Vol 1 Chapter 4 – Becoming an Adventurer While Transformed for Research Purposes【Vol 1 – When Written in Kanji, It’s Saionji Yumeba】

I turned 15.

Recent changes included Yumeba finishing her training with the Saionji Ducal House and joining the Imperial Guard. On her days off, she resumed inflicting hellish training on me daily.

My muscle pain was severe.

“As always, Lio, you’re so frail.”

“Don’t compare me to someone who received the holy sword from the Saionji Ducal House in record time.”

“That’s a compliment, right?”

“…………”

The holy sword.

It was a special weapon with unique powers passed down through generations of the Saionji Ducal House heads who served the empire. Possessing it proved you were either the current head or recognized as the next heir.

Of course, the holy sword’s power was immense, so it was normally sealed.

Rather, the holy sword was typically bestowed upon becoming head, but Yumeba had apparently overcome that with talent and effort, obtaining it ahead of schedule.

Yeah. I could only call it magnificent.

“Lately, the castle’s been filled with this tense atmosphere, so I wanted to secure at least one trump card.”

“…………”

The tense castle atmosphere stemmed from the intensifying succession struggle.

Of the seven princes and five princesses, five were seriously participating: eldest son Friedrich, second son Zigserk, eldest daughter Cassandra, second daughter Cardia, and fifth son Yunix.

“Yunix is quite the enthusiast too. Does he want to become emperor that badly?”

“…………”

Yunix, one of those five, was my full brother—or rather, actually my twin brother.

Naturally Yumeba knew him, but unlike me, he’d grown into a proper royal with golden hair and blue eyes.

Accomplished in both literary and military arts, apparently excellent at magic too, and well-regarded by our parents—truly, the difference in our treatment was like heaven and earth.

As twins, our faces resembled each other, but in my case, attention immediately focused on my hair and eyes first, so no one had ever instantly recognized us as twins.

In Yumeba’s case, since she’d met me first, she apparently couldn’t immediately notice Yunix resembled me.

“Ugh… my muscle pain is terrible, so please help me up.”

“Well, Yunix is so excellent you’d never think he was this one’s brother, so it’s not my concern.”

No matter how much I mastered magic, my base physical abilities wouldn’t improve.

“Brother.”

After finishing Yumeba’s hellish training, as I walked unsteadily toward my room clutching my aching body, someone suddenly called out.

Few people in this castle besides Yumeba spoke to me, but…

“Yunix?”

For the first time in ages—truly ages—my twin brother Yunix had approached me.

He appeared gentle and kind at first glance, but I knew his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

Well, someone willingly throwing himself into the succession struggle wouldn’t lack ambition.

“Need something?”

“Yeah. I have a small matter to discuss with you, brother.”

“…Can we talk here?”

“I’d prefer somewhere calmer where we can sit.”

“…Fine.”

Though exhausted from Yumeba’s training, I couldn’t simply refuse an invitation from someone with more authority than me despite being my younger brother.

Reluctantly, I unsteadily followed behind Yunix as he walked.

We arrived at Yunix’s private chambers.

The size and luxury differed from my room, plus butlers and maids lined up to greet us.

“””Welcome home, Prince Yunix.”””

Only the master Yunix received the greeting, though.

“Sebas, tea please.”

“As you wish.”

Yunix ordered one of them—a butler named Sebastian, which would be the perfect butler name—to prepare tea.

Yeah. Regardless of phrasing, this was definitely an order.

Tea was served before Yunix and me with impeccable manners.

“…………”

I moved my teacup and its steam far away, though.

“Not drinking?”

“…Of course not.”

“Hmm.”

Ignoring my attitude, Yunix slowly enjoyed his tea.

“…May I leave?”

“I haven’t talked yet.”

“Then hurry up.”

“Being impatient makes you unlikeable.”

“It’s about the succession struggle anyway, right? Wasting time is pointless.”

Right. As you can see, Yunix and I weren’t on good terms.

Even as full twin brothers, when one is scorned and the other doted on by parents, there’s no way to get along.

Well, I doubted he had any intention of getting along anyway.

“True. I’ve joined the succession struggle and I’m reaching out to noble acquaintances, but since our brothers and sisters were physically born earlier, closing the gap is tough.”

The brothers and sisters he mentioned were likely the other four participating in the succession struggle, excluding Yunix who’d just joined.

I definitely wasn’t included.

“Especially troublesome are those who’ve secured upper nobility—the ducal houses. At this rate, I’ll just fall further behind.”

(Liar.)

At least from my research, the two leading among the five were eldest brother Friedrich and Yunix.

True, Friedrich and the second son had taken two of the empire’s four ducal houses, but Yunix wasn’t falling behind or being outdistanced.

“So I’m trying to secure a ducal house too, and I’ve decided to have you cooperate, brother.”

