TL: The dramatic irony in all this is that those ancestors are exactly what Lyles been wishing for for much of his life. Also, Im changing orb to Gem, which is an alternate translation of the same word, as it fits better with Jewel.

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 guilds 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 Im referring you to.

Its a pleasure to meet you.

I-its 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 guysre some nobles from someplace.

Hearing that, I was a little shocked.

Today was the Third Generations duty, but he seemed mildly surprised as well.

Shes the type where you cant underestimate her because shes a woman. And wait, has there been a rise in female adventurers as of late? This must be the flow of time even so, its a strange feeling.

(Strange?)

On the Third Generations words, I felt like tilting my head, but I stopped myself.

Hawkins-san offers a warning.

Zelphy-san, inquiring too deeply into a clients origin is

I got it already. I wont be bringin trouble to boss Hawkins. Its just that Ill need to put out some rules if Im gonna to teach them. Even more so if theyre noble brats. I cant have them half-assing a job you see. If you dont like that, Im steppin down from this adviser position. I wont be takin responsibility for you guys.

She looked at me and Novem.

We nodded and asked about those rules.

Understood. As long as it isnt something impossible.

That so? Then first, dont complain about my advising method. I mean, listen to what I gots to say. Second, Ill be beatin the basics into you guys in three months. Dont 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-sans rule, Novem and I locked eyes.

There, Hawkins asserted a similar opinion.

Quite right. If youve got three members, then it will be easier for us to find requests for you.

I hadnt 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. Were also amateurs when it comes to being adventurers, so it would be best if you listened to her here.

It wasnt because of the Third Generations 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 thats so, Ill take the job. And wait, I was a tad startled when I heard I was teachin newbies, but youre surprisingly obedient.

Novem asked Zelphy-san a question.

Is that really something so rare?

Its usually different. Nobody 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-sans view was supplemented by Hawkins-san.

Here, we have a comparative abundance of work, and its an easy place for freshly recruited adventurers to find jobs. Thats why the Dalien adventurer guild has adopted such an adviser system.

After getting to a point, its easy to start getting worried about ones growth, so therere quite a few who want to push themselves, see? They first learn the foundation from some low-class adventurer, and come to a mid-class one like us when they think theyre 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, whos been an adventurer for twelve years. Her experience is abundant, and there isnt 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.

Im 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. Ill 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 Guilds meeting room, Zelphy-san gave us an idea of the necessities of an adventurer.

Well then, Ive gone through all the basics, but the most important thing is comrades. Youve gotta understand that. No matter how skilled a guy is, theyll 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 partys request success rate, and record of problematic behavior was written.

Even when everything seemed normal, be wary.

Dont do what youre incapable of.

An adventurer shouldnt 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 quantity aside, shouldnt we be concerned about the quality?

Zelphy-san shook her head.

That depends where that qualitys been assigned. 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 dont want to.

But from the Jewel, the Third Generation

Tools and humans all have a way to use them.

(Isnt this persons a little dark)

Right? Even if there be a problem with strength, based on the contents of the request, its 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. Theyre all an adventurers 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.

Theres a limit to what a single person can do alone. Its fine to aim for first class, but if you misunderstand that fact, youll make a grave mistake one day.

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

Good! Then lets talk business. Of course, its quickest to learn these sort of things through experience.

Saying that, she presented a document she had prepared for us.

Um Zelphy-san?

Novem seemed troubled.

Whats up?

To a smiling Zelphysan, Novem spoke.

This page has Cleaning the City Drainage written on it, but

Yep, thats 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 wont let Lyle do something like sewer cleaning! Look here, even if you stick on former, hes the heir to the Walt House, isnt 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 didnt 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 didnt seem to have any interest. More than that

Why not? As long as Novem-chans not dirtied, theres no problem.

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

Ill make sure Im 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, its 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 noble, cant you!? Unlike you guys, Lyles a real among reals! A bona fide noble!

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

Why are you treating us as fakes~? Just whats your difference between real and fake?

The Fourth was the same.

Only the Fifth didnt 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 Counts House! Listen here, to put it simply, hes 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? Thats the first Im hearing of this.

Was something even I didnt 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 participated in a war with another country and died in battle.

But henceforth, the Walt Houses 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 participated 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 couldnt reveal that it was still being passed down on the surface. I mean, the surviving clan was the bloodline of the one who started the rebellion, Agrissas 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 grandmaZenoire 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 Agrissas 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.

Youre 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-class blood. And one of them is Lyle understand?

The Sixth started to explain why they couldnt eradicate the old monarchys 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 thats 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 nobles, 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-class 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 glasses with one finger and got us back on track.

It was about drainage cleaning. But from there, weve ventured into something quite grand. And wait, Im surprised the Walt House got royal blood into it.

The Third was of the same opinion.

Precisely. Even so, I wonder why Lyles Mana reserve is so pitifully low.

Thats because you guys are too rowdy, isnt it!? Ill 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.

Dont get so heated over sewer cleaning.

B-but still, Fifth Generation

Perhaps because he was his father, the Sixth couldnt offer a strong response to the Fifth. It was as if the First and Seconds relationship had been turned on its head.

Regardless of whether hes royal blood or not, at the moment, hes an adventurer whos been driven out of his home. If the adventurer adviser wants to make Lyle clean gutters, then isnt that fine? Rather than that, Im just happy he wasnt asked to commit a crime or anything.

The Seventh tried to refute him.

H-however, Lyles standing is

And Im saying his current standing is as an adventurer. Itll be a good experience. For his sake, itll 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 Lyles 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, Im sorry

The others didnt 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 Daliens 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, its already noon. Ill switch in.

The sentiment is enough.

Novem worried for me, and told us to switch jobs. But I cant 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 dont see how it was necessary.

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

Ah, thats what I was wondering too. You couldve just married into the standing monarchy. I dont think any goodll come of extending your reach farther than need be.

The Fourth didnt seem to have any interest in me. All four of them seemed to be fine with me working as long as Novem didnt dirty herself.

There were different circumstances than back in your guys time. Unless the scope was large, we wouldve been dragged into something troublesome whether we liked it or not.

On the Fifths 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 wasnt strange for a reason to be fabricated for our subjugation back in those days.

It was apparently quite a troubling era, based on the Sixths grumblings.

Our Lyle would have married into royalty too. Or perhaps he would have met the kings daughter and elevated us to a Marquis House. If his environment didnt stick their hands into it, it shouldve 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 wasnt a problem with my physical stamina, but my mental fatigue was surfacing.

Obviously, it was all because this damn Jewel was continuing to eat up my Mana!

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

Youve 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. Lets keep on taking up requests like this as a means of training.

Eh, no if possible, Id like to start hunting monsters as soon as possible

I tried to oppose Zelphy-sans opinion, but Novem agreed with her.

Thats right. Its not right for us to push ourselves, and more than anything, Lyle-samas safety is first and foremost. These sorts of jobs are an experience in themselves, and Ill also try my best.

As Novem declared her participation, the Jewel was astir.

Stop her! Novem-chan doesnt have to do something like that!

Lyle, on with it! Youre worrying Novem-chan!

As expected of sis descendant. Shes well built. But of all else, I dont want her doing a job like this.

Show your guts! In front of a woman, its only natural for a man to do the impossible!

First, Second, Third, Fourth

(I-its because you guys are so noisy)

But it didnt end there.

You plan on making him do even more!? Thats more than enough! What meaning is there in having him continue jobs like this!?

Calm down. Hell 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, dont act up so much, you all! Youre making it worse for Lyle!

The Seventh was also quite worked up.

Im happy that hed gotten angry for my sake. But still, Id 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.