Veteran Adventurer Zelphy

I learned on the morning of the Third Day, that the Walt Family Precepts were actually something that had sprung from a misunderstanding.

On the guild’s third floor, Novem and I met the female adventurer who would become our adviser for the first time.

The name of the Adventurer Hawkins-san brought to us was 【Zelphy】-san.

Her quirky, short-cut purple hair was quite a distinguishing characteristic, and she appeared in the room with quite a rough appearance. On the bare skin unhidden by her clothes, I could see some remnants of past injuries.

The look in her eyes was sharp, and she really had the atmosphere of a capable adventurer.

“Zelphy-san, these are the two fresh adventurers I’m referring you to.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I-it’s a pleasure.”

As we gave our greetings, Zelphy-san looked over us and nodded a few times.

“… I thought it was some sort of joke when I heard some newbies had hired me, but it looks like you guys’re some n.o.bles from someplace.”

Hearing that, I was a little shocked.

Today was the Third Generation’s duty, but he seemed mildly surprised as well.

『She’s the type where you can’t underestimate her because she’s a woman. And wait, has there been a rise in female adventurers as of late? This must be the flow of time… even so, it’s a strange feeling.』

(Strange?)

On the Third Generation’s words, I felt like tilting my head, but I stopped myself.

Hawkins-san offers a warning.

“Zelphy-san, inquiring too deeply into a client’s origin is…”

“I got it already. I won’t be bringin’ trouble to boss Hawkins. It’s just that I’ll need to put out some rules if I’m gonna to teach them. Even more so if they’re n.o.ble brats. I can’t have them half-a.s.sing a job you see. If you don’t like that, I’m steppin’ down from this adviser position. I won’t be takin’ responsibility for you guys.”

She looked at me and Novem.

We nodded and asked about those rules.

“Understood. As long as it isn’t something impossible.”

“That so? Then first, don’t complain about my advising method. I mean, listen to what I gots to say. Second, I’ll be beatin’ the basics into you guys in three months. Don’t be picky with work. Third is…”

It was quite normal up to here. We waited for her to say what the third rule was.

“Third, is you gotta increase your numbers by one at least. It can be temporary, so become able to work in teams of at least three.”

On hearing Zelphy-san’s rule, Novem and I locked eyes.

There, Hawkins a.s.serted a similar opinion.

“Quite right. If you’ve got three members, then it will be easier for us to find requests for you.”

I hadn’t been thinking about comrades. It was because I thought that as long as I was able to learn the basics, I would be able to carry out recruiting after that.

『Fumu, she looks to be thinking for your sake in her own way. We’re also amateurs when it comes to being adventurers, so it would be best if you listened to her here.』

It wasn’t because of the Third Generation’s opinion or anything, but I decided to uphold the three terms.

“I understand your conditions. We have no objections.”

As I said that, Zelphy-san smiled.

Rather than her overbearing expression, she was much more appealing as a woman when she smiled.

“Good! If that’s so, I’ll take the job. And wait, I was a tad startled when I heard I was teachin’ newbies, but you’re surprisingly obedient.”

Novem asked Zelphy-san a question.

“Is that really something so rare?”

“It’s usually different. n.o.body generally has any money, so they honestly save it up before goin- to the mid-level advisers like us. They each pool about two to three gold and give a request to the guild. As long as they plan on rising in rank, most do request it, though.”

Zelphy-san’s view was supplemented by Hawkins-san.

“Here, we have a comparative abundance of work, and it’s an easy place for freshly recruited adventurers to find jobs. That’s why the Dalien adventurer guild has adopted such an adviser system.”

“After getting to a point, it’s easy to start getting worried about one’s growth, so there’re quite a few who want to push themselves, see? They first learn the foundation from some low-cla.s.s adventurer, and come to a mid-cla.s.s one like us when they think they’re ready.”

This system was only in place in a handful of branches, Dalien included, apparently.

You could also say it was a branch known for putting its power into training new recruits.

“Well, this is a little different from normal, but Zelphy-san is a seasoned veteran, who’s been an adventurer for twelve years. Her experience is abundant, and there isn’t an issue with her conduct. Please use her as reference, by all means… besides her manner of speech.”

As Hawkins-san said that, Zelphy-san raised an objection.

“I’m still in my twenties! Stop calling me a veteran, boss. It makes me sound old!”

“Well, please decide your plans for here on out in this room. Learn the necessary knowledge and experience of an adventurer from our veteran. I’ll be waiting for you all to become splendid adventurers.”

Hawkins-san leaves the room, seeing us off with a smile. Novem and I were left under the guidance of Zelphy-san.

–

–

–

In the Guild’s meeting room, Zelphy-san gave us an idea of the necessities of an adventurer.

