Intermission Part 1 - Aspiring Hero's Path
You've heard of him before.
He was a weak boy, barely capable of defeating a sick goblin on his own. How did he know this? Well, he had brazenly tried to fight a goblin one time and got poisoned by a lone goblin which had been wandering a desolate area near their village. It had used its dagger to attack Nait who only had a small military knife that he inherited from his oldest brother. Its dagger was laced with faeces. It's wildly known that goblin fecal matter was poisonous, even more so than any other animal or monster on Diacree continent so Nait was in danger once struck by it. Its dagger had paralyzed him just from one strike.
Were it not for Luke and Norn who were hunting rabbits nearby then Nait wouldn't have been here today.
Speaking of Luke, it had been more than a year since Nait had seen him. This was primarily due to the fact that he was sent to a villa belonging to Duke Marcus von Berkley before he was sent to Lockinge city's castle to be introduced to the main family.
Nait had always seen himself in Luke—weak and timid but with a heart of gold (even though it was embarrassing to admit it himself). Luke changed after the incident with bandits who wanted to raid their village. He unleashed so much aura that day that the entire village was almost destroyed.
Many of the villagers were worried that he'd never wake up but thankfully he only had a slight headache and couldn't recall much from what happened. Shortly after knights, accompanied by the duke himself, came to their village and took Luke away without so much as a word to the villagers. Well, it wasn't their business but they were still worried but that worry turned out to be baseless after they found out that Luke was going to inherit the Berkley House due to his "special" capabilities.
Nait knew Luke was special. He might go on to become a true "Hero", something that Nait wanted to be with all his heart.
He was still young so there was a lot of time for him to grow. There's no telling what will happen in five or even ten years from now. Maybe he also had a secret power inside of him…
In any case, there's someone he looks up to. Someone who he thinks is a "hero" that he should aspire to become.
He was an unknown adventurer just a year ago but now everyone talks about him.
Nait frequently jogs around the noble district as part of his "Hero Training". He hears people talking about that man.
Just yesterday, he heard an old woman say to the young woman she bought vegetables from:
-"To think a young man like him could become an A rank adventurer this quickly. No adventurer has gone up in rank this fast."
-"But he's shown everyone that he is strong enough to be accepted as an S ranker. Yet why doesn't the Guild let him? It makes me think that they're keeping him from being promoted."
-"Oh, dear. Adventurers like him were so common back when I was a young gal. I used to love hearing stories about adventurers achieving great feats. I was fooled into thinking all of them were great and ended up sleeping with a few of them… That love for them dwindled due to the uninspiring greediness that surrounds the guilds nowadays."
Adventurers—well, the majority of them—are driven by profit, not the urge to protect the people. Finding SS-rankers willing to take on a job without a promised reward is basically null.
Miraculously, Misteltein was different. They established a guild house for themselves somewhere in the empire and accept quests of all kinds.
They say the Vice Guild Master or Vice Leader of Misteltein is a kind person who never turns people away. They've saved farms from monster attacks, escorted a poor Baron family across monster-infested lands, helped a small village by supplying water to them…
The list of their deeds goes on.
Lucri is apparently using applicants to carry out some of these tedious quests. There's only three official members, after all. Apparently, he tells everyone that they'll consider their applications based on how well they help the people.
There are almost a hundred applicants in this program. They carry out every quest sent to the guild.
The one who does most of the heavy lifting with paperwork is a former Adventurer Guild Headquarters receptionist. She helps Lucri evaluate applicants on whether or not they're fit to carry out quests and distributes rewards.
Some of the applicants try to leech off Misteltein for profit. These are the ones that aren't accepted. They've been caught threatening people for money to do their quests a few times.
It's been a few months since the program began but Misteltein is already the most popular adventurer party in the empire. If only Nova wasn't missing, what kind of other feats could they achieve?
No one batted an eye when Red Storm defeated an Orc Lord or Sky Kings that caught National Level 5 criminals who threatened to bomb the empire's outer walls.