“…Don’t tell me you mean the Saionji Ducal House?”

The Saionji Ducal House wielded immense influence within the empire but was a dangerous topic in succession struggles, so they’d sided with no one.

True, I was close to Yumeba, and if I asked, the Saionji Ducal House would probably cooperate, but…

“Yeah. If you ask, they’ll definitely cooperate, right?”

“Ask yourself.”

I had no obligation to help Yunix.

“Ahaha. Even I can’t directly approach the Saionji Ducal House. One wrong move and I’d be eliminated from the succession struggle.”

“Then give up.”

“That’s why I’m asking you, brother.”

“…You want me to secure the Saionji Ducal House’s cooperation, then have them support you?”

“Yeah.”

Yunix nodded with a smile, looking innocent.

What kind of nerve did he have?

“I refuse.”

“…Why?”

“Conversely, what obligation do I have to help you?”

“We’re brothers, aren’t we?”

“I have plenty of other brothers besides you.”

“True, but only we are full brothers. Doesn’t that make you want to cooperate?”

“No.”

“…………”

When I showed my firm refusal—Yunix’s eyes narrowed.

“Brother, if you’re too uncooperative, things will get difficult for you.”

“Ha. Going to poison my food again?”

“Ahaha. That makes it sound like I was the culprit who poisoned your food.”

“Sounds like it or not, I’m 100% certain it was you.”

“…………”

Right. When I was six years old, no one else would try to kill me with poison except this guy.

The kind who’d try to kill his twin brother because he thought the disgraced prince was in the way.

That’s why I deliberately moved the tea away.

“Interesting story, but do you have any proof?”

“Of course I have proof… but I won’t tell you. Knowing you’re vulgar and short-tempered, you’d come destroy the evidence by force.”

“””””…………”””””

An ominous atmosphere flowed not from Yunix before me, but from the surrounding butlers and maids.

Was this what they called bloodlust?

Well, nothing could happen to me in this room—Yunix’s private chambers.

I was still a prince, his own brother.

If Yunix did something to me in his own room, his reputation would plummet.

Image-conscious Yunix would never make a move.

“How unfortunate. I thought we could work together as brothers from now on.”

“Let me advise you as your brother: that’s called exploitation, not cooperation.”

“…………Educational.”

When I advised him in a thoroughly mocking tone, even Yunix’s mouth twitched.

Of course, not at the advice itself, but because he was irritated that a disgraced prince dared lecture him.

Well, I could only act tough because I had Aegis.

I was confident poison and assassination wouldn’t work on me.

There was also the possibility he’d target people close to me, but in the current imperial capital, the only person close to me was Yumeba, so I had zero worries.

Whether noble or royal, picking a fight with the Saionji Ducal House was nothing but suicide.

◇◇◇

So I’d completely made an enemy of Yunix, but…

“…Petty.”

When I returned to my room, it had been ransacked and my bed was slashed to ribbons.

Well, all truly important items were in my Dimensional Storage, so the damage was negligible.

Though the unusable bed would cause sleeping problems, my Data Map had already completed not just the empire but the entire continent, so I could go anywhere and didn’t need to sleep in my room.

Well, even before that, I could repair a bed with my magic or create a new one.

Still, having my room ransacked repeatedly was tediously annoying, so from now on I’d keep all room items in Dimensional Storage and only take them out when needed.

◇◇◇

Right, I’d become an adventurer.

No particular reason, but strike while the iron is hot.

I left a duplicate in my room, transformed into Alisa, and transferred to the imperial capital.

In the empire—or rather, this continent—adventuring was a profession anyone 15 or older could pursue.

Go to the adventurer guild reception, give your name and age, and you’re an adventurer starting today.

Well, that was truly the bare minimum procedure. Normally, just presenting identification let you start at E-rank instead of the minimum F-rank.

Adventurer ranks proved not strength but social credibility.

An extreme example: F-rank adventurers wouldn’t get loans anywhere, but around C-rank, the adventurer guild became your guarantor and backed you, vouching “this person is trustworthy,” so you’d get loans.

In short, no matter how strong you became, your rank wouldn’t rise if you were a lawless rogue doing whatever you wanted.

Of course, exceptions existed—those who soloed overwhelmingly powerful monsters and contributed to society got rank increases.

Those were usually super A-rank—commonly called S-rank.

That’s why among the handful of S-ranks on the continent, some were rogues.

Thinking such thoughts while walking around the capital, I arrived at the adventurer guild.

Come to think of it, I’d only developed utility magic, barely any offensive magic—but I’d manage somehow.

I opened the guild doors and entered.

Surprisingly, it was sparse inside with few people.

(No, thinking about it, if everyone’s out on monster-hunting requests, they’d leave in the morning, so this time being empty makes sense.)

Convincing myself, I proceeded to the reception.

“Welcome to the adventurer guild. How may I help you today?”