“… Well then, I’ve gone through all the basics, but the most important thing is comrades. You’ve gotta understand that. No matter how skilled a guy is, they’ll still make mistakes, so watch yourself.”

The general things were how to accept work at the guild and how to watch ourselves when we brought monsters and such into the guild building.

If you accepted a quest, and failed to complete it, it was recorded on your guild card. On it, your individual, as well as your party’s request success rate, and record of problematic behavior was written.

Even when everything seemed normal, be wary.

Don’t do what you’re incapable of.

An adventurer shouldn’t act adventurous.

We were taught things like that.

And in the end, she wrapped things up with the importance of comrades.

“Simple numbers can become power. When ruffians gather together, that in itself makes them stronger as a whole. Make sure ya’ get that, okay?”

There, Novem raised a question.

“Um… quant.i.ty aside, shouldn’t we be concerned about the quality?”

Zelphy-san shook her head.

“That depends where that quality’s been a.s.signed. Do you wanna make a strong guy with a lot of problematic behavior your comrade?”

I was unable to endorse such conduct, so I denied it.

“I don’t want to.”

But from the Jewel, the Third Generation…

『Tools and humans all have a way to use them.』

(Isn’t this person’s a little dark…)

“Right? Even if there be a problem with strength, based on the contents of the request, it’s often best to get some honest people.”

Of course, that depends on where you intend to aim, she added.

“You could defeat monsters outside and sell them. You could accept requests and complete them. You could dive into a labyrinth and search for treasure. They’re all an adventurer’s job, but there are barely any individuals or parties who can do all of them, you know? Think closely of how you all plan on raking it in, and find comrades to fit that.”

Where should we aim, and what are we lacking? Learning that is important.

Even if we have the necessary abilities, learning a specific craft could take too much time, so hiring a person with the necessary skillset and making them your comrade is a valid option.

“There’s a limit to what a single person can do alone. It’s fine to aim for first cla.s.s, but if you misunderstand that fact, you’ll make a grave mistake one day.”

At the knowledge she pressed at us, Novem and I nodded.

“Good! Then let’s talk business. Of course, it’s quickest to learn these sort of things through experience.”

Saying that, she presented a doc.u.ment she had prepared for us.

“Um… Zelphy-san?”

Novem seemed troubled.

“What’s up?”

To a smiling Zelphy—san, Novem spoke.

“This page has ‘Cleaning the City Drainage’ written on it, but…”

“Yep, that’s right! A person who refuses to accept requests like these will never accept one in their lives, so you should be getting’ some experience here while you have the chance.”

She was smiling, but I get the feeling her grin grew wider as she said that.

“Could it be you intend to break the rules I set already? Trust is important to adventurers too, you know.”

Our first job as an adventurer was to clean the drainage system.

–

–

–

The meeting room in the Jewel.

When I had fallen asleep, I found the Sixth and Seventh Generations in opposition to my first job.

『As. I. Was. Saying! I won’t let Lyle do something like sewer cleaning! Look here, even if you stick on ‘former,’ he’s the heir to the Walt House, isn’t he? Fifth Generation, why not say something here?』

The Sixth had a wild look to him, and the generations to follow evaluated him as a scoundrel, so he didn’t really hold a good image in my mind.

My grandfather, the Seventh Generation, agreed with him.

『You all are fine with having Lyle do something like that!?』

But the First and Fourth didn’t seem to have any interest. More than that…

『Why not? As long as Novem-chan’s not dirtied, there’s no problem.』

The point the First Generation was interested in was whether Novem would get injured or sullied during the cleaning. I’m also a man

I’ll make sure I’m the one getting heavily dirtied and have Novem help me indirectly. Zelphy-san also said she gave a high evaluation to a man who looked out for a woman.

Of course, it was also the ancestors’ opinion.

『Well, since we have the chance, it’s best to let Lyle learn a bit about the world. In all honesty, I think that adventurer called Zelphy is on to something there.』

The Second gave an appraisal of Zelphy-san.

But the Sixth Generation was different.

『Even if you stick on a ‘former,’ you can call Lyle a n.o.ble, can’t you!? Unlike you guys, Lyle’s a real among reals! A bona fide n.o.ble!』

To the Sixth Generation, who was quite worked up, the Third spoke.

『Why are you treating us as fakes~? Just what’s your difference between real and fake?』

The Fourth was the same.

Only the Fifth didn’t seem all too interested in it. And wait, that Fifth seems to take a neutral stance no matter what happens.

The Seventh started to divulge my lineage.

