron-chan, you’re welcome to join us.”

“Gladly!”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. I look forward to working with you from now on, Ron-chan.”

After the disappearance of the 『Sword Strikers』, I’ve been in danger of becoming an unemployed adventurer, but after being invited by Candy-dono, I joined 『Twilight of Dawn』, the party formed by him.

Chapter 7 – Twilight of Dawn

“So we ended up in the same party after all, huh?”

“Please take care of me again, Bruno.”

“Everyoneee─── I found us a new rookie!”

Today marks the restart of my life as an adventurer. As result of me being allowed to join 『Twilight of Dawn』, the party led by Candy-dono, I’m meeting with the other members besides Bruno today.

The location for the meeting is a deserted restaurant in a corner of the slums. I hear it also serves as a bar for adventurers in the evening. After the rush hour at lunch time calmed down, only the old owner lady and us were left in the restaurant. It’d be no exaggeration to state that we’ve got the place all for ourselves.

“Let’s have some introductions, okay? I’m the leader, and the greatsword on my back is my favorite weapon. The old guy over there is…”

“Who’s an old guy!? I’m still 32 years old, damn it!”

“Doesn’t that plentifully qualify you as an old guy? He’s skilled at handling knives and bows. He can also lay traps. So, in short, he’s a Jack of all trades and master of none…”

“Who’s a Jack of all trades and master of none!?”

“…with the name Boltor.”

“Candy, you’re also going to be an old guy in a few more years, just remember that!”

“I am an eternally young girl.”

“Bullshit!”

The medium-built, rather inconspicuous man seems to be a fairly long standing member in this party. It’s obvious from how he and Candy-dono banter with each other.

“The quiet guy over there is called Dalton.”

“…”

I think his age is in the mid twenties? He’s a considerably broad man, but because of his muscularity, he doesn’t give one the impression of being fat. He appears to be a taciturn person as he only nods in greeting after Candy-dono’s introduction, and immediately goes back to tending his battle ax.

“In other words, with Bruno-chan and Ron-chan, Twilight of Dawn forms a team of five people.”

“Is that so?”

Twilight of Dawn is a quite famous party, and Bruno only entered a little while ago. And yet, the numbers seem to be way low…

“Hey big lad, you consider it strange for our party to be smaller than you had imagined?”

“No…not particularly.”

It’d definitely be rude to say such things after they went out of their way to allow me into their party.

“Don’t mind it. Twilight of Dawn is such a party to begin with.”

Boltor-dono explains to me the history of how Twilight of Dawn came to be.

“Twilight of Dawn is a 『party everyone is going to graduate from someday』. Let me tell you just in case, but this ain’t just about retiring as an adventurer. In a way, it’s about going independent, I’d say.”

According to Boltor-dono, Twilight of Dawn seems to be a party with a history of more than a hundred years.

“First, it’s got a leader who’s the core and will remain in the party until retirement. Currently Candy is holding that position after getting nominated as successor by the previous leader. If you’re appointed as leader once, you lead the party until you die or retire. I’m the sub-leader. I’m much longer in this party than Candy, but I’m not quite suited to be the party’s leader, and at this point I don’t plan to go to another party anymore either. That’s why I’ve stayed here while being treated as a sub-leader. Dalton has also been around for quite a long time, but this guy’s staying here cause he likes this party. He’s no sub-leader of this party, but he’s been taking care of the rookies. Albeit, he’s kinda tacit.”

The Twilight of Dawn is a kind of adventurer cultivation party. The leader and two or three sub-leaders are fixed, the rest gets filled up with the necessary number of rookies. The fact of rookies leaving the party to go solo, join other parties, or form their own party after having grown as adventurers is welcomed in the party as 『The chick has grown up enough to take flight』.

“It is a party of awfully good-natured people.”

“You’re right. But, this party has worked like this for more than a hundred years now. If you dislike it, you’re free to scoot. Big lad, Bruno, you guys will reach a crossroad in life after having been part of this party for several years and familiarized yourself with being adventurers.”

I see, once you become full-fledged as an adventurer, it’ll be your own decision whether you stay with Twilight of Dawn or go elsewhere. The same applies to Bruno and me as well.

“Big lad, you’ve got all those troubles with your previous party, and that’s why you seem to feel a debt of gratitude towards Candy for taking you in, but it’s one of our party’s duties to save promising but unlucky rookies like you.”

“That is amazing!”

The world of adventurers is a place where ability counts and where everyone is responsible for themselves. And yet there’s at least one party which accepts rookies and actively teaches them how to get around as adventurers. I didn’t know that. This world sure is a big place.

“Having said that, we need to make a living as well, so we basically only call out to promising rookies. We mostly refuse people who want to join our party, too. We only deal with rookies who seem to have the potential to grow into proper adventurers. We don’t do charity work like the church.”

Still, with this they can prevent at least a few talented adventurers from dying or retiring after getting heavily injured due to lacking experience. The founder of Twilight of Dawn was a magnificent man who kept the benefit of the entire adventurer occupation in sight. Of course this also applies to Candy-dono, who’s been designated as its leader.

“There’s some truth to what you’re thinking, big lad, but in Candy’s case, he’s way too harsh on the looks of rookies when scouting.”

“Harsh?”

“This piece of shit scouts nothing but male adventurers who suit his own tastes, damn it! Ever since this guy became the party leader, not a single woman has entered our party. It’s all machos, machos…bloody hell!”

“Isn’t that fine? When looking at types like Bruno-chan or Ron-chan, I equally consider them as nice. Both of them are talented as magicians, and nurturing that is my duty as leader of Twilight of Dawn.”

“And also to appease your own desires, aight?”

Appease his desires…due to Boltor-dono’s comment, Bruno and I put ourselves on guard.

“I won’t do anything since I hate pushy men. Of course it’s a different matter if you guys desire me. You see, I’m a beautiful maiden dreaming of a love that somehow doesn’t want to come true.”

“”…””

It looks like Candy-dono’s tastes are biased, but I managed to safely get into Twilight of Dawn for the time being.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“I’m going!”

After some twists and turns I entered Twilight of Dawn. Candy-dono, the leader, usually acts like a lovely girl, but during work he’s really strict.

No matter how much the party has the rearing of promising rookies as its goal, the leader and sub-leaders must guarantee a substantial income for the party. Because of that, we’ve started to hunt in a monster domain near the capital with quite a few monsters the next day.

I hear Bruno has been going at this for the entire last month. It’s a fairly hard training, teaching us how actual combat works. But now I understand why they won’t let unskilled rookies into their party: they’d die right away.

As I’m drawing close to a monster with mana charging my fists, Candy-dono hurls a cautioning my way from behind.

“Ron-chan, you’re not fighting here as a solo adventurer. Keep your back in mind. Are you also remembering to keep the line of fire for Bruno-chan’s magic free?”

“OH!

Winning in the one vs. ten battle the other day has gone to my head! Today we’re fighting monsters with five people. Moreover, Bruno is in charge of firing magic from a distance, unlike me. If I charge in without thinking, I’ll just get into Bruno’s way.

“Sorry, Bruno.”

“Ron-chan, currently you’re a vanguard. You need to also think of how to cooperate with me and Dalton. If monsters break through our line, not only Bruno-chan, but even Boltor, who’s using his archery as rear guard, will fall into a predicament.”

“Roger!”

Candy-dono’s teaching is strict, and everything he says is to the point. Just as might be expected of a famous adventurer who holds the nickname of Bloody Candy.

Even afterwards, we continue the subjugation as a training in real combat that wouldn’t lose out to any mid-tier party, and eventually we reach the point of taking a break while at the same time eating lunch.

“I’m exhausted.”

“I’ve finally become somewhat used to it, I think.”

The instant Bruno and I reach the rest place after leaving the monster domain, we flop down on the spot.

“You okay? Drink this.”

With combat being over, Candy-dono has reverted to his usual self. He passes some chilled fruit juice diluted with water to Bruno and me. He shows a friendliness you wouldn’t expect from the leader of a famous adventurer party.

“Today’s lunch has been prepared by me.”

Candy-dono has prepared bento for everyone. Moreover, hand-made ones. For me, who can’t cook at all, it’s nothing but surprising.

“Do you prepare these every day?”

“No, even I’d be hard pressed to do this every day. I’ve put in some effort today since it’s your first day, Ron-chan. Usually we order our food at yesterday’s restaurant.”

“The bento of 『Mistletoe of Night』 are cheap and delicious.”

“No matter how much a girl I might be, I still lose to Ireisa-san’s years of experience.” Candy-dono replies to Bruno.

So the name of the old woman in yesterday’s run-down…no, deeply historical restaurant + bar is Ireisa-san, huh?

“For this reason, dig in.”

“”””Good appetite!””””

All of us eat Candy-dono’s special bento, and I must say, it’s very delicious. It’s in no way inferior to the dishes prepared by the exclusive cooks of my family.

“It’s enviable how you excel as an adventurer and cook.”

“True, Candy-san is also very skilled at sewing.” Bruno adds as he got his torn clothes fixed in the blink of an eye some time ago.

“This guy sure is skillful. He’s better at housework and such than women.”

“Oh my, how rude of you, Boltor. I’m a maiden, you know? And as a girl I wouldn’t cut any corners with things like these. After all, I also dream of becoming a bride one fine day.”

“”””…””””

He’s a superb adventurer despite not being a magician, he’s got good leadership abilities, he can handle many things skilfully, and he has an excellent character, but I can’t help feeling that a marriage is next to impossible for him.

But, as might be expected, even Boltor-dono, who knows him for a long time now, doesn’t point this out. All of us start to silently eat lunch.

“This is where we stop for today.”

It’s been around one month since I’ve entered Twilight of Dawn. I’ve also finally reached a point where the number of Candy-dono’s cautionings during combat has significantly decreased as I’ve learned the difference between fighting myself and fighting in a group.

My mana has been properly increasing every day, albeit slowly. However, since my aggregate amount of mana remains low, there’s been no change in our tactics. In regards to this matter, Candy-dono told me, 『I’m no expert when it comes to magic, but even if it’s just little-by-little, don’t forget to train your magic every day without lowering the amount of training out of annoyance as long as it still grows. From my experience, plain, daily efforts very often bring about results sooner or later』.

Just as told, I never miss doing my daily training routine.

One evening, when I got accustomed to this kind of lifestyle, I used the opportunity to have the next day off after finishing that day’s work to do something I had to do.

“You’re moving out?”

“Yes, I am.”

Ever since my days at the prep school, I’ve been living in the attic of a small house, but it looks like Mrs. Walkt, who’s been recently showing signs of senility, is going to sell her small home and move in with her son. For this reason, I had to move out within a month.

So far it hasn’t been necessary to hurry, but from now on I must look for a new place to stay.

“I see. So, Klimt, what kind of property are you looking for?”

“Anything is fine as long as I can sleep there!”

“That’s definitely quite the modest condition.”

“I still have my own room back at my parent’s home.”

I don’t know when, but I’ll have to go back home at some point anyway. The majority of my personal belongings are in that room. Since it’s okay with me to put the necessary stuff around my bed, I don’t need such a big room.

“What about cooking?”

“I’m no good at it anyway, so I’ll just eat out.”

There’s no need for me to expressly spend time on my awkward cooking skills since I can enjoy eating stuff at restaurants until I go back home.

“What about doing your laundry or washing your body?”

“I’ve been doing all the laundry in one swoop on our days off. As for washing my body, I usually boil some water and wipe my body with dishcloths every day.”

But then again, I don’t have any clothes besides the custom-made robe I wear every day, the spare robe I wear on my holidays, and underwear.

The hot water to wipe my body is simply done by fetching water in a bucket, putting my hands in there and heating it up like that, even if I can’t use any emission-based magic. Normally I wet dishcloths with that water and wipe my body. Every once in a while, I’ll also go to a public bathhouse. This has the disadvantage of being slightly expensive in regards to the bath fees, but being able to visit a bathhouse, even if it’s just occasionally, might be proof of me doing well for myself after leaving home.

“And that’s why!”

“I had become doubtful whether you’re truly a man of the Earl Armstrong House, Klimt… Anyway, I’ll also look for a room with you.”

“Bruno, you too?”

“I’ve become an adult, and my big brother is going to inherit the family business. It’d be better for me to leave my parent’s home. Let’s search together.”

“That’s wonderful news!”

And thus Bruno and I decided that we’d look tomorrow for a new place to stay.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

On the next day, Bruno asked an acquaintance of his parents who works as realtor to introduce us to some properties, and thus a young employee has come to greet us as the one in charge of us for today.

“Hello, my name is Rinnenheim and I have been serving as senior staff at Ansand Real Estate.”

“Hello.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Not only is it hard to grasp that youth called Rinnenheim, he feels outright shady, but…well, we just need to go elsewhere if he’s no good.

“I have been informed about your budget, but I would like to give you a suggestion.”

“What is it?”

“As you two seem to only have become adventurers recently, I suspect that you do not have any plans to marry in the next future.”

“Correct, unlike my older brother, I don’t have a fiancée. I think I’ll stay single until I build a bit of a foundation as an adventurer or magician.”

“The same applies to me.”

Although I won’t become the successor, I’ll go back home sooner or later. Father or brother might offer me some formal marriage interview, and as someone who selfishly wished to travel the outside world, I must at least take the woman they’re going to recommend to me as my first wife. Since I don’t think that they’ll recommend a strange woman to me, I won’t have much of a choice but to accept her.

Even if I’ve gone outside, I still can’t escape the fetters of nobility. However, it’s not like I never felt the wish to experience true love at least once. Though, I doubt there’s any nobles who haven’t wished for that.

“Accordingly, how about renting a house together? It’d be what you call room sharing. Rather than renting an individual room for each of you, renting a house while pooling your money would be much more economical.”

I see. I guess that would mean we can rent a house with the rent of both of us put together.

“It’d also be easier to invite friends over.”

“The suggestion isn’t bad. What do you think, Klimt?”

“I am okay with that.”

I don’t have any particular problem with a small room either, but there’s no inconvenience for me with it being spacious either.

“That’s if we can find such a place, though.”

“I would like you to place your trust in this Rinnenheim of Ansand Real Agency.”

“Haa…”

“It depends on the properties you’re going to show us.”

I can’t quite explain why, but somehow I feel a fishy shadow from this guy.

“Of course. I shall introduce you to the properties in all sincerity. Shall we go then?”

Bruno and I start to walk to the area with the properties under Rinnenheim’s guidance.

◆◇◆

“First, this house here.”

At once he introduces us to a pretty house around ten minutes away from Bruno’s parent’s home by foot.

“Eh? Such a big house at our budget?”

“Is that going to be alright?”

No matter how you look at it, this house shouldn’t be obtainable with our budget. Bruno and I suspiciously look at Rinnenheim.

“Oh my, are you doubting me?”

“You could say so.”

“This sounds like too good a deal!”

That’s only natural since it’s a house that looks like we wouldn’t be able to rent unless we pay twice our current budget.

“It’s got a simple reason.”

“Meaning? Are evil spirits going to come out in there?”

“No, not at all. It’s not that kind of flawed property. However, everyone who rented this place in the past has had bad luck. The church has approved that it’s not an issue related to spirits, and the previous tenants never mentioned anything about having seen ghosts or anything like that. However, a little while after renting this place, their business went bankrupt, they got fired at work, or received a serious injury in accidents. I believe all of that to be coincidence. Our boss seems willing to lower the price a bit.”

“”…””

Bruno and I are simply lost for words. Or rather, he’s cunning to recommend such a property to rookie adventurers.

“This place does look nice… Right, Klimt?”

“I’m somewhat unhappy with its layout.”

“Even though you haven’t seen its interior yet?”

Such an ominous property is unsuitable for a superstitious adventurer! At least understand that much!

“I see… Okay, there’s another good property in this neighborhood.”

Rinnenheim guides us to the next object. And he’s right, it’s not that far away from the first place.

“This one’s great.”

It’s a house built around ten years ago. It has four rooms, and additionally a kitchen and a bathroom. It’s going to be necessary for us to procure our own hot water, but it’s wonderful to find it having a bathtub.

It’s only natural for Bruno to also be pleased by it.

“How much does the rent cost?”

“Umm…I think it’s something around this much.”

“That’s a bargain.”

“Certainly, it’s a bit too cheap.”

It’s clear that it has some issues if it’s so cheap. As of yet not much time has passed since I’ve met Rinnenheim, but I’ve reached the very simple conclusion that this man will never introduce us to a cheap property without some strings attached. I think Bruno sees it like this as well. He’s looking at Rinnenheim full of distrust.

“This place is truly of good value.”

“Is everyone who lives in this house going to die?”

“No way. Just the previous owner. Even though he had obtained his own house after a long time, he immediately passed away from illness. Because of that, he’s turned into a wraith and is now harassing any new tenant.”

“Ah, yeah, this one’s out as well…”

A property where an undead, albeit being one of the weakest, comes to harass you won’t allow me to sleep peacefully at night!

“Isn’t the wraith here right now?”

“This guy is crafty. Because of his good perception, he runs away whenever the church comes over to purify him upon our request, since he hasn’t been turned into a ghost bound to a specific spot. And once the priests are gone, he returns to this house and resumes his mischief. Well, it’s mostly at the level of him threatening people to leave the house. He knows that the church would become serious if he really caused harm to people.”

Just because of that, no human would feel good about being told to leave the house by a wraith. But, I see. That’s the reason why they can rent such a great property for such a low price.

“Don’t you have any ordinary objects?”

“We do, but with your budget they’ll be in a bad state. I can’t really offer you any normal property at that price,” Rinnenheim answers.

“Huh? My budget is around the market price…Klimt, what about yours?”

“It is 100 cent!”

“Bah, with such a low budget, it’s obvious that we won’t get anything decent.”

“I will be fine as long as I can sleep somewhere, I told you before.”

After all, it’s going to be temporary lodging for the time while I’m away from home.

“If the rooms are too weird, you won’t be able to get any proper rest as it’ll be hard to lie down, and it’ll be easy for thieves to rob you during your absence. That’s why it’s important to choose a good place. Raise your budget a bit. I mean it’s not like you’re not earning enough anyway.”

“Hmm, I suppose you are right, Bruno.”

Since we’ve started to earn money as rookie adventurers during the last month, I can raise the budget for the rent, if I want.

“With this amount…there’s a reasonable property around here.”

“Did you possibly guide us to the previous two on purpose to get us to raise our budget?”

“T-…There is no way I would do that. I have been using all my heart and soul to serve you, dear customers.”

Rinnenheim ends up lost for words due to Bruno’s questioning. He’s completely black, that man.

“Anyway, we are off to the next object…”

“GET LOST───!”

Suddenly we hear a voice from inside the house, although we’re supposed to be the only ones around. It seems this is the earlier mentioned, former owner.

“He’s appeared through the wall!”

“Well, he’s a ghost.”

For some reason the owner wraith has come through the wall, planning to threaten us. Even though we’re heading to another place any moment anyway, he’s now a wraith with no reasoning left.

“THIS IS MY HOUSE───!”

“It’s no longer your house as your family has sold it.”

Since we’re supposed to leave this place any moment, I talk back to the wraith who’s stopping us from going.

“SHUT UUU───P! THIS IS MY HOME!”

“Customer, upsetting him too much is…”

Even as the weakest kind, an undead remains an undead. It’s only natural for a normal human to be afraid of them…though I’ve got my doubts whether Rinnenheim can really be counted as a normal human.

“I just told you the truth! Your inability to accept this is the reason why you can’t ascend to heaven!”

“Pardon…customer, upsetting him too much is…”

“YOU ARE───!”

Even though I’ve kindly spelled the truth out for him, the ghost seems to turn a deaf ear on me. Moreover, since he’s attacking me, I charge my fist with mana and wallop the wraith.

“Ascend!”

“NO WA───!”

“Eh? You gotta be kidding. Klimt, you aren’t supposed to be able to use holy magic.”

“My fist is more than enough for a wraith of this level.”

Since I’ve previously heard that the spirit bodies of evil spirits and such are similar to clusters of mana, I thought that it’d work out one way or another if I hit him with my mana-laden fist, but I didn’t expect that it’d truly be so effective.

The wraith, this house’s previous owner, has completely vanished after one blow from me. I’m sure he’s ascended to heaven.

Still, for me to possess such a power…since he was the weakest undead, I don’t think that it’s anything that special…

“Klimt, you’ve done well to be able to do this.”

“Is it that difficult? I just hit him after pouring mana into my fist.”

“Even if I imitated you, I doubt I’d be able to pull off the same feat.”

Really?

“Bruno, this house is wonderful! The rent is exceedingly cheap as well!”

“True. You surely won’t do something like raising the rent just because Klimt exterminated the wraith of this house, right? After all it’s Klimt’s achievement.”

Grasping my intention, Bruno warns Rinnenheim that we should still be able to rent it for cheap despite this house having already become safe. His eyes clearly tell Rinnenheim that he won’t allow any price hiking.

“In the end, I have been the one who exorcised him. Of course the rent is going to be cheap, right?”

“You’re definitely not planning something as sad as 『Since the conditions have changed, its price is going to be adjusted to the market price』, right? I mean, you’re using all your heart and soul to serve your customers, aren’t you?”

“Yes…” Rinnenheim squeezes out.

With Bruno having cut off all his ways to object, we succeed in renting the house for cheap.

◆◇◆

“It’s a spacious, nice house, isn’t it?”

“A rent of 200 Cent per month for this place is cheap.”

“Originally, that’d be impossible, right?”

Bruno and I proceeded with the moving after I succeeded in scoring us this place. Given that Bruno’s home is close, carrying his luggage over isn’t that much of an issue, and since I’m helping out as I don’t have much stuff myself, the moving finishes in less than half a day.

“But, the cleaning will be a chore, you know?”

“There is nothing to fear!”

Now that we’re going to use that place, we must clean it! I’ve occasionally swept the attic, where I lived until now, around my bed with a broom.

“Dust will not appear if you keep the house empty!”

Therefore I’m going to only live in the area close to my bed in the new house, too!

“No, that’s not how this works.”

“He’s right, Klimt-san.”

“Liese? What’s wrong?”

“Since you’ve moved to a place in the neighborhood, brother, it allows me to immediately visit you like this. Long time no see, Klimt-san.”

Oh, it looks like Lieselotte, Bruno’s little sister, has come to our new home for a visit. It’s been almost one year since I saw her last, but she’s become more beautiful while resembling Bruno. Though I won’t mention that to Bruno since he’s going to get upset.

“Liese-jou, you have become a lot more beautiful over this last year.”

“Thank you very much. I’m happy to hear that, even if it’s flattery.”

“I am not such a smooth operator that I would be able to use flattery.”

If Bruno were a woman, they’d have become famous as beautiful sisters, I’m sure. Of course I won’t mention that to Bruno since he’s going to get upset.

“So you came over to play?”

“That’s not all. Still, the story about cleaning being unnecessary if you don’t use a place is wrong. Even if you leave the house alone, dust will pile up.”

“Usually that’s the case, yep.”

Having the truth pointed out to me by both siblings, I’ve got no choice but to accept my defeat here. Well, if I consider it very close, maids have always taken care of it at the mansion, so I don’t have any experience in normally cleaning a room.

“Brother, you’re also unable to do any decent cleaning, aren’t you?”

“Hahaha, it’s just as you say.”

Bruno, this is nothing to proudly laugh at. In his case, it seems like he’d be able to get a lover who’s capable of it anytime he wants to, though.

“I don’t think it’s anything to brag about.”

“That’s why adventurers stay at inns, even if it’s expensive.”

If you stay at an inn, the inn’s employees will take care of the cleaning for you. They’ll even do your laundry for some extra pay.

For an adventurer, who earns income, it’s a waste of time to do house chores. Living in an inn is easier and more efficient.

“Brother, Klimt-san, why did you deliberately rent a house?”

“Um───m, for the mood?”

“For some reason or another.”

“Haah…” Bruno and I answer honestly, but Liese-jou just rolls her eyes at us. “I’ll occasionally come and do it. Today as well. Look.”

Liese-jou has apparently come here to cook for Bruno since she’s carrying meat, vegetables, seasoning, fruits, and cookware such as a pot and a knife with her.

“That’s appreciated. We had planned to go to a restaurant for dinner.”

“If you only eat out, you’ll turn into trashy adventurers who get drunk in bars and try to meddle with waitresses. You need to eat proper food to do your job.”

“Got it.”

If I remember correctly, Liese-jou has recently turned 13. And yet she’s quite level-headed.

“Anyway, I’m going to prepare dinner at once. Huh? How unexpected. I see that you have cookware.”

“It looks like those have been left behind by the previous inhabitants.”

“Ahh, there were rumors about the owner having been a person who loved this house beyond death.”

“I purified him with my fist.”

“E───h!? Klimt-san, you can purify?”

“For some reason I succeeded at it.”

“That’s amazing.”

“It sure sounds a little unbelievable.”

“Since it lacks power as you can guess, it is not overly useful, though.”

I ate the dinner made by Liese-jou with relish. It gave me the feeling of eating a woman’s handmade cooking for the first time in a long time. As expected. It’s going to be hard for Bruno and me to maintain this house. Both of us decide to pool our pocket money, and ask Liese-jou to regularly cook, clean, and do the laundry.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“…As you’ve heard just now, he’s someone outside any norm as I haven’t really seen so far yet. Although he’s still inexperienced, his future might be boundless.”

“I see. My daughter-in-law’s brother seems to be quite the peculiar man.”

If you’re serving as cardinal in the church, you must gather information without knowing whether it’ll become necessary or not. That’s because you never know if it might come in useful.

Today I’ve tried asking a man called Rinnenheim, an employee of the Ansand Real Estate Agency which deals with the church, about the second son of the Earl Armstrong House, the brother of the woman who’s going to become the wife of my son.

He’s a magician, but his mana isn’t anything special. It looks as if he’s doing his adventuring while relying on the power coming from his inborn huge frame and the muscles that seem to grow even without training among the men in his family. Since mana isn’t inherent, just the fact that a magician has appeared in the Armstrong House, an authority in military circles, is already plenty amazing, but his abilities as magician are questionable at best.

However, in the first month after becoming an adventurer, he crushed a mid-tier adventurer party who was involved in the production and smuggling of illegal magic potions, and even today he caused troubles by kicking up a fuss. Still, something like exorcising a wraith, who immediately ran away from any exorcists so far, with a single punch means there’s a huge difference between his outward specs and his true abilities.

“Rinnenheim, you think that man is going to change?”

“My intuition tells me so. Personally I don’t mind betting my whole fortune on it. I’m looking forward to 20 years in the future.”

“So you’re saying he’s one of those where great talents mature late? Aren’t you playing favorites here?”

“Favorites?”

“No, don’t mind me.”

No matter how shrewd Rinnenheim might be, it’s impossible for him to know that this man is His Highness the Crown Prince’s best friend. He should believe that buttering up to that man won’t bring him any benefit whatsoever.

“Having said that, his strength likely won’t visibly improve that fast for a while.”

“Great talents mature late, huh? In that case it’s also an option to leave him alone for now, I guess.”

“Yes. Though that rent hurts since the house stands in a decent block.”

“Humph! You’re probably going to raise the price at the next change of tenants anyway, aren’t you? You got rid of an evil spirit, which couldn’t be purified as it always ran away, so didn’t you make a profit here?”

Even if we send out a priest who can use holy magic, we can’t expect any alms if the priest can’t exorcise the wraith. That wraith gave us a hard time on many occasions until now. A wraith that runs away as soon as it feels the presence of a churchman is unheard-of.

“That man purified it for free. A much better bargain than asking the church. Don’t be so greedy as trying rent it out above the market price.”

“Yes, this Rinnenheim has nothing but the highest admiration for your deep sermon, Cardinal Hohenheim.”

“Humph! I told you before, didn’t I? The higher you climb in the church, the less belief matters.”

“Yes, it’s very sad.”

“Indeed.”

For the Armstrong House’s second son’s existence to draw so much attention recently…well, I just need to make sure that he’s of use to me in the future, since we’re going to pretty much become relatives.

Chapter 8 – Klimt’s Love

“Bruno! Over there!”

“On it.”

“Klimt, you too.”

“Leave this one to me.”

Two month have passed ever since I’ve entered Twilight of Dawn. At first our activities were focused on the area around the capital which also served as rookie training, but as Bruno and I have mostly familiarized ourselves with party adventuring, we’ve yesterday started to hunt in a monster domain around 200 kilometers away from the capital.

This monster domain seems to be not known by many, and furthermore, because it’s under the direct control of the Kingdom, despite being a detached territory, it appears to be less troublesome than a monster domain within a noble’s territory. That makes sense since the loot from monster domains in noble territories generate tax income for the respective nobles.

As a result, working in a monster domain under the Kingdom’s control brings you more benefit while braving the same dangers. For this reason, and also because the monster domains around the capital are fairly crowded, we’ve come all the way out here.

“Wonderful. This wraps up work for today.”

Candy is strict and serious during work, but as soon as the job’s done for the day, he always reverts to his usual, playful character.

I wonder, is it alright to describe a person like him as good at changing gears?

“We’re going back to Heckiss. Tell us Boltor, where are we going to stay today? You’re in charge of the reservation today.” Candy-dono asks the sub-leader of our party, Boltor-dono, what inn we’re going to use today.

“I’ve decided to go with a new place. It sounds like it’s also got a good evaluation.”

“New inns are great. I mean they’re all clean and sparkly. Alsooo, I feel like I’m going to encounter a new love with a nice man in the unknown inn.”

“Whatever.”

Since that’s the usual routine with Candy-dono and Boltor-dono’s conversations, Bruno, I, and the chronically silent Dalton-dono happily listen in on them.

