Sevens

Volume 1, Chapter 9 – The First Love……’s Descendant

Translated by: Reiji

An adventurer mustn’t be adventurous.

Those were the words that Zelphy-san taught us. Certainly, they might be correct. Grasping what you can and cannot do, and avoiding doing something reckless would be a good way to stay alive. However, there was also the feeling that it was boring living like this. In fact, I felt like that right now in this situation.

「I, I’m finished.」

Receiving a request for physical labor at the crack of dawn and doing it under the supervision of Zelphy-san is my daily routine. When it was an especially awful day, I would receive the same request twice. I’d be doing stuff like carrying heavy things with my own strength, not being allowed to use magic. There were a lot of those kinds of jobs.

「Good work. Look, the site foreman is handing out the evaluation.」

The foreman who was overseeing the workplace was handing over a sheet of paper to the adventurers. It was the paper that had the client’s evaluation of the adventurer written on it. There were five grades, from A to E, and if you received a C that generally meant the client was satisfied with your work.

But, Zelphy-san wouldn’t tolerate that. The truth was, that with an evaluation of A, the client would have to pay an additional reward, so the grade of B is typically the highest grade one could receive. Zelphy-san told us that we should target that grade. When I went to receive my evaluation, the foreman handed the paper to me.

「You worked really hard today. Here, your evaluation is B.」

I accepted it and said my thanks before heading towards Zelphy-san. Zelphy-san confirmed the B grade and seemed happy.

「C grade will get you seven large copper coins. If it’s B, you’ll get eight large copper coins. You might think it’s a small difference, but one day this difference will add up──」

While I’m in the middle of listening to Selphie-san’s explanation, an angry yell could be heard.

「Don’t screw with me! Why is my evaluation D, huh!?」

An adventurer with a large build grabbed the foreman’s collar. His physique was big with a very scary face. He was a man that embodied the saying that adventurers were a gathering of thugs. Zelphy-san walked towards them.

「That’s because I saw you slacking off. You pushed your work off on other people, didn’t you? Originally your evaluation should be E, you know?」

The foreman was a civilian, but he didn’t show any sign of being scared over the adventurer’s threats. After all, this time Zelphy-san had been dispatched from the guild as an overseer.

Zelphy-san approached the adventurer and said,

「Oi」

「What do you──」

When the adventurer turned his gaze towards Zelphy-san, she grabbed his arm and made him release the foreman. And then, she punched the man and threw him to the ground before stepping on his head. The adventurer screamed when his arm was pulled up and locked in place.

「Wa, wait! His evaluation of me is wrong, so──GYAAAA!!」

Zelphy-san broke his arm without any hesitation. The crack was audible. Everyone shut up after seeing that sight. Zelphy-san then released the adventurer and sent him flying with a kick. Seeing that, the First cackled loudly. As for me, I really couldn’t understand just what was so funny about this.

『What, this guy is this pathetic even with that big body. Even so, that Zelphy girl is also quite something.』

「……Do you think I didn’t see you slacking off? You should be thankful that you didn’t get an evaluation of E. Furthermore you dare to lay your hands on the client? You, are you planning to throw mud on the guild’s face?」

Different from before, Zelphy-san threatened the adventurer with a low voice. The Second seeing that sighed,

『Well, if the requests to the guild decreases, the adventurers would lose their place to earn money. An overseer is also necessary when sending out this many people.』

It seemed only the Fourth was unable to fully accept it.

『……But, I don’t think it’s right for her to accept requests from the guild when she’s working as an instructor. After all, she is Lyle’s instructor. A large amount of money has already been paid for her.』

It was Novem who paid. And that Novem was receiving a different request because she was a girl. Her writing was beautiful, so by making use of that she was doing writing requests at the guild. Unlike me, her reward would be decided by how satisfied the customer was. Zelphy-san told other adventurers to carry away the troubling adventurer before returning to me

「My bad. That kind of idiot always shows up. Recently those ill-bred guys are also increasing in number, so I’m also busy with my work.」

I decided that I also needed to be careful and not make Zelphy-san angry.

「Now then, let’s go bring this paper to the guild and receive the reward. With that, it will be over for today. Tomorrow, show up at the guild properly on time too, okay?」

Hearing that, I headed to the guild just as Zelphy-san instructed.