What people cared about now was how Lucri and Galadriel went to a monster zone to search for a rare flower that saved a person's life. Or that time when they recovered dangerous magic weapons from an underground black market.
The citizens cared more about the adventurers that help them personally than some greedy goody-two-shoes that demands thousands of gold to slay a mutated monster lord.
This is one of those instances where the "Knight saving the princess" is more loved than the "Knight slaying the dragon".
What will Nova think when he comes back? Will he be proud of what his guild has now become?
Nait went to the guild the other day and it was packed with people forming queues. The people were either there for the program or they were looking to put up a quest.
Not even a branch guild has that many people at one time.
Just goes to show what a great man Nova has become and how many people admire him.
The words that Norn said to Nait resonated within him to this day.
Find something that only you can achieve that he could never.
Nova isn't someone who saves people out of the goodness of his heart. There are heroes like that. They use the trust of the people for their ambitions.
He knows what he wants and always does what needs to be done.
There's nothing wrong if Nova does things to gain people's trust (saving them, helping them, etc…). The only thing that matters is that he's not hurting anyone for his goals.
That's exactly what makes him so cool. To Nait at least.
"—You missed breakfast. Again." Someone called out to Nait when he came to the front yard of the manor. He usually takes the route out the backyard gate when going on his runs. The path leads to a downhill road which helps him build up more speed when jogging.
Rudolph was standing there at the top of the stairs. There was a towel in his hand.
"Is that towel for me?" Nait was drenched because of the rain.
Yes, it was currently raining but he didn't skip his training today.
"Go find a rag to dry yourself," Rudolph said with narrowed eyes, "This is meant for Young Lady Melina."
Nait looked around the yard. He could see a young girl playing in the rain while laughing.
"Why is she out in the rain?"
"Who really knows. From the looks of it, she was tired of being cramped up in the manor all day yesterday. She only ever spoke to her mother but the First Lady has business somewhere else currently. I'm considering taking her back to the castle on my own. At least she'll have Young Master Jack as company."
"Jack?"
Nait hasn't heard that name before during his time here. Well, the servants—the only company he has most of the time—don't really talk that much.
Claudia and Norn would know who that was seeing as how they visited the Berkley residence once.
"He's the second son of Duke Berkley. He rarely goes out in public with his mother so not many people know of him. Some assume that Lord Arnold is the only son Duke Berkley has but his second son is diligently training to not be left behind."
"I see…"
"—Give way for the airshiiiip~! It's coming in hot!"
"—Eh?" Nait turned around when he heard that loud exclamation.
Melina, with her arms spread like a bird, was running straight at him.
"The momentum is too strong to turn! Give way, give way! The airship is carrying important supplies~!"
"Why are your eyes closed!?"
"EH!? Someone is there!?"
Nait couldn't even retort before he felt the wind being knocked out of him. He tried to dodge but her head managed to hit his rib.
The two crashed to the ground, further staining their clothes in mud.
Melina landed on top of Nait's head after they fell down. Her dress was crazy long so he was smothered in all that cloth.
Rudolph sighed before helping Melina stand up, leaving the breathless Nait on the ground.
"I've told you countless times to avoid playing Cargo Carrier." He put the towel on Melina's head and began rubbing her hair, "Why do you always close your eyes when you play that game?"
"It's easier to imagine myself as an airship that way! I can't see the ground either so I can pretend I'm flying in the sky!"
"An airship that delivers cargo should know its route, Young Miss. What you did is considered by pilots as flying blindly. This is only when the weather is so bad that airship pilots need to rely on their instincts to fly. You're clearly missing the point of delivering supplies to those in need."
"Buh, why do you have to ruin everything!? Just let me be an airship!"
'She didn't even apologize for what she just did…' Nait stood up with a groan.
His body was already hurting all over from constant training. Melina tackling him made it worse. Were it not for her being so skinny then his head might've suffered a concussion after falling on a brick-layered road.
"You're broken a lot of antiques with your antics. Your games also interfere with work around the manor. Just a few days ago one of the servants complained that you bumped into them from playing that stupi—I mean, from playing Cargo Carrier with your eyes closed. We lost a hundred gold worth of glasses that has to be deducted from that servant's salary from now on."