Moreover, Heckiss is the only town among those in the Kingdom’s administrative areas that’s situated almost next to a monster domain.

After entering the town, Boltor-dono leads us to the inn where we’re going to stay the night, but the town’s main street is filled with many adventurers. In other words, adventurers, who felt fed up with the congestion at the monster domains near the capital, have come here. However, since the monsters are strong over here, only those confident in their skills visit this place. Though I hear that occasionally some adventurers overestimate their abilities and die in the monster domain.

“We’ve arrived. It’s the 『Morning Sun and Adventures』.”

“It’s a truly fitting name, and the inn itself appears to be fairly decent, too.”

“After all there’s a naggy guy with us who’d give me no break if I chose a weird inn.”

“That’s only natural. An inn’s quality affects our condition on the next day and thereafter.”

While chatting like that, Candy-dono and Boltor-dono enter the inn, and we follow. As soon as we step inside the 『Morning Sun and Adventures』, which probably has been newly built, the scent of freshly planed wood tickles our noses.

“It’s truly brand-new, huh?”

“Excuse me. We’re Twilight of Dawn. We’ve booked two rooms for tonight.” Boltor-dono rings the bell at the unmanned counter, leading to a young man appearing from deeper inside.

Since he doesn’t look like the owner, I suppose he’s an employee.

“Welcome to 『Morning Sun and Adventures』. We have received your reservation. Allow me to immediately guide you to your rooms.”

Guided by the young man, we head to the guest rooms on the second floor. The first floor has no guest rooms. You can find the reception there, and a dining room, which also serves as a bar. It looks like we’re going to take our meals down there.

The employee gives us a run-down while heading to our rooms.

“The owner will come to greet you during dinner.”

“Understood. Hm───m, sharing a room with young men is dreamy!”

“”…””

Of the two rooms, Boltor-dono and Dalton-dono share one room. The other room will be occupied by Candy-dono, Bruno and me.

Such times make me hate the status of being a rookie. I’m pretty sure Bruno is with me on this.

“He mentioned that dinner will be served in the dining room on the first floor, didn’t he?”

“That’s what he said. Let’s go downstairs.”

◆◇◆

“We’ve reserved a table.”

Once we get down to the first floor, Boltor-dono and Dalton-dono have already grabbed a table for six. As soon as the three of us sit down, a female employee visits our table to take our orders. Since she looks like she’s around forty years old, she doesn’t really fit the image of a waitress.

The dishes are served ten minutes later. The strong flavoring and the amount is catered towards adventurers, so all of us devour the food delightfully. Since the body counts as an adventurer’s capital, all of us make sure to get plenty of nutrients.

Bruno also eats a hearty amount, despite having a slender build.

“Thank you very much for booking rooms at our place today.” The landlady comes over to greet us as we’re having our meal.

Once I lift my face after stopping my hands…

“Uuh!”

“Dear customer, is there anything wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

The instant I saw the landlady’s face, my heart started to throb! I wonder, what’s this throbbing in my chest?

The landlady looks like she’s still around twenty. It’s amazing for her to run this inn at such an early age.

She’s bundled up her long, black hair which spills down alongside the right side of her chest. Her face is very beautiful, and every single action of hers looks erotic. It’s not like she’s wearing overly revealing clothes, but my heart feels like it’s thumping as soon as I look at her.

“Umm…”

Anyway, I’d love to hear her name as soon as possible!

“Is something the matter, customer?”

“Landlady, could you please tell me your name, if you don’t mind? I’m Bruno.”

“I’m called Lyra, young magician.”

“Oh, so you can tell that I’m a magician?”

“Of course.”

Bruno! Even though I was just about to ask for her name myself! Besides, what’s with that 『Oh, so you can tell』? Even a child could tell that you and I are magicians, seeing how we’re both wearing robes.

Now then, I guess you’ve also fallen in love with her, Bruno. Anyway, I’ve got to give her a good first impression by greeting her while emphasizing the part about me being a magician, who are popular among women!

It looks…like I’ve fallen for Lyra-san as well, huh? Come to think of it…how many times has this happened?

I decided at an age of five to marry a maid in the mansion, who was my first love. The second one was my brother’s etiquette teacher, but I gave up on her since she was a wife with children.

…I don’t remember how often it has happened, but since I’m an adult now, I’ll make sure to make this love come true, this time for sure!

◆◇◆

“She’s quite the beauty, that Lyra-san.”

“Indeed.”

After dinner we’ve returned to our room, but since I’ve clearly identified Bruno as being in love with Lyra-san just like I am, I’ve started to somehow feel wary towards him. Though, it looks like the same can be said about his side, too.

“Ron-chan, Bruno-chan, did you know? Pretty flowers have thorns. Like me.”

“”Haah…””

I know about that metaphor, but I can’t believe this to be true for Lyra-san. Also, I don’t feel that judging whether Candy-dono is beautiful is something I should mention at the moment, but…it definitely doesn’t mean that I’m putting that decision on hold!

“You see, some time ago I heard a story from the young receptionist.”

“Is that so…?”

Bruno seems to think that Candy-dono must have gone to the young man to ask about the landlady while trying to flirt with him.

“She’s married.”

“Really!?”

“Obviously. You think some unmarried lass would be able to run an inn like this? Right now her seventy years old husband seems to be ailing from illness, but I hear he’s resting in the house next to this inn. A wife who’s fifty years younger; she must really love him.”

It sounds like Lyra-san is twenty years old. A difference of five years with me…it’s no problem since I’ve left home!

The same applies to Bruno as well, though.

“Her husband owns the plot on which this inn stands, and has paid for the construction. Likewise, he owns other property and land in this town. It seems like he’s a fairly rich guy.”

Candy-dono is quite good to have found out all of this.

“A couple with quite the difference in age, I gotta say,” says Boltor-dono after having entered the room, coming from next door.

Did he get interested?

“Boltor-san, what about Dalton-san?”

“That guy’s silently servicing his ax, as usual. I mean, he’s a taciturn fellow, so yeah.”

He’s right, neither Bruno nor I can remember having heard his voice before…

“But, let’s not talk about Dalton. So, how many wives does that old geezer have besides her?”

“I don’t know the details, but it looks like he’s got plenty of mistresses. I hear that he’s got two official wives.”

The true owner of this inn apparently moved from one mistress to the other after losing his first wife in young years.

“His only son comes from his first wife, so I doubt that there will be any succession conflicts.”

I see. No matter how much that old man fancies women, if another wife gives birth to his child, he might become unwilling to pass the inheritance to his oldest son. I guess that’s why he’s been only messing around with mistresses.

“What about that young landlady then?”

“It’s a story you often hear.”

Lyra-san’s late father had borrowed a big amount of money from that old man, and as he couldn’t pay it back, she became the old man’s mistress as collateral. However, on top of making Lyra-san his favorite legal wife, he built this inn for her, and let her manage it.

“I hear the old man fell ill immediately after the inn opened. The landlady is managing the inn while nursing her husband.”

“Hm───m, and, what about the eldest son?”

“His mother-in-law is younger than his son. And they apparently argued over the establishment of the inn. As it turned into a huge fight, he was forbidden to enter his parent’s home. Rich families sure are a pain.”

“Personally I’ve got to raise my hat to you for having found out so much in such a short time, Candy.”

“Somehow, you see, I heard about all this when I tried to somehow seduce the receptionist.”

I think it’s pretty obvious that he’s kept bringing up all those stories to defend himself from Candy-dono’s approaches.

“Lyra-san seems to be a pitiable person.”

“Indeed! What a terrible geezer!”

Forcing Lyra-san to be his wife as security for a loan; what a disgrace of a man!

“How nice it must be to still be as young as you two. If that old man dies, she’ll be able to receive a large amount of money, land, and the inn since she had been nursing him. If the eldest son doesn’t fork over at least this much, it’ll heavily damage his reputation.”

“Because he hasn’t looked after his sick father, huh?”

Seeing how he’s going to inherit his father’s legacy as successor, it’s actually the rule that the eldest son looks after his father, should he fall sick. Since he’s leaving all of that to Lyra-san, it’s common sense for him to at least pay her properly later.

“Did you understand the circumstances, you two? Now matter how much of a beauty she might be, don’t make a move on a married woman.”

“Yep, we can earn some cash here, and I’d like to stay here for a month since we’ve come all the way out here. Thus, it’s okay for you guys to go for other unmarried girls, but that woman is off-limits.”

“We’d be driven out of this inn, if you did. And it’d make the search for the next inn difficult, too.”

Bruno and I get warned by Candy-dono and Boltor-dono.

Lyra-san is a married woman…how regrettable.

Bruno also looks disappointed.

“Go sleep early in preparation for tomorrow.”

“If you can’t give up on her, I can take her place, if you want.”

“I’m going to sleep!”

“Time to sleep!”

Bruno and I quickly jump under the blanket. We do have respect for Candy-dono as an adventurer, but he’s very creepy as an object of romantic interest.

◆◇◆

“Welcome back, Klimt-san, Bruno-san.”

“We’ve returned.”

“We are back.”

“How did the adventuring turn out today?”

“Average, I’d say.”

“Yep, average describes it well.”

“I am glad to hear that. The preparations for dinner are done.”

It’s been one week since we’ve started staying at Lyra-san’s inn. When we come back from today’s hunt, Lyra-san welcomes us as usual.

Still, all things considered, she’s truly a beauty. Her appreciative words and the gentleness of her voice are irresistible. Just how happy would I be if she was single.

As I ponder about that, the young male employee rushes into the entrance hall, completely out of breath.

“Landlady! Your husband!”

“What’s the matter with my husband?”

“The maid at your home said that he has apparently passed away!”

“Oh no!!”

Probably because the old man’s health had taken a drastic turn while being treated in the house next to this inn, Lyra-san hurries over.

Dinner is properly served by the other employees, but in the end, the male employee, whom Candy-dono has set his eyes on, comes to inform us that the old man died after his health suddenly deteriorated.

“Oh my, that’s a big problem. Should we change inns?”

“It will not be any problem for you to stay. Because we plan to refuse any new guests for a while, you will become our only guests starting with tomorrow.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for us to leave as well then? Won’t you be busy with the funeral?”

“Umm…please keep this a secret, but…”

Currently the relationship between Lyra-san and the heir of the dead old man isn’t just bad, but the worst. It sounds like she actually intends to return this inn to its normal business operation as fast as possible after the funeral.

“Well, it’s also a matter of making a living for her. Very well, we’ll take you up on your kindness then.”

“Thank you very much.”

In the end we’ve become the only guests of this inn, but for some reason I couldn’t hide the happiness welling up within me. After all, I’m sure that my opportunities to chat with Lyra-san are going to increase from now on.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

Two days after the old man’s death, the funeral service was set to take place tomorrow. In front of the old man, who’s entombed in a coffin for the sake of being carried off to the church tomorrow, his heir has been yelling around.

“You evil wench! As expected, this must have been your work! You bitch have murdered my father!”

Once we enter the place as he was shouting around very loudly, a roughly fifty-years old man is being held back by the young male employee and another guy, both looking to be around twenty years old, from trying to hit Lyra-san. And next to them stands a middle-aged guard looking unsure what to do about all this.

“What’s wrong for the guards to get involved in this?”

“Just for caution’s sake, we’ve lightly investigated the cause of Mr. Baldor’s death, and then…”

“You’re saying it wasn’t an illness?”

“Yep, poison was found in his body through 『Detection』.”

Then there’s no mistake. It’s a spell I can’t use myself though…

“The wench over there is at fault!”

I see. I suppose that’s the reason why the heir of that old man, err, Mr. Baldor is kicking up such a huge fuss.

“So? What’s the real story here?”

“There are no suspicious actions pointing at Lyra-san. Someone over at the church is well-informed about things like these. I got them to cooperate with us, and learned that the poison was administered around one hour before Mr. Baldor’s death. It took the poison around that long to kill him. At the time of the suspected poisoning Lyra-san had just made Mr. Baldor drink his usual herbal tea, but a maid was nearby, and she couldn’t confirm Lyra-san having put anything into the tea.”

“It’s plain as day that she spiked the tea with poison!” Mr. Baldor’s heir seems to be dead set on Lyra-san being the murderer.

He’s an unpleasant guy. Bruno is also looking at him with accusatory eyes.

“As for that poison: None of it has been found in the cup with the herbal tea.”

“Obviously because the maid washed it!”

“It’s a poison that should still trigger a faint reaction even after the cup got washed once. Such a low amount wouldn’t have much of an effect on a human either. Either way, a church priest probed for that faint reaction with magic. It’d be impossible for him to miss it.”

If you use 『Detection』 very precisely, you can find even the faintest traces of poison. In other words, Lyra-san is innocent.

I’m relieved about this, but I’m not overly happy with Bruno also looking relieved.

“This bitch poisoned my father through some kind of method!”

“You say so, Walm-dono, but you were hated by Mr. Baldor, weren’t you? You’re just as much of a suspect as she is.”

“I…haven’t done anything like that!”

He keeps suspecting Lyra-san, and yet for him to be a suspect as well… Is this guy trying to blame his own crime on Lyra-san? Also, it looks like Mr. Baldor’s heir is called Walm.

“The church has investigated the cause of Mr. Baldor’s death because he entrusted his will to them while still alive. There’s no way that the church, as holder of the testament, would hand over the inheritance to the successor if he was proven to be the murderer, no matter what might be written in there.”

Rich people naturally exist among commoners as well. There are many cases of disputes over their inheritance after those people die. If no will exists, the eldest son inherits everything. Well, just like with nobles, it’s the norm to hand over a sizable sum to cover the costs of preparations and arrangements to a second son and those younger.

However, if the patriarch of a powerful family writes a will and entrusts it to the church, I hear it quite often happens that the will is carried out with the church being treated as witness. Sometimes the patriarch and the heir are on bad terms, or it’s assumed for the official heir to definitely waste the fortunes as he’s an outrageously profligate son.

Commoners don’t receive an annuity, nor do they have tax income from territories like nobles. They won’t be able to maintain their fortune unless they earn money through the family business. That means commoners are much harsher towards profligate sons than nobles.

However, I can’t really make out Walm to be someone like that.

“According to the testament entrusted to the church, half of the inheritance is to be given to Lyra-san, and the other half to Frick-dono.”

“Frick, you say!? I’ve been skipped!?”

“Me?”

Frick seems to be one of the guys who has stopped Walm from hitting Lyra-san earlier. It looks like he’s Walm’s eldest son, and Mr. Baldor’s grandson.

“Walm-dono, weren’t you not aware of the testament’s content? Isn’t that the reason why you poisoned Mr. Baldor, and tried to lay the blame on Lyra-san?”

“I see. In that case Frick-san would succeed the full inheritance. Walm-san wouldn’t be able to get any of it, but since he’s his son, you could think that it’d be the same anyway.”

Hmm, that train of thought…wait, Bruno! For him to casually vouch for Lyra-san’s innocence…don’t tell me, he’s aiming for her now that she lost her husband…

Nuoo───oh! I cannot afford to lose here!

“It’s the other way around! This wench is trying to lay the blame on me!”

“Dad, Lyra-san has no reason to do anything like that.”

“But she does! She’s obviously targeting our family’s fortune! Frick! Don’t get deceived by this bitch!”

Unlike his father, Frick-dono seems to hold no reservations towards Lyra-san.

“The father Walm-san was ordered to be banished from the family after having a huge fight over Lyra-san with Mr. Baldor, but it looks like it doesn’t apply to his son Frick-san. I hear Frick-san has often visited this house, eaten together with Mr. Baldor several times a week, and handed over souvenirs.”

“You’re quite well-informed, aren’t you Candy-san?”

“I excel at obtaining such information after all.”

It’s got to be that employee… I pity him from the bottom of my heart.

“Souvenirs?”

“I’ve been regularly peddling to the neighboring villages while managing the buildings and land owned by my grandfather in this town.”

“Oh, what an admirable boy.”

Without stupidly playing around while managing the inheritance from his grandfather, he’s been earning money by running his very own business. He’s definitely a diligent youth.

Candy-dono seems to look at him passionately, but I wonder, would such a love really come true one day?

“Frick-san has often brought souvenirs he bought at the villages he visited as a peddler for my husband. It pleased my husband, too. He often said, 『What a great difference compared to Walm who’s resting on his laurels with the prospect of obtaining our current assets』.”

Lyra-san seems to also harbor a good impression of Frick-dono who regularly showed up at his grandfather’s bedside while earnestly working himself.

“At this point in time, there are three suspects. Lyra-san, Walm-dono, and Frick-dono.”

“Lyra-san is innocent!”

Even if he might be a guard, I think he’s way too rude towards Lyra-san!

“Sorry, but I think the maid, who took care of Mr. Baldor while Lyra-san was doing her job at the inn, is also a suspect, so far as it goes. We ought to carry out an impartial investigation to look for the criminal without being bogged down by prejudices.”

“You’re right. Having weird prejudices might lead to the wrong conclusions.”

With the investigation decided to be continued just like that, the guards resume their work. As Mr. Baldor’s funeral has been postponed until the criminal is caught, it’s been decided to leave the coffin with the church. I hear the church has asked a magician to use ice magic so as to not allow the corpse to rot.

“It’s clear that you are the criminal! They’ll definitely catch you venomous snake by the tail!”

While seeing off Walm as he leaves after insulting Lyra-san, I rack my brain what I should do to prove Lyra-san’s innocence. If Lyra-san’s innocence is proven and Mr. Baldor’s mourning can be held…while only focusing on that, I keep pondering how I should move tomorrow.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“The poison has definitely entered his body through the mouth. If it wasn’t Lyra-san’s herbal tea, it raises the question of what else he ate or drank. The church investigated the contents of Mr. Baldor’s stomach, and found out that he apparently ate lunch around one hour before drinking the tea. Same was confirmed through the maid’s testimony.”

“Okay, so you’re basically saying it’s also possible that the poison was contained in the lunch.”

“But, in that case the poison’s effect hit too late. By the way, Lyra-san wasn’t present during lunchtime. Since the inn also has guests eating lunch over there, she was busy with the preparations. This was also confirmed by her employees.”

“Did Mr. Baldor eat lunch by himself then?”

“No, yesterday Frick-dono visited as well. He apparently prepared lunch with an ingredient he brought over as a souvenir. We’ve heard about the menu from the maid. It matches with what the church found out through the stomach inspection.”

“However, seeing how lunch and tea were both inside his stomach, they couldn’t find out which of either was poisoned, right?”

“Yep, that’s the problem.”

“…”

◆◇◆

We had a day off on the following day, though it didn’t stem from this incident having taken place. Using that opportunity, Bruno and I started to move in order to prove Lyra-san’s innocence. Beforehand we had received permission from Candy-dono to do as we like.

Still, I must admit, Bruno is quite the smart guy. He’s discussing difficult issues with the elderly guard investigator we met the other day.

Nothing less of the magician class’ runner-up. In my case…it’d be faster to start counting from the bottom. Still!

If I allow Bruno to only get all the good parts, the plan for me to prove Lyra-san’s innocence, earn brownie points with her, and get together with her after the mourning period ends…will fall apart. I mustn’t allow Bruno to steal a march on me!

“By the way, what about the tableware, cookware, and remaining ingredients of that lunch?”

“Those didn’t show any poison response. Just for caution’s sake, we also investigated the inn’s cookware, tableware, and ingredients as well as the palms of Lyra-san and her employees, but all of them showed no poison reaction. We’re at a complete dead-end right now.”

Mr. Baldor was poisoned to death, but they don’t know how he got poisoned. Since the old guard in charge of the investigation had his priest friend search all over with magic, you can say there’s no doubt about the validity.

“Two hours before Mr. Baldor’s death, Frick-san ate lunch with him, staying for around one hour. Almost passing each other, Lyra-san, who had finished her busy lunch time at the inn, came over to make Mr. Baldor drink the herbal tea.”

“What kind of herbal tea is it?”

“It’s a local product sold in the far, western Holmia Margraviate. Since it’s being sold after a long transport, it’s an expensive tea. I haven’t drunk it yet, but a priest at the church knew about it. Apparently a priest originating from the Holmia Margraviate. He says the elderly are often drinking it back home since it’s good for their health.”

“So it’s truly just normal herb tea. That means Lyra-san has indeed let her husband drink it for health reasons.”

“I heard this from the maid, but it looks like Mr. Baldor hated mate tea for its faint sweetness. Since the tea in question lacks sweetness, he liked it. It seems like he heard about this tea from Lyra-san before becoming bedridden, and started drinking it regularly since then.”

In short, it’d be difficult to spike that herb tea. It’d be too easy to expose it by taste. It’s also proof that Lyra-san hasn’t poisoned Mr. Baldor.

“It’s a difficult case.”

“Indeed.”

“If it’s not the tea, the next candidate would be the lunch, right?”

“But, he ate lunch a full hour before drinking the tea. With the effect of the detected poison, Mr. Baldor would have been dead by the time Lyra-san made the tea for him.”

A time difference of one hour…speaking of poisoning, that’s a rather aristocratic way of killing. According to my father, it fairly often happens that the nobles, who were considered by society to have died from sickness, were actually killed by poison, and I also hear that many among the nobles excel in knowledge about poisons.

I feel like I heard such a story from a noble relative in my childhood…or maybe I’m mistaken? I’ve got to recall some useful knowledge!

“Oh, right! I have heard that there are medicines which can lengthen the time until a poison shows its effect!”

For example, poisoned nobles would try to find out the nature of a poison. In order to not allow a tracking of the culprit by calculating backwards from the time when the poison showed its effect after getting in contact with it, the poisoner would adjust the effect’s manifestation time by having the target take another component alongside the poison. It’s possible to speed up or slow down the time for a poison to show its effect, but I heard it’s difficult to calculate the precise quantity and to properly neutralize the effect of those poisons that can be taken alongside the neutralizer.

But, the poison used here is one of those very types. And as long as you properly check it in advance, the chance to fail is rather low.

“You mean changing the time for the poison to affect the target with the Addition Medicine? I’ve heard of its existence, but there’s few precedents of it being used.”

It might be just natural for the guard members of this town to have little experience with it since they have few cases involving wealthy merchants and nobles like it happens at the capital.

Father told me that the Addition Medicine is a special drug which isn’t easily obtainable.

“And, in that case it’d be problematic to put it into a drink like herbal tea.”

Since it’s already difficult to just blend in the poison, depending on the type, it’d easily get spotted if another type of medicine gets added. If pushed to say, I think it’d be easier to add them to food.

“What if something capable of extending the time for the poison to show its effect had been added to an ingredient?”

“You’re saying Frick-san is suspicious? But, you see, he’s also…” Bruno seems to not consider Frick-dono to be the culprit.

He’s been taking care of his sick grandfather while tackling his own work as a diligent, excellent man. He’s also kind to Lyra-san. There’s no way that a person like him has killed his grandfather who was actually dotting on him.

I also agree with Bruno.

“But, Frick-dono does have a motive, too. If he can put the blame for the murder of his grandfather on Lyra-san, all of the fortune will become his.”

“Once you start suspecting people, there’s no end to it.”

“That’s what my job entails. As soon as people think you’re slightly suited for this, you get immediately transferred over. Anyway, it’s definitely easier as work requiring physical strength and stamina decreases in proportion.”

The guards assign the right person to the right place as in having those who are young and durable handle the arrest of thieves and hoodlums, while leaving the investigation of cases like our current one to people with a good discernment like the elderly guard in front of us.

“When I thought that it might be a smart move to listen to the stories of the surrounding people who are related to this, now that it had reached this point, I was told something very interesting by a certain person.”

“Something very interesting?”

“Frick-dono has a village he often frequents as a peddler. This place seems to be a production area for various kinds of medicinal plants.”

It sounds like there’s a person who testified that Frick-dono would often stock things, saying that he could turn it into money later.

“Who told you that?”

“The young, male employee at the inn’s reception. A person called Maxel.”

I suppose he’s talking about that young, handsome guy who’s unhappy over having drawn Candy-dono’s affection to himself. Right now I’ve heard his name for the first time.

“How come he knows about this?”

“He said that Mr. Baldor and Frick-dono were talking about the medicinal plants of that village at one time when he went over to call Lyra-san. It was a talk about whether Frick-dono should buy up the plants more aggressively during the harvest season. Some of those plants can also be turned into poison, but Mr. Baldor told Frick-dono to not do that since it’d just earn him distrust from the authorities.”

All of this sounds to me like a grandfather giving his cute grandchild advice.

“However, it’s a fact that the village, where Frick-dono procures his medicinal plants, also has the plants needed to extract the poison that killed Mr. Baldor in the end.”

In other words, circumstantial evidence exists.

“This would make Frick-dono a suspect, but since the poison in question has been detected on him, it’s ultimately just a deduction, right?”

“Certainly you’re right there…how did it go?” At this point the subordinate of this guard shows up, and whispers something into his ear. “It sounds like one soup plate has vanished from the kitchen in this house. I actually asked my men to check back with the maid.”

“You’re saying the plate was taken out so as to not allow the poison to spotted on it with 『Detect』?”

“That’s what it looks like.”

Moreover, yet another young guard arrives, and whispers something into the ear of the elderly guard.

“Just now my men found the soup plate in question buried beneath a tree in the garden when searching the house where Walm-dono and Frick-dono live. It seems that the plate also gave a poison reaction to 『Detect』. I think this settles it.”

“The appearances of others can sometimes be deceiving.”

“So true.”

For the grandson, who worked earnestly to gain his grandfather’s trust, to be the criminal that poisoned that grandfather…was he possibly truly unhappy with receiving only half of the fortune he should have usually received in full?

I’ve often heard that the greed of humans knows no bounds, but this is a case that makes me really feel the truth behind that saying.

◆◇◆

Thus the case was safely resolved in one day. The culprit is Frick, the grandson of Mr. Baldor.

When he ate lunch with his grandfather, he added the poison he had obtained through peddling to the soup bowl. Later he secretly carried the plate out of the house to not let it fall in the hands of the investigating guards. It was also possible for Frick, who’s been procuring medicinal plants, to get his hand on the Addition Medicine to delay the poison effect.

Since Mr. Baldor’s stomach contents have been secured as proof according to the elderly guard, we’d clearly know the truth as soon as they finish the analysis.

“I’m the criminal? I buried the plate, which carried the poison that killed grandfather, in the garden to hide it away? I haven’t done any of that!”

“But, you see, the evidence matches this conclusion.”

“That’s absurd! My son would never do something like that!”

“Mr. Walm, you’re suspected of being an accomplice, so I’d like you to cooperate with us in the investigation.”

“I don’t care what you want! My son and I are not guilty!”

“(I can’t imagine it from Frick’s personality, but it kinda feels quite possible if you consider who gave birth to him).”

“(No kidding).”

The inheritance dispute is a case that makes me wonder how the hearts of people can get so dark.

“It’s unthinkable for Frick-san to do something like that! He isn’t a person who would do something like that…”

“But, Lyra-san.”

All things considered, Lyra-san is a gentle person. She pleads for Frick even though she’s been suspected as well. She’s truly just like a goddess!

“Everyone, you shouldn’t let others trick you so easily.”

“Candy-san?”

“Candy-dono!”

All of a sudden Candy-dono, who should have left us to our own devices once we decided to selfishly assist in the investigation, barges in at this point.

“What do you mean by that, Candy-dono?” Bruno asks Candy-dono about his intention.

“It means that Frick-san isn’t the criminal. I mean, Frick-san has never obtained any poison. Right?”

“Yes. On that day the medicinal plants in that village still hadn’t grown up, so I bought grandfather’s beloved namasa, and came back. It should have been used for the herb fry containing several types of herbs.”

Asking the villagers should make it immediately clear whether Frick procured medicinal plants that can be used to make the poison in question. Candy-dono explained that the guards could simply check up on that later.

“Yep. I have analyzed the contents of Baldor-dono, and discovered namasa and other herbs in there.”

No way…for Candy-dono to have done something like that while we didn’t see him…

“But, the poison has actually come from the soup plate that was hidden away, you know? I can’t really imagine that anyone but Frick could have applied the poison on the plate.”

“Is that really so? The effect of the poison was delayed by an hour because of the Addition Medicine. That’s the explanation here, but some types of Addition Medicine can’t be found with 『Detect』 either. In reality, I couldn’t spot it in the stomach contents.”

“Because it was digested by the stomach, right?”

“You could also consider that the Addition Medicine wasn’t included there from the very start. This kind of medicine is troublesome to obtain.”

“But, how was the poison effect delayed by an hour then?” Bruno speaks up fervently since Lyra-san would immediately become the prime suspect if he were to lose the verbal argument with Candy-dono here.

I don’t believe Lyra-san to be the culprit either. I get my mental preparations ready to argue Candy-dono down when push comes to shove.

Going by the circumstances, Frick is definitely the criminal here.

“It’s a theory based on the idea that the time until the poison became effective wasn’t altered.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s simple. The poison was inside, or rather got produced inside his stomach one hour before Mr. Baldor passed away.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

How’s poison being produced inside a stomach all of a sudden?

“The easy explanation is that the poison that killed Mr. Baldor can often be found in nature. You can get it from several plants, insects, fish, and worms. Those creatures produce that poison to protect themselves from their natural enemies.

Candy-dono talks just like a scholar.

“In addition to extracting the poison from those creatures, there’s also a case where combining components contained in two rare plants result in the poison.”

“In other words, if you eat those two plants at the same time, the specific components combine inside the stomach, turning into poison?”

“Oh my, you’re a smart boy, Ron-chan. You’re quite quick witted when it counts.”