.

In the guild, Novem had finished her work and was waiting for me to return.

She was talking with someone near the reception on the second floor. Looking closer, it was Rachel-san, holding a wooden staff. Both of them were laughing as they talk with each other. I went to the clerk first in order to receive the money.

As expected, there weren’t that many people lining up in front of Hawkins-san, so I went to finish the procedure there. My turn quickly came. I handed over my guild card and the evaluation paper.

「B Evaluation is it? You worked hard, Lyle-kun. Now then, your reward will be eight large copper coins. Please check and accept it.」

Eight large copper coins were placed on a tray. Normally, an adult would earn from ten to fifteen large copper coins per day. Considering that, receiving a request with the guild as the intermediary felt really troublesome. After all, the guild could earn money just by sending people out. It would be pointless even if I said that to Hawkins-san, but it was hard to accept it. No, I understood that it was that kind of system, but……

「……Thank you very much.」

Perhaps I made it too obvious how I wasn’t that accepting of the situation, in contrast with what I said, because Hawkins-san gave me an explanation regarding the reward.

「The reward is small because it also gets deducted to pay the tax for Dalien. Adventurers are special, after all. It’s not like they’re living here permanently, like Dalien’s citizens, so it makes it necessary for them to pay a tax each time they accomplish a request like this. Well, certainly there is also the commission for the guild included.」

I forcefully convinced myself and accepted the reward from Hawkins-san, and then I headed towards Novem. I was worn out from doing work I was unaccustomed to. I wanted to get back to the inn, have a bath and some dinner and lay down right away.

「Lyle-sama, thank you for your hard work. You must be tired today, so let’s return quickly and have dinner.」

Then Rachel-san looked at me.

「Lyle also seems energetic.」

「Yes. Well, somehow……by the way, Rachel-san was also doing writing work today?」

When I asked that, feeling that it was unexpected, Rachel-san nodded. She was answering me with a smile, which was her way of being considerate as a magician.

「Rondo and Ralph are the vanguards who put their bodies on the line after all. In our case we are only going out for a bit and fighting a few troublesome monsters around this area, but because of that the exhaustion of the two vanguards are great. Even if I only need one day to rest, I want those two to rest for two days.」

Novem continued the explanation.

「And so she is doing writing jobs the whole day like this. She wants to save money as quickly as possible, even if it’s only a little bit.」

It felt like she was working slightly too hard. Even if she wanted money, I thought that perhaps there would be a better way than that.

「You aren’t going to increase your party members? Zelphy-san said that it would be safer like that.」

Rachel-san’s expression turned complicated.

「Yeah, we are also thinking that. We are, but……. Look, the three of us came from the same home town and are aiming higher even from here on. We’re thinking about being adventurers in the free city of Beim, but in that case we’ll want someone who has that much motivation…but, a lot of rookies are gathered in Dalien, and it’s also easy to live here. That causes a lot of them to decide on staying here.」

Now that she mentioned it, the city itself was in the middle of expansion. Even the physical labor I was doing was for the construction of a new rampart. Apparently, a lot of manpower was needed in Dalien, so a lot of the youngsters who were aiming to become adventurers settled down here. Even I, if I found a stable environment, would want to choose that.

「Even people who want to aim even higher will have differences in where they are aiming at. We are thinking of gathering comrades for real after leaving Dalien. Well, if we can find comrades here then we will invite them, though.」

Each person had their own thinking and acted based on it. It was their plan, so it’d be no good if I meddled.

「Is that so.」

Then Rachel-san suddenly looked at Novem.

「On another topic, Novem is really amazing you know? It looks like she was doing writing work these several days, but her writing is beautiful and her sentence composition is also amazingly skilled! We were talking about that just now.」

Novem was strictly educated as the second daughter of a Baron house. Naturally she could read and write, so she wouldn’t be troubled with writing work. But Novem was flustered.

「Rachel-san, it’s, about that──」

「Just today she earned eleven large copper coins. Her work was fast and neat! Her customers were also satisfied and a lot of people were lining up in front of her. I also want her to teach me various things……e, eh? Lyle, what’s wrong?」

Hearing what Rachel-san said, I looked at Novem. Every day she told me that she was earning six or seven large copper coins. The Sixth spoke to cover up for me──or rather for Novem.