"I know my way around the manor so what's the problem!? It's not like I'll hurt myself!"
"You're missing my point." Rudolph went "nevermind" as he gave up before even trying.
"I've already run a bath for you so head inside."
"Eugh, my clothes feel yucky," Melina kicked off her pumps, revealing her delicate small feet that looked spotless and smooth as if she had never run barefoot in the sand before. Of course, one glance at her filthy toenails destroyed that narrative. Nait noticed that her fingernails were dirty as well.
'…Now that I recall, the maids are always complaining about how she runs out of the house whenever they're done grooming her for the day.'
Melina tried to pull down her dress but Rudolph quickly stopped her.
"Please bear with it for now. A young lady mustn't undress herself in public."
Melina just stomped her feet and glared at Rudolph before harrumphing and running inside the manor. Her muddy feet left footprints on the clean white floor.
Rudolph turned to Nait after picking up her pumps.
"Miss Claudia was looking for you earlier."
"Eh? What did she want?"
"She was looking for someone to go with her to the shopping district."
"What about Norn and Teresa?"
Claudia rarely goes to the shop on her own. She always asks someone to accompany her. Back in the village she used to travel to the town near their village since the town was the only place that had a market with merchants besides Hurge city which was a bit farther than the town.
Nait frequently accompanied her along with his siblings if Claudia's daughters couldn't go.
"As you already know, Miss Norn made quite a lot of friends during her stay here and is always going out with them. She didn't come home last night and is dodging her duties."
"…Isn't that bad?" Norn was being lazy and leaving everything to the servants even though she's the one living in this mansion.
"Lady Anna will have to decide that but I doubt she'll be that harsh on that girl. Moving on, her sister is actively learning to become better at cooking with the help of the household chefs so she doesn't have time to do other things."
'I bet Teresa wants to become good at cooking because of some guy she met.'
'Could it be who he thinks it is…?
"Did Miss Claudia leave already?"
"No, she's waiting inside."
"I'll head inside then!"
Nait bolted past Rudolph.
"Your shoes are still wet—"
The door slammed shut before Nait could hear what Rudolph was going to say.
◇◇◇
Nait didn't have to look long.
Claudia was silently sitting by the fireplace in the living room, reading what seems to be a diary. There was a small blanket covering her legs and half a cup of hot chocolate on the coffee table next to her.
Nait slowly walked over to the fire and sat down to dry himself with the heat.
'She's so beautiful.' Nait knew how immersed Claudia gets in reading, to the point that she doesn't focus on her surroundings, so he could appreciate her beauty as much as he wanted.
'…Why is she crying?'
Claudia's poker face slowly loosened. Her mouth quivered as she silently sobbed after closing the book. No, it seems to be a diary.
"Rert… Why did you have to leave me…" she whispered someone's name.
Rert—Claudia's husband who had perished along with Luke's parents during a war between the fief lords in the Rodelle Lands (the region ruled by Marcus von Berkley). The nobles were executed for murdering innocents by the duke himself so justice was served but many families lost their sons, fathers and husbands to the war since the two nobles forcibly conscripted them into their armies.
Rert served a different lord (Earl Lewan) so the nobles couldn't force him to enlist in the army, unless they wanted to upset the lord Rert served. Despite this, Rert still wanted to fight when he heard that Luke's mother and father—who were ex-soldiers—were conscripted. In the end, all three of them perished even though Rert promised to protect both of them.
It's a miracle how Luke never changed after hearing how his parents were taken from him. Perhaps his heart was at peace after finding out that the ones responsible for all the suffering were dealt with—meaning justice was served. Or he could be hiding his pain behind his cheery attitude and bright smiles.
…
"Miss Claudia… Don't cry…" Nait hugged Claudia from behind while she was still seated. She gasped a little before smiling gently and squeezing his hands.