Even I can come up with this much.

“Two means, the herbal tea Lyra-san had Mr. Baldor drink every day, and a plant that was included in the lunch one hour before the teatime…in this case, a herb that was used for the namasa herb fry?”

“You’re perceptive, Bruno-chan.”

It’s only logical since Bruno is smarter than me.

“In that case, the culprit would be Frick-san after all, no?”

“I haven’t done anything! The ingredients for that lunch were only everyday ingredients you can find anywhere!” Frick continues to loudly assert his own innocence.

“Lyra-san had Mr. Baldor drink the herbal tea every day for around two years. Mr. Baldor drank it regularly because he actually liked it himself. There’s nothing unusual about that. On the other hand, Frick-san knew about the composition of the tea which Mr. Baldor drank every day. It’s only natural since he’s been procuring medicinal plants. He should be easily capable of preparing a herb that would produce the poison if you combine it with the components in the tea.” The elderly guardsman has apparently zeroed in on Frick.

“True, the herbal tea had been ordered for two years. It was impossible for Lyra-san what kind of lunch Frick-san had with Mr. Baldor.”

As Bruno says, Lyra-san was busy preparing lunch for the inn’s guests around that time. She didn’t have the spare time to go back home. The guard investigators also confirmed that the inn’s guest had testified for her having worked in the dining room on the first floor all the time.

As expected, Lyra-san is innocent.

“Once I examined the stomach contents, it became apparent. Though it’s a somewhat special herb. It seems like you can only harvest small amounts of it in this area, and it’s main habitat is the village where Frick-san often procures medicinal plants. Apparently they can’t get enough of it to sell it, and thus the villagers use it to remove the smell when grilling fish. As someone regularly frequenting that village, Frick-san should know all that.”

“I don’t know anything about this! Various types of herbs and fragrant grasses as well as such rarer ones exist in that village, but it’s my first time to hear anything about one of those turning into poison after being combined with a component in the herbal tea!”

“But, Lyra-san should know even less about that.”

She’s the landlady of an inn, and not some researcher.

“What about the herbal tea? That’s a special product of the Kingdom’s western part!”

“It’s rare around here, but it’s not like you can’t get your hands on it. In fact, some stores in the town also sell it. Also, a part of the herbs that we don’t know quite well either remained undigested in Mr. Baldor’s stomach, but once I tried to mix them with the herbal tea after extracting the component, it turned into poison. No amateur would know about such a reaction.”

The only one having such an expertise is Frick as someone dealing with medicinal plants.

“When we investigated the ingredients remaining in the kitchen, we also found the leftovers of the mix of various types of herbs, which was used for the namasa herb fry, and the herb in question was also among them. I can only think that Frick-san has prepared this herb to be used as an ingredient of the lunch’s fry.” The elderly guardsman seems mostly convinced of Frick being the culprit.

“If Lyra-san were to be arrested as the criminal, Frick would receive all of Mr. Baldor’s inheritance!”

“Indeed. He has plenty of reasons to do this.”

“I’d say it’s decided with this.”

Once the elderly guardsman makes a signal, the young guards seize Frick and Walm.

“I haven’t done anything!”

“My son and I are innocent!”

“We will listen to your stories at the guard station. Take them away.”

“I’m not guilty!”

“That evil wench is obviously the culprit here───e!”

While watching father and son being restrained and taken away to the guard station, I rejoice from the bottom of my heart over Lyra-san having been proven innocent.

“Bruno, you too, huh?”

“Klimt, you too, huh?”

However, our fight over Lyra-san hasn’t finished yet.

◆◇◆

With Frick, and Walm who’s considered to be his accomplice, having been arrested, the case has finally started to head towards its conclusion. Currently we’re the only guests of the inn.

When we’re having our dinner in the dining room on the first floor, Lyra-san comes over to greet us while wearing an apologetic expression.

“We have caused you a great amount of trouble.”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“Indeed! Lyra-san, you haven’t done anything wrong!”

“That Frick is a truly vulgar man to try laying the blame of his crime on someone else!”

What a modest woman she is, despite being a victim herself. No matter how many years are going to pass, I’m sure I’ll make her happy.

I won’t lose to Bruno!

“The funeral service for Mr. Baldor is still not over yet, so things are going to be hectic from now on, right?”

“Yes. It looks like it has been decided for me to serve as the chief mourner.”

Seeing how the son and grandson of the deceased were arrested as his murderers, it’s only reasonable for Lyra-san, his wife, to be the chief mourner.

“Are you going to be alright?”

“Maxel and the others will help me.” Lyra-san explains to Candy-dono.

Since they’re Lyra-san’s allies, I can feel relieved.

“Well, your relatives are all in such a messy state.”

“Indeed…”

Immediately after Walm and Frick were taken away by the guards, their relatives found out that Lyra-san would apparently receive all of Mr. Baldor’s inheritance, and immediately started to launch cruel slander against her. Even though they wouldn’t get any of the inheritance even if Walm and his son were innocent anyway. What a bunch of good-for-nothings.

As I thought, Lyra-san needs a strong man to protect her!

“Still, Maxel-chan, eh…?” Once again Candy sends a passionate look towards the employee who’s currently working in the dining room.

That man seems to be as troubled by Candy-dono’s advances as ever.

“Maxel-chan looks like a reliable guy.”

“After all, he is in a position where he manages the other employees.”

I guess that essentially makes him the number two.

“I see. Was he employed in another inn before coming to this one?”

“No, before that he peddled between towns and villages as a merchant.”

“Was he an acquaintance of yours back then?”

“We were born in the same village. It is not like we were that close back when we both still lived in the village, though. Once I learned about his origin at the time of his employment, I felt a certain level of familiarity with him.”

“Such things also happen among adventurers.”

I suppose he’s talking about getting close after talking and finding out about coming from the same place, and then becoming good friends with just the old stories being enough to bridge the distance. Unfortunately it’s nothing I have ever experienced, however.

“Have you decided when you’re going to hold the funeral service?” Candy-dono asks Lyra-san.

“In three days. There’s a lot to prepare. Fortunately the church is taking care of the corpse.”

Since a lot has happened, it’s inevitable for the funeral to get delayed.

“If it’s in three days, it’d allow us to participate as well. I wonder if this is also some kind of fate at work here.”

“Thank you very much. I am sure my husband will be delighted over this in the other world.” Lyra-san bows at us.

As always, she’s a woman with a fine conduct.

“Are all of you okay with this as well?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll gladly take part in it.”

“Sure.”

“…(nod).”

All members of Twilight of Dawn agree to participate in the funeral service, and then we decide to take off for the remaining three days until then.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Shall we go to the church then?”

“That’s fine and all, but Candy, what have you been up to in the last two days?”

“It’s a maiden’s secret.”

“Dude, that’s what you always say!”

Three days later, on the day of the funeral, we leave the inn and head over to the church where the funeral service is going to be held. On the way Boltor-dono asks Candy-dono about the reason why we didn’t do any work in the last two days.

But, Candy-dono dodges the question with his usual excuse of maiden’s secret.

“Now, now, Boltor-san. I’m sure Candy-san must believe that we’ve become a bit of a combat asset now.”

“Bruno-chan, you’ve definitely become a combat asset after you entered our party, but you didn’t become experienced as an adventurer. For now it’s alright, so I also took a little time off for my maiden’s secret. Same applies to you as well, Ron-chan.”

“So it was a testing of abilities for the two rookies, eh?”

“Look, in this world you never know what tomorrow might bring. It’s a training to see whether they can properly cope with any situation even if one of them should die in an unforeseen accident. They’ve passed this.”

“Even so, you could have at least told me about it in advance!”

“If I had done so, you’d have focused on it, right Boltor?”

Once we arrived at the church while chatting like that, the venue was still rather deserted, probably because there was still some time left until the funeral service would begin.

“Thank you very much for attending today.” Lyra-san greets us once she notices our arrival.

“(Lyra-san sure looks pretty in her mourning dress.)”

I also agree with that, but Bruno is ogling her way too much.

“(Ron-chan, you’re staring too much like a pervert.)”

Have I been ogling her so much that it’d warrant a warning by another person?

As I’m wondering about that, someone unexpected enters the church. It’s the elderly guard who has been investigating the murder case.

He should be busy interrogating Walm and Frick. So, why has he come here despite of that? Did those two possibly admit their crimes?

“Thank you for freeing up some of your busy schedule to attend.” Lyra-san greets him as well, though looking somewhat surprised to see him here.

“My condolences for your loss. Though it’s been only few days since we saw each other last.” The guard greets back while looking at Mr. Baldor’s coffin which has been laid on a pedestal in front of us. “It must have been hard to have been suddenly appointed as chief mourner.”

“Yes, I barely managed to cope with it thanks to the help of my employees.”

“I see. Your most trusted employee Maxel-san as well, huh?”

“Yes…”

Lyra-san looks puzzled as to why he’s suddenly brought up Maxel’s name here.

Maybe he’s suspecting the relationship between her and Maxel-dono as part of his occupational disease? If that’s the case, it’d be really low!

Lyra-san had explained that she wasn’t that close to Maxel-dono.

“Oh, that makes sense. I’ve heard that you told Candy-dono that you two weren’t all that close despite coming from the same village, but in reality you’ve promised to marry each other, haven’t you? I’ve been told that you two would have been able to marry normally, if not for Mr. Baldor. What’s your take on that? Are you going to get angry at me, saying that it’s all lies?”

“…”

Lyra-san remains silent towards the guard’s questioning. But, now way! For Lyra-san and Maxel-dono to have had such a relationship…

“I heard from Candy-dono that he found some parts in your stories a bit suspicious, and since he thought that you might have told him lies, he actually went to investigate the village. There he learned about this from villagers knowing you two well. They mentioned that you two swore to spend the future together. However, Lyra-san, your home was burdened with a huge debt which resulted in you being given to Mr. Baldor, your creditor.”

“…”

“Maxel-dono, your real name is Izuruk, right? Having your lover stolen from you, you left your birthplace and became a peddler to earn money. But, shouldering Lyra-san’s debt with what you could earn yourself as a peddler would be impossible. Unable to give up on her, you falsified your name, and began to work at Mr. Baldor’s place. Or am I wrong?”

“…”

Maxel-dono also remained silent towards the guard’s questioning.

“I don’t think it’s really necessary to explain what you two, unable to give up on each other, schemed. The birthplace of those two isn’t that much of a village that Frick-san would visit it to procure medicinal plants, but medicinal plants and herbs still grow over there in the wild. Maxel-san, no, Izuruk-san, you took days off and secretly collected wild grasses in the valleys around your home village, didn’t you? There were witnesses among the villagers. Once I had Candy-dono search the area, he found the same herb as the one used to kill Mr. Baldor. What do you think about this fact?”

“…”

Maxel-dono, err, Izuruk stays silent. Still, for Candy-dono to have used his holiday to do something like this…

“Indeed, Lyra-san’s alibi is perfect. She worked all noon at the inn. Instead of her, Izuruk-san, you secretly took the herb, which you had picked up at the village and dried, to the kitchen of Mr. Baldor’s mansion. As a trusted employee, you occasionally showed up in the house for the sake of calling Lyra-san, and thus the maid didn’t seem to suspect anything about you being in the mansion. As a matter of fact, a maid saw you inside the house on that day. You told her, 『We’ve suddenly run out of seasonings at the inn, so Lyra-san told me to come get some from here』, didn’t you? Frick-san had left his original blend of dried herbs and medicinal plants in the kitchen for it to be regularly used for the cooking. Izuruk-san, you added the herb in question to that, and this blend was then used in the namasa herb fry. By itself it’d just be a common herb, but if you mixed it with the herbal tea prepared by Lyra-san, it’d turn into poison. Which reminds me, Izuruk-san, I heard you got hired by Mr. Baldor two years ago, after his health deteriorated. It sounds like you also dealt with the herbal tea in question as peddler. Also, when it turned into a huge uproar after Mr. Baldor’s death, did you inform Walm-san’s family as the number two of the inn? If you consider the bad relationship between Lyra-san and Walm-san, it wasn’t all that strange, but did you possibly carry the soup bowl, which was buried in Walm-san’s garden, with you at that time? Taking advantage of the uproar, it’d be trifle to steal a plate from the kitchen, right? Now then, do you have objections to any of that?”

In short, he’s saying Lyra-san and Izuruk poisoned Mr. Baldor? For the sake of Lyra-san freeing herself from Mr. Baldor to get together with Izuruk. Moreover, for them having prepared this crime over a period of two years…

“However, if it’s just the evidence and testimonies you’ve got now, it’s very likely that the murder will be deemed to be an act of madness by Izuruk himself.”

“You’re right! I don’t know anything about all of this! Certainly I’ll admit that I had such a relationship with him in the past. But, that’s a matter of the past. I hired him at the inn while allowing him to falsify his name because he was in distress with his peddling not going well at all. He threatened to tell my husband about the past if I didn’t hire him…”

“You’re a terrible man!”

Bruno sure is a smart guy to notice the fact that Izuruk had poisoned Mr. Baldor in an act of desperation after he threatened Lyra-san into employing him under a false name.

“Izuruk-san, who has worked as a peddler, naturally possesses knowledge about medicinal plants. On the other hand, Lyra-san doesn’t possess such knowledge. It must have been Izuruk who recommended the herbal tea to her two years ago. Given that it’s no more than a regular tea by itself which is often drunk in the west, it’s highly unlikely for Lyra-san to have had any second thoughts about it either.”

Certainly, the herb that turns the tea into a dangerous combination can’t be found growing in the wild that often. Izuruk knew that it’s growing naturally close to his village, and since it’s a herb growing at the village, where Frick-san procures his medicinal plants, he would be suspected…I guess that’s the kind of setup it was.

“If you could lay the blame on Frick-san, who was supposed to receive half of Mr. Baldor’s inheritance, Lyra-san would get everything. You thought that you’d be able to get back together after things had calmed down. You’re a truly despicable man!”

“Shame on you as a man!”

Bruno and I severely criticize Izuruk for his wrongdoing.

“I only followed Lyra’s instructions!”

“I know nothing of this.”

See, I told you! For him to make Lyra-san cry…a woman’s tears are pretty, but one must avoid making them cry as much as possible.

“You do not know when to give up!”

“You should confess your crime. It’d be better to not think that you can get away with me, a magician, being present.”

Bruno! Once again you’re showing off in front of Lyra-san!

“Okay, oka───ay, Ron-chan, Bruno-chan, calm down. Since you’re still young, you want to believe in the pretty young lady you love. Buuut, I’m also a maiden, so I know. A woman’s tears are scary.”

“Indeed. Today I came here to arrest Lyra-san and Izuruk-san.”

“Me!?”

“You’re still going to feign innocence? Very well. I guess we’ll have another person join the conversation. Frick-san.”

Once the guard speaks up, Frick and Walm, who were supposed to be restrained, enter the venue of the funeral.

“Lyra! It cannot be! I haven’t heard anything about your relationship with Maxel! You said that you’d live together with me once the situation calmed down!”

“”””””””””What??””””””””””

Everyone’s eyes turn into dots because of Frick’s sudden statement.

Lyra-san and Frick had promised each other to spend their life together?

“You dumb son! You got totally tricked by that evil wench!” Walm angrily roars at Frick for some reason.

“I mean, look, I wondered whether a young man such as Frick-san would really visit a sick, old man that frequently, but if this could serve as an excuse to have a clandestine meeting with Lyra-san, I could agree with him happily visiting as often as possible.”

“Lyra! I didn’t hear anything about this! Did you intend to shove the entire crime on me for the sake of monopolizing the entire fortune of that geezer with his grandson!? Curse you for making me alone play the role of the bad guy here!”

“Lyra, you don’t love just me?”

“Lyra! You’re also an accomplice to the crime, aren’t you!? You wanted to somehow kill the old geezer two years ago! You told me that we’d be able to marry if we got rid of the old crook!”

“…”

Being showered with heated words by Frick and Izuruk, Lyra-san remains silent. I’m sure she must be frightened after getting hounded like this by two men.

“Now listen, Ron-chan, it’s bad for you to get deceived by only looking at a woman’s appearance, and outer conduct. You too, Bruno-chan,”

“Okay…”

“Yes…”

Izuruk presses onto Lyra-san, thinking that she’s trying to escape responsibility by laying the blame on someone else. Frick-dono couldn’t explain himself well at the time of his arrest as he actually had such a relationship with Lyra-san going.

This case has truly followed the standard script of crime stories. The young wife of a rich, old man carefully planned the crime over a period of two years while involving her former lover in it. Before the funeral started, Lyra-san and Izuruk were arrested by the guards, resulting in Bruno’s and my love ending in a very disappointing way.

◆◇◆

The day after Mr. Baldor’s funeral we revel in our feelings of self-pity in the dining hall on the inn’s first floor.

“…This world is so vain.”

“Women are scary…”

“It’s good that we took a break today. You two would have been of absolutely no use.”

“It can’t be helped. Both of them are still young. Oh, right. I can comfort them in a special way.”

“Please at least spare them from that. Right, Dalton?”

“…(*nod*).”

It seems like Lyra-san and Izuruk are being harshly interrogated by the guards. It’s almost settled that the two have killed Mr. Baldor together, and thus Walm and Frick were released.

In the end, all of Mr. Baldor’s assets will be inherited by his grandson. It’s also been decided that he’ll run this inn from now on. He doesn’t appear to have any experience with managing an inn, but it looks like the remaining employees are going to do their best while lending him their strength.

He had a secret relationship with his step-grandmother, hiding it from his grandfather who loved her, and made a promise with her to get together if his grandfather died. Given the details of the secret, Frick couldn’t quite argue for his own case, and got arrested first because of that. Right now he must feel like crawling under a rock.

We, who condemned Frick while running our mouths in total trust of her innocence, were quite hilarious as well. We apologized to him after the funeral, but he forgave us with a laugh. It’s probably because Bruno and I fell for Lyra-san’s seductive charm just like him.

“I don’t feel like doing anything.”

“Women are frightening!”

While gazing at the cup with half the juice drunk, I heal my emotional scars together with Bruno.

“Is Liz going to become like that as well?”

“I don’t think that Liz-jou would do anything like that.”

Bruno’s little sister, Liz-jou, is a very good girl. I’ve been watching her gallantly tackling the troublesome tasks of cleaning our house, doing the laundry, and preparing food every now and then.

“Sooner or later you two are going to find a nice woman as well. Just like me.”

Come to think of it, Boltor-dono is married. I wonder what kind of wife he’s got?

“It’s just as Boltor says. If you like, I can give you my special consolation, you know?”

“No, thanks.”

I feel like refraining from that, and I’m sure so does Bruno.

While thinking that, I drain down the rest of my juice.

“How about a refill of juice, customer?”

“Ooohh! Gladly!”

“Certainly.”

It’s a waitress I see here for the first time! What a lovely girl she is!

“I’ll also take a refill? Are you new here?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your name?”

“I’m called Sandy. It looks like you are going to stay here for a bit, dear customers, so please take care of me.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m called Bruno. I’m the magician of Twilight of Dawn.”

“A magician? How amazing.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

Bruno! You have already recovered and are trying to steal a march on the woman I considered to be a nice girl!

“I’m likewise a magician of Twilight of Dawn. Klimt is my name.”

“Two magicians? That’s dreamy.”

“You are exaggerating.”

Bruno! I’m going to win the heart of that girl!

“They’ve really recovered in like no time, haven’t they?”

“Right? That’s youth for you.”

In the end, we remained in this area for another month, but Sandy-jou has a fiancée, resulting in Bruno and me getting shot down once again.

Chapter 9 – Search for the Mysterious Gigantic Life-Form

“Good morning!”

“Good morning, Ron-chan. You really flourished in yesterday’s martial arts tournament, didn’t you?”

“I only lasted up to the fourth round, didn’t I?”

“Isn’t it great to have gone this far? I also entered that contest ten years ago, but I lost in the third round.”

“You did, Candy-dono?”

“Well, ten years ago I wasn’t as strong as I’m nowadays.”

Yesterday I abhorred to my family’s circumstances, or rather, fulfilled my duty by entering the martial arts tournament. I’m a noble, and moreover the second son of the Armstrong family, an authority among the military-oriented nobles, so not participating was no option, and thus I joined the tournament after being permitted to have a day off.

Because nobles and noble youths have to enter the sword section, I participated with a sword, which doesn’t fit my usual fighting style, and somehow managed to advance to the fourth round.

“I watched the matches. Warren-kun ended up winning the sword section at the young age of twelve. What a cute and strong boy he is.”

“Haah…”

The noteworthy contestant this time might have been the young Warren who defeated all the veteran participants in his tournament debut and won the championship. Since he’s a noble youth, it’s deemed that he’ll be scouted by His Highness the Crown Prince.

I’ve also seen his bouts, but if you watch such a prodigy, feelings of frustrations and similar don’t even well up within you.

“Ron-chan, introduce him to me next time.”

“I am not acquainted with him.”

Given that there’s many nobles around, it’s not like I know each and every single one.

“Aww, what a bummer. Okay, let’s talk about the next job then.”

Once we head to 『Mistletoe of Night』 where we always gather, everyone except for Candy-dono and me is already waiting for us.

“Klimt, you made an appearance in yesterday’s tournament, didn’t you?”

“You watched it as well, Bruno? It was my duty as a noble.”

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have participated. And, I won’t ever participate again either.

“Now then, about our next job. We are to catch a 『Pasto』.”

“Pasto?”

It’s the name of a monster I’ve heard for the first time.

“Do you know that monster, Bruno?”

“I’m also hearing about it for the first time…”

Unfortunately, Bruno has no clue about Pasto either.

“They’re called pasto because they live in the 『Pastour Lake』 located slightly south from the capital. Currently it’s unknown whether they’re animals or monsters. They’re quite big, and have been sighted regularly, I hear.”

Pasto because they live in the Pastour Lake; what an uncreative way of naming them.

“We’re going to catch those unidentified life-forms? Not kill them?”

“It sounds like they want them alive if possible, but at worst, it’s fine as long as there’s still a corpse left? It’s a request that has been put up for more than 30 years now. I wonder whether it’s going to be difficult to accomplish this time around as well.”

“They want us to secure the corpses?”

“The Pastour Lake isn’t famous by any means, but so far as it goes, it’s a tourist attraction. I’m told they want to stuff and then exhibit the corpses, if we obtain any.”

Are tourists going to show up to look at a stuffed version of something like that?

“Klimt, you know this lake?”

“No, not at all.”

There exist several lakes and rivers famous for their summer resorts where noble and rich people visit, but I hear about a Pastour Lake for the first time. It must be a rather tiny summer resort.

“How about not accepting such a request? Right, Dalton?”

“…*nod*”

Boltor-dono complains to Candy-dono who’s accepted a request that doesn’t seem achievable, no matter how you look at it. Dalton-dono nods, seemingly sharing Boltor-dono’s opinion.

“Well, it’s got the goal to create a debt with the adventurer’s guild, and since there’s a monster domain nearby, our primary objective will be to hunt over there.”

“A debt?”

“It’s a request no one has completed for more than 30 years, right? The client seems to hurry the adventurer guild every year. The Pastour Lake lies in the territory of a certain Viscount, and since the client is a noble, they can’t turn him down entirely. The idea hear is to appeal that we’re doing our best finishing the request by regularly accepting it.”

“Now that’s quite blunt.”

“Also, if we take on that request, it’ll be fine for us to not pay any taxes for the loot we got in the nearby monster domain. It’s just going to be the fee for the adventurer’s guild. Isn’t that a wonderful bargain?”

“If it has such a benefit, I suppose it’s alright. Right, Dalton?”

“…*nod*”

I see, accepting the request for the pasto search is a trick to evade taxes. Candy-dono is a shrewd man.

“Well, if there wasn’t at least that much of a catch, I wouldn’t have accepted a request like that one. Oh, right. Since the work at the Pastour Lake is kinda like playing around anyway, how about you invite your little sister, Bruno-chan? She’s usually taking care of you guys, isn’t she?”

“Yes…”

“Ron-chan, you as well, okay? You’ve left home, but you should meet your family every once in a while.”

He’s right. We’re certainly indebted to Liese-jou for regularly cooking, cleaning, and doing the laundry for us. It’s not a bad idea to invite her to Pastour Lake for a summer trip as a little thanks. I haven’t seen Nina for more than a year now either, so it’s a fact that I must have made her feel lonely.

“Is that okay, Candy-san?”

“In short, I’m telling you that it’s a job where it’s fine for your little sisters to show up.”

“Okay, I understand.”

It’d be strange for huge monsters to come out at a lake that’s not a monster domain, and because they haven’t been spotted in more than 30 years, it’s actually odd instead. The pasto might have been mistaken for big driftwoods.

“Bruno-chan, Ron-chan, it’s also fine for you to invite your girlfriends over. Even acquaintances and friends work.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

“I will consider it.”

I don’t have any women among my acquaintances…except for Nina and Liese-jou…

This was how we left for Pastour Lake for a combination of work and summer trip.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Master, it went well.”

“You’re right, Gettol. We finally succeeded in inviting that famous adventurer party 『Twilight of Dawn』 to the Pastour Lake. The son of the Armstrong house is also part of that party. This time it should work out as planned, for sure.”

“Yes, this time for sure. Everything is being prepared as we speak.”

“I see. We’ll make it succeed at any cost. For the sake of realizing our ambition which has been passed on for two generations within our Viscount Bart House.”

“Indeed. The late predecessor had been very worried about this as well, even on his deathbed.”

“We’ll get it done this time!”

“Yes!”

We have to finish all the preparations until Twilight of Dawn arrives here. And then our Bart House will finally fulfill its ambition!

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Thanks for always taking care of my big brother. My name is Lieselotte.”

“You have my deepest gratitude for the invitation on this fine occasion. How has…Klimt-onii-sama…been faring so far?”

“It’s all fine since he’s basically an excellent adventurer. It sure becomes shiny and florid if you add three women to the mix.”

“Three?”

“Liese-chan, Nina-chan, and me. Boltor, do you have some problem with your eyes?”

“Sorry to say, but great eyesight is my only redeeming feature. I’m using a bow after all.”

◆◇◆

After we finished the work in the monster domain which is located in the same Bart Viscounty as the Pastour Lake, we tried to head over to the lake for the sake of having some fun under the pretext of work.

Following Candy-dono’s advice, Bruno invited his sister over, and I did the same with Nina since I don’t know any other women that I could invite. As for Nina, I honestly just planned to give it a try since I didn’t have anything to lose anyway, but unexpectedly she accepted readily, and came to the inn near the lake for the sake of joining up with us.

Given that Nina qualifies as a noble daughter, her guard protocol was an issue, but I can currently see a man in a butler attire standing behind her. He looks to be around 30 and seems quite capable.

“Klimt, is that very-butler-like person a retainer of the Armstrong house?”

“No, I have never seen him before.”

“Excuse me for the late introduction. I’m a butler of the Viscount Hohenheim House. My name is Sebastian. After hearing that Nina-sama would be heading out to a summer resort with Klimt-sama, it was hurriedly decided that I would be accompanying her on this. It is my greatest pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“You’re a person from the Viscount Hohenheim house?”

“Yes. Nina-sama is scheduled to marry into the Viscount Hohenheim House in the future. Accordingly I have been selected to take care of her needs.”

I guess he came here to serve as Nina’s caretaker and observer. Since a noble’s unmarried daughter has gone out on a summer trip, it’s his task to make sure that no evil bugs cling to her.

“I am delighted to see that someone of her age is present here as well.”

Sebastian seems relieved after spotting Liese-jou. Bruno’s family registers as a fairly big merchant family. If she were to be a girl of too low standing, it’d have been his duty to prevent Nina from getting in contact with her…this is one of the parts I really hate about nobles, and also one of the reasons why I wanted to leave home.

“How old are you, Lieselotte-san?”

“I’m 13.”

“I’m as old as you are, so let’s get along.”

“Gladly, Nina-san. Please call me Liese.”

“Okay, Liese-san.”

Nina and Liese-jou apparently became friends right away without caring about the opinion of the butler and the Hohenheim house behind him.

“Great, let’s go to the lake then.”

Our party, which has now grown to eight people in total, left the inn, taking the few steps to the lake.

◆◇◆

The Pastour Lake has an extremely high level of transparency and lies in the crater of a slightly elevated mountain. I hear that many, many years have passed since the volcano stopped erupting.

Plants are thickly overgrowing the crater around the lake.

“It is a very beautiful lake, Klimt-onii-sama.”

“It is very transparent, yes.”

“But, there’s rather few people around, right brother?”

“It’s because of its low popularity-”

“Why do visitors stay away if it’s such a great lake? Is it because of the pasto?”

“Certainly not.”

Candy-dono denies Boltor-dono’s theory with a laugh.

“I mean, we didn’t even know about the Pastour Lake and the pasto until we were told about them by the guild. It’s not that people don’t come here because the mysterious life-forms are scary, but rather, they don’t visit because the area here is unknown to begin with.”

“Since no guests come around, they can not proceed with the maintenance of the surrounding streets and lodging facilities, which makes it impossible to advertise the area. As far as I have heard, the pasto seem to stay inside the lake. If such huge creatures truly existed, nobles who like unusual things would group up and visit.”

“It’s just as Sebastian says. The request to catch them has been around for more than 30 years now, so you can’t clearly declare that they don’t exist, but not one of the parties looking from them was ever able to find anything, and there must have been many of them over all this time.”

The probability of us not finding anything even if we start searching is high, and therefore it was no problem to bring Nina and Liese-jou along, I guess.

“We’ll at least pretend to stand watch.”

“In other words, it’s truly nothing more than a vacation.”