『Lyle carries the blood of my wife, the blood of a Count’s House! Listen here, to put it simply, he’s a child who carries the blood of a Royal family that predates the Sentras Kingdom before ours!』

『… Well you just dropped quite a bomb there.』

The fact the Third Generation referred to as explosive…

“Eh? That’s the first I’m hearing of this.”

Was something even I didn’t know. The area started getting a little noisy.

The Third Generation looked at me, as he sought confirmation from the Sixth.

『… It seems the boy in question had no idea about it. You sure?』

Hearing that, I also nodded.

“I never heard anything like that from father.”

Of course, I was ignored at age ten and onwards. It may just be that my dad never brought up something as important as that.

『There are truths not to be revealed on the surface! In our time, the former royal family sought reinstatement and took advantage of the corrupt politics of the era to stir up a rebellion!』

The Third Generation partic.i.p.ated in a war with another country and died in battle.

But henceforth, the Walt House’s head often headed out into battle, even if it be for a small scale skirmish.

Among them, the Sixth and Seventh were part of a generation that partic.i.p.ated in skirmishes, internal discord, and even wars with foreign lands.

The situation has died down as of late, but I heard stories of my father going out to war as well in his younger days.

The Seventh Generation started explaining about my grandmother.

『The old monarchy… Sentras’ royal blood is, and this goes without saying, also carried by the current line. But they couldn’t reveal that it was still being pa.s.sed down on the surface. I mean, the surviving clan was the bloodline of the one who started the rebellion, 【Agrissa】’s descendants.』

Agrissa… she was the one the First Generation spoke of, the last queen of the Sentras Kingdom, and quite a beauty.

“Eh? Grandmother… if grandma【Zenoire】 was someone like that, then…”

A vixen, and one who was still heralded as beautiful to this day. The individual who monopolized the favor of the King. Meaning Agrissa’s descendants are a direct line from that old monarchy.

『Uwah… Celles is sounding more and more like a Monster.』

The First Generation gave his opinion, but the Second seemed fed up with him.

『You’re still saying something like that?』

The Seventh continued his explanations.

『Bahnseim royalty stems from a distant relative, but there is a limited number of those who hold their high-cla.s.s blood. And one of them is Lyle… understand?』

The Sixth started to explain why they couldn’t eradicate the old monarchy’s bloodline.

On the surface, it looked like the rebellion was a success, and they were all executed. All that survived as a small clan that that was exiled from the crown.

“Um, I was taught the survivors of the old crown were just distant relatives, though? I was sure they were all executed.”

『Fool! As if you can crush a royal bloodline that’s polished itself over its long history! They were disposed on the surface, and the survivors were sheltered in some way or another.』

As Magicians are n.o.bles, their blood is what links them all. From someone with magic, you can produce magicians.

As a result, the monarchy was born.

When they fell to ruin, and society was reborn from the ashes, what remained was blood.

『The King of my generation, if nothing had happened, he would have had Zenoire adopted off to some high-cla.s.s House, and have welcomed her into the royal family with open arms. But his corrupt politics spurred the anger of some relatives, and they leapt to their feet… the conflict that followed even dragged other countries into the midst!』

From there on, the Seventh went into a dark story.

Everyone listened… no, they pretended not to hear it. I had a vague idea about most of it already, so I left him and went back to the other ancestors.

“So what were we talking about again?”

The Fourth Generation pushed up his gla.s.ses with one finger and got us back on track.

『It was about drainage cleaning. But from there, we’ve ventured into something quite grand. And wait, I’m surprised the Walt House got royal blood into it.』

The Third was of the same opinion.

『Precisely. Even so, I wonder why Lyle’s Mana reserve is so pitifully low.』

“That’s because you guys are too rowdy, isn’t it!? I’ll just throw this out there, but I was on the higher side for those of my age! Even so, the Jewel is sucking out my Mana entirely…”

The conversation derailed again, and the Fifth gave a sigh as he added his input.

Everyone around us seemed fed up.

『Don’t get so heated over sewer cleaning.』

『B-but still, Fifth Generation…』

Perhaps because he was his father, the Sixth couldn’t offer a strong response to the Fifth. It was as if the First and Second’s relationship had been turned on its head.

『Regardless of whether he’s royal blood or not, at the moment, he’s an adventurer who’s been driven out of his home. If the adventurer adviser wants to make Lyle clean gutters, then isn’t that fine? Rather than that, I’m just happy he wasn’t asked to commit a crime or anything.』

The Seventh tried to refute him.

『H-however, Lyle’s standing is…』

『And I’m saying his current standing is as an adventurer. It’ll be a good experience. For his sake, it’ll be all positives and no lasting negatives.』

Hearing that, the First Generation nodded.

It was just the Second who was struggling to catch up to the change of the situation.