"The pain of losing a loved one is something I'll never be able to move on from. Even though I knew what kind of person my husband was, I didn't steel my heart for the inevitable…" she sniffled for a moment, "I'm okay, really… You're squeezing me really tight…"
"S-Sorry…" Nait hurriedly let go, "Uhm, Rudy said that you needed someone to accompany you to the market? I'll be ready in just a few minutes!"
"Ah, okay. Having someone else will be very convenient. Oh, I heard you didn't have breakfast this morning so I'll buy us something to eat on the go once we arrive at the market." She put the blanket aside and stood up, "I'll tell the coach to get ready to drop us of while you finish up."
"Okay…"
**
After about five more minutes, Nait was ready to leave. He took a (cold) bath this morning before he left the house. All his clothes were ironed and neatly set aside when he came back to his guest room so there was no need to delay for any reason.
Having servants sure is convenient, he thought as he exited the front door, spotting Claudia in the window of the carriage parked next to the fountain. Without further ado, he walked up to the carriage.
The rain stopped a few minutes ago but there were still some grey clouds looming so this peaceful weather won't stay for long.
As his hand was on the door, Nait could feel his heart was beating faster than usual and he didn't know why.
After taking a few deep breaths, he quickly opened the door and entered. Claudia was looking out the other window. Since this estate was pretty elevated compared to the rest of the empire, one could see the whole capital city from here and even beyond.
The moment Nait entered the carriage, the carriage began moving. Soon after they left the estate.
Claudia's gaze still lingered outside, watching the people walk by and all the manors that this noble district had to offer. There weren't any castles here since there wasn't enough space for something that large that would need an even bigger estate than what you find around here. Most of the high-class nobles have second homes here for vacations or short business trips while their main houses are scattered across the empire.
Nait and the others were fortunate enough to be living in one of these mansions. Of course, Nait had to leave one of these days since he wasn't exactly going to be living with Claudia's family. The only reason he's still here is because of the monster wave that hit Nuaria city, that postponed him going back home. There were still monsters roaming around the highways so unless accompanied by adventurers or knights, it was suggested everyone remain inside the empire walls.
"—We've never been alone like this before." Claudia broke the silence, "I don't recall ever asking you anything about your life before. I know you're young but I still want to know what your ambitions and goals in life are currently."
"Uhm, well, Miss Claudia doesn't need to concern herself with me…"
"No, no. I'd like to know," she said with a gentle smile as she leaned forward, "It's going to be a while before we get to the markets in the shopping district with all this traffic. I recall that it was always either Norn or your brothers who used to accompany me like this. I'd always buy you sweets and snacks as thanks for accompanying this old woman." She said with a laugh.
"M-Miss Claudia isn't that old! If I didn't know Teresa was your daughter then I'd have thought you were her sister!"
Teresa was 20 years old while Claudia was 36, a number you wouldn't associate with her young features.
Claudia chuckled, the melody of her laughter making Nait's heart beat even faster.
She poked his nose with a soft smile on her face as she cooed the words "such a charmer~"
"Soooo~ Nait, what are your plans for the future?"
"Erm…"
He was about to reply with "saving others regardless of what job it will be" but decided to think a little more.
"A knight institution… I'd like to train at one, if possible…"
"Your goal is to become a knight?"
He shook his head fervently, "My goal is to become strong regardless of which path I choose!" He rephrased his thoughts out loud.
"Ah, I see. I heard that some adventurers come fresh out of knight schools or academies. I suppose you aren't locked to one path when you join a knight school, fufu."
"Adventurer…" hearing that word made him remember the large back of a certain swordsman who saved them outside the empire during Nuaria's invasion, "Yes… I want to become an adventurer…"
"Have you spoken to your father about this dream of yours? To walk this path, you'd need to stay in the empire or live in Lockinge city—that's a little closer to home. If I recall correctly, you study for three years before being put in a unit for a few months so that you can learn through experience what knights have to go through and what is expected of them."
Three years didn't seem too bad. He wanted to at least achieve his goals by 15. Three years of studying and two years of adventuring with others.
"How old do I have to be to enrol?"
"It depends on where you want to study. The empire itself accepts children from any age, provided they study for longer. The empire is a wealthy nation so they can afford to use resources on aspiring knights. For Lockinge city, I heard the starting age is 12."