“Isn’t that fine every once in a while? We’ve earned quite a bit of cash earlier.”

The nearby monster domain is actually crowded with prey, allowing us to hunt a lot. It’s great that we don’t have to pay any taxes for hunted and collected materials as thanks for having accepted the lake request.

“We’ll stand watch for around three days. It’s an easy job, but this will also bring some money in.”

“Umm…Candy-san.”

“What is it, Liese-chan?”

“Is it okay for us to play around despite this being work for you?”

“Don’t worry. It’s just standing watch anyway. Feel free to swim and play in the meanwhile, okay? Everyone, put on your swim-wear so that you can deal with the pasto if they should actually show up. I’ve prepared a set for everyone.”

Being told so by Candy-dono, we all changed into the swimsuits prepared by him.

◆◇◆

“Whoaa, this swimsuit sure has nice colors.”

“Since the design is set anyway, I thought I should at least pretty up the colors a bit. It suits you superbly, Nina-chan.”

“It’s a wonderful swimsuit. Did you buy it somewhere?”

“I sewed it myself. Liese-chan, it’s cute, isn’t it?”

“Candy-san, you’re amazing. It just looks like something you’d buy at a store.”

Nina and Liese-jou have put on their swimsuits. Swimsuits have basically the same design, whether worn by women or men, and it’s a standard to keep the colors and patterns plain, but the swimsuits worn by those two have flashy colors with red and orange.

Just when I thought that Candy-dono must have bought them somewhere, I learn that he’s made them himself. That’s quite laudable. It looks to me like he could survive with cooking and sewing even if he were to quit being an adventurer.

“Sebastian, you’re not going to put on a swimsuit?”

“Candy-dono, I feel honored by your consideration. But, I am currently working.”

“How regrettable.”

Mr. Sebastian, who’s accompanied us as Nina’s caretaker, is the only one still wearing his previous clothes. I feel like he’s quite devoted to his job.

“It’s not hot?”

“No, this place is situated in a slightly higher altitude, so it is cool. Besides, I am a butler.”

Do you become resistant against heat if you become a butler?

He answers Boltor-dono’s question with a refreshed look, lacking even a single drop of sweat.

“Then it’s fine. Even so, they’re completely focused on playing around.”

Nina and Liese-jou are playing around in the shallow part of the lake, where only their feet get wet. Bruno and Dalton-dono are keeping them company. As always, Dalton-dono is taciturn, but it’s strange that he can, for some reason, communicate with the two girls properly even after meeting them today for the first time.

“What about your family, Dalton-san? Do you have a wife?”

“…*nod*”

“Do you have children? A son?”

“…*nod*”

“One or two?”

“…*nod*”

“Eehh!? You were married, Dalton-san!?”

It’s only reasonable for Bruno to be shocked. Bruno and I are hearing about this for the first time.

I wonder, just how is he talking with his wife and children?

“Boltor-sama, I have heard that this will be treated as work at the waterside, so I have prepared some cold mate tea. Would you like to have some?”

“Ah, thanks, Sebastian-dono.”

“No, do not mind it. I am a butler after all.”

Boltor-dono watches Pastour Lake while sitting on a chair. It’s just for caution’s sake, so that he’s ready even if the pasto might show up.

Sebastian serves cold mate tea to Boltor-dono. That man really never forgets his heart as a butler. He’s the role model of a perfect butler.

“Ron-chan, you’re not going to play in the water?” Candy-dono steps up to me as I’m watching Nina and the others.

“I will join them soon.”

“I see. It’s fine for you to not stand watching so seriously.”

“Is that so?”

Even so, I feel like it’s necessary to at least pretend that we’re looking for the pasto.

“Somehow it’s kinda weird, you see…?”

“What is?”

What does Candy-dono consider as weird?

“Look, the client is the Viscount Bart house, but we were only greeted by a retainer at the beginning, and he left us alone after telling us to take care of it. They aren’t even watching us to make sure that we aren’t playing hooky.”

“Isn’t that because nothing has been found in more than 30 years?”

Maybe the people of the Bart house might have unexpectedly given up on the capture of pasto as well.

“Then they wouldn’t put up a request anymore, I think. The money paid to adventurers doesn’t grow on trees either.”

“You mean they are following another objective with this?”

“Maybe, but…for now, we’ll focus on our current situation.”

“Is something wrong with our current situation?”

“The sun is shining too strongly in the current season, damaging the skin, so please apply this special cream on me.”

“Me?”

Just when I thought that Candy-dono had come to have a serious talk with me; for him to have checked for someone to apply sunscreen on his skin… Even if his swimsuit might hide everything except for his face, arms, legs, I can’t stand the idea of smearing cream on his skin.

“Huuurry.”

There must be a means to get away…oh, right!

“Bruno!”

“What’s up?”

I call out to Bruno who’s playing in the water with the girls. Not knowing anything about the circumstances, he comes over in a carefree manner. I feel sorry for him, but this is for the sake of my own mind’s sanity.

With that decided, I retrieve a coin from my magic bag.

“Bruno, head or tails?”

“What’s it all of a sudden? Are we playing some game?”

“I’ll let you choose first.”

“Head then.”

“That means I get tails!”

With our sides set, I toss the coin into the air. And then the coin lands on the back of my hand. Once I remove the hand covering the coin, the coin shows tails.

“It is my win.”

“Aww, shucks. So, what kind of contest was it?”

“A chore for Candy-dono.”

“A chore, huh? Can’t be helped now that I’ve lost. Candy-san, what am I supposed to do?”

Bruno, I’m truly sorry, but I can’t smear cream on Candy-dono’s skin. Besides, a job like that is better suited to the sensitive Bruno than a rough and clumsy person like me.

Well then, I’m going to play at the beach as well.

“Klimt-onii-sama, what about Bruno-san?”

“He needs to take care of an important job.”

“He was called over by Candy-san, right?”

“Correct. I am going to play with you in his stead.”

In the end, we didn’t feel the slightest presence of pasto today, and thus we enjoyed playing in the water until evening.

◆◇◆

“Aww, how nice. You putting your hands into my swimsuit and smearing my body with cream is so wonderfulll─── Gosh, just what embarrassing things are you making me say.”

“I’d be happy if you could tone it down a bit…(Klimt, I’ll get you for this).”

“What’s wrong, Bruno-chan?”

“Nothing…”

Having the task of applying cream on Candy-dono’s body pushed on him, Bruno carried out his work while mumbling curses under his breath, I heard from Sebastian later on.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“The first day we’re going to wait and see what they do. Are the preparations in order?”

“Yes, everything is in perfect order.”

It sure looks like the folks from the Twilight of Dawn are taking the job of catching the pasto more seriously than the other parties before them. At least, one of them is always watching the lake.

The other parties only played around, prattling stuff like, 『We won’t find the pasto anyway』.

For this reason, it’s about time to introduce our new weapon. With this the folks from Twilight of Dawn should get all panicky too.

“It’s ready, right?”

“Yes. Right now it’s hidden in the thicket on the opposite shore, but upon your signal, the 『pasto』 can sortie at any time, milord.”

“Okay, then we’ll wrap this up tomorrow.”

Ladies and gentlemen of Twilight of Dawn, tomorrow your jaws will probably drop from getting extremely surprised. And I’ll pass that miserable state of yours on to everyone in the capital. That will add fame to the name of the Pastour Lake, resulting in many visitors visiting this place as a summer resort.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

On the next day we’re playing around at the waterside again, but just when we’re about to go back to the inn as it had become evening, we spot some huge object approaching us from the other side of the lake. A torso looking like a hill as it floats across the water, a long neck, and a head similar to that of a dragon. I suppose that’s the rumored pasto.

“Eeehh!? It came out all of a sudden?” Bruno is very surprised about the abrupt appearance of the pasto.

“Klimt-onii-sama, is this a pasto?”

“It sure is big.”

On the other hand, Nina and Liese-jou are merely looking at the pasto with interest. Women are the gutsier ones at times like these, huh?

“It’s gradually heading towards the central part of the lake.”

We won’t be able to make a move on it over there. The Pastour Lake hasn’t been decently maintained as a tourist attraction, and thus they don’t have even a single boat on the lake as it stands.

“I do have a boat for just myself.”

“Such a small boat won’t be of any help.”

I’ve put a small boat for crossing rivers and some such into my magic bag, but Candy-dono prohibits its use.

“The pasto can swim, so you can consider the lake to be a field completely suited for it. Approaching it in a boat with one or two people under such circumstances is a bad idea. The boat would be toppled over with a single blow.”

“Do you want me to fly over with 『Flight』 and attack it with magic?”

“So far as it goes, it’s our duty to catch it…it might die if your magic is too strong, and if it’s too weak, you might actually only anger it instead.”

“It’s not like there would be no meaning in angering it though.”

“What do you mean by that, Bruno-chan?”

“Wouldn’t the pasto come this way if it’s pissed off? If we can get it to come to a shallow area, we’ll be able to fight it without feet on the ground.”

Bruno suggests the plan of fighting the pasto after drawing it towards this place.

“Wouldn’t Ron-chan’s magic be more suited for that?”

“Me?”

I still cannot use any emission-based magic…

“Although little-by-little, your mana has been increasing. In short, you could just launch some spell at it. It’d actually be better if it doesn’t have any firepower.”

Hm───mm. I suppose it’s just for the sake of provoking the pasto. I can understand the idea here, but I feel somewhat conflicted, mentally.

“What if you give it a try since you don’t have to lose anything anyway?”

“Okay, I will give it a shot.”

If it doesn’t work, then so be it. As a test, I knead a lot of mana in my own way, and imagine the fire arrow 『Flame Arrow』 inside my head.

“N───ngh!”

“Sure looks like he’s struggling there.”

“It won’t work unless he puts in a bit more mana, I think.”

Candy-dono and Bruno comment. Though I’d prefer them to not talk about this right next to me.

This time for sure…as soon as I think so, a very small and narrow 『Flame Arrow』 flies towards the pasto from the tip of my finger.

“It succeeded!”

“This little spell shouldn’t hurt the pasto, I’m sure.”

“Indeed.”

“But, it’s fine to hurt me?”

Even I want to become good at using emission-based magic with reasonable power.

“Klimt-onii-sama, it looks like the fire arrow is going to hit it squarely.” Nina informs me whiles closely watching the fate of my 『Flame Arrow』.

Well, I won’t point out the fact that its speed was at a level that allowed even an ordinary person like Nina to follow its flight path with her eyes…

“Now then, I wonder what it’s going to do?”

Everyone is watching how the arrow is homing in on the pasto, but it’s slightly weird.

“It hasn’t taken any evasive actions, has it?”

“Maybe the pasto thinks that there’s no need to do so?”

While I’m thinking that Candy-dono has to be wrong about this, the arrow impacts on the pasto. Thereupon, the pasto suddenly goes up in flames. The flames flare up in the blink of an eye, and the pasto immediately turns into a ball of fire.

“No way!”

Although I’m not proud to say so myself, the power of my 『Flame Arrow』didn’t go this far…

“Are pasto weak to fire or something?”

“Liese, the opponent is a living being, so it won’t go up in such a huge blaze all of a sudden. In other words, this is…”

“This is?”

“I’d say it must be man-made. If you use light materials to place them on a small boat, they’re going to catch fire easily.”

“So it was a cheap construction.”

Boltor-dono answers Liese-jou’s question in Bruno’s stead. Afterwards, the burning pasto quickly sinks into the lake. The pasto’s true identity was a fake that was built by someone.

◆◇◆

“I am sorry.”

“This is also for the sake of increasing the number of tourists at the lake.”

◆◇◆

In the end, the pasto was a fake placed on a boat. Because it was made out of wood and paper, it easily went up in flames from my 『Flame Arrow』. Bruno rescued the Bart house’s retainers, who had jumped off the boat with the burning paper mache, and questioned them why they had done something like that.

“Beforehand, we tried to just get it done with rumors, but those had absolutely no effect.”

“I can guess.”

There’s no way that people would expressly come to this unknown lake just because of some rumors.

“Accordingly we were told to have you actually witness a pasto this time.”

“Fortunately, people of the Armstrong house had come here.”

If I had reported to my family about the existence of a pasto in the Pastour Lake, it’d turn into a big rumor in noble society, possibly drawing more tourists to this area. The retainers explained to us that they used this plan for the sake of achieving that goal.

“I wouldn’t be of any use towards that end!”

Recently I haven’t gone back home at all, and I haven’t even seen Nina for more than a year.

“Umm…would it really become popular as a summer resort if some mysterious, huge creature were to appear in the lake?”

“True, if it was possible for an outrageous monster to attack and eat people, I doubt that many rich people would come here for some relaxation and fun.”

Candy-dono agrees with Liese-jou’s objection while adding some more to it.

Although they’re nobles, it’s not like they can readily bring excellent adventurers and magicians with them to a summer resort.

“What should we do then?”

“No idea. We’re no merchants, you see.”

“…*nod*”

Dalton-dono nods his agreement with Boltor-dono’s merciless reply.

But yes, that would be a request outside our field of expertise.

“N-No way!”

“That’s not the job of adventurers, after all.”

I pity them, but we don’t have any skills that would summon tourists to the Pastour Lake. If Candy-dono couldn’t do anything about it either, we didn’t have any means to help them.

◆◇◆

On the next day we spent another day at the waterside of the lake since our contract told us to watch the lake for another day. Even if there’s no pasto, properly carrying out the watch for three days as contracted is the proper conduct as adventurer, no, for any person with common sense.

“It sure is a nice place to play around normally?”

“The water is clear and refreshing in this hot season since we’re on high ground here. Also, since it’s a little known spot, there are no people here.”

While dipping their feet in the water, Candy-dono and Nina talk about the good parts of this lake.

“Though it’s a chore to come all the way out here.”

“There’s just one inn, too.”

Boltor-dono and Bruno join their conversation.

Rather than the lake itself, the mountain road and the lodging facilities require a lot more development first.

“Mumumu…”

“What’s wrong, Liese-jou?

“I’ve been thinking so since the day before yesterday, but…I think it’s odd for Nina and I to be the same age.”

Just as she suddenly brings this up, Liese-jou’s eyes home in on Nina’s chest.

I’ve heard that women worry about the size of their breasts, but I don’t think that she’s at an age yet where she’d need to worry about something like that.

“Yours is going to grow soon.”

“Klimt-san! When is it going to happen? For how long?”

“Until you become an adult…”

For a change I end up overwhelmed by Liese-jou’s force as she draws closer to me.

“Aren’t you just worrying too much, Liese?”

“I mean, onii-san, what’s with this difference in volume!? Is it hereditary? Mum has no chest, so even I have more than her.”

“Liese, you’re not allowed to say that at home, okay?”

So their mother has no chest, huh? I’ve heard from my elder brother that women become scary if you mention something like this openly. He told me to not touch onto that topic since my stepsister doesn’t have much of a chest either.

“I do have a chest.”

“What you have is a bulky chest!”

“No───oo, you’re a meanie, Boltor!”

“I’m not mean, I’m just stating the truth.”

Candy-dono has been maintaining a fairly decently trained body, and even if it doesn’t quite reach my level, his chest is still quite muscular and bulging.

“You’ve completely lost any motivation, haven’t you?”

“It can’t be helped. We need to stay here until today, but since there’s no pasto to be found…ehh!”

Suddenly Bruno points towards the lake while crying out.

Once I follow his finger, wondering what’s going on, I can see a mysterious, big life-form right in the middle of the lake, just like yesterday.

“Did it really exist?”

“No, isn’t that yet another trick by the Viscount Bart house?”

Right after the matter yesterday? No matter how you look at it…no, wait, are they trying to lure us into believing in the existence of the pasto by making pasto paper maches appear in sequence?

“Sheesh, if they insist on it.”

“Bruno-chan, scare them a bit, will you?”

Candy-dono orders Bruno to lightly burn the paper mache with fire magic. If we burn it down once more, even the Bart house likely won’t ever again scheme to advertise the Pastour Lake by tricking adventurers.

“Okay, here I go then.”

Unlike yesterday, Bruno shoots the fake pasto in the distance with a small 『Fireball』.

“It hit.”

“Nothing less of you, onii-san.”

“Huh? It’s not going up in flames though.”

“Did they switch to using nonburnable materials?”

Because the paper mache went up in flames yesterday, they used nonburnable materials to build the paper mache today? But, changing the means within just one day…

Just as I think about something like that, the pasto raises a shrill scream after being hit by the fireball while heading this way.

“It’s as if it’s angry.”

“At any rate, isn’t it swimming quite fast?”

“The people on the boat beneath the paper mache are doing their best? It must be quite a chore.”

Boltor-dono and Candy-dono feely sympathy for the retainers who are forced to do something so silly on the order of their stupid family head. Even if the retainers were to quit their service to the house right now, they’d be just troubled without finding a new lord, so they’ll probably not quit as long as their current lord isn’t too unbearable. It’s what you call the pain of those working for others.

“They have it hard as well.”

“No kidding. They must be very displeased.”

“The monster domain is fine, but they can’t reclaim this mountain as its crater is filled with the Pastour Lake. I’m sure they must feel a dire wish to change it into a tourist attraction, no matter what.”

Just as we’re gossiping about the retainers of the Bart house, who operated the paper mache yesterday, they suddenly show up. Speaking of the devil, huh?

“Klimt-onii-sama, who is operating that pasto paper mache then?”

“Other retainers…”

“Since the Bart house isn’t that affluent, we don’t have any spare paper maches. Also, we only got a few retainers.”

“So, who is moving that pasto which is heading this way while roaring in anger?”

Everyone falls silent upon Nina’s question. It’s not about who is moving that pasto fake…a certain possibility crosses everyone’s mind.

“Does that mean it’s the real thing?”

“”””””””That’s it!””””””””

Everyone simultaneously agrees with Liese-jou’s suggestion.

“What are we going to do? We haven’t prepared any weapons.”

“True, today we planned to spend the day playing around, didn’t we?”

Today everyone is wearing swimsuits. As we didn’t expect in our wildest dreams that we’d need weapons or armor, we left them at the inn.

“Bruno, take it down with magic!”

“That’s a good idea!”

If Bruno uses his magic at full power, the likes of a huge creature with a silly name such as pasto…

“Ee───h! We were told to catch it alive.”

“True. That’s a valuable tourist attraction.”

The retainers of the Bart house start to yap about something ridiculous at that point. Do they really understand our current situation to propose catching it alive?

“Catch it alive, if possible. But if it dies, it cannot be helped. That’s what the contract states.”

“Can’t you somehow work it out?”

“We’re going to get scolded by our lord.”

I guess it’s simply bad luck that they’re serving a weird noble. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Viscount Bart. He sure is a stupid, incorrigible noble.

In that case…

“I will handle it!”

“Really?”

“If I hit the head of that pasto or whatever it is with my full power, it’s going to faint.”

“Please take care of it.”

While we were having such conversation, the pasto quickly swam up right in front of our noses.

It’s twice as tall as I am. It’s length is probably around ten meters? It’s bigger than a wyvern, but still smaller than a flying dragon.

“On it!”

“Are you going to be alright, Klimt-san?”

“Klimt-onii-sama, please be careful.”

“Leave it to me! Bruno!”

“Roger!”

Just as we’ve promised the retainers of the Bart house, Bruno’s magic doesn’t hit the pasto directly. I float up high into the sky for a moment thanks to Bruno’s improved 『Flight』 spell, and drop down right on the top of the pasto’s head, delivering a powerful knee strike.

Because I’ve also added my own mana to the attack, the pasto embarks to the netherworld from my blow. After delivering that knee strike, I skillfully plunge into the river before the pasto collapses, and return to the beach by swimming.

“Bruno, you were a great help.”

“Because you added your mana, strength, and body weight, the pasto was completely helpless, huh? But, it’s not a monster, is it?”

“You’re right. A monster of that size wouldn’t die from a single hit by me.”

Of course, it’s no dragon either. It’s also different from the serpent inhabiting the ocean I heard about in the past. I wonder, what kind of creature is it?

“A───ah! Even though we told you to not ki───ill it!”

“Our lord is going to be angry───!”

The retainers kick up a fuss after seeing the dead pasto, but in that case, they should have taken it down by themselves.

“When I thought that it’d be a monster, it was more fragile than expected.”

“Even if that had been a monster, it’d have likely suffered quite substantial damage from your blow, Klimt.”

“Isn’t it just fine if you use it for stuffing? Also, if you exhibit that stuffing close to the lake, it might draw some tourists.”

Unable to humor them any longer, we wrap up things over here, and go back to our inn.

Sometime in the future I heard that the Bart house stuffed out the pasto and exhibited it on the first floor of the inn where we stayed, but as no tourists would come to look at that, the Pastour Lake still remained a little-known summer resort afterwards.

Chapter 10 – Pet Search

“Brother, what’s with the rabbit in that cage?”

“Ah, today I’m working alone. I’ll be done once I give him back to his owner.”

“Is that adventurer work?”

“Not quite, I’d say, but if you consider work that can be handled by one person within the capital, a job like this has a good efficiency.”

Today, Twilight of Dawn has a day off. It’s because Candy-san had to hurry back to his home village all of a sudden.

It sounds like his grandfather passed away, and thus our activities as a party are halted so that he can attend the funeral.

As Klimt was told to show his face back home every once in a while, he’s gone to the Armstrong mansion for today. Boltor-san and Dalton-san said that they’d hunt in a nearby place, and headed out to the hunting grounds in the capital’s outskirts.

Since I was free, I decided to accept requests I could easily accomplish myself while at the same time serving as magic training.

“Does searching for runaway pets help you with your magic training?”

“It does.”

Searching for the target pet with 『Detect』 turns this into great training for magic. After all, I have to clearly distinguish the presence of a rabbit from humans and other animals such as cats or dogs.

“There’s lots of humans, cats, and dogs in the capital, so it’s good practice to search just for rabbits among all of them.”

“I see.”

“It’s unexpectedly profitable, too.”

“Searching for a pet earns you money?”

“This here is a noble’s pet.”

There’s always a fixed number among the rich and nobility who dote on their pets to an abnormal degree and don’t mind using any amount of money on them.

Looking for runaway pets isn’t an adventurer job, but among the people wanting to look for their cute pet as soon as possible, there’s also people deliberately putting up search requests by nominating magicians who can use 『Detect』. Since those are nominated requests, the reward goes up accordingly as well, but it’s not strange for rich people, who love their pets, to fork over huge amounts of money either. Those are wonderful clients for me.

“Searching for this rabbit, eh…?”

Well, this rabbit here gave me troubles as I had to search it all day, and it’s not that cute either, or rather…it might have some parts justifying to call it pretty like its pure white fur for example, but it has light brown spots all over its body, and it looks like Liese doesn’t consider it to be very adorable either.

“You’re lucky it didn’t get eaten.

“Just by chance. I think it’s because it stayed in the high-ranking noble district.”

“That area should be alright, yeah, but if it had gone to the slums, it’d have ended up eaten in no time, I’m sure.”

I think this rabbit has been caught in the forest, and normal people would consider it to be food. The only ones that would even dream of turning it into a pet are nobles and rich people who don’t experience any hardships in their livelihood.

“Brother, why haven’t you taken it to its owner right away then?”

“Because it’s already evening.”

Even if I might be a magician, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m a nameless adventurer of commoner birth. They wouldn’t welcome me at the owner’s mansion if I visited this late. I think it’d be best to deliver the rabbit first thing in the morning, now that I’ve secured it.

“So having lots of money makes you just more careful.”

From their perspective, the likes of adventurers should bear an image of being suspicious people. The number of highly evaluated adventurers is truly low.

“That said, I’m going to deliver this little guy here tomorrow. You must be hungry.”

“I’d love you to help me with the shopping for dinner, if you can, brother.”

“That’s fine with me. But, do we have to buy that much?”

“You see, this is something I’ve heard from Klimt-san, but it looks like you’ve promised to have dinner with Boltor-san and Dalton-san tonight.”

“Ah! I totally forgot!”

She’s right. Today we were going to have dinner with the four of us here!

“Klimt-san handed me the money for the food and some extra while apologizing for the inconvenience. You’re unexpectedly hopeless in this regard. Klimt-san’s consideration toward the circumstances of women are far above yours.”

“Ugh, that one hurt…”

No way for me to lose to him on such an aspect.

“I’ll come shopping with you.”

“I’ve ordered plenty of meat at the butcher.”

“That sounds great.”

Everyone has a hearty appetite after all…especially Klimt.

“Brother, you also eat more than your appearance gives away.”

“Well, it’s something like an occupational disease.”

If magicians don’t eat a lot since they consume a lot of mana, they end up becoming thin and worn out in no time. Among magicians, I’m on the side of those not eating much, but it’s still an amount that’d surprise any ordinary person.

I’m often told by women that they’re jealous about me not gaining weight despite eating so much.

“Okay, let’s go to the butcher to get the meat as soon as possible?”

“Please take care of carrying the bags, brother.”

“Roger.”

Thus we left together to pick up the great amount of meat Liese had ordered at the butcher. Before leaving, I put the caged rabbit down at home.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Klimt, you’re living in a fairly big house, aren’t you?”

“I’m living together with Bruno.”

“The rent should be quite high.”

“Not quite. It was originally a defective property.”

“You got lucky then.”

Today I went back home and had lunch with my family, but while noble dining sure is delicious, it’s no fun because of its stiffness and formality. Hence I turned down dinner, saying that I had some other business to take care of.

Nina looked sad, but since I want to avoid coming back home as much as possible until I become able to stand on my own feet, this is inevitable. Besides, it’s not like I’ve lied since I made a promise with Boltor-dono and Dalton-dono. Together with Bruno, the four of us made plans to meet for some carefree drinking and dining.

“No one’s here.”

“…*nod*”

“Maybe they have gone out shopping. Given that I have informed Liese-jou about today, she should be making plenty of food for us.”

“Then it must be shopping, yep.”

“It looks like we finished first.”

As an adult, I’ve become able to drink alcohol as well, and today I bought plenty of wine together with the other two. Placing down the bottles on the table where we’re alway eating our meals, I put some into our cups and we start having some drinks.

“You’ve got no side dishes or anything?”

“Well, we do have some, but…”

I feel like it’d be rude to start eating on our own, despite Liese-jou being in the middle of preparing the food.

“Don’t you have anything we could snack on right away?”

“Boltor-dono, what about today’s loot? If you got meat, we just need to sprinkle some salt on it and roast it.”

“Sorry. Today, I sold everything at the adventurer’s guild. What about you, Dalton?”

Being asked by Boltor-dono, Dalton-dono takes out a single box that has been wrapped up neatly.

“Dalton, what’s that? Ehh!? A present for Liese-chan? Sweets? You’re surprisingly tactful, man.”

Oh! For him to have brought sweets as a present for Liese-jou who’s going to cook for us today… Dalton-dono is taciturn, but his considerations of women are perfect.

“There’s no way that we could eat the sweets you bought as a present for Liese-chan. Saying stuff like using the ingredients which are going to be used for dinner later would be troublesome as well. I guess we’ll stick with wine-only for now… Oh, what’s that?”

Boltor-dono had discovered something that was inside a cage. Once I peek into the cage which has been placed on a chair, I spot a rabbit with light brown spots spread all over its body.

“A rabbit? Moreover, a living specimen.”

“Why is a living rabbit here?”

Adventurers and hunters would drain the blood of the rabbits the killed on the spot, and then take them to the adventurer’s guild. Since it’s common sense to take off the fur and sell the rest to a butcher, I don’t understand why a living rabbit would be here.

“Is Liese-chan going to prepare the rabbit?”

“That is impossible.”

She’d cut the meat at most. Around that much is the limit for women in the capital.

“Does Bruno plan to use it in some magic experiments?”

“I have never heard about rabbits being used in magic experiments.

In the first place, it wouldn’t be necessary to do that at home.

“…”

“What’s wrong, Dalton? Are you possibly asking whether it’s not here for our sake?”

I guess that’d make the rabbit an ingredient for today’s dinner. Though it’s a bit weird that it’s still alive.

“Oh well, whatever. I think it’ll be fine if we pay them back if they’re going to say something afterwards. We’re going to quickly drain it, cut it up, and roast it.”

“That is a great idea!”

A cup of watered wine and salted, grilled rabbit meat as a side dish – that really rocks.

“Okay, Dalton, please prepare the meat for grilling.”

“…*nod*”

After deciding that we’d just need to catch another one if Bruno were to complain, we drained the blood and dismantled the rabbit, and then turned it into a side dish for our drinking.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Eh? You ate the rabbit?”

“It was delicious.”

“Really? Klimt, you’re of good birth, but your taste is still quite lacking, isn’t it? The meat was soft, and it was too oily.”

“Now listen, Boltor-dono, such soft, oily meat is valued highly among nobles. With tough meat, you can only enjoy its consistency when chewing on it.”

“You think so? I feel like tough meat is better since the meat itself has a better taste. The meat of that rabbit was merely greasy.

“Most of the oil came off when you grilled it. The meat itself had proper deliciousness.”

“Umm…do you guys have no awareness of having done something wrong?”

“”Did something wrong? Like how?””

As we were having our little drinking party with the grilled rabbit meat as a side dish, Bruno and Liese-jou came back while carrying some bags, but Bruno got very flustered once he noticed that the rabbit in the cage was gone. When we informed him about the rabbit having turned into food for us, he got even more upset.

“That rabbit was the beloved pet of Earl Dork.”

“Oh shit, that’s going to become a pain in the ass.”