『I never imagined my descendants would be a bearers of royal lineage. And wait, for this barbarian to have royalty in his bloodline…』

『You say something?』

As the pelt-clad barbarian directed his eyes at the Second Generation, the Second shook his head.

『Then Lyle’s drainage cleaning will be carried out as planned.』

(I wonder why cleaning is becoming so large of a fuss.)

Unsatisfied, the Sixth and Seventh offered some complaints.

『Just how much troubles do you think we went through…』

『Zenoire, I’m sorry…』

The others didn’t seem all too interested. More than that, the fact that royal blood had entered their lineage was more important to them.

–

–

–

The next day.

From early morning, I put myself to cleaning out Dalien’s drainage.

To put it bluntly, it was filthy. There was garbage littered everywhere, and in the worst case, even excrement…

“T-this is rough…”

I wore a cloth over my mouth and appropriate work clothes for garbage disposal.

“Lyle-sama, it’s already noon. I’ll switch in.”

“… The sentiment is enough.”

Novem worried for me, and told us to switch jobs. But I can’t have Novem doing something like this.

More than that, there was a bigger problem…

『Yeah, yeah, is that supposed to be the product of royal blood!? Put your hips into it as you work!』

The First Generation was overly energetic and noisy.

『The Walt House is royalty… I thought just reaching Counthood was too good to be true…』

The Second mumbled, while lost in thought.

『More importantly, why did the Seventh Generation get to marry a girl like that Zenoire chick? I still don’t see how it was necessary.』

The Third wanted to know just why the Royal Blood got in.

『Ah, that’s what I was wondering too. You could’ve just married into the standing monarchy. I don’t think any good’ll come of extending your reach farther than need be.』

The Fourth didn’t seem to have any interest in me. All four of them seemed to be fine with me working as long as Novem didn’t dirty herself.

『There were different circ.u.mstances than back in your guys’ time. Unless the scope was large, we would’ve been dragged into something troublesome whether we liked it or not.』

On the Fifth’s rather philosophical approach, the Sixth voiced his approval.

『The political stage was a  mess. If we tried closing ourselves in and not flaunting our forces, then it wasn’t strange for a reason to be fabricated for our subjugation back in those days.』

It was apparently quite a troubling era, based on the Sixth’s grumblings.

『Our Lyle would have married into royalty too. Or perhaps he would have met the king’s daughter and elevated us to a Marquis House. If his environment didn’t stick their hands into it, it should’ve gone like that…』

It looks like the Seventh had such expectations of me.

And wait, grandma Zenoire was also an individual who cleared all the Walt House Precepts.

During the internal discord, she was to be disposed of, and the Seventh offered her shelter indefinitely, apparently.

Thinking that, I was reminded of how convenient it was that our House was in a remote region of the kingdom.

(Putting that aside… quiet down, you all!)

My breathing was starting to get rough.

There wasn’t a problem with my physical stamina, but my mental fatigue was surfacing.

Obviously, it was all because this d.a.m.n Jewel was continuing to eat up my Mana!

Advisor Zelphy-san seemed slightly disheartened as she looked at me.

“You’ve got even less stamina than I thought. At this rate, it was gonna be a long time before you even think of going out to subjugate monsters. Let’s keep on taking up requests like this as a means of training.”

“Eh, no… if possible, I’d like to start hunting monsters as soon as possible…”

I tried to oppose Zelphy-san’s opinion, but Novem agreed with her.

“That’s right. It’s not right for us to push ourselves, and more than anything, Lyle-sama’s safety is first and foremost. These sorts of jobs are an experience in themselves, and I’ll also try my best.”

As Novem declared her partic.i.p.ation, the Jewel was astir.

『Stop her! Novem-chan doesn’t have to do something like that!』

『Lyle, on with it! You’re worrying Novem-chan!』

『As expected of sis’ descendant. She’s well built. But of all else, I don’t want her doing a job like this.』

『Show your guts! In front of a woman, it’s only natural for a man to do the impossible!』

First, Second, Third, Fourth…

(I-it’s because you guys are so noisy…)

But it didn’t end there.

『You plan on making him do even more!? That’s more than enough! What meaning is there in having him continue jobs like this!?』

『Calm down. He’ll stay safe, so on the contrary, I welcome it.』

The Sixth and Fifth took control.

『Why did something like this… as I thought, I have to smack that useless son of mine! Also, don’t act up so much, you all! You’re making it worse for Lyle!』

The Seventh was also quite worked up.

I’m happy that he’d gotten angry for my sake. But still, I’d like to say it.

(Please just be quiet!!)

It was just simple drainage cleaning, but because of my ancestors, the difficulty level rose quite a bit.