Nait held back a groan. His excitement to finally learn to fight didn't give him any patience to endure waiting that long.
Claudia suddenly went "Ah, that's it!" before she gave a toothy grin, "What do you think about living with us in the empire?"
"Eh!? Really!?"
"Mhm. I just recalled a conversation I had with you father a few weeks ago. He said that you've been hunting with the older boys in the village. This is something that the adults found out recently and put a stop to. All of you were planning on selling the corpses, of the monsters you slay, to alchemy guilds, right?"
"…T-That's—" Claudia held up a finger.
"The boys said, if what I heard from your father was correct, that they wanted to make enough money for an education in a knight institution. The hunting was basically a group fund. Is this true?"
"..." He nodded while his gaze was averted.
They would've succeeded in gathering enough money just under a year if only the hunting part wasn't so difficult. The Alchemy Guilds scattered throughout the continent pay a lot of money for carcasses because of the value they hold for making potions and experimentation. Some say alchemists are trying to create a new kind of "necromancy" that doesn't need a dark magician or Witch Class. Basically, a tamer ability but for dead monsters. With this goal comes the high costs and materials that their experiments need.
If they commission adventurers and even common folk to deliver corpses to them then they can eliminate one of the difficulties that come with their work by using the other. A whole goblin tribe (about 20 or so) can fetch for several gold coins.
"You have to understand that it's dangerous to take vigilante work for guilds. You aren't even an adult yet. In fact, you're five years from it! Even if you were 15, it's much too dangerous to do something like that." Claudia's pressure made him sink into the seat, "Well, there is no need to scold you over this since you were being responsible for your own future, which not even a lot of adults can boast about. But never, ever go do something that dangerous again until you're ready. Am I understood, young man?"
"Y-Yes!"
"Soo~ What do you say? Would you like to live with us?"
"YES, Miss Claudia!" he gave an energetic reply, "—Wait, isn't the school and taking care of me still going to be expensive even if I get to live with you, Miss Claudia?!" Nait realized this changed nothing and sulked again.
"Fufu, why not ask little Luke to convince Lord Duke to sponsor you? Sponsors also provide allowances that you can use to buy yourself nice things. I'll just make sure you have enough clothes and will always go to bed with a full stomach."
That's it! Luke is going to be the head of a powerful AND wealthy noble household! He's practically swimming in gold coins!
"Luke considers you a little brother. He's practically known you for your entire life and has always been protective of you. I'm sure he'll do his best to make sure your future is secured."
In a way their paths are the exact same since Nait is also interested in fighting with a sword.
"…But how will I pay him back for going that far for me…"
"What? Why would you need to do that?" she asked with a genuinely confused expression as if Luke will have no problem with this at all.
"Let's pay a visit to Luke once the academy reopens, okay? He's currently back at the castle under Lady Julia's order to return home." She mumbled something after that, "Her Highness Olivia is also expected to go there… I wonder what that woman is up to…"
"Who's Julia?"
"The second wife of Duke Marcus. He has two official wives and several mistresses. Ah, that reminds me, you need to familiarize yourself with his family members since you're going to be sponsored by him. Always maintain a good relationship with your benefactor and his family, not just Luke," She suddenly turned it into a lecture, "If they like you enough, they might help you get a job once you graduate."
If Duke Marcus has that many wives then surely Nait being sponsored won't put a dent in his pockets. Nait heard from Rudolph that noble children and sponsored students typically get a few gold coins a week as allowance. Imagine what he could do with that much money. His mouth was salivating when he remembered all those sweet cakes he saw at a local bakery in the shopping district.
"The second wife has a boy named Jack that's about your age. Build a close relationship with him as well, okay?" Claudia's words snapped him out of his daze.
His stomach suddenly growled from imagining all the delicious food he'll be able to buy for himself.
Hearing that growl made Claudia chuckle, "Hold on a little longer then I'll buy you something yummy, okay?"
The growling from his stomach was even louder than his timid "Y-Yes."