“…*nod*”

“Boltor-san, Dalton-san, before worrying about the earl, you should care about having lost my trust…”

He’s quite pissed off since it wasn’t just some random pet search, but it’d also affect his reputation and the evaluation of his abilities as a magician. But he’s right, it’s usually unthinkable for an intermediate magician to fail on something like a rabbit search.

“That’s it!”

“Kilmt, do you have some good idea?”

“It is going to be alright if you say that nothing but bones was left when you found it.”

Only nobles, who are ignorant of how the world works, would use rabbits as pets. If such a pet ran away into the slums or downtown, it’d be immediately caught and eaten. In other words, Bruno just needs to insist that this happened here.

“Fortunately, we also have the proof here – the bones.”

In reality the rabbit was eaten by us, but even after seeing the bones, it’d be impossible to tell who ate the rabbit anyway.

“No, in the case my job would fail and my evaluation would drop. Rather, it was you guys who ate it on your own device. Even though it’s not like you didn’t have the choice to eat something else.”

“Since all of us have been looking forward to Liese-jou’s cooking, we didn’t want to mess with it by using the wrong ingredients. But, we needed a side dish.”

Eating that rabbit was a last resort. Boltor-dono and Dalton-dono seem to agree as well, seeing how they are nodding their heads.

“Now you’re just making shit up.”

“Right! I remembered!”

“What exactly, Klimt?”

“About Earl Dork!”

He’s a famous noble for loving his pets, but it’s not like he’s actually taking care of them himself. It’s said he quickly tires of pets and wants new ones…to be honest, he isn’t a decent guy.

In other words, he might have soon given up on the rabbit we ate anyway.

“Okay, so what about him?”

“It’ll be fine as long as we catch a rabbit with a similar color scheme tomorrow.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“…*nod*”

“Is handling it so irresponsibly going to be alright?”

“He won’t find out anyway. Liese-jou, we’re hungry.”

“You aren’t reflecting on it at all, to the extent of being brazen about it, are you? But okay, I’m going to prepare the food then.”

Because of all this, we decided to head out tomorrow to catch another rabbit with the four of us. Also, Liese-jou’s cooking was superb.

◇◆◇◆

On the next day, we were capturing rabbits alive in the outskirts of the capital.

“How about this one?”

“Boltor-san, the pattern of the spots is completely different.”

“How about this one here?”

“That one’s no good either.”

Searching for a rabbit with the same pattern as Earl Dork’s pet has proven to be difficult. It’s noon in no time.

“I am hungry.”

“Lunch is off! Since it won’t be possible to deliver it in the evening, we won’t be on time if we don’t catch one soon.”

Adventurers can’t enter noble mansions in the evening because of the potential dangers. Of course he’s free to do as he pleases, but I don’t think that’s the attitude of a guy who asks others to search for his runaway pet.

“In that case, this one should be okay.”

I grab the ears of a rabbit with relatively similar patterns to the rabbit from yesterday, and show it to Bruno.

“It’s not that it doesn’t resemble the pet, but it has some parts where the spots density is too low.”

“Then, this one here.”

At this point, Boltor-dono shows us a small bottle with something in it.

“What’s that?”

“It’s the pain Candy often uses. Since he uses it for painting cloth, it’s hard to wash off with water. I borrowed a bit of it from his home.”

“Boltor-san, Candy-san is not at home right now. Taking it out from there on your own devices…”

“I’ll buy a new one later, and give it back. Either way, if we add light brown spot patterns to the rabbit using this…it’s perfect!”

Within a few minutes, the rabbit has turned into one resembling yesterday’s pet quite well.

“As expected of you, Boltor-dono.”

“No need to praise me. Okay, let’s finish this by delivering the rabbit to Earl Dork’s place.”

“I wonder if it’s going to be alright…”

“Don’t worry. If the size and patterns of the rabbits are similar, they won’t notice any difference.”

We hurry over to Earl Dork’s mansion with the worried Bruno in tow. And just as I had expected, the earl didn’t deal with us in person.

Once a middle-aged man, apparently a retainer, sees the rabbit, he checks it briefly, and after thanking us for our good work, he hands Bruno the reward. Since we’ve got no particular business left here, we depart from Earl Dork’s mansion.

“It actually worked out without a hitch.”

“Right?”

“Boltor-san, you were confident in it?”

“Yeah. Klimt, you know about the rumors that Earl Dork is irresponsible as a pet lover, don’t you?”

“He’s relatively famous for it.”

There are rumors about it, but if he truly loved the rabbit in the first place, the earl would have received us himself.

“I’m sure his interest has shifted to a new pet.”

“It’s got to be something like that. That retainer should have noticed that this rabbit wasn’t the real deal. And yet, he didn’t question us about it, right?”

“Come to think of it, you’re right.”

“In short, Earl Dork won’t say anything as long as he gets back a rabbit that roughly fits the description. And that’s because he isn’t close enough to the rabbit to even notice that it’s a fake.”

Well, most of the nobles’ hobbies are like that. Those obsessed with something will fuss over it, but many are fickle just like Earl Dork. He made Bruno look for the runaway rabbit, but he’s okay with the result as long as the rabbit resembles the real one.

“That sure sounds heartless.”

“Doesn’t it? That’s how Earl Dork is.”

“No, you guys are just as heartless. After all, you selfishly dismantled, prepared, and cooked the rabbit. Moreover, for such a bullshit reason that you didn’t have enough side dishes to go with your wine.”

“Hahaha, next time we will only eat something after making sure ahead of time.”

Occasionally, such things happen as well. It finished without Bruno’s evaluation taking a hit, so I don’t think we need to mind all the small details.

Chapter 11 – Beautification Potion

“With that said, the ingredients for this potion…”

“Can you really make such a magic potion if you’ve got those ingredients?”

“It sounds fairly suspicious…”

Candy-dono immediately restarted the activity of our party as soon as he came back from his grandfather’s funeral. It’s good to get going again, but…he’s picked up a very shady job this time. Candy-dono explains to us that it’s a job where the client wants us to fetch the ingredients for a special, magic potion allowing you to turn into a handsome man or beautiful woman by all means, and that they’ll pay a considerable amount of money for those ingredients.

“It’s shady as hell.”

“Is it a scam?”

“I hate to say this, but our job is to gather the ingredients for that potion and hand them over to the client. Once we give him the items requested, it’s not our cup of tea if the client fails to combine them into a potion or if the result doesn’t show the desired effect.”

“You’re quite blunt about this…”

“I mean, we don’t have any responsibility for the client’s potion production technique, do we?”

“No, we don’t. It’ll be our fault if we pick the wrong medicinal plants, but if we deliver the correct ingredients, the rest will be out of our hands. Right, Dalton?”

“…*nod*”

I guess Boltor-dono and Dalton-dono agree with accepting this request.

“The requested ingredients…are valuable medicinal plants that can only be found fairly deep in the mountains. They’re rather rare, so they’ll earn us some good money if we find them. Or rather, it’d be smarter to use them for other medicines. It’s plain obvious that medicine to turn one into a handsome man or beautiful woman is completely lust-driven.”

He’s right. I also feel like it’d be much more reasonable to use those ingredients for medicines to cure serious illnesses or heavy injuries. Even if you don’t artificially prettify a person’s looks, they can still lead a normal life.

“Anyway, all will be fine as long as we pick up those special plants for the client.”

“Understood.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“Just treat it as a regular job.”

Adventurer might be a profession where you’re free to do as you like, but it’s not like you can afford to be too picky about the jobs. Twilight of Dawn heads towards a remote monster domain where the requested plants grow natively.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Ahh, thanks a lot. This is just what I wanted.”

“It’s great that we managed to find them.”

“I’ll add them to the magic potion right away.”

As we moved to the area where the plants grow in the wild, we got worn out from all the battles with monsters that came to attack us, but we still succeeded in gathering the required medicinal plants. We immediately went back to get the client’s reward, but the meat and crafting materials we looted from the monsters actually earned us more money than the reward for the plants.

Candy-dono usually lets us gather experience on expeditions which would earn us some cash while also training us. Looking at it like that, he’s a man with an extraordinary talent in training young adventurers.

“A magic potion to prettify a man or woman, was it? Hmm…”

“Boltor-san, my name is Beckenbauer. I’m a magician focusing on research at the Sorcery Guild.”

Mr. Beckenbauer looks like he’s in the second half of his twenties, and gives off the feeling of still being young for a magician. Since the amount of his mana rivals that of Bruno, he should also be able to make a living as an adventurer.

“My main research subject revolves around the improvement of magic crests.”

“Magic crests?”

“Correct, Bruno-kun. I’m researching how to create a standardized magic crest that can use specific spells by just pouring mana into it without having to rely on the senses and imaginations of individual magicians.”

I see. As a magician who seems to be in the Sorcery Guild, he’s truly considering various aspects.

“That is an amazing research subject.”

“No doubt, but this research takes time and effort. Because it’s extremely difficult to achieve results, I also do other research with the aim of finding sponsors. Normally, magic potions are outside my field of expertise. But, look, it’s normal for nobles, who are ignorant of the world and don’t understand magic, to believe that all researchers in the Sorcery Guild are the same. Also, no matter what kind of magic potion it might be, it’s impossible to turn a human into a pretty woman or handsome man all of a sudden. Since other researchers have failed with this several times already, it won’t be much of a problem even if I fail as well. As long as I can get some funds with this, it’ll also be of advantage for my research on magic crests.”

“You’re way too frank about this.” Boltor-dono comments.

Even so, Mr. Beckenbauer is quite sarcastic. Or rather, he’s too openhearted…

“Is this magic potion going to fail as well then?”

“That’s not what I’ve said. Since I’ve accepted the job, I’ll properly compound it. Since I’ll also be able to obtain more funds for my own research if it succeeds, I’ll try my best as it also serves as a means to kill some time.”

As he sure doesn’t mince his words, I wonder whether he isn’t getting alienated within the Sorcery Guild.

“All that’s left is to grind these plants well and add them to the potion I contorted in advance. Do you want to watch?”

“Why not. I’ve got some spare time anyway.”

Since we have nothing else planned for today, Candy-dono answers that he’ll watch the completion of the magic potion. The rest of us have nothing planned either, so we decide to stay since we’re curious.

Mr. Beckenbauer leads us to his laboratory. The place is filled with decorations of many magic crests and unfinished crests that have been recorded on framed pictures. The big table in the room is littered with beakers and flasks filled with magic potions of all sorts of colors.

“You do have lots of various stuff in here.”

“There’s also obviously failed products. But, the real deal is over here.” Mr. Beckenbauer points at a bright red, potion-like liquid contained within a beaker.

“This?”

“After carefully grinding the medicinal plants and adding them to this, I’ll mix all of it well, and once the sediment has settled down within the mixture, it’ll be done.”

If it succeeds, it’ll make men handsome and women beautiful, huh?

Boltor-dono stares at the red liquid with suspicion clearly coloring his eyes.

“It’d be great if it succeeds, but it’s not like I’m harboring any exaggerated expectations. I’m just making a prototype since I’ve received money for it. In the first place, it’s about high time for the idiot, who continues to make the same request to many researchers, to give up on this, but he’s quite tenacious about this. Even if he turns into a handsome man, he still won’t have any chance with the women because of his lacking character.”

Yep, as expected, Mr. Beckenbauer does have a sharp tongue.

“Now then, I’m adding this…” Mr. Beckenbauer grinds the plants properly, and pours the pulp into the beaker with the red liquid.

Thereupon, the liquid gradually begins to emit smoke and bubbles.

“Is it fine like this?”

“Who knows?”

“You’re the creator here…”

“I don’t know what the end result is supposed to look like since it’s never succeeded so far.”

Hmm, that makes sense…but, if Mr. Beckenbauer is the one saying that, I feel like it’s problematic on various levels…

“But, it looks like we can place some hope into this. When I asked my colleagues, who had failed before, about it, they never told me anything about it fuming and foaming in such a way. Maaan, I got to say, being talented sure is scary.”

As I’m looking at Mr. Beckenbauer who’s already praising himself while certain that it’s succeeded, I somehow feel uneasy…

“Mr. Beckenbauer, hasn’t the amount of smoke and foam become quite astonishing? It’s gradually increasing in volume.”

“That’s because it’s a special magic potion. It probably won’t succeed unless you can see that much of a change.”

Mr. Beckenbauer is saying some carefree stuff as usual, but once I look behind me, I realize that Boltor-dono and Dalton-dono have already escaped from this room. Is this what you call the intuition of veteran adventurers?

“Bruno, isn’t this getting dangerous?”

“Maybe…”

“I’m not feeling so sure about this either.”

The liquid in the beaker continues to produce so much smoke that it becomes increasingly difficult to see anything, and its burbling is gradually becoming very loud.

“Candy-dono.”

“Let’s get out of here!”

Following Candy-dono’s order, Bruno and I try to leave the laboratory, but then I realize that Mr. Beckenbauer, the one responsible for this, has followed the other two earlier and vacated this place in advance.

“Just what has happened to his confidence from before?”

“Whatever, let us run away from here!”

However, it looks like we’ve been a moment too late. Suddenly the entire laboratory is filled with smoke, and after we breathe in some of it, we faint on the spot. As expected, the magic potion must have failed.

◇◆◇

“Ugh…”

“That sucked.”

“No kidding.”

How long have we been out? When I opened my eyes, the red liquid in the beaker was already gone. I suppose it has evaporated after all of it turned into smoke.

In addition, it seems like we lost consciousness only for a moment. Mr. Beckenbauer, Boltor-dono, and Dalton-dono immediately rushed into the room.

“Oh noes…the magic potion is completely gone with all of it having turned into smoke, huh…? I wonder how I should deceive that idiot of a noble.”

“”””…””””

Mr. Beckenbauer laments over his potion having evaporated rather than worrying about us. I had expected as much to some degree, but as usual, he’s foulmouthed, or rather, self-centered…

“In a certain sense, he has that typical disposition of a researcher…”

It’s as Candy-dono says. I wonder if researchers won’t accomplish anything if they aren’t selfish to such an extent?

“Well, it’s fine since we’ve still got some of the medicinal plants left. I guess I’ll mix an appropriate potion so that it won’t turn out like this next time…”

“That man is truly unbelievable…”

Regardless of whether he succeeded or not, he wants to hand the noble something close to a finished magic potion to cover the expenses for his magic crest research with the reward. Bruno is flabbergasted by that man’s blunt way of speaking and acting.

“Come to think of it, we’ve ended up breathing in a full dose of that smoke, but it has no effect whatsoever?”

“It doesn’t look like we got injured.”

Us losing consciousness lasted only a moment, so there should be no external wounds.

We begin to check ourselves for injuries, but at the same time I start to feel some indescribable feeling of discomfort.

“”…””

“What’s wrong, Boltor, Dalton?”

Which reminds me, the two have remained quiet ever since entering the laboratory together with Mr. Beckenbauer. Looking at us, they seem so surprised that they’ve become lost for words.

“Boltor-san?”

“Dalton-dono?”

“You see…I’d like you three to stay calm and listen, okay? Haven’t you guys turned into women?”

“Haha, why would I be a woman…huh?”

Just for caution’s sake, Bruno tries to touch his own chest, but he stops moving just like that, sinking into silence.

“Klimt, try to touch your own chest.”

“I’m a descendant of the Armstrong House. Our family’s men are all blessed with bulky chests by birth, but chests and boobs are different…”

When I touch my chest as told by Bruno, I feel an elasticity that isn’t supposed to be there. Just like him, I don’t know what to think of this.

“Why does my chest feel so soft?”

“Because of that potion?”

“This is an effect I hadn’t expected at all. That’s my brilliance for you.”

“Listen buddy, if you don’t give it a rest, you’re in for a rough time, okay?”

“…*nod*”

Mr. Beckenbauer, who created a potion that turns a man into a woman instead of one beautifying a woman or a man, admires his own talent, but gets rebuked by Boltor-dono and Dalton-dono for his imprudence.

“My dream has come true at long laa───ast! I have become a gi───irl!”

Moreover, just one person rejoices from the bottom of his heart over having turned into a woman ─ Candy-dono.

◇◆◇

“So, is this potion’s effect going to last permanently?”

“I think it should stick for several days at most.”

“Several days, eh…”

“What a pity.”

“No way in hell is it a pity.”

Candy-dono, Bruno and I have become women thanks to Mr. Beckenbauer’s potion. For the potion to turn men into women despite its supposed goal of just beautifying…

Just how does that even work…?

“The underlying theory isn’t wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Boltor-dono asks Mr. Beckenbauer.

“If you physically beautify a person, you must change the shape of their face. So how would you reproduce this effect with magic or a magic potion? I applied the 『Disguise』 spell.”

In other words, we have been disguised through magic.

“I actually have breasts on my chest, though. Also, I’m missing the part below.”

Bruno points out that this is no disguise as our bodies have completely become female.

“It’s because that part is different from the 『Disguise』 spell. The magic potion actually changes the structure of the body itself. If all had gone right, you would have been beautified, but…”

This is the downside of a potion that’s just a prototype. It’s also the reason why we have become women instead of being beautified.

“Wait, even if you explain this as if it’s a trivial mishap, we’re looking like this. You gotta take responsibility, buddy.”

“Correct!”

For him to not even feel a shred of responsibility for having turned others into a woman, that’s a problem for sure.

“It’s not like you will stay like this forever. It’ll wear off in two or three days.”

“Truly?”

“Since you’ve been forcibly turned into women through the power of magic, it won’t have such a long-lasting effect. Of course it’d be a different matter if you were to apply that magic potion all the time.”

So he’s saying that the mana consumption matters as well, despite the magic potion serving as catalyst. It’s great to hear that I won’t stay a woman for the rest of my life.

“Those medicinal plants can only be obtained in fairly remote regions. On top of that, they’re also rare.”

“The other ingredients are pretty expensive, too. The compounding takes time and effort, and it’s not like I can contort this potion every day.”

In other words, if you’re not very wealthy, it’ll be difficult to keep the effect of the potion going for an extended period of time.

“You’ll return to your original appearance without having to do anything yourself, and it’s not that inconvenient either, right?”

“It’s inconvenient.”

“Oh, really, Boltor-dono?”

“Man…it’s not like you haven’t noticed it yourself, right? There’s no friggin’ way that you can mistake this for a beautification potion, is there?” Boltor-dono points at Candy-dono.

“Me? I’m a proper girl.”

“As if girls like you exist anywhere───!”

It’s only natural for Boltor-dono to shout. Certainly, Candy-dono has become a woman, but the only obvious disparity to his male self is the bulging chest.

It’s not like he’s become a beauty, and although it’s malicious to phrase it like that, he looks as if a man had simply his chest stuffed out.

“Do I need to coordinate my clothes and put on some make-up?”

“It’ll be pointless even if you did something like that. The problem lies a lot deeper after all.”

“You’re such a meani───ie, Boltor!”

“(This goes way beyond the level where you can fix things with clothes and make-up…)”

I thought so as well, but I lacked the courage to actually voice it out. Besides…

“Candy is terrible to look at, but so are you, Klimt.”

Well, I’ve expected as much. I’ve become a woman, but I’m taller than Candy-dono, and my body has more muscles as well. Even I know that no one would know how to deal with such a woman.

“I do have a big chest, though.”

“Now listen…Klimt, your chest is only thick.”

It’s as Boltor-dono says. My chest is bulging out as well, but with most of it being muscles, it completely lacks softness.

As sad as it may sound, I’d also turn down such a woman.

“…”

“Is something the matter, Dalton? Ah, you mean Bruno? I guess he’s the sole exception here.”

It’s deplorable if I have to say this about myself, but Candy-dono and I merely look like cross-dressing men, however Bruno has a delicate, androgynous appearance to begin with, so he totally looks like a beautiful girl with a short hair-cut.

“I’m so jealous. You completely look like a girl.”

“If I was going to turn into a woman anyway, it would have been great to at least look like you, Bruno.”

“Candy-san, Klimt, your praise doesn’t make me happy at all.”

That’s what he says, but with him looking like this, it’s only reasonable for us to be envious of him.

“The ratio of women in Twilight of Dawn has grown significantly.”

“I don’t think that’s what happened here…”

Makes sense. We are men who have merely turned into women through a magic potion.

“We’re going to revert back in two or three days, right?”

“Yes, it should last around that long.”

“Has our combat power decreased or anything like that?”

“No. You can also use magic normally.”

Since it’s a variation of 『Disguise』 to begin with, I suppose our skills and abilities aren’t influenced by us turning into women.

“That’s great to hear. At least we won’t need to take a break for tomorrow and the day after then.”

“Which reminds me, we’ve got work lined up.”

“It’s a job you got for us, right? It’ll be alright since it won’t be anything with a ridiculously high level of difficulty then.”

Although we’ve turned into women due to an accident, it’s impossible for us to take several days off that easily. We decided to do our work as adventurers while looking like women for two or three days.

“I might as well consider it as a valuable experience since we are going to turn back anyway.”

“You sure take this ordeal easy, Klimt…”

“Bruno, with your appearance, it is absolutely no problem for you to be a woman.”

“Like hell, it completely sucks!”

“True, I wish all my clients were like this.”

We end up completely flabbergasted by Mr. Beckenbauer who doesn’t show a hint of remorse over what he’s done.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“A-…Are you the famous Twilight of Dawn….?”

“Yep. Nice to work with you for today and tomorrow.”

“Sure…”

“That butler has clearly drawn back after seeing you, Candy-san.”

“It’s because his appearance is quite intense. Same for you, Klimt.”

On the next day we decide to finish a job Candy-dono has accepted in advance. Although we’ve turned into women, it has no impact on our combat ability, and since it’d become an issue of our party’s credibility, we didn’t cancel the job.

Besides, our job this time is to tutor the son of a certain noble. His abilities as heir are sufficient, but since he’s somewhat timid, his father wants us to amend that weak character of his through hunting and other training regimens.

Seeing how the reward is extremely decent for the level of difficulty, we headed over to the mansion of that noble. And then, after seeing the female Candy-dono, the mansion’s butler became speechless.

Right now various thoughts are probably swirling around in his head such as Candy-dono possibly being a woman for real since he’s always insisting to be one, or rather him possibly having become a woman exactly because he’s always thinking he is one.

“Your tall friend can also be described as very adventurer-like, I suppose…”

“True. But, I’m a girl in the first place.”

“Haah…”

Which is the better woman between Candy-dono and me? I’m sure that question is the most worthless in this world. The butler is also troubled about how to answer here.

“In any case, I would like you to meet with my master.”

Seemingly finding it painful to continue this conversation with Candy-dono, the butler leads us into the mansion.

◇◆◇

“Oh, Twilight of Dawn has a lot more female members than I thought.”

“Not quite, Earl Morgensohn. This is due to some special circumstances.”

“It’s not that I’m blaming you for it. Twilight of Dawn is a party with many achievements under its belt either way. I just voiced out what came to mind.”

Our client for this job is Earl Morgensohn. Father previously told me that he’s an appointed, high-ranking nobles, specialized on flood control. He’s not one exercising overly much like the nobles of the military section, but since he also goes on site for the flood control work, he’s required to have stamina above average. He also heads out to remote rivers, lakes, and swamps to survey them, and if you consider that he also has to deal with camping and fending off wild animals, it’s desirable for the family head to be able to do light stuff like hunting. We were called here to give his son the necessary training for that.

“What are those special circumstances?”

“As a matter of fact…” Boltor-dono tells Earl Morgensohn about the magic potion created by Mr. Beckenbauer.

“As long as they can hold out for one or two more days…”

“I see. This kingdom has many nobles, and such oddballs exist among them as well. Rather than wasting lots of money on something like this, I’d lay out irrigation channels as possible.”

“You’re absolutely right.”

Earl Morgensohn probably can’t understand the feelings of his fellow nobleman for spending so much money on a beautification potion. He mentions that laying out irrigation channels for the sake of the farmers would be of much more help for society.

But, Earl Morgensohn might be able to say this because he’s a rare handsome, good-looking man. The members of his family have all been beautiful women and men for generations. I’m aware of this because my father told me about it.

That magic potion is useless for this family, I’m sure. And it’s not just the earl’s family. In addition to the butler, all the employees and maids are also pretty.

To be honest, compared to them, Candy-dono and I must look like abominations.

“Even if he’s been turned into a woman, the reputation of our leader Candy remains unchanged. And our Klimt is a magician.”

Boltor-dono backs up Candy-dono and me.

“There’s no problem if their abilities are no different from usual. Well then, please take care of Franklin. If he manages to camp out for a night after you teach him the basics on our family’s hunting ground, he should become a bit stronger.”

Since his heir and son Franklin has some unreliable parts, he’s going to have us train him, including camping outside. I don’t know how camping out for a night is supposed to help, but I guess the earl is trying to start low at first?

“Let me introduce you to Franklin. Fraaanklin, come here!”

“Yes, father.”

In response to Earl Morgensohn’s loud shouting, a young boy enters the room. He seems to be around 12 or 13 years old. He has a small and slender build, and I feel like he’s even more fragile than Bruno, but his handsome and adorable face completely suits him being the heir of the Earl Morgensohn House.

In a few more years, he should turn into a handsome boy who’s going to attract droves of women.

“I am looking forward to your assistance. My name is Franklin.”

He seems to have a very decent character too. At least I don’t sense any of the usual hubris some heirs of high-ranking nobles possess.

“Franklin, you’re going to stay with the people from Twilight of Dawn from now on, and go hunting with them. Make sure to catch some game with your own hands.”

“As you wish, father. Everyone, I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Nice to meet you, Franklin-sama. (I can’t wait for your futureee───!)”

As usual, heart marks have appeared in the eyes of Candy-dono as soon as he saw the beautiful boy, but it should be no issue since he’s someone capable of properly keeping private life and work apart.

“Umm, I would be honored if you could tell me your name.”

“Me? I am Klimt.”

Franklin-dono is a boy as well. I thought that he might be calling out to Bruno, who’s currently a pretty girl, but unexpectedly he’s talking to me. Considering how dealt with Candy-dono moments ago, he might feel no animosity towards a muscular woman like me.

“Klimt-san, it is? That’s certainly a valiant name. By the way, Klimt-san, is there anyone you’re dating?”

“No.”

“That’s wonderful news.”

Once I tell him that I have no girlfriend or anyone like that, a smile blooms on Franklin’s face. Why is he so happy about learning that I have no girlfriend or fiancée?

Since I don’t understand, I look at Boltor-dono, just to see that his face has turned ghastly pale.

“(Boltor-dono, what is this about?)”

“(That lil’ rich boy goes way beyond being unusual!)”

Goes beyond being unusual? What does he mean?

“(Just why has he fallen in love with someone like Klimt in spite of being surrounded by so many beautiful men and women, and with Bruno being right next to Klimt?)”

Franklin-dono has fallen in love with my female appearance? No way that could be true…

“Now then, let’s go, Klimt-san?”

“Okay…”

I was decided that we’d head for the hunting ground right away, but Franklin-dono immediately calls out to me in order to go there together with me. Moreover, his face has become so red that anyone can tell he’s blushing.

“(Candy-dono?)”

“(Ee───eh! God damn it, I’m the girl here───ee!)”

Even though I ask Candy-dono for help to somehow do something about this, he seems to be shocked about Franklin-dono having fallen in love with me instead of him.

“Anyway…let’s go to the hunting ground?”

“You’re right. I’m looking forward to the next two days, Klimt-san.”

“…”

Although it pains me to say so myself, but for a man who likes my appearance as a woman to have appeared…I’m getting completely dragged down into the whirlpool of worries as I have no idea just what I should do for the next two days.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Franklin-sama, a rabbit has come your way.”

“I see it. I’ll make sure to not let it get away.”

Franklin-dono, the eldest son of the Earl Morgensohn House, has fallen in love with the female me. Even as I wonder how that came to be, a job is a job.

We have started to coach Franklin-dono on the hunting grounds managed by the Morgensohn House. Seeing how the student is the heir of an earl house, Twilight of Dawn has been attached to him as guards which is way too excessive for the level of danger he could face here, but so far there has been no problems, and Franklin-dono himself isn’t that much of an unreliable boy as the earl made him out to be.

He brings down the rabbit, Boltor-dono and Dalton-dono had herded towards him, with one shot, demonstrating extraordinary skill in archery.

“That was amazing.”

“It’s nothing so exaggerated, but I’ll give this game to you, Klimt-san.”

As soon as he wasn’t any longer under the watchful eyes of his father, Franklin-dono stopped hiding his affection towards me. He’s always sticking with me, and whenever he takes down prey like this, he offers it to me.

Now then, what should I do about this?

“(Didn’t you explain the situation to Franklin-dono?)”

“(You see, we couldn’t get him to believe us.)”

“(…He probably doesn’t want to believe the fact that you’re actually a guy, Klimt.)”

I’d like him to obediently believe that part, or rather, a woman like me doesn’t even exist in this world to begin with!

Also, there’s the matter with Candy-dono, huh?

“(I know it’s rude to put it like this, but although both of you’re terrible to look at, Candy is still preferable over you.)”

Certainly, it’s a scant difference, but if you asked which of us looks less objectionable, eight out of ten people would likely name Candy-dono.

“(Awwww, I’m not terrible to look at. My heart is that of a girl. It’s mean of Franklin-chan to pick Ron-chan over me.)”

“(What a pain in the ass…since you’re just making matters worse, stay out of this. Also, from my point of view, you look like a monster. If children saw you, they’d run away while bawling, and old people might die from the visual shock.)”

I had been aware of it myself, but after turning into a woman, I looked much worse than Candy-dono who’s branded as a monster by Boltor-dono. And yet, I wonder what Franklin-dono finds so appealing about my womanly appearance? Above all, despite usually being surrounded by beautiful women and girls.