A female staff member in her twenties responded.

Even at the rough adventurer guild, were pretty receptionists essential?

“I’d like to register.”

“Understood. Do you have identification?”

“Without, please.”

“…In that case, you’ll start at minimum F-rank. Is that acceptable?”

“Fine.”

If I presented my identification, it’d be obvious I’m the Fourth Imperial Prince.

Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t present it.

“Then please fill out this form. Do you need assistance writing?”

“I’m fine.”

I received the form from the receptionist and scanned it.

Required information included name, age, and a section for special skills relevant to adventuring.

(Name: Alisa, Age: 15, Skills: Magic)

There was also an optional section for desired alias.

Writing some self-conceived alias here would definitely become dark history later.

So I left the alias section blank and submitted it to the receptionist.

“Yes, confirmed. Miss Alisa, correct? Starting today, you’re certified as an F-rank adventurer. This plate is your adventurer’s license, so please don’t lose it. Replacement fees apply if lost.”

“Thank you.”

I received a wooden plate.

No special craftsmanship, just a simple plate with my name and a large F indicating F-rank.

It was wooden because F-rank had no credibility. Upon reaching E-rank, it would be exchanged for a metal plate.

Becoming an adventurer was easier than expected, and I wasn’t hassled by rough senior adventurers like a template scenario.

Well, not being hassled was probably because of the sparse timing.

“To accept requests, please check the request board over there. If you have questions, come to reception.”

“Understood.”

Anyway, let me look for requests I could handle on the board.

Naturally, most posted requests were monster subjugation.

(By the way… where do monsters appear?)

I activated Data Map in my right eye to display the imperial capital area, but no monster-appearing locations existed within day-trip distance.

“Excuse me, may I ask something?”

“Yes?”

So I honestly asked the receptionist.

“Where do monsters appear?”

“The closest to the capital is the Eastern Forest. By His Majesty’s order, we’ve received priority requests to exterminate forest monsters, so hunting monsters there earns rewards.”

“Eastern Forest.”

Checking Data Map, it was nearly 50 kilometers away.

“…Isn’t that far?”

“Yes. It’s definitely not day-trip distance, but it’s relatively safe, has imperial subsidies, and is profitable, so everyone eagerly heads to the Eastern Forest.”

“…Thank you.”

This was different from what I’d imagined.

Still, I knew where nearby monsters appeared, so I rechecked the posted requests.

The highest-paying was a Demon Bear subjugation request—a giant bear.

The reward was an incredible five gold coins.

Oh, incidentally, this world’s currency values were:

【Base Coin】: About 1 yen value
【Iron Coin】: About 10 yen value
【Copper Coin】: About 100 yen value
【Large Copper Coin】: About 1,000 yen value
【Silver Coin】: About 10,000 yen value
【Large Silver Coin】: About 100,000 yen value
【Gold Coin】: About 1,000,000 yen value
【Large Gold Coin】: About 10,000,000 yen value
【Platinum Coin】: About 100,000,000 yen value

Five gold coins converted to about 5 million yen.

Though I was a prince with decent funds, even I recognized five gold coins as a fortune.

Of course, it was proportionally dangerous.

Well, no need to be that adventurous from the start. Other requests existed too—wolf-type monsters, boar-type monsters, plenty of monsters mutated from wild animals.

(Are monsters like mutated animals?)

I’d excessively gathered magic knowledge but knew almost nothing about monsters.

All I knew was the empire encouraged subjugation because they hindered continental unification.

(For now, maybe I’ll try the simplest request—a mutated rabbit monster with horns, a giant Horn Rabbit.)

This was an ongoing request. Instead of taking the request form to reception, I could just bring back proof of subjugation—for Horn Rabbits, their horns—and receive payment.

Incidentally, the reward was one silver coin per rabbit.

About 10,000 yen converted.

Considering it wasn’t a day trip, I’d probably be the only adventurer targeting this in the Eastern Forest.

I quickly transferred to the Eastern Forest, found a Horn Rabbit with Eagle Eye, and finished it with my newly developed Lightning Magic.

Right. Fire would char it, wind would shred it and lower material value, so I’d developed magic that killed via electrocution.

Even if I couldn’t finish in one shot, they’d usually get paralyzed by electrocution, so I thought it was convenient magic.

After taking down one Horn Rabbit, I wondered:

“Can monsters be eaten?”

Were monsters valid as food?

Though I could at least drain blood, I lacked butchering knowledge, so I’d research that next time.

For now, I cleanly severed the Horn Rabbit’s horn with a sharp water blade—and returned to the guild to submit it for payment.

Naturally, the receptionist was extremely surprised.

Obviously—I’d gone to and returned from the Eastern Forest, an impossible day-trip distance, in under an hour and submitted proof of subjugation.

Well, of course I kept it secret.