『Lyle, it’s not like Novem was lying to pocket the money for herself, it was for your sake, who went outside and worked hard, coming back drenched in sweat……』

The Seventh too, he forced a cough and then spoke some.

『Ye, yes. Be, besides, that. She also paid twenty gold coins before this. I think it’s not a problem here even if Novem reported that the money she earned is slightly less. Lo, look……she was just lying for your sake.』

However, the First’s words became the trigger.

『As expected from Novem-chan. But compared to her, when it comes to a certain someone, it’s ridiculous. Someone who’s overly conscious of his cheap wage even though he’s only doing physical labor, and acts like he isn’t in the wrong even when he can’t earn a satisfactory income…it makes me cry thinking that this is my descendant.』

──I ran away to escape from this place. Tears were about to come out, and I didn’t want the two of them to see me like that.

「Lyle-samaaa!」

「Wait, what’s wrong!」

I blocked my ears towards the voices of Novem and Rachel-san coming from behind me and continued to run through the city of Dalien.

.

Dalien──

I was walking totteringly on a street with few people. I was running around recklessly at random, so I didn’t even know where I was. It was narrower than the main street and perhaps I was heading to a dangerous place.

But, something like that didn’t matter. I understood that Novem lied about the amount she earned to be considerate about me. However, it was still frustrating that the reality of the situation was thrust in front of me while I’m tired of various things. Since I left the mansion…no, even before I left the mansion, I was useless. I hated myself.

「……damn it.」

Voices worrying about me came from inside the Jewel. But, the First’s voice could be heard mixed in.

『What? Acting frustrated when you’re alone like this. Do it after you become capable of various things. The likes of you right now aren’t even worth getting frustrated over!』

Hearing those words the Second yelled at the First.

『Just shut the hell up! Even though you yourself aren’t much at all, you’re just being an annoying nitpicker! Lyle, I understand it’s frustrating, but you should──』

I took the Jewel-embedded pendant off my neck. The Seventh called out to me.

『Ly, Lyle!』

「This kind of jewel……is just……」

Then the First provoked me even more.

『Aa? You, you’re going to throw it away? Then just throw it out! We don’t wanna teach our Arts to some ignorant crybaby like you! Just throw it out already!!』

Originally it seemed that a Jewel’s role was to teach the owner the Arts of the past owners it recorded. But, a tool that didn’t even fulfill that role and only insulted me asit drained my mana…it was just a bother. I’m also tired and irritated. I grasped the jewel tightly, then held it up and threw it hard. Then…

「Ouch!」

The blue Jewel splendidly hit a red haired girl who came walking out of a small alley.

「I, I’m sorry!」

I ran towards the girl in a panic and apologized for the Jewel that hit her. Even though the blue Jewel rolled a slight distance away, a voice could be heard from nearby. It was the Third.

『Lyle, I’m sorry, but the current owner of the Jewel is you. You’re connected to the Jewel via a line of mana. Even if you left it somewhere, the situation would only amount to you hearing our voices and draining even more mana to keep the connection active. We wouldn’t be able to teach you, either. I think it’d be better for you to carry it, you know?』

Isn’t this something like a cursed tool that only gives demerits? I was thinking that while apologizing to the girl in front of me, and then the girl saw the fallen blue Jewel. When I looked closer, the girl’s neck also had a red Gem hanging down there tied by a string. She wore a short skirt and a small apron. Her outfit was frilly, and she was also wearing some high socks that reached up to her thighs.「Ouch ouch ouch……geez, just what are you doing even though I’m going to work after this.」

Being told that, I apologized.

「I, I’m sorry.」

「There is no way it’s enough with just an apology……you, are you crying?」

It seemed I was crying without realizing it. I wiped my eyes. The girl picked up the Jewel on the ground and handed it back to me. And then, the girl who also possessed a red Gem on her neck grabbed it and looked at me.

「Isn’t that an important item? Mine is my family’s heirloom, you know?」

Looking at the girl who possessed a red Gem, I felt slightly envious. Originally a Gem wouldn’t talk to the owner. Besides, it was a tool that only taught Arts. Apparently it would only teach the first stage of the Art, but even so it was still better than the cursed item I was carrying.