“When I saw you for the first time, Klimt-san, I felt a shock as if lightning had struck me!”

“(Well, obviously. I mean he’s a woman with a height of more than 180 cm, packing nothing but muscles.)”

I’d love Boltor-dono to stop butting in with a whisper on each and every single thing.

“Until now I’ve never experienced anything like that from any woman I’ve seen. That’s why I realized. Klimt-san, you’re most appropriate to be my future spouse.”

He’s already proposing to me?

“Franklin-dono, because you’re the heir of the Earl Morgensohn House…”

There’s no way that a weird woman like me would be able to marry into the Morgensohn family…I’m the second son of the Earl Armstrong House, but right now it’s awfully troublesome that I must keep pretending to be a simple female adventurer…no, would Franklin-dono actually give up if I revealed my true identity?

“Of course it’ll be impossible to take you as the first wife, but I’ll definitely welcome you as an official concubine.”

“I’d like you to give me some time to consider…”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. For you to properly consider my proposal is more than I could ask for.”

Well, since I’ll turn back into a man by tomorrow or the day after, Franklin-dono will give up anyway.

Seemingly happy over my reply, Franklin-dono kept hunting one game after the other under the tutelage of Dalton-dono. It meant Franklin-dono wasn’t as unreliable and inexperienced as his father worried.

◇◆◇

“Klimt-san, I’ll treat you to a wonderful dinner with rabbit meat tonight.”

“I appreciate the thought.”

Sometimes Franklin-dono calls out to me, drawing the picture of a husband hunting for the sake of his wife.

“(Klimt, why did it turn out like this?)”

“(Bruno, are you frustrated that Franklin-dono has no interest in you despite being a beautiful girl?)”

“(It’s not like I have turned into a woman because I like it. Whenever I walk through the city, everyone is staring at me, so I really wanna revert back to being a man as soon as possible.)”

Given that Bruno has turned into a beautiful girl, approved of by everyone, unlike Candy-dono and me, he’s had lots of trouble with drawing the attention of many men when we walked through the city yesterday.

“(Isn’t that half the fault of Candy-san and you, Klimt?)”

Candy-dono and I were not only considered big and brawny, but even suspected to actually be men when we were next to Bruno yesterday. He’s right. In a certain sense we’ve also drawn attention. It was just the opposite type of attention.

When I voice this out, Boltor-dono whispers, “(This might actually be the reason.)”

“(What do you mean, Boltor-san?)” Bruno asks Boltor-dono.

“(Try to think about it for a bit. The people of the Morgensohn House are all beautiful or handsome, right?)”

“(No doubt about that.)”

“(With the family members being beautiful for generations, and since it’s only nobles who marry into the family, it’s just reasonable for there to be many pretty people.)”

Come to think of it, Franklin-dono’s elder sister, younger sister, and mother were all beauties. The Morgensohn family’s members being beautiful men and women probably lies in their blood.

“(In the eyes of Franklin-dono, who’s grown up in environment where he’s surrounded by just such people, the beautiful people of his family must be the norm. He regards the beautiful people at home just like we look at people with ordinary looks. Thus it’s inevitable for him having received a big shock from seeing Candy and Klimt. He might have misunderstood that shock as budding feelings of love.)”

In other words, for the people of the Morgensohn family, beautiful people are normal and not unusual. So Franklin-dono fell in love with me because I’m someone with a novel appearance, contradicting his usual surroundings.

“(I don’t know whether you’re aware of it, Klimt, but occasionally you’ll encounter such people…every once in a while. Like, for example, high-ranking nobles who take a woman as mistress while everyone around them doesn’t understand why they’d pick such a woman.)”

“(It’s because they want to secure the woman for themselves by all means because she’s a type of woman they never encountered before, right?)”

I suppose it’s because people always desire what they don’t have.

◇◆◇

“Klimt-san, how’s the meat of the rabbit I shot myself?”

“It is delicious.”

“That’s great to hear. Everything tastes much better if you eat together like this.”

“No doubt…”

Since the sun was already sinking when we finished our hunt, we began setting up tents in an open plain. This is also part of the request in order to train Franklin-dono…but then again, Franklin-dono himself happily offers me rabbit meat.

He’s probably very excited out of joy over being able to spend the night with me, a woman he fell in love with at first sight, while being away from his parent’s control. Love is just like a drug that makes you crazy. That’s all there is to it.

Or rather, why is it me and not Bruno, who’s a beautiful girl as visible to anyone? This world is truly full of mysteries.

“Why is it not meee───” Candy-dono screams by himself, but all of us pretend to not have heard anything.

Franklin-dono probably doesn’t care at all since he’s fully intoxicated with me. It’s not that I don’t understand Candy-dono’s feelings. Losing to Bruno would be one thing, but even losing to me must be vexing.

“It is about time for me to go to sleep.”

I tell Franklin-dono that I’m going to enter my tent to retire for the night since it’s already late. Since he has his exclusive tent, he’ll sleep by himself…I definitely won’t sleep together with him. I think that’s only natural since the members of Twilight of Dawn have to take turns on the night watch duty.

“You’re right. Klimt-san and I officially don’t have such a relationship yet. But, I’ll wait for you as long as necessary.”

At this point, the situation has become completely hopeless. Franklin-dono seems to have already drawn up a future of him turning me into his concubine.

“(Hey, Klimt. Haven’t the people of the Morgensohn House noticed your true identity?)”

“(They should have.)”

The Morgensohn House and the Armstrong House belong to different factions, and because both families have never tied with each other through marriage, there’s almost no exchange between the two, but it’s unthinkable that they haven’t investigated about me, the second son, to work as adventurer with Twilight of Dawn right now.

“(Because we explained the circumstances to Earl Morgensohn, he let us do the job like that.)”

No matter how things pan out, it’s impossible for Franklin-dono to take me as concubine. The earl probably sent us out here while thinking that I’d prevent this from happening at any price.

On the other hand, Franklin-dono doesn’t know anything about the second son of the Armstrong House, and it’s a fact that I’m currently a woman. No matter what others tell him, he likely won’t accept it.

Hm───m, love truly makes blind.

“(We’re going to turn back tomorrow anyway, right? Earl Morgensohn might consider it as a good experience for his son to have his heart broken.)”

In the end, we retired to bed while taking turns for the night watch.

◇◆◇

And then, on the next morning…

“Klimt-san, please wake up.”

“Ugh…is it already morning?”

For some reason it’s Franklin-dono who’s come to wake me up.

“Franklin-dono?”

“Thinking that I’d love to wake you up, I got up earlier than usual.”

“I see…”

I have a bad sleeping posture and snore rather loudly, so he must have been disappointed. Just when I think about all that…

“Klimt-san, you’re someone not prettying yourself at all, aren’t you? I’m falling in love with you even more and more.”

“Wow… So you can interpret it like this as well, eh?”

Bruno, who has come to check the situation, admires Franklin-dono for not only ignoring my snoring and sleeping posture, but even describing it as charming and novel instead.

Now that it has come to this, I feel like it doesn’t matter what I try to do about it.

◇◆◇

“As usual, you eat plenty. Our family’s cooks will be delighted, I’m sure.”

“The size of your body is directly proportional to the size of your open-mindedness.”

“You’ve beaten a big deer to death with a single blow. Killing an animal quickly so as to not make it suffer shows how deeply compassionate you are.”

“At this point, it’s useless whatever you say to him.”

“Right…”

We are unable to do anything about Franklin-dono who discovers a merit in everything I do.

But, on that evening, just when the remaining task was to go back to the Morgensohn mansion, the effect of the magic potion finally wore off. With this I’ve returned to being a man, relieving me from being courted by Franklin-dono.

“Noo───o! Gimme back my original girl foo───orm!”

“Come on, that’s not your original form, man!”

Candy-dono shrieks after having reverted into a man just like me, but I leave dealing with him to Boltor-dono.

“I wasn’t popular at all, even though I became a girl───!”

“I think that’s only reasonable.”

“Boltor, you meanie───ee!”

“Yeah, yeah, leave it at that. You should get ready for us to pull back as leader of Twilight of Dawn.”

“I know without you telling me that.”

Still, as might be expected of a super adventurer. He immediately recovers, and starts preparing for our return. And, I have also reverted into being a man again, but…

“Klimt-san?”

“As you can see, I have been turned into a woman for the last three days thanks to a strange magic potion.”

It might be a cruel reality for Franklin-dono, but there’s no way that I’m going to become his concubine. I’d like him to recover his broken heart as quickly as possible.

“Franklin-dono, you are no frail, weak man as your father worries about. I am sure another good woman will appear in due time. I am a man, so we cannot be together.”

“Klimt-san…”

It might be a shock for him, but I’m certain Franklin-dono is going to encounter a wonderful woman in the future. And this is no flattery, but my honest belief that I told him.

“Klimt-san.”

“What is it?”

It looks like he’s given up at long last. With this I’ll be able to return to my old life…

“I don’t mind at all! Even if you are a man, Klimt-san! It’s not like I fell in love with you just because you’re a man or a woman! After listening to your sincere words just now, I’ve become convinced of this all the more! Klimt-san, please become my wife!”

“Impossible!”

“Please consider it somehow! I won’t give up!”

“Please do give up!”

“Klimt-sa───an! Please wait fo───or me!”

“No, it is impossible!”

“I won’t give up, for sure───ee!”

For some reason Franklin-dono continued courting me for a while even after turned back into a man. As he seemed to be completely crazy about it, Earl Morgensohn did his utmost to make him give up on the idea, or rather, he tried to get him back to normal, but it needed several months for results of the treatment to bear fruit.

◇◆◇

“Even though I had turned into a pretty woma───an!”

“Klimt has been a rare case, huh? Also, no matter what you do, you’ll never become a beauty, Candy.”

“Boltor, you meanie───ee!”

“I had become a beautiful girl, and yet didn’t garner any attention from Franklin-dono. That’s good, though.”

Good grief, I’ve gone through a horrible experience thanks to Mr. Beckenbauer’s magic potion.

Chapter 12 – Mad Magician Dattol Stein

“Today is yet another day where I am completely exhausted.”

“No kidding.”

“But, tomorrow will be off.”

“Ah, I have to work on a slightly different matter.”

“Are you going to search for a pet again?”

“No, it’s another job.”

I’ve brought up the topic of tomorrow’s free day with Bruno on the way back home after we finished today’s hunting, but it seems like he’s accepted a solo job. Candy-dono allows us to take other jobs when Twilight of Dawn has no official work. During our time as rookies he’s forbidden it because of the danger of overwork, but he lifted the ban for Bruno and me a while ago.

It’s been approximately one year since I’ve joined Twilight of Dawn. It means I’ve finally lost my status as a rookie.

“What kind of job is it?”

“It’s nothing big. I’ll be done in half a day.”

“I see.”

At that time I don’t probe into it much further, and on the morning of the next day I spend my time reading a book about magic after sending off Bruno without a care.

“Now then, the new book I borrowed from Bruno…hmm, it is ominous how the pages are so crumpled despite it being a new book…no, it must be my imagination.”

In the future I’d terribly regret letting Bruno go by himself.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Haa? Bruno has died!? That is not funny.”

Even though he had told me that his job would be over in half a day, Bruno never came back home on that day.

On the next day, as I was looking for him, a young priest called out to me. Once I asked him what kind of business a priest could have with me in the middle of the city, he told me that Bruno had died.

I interrogated him fervently, thinking that he was pulling my leg with a stupid joke, but his answer always remained the same. And then he led me inside a building standing all alone on the grounds of the church’s headquarters.

Once we entered a room, I spotted a human figure lying on a crude bed with its whole body covered by a white cloth.

A young magician is next to the bed…and I’m surprised to see that it’s Alfred-sama. I also have seen the other man in the room in the past, an elderly man wearing a priest’s garb. He’s scheduled to become the father-in-law of my sister Nina, and is being treated as demon and schemer in the Kingdom while still being in his fifties.

“Cardinal Hohenheim…”

“Could you confirm his identity before we hand over the remains to his family? Showing him to the bereaved family would be a bit…his face should still be okay, though.”

“His face?”

What is this old geezer saying…? Even that priest had been lying around about Bruno having died or some such. It’s impossible that Bruno passed away.

Thus I remove the cloth only at the face so as to curse at them for it being someone else.

“Bruno…that is impossible! There is no way that Bruno could have died!”

Why?

He should have left home to finish a simple job that would be done in half a day. And yet, why did Bruno die during such a simple job?

“Bruno! Wake up! Stop kidding around! You occasionally do things like that to startle me! I know that!”

For some reason Bruno doesn’t wake up, no matter how much I shake him. The time for mischief is long over!

“I think you should quit it. Take off the rest of the cloth.”

Being told so by Cardinal Hohenheim, I remove the cloth covering Bruno’s body…

“What the hell is this!?”

Why does Bruno’s body have so many deep cuts all over? The wounds are so deep that you can see the intestines and bones. A sharp blade…no, a powerful 『Wind Cutter』?

“Bruno told me that he had accepted a job that would be finished in half a day! So why did it turn out like this?”

Why did Bruno die?

Expressly calling me to this place means…this demon is involved in some way. And Alfred-sama as well?

“So it’s Bruno after all, huh? I didn’t think we made a mistake, but we had to make sure just in case. We’re going to hand back the remains to his family…”

“You damn fiend! Don’t put on airs, and answer me!”

Even though a person has been killed in such a gruesome way, and moreover that person being my best friend! No matter how you look at it, this has been no suicide or accident. Bruno was slaughtered! And yet…even if he might become Nina’s father-in-law, this guy…!

“You’re still so young. Immediately surrendering yourself to your violent emotions, huh? Don’t you consider my current social status and your own sister, second son of the Earl Armstrong House?”

“Uugh…”

This guy’s son is going to marry Nina…? This horrible demon! Does he intend to torture Nina?

“Did you calm down after becoming terrified?”

“I can’t really appreciate how you’re treating him, Cardinal Hohenheim.”

“Alfred.”

“I’m not so close to you that I’d allow you to call me without honorifics, you know…? It sure looks like you don’t have any friends, though.”

Is Alfred-sama intending to help me out here? Going by the atmosphere, these two don’t seem to be on good terms at all.

“His death has been caused by your amateurish, know-it-all judgment, no? He died because of that. It’s a terrible misconduct for a priest serving God. And then you shut him, who rages over his best friend’s death, up with your status and authority, using his family background against him. You’re a truly despicable man.”

“Could you tone it down a bit. You’re the magician said to be the youngest number one ever, right?”

“I don’t feel overly happy to hear this praise out of your mouth.”

Cardinal Hohenheim and Alfred-sama continue to glare at each other for a while, but this tense atmosphere is broken apart by the new person entering the room.

“Is this the right place to fight?”

“Candy-dono! Why are you here!?”

I had planned to tell Candy-dono about Bruno’s job on his day off and him not having returned in the end after this.

“I also possess my very own information network. Bruno-chan…”

Candy-dono looks very sad after seeing Bruno’s corpse.

“This boy is a member of my party. If it’s pioneering or construction work using magic, I wouldn’t mind him doing it during his day off, but Bruno-chan was killed by a magician. On top of that, a pretty powerful one. Did you possibly use Bruno-chan to assassinate that magician?”

Candy-dono directs his full bloodlust at Cardinal Hohenheim as if to shoot him to death. I’m used to it, but it wouldn’t be strange for any amateur to faint from it.

“Indeed, I did.”

So this demon can also withstand Candy-dono’s bloodlust, huh? Nothing less of a fiend like him.

“A newcomer magician in the upper intermediate level? No matter how you think about it, it’d have been impossible for him to win. You, could you finally give it a rest…”

In the next instant, Candy-dono moved behind Cardinal Hohenheim so fast that I couldn’t follow it with my eyes, and quietly pressed a hidden knife against his neck. I couldn’t react at all.

“Alfred, don’t you think that it’d turn into a major drama if he killed me here? You’d be accused of the crime as well.”

“You, who have many influential enemies in the church, are in a room that’s locked from the inside while not having brought any guards with you. The clergymen wishing for your death might turn this into an accident or suicide.”

“So you say, but don’t you think that it’s the proper path as a human to save me here?”

Even though that demon hasn’t any significant physical strength, he doesn’t even twitch at having a knife pressed against his neck. He’s a man you cannot be careless with!

“I don’t think he’ll do anything like that.”

“Hoh, why do you think so, leader of Twilight of Dawn?”

“Oh my, for you to even know about such a paltry, little adventurer as me. Anyway, if I really had tried to kill you, I might have been killed by him.”

I see. If Candy-dono had tried to kill that demon for real, it’s unimaginable that Alfred-sama would have been unable to prevent it, huh?

“You’re an unpleasant man. Because you know this, you’re not frightened in the least, right? Because you have no worry that you’d get killed. Do you think that you have some kind of divine protection because you’re a priest?”

“Hah, don’t be silly. The higher someone serving the church climbs in rank, the less they believe in things like divine protection.”

“And yet you became a priest?”

“I became one despite that. I belong to a noble family affiliated with the church for many generations now. Something like God’s divine protection doesn’t exist, but I believe that the church is necessary to maintain the peace of this country. And yet, everyone believes in divine protection somewhere, deep in their heart. I may not be excluded from that either.”

“Hm───m, I don’t give a flying damn about your beliefs and thoughts. For starters, there’s something we must do now.”

“You’re right. The state of that corpse is terrible. Returning it to his family like that…”

“Indeed. I’ll help as well. You’re a nice man since you properly pay attention to such things. Just like the rumors say, Alfred Reinford-san.”

“The cardinal over there is the only snob in here. I’m a normal man.”

“Humph, don’t run your mouth as you please.”

Before Candy-dono can say anything further, Alfred-sama suggests to close up the wounds on Bruno’s body. He’s not only a superb magician, but also a very kind man.

“I’ll help as well.”

“What are you scheming?”

For that rotten priest to do something that won’t bring him any money, hell is going to freeze over.

“Even though you’re still a young man, you’ve quite the shrewd way with your words, Armstrong House’s second son.”

“I have a name. It is Klimt Christoph von Armstrong!”

“You previously said something very rude and tasteless to him, didn’t you? So you just reap what you’ve sown.”

It sounds like Alfred-sama doesn’t feel the slightest hint of kindness for him either.

“Good grief, I guess I’m heavily outnumbered in this place, huh…? I requested an underground job of Bruno-dono in absolute secrecy based on my own thoughts. Just as I had expected, he didn’t mention it to anyone, and kept the details of his work hidden even from his best friend Klimt-dono. Unfortunately he failed on his mission, but that’s my cross to bear. Even though the act in itself was righteous, something like God’s divine protection doesn’t exist. However, since he failed, I’m the one bearing the heaviest responsibility. That’s why it’s unthinkable for me to return such a disfigured corpse to Bruno-dono’s family. That’s all there is to it.”

“Cardinal Hohenheim…”

“Klimt-kun, he has some slightly less objectionable parts as well.” Alfred-sama says while tapping my shoulder.

Once I hear his gentle voice, it feels like my hostility towards Cardinal Hohenheim melts away for some mysterious reason.

“Anyway, we have to close up these cut wounds. I’ll put him into new clothes as well.”

“It is a great help that you are here, Candy-dono.”

“I’m proficient at sewing, but if possible, I wanted to sew clothes suiting Bruno-chan perfectly.”

We begin to close the wounds by sewing the cuts together on Bruno’s body after splitting the work areas. Without feeling scared or disgusted at all, I simply focus on that work so as to alleviate Liese-jou’s sadness as much as possible.

Since we’ve split the work among four people, it finishes after around one hour. After cleaning his body, we take off the bloodstained robe, put on new, clean clothes, and Cardinal Hohenheim prepares ice so that the corpse won’t decay.

It looks like he feels responsible for Bruno’s death in his own way.

“Now then, let’s hear it, Cardinal. Three days ago, I told you to wait with this job for a week. So why did you assign such a dangerous job to Bruno-dono despite that? You should have known that he wouldn’t be able to kill that 『Cutthroat』 with his abilities. Even if you’re a layman when it comes to magic.”

After we finished fixing up Bruno’s remains, Alfred-sama asks the cardinal about the details. Disregarding his own advice, he calls the cardinal’s responsibility into question.

“It’s because there would have been more victims after a week. Besides, he was together with Edgar Tretter. I thought they would be able to win against that mass murdered as a duo.”

What!? Edgar Tretter accompanied Bruno on that secret mission?

“What happened to him?”

“For better or worse, he has survived. He carried away heavy injuries, but he managed to escape while barely alive. We immediately gave him healing, but he’s probably broken at this point…there’s no other choice but to leave him in the custody of the church.”

“What do you mean by broken?”

Edgar Tretter! You ran back home by yourself while abandoning Bruno!? What a cowardly man who doesn’t hold true to his reputation!

“Klimt-kun, no matter what you’re going to say to Edgar Tretter, it’ll be very likely pointless. Right, Cardinal Hohenheim?”

“Yes.”

Cardinal Hohenheim curtly answers Alfred-sama.

“What are you talking about?”

“You see, even among adventurers you’ll occasionally encounter such people. Edgar Tretter barely survived, but his mind has died after receiving too much of a shock.”

“It’s as the leader of Twilight of Dawn says. His wounds have been fully healed, but his mind is already broken. We’ll try to heal him at a remote church in the countryside, but…I think it’s going to be a hard endeavor. He’ll probably spend the rest of his life as a living corpse.”

Edgar Tretter has been the top of the magician class at the prep school, and was called a prodigy as they appear once every ten years. Yet he… Unbelievable!

“Alfred-sama.”

“Certainly, he’s a 『Talented Magician』, but the murderer is a 『Genius』. Moreover, the murderer is close to fifty years now. It’s the period when a magician reaches his full swing. Cardinal Hohenheim, an amateur when it comes to magic, ordered the assassination by Edgar Tretter and Bruno-dono after only adding up the amount of mana. And both of them failed at it. It’s your blunder, Cardinal Hohenheim.”

“I have nothing to say in my defense. You’re right, all of this is my fault. I ended up becoming impatient, because I didn’t want more chopped-up victims to appear.”

“As a result of that, Bruno-chan died and Edgar Tretter died mentally as well. Why did you panic like that?”

“I’m a corrupt priest rumored to be a plotter or demon on the streets, but I do possess a virtuous mind, at least I’d like to believe so. The idea of letting that murderer do as he pleases for even a day longer made me sick. That’s all.”

“I see. So you do have some good intentions, so far as it goes.”

“You’re saying you failed when you hurried in good will…? I understand. Also, I’ll explain the circumstances to Klimt-kun since he probably hasn’t understood much. I think it’d be unfair to treat him like an outsider at this point…”

Alfred-sama has decided to give me a full explanation of what has perspired this time.

“Just as you thought, the murderer is an extremely skilled magician. Even the amount of his mana is top class among the high-ranking magicians. His alias in the underworld is Cutthroat, but his true name is Dattol Stein.” Alfred-sama continues, “He became conscious of his talent in magic as soon as he reached an age where he understood what was going on around him, and fostered that ability at a good pace. Even at the prep school he was heralded as a prodigy appearing once in a decade. Moreover, he was a true genius. Within less than a year after graduating, he was apparently called the best magician rookie of that time. However, he had a huge flaw… He had a peculiarity making it mostly impossible for him to live normally among normal people. In exchange for having absolutely no interest in women, he got his sexual pleasure out of cutting up flesh. It looks like he realized it when he tore bugs apart with the magic he had just learned in his childhood. I think most people experience something like that. They’ll kill bugs as a game during their early childhood.”

“Well, it’d have been all fine if it had stopped at that point.”

“Yes, most of the people leave it at that. After turning into adults, they reflect on why they had done something so cruel. But, he was different. Gradually he couldn’t get any satisfaction out of cutting up bugs, and thus his target changed to animals when he was a prep school fledgling. During his school days, he often helped with the extermination of stray dogs and cats. There was no reason why a superb magician would accept such jobs which didn’t yield any good money. No, there was one. It was the ideal way for him to release his pent-up sexual desires. The people of that time didn’t realize that, thinking of Dattol Stein as a very nice person…” Alfred-sama explained.

“You investigated well to have found out so much about events from 50 years ago.”

“My master looked it up for me.”

“Oh my, you have someone you’d call master? Is he a decent guy?”

“Of course I do. But, please find out yourself whether he’s a good guy. Dattol Stein, who graduated from the prep school, finally couldn’t be satisfied with animals anymore either. He started to actively hunt down large monsters, which also became unsatisfying, resulting in him putting his hands on people at long last. Gradually the frequency of his adventurer party members going missing increased. As might be expected, the adventurer’s guild became suspicious of him.”

Adventurers who worked together with an excellent magician were regularly killed by monsters. Moreover, Dattol Stein, who was supposed to be such a great magician, couldn’t save them nor retrieve their corpses. It’s only natural that the guild would consider it unnatural for him to claim something like that.

“And then, one day, Dattol Stein failed in killing one of his party members. While heavily injured, the adventurer managed to escape to the guild, causing everything to come to light. This is how the crimes of the murderer Dattol Stein became publicly known.”

“And when did that happen?”

“30 years ago.”

“You’re saying the adventurer’s guild left a mass murderer at large for 30 years? The guards didn’t step in or anything?”

“That’s the troublesome part about him. A joint investigation by the guild and the guards found out that Dattol Stein had killed more than a hundred adventurers. No matter how excellent he might be as magician, he shouldn’t be able to escape the death penalty for this homicide. However, there was a person who sheltered him in absolute secrecy. Publicly they pretended that Dattol Stein had died. It was Duke Bürger, the younger brother of the previous king. He was the king of the generation before who set up the Duke Bürger House. The brother of the already dead previous king faked Dattol Stein’s death, and hid him.”

This means, the guild or the guards couldn’t do anything.

“Moreover, Dattol Stein was normally living in the Basel Viscounty, a territory in the outskirts of the capital. Since it was outside the guards’ jurisdiction, they couldn’t arrest him.”

Well, nobles are approved by the Kingdom, but it’s difficult to meddle with the circumstances of a noble’s territory. I can understand as much since my father has told me about this in the past.

“Viscount Basel had taken Duke Bürger’s daughter as wife. Also, His Majesty not touching on this matter is…”

“I’ll tell him the rest. There’s only a few people in the Kingdom who are aware of it, so let me warn you: Don’t tell anyone. I won’t take any responsibility even if you die.”

Just what kind of behind-the-scenes situation could it be for me possibly dying if I were to expose it?

“Duke Bürger is supposed to be the previous king’s next youngest brother, but in reality they’re twins. There were rumors about them resembling each other closely, but that’s only natural. After all, they were twins. And Duke Bürger should have thought the following in his twisted mind: 『Maybe I’ll be able to succeed the crown of this country』. Therefore he used the current and previous king’s position of not being able to interfere with him easily, and tried to amass his own power. Since a duke can’t own any territory, the sources of power are limited to fortune and personal connections. He repeatedly formed marriage relationships with the nobles with territories around the capital, and as for Dattol Stein, he lent him out to nobles he hadn’t befriended yet or those who were connected to him through marriage. Dattol Stein is a genius who can skillfully use all magic systems, not only the ones to cut up things. He was very useful for helping in the development and maintenance of a territory.”

As a reward for that, Duke Bürger took care of his life necessities while sheltering him, huh?

“On top of that, Duke Bürger accurately dealt with his fetish.”

“It’d be one thing if he had only sheltered the criminal, but he even went as far as actively assisting him in releasing his sexual desires.”

“He assisted him? Although not quite, he belongs to royalty, doesn’t he?”

It’s absolutely unthinkable that doing something so retarded would be okay!

“It might be the absolute worst to do as a person. However, when it comes to royalty and nobility, this doesn’t seem to apply necessarily.”

“What kind of hair-splitting is this supposed to be!?”

There’s no way for me to accept such an excuse!

“In short, accepting the small evil for the greater good, I’d say. The fields increased in number, floods diminished, water issues were resolved, and bridges and roads, construction projects desired for many years, were built in the territories of many nobles thanks to Duke Bürger dispatching Dattol Stein for territorial development. It made many residents happier,” Cardinal Hohenheim explains.

“But, sacrifices were necessary on a regular basis, right? I can’t believe that Dattol Stein changed his way in his current lifestyle.”

“Correct. Right now he’s killing several people by cutting them up with his 『Wind Cutter』 once per month. Of course there’s no way to use the residents of the nobles, who asked for help in their development, as living sacrifices, and thus they’re being provided from the slums in the capital and similar places.”

Many people who never would miss even if they were gone, live in the slums. It looks like the people of the ducal house are luring such people to their territory with the prospect of work, just to have Dattol Stein chop them up.

“And this has continued for 30 years? That’s completely messed up!”

Why have the royals and nobles of the capital…no, His Majesty ignored such inhumane acts?

“Out of pity, I guess.”

“Out of pity, you say!?”

“Yes. Duke Bürger is the younger twin brother of the previous king, but there are rumors that he might actually be the elder brother.”

“Are those rumors true then?”

“No idea. I can’t say either. It’s not like I’ve been present at the birth of the twins. However, it’s difficult to prove something like that beyond any doubt.”

“A devil’s proof, in other words, huh? The nobles, who are unhappy with His Majesty, would likely kick up a fuss while rallying under Duke Bürger’s banner behind the scene.”

“As a matter of fact, such nobles already exist. It’s a complicated issue to determine who was born first between twins.”

At present, the twin born later is regarded as the elder brother in the Helmut Kingdom. The one born second being regarded to be the older twin stems from the idea that he’s been deeper in the womb of the mother. In other words, he was made first and that’s why he’s the elder brother. However, I hear our northern rival, the Holy Urquhart Empire, regards the one born first as the elder brother. They follow the idea that the one born first was completed as human first, and thus is able to come out first.

But, several hundred years ago, the way of thinking between both countries was actually inverted, and nowadays there are still some areas left where one twin is killed upon birth as it’s regarded as an ominous omen.

To sum it up, the evaluation criteria is somewhat ambiguous.

“Even if you decide the order of age by the order of their birth, you’ll always find some people who’ll complain about the decision. Especially when it comes to the children of a king. The birth of twins will inadvertently become a seed of trouble. Accordingly, the king, who fathered them, altered the records to set Duke Bürger as younger brother who was born one year later, and made him into a Duke so as to avoid a conflict over the crown succession.”

So these particulars are the reason why the current king finds it hard to talk back to Duke Bürger, his uncle, on various matters.

“Duke Bürger himself probably feels unhappy about this arrangement and harbors ambitions towards the throne. However, he’s a Duke. Since he has no territory, he’s been building his own faction through personal connections, which he obtained through marriage and the involvement of Dattol Stein, and money which he can earn by lending Dattol Stein. Dattol Stein is a murderer, but he won’t lay a hand on the nobles, who receive his help in the development of their territories, and those noble’s residents.”

“It’s because Duke Bürger provides him with all the sacrifices he could need, right?”

“Correct. In the first place, Dattol Stein has no attachment to money, status, or fame. He gets sheltered, and all his necessities are taken care of during the mediated work. So, as long as they prepare sacrifices for him once a month, he’ll be satisfied with that.”

“For a politician, it’s difficult to make a judgment in such a case. He kills several people once a month, but he’s still an excellent magician and convenient for developing territories. At least Duke Bürger must be thinking that there’s more advantage to keeping him around than the death of several people per month.”

“While at it, he can earn good money and build some personal connections, right? So is he attached to the crown after all?”

“Who knows. I don’t know his true motives. However, I can say this much: Dattol Stein should die.”

Cardinal Hohenheim apparently planned the assassination of Dattol Stein who has been sheltered for more than 30 years by Duke Bürger. And because of that plan, Bruno was killed.

“That’s why I told you I’d take up the mission in a week. Taking on a magician of his caliber requires preparation, and I had to handle a request I accepted beforehand. I just wanted you to wait for a bit…”

But Cardinal Hohenheim was unable to wait, sending out Bruno and Edgar Tretter…

“If I had waited, the death toll would have grown by several people again. Luckily I could get in touch with two excellent magicians. Edgar Tretter was even brimming full of confidence. I thought it’d go well.”

“It’s a bad example for measuring a magician’s strength by just adding mana pools together… Dattol Stein is an experienced and very crafty magician. Even I would likely be an even match at most. As for Edgar Tretter…if a young man, no matter in what field he works, is constantly being praised by his surroundings, he’ll get carried away and believe that no one in this world can defeat him. The conceit of the young is their downfall. This turned into a fatal situation on this occasion. Cardinal Hohenheim, usually it’s the duty of elderly men like you to caution the young about such things.”

“Bruno-dono was composed despite being young. I thought that he’d hold Edgar Tretter back from doing anything reckless.”

Bruno, did you accept this mission because you thought it’d be dangerous for Edgar Tretter to take it on by himself?

“Either way, the first assassination attempt failed due your careless mistake, resulting in things having becoming quite tricky for us now.”

That makes sense. Dattol Stein should now be aware that someone is targeting him. Of course, the same applies to Duke Bürger who covers for him.

“The unexperienced Bruno-chan and Edgar Tretter failed in the beginning where they could take him by surprise to make the assassination more likely to succeed. If Alfred-san joins up with high-ranking magicians to attempt another assassination, the other side should immediately sniff out the danger and escape. If Alfred-san goes by himself, his chances for success are questionable.”

“You’re right. I have used various connections to find out that Dattol Stein is repeatedly moving around a huge forest in the Basel Viscounty. He’s living in huts that have been built at various places in the forest. He’s randomly moving around between them in preparation for potential assassins that might come for him one day. The people of the Duke Bürger House and the Viscount Basel House are guarding Cutthroat in the forest together. That means it’s necessary to kill him after specifying the hut where he’s hiding on that day while finding an opening in the surveillance network. You can say it worked out smoothly because it was the first attempt. People are weak when it comes to sudden incidents.”

Having said that, only the attack on Dattol Stein succeeded. The assassination itself failed with Bruno dying in the process!

“That’s what I’ve told you. Right now Dattol Stein and Duke Bürger should be very cautious. It’s not like Dattol Stein wasn’t exposed to the danger of an assassination during the last 30 years. But, the attempts shouldn’t have been that frequent either.”

“True. Something like assassinating Dattol Stein is dangerous with its outcome being unknown, and on top of that, it won’t become any kind of achievement either. I mean, in the end it’s no more than murder.”

Even if someone succeeded in killing Dattol Stein, it’s impossible that they’d be able to show off that achievement with Duke Bürger being around. It’d become a life-threatening act of justice which would simply vanish silently within history.

“Why did Edgar Tretter accept the assassination mission then?”

He should be a very normal man who wishes for his reputation to suit his abilities. If he’d be unable to flaunt the success in the assassination as achievement, it should be meaningless for him to accept the mission in the first place.

“Officially it wouldn’t turn into an achievement, but his evaluation for secret missions would go up among nobles, rich people, and the upper echelon of the adventurer’s guild. He probably believed that he might be able to gain an assessment above that of Alfred Reinford if he combined this with his official achievements.”

“Candy-dono?”

“I didn’t tell this to Bruno-chan and you, Ron-chan, but…Edgar Tretter was worried.”

“Even Edgar Tretter, who was the most famous magician at the prep school, was no more than a young, skilled magician after graduating. In addition, the one with highest fame among the current, young magicians is Alfred.”

Hearing Cardinal Hohenheim’s statement, Alfred-sama looks at him with a reproachful expression. It’s only reasonable for him to do so since half of it sounds as if he’s being told that they failed because of him.

Edgar Tretter failed because he couldn’t properly grasp his own ability. He tried the impossible in an attempt to get assessed higher than Alfred-sama. That’s all there is to it.

“Bruno, who noticed that, tried to stop him at first. However, in the end Edgar Tretter accepted the assassination mission. Unable to abandon him, Bruno decided to participate as the one to restrain him a bit, you are saying?”

“That’s how it is. Even though it had been fine for Bruno-chan to just ignore someone like Edgar Tretter and turn down the mission…”

Bruno, you were a truly kind man. However, that kindness cost you your life.

“If he had refused, Edgar Tretter would have also…no, that’s unlikely, I guess.”

Indeed. Even without Bruno’s participation, Edgar Tretter would have attempted the assassination by himself in all likelihood. Knowing that Edfar would have no chance to win in a one-on-one, Bruno accepted the mission as well.

Bruno, you are an utter fool!

“I’ve understood the circumstances. So, what are you going to do about Dattol Stein? Are you going to give up on him this time as well?”

“Candy-dono, what do you mean by this time as well?”

“It’s not really like the upper ranks of the Helmut Kingdom, the church, and adventurer guild are all brutes. So far they’ve planned Dattol Stein’s assassination three times, failing each time. Last time it was a coalition of high-ranking nobles affiliated to the army who attempted it in secrecy. Ron-chan, your father participated as well. He also provided the funds.”

“My father did?”

I’m hearing about this for the first time!

“You’re rather well-informed, aren’t you? Where did you get your hands on that information, leader of Twilight of Dawn?”

“That’s a secret. Girls have many of those.”

It seems like Candy-dono isn’t just the leader of a famous adventurer party. Cardinal Hohenheim appears to be surprised, but Candy-dono cleverly covers for his source of information.

“Still, why haven’t Dattol Stein, who is hated this much, and Duke Bürger, who is backing him, been punished yet? The problem should be solved by His Majesty punishing them.”

“His Majesty is actually the problem here. He harbors complicated feelings about Duke Bürger.”

“Complicated feelings?”

“No one knows the truth about the matter with the previous king. But, the number of nobles circulating speculations behind closed doors isn’t low by any means. His Majesty is being doubted as well. They’re asking whether Duke Bürger might be the proper heir to the crown.”

I guess the king is thinking that he might trigger a state crisis as a result of cornering Dike Bürger on the matter of Dattol Stein.

“I feel like that’s somewhat exaggerated, though.”

“His Majesty is human as well, and thus he has things that trouble him at times. Anyway, even if he were summoned by His Majesty at this point in time, Duke Bürger wouldn’t be judged. That’s why His Majesty’s retainers have been trying to kill Dattol Stein in secrecy.”

I guess the idea is to cut off Duke Bürger’s personal connection and source of funds by assassinating Dattol Stein.

“It’s not much of a help if they keep failing, though. The three past assassination attempts all ended with terrible results. At those times, remarkable, famous magicians died, allowing Dattol Stein to accumulate more and more experience and thus making him now very tough to deal with.”

“It’s problematic if you talk about this as if it’s someone else’s problem. Thanks to your failure, my first strategy has come to nothing.”

“Come to nothing?”

“I was trying to somehow get other high-ranking magicians to join me in order to raise the probability of success. And now that I finally found a willing candidate, we have this situation on our hands. Dattol Stein and Duke Bürger should be on high alert now. It’ll be very hard to attack them with two high-ranking magicians. Having said that, the chance for me to succeed alone has been cut down by 40%. Moreover, if I also fail…”

No other skilled magician, who could take on the assassination of Dattol Stein, would appear in the next ten years.

“You’re right. Even without explicitly going on such a mission, you can happily live on while earning your money. The victims are all people of the slums, so it’s not like there’s any direct harm to us.”

“Many nobles hate the slums, too. Some among them are covering Duke Bürger secretly, even if they’re not going as far as supporting him personally.”

“Even if they might be living in the slums, they are people just like us! Are you saying that it’s okay for slum residents to be murdered in great numbers by a mass murderer?”

“It’s certainly a terrible story, but that’s what you call adult circumstances. What do you think, Cardinal Hohenheim?”

“Dattol Stein is a crazy mass murderer. I believe that it’s proper to eliminate him. I don’t plan to brandish some idealistic sense of justice at this point, but think about what’s going to happen if this case is exposed to the public in the future. The citizen’s distrust towards the Kingdom would skyrocket. I don’t think that’s desirable for the Kingdom.”

“What do you think about the achievements of Dattol Stein then?”

“He’s an excellent magician, no doubt. But, the demerit is simply too big. In the first place, the magician society is talking about prodigies as they come every few years or geniuses as they appear once in a decade every year. Even if Stein were to be gone, a new, superb magician is going to pop up soon anyway.”

He’s right. Counting precisely, I feel like geniuses, who are hailed to come around once in a decade, appear every two or three years.

“Alfred, who’s the other high-ranking magician?”

“As a matter of fact, it’s my master, but now it’s impossible for him.”

“Burkhart!? Duke Bürger is already cautious of him.”

“The same applies to me, but it won’t be an issue as long as I act by myself. It’ll be impossible for me to join up with others, though. However, although I’m a high-ranking magician, the risk is too big that I’ll be defeated by Dattol Stein if I attack by myself. Therefore, I’ve given up on that idea. Either way, what’s your take on this? It’s very likely that I’ll fail, but should I go anyway? Since I’m a carefree, unmarried man, I don’t particularly mind dying, but please consider that no one capable of following up is going to appear for the next ten years.”

Certainly, I don’t believe that I or another magician will be able to kill a magician who defeated Alfred-sama.

“…This time…”

“Wait!”

“Klimt-kun?”

“I will do it together with you!”

Surely, I am still inexperienced as a magician. But, I’ll act together with Alfred-sama!

“Klimt-dono, I’m sorry to be rude, but your abilities are…”

“True, it might be slightly reckless.”

“Cardinal Hohenheim, Candy-dono, I would like you to let me do this!”

If Alfred-sama is with me, there should be a way to succeed with this! Besides, Dattol Stein is the murderer of my best friend!

“But, putting aside if it was Burkhart, with you who’s merely an elementary magician…”

“It will be impossible to pull it off by myself, but if I group up with Alfred-sama, it can work depending on how we do this! My body is quite sturdy! I am alright going with a somewhat dangerous strategy!”

You won’t know whether an assassination is going to succeed or fail by just adding the amount of mana of the participating magicians together. Alfred-sama said so himself! I’m willing to do this!

“Ron-chan, you… What do you think, Alfred-san?” Candy-dono asks Alfred-sama who’s been silent on this matter so far. Like this translation? support it by reading it on infinitenoveltranslations.net

He seems to be pondering about something.

“Klimt-kun, it’s going to be quite dangerous. I don’t know whether I’ll be able to survive myself.”

“Alfred-sama, your chance for survival should increase if I am with you!”

If I become a burden, I won’t mind being used as a shield!

“Why do you want to participate? Revenge for your best friend?”

“Do I need any other reason? Can I call myself his friend if I cannot avenge Bruno here? That is all there is to it!”

I just want to avenge Bruno! Nothing else!

“You’re saying you don’t care about the victims so far or the political implications?”

“I will not say that I do not care, but right now avenging Bruno takes the highest priority for me!”

I’ve volunteered, following that very wish alone.

“Very well. Let me ask you for your assistance then.”

“Alfred! Leaving you aside, if something happens to Klimt-dono…”

“Are you worrying about the Earl Armstrong House at this point in time? But, currently Klimt-kun has left home. Besides, the head of that family has also attempted to assassinate Dattol Stein in the past. Don’t you think he’d approve of this as well?”

“…”

“What are your thoughts on this, Candy-dono?”

“I also think that it’s dangerous, but I also feel like wanting to respect your will, Ron-chan. Besides…”

“Hmm?”

“I’ll be troubled if you ask me for my reason, but I feel like it’ll go smoothly. I guess it’s what you call my intuition as an adventurer?”

“I see, intuition, huh?”

“Don’t look down on a girl’s intuition, okay?”

“That lowers the value of your opinion, doesn’t it? Well then Klimt-kun and I will carry out the assassination tomorrow. The preparations…”

“I’ll help out as well. As long as Cardinal Hohenheim resolved himself?”

“Got it, I shall get everything ready in advance.”

It’s decided. Alfred-sama and I will assassinate Dattol Stein.

“Seeing how it’s been decided, I’ll also see it to the end, Alfred, Klimt-dono.”

“Pardon?”

“What?”

“If you feel like it’s impossible, get away as quickly as possible. I’ll handle the aftermath then.”

“That’s appreciated. You heard him, Klimt-kun.”

“Humph! No need! We are going to kill Dattol Stein without fail!”

“How nice it is to be young. I suppose that’s no line you say to someone going to assassinate a person soon, though.”

This is how it was decided that Alfred-sama and I would undertake the assassination of Cutthroat Dattol Stein.

Chapter 13 – Assassination Mission

“Burkhart shows no movements, or rather, he doesn’t seem to have anything to do with us.”

“So he’s drinking wine after having returned to his inn?”

“Another team is watching him. They say they couldn’t confirm Alfred, but at least he seems to not have joined up with Burkhart.”

“Then it’s fine. There are multiple high-ranking magicians, but it’ll be alright as long as they don’t target Dattol Stein.”

Today is yet another day of us watching famous magicians, who are staying in the capital, under our lord’s, Duke Bürger’s, order. It’s because there was an assassination attempt on Dattol Stein, who’s a source of personal connections and money for the duke, just the day before yesterday.

The number of assassins trying to kill isn’t that big, but every year at least seven or eight try their luck. Given that he’s an excellent magician, it’s necessary for the hitmen to have considerable abilities as well, making it difficult to prepare the personnel easily.

He’s usually staying inside the big forest within the Basel Viscounty with guards watching over him. At present, you can describe any assassination attempt as extremely challenging. We just need to be careful in the case of several high-ranking magicians being dispatched in a group.

It’s troublesome for us as watchers as well, but since this is a part of our job, it can’t be helped.

“You think Alfred Reinford is going to attempt it by himself?”

“Who knows. There’s many other famous magicians. The other teams are watching them, but so far there have been no reports about more than two high-ranking magicians having gathered. If it’s just one assassin, they’ll definitely have the tables turned on them.”

“Dattol Stein will gleefully cut them up, yep.”

“Even though he’s got that issue, it looks like he’s still beneficial to have around on the whole. He’s also the reason for our wages, so we’ve got to protect him.”

Something like monitoring people for the sake of protecting a mass murderer is nothing I can tell my family about, but if the Duke Bürger House is gone, we’ll be unemployed.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

Alfred-sama and I depart to the entrance of the forest in the Basel Viscounty at the night of the planned assassination.

“As expected, they didn’t use a strict surveillance for a single, high-ranking magician.”

From now on we’re going to move deep into the forest, and kill Dattol Stein in one of the huts where he’s hiding out.

“It’s not like the operation is overly complicated. We just need to kill him. Though it’s also possible that we’ll be finished off instead.”

“I will make sure that does not happen!”

“You’re absolutely right. I want to enjoy my life for a bit longer as well.”

Even though Alfred-sama is only around five years older than me, he’s hailed as a young genius. That’s really amazing.

No, right now I should only think about killing Dattol Stein with him.

“Which hut is Dattol Stein using tonight?”

“My master investigated that part. As long as he moved alone, they weren’t overly cautious of him. Moreover, famous magicians do enter quite troublesome monster domains at times. It’s just, the people of the Duke Bürger House couldn’t directly monitor him there.”

So he found out Dattol Stein’s location while pretending to be out on a job there, huh? Alfred-sama’s master is a truly remarkable magician as well!

“Right now he’s probably grumbling over a few cups of wine, but well, that’s how we split the work, so whatever. I’m quite strict about each step of this mission.”

“Let us go then.”

After finishing our chat, we began to walk deeper into the forest. However, soon after proceeding for a short time, we sense the presence of someone ahead.

“Weird… Even though I should have completely hidden our presence.”

Moreover, Alfred-sama has led us in a way that avoided all the soldiers positioned at various places in this forest. When we brace ourselves wondering who it might be, it’s actually a person I know well.

“Hi───i, Alfred-san, Ron-chan, are you guys doing fine?”

“”Candy-dono!””

“Since I was late in seeing you off, I did my best to catch up with you.”

Catch up with us, he says… Candy-dono, who’s no magician, hasn’t been noticed by us and the soldiers around here?

“As expected, you’re quite the crafty one, aren’t you?”

“Oh my, I was praised by a good man. I won’t be able to accompany you, but I thought I’d pass you this here.”

Candy-dono brought with him a set of underwear and a great amount of magic potions.

“Wear this under your robe, Ron-chan. It’ll be able to completely block powerful spells several times.”

“That is very convenient!”

However, it’s underwear that makes my figure stand out quite a bit. That won’t be much of a problem as long as I wear under my robe, though.

“Where did you obtain this?”

“Hm───m, that’s a girl’s secret.”

“I guess it can’t be helped then.”

Alfred-sama, are you really okay with that answer?

“Also, here you have some instantly-working healing potions. You just need to sprinkle them over your body.”

“Those must have been quite expensive as well.”

“It’s for the sake of raising your chance of success. I’ll bill Cardinal Hohenheim with the expenses anyway.”

“That’s a great idea.”

Alfred-sama flashes a smile at Candy-dono’s explanation. I also want to see how Cardinal Hohenheim plops down on his butt after seeing the outrageously high bill. Therefore I must survive.

“I tried to investigate a bit as well. Dattol Stein’s strong magic encompasses all attributes. It looks like he often cuts up his victims after immobilizing them with 『Wind Cutter』.”

“A spell for his own amusement, huh? He’s got really nasty preferences.”

It’s certainly as Alfred-sama says.

“Somehow he appears to use a spell I’ve never seen before…but I couldn’t find out any more than that. Sorry.”

“As long as we know that we need to be cautious of an unknown spell, it might boost our chance to win a bit. Still, I must say you have a good information network.”

“A girl has various secrets. Both of you, come back safely, okay?”

After receiving Candy-dono’s gifts and being seen off by him, we head deeper into the forest again.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

We proceed through the forest based on the information Alfred-sama procured. When we arrive at the hut where Dattol Stein is hiding out, he’s already waiting for us outside.

“Yo, I’ve been waiting for you.”

“This is an unexpected development.”

“This guy is Dattol Stein, huh…?”

“Indeed, that I am.”

He’s a slender, middle-aged man with his solver-gray hair swept back, giving off the aura of a smart man.

Even Alfred-sama apparently couldn’t hide his surprise at this.

“What about your guards then?”

“Ah, if it’s them.”

It looks like the soldiers supposed to watch and protect him are lying on the ground a good way away from here.

“Did you kill them?”

“Most definitely not. I just made them faint for a bit. It’s not like I’m on edge right now.”

I see. I guess that means he’s usually idle and won’t kill people indiscriminately.

“It’s because I cut up a lively boy two days ago. The other managed to get away before dying, though.”

“Are you talking about Bruno?”

“I don’t know his name, but the flesh of boys and girls around that age is wonderful. Many people misunderstand that there’s no sensation from cutting up someone with 『Wind Cutter』, but such people are inexperienced as magicians. When you reach my level… Ah! Finally the desire to cut flesh has kicked in! I’ll sate it by chopping up your bodies.”

“You’ve completely strayed off the proper path, haven’t you?”

“Deviant!”

“True. I understand as much about myself as well. But, I don’t have the courage to kill myself, and I want to cut flesh as long as I’m alive. If you want to stop me, you’ve got no other choice than killing me!”

“Klimt-kun!”

At the same time as Alfred-sama yells out to me, I jump to the side, partially on instinct. A 『Rock Spike』 has protruded out of the ground where I stood moments ago! If I hadn’t moved away, I’d have been skewered by now!

“Looks like you’ve got good reflexes.”

Next, a huge firebird is created by Dattol Stein, just to immediately swoop down on us like a living falcon.

“Running away is pointless, huh?”

“Even when evading it, it comes right back!”

“Let’s do this then!”

Alfred-sama creates smallish birds made out of water, and makes them clash with the firebird. Thereupon, both parties vanish, leaving only steam behind.

“Not bad. The other one…boy, why are you here?” Dattol Stein suddenly calls out to me while looking curious.

“To defeat you, obviously.”

“With that amount of mana, second son of the Armstrong House?”

“So you knew?”

“My owner is Duke Bürger, after all. He can immediately find out such kind of information. Besides, previously your father sent some assassins my way as well. If I remember correctly, Duke Bürger should have warned him back then…and this time it’s the son, huh? With a laughably small amount of mana, at that.”

“That does not matter to you at all!”

Even if he tries to shake me up with such words, it’s pointless…

“Klimt-kun!”

“Oh damn!”

It’s not like this man just wanted to enjoy a chat! Faster than I can do anything, I’m surrounded by fire pillars!

“Ahaha, burn nicely, okay? But, I must make sure to not overdo it to not damage your body as much as possible. I mean, otherwise I won’t have any fun cutting you up, will I?”

“I can’t really understand that peculiar way of thinking.”

“Are you okay with this? Leaving him to his death.”

“I’m not worried in particular.”

Indeed, I certainly can’t hold a candle to Dattol Stein’s amount of mana with my own. But I have Alfred-sama’s support and Candy-dono’s gift. No matter what means I have to use, I’ll use them to get revenge for Bruno…!

“Haah!”

“You got out, eh? Moreover, you haven’t been burned either?”

“An opening!”

Dattol Stein apparently got a bit flustered since I haven’t been burned as he had expected. Using that opportunity to get close to him, I aim a punch charged with mana at his face!

But, as might be expected from Dattol Stein, he immediately fixes his posture, and quickly takes some distance from me.

“Pfft! I see. You punch people by putting mana into your fists, eh? That’s an old trick of pitiful magicians with little mana. Your attacks won’t hit me anymore. It’d be best for you to give up and scurry back home. If you were to die here, your father is going to become a nuisance. Right now, you’re free to go. As long as it’s just you.”

Did this guy say the same to Edgar Tretter when he was on the verge of getting defeated? Close to being killed, he abandoned Bruno and ran away for the sake of surviving to win the next time. That’s why he managed to get away, even while being heavily injured. Though, it’s also the reason why his mind broke over it.

When I voice this question out, Dattol Stein tells me, “You seem to be smarter than your appearance suggests. Certainly, I said so to him. Since both of them were so young that it made me envious, I just wanted to see how their relationship would fall apart. I chopped up the boy, who ran away, quite a bit, but he could still walk. I cut up the other boy to the extent that he couldn’t get up anymore. I told the boy still standing on his feet that his friend couldn’t be saved anymore and that I wouldn’t chase him if he deserted his friend and ran away. The despair on the face of the other boy when he ran away was exquisite. A magnificent, joyful sight to behold. It aroused me, resulting in me cutting him up even more.”

“Scum…”

“Even as scum, I’m a superior magician who’s been staying alive. As long as they’re useful, any scum will be able to stay alive. This world must be crazy, seeing how royalty is actually covering me. That’s why a weirdo like me continues to live on as well.”

“Humph! That is going to end today! You are going to die for the crimes you have committed so far!”

“What if there are many nobles tolerating me even if they don’t go as far as actively supporting me? All the leaders in this country are scum. Isn’t it a fitting place for scum like me? Hating to be scorned by Duke Bürger after failing to assassinate me once, your father has left me to my own devices for years. Even you, the son of such a man, should give up on assassinating me since it’ll only earn you a scolding from your father. I promise I won’t chase after you.”

Are you telling me to forsake Alfred-sama? What scum! You’re human trash!

“You sure have a nasty character.”

“That’s how it works, doesn’t it Alfred Reinford? Only the cunning and detestable ones survive among humans, animals, and monsters. What are you going to do? It’d be best for you to abandon him and rely on your daddy. With that amount of mana, you’ll be only tormented to death by me.”

Sure, if this was one-on-one, I’d be slaughtered one-sidedly. But, Alfred-sama is with me.

Besides…

“Contrary to your reputation, you run your mouth on end! Are you that scared of fighting Alfred-sama and me at the same time?”

“Dream on. I’m just curious why you came here while only possessing abilities of such a low level. Is it something like noblesse oblige?”

“That is a funny joke! I have left my family! My family’s circumstances do not matter here! I simply cannot forgive you killing my best friend! I will make sure to kill you, definitely! You think I need any other reason besides that!?”

“I see. Then regret your folly while getting cut up by me. I think I’ll make sure you can’t move before that.”

Just now I felt a bad premonition!

“Klimt-kun!”

“Alfred-sama?”

“Too late!”

“Wut!?”

Alfred-sama and I get surrounded by water that appeared all of a sudden…what the hell is going on!? What’s with this weirdly smelling water!?

“…”

“Spell me surprised. Nothing less of you, Alfred Reinford. You’re not going to negate it with fire magic? But, that liquid is going to volatilize right away, and then burst into flames.”

As Alfred-sama gets bad vibes from the liquid surrounding himself, he doesn’t try to get rid of it with fire. However, once Dattol Stein shoots a fire spell, it immediately ignites and goes up in a blaze of fire.

“Damn it!”

I’ve finally gotten rid of the fire, but I’ve suffered burns on my limbs and face. In a hurry I heal myself by sprinkling a healing potion over my body. Alfred-sama does the same.

“This is quite nasty. Burning water…let’s see, somewhere I’ve…”

“Is water burning there?”

Water, which shouldn’t be inflammable, goes up in a blaze. Just what is that smelly liquid?

“Given that I can use all attributes, such tricks are possible as well. Using the 『Burning Water』 like this…”

“Me again, huh?”

The liquid is freely being manipulated by Dattol Stein, and after changing its shape, it even enters Alfred-sama’s robe. And immediately afterwards, it’s ignited by Dattol Stein.

Alfred-sama is wrapped up in flames, even coming from within his robe!

“Alfred-sama!”

“I tried to neutralize it by producing ice at once, but it was impossible to block it completely.”

It looks like he got burned under his robe, and thus he’s casting water-based healing magic on himself.

“At this rate, things are only going to keep getting worse.”

“Once I’ve made it impossible for you to fight any longer, I’ll heal just your skin, and cut it up nicely afterwards. For both of you. I’m looking forward to it.”

That guy feels like he’s already won. However, it’s true that at this rate…

“Burning water…somewhere…the Bahral Wetlands?”

“Correct. I’ve magically recreated the smelly, burnable water over there by combining water and fire-based magic. It was quite a chore.”

“No wonder they call you a genius at magic. The rest of you is fucked up, though. There are places where smelly, burning water gushes out in the Bahral Wetlands, located far west from the capital. Since it’s burnable enough to be used as lamp fuel, the locals gather it.”

So he recreated that water with magic, huh?

“Well, it’s convenient after all. Just like this.”

“Damn it!”

The burnable liquid, which has changed its form into something similar to a snake, coils itself around my body, and immediately following that, I’m engulfed by flames a third time thanks to Dattol Stein’s ignition.

In a hurry, I shake off the flames, and shower myself in a magic potion.

“Is there no choice but to block it with a 『Magic Barrier』?”

Right now I’m fine because I’m wearing the underwear Candy-dono gave me, but I don’t know how much longer it’ll hold out. Since it’s already protected major parts of my body three times, it might be about to reach its limit soon.

“That’d be a problem. We’ll be at disadvantage if we protect ourselves with a 『Magic Barrier』.”

“What do you mean, Alfred-sama?”

“Our opponent can freely decide when to ignite the liquid. Defending against that with a 『Magic Barrier』 would only speed up the mana consumption.”

It’d be meaningless even if we deploy a 『Magic Barrier』 as long it’s still in its liquid form and given that the ignition depends on Dattol Stein, it’ll be quite difficult to time a 『Magic Barrier』 right after the ignition without wasting much mana. Alfred-sama is quickly using up his mana as he’s healing his burns.