「It’s an heirloom but……it’s irritating.」

The girl was slightly shorter than me. But, she was standing straight so she looked imposing and dignified.

「Then don’t throw it out! If you are throwing it out, don’t hit people with it! You’re lucky it was me, because normally someone would beat you up over it.」

「……I’m sorry.」

My shoulders dropped while my gaze fell towards the cursed item that returned to my hand. Even if I threw it away the voice would still be audible, without any benefit at all, it was nothing but a cursed item. I was thinking of a way to destroy the Jewel.

The girl looked towards me.

「If you feel guilty then……let’s see, won’t you come to the shop where I’m working?」

「Eh?」

「I’ll give you a service there.」

Saying that the girl threw out her chest. Her red long hair that reached until her waist was curly and pointed outHer almond shaped eyes slightly gave the impression of someone forceful. She had violet eyes and a balanced and trained body. She might have just taken a bath, as the scent of soap came from her white skin.

「I am Aria Lockwarde. I’m working in a shop ahead from here, you see, so I’ll forgive you if you come with me. I’ll also give you a service on this occasion too.」

I gasped and when I looked around, the number of people in the surroundings was starting to increase. Furthermore, there were a lot of men, and a bunch of women were calling out to passersby from the storefronts. It seemed that without realizing it, I had wandered into something like a red light district.

「I, I’m Lyle Walt. Bu, but, I don’t have that much mone──」

「Do you have a large copper coin?」

「Yes.」

「Then it’s fine. Come along.」

Saying that, Aria-san pulled my hand and we walked through the street with showy shops lining up. When I turned my gaze to the surroundings, my face turned red. Inside there were also women wearing risque clothing and calling out to the passing men. The Fourth’s panicked voice came from inside the Jewel.

『Lyle! Have you forgotten about Novem!? Remember how Novem sold her dowry for your sake! You mustn’t offer your important money that you earned from hard work to the likes of a prostitute! You guys say something too──obuh!』

The Fourth suddenly fell silent. It also sounded like someone punched him. When I was thinking who did that, it seemed that the First was the one who did him in.

『……What are you doing so suddenly?』

『……Aria……also Lockwarde……furthermore, red Gem……the, there is no doubt. She is Alice-san’s descendant! There is no doubt! She really resembles her! I, is this……fate……?』

The First suddenly raised his voice and I along with everyone inside the Jewel couldn’t react. The Second asked the First.

『Who is that?』

The First declared boldly.

『Obviously it’s my first love, Alice Lockwarde!』

──No, my bad but I don’t think anyone knew her. I and also the ancestors inside the Jewel couldn’t react to that. We just sat there bewildered.

.

──Hawkins and Zelphy were talking at the guild’s reception desk.

「So, how is Lyle-kun?」

Zelphy laughed while answering Hawkins’s question.

「A former son of a noble who will work even if he doesn’t like the job. Just that fact alone makes him less objectionable. He is a diligent person I think? He doesn’t complain at all to me, after all. But, his expression looks dissatisfied though.」

「However, Zelphy-san was expressly placed to monitor him. The feudal lord is that concerned about him.」

Zelphy smiled at those words and answered back.

「Oops, boss……I’m just a mere adventurer. It’s not related at all with the feudal lord. I accepted the request to be those two’s instructor simply for the money. Haha~, it’s really helpful that a spoiled former noble kid has some money. What’s more, he’s ignorant of the world and obedient, so the teaching is also easy.」

Hawkins shrugged.

「Pardon me. That’s how it is, isn’t it? However, ignorant of the world and obedient, is it……it reminded me of a certain someone. Zelphy-san, too, at the beginning also failed in various ways.」

Hawkins laughed slightly and Zelphy averted her eyes and closed her mouth. Because of that Hawkins spoke about the report on Novem.

「Come to think of it, Novem-san is amazing, you know? Her letters are beautiful and her communication is also polite, so she’s popular and has a lot of customers lined up for her. It would be really helpful if she could join as a guild staff member.」

Zelphy listened to Hawkins’s words of praise to Novem while turning her gaze to another counter that was becoming noisy. The blonde haired blue eyed beautiful clerk Santoa was dealing with some thugs over there. They were inviting her to drink, but she was refusing with a smile. Zelphy stared at the adventurers who were obviously being a bother while,

「Those guys, they’re the lot who recently drifted into Dalien right? The rumor about them isn’t really good but, how is it in reality?」

Hawkins put the documents in order as he spoke.