Probably grasping that we’re in a pinch here, Dattol Stein shows a relaxed smile as he watches us struggle.

“I can move it at will, have it enter any place, and ignite it whenever I feel like it. You won’t be able to deal with this on your first encounter. Now then, let’s bring this to a close now. At the end I’ll chop you up while you’re still alive.”

Although I had come here in high spirits to avenge my best friend, I’ll get killed by Dattol Stein without even putting a scratch on him? As I’m pondering about something like that, Alfred-sama taps my shoulder from behind.

“(At last our opponent has apparently decided to finish us two off.)”

“…”

“(As a matter of fact, this will give us an opportunity.)”

Alfred-sama makes me grasp something in my right hand while whispering to me.

“(This is?)”

“(A somewhat special magic crystal. It’s crammed with a tremendous amount of mana, considering its size.)”

Why has Alfred-sama given me something like that?

“(It’d be great if you could give him a good punch while holding this in your fist. It’s a bet of sorts, but I trust you that you’ll definitely succeed, Klimt-kun.)”

“(But, I am…)”

Earlier I succeeded in unleashing a blow, but I can’t believe that it’s going to work a second time.

“(It’s unthinkable that he’s going to make such a blunder.)”

“(I’ll somehow make it possible. Please get close to him at full speed, in a straight line, and use all your power to punch that guy with your right hand. Go in 5…4…3…2…)”

A countdown already!? Gah, whatever! Might as well go with this!

“(…1…start.)”

The instant Alfred-sama taps my shoulder once more, I start charging at Dattol Stein without thinking anything.

“A charge…it’s not like I can’t understand your feelings, but…it’s too reckless!”

Here it comes!

This time a powerful fire spell approaches me to burn me to smithereens. However, I should be alright one more time.

I plunge into the huge conflagration without lowering my speed at all, continuing to rush towards Dattol Stein.

“You did well to hold out! Candy-dono, thank you!”

With this things will get dicey if I eat another of Dattol Stein’s spells. I must punch him before he can cast anything else.

“The effect of your special armor should wear off anytime soon now.”

Tsk, he’s seen through it! However, it’s not like I can stop now anyway!

“You won’t be able to defend with just that robe of yours.”

Once again Dattol Stein produces two snakes made out of burnable water, and tries to send them at me. If he ignites them once they get close, I’ll suffer heavy burns…

“I won’t let you!”

Before they can reach me, Alfred-sama ignites the two snakes.

“How meaningless. It’s no problem for me to move them around as burning snakes while creating new burnable water.”

“However, unlike snakes that aren’t burning yet, I can extinguish them with my own water snakes once they’ve been ignited. It seems like you can’t extinguish the fire once the water has been ignited.”

I see. Alfred-sama ignited them first since he can’t do anything about the snakes while they’re not burning. Moreover, burnable water that has been ignited once is too difficult to extinguish for Dattol Stein as well. If they’re simple fire snakes, they can be handled with water magic.

As expected of Alfred-sama to notice that flaw in such a short time.

“Klimt-kun, please keep running while believing in me.”

“Of course!”

Even afterwards, a grand battle of magic raged on for a small period of time. When Dattol Stein tries to cut me up with a 『Wind Cutter』, Alfred-sama, who’s closely sticking behind me, repels the wind blades by unleashing his own 『Wind Cutter』. When Dattol Stein shoots a huge amount of 『Ice Spheres』 at me, Alfred-sama forms a moving 『Firewall』 in front of me, extinguishing the 『Ice Spheres』.

I feel like the ground beneath my feet has risen a bit, but it immediately settles down again. It appears Alfred-sama has interfered with the creation of 『Rock Spike』.

“I will not let you get away anymore!”

“Humph, as long as I evade that silly charge, which seems to be the only thing you’ve ever learned…what!?”

In an instant, Alfred-sama creates 『Rock Walls』 in the shape of く behind and on the sides of Dattol Stein, making it impossible for him to retreat.

“We’re at advantage with this being a 2-on-1. As long as you can cooperate like we do, that is!”

I suppose Bruno and Edgar Tretter were unable to do that…

“Well, whatever. Even if you punch me with your measly mana, it won’t do much anyway.”

Dattol Stein uses his huge amount of mana to raise his defense power in one go. He’s sure a genius to make that switch at such a speed…my right fist…!

“I am betting everything on this one blow, straight from the front!”

“I’ll block it!”

Dattol Stein crosses his arms in front of his chest, and sends a huge amount of mana into them on top of that. It’s what you’d call an iron defense by a high-ranking magician.

“Pierce through!”

I punch his chest with all of my remaining mana and the huge amount of mana stored in Alfred-sama’s magic crystal.

“With your amount of mana, it’s easy to block…no way!”

My full power punch first pries open Dattol Stein’s arms, and then smashes into his now defenseless chest. My fist only stops after penetrating all the way through his body.

No matter how excellent a magician he might be, he’s still just an ordinary human. This blow, which damaged his lungs and heart, should be fatal.

“N-No wa…why?”

“Why are you so surprised?”

It’s impossible for someone of your level to not have noticed the magic crystal in my right fist.

“With your…mana…this much…firepowe…impos…”

Having his chest drilled open, Dattol Stein doesn’t say anything further. Once I pull my fist out of his body, he falls to the ground, and stops moving altogether.

“We did it. But…”

Dattol Stein apparently died while not being able to understand why my punch pierced through his body.

“I have been entrusted with a special magic crystal by Alfred-sama. You should have been able to predict that I might break through your 『Mana Defense』, if I add the mana in the crystal to my blow.”

“No, that’s not true.”

“Why?”

“That’s easy to explain. Assuming your mana is 1, the magic crystal I lent you contains several hundreds. However, in case you were to add that mana while putting it into your fist, the crystal would usually provide you with no more than 1 mana. Going by your remaining amount of mana, the supply might have been even below 1.”

I see. The magic crystal can’t provide more mana than my own aggregate amount of mana.

“Otherwise, you’d very likely explode. That’s why the crystal won’t provide more than your own maximum amount of mana. Even when it comes to offensive abilities, it follows the same principle. Dattol Stein noticed that, so he defended against your punch.”

I guess that means I unleashed a blow going beyond the supplied amount of mana when he expected that he could defend against it with ease. Once I look down at the crystal, it’s become gray, signaling that it’s empty. So I delivered a punch that drew out everything, and not just a bit above the amount that would be supplied normally.

“I’ve thought that you’re a little exception, and this has confirmed it. That’s why I gave you this crystal and told you to hit him with all your strength. Since it was a gamble, I must apologize to you. But, you went far above my expectations.”

“No, there is nothing for you to apologize about…”

If Alfred-sama hadn’t gambled there, we would have been killed by Dattol Stein.

“It’s a relief for you to say so…”

◇◆◇

“You bastards!”

We have been chatting while the two of us linger in the aftertaste of our hard-earned victory, but suddenly we’re interrupted in a rude way.

“I guess it’s only natural after this much time has passed, huh?”

“Alfred-sama?”

“The big boss has shown up.”

Once I look in the direction of the voice, I spot a dozen soldiers and a fuming man, who seems to be a very important noble and appears to be close to 70 years old. He must be Duke Bürger who has continued to cover for Dattol Stein for more than 30 years.

As a matter of fact, it’s my first time meeting this man. There’s another, inconspicuous, middle-aged noble next to Duke Bürger, but I think it’s a safe bet to say that he’s his son-in-law, Viscount Basel. He seems to be panicking while looking at Duke Bürger rather than being angry at us.

“You assholes! How dare you kill Dattol Stein!”

“Dattol Stein? Him? If I remember correctly, it’s the name of a magician who died 30 years ago.” Alfred-sama sarcastically says without any shame whatsoever in response to Duke Bürger’s shouting.

He’s hinting that the man lying on the ground can’t be Dattol Stein since that person has officially been declared as dead.

“The likes of a commoner and the second son of an Earl House! Don’t think that you’ll be able to get away from here alive!”

Upon Duke Bürger’s signal, all his soldiers draw their swords. At the same time, the underlings of Viscount Basel, who have rushed over from all over the forest, surround us.

Come to think of it, I don’t have any mana left after putting everything into that one punch.

“Alfred-sama?”

“It’s no problem with opponents of this caliber, but…I wonder what we should do about this.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s possible to give them the slip and run away, but Duke Bürger is likely going to become a pain afterwards. After all, he’s the younger brother of the previous king, even if he acts like that. It’ll be a pain if he holds a grudge against us. Cardinal Hohenheim sure is late…”

“What are you saying! I’m perfectly on time! I’m sure you noticed me a long time ago!”

When I hear a voice other than that of Duke Bürger and look in its direction, I find Cardinal Hohenheim standing there. A dozen knights in the same outfit stand around him…they must be the church’s paladin unit. In addition, I notice the presences of military forces that have spread out as if to surround Duke Bürger and his men.

“Cardinal Hohenheim…you were the mastermind behind this, eh!?

“Even if you realize it at this point, Dattol Stein has already fallen into hell. It’s too late to whine about it now.”

Cardinal Hohenheim looks down at Dattol Stein’s corpse while provoking Duke Bürger by treating him like a little idiot.

“Even a guy like him must receive a funeral service. I guess we’ll bury him in the cemetery for those without relatives.”

“You piece of shii───it!”

Even though Duke Bürger gets angrier by the minute, Cardinal Hohenheim treats all of this very calmly.

“Kill that rotten priest!”

“I wonder whether you’ll be able to do that. You think you can fight off the elite paladins of the church with your dogs?”

The soldiers stop moving upon Cardinal Hohenheim’s question. As might be expected, they don’t want to turn the renowned paladin unit, the elites of elites among the church defenders, into an enemy.

“Haven’t you noticed the military units surrounding you? You have no chance of winning, be it in numbers or quality.”

“You rotten priest, don’t act so arrogantly!”

“Father!”

The person appearing from behind Cardinal Hohenheim is my father, Earl Armstrong.

“Long time no see, Klimt.”

“I’m happy to see you in good health, father.”

“Did you kill him, Klimt?” My father asks me while looking at Dattol Stein’s corpse.

“Alfred-sama and I defeated him together!”

“I see. Well done. It’s an achievement that can’t be recognized officially, but it’s an honor for me to have you as my son.”

“Earl Armstro───ong! You assho───ole! Even though you stayed docile after I gave you a warning eight years ago───o!”

“That’s the reason. Back then, the previous king was still around. Thanks to his silly consideration of your circumstances, I had to do my utmost to restrain my bitterness for eight years. I feel relieved to be able to find Dattol Stein dead today.”

“Earl Armstrong! Cardinal Hohenheim! I’ll bring this matter up with His Majesty!”

“Are you an idiot?” Cardinal Hohenheim spits out while looking at him as if watching an utter fool as soon as Duke Bürger claims that he’ll complain to the king.

“A guy who wasn’t supposed to be alive has died. So what about it?” Father apparently can’t suppress his scorn of Duke Bürger either.

He looks at him with the same expression as Cardinal Hohenheim.

“I don’t know about the paladins, but do you believe that I can arbitrarily dispatch the guards to surround you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re really slow on the uptake. It simply means that His Majesty has discarded you.”

“Lies!”

“You mean the rumor about you being the true king as the elder brother of the previous king? How retarded.”

Duke Bürger gets even more enraged at Cardinal Hohenheim who ridicules that rumor as absolute nonsense.

“Retarded, you say!? Don’t you know who I am!?”

“Try to calm down a bit and use your brain. It’s different when it’s brothers born by different mothers at the same time, but what would be the point in switching the elder and younger twin brother of the same mother? Do you think there’s some kind of difference in ability between babies that were just born rectifying doing something like that? You were of the same blood.”

“I am…”

“You’ve been led astray by the nonsense prattled by those standing against the royal family. Neither the previous king, nor the current one have taken you into consideration. They merely worried about the rumors and were vigilant towards the powers trying to use you as figurehead. Right now Dattol Stein isn’t with you anymore. I guess it’s about time for us to have you exit the stage.”

Once Cardinal Hohenheim lifts his hand, several big guys from among the paladin unit surround Duke Bürger, immobilizing him. Next they pin down his face, force his mouth open, and toss some kind of medicine into it.

“Ugh! What have you given me!? Poison?”

“Correct. Once you die here, we’ll make your son succeed a Baron House, Duke Bürger. Viscount Basel, we’ll spare your family. But this territory is going to be confiscated.”

I’ve noticed just now, but Viscount Basel is likewise being restrained by strong paladins, and has been forced to swallow the same medicine. Until the very end, he didn’t stand out at all.

“Cardinal Hohenheim! Daring to do something like this to the true king…!”

“That’s wrong, isn’t it? You merely continued sulking that you couldn’t become king because you were born a few moments later than your brother. That’s why you created this rumor, linked up with other nobles, and amassed a fortune while using Dattol Stein. Humans are truly terrifying, aren’t they? You’ve started to believe that your own rumor might actually be true, haven’t you? Or am I wrong? Oops, it looks like you’re starting to get sleepy. That’s the kind of poison it is.”

“What…did I…do…wrong…? I’m the…genuine king….”

With those being his last words, Duke Bürger passed away while looking as if he had simply fallen asleep. Viscount Basel died in the same way, but it might be his misfortune that no one noticed it happening.

“How foolish.”

That’s the last comment by Cardinal Hohenheim before he orders the paladins to restrain the soldiers affiliated to Duke Bürger and Viscount Basel and to transport the three corpses. They silently carry out the work asked of them, but as they’re wearing weird face guards today, I can’t tell who they are.

I guess Cardinal Hohenheim has made sure to hide their identities because of the nature of this job.

“Now then, Alfred, Klimt-dono, could I ask you to accompany me?”

“Are you going to seal our mouths?”

As usual, Alfred-sama snarls at Cardinal Hohenheim with his words being full of sharp bitterness.

“As if! I’d get killed by Earl Armstrong!”

“Yeah, I’d beat this rotten priest to death without any hesitation.”

Since I’d definitely protect Alfred-sama if they tried to kill him, they won’t have any choice but to kill me as well. As might be expected, even Cardinal Hohenheim isn’t gutsy enough to pull off something like that in front of my father.

“His Majesty has called for you. Time is precious though.”

“Understood. I’ll be fine as long as I get a reward. Including the hush money, it should become a nice sum of money.”

“No one would ever be able to imagine from your gentle face what a truly shameless man you are!”

“I’m sure he’ll settle down once he grows a bit older.”

“I sure hope so.”

Cardinal Hohenheim and father lead Alfred-sama and me to the royal palace. Either way, it’s good that I managed to avenge Bruno by killing Dattol Stein.

Chapter 14 – A New Friend

“I can only apologize for myself and my father having been unable to make up our minds until now.”

Alfred-sama, father, Cardinal Hohenheim, and I had a secret audience with His Majesty, but the king only apologized to us for his own failure to deal with this situation. Holding the audience in secret was probably Cardinal Hohenheim’s consideration to avoid the fact of His Majesty apologizing to an unaffiliated magician and his retainers becoming public knowledge.

“These expenses are…?”

“Magic potions and equipment for Klimt-kun prepared by Candy-dono. We’d have lost without these.”

“Got it. I’ll definitely pay this alongside the reward in a week.”

“I hope you’ll keep your promise.”

“Obviously I’m going to pay, geeze.”

Cardinal Hohenheim leaves us with a disappointed look.

After leaving the palace, Alfred-sama and I walk through the city, but dawn should break anytime soon.

“You did well.”

“I only followed your instructions, Alfred-sama.”

If I had tried to do this by myself, I’d have died, without a doubt.

“Even if I had partied up with someone else and if that person had followed the same instructions I gave you, we’d have died. Ah, right!”

“Is something wrong?”

“No. You and I are comrades who defeated Dattol Stein together. And now that I think about it, we aren’t that far apart in age either. So let’s change the way we address each other. Alfred-sama doesn’t really sit well with me.”

“Alfred-dono then?”

“That’s too formal. I’ll call you Klimt from now on, so you should call me Alfred, Klimt.”

“But…Alfred-sama, you’re currently the highest evaluated young magician. Moreover you’re so great that an elementary magician like me can’t even hold a candle to you.”

“That’s strange. Differences in social standing don’t exist between magicians. I’m no noble either. Rather, you could even argue that my way of speaking to you, who’s a young nobleman, sounds quite arrogant.”

“I have left my home, so I would like you to not concern yourself with my lineage.”

“Isn’t it fine then? Come on, go ahead.”

“I understand…Alfred.”

“That’s how it’s got to be. It’s great for you to make up your mind. You have the talent to become a great magician. And it’s also nice how you’re not really aristocratic despite being a noble.”

“Are you actually praising me, Alfred?”

“It’s the highest praise I can give. I think it’s okay for you to be proud of it.”

“Which reminds me, you’ve been awfully harsh towards Cardinal Hohenheim.”

“People like him are necessary, but I don’t feel like getting involved with him if possible.”

“I can fully agree with that.”

I’m sure people, who aren’t involved with the depths of the kingdom’s politics, are much happier. It’s great that I’m the second son.

“It looks like Bruno-dono’s funeral is going to be held today. I’ll attend it as well, so let’s go together.”

“Thanks.”

“He was your best friend, after all. I’m sure I’d have become good friends with him as well, if only I had the chance to bond with him.”

“Bruno would be delighted if he could hear this. Let us go then.”

Alfred and I head to Bruno’s home in order to attend his funeral.

◇◆◇

Bruno, I’ve taken revenge for you, but I’ve still lost an irreplaceable friend with you dying. However, on that occasion I gained a new friend in Alfred. You probably think that I’m an inconsiderate guy, don’t you? No, you weren’t a man who would think something like that. I’m sure you’d be delighted to hear about me gaining a new friend.

Moreover, I don’t know what kind of magician I’m going to become and how long it’s going to take, but I’ll always report to you in heaven, so look forward to it.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Oh! You made it out alive!”

“What a cheeky lie. As if you don’t know of our success.”

“Sorry, sorry. There were some guys watching me, so I appreciate your effort. Since they quickly scurried away for some reason, I knew that something must have happened to their master, Duke Bürger.”

“He’ll be treated as having died from sickness several days later.”

“Even though he was scum, it sure gotta be nice to be treated kindly just because you’re a Duke.”

“You’re kidding. Be honest, not once did you ever feel envious of nobles, Teach.”

“I can say the same to you, Al.”

After succeeding in Dattol Stein’s assassination, and attending Bruno-dono’s funeral together with Klimt, I visited the usual bar since I wasn’t feeling sleepy for some reason. There I found my master and teacher, Burkhart, sitting at the counter, and thus used the opportunity to roughly tell him about tonight’s events.

Once we finished our conversation, the elderly barmaster came back to the counter. This place is quite convenient since you can talk about stuff not meant for other people’s ears. The barmaster is known for his tight lips and his exquisite timing to always disappear whenever such topics come up.

“How did you feel about having teamed up with him?”

“It’s just as I’ve expected. He’ll grow even further.”

“Makes sense. Back then, he was the brat who drew your attention.”

Klimt isn’t just any normal elementary magician. Even though it’s true that he can currently only pour his mana into his fists and punch with those, his power is way too strong, no matter how you look at it. Just as I had suspected, he drew out all the mana within the 『Simple High-Capacity Magic Crystal』, which was filled with more mana than I possess, clad his fist with it, and broke through Dattol Stein’s mana defense.

When Klimt’s fist blew away Dattol Stein’s arms and penetrated his chest, he died with disbelief written on his face. In other words, Klimt’s latent maximum mana capacity should be tremendously huge.

However, if you look at the current growth rate of Klimt’s mana, he appears to be the typical late-bloomer.

“If you have such high expectations of him, you could just have him match his capacity with yours.”

“On the contrary, if I did that, it might result in something that’s not good for him.”

He’s just like a huge tree. He keeps growing little by little, over a long time. If his aggregate mana increases too much all of a sudden, it’ll very likely have a negative backlash.

“If you had forcibly increased his mana before the battle against Dattol Stein…oops, that way of thinking is Cardinal Hohenheim all over again.”

Many magicians suffer from having their mana increased all of a sudden by a capacity matching because they can’t handle it. In the end, a magician must raise their abilities by their own hands to some extent.

“Besides, if I had matched capacities with him in that situation, it might have resulted in him still not hitting his limit.”

“You gotta be kidding. But, I’ll watch from a distance whether your prediction comes true, Al. I’m bad with overly passionate guys like the second son of the Armstrong House.”

Afterwards, I quickly became sleepy while drinking with my teacher. I guess I’ll go to bed early today. I’ve got a another designated request waiting for me tomorrow.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“I have nothing to do.”

It’s been three days since Bruno’s funeral. I was told by Candy-dono to take a rest for a week.

『Anyone is going to feel spent after using all their strength against such a super strong enemy. You’d be liable to get injured after doing a mistake you would never do under normal circumstances, or die in the worst case. I’m sorry, Ron-chan, but we must compensate the combat power we lost through Bruno-chan’s death, so you’re going to be on vacation as you’re still a rookie』

After being told so by Candy-dono, I’ve been resting at home. Since I’ve received a considerably big reward for assassinating Dattol Stein, I’ll be alright even without working for a while. I’ve been killing my time by reading Bruno’s old books about magic, which I received from his parents and his older brother.

Come to think of it, I wonder what’s going on with Liese-jou who used to come here regularly. Her brother has died all of a sudden, and it’s not like I can talk about the truth behind his death.

Cardinal Hohenheim skillfully excused it as an accident during a monster subjugation, but when I saw Liese-jou struggling hard to not cry over her brother’s death, I was assailed by a strong pang of guilt. I want to tell her the truth, but if I do that, I’ll put Bruno’s family in danger.

Although it’s inevitable, keeping it a secret doesn’t really agree with me.

“Liese-jou likely will not visit this place anymore.”

She came to clean this house because she wanted to take care of her beloved brother. I doubt that she’ll come here for my sake alone. She’s unmarried, and moreover, very beautiful. There’s no way that she’d visit a place where just one man lives by himself.

As I ponder about all that, the doorbell suddenly rings.

When I go out to check who it might be, I find Liese-jou standing there with shopping bags in her hands.

“Liese-dono?”

“Have you been eating properly, Klimt-san?”

“More or less.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you’ve simply eaten out, buying grilled skewers and other silly stuff like that.”

“I cannot cook, so it is fine for me to eat out if I eat while properly taking nutrition into account.”

“Have you really been taking that into account?”

No, I haven’t. If it comes to Liese-jou, she can easily see through my neglect of a proper, healthy diet.

“Things like that are the true charm of living by yourself.”

“That depends on how often you do it. I’ll prepare dinner right away.”

Liese-jou enters my home, and starts to cook in the kitchen. I watch her.

“Liese-dono.”

“I’ve heard from Candy-san. About the truth of my brother’s death.”

So Candy-dono told her about it!?

“I asked him because I was bothered by it. I won’t tell anyone besides you, Klimt-san.”

“I am sorry.”

Duke Bürger, who committed such crimes, was royalty, but for Liese-jou, he must register as just another noble. And, I’m a noble as well. As a noble, I…

“You don’t seem like a noble at all, you know?”

“Liese-dono?”

“I mean, even though there was no need for you to do something like that, you accepted a dangerous job against a strong adversary while having little chance of success. Even though it might have angered your family.”

Certainly, at first father praised me, but later on he scolded me harshly, saying 『You’re a member of the Earl Armstrong House. Don’t make us worry!』.

“But, I was happy.”

“Happy?”

“When I heard about my brother’s death, I was devastated. Even now, I still feel sad. But, Klimt-san, you dispelled my brother’s regret by risking your life to get revenge for your close friend. It made me happy that you consider my brother to be such a close friend that you’d go this far for him.” Liese-dono explains to me while crying. “Ah, I’ll get dinner ready right away. It’s bad if you don’t eat your veggies properly. Also, since I feel uncomfortable with you always calling me Liese-dono and similar, please call me Liese from now on, okay?”

With those words, Liese turns her back on me and resumes cooking.

“Liese-do…Liese.”

“Yes?”

“Since I’ve got too much time on my hands anyway, do you want to go out with me tomorrow?”

“Gladly!”

Seeing Liese’s smile, I felt like I’d be finally able to move on into a new life.

Epilogue – In the End, it’s all about Doushi’s Youth?

“That said, I successfully avenged my best friend! I am also deeply thankful to Bruno for having been able to find a new friend in Alfred! Thinking back on it now, we did not associate for such a long time, but I never forgot about him!”

“””…”””

“Earl Baumeister, Elise, Erwin-lad, were all of you so deeply moved by the story of my youth?”

“Umm, you see…let me ask just one thing…”

“What is it?”

The story about Doushi’s youth was unexpectedly interesting. No matter how I look at it, the idea of him having been a cute boy doesn’t strike me as possible, but that’s no problem since no one besides him and Nina believed that part anyway.

Rather than that, the last part of his story was quite tragic. The twin brother of the king of two generations ago harbored dissatisfaction towards the royal family, covered for a homicidal magician for the sake of amassing collaborators and power, and in the end even helped that serial murderer to relieve his sexual desires. After that magician was secretly killed by Doushi and Master, even that twin brother, who got angry at that, was poisoned by Cardinal Hohenheim and other noble sympathizers, who couldn’t put up with it any longer, with the royal family tolerating it.

Isn’t that story way off-the-record to begin with as it depicts the darkness of the Helmut Kingdom which seems so peaceful on the surface? I feel like it’d have been better for us to have not heard about this.

Curiosity killed the cat…then again, it’s not like we were curious or anything like that. It might be proper to call us the victims here since we were forced to listen to a secret story without having any say in it.

“This story was necessary to talk about Bruno! It will be fine as long as you keep it a secret!”

“Haah…”

I had expected Doushi to say something like that. Even if we were to blame him, he wouldn’t reflect on it anyway.

“(Wend, Elise, it’s fine for you guys since you have reasonably high positions yourselves, but what about me?)”

Now that he’s in the same boat, Erw has no choice but to take this to his grave, just like us.

“It’s bad for the child in Elise’s belly to hear something like this…Besides, even Elise herself doesn’t look all that happy about it.”

I mean, it’s a story about a serial killer who loved to cut up boys and girls. We’ve not been watching any horror movies, and I don’t think it’s a decent story for the pregnant Elise to hear.

“The child she is going to deliver will become the next Earl Baumeister! It is better for it to understand early on that such situations can occur as well!”

No, I kinda doubt there’s a point in telling a baby, who’s still inside the womb of its mother, about the real backside of politics as prenatal education, but Doushi brings this topic to a close by powerfully declaring so in his usual way.

“Doushi, so about the portrait of you as a boy…”

“Ooohh! You are right!”

Erw, you did well to have remembered about the picture after all this time. I had already completely forgotten about it.

“Feel free to take a look at it! It is from my time as a cute boy!”

In response, I look at the portrait Doushi has taken out of his magic bag right afterwards, just to find that the boy drawn there doesn’t have Doushi’s pineapple haircut.

“””(Cute?)”””

The 14-years old Doushi looks somewhat more childish than now, and doesn’t have his trademark haircut. Compared with now, he’s slightly cute, I guess? Though he doesn’t look like a 14-years old at all.

“Back then, I was still cute, small, and inexperienced, but after continuing to train myself in the outside world, I became what I am now!”

“True. Klimt-niisama was small and adorable in the past.” Nina-sama directly agrees with Doushi’s statement.

Come to think of it, she’s also a member of the Earl Armstrong House. If she’s grown up among the members of that family, who cause mafia members to run away barefooted, Doushi as a boy might have looked lovely to her. In the end, it’s no more than an issue of lacking comparison targets, though.

“(Mother is slightly off when it comes to such things…)” Elise whispers to me apologetically.

Going by Nina-sama’s standards who always calls me 『Wendelin-kun』, I might still register as cute boy. Though I feel like this world is overflowing with cute children when compared to Doushi.

“Therefore, it would be best if your child were to grow up into a strong man like me, Earl Baumeister, Elise.”

At this point, the topic returns to the Elise’s and my child. If possible at all, I’d love to be spared from a child resembling Doushi, really…especially, if it’s going to be a girl, I’d feel pity for her on many levels.

“(Dear, the child I’m expecting will…)”

“(No, it’s the child between the two of us, so I’m sure it’ll resemble either you or me!)”

That damned Doushi! Don’t make Elise feel anxious right before her delivery!

“It’s going to be alright. Klimt-niisama is very popular among women, after all.”

She’s right. Despite him looking like that, he’s actually quite popular among women. He’s also got four wives. Or rather, isn’t it unrelated whether the baby will be popular among women if it’s a girl?

“My friend Liese-chan has married Klimt-niisama as well.”

“””Ehh!? Seriously!?”””

“Yes, seriously.”

Oh, I remember now that she mentions it, one of Doushi’s wives has Liese as a nickname. She remained in my memory since she’s a very pretty woman.

Marrying the young sister of his deceased best friend…this old dude is quite the normie despite being a muscle daruma.

“(Dear? Is something the matter?)”

“(No, I was just wondering whether it’d be fine for our child to resemble Doushi a bit when it comes to character rather than outward appearance…)”

It’d be a problem if it ends up being a perfect copy of him, but it might be good for it to have a slightly similar character.

“Is something wrong, you two?”

“No, it’s nothing. We’ve just been saying that it’d be great for the child to be born as healthy as you are, Doushi. Right, Elise?”

“Yes. I think it’d be wonderful if it’s as healthy as uncle-sama.”

“That is true as well! I am sure you will give birth to a strong child!”

Doushi continued to laugh loudly by himself, next to us who somehow managed to deceive him.