「The guild’s side cannot talk about personal information that simply. Now then, this will be the reward for today.」

Zelphy received a considerable amount of money from the job of supervising the working adventurers. Although, if she went outside and fought monsters to earn money, she would be able to obtain an even greater sum of money than this.

(Boss Hawkins didn’t deny it, that means it just as the rumor said. Now then, what to do……I’m busy with another matter though.)

Zelphy looked towards Santoa.

「Ee~, that’s troubling. I’m in the middle of work right now.」

The number of ill-bred adventurers who made a pass at her had increased in number compared to before. It had already become a group of six.

「That’s fine ain’t it. If it’s money we got it.」

Looking at the man who seemed to be the representative of the group, his equipment was quite good. But, it didn’t feel like he was used to wearing it.

(I want to investigate them, but we’re holding an even bigger bomb than that right now. As expected I cannot mistake the priority here……)

Zelphy returned her gaze to Hawkins.

「Hey, boss. I heard that Santoa girl is the daughter of the top brass? She’s still a clerk even with all those bad rumors?」

Santoa had a nice appearance but she was a clerk with a lot of problems. Her response would change depending on the adventurer’s looks, and sometimes she would even mistake the reward amount. The beginners and adventurers with ulterior motives would gather towards Santoa, while the others would line up in front of Hawkins or Marietta, who did good work.

「I cannot answer that.」

Zelphy laughed at Hawkins’s answer.

「Isn’t that an answer in itself? She is planning to ensnare some skilled adventurer for herself anyway, right? Well, that kind of encounter happens a lot after all. From our view point, the female camp, it’s envious how a lot of encounters happen for the males.」

Hawkins sighed at Zelphy.

「What is the engaged Zelphy-san talking about? You are planning to retire after earning a bit of money for the marriage, right?」

Zelphy nodded with an implicative expression at those words of Hawkins──

.

──A few days later.

Novem consulted with Zelphy. Together with Novem was the adventurer named Rachel. It seemed that Lyle along with the men of Rachel’s party were taking suspicious actions. Zelphy listened to the two’s story.

「I see. Lyle felt hurt that Novem’s earnings were bigger than his, and after that he ran away. When he returned, he had a refreshed face, and then he invited the other men from this girl’s party and they all went out playing.」

Novem affirmed Zelphy’s statement with a worried look. As expected, she had already faintly suspected what was going on, but inside she must be wanting to deny it.

「Even when we asked where they were going, they only replied ambiguously. Besides, it also doesn’t look like they’re wasting too much money. They would set out after finishing work, wander around a bit, and then return a few hours later.」

Rachel continued Novem’s explanation.

「Somehow it looks like Rondo and Ralph were wandering around at the same time period that Lyle was also wandering around. When I tried asking them……they said they were together with Lyle.」

Zelphy wanted to tell Lyle and the other two to hide such things a bit more skillfully. When she asked, Lyle had never laid his hand on Novem. But, thinking of Lyle’s age, as expected he obviously had some lust. Furthermore, he might be in a bit of a bad temper after learning that he was earning less than Novem. At that time, a man would often run towards alcohol, gambling…and women.

「So you said that the men were also invited by Lyle and they also started wandering around? And, you’re also the lover of one of them, right? How is he doing at night?」

Rachel was obviously flustered from asking that. Seeing that reaction Zelphy didn’t ask further about it.

「Got it. It’s simple to investigate it. Or rather, you two have also realized it right?」

The two’s expressions looked like they didn’t want to believe it, but Zelphy wasn’t surprised. The male adventurers who she partied with before were also like this. Besides, it wasn’t completely a bad thing. Men who vented out their desire moderately were safer, from Zelphy’s point of view.

「You won’t know what men would do if they keep their desires suppressed, that’s why you should let them vent it in moderation. Well, cheating isn’t a good thing though. Then, how about you tail them, catch them red handed, and take it out on them?」

Zelphy said that jokingly, but Novem and Rachel’s eyes were serious──