Episode 0-a. The One Who Moves Forward.
In the principality of Saravati.
A country known as the holy land of adventurers, with a constant flow of people coming and going.
It was the place I first arrived at after leaving the Ephrin Empire, and I had established it as my base for the past three years.
It was said that each race had a tendency to live in their own territories without much mixing, but in the principality, one could still see a few different races.
Despite that, it was quite surprising that I hadn’t seen a dwarf at all, but in any case, it was a place that could be said to symbolize freedom.
And.
I was walking in the heart of the city of Vina, one such area of the principality, listening to someone chattering busily.
“Commoner! Thanks to you, I’ve gathered all the money!”
“Ah, yes.”
“I’ll gladly praise you for going to the Northern Realm on behalf of Lady Lucia Vicente Todorika Seymour and bringing back a large amount of wood!”
“Yes, thank you very much for that.”
After sending the carts loaded with wood to the Seymour family’s mansion, we were on our way back to the long-term lodging we had rented.
Old Horn and Avery pulled the cart we had come in first, heading towards the lodging, while my twin siblings and I were just trying to stop by the market to buy some food.
Unexpectedly, Lady Lucia, who I thought would just pick up the wood and leave, kept following us and chattered away.
She hurriedly chased after us with her short legs, still covering her mouth with her fan, a habit she hadn’t changed, and her arrogant gestures and tone remained the same.
“Indeed, accepting you as my subordinate was not a wrong choice! I, Lucia Vicente Todorika Seymour, am the symbol of a noble who knows how to take good care of her subordinates!”
“For the 1 billion dera you owe me, I could do anything.”
“Ah… that’s still about 40 years until the repayment period is up…”
“….”
“P-Please wait a little longer….”
However, since she was ultimately human, just bringing up the debt that I had casually mentioned in the past would instantly deflate her spirited demeanor.
In a class-based society, money was essential and important.
“Just kidding. What’s with the 1 billion? You don’t even seem to have 100 million on hand right now.”
“….”
“…What?”
That remark was obviously just a joke, but the reason I kept bringing it up was simply that.
“How rude, Commoner! To fix your inability to learn even basic etiquette, you must rely on me, Lucia Vicente Todorika Seymour!”
“I don’t need that, so just give me the 1 billion dera and leave.”
“Th-That isn’t fair… there are no commoners in this world who would intimidate nobles… You can’t just abandon a comrade after saying that we’re allies…”
It was to put a collar around the eccentric noble who was endlessly trying to act out a pretentious noble’s game.
See.
Just a moment ago, she called me her subordinate, but now those words had slipped into calling me a comrade.
“I’m just kidding.”
“Oh, anyway…! Finally, I’ve reached a point where I can speak to my father about establishing a trading company.”
“Yes, it took quite a long time.”
“Hehe! Now, there are 40 years until the repayment of the 1 billion…! It’s not long at all!”
“…Ah, yes.”
In any case.
As she said, the reason she had been gathering money was to create a trading company under her name.
To put it another way, Lucia had a bit of a greed for money.
Despite the Seymour family being nobles, they were not particularly wealthy, and there was hardly any inheritance that would go to the youngest lady like her.
In order to maintain the posture of a noble proclaiming noble obligations with a proud smile, she needed substantial backing.
Thus, Lucia had her reasons—to earn a lot of money, or perhaps a purpose.
However.
The greed for money of a noble lady was particularly not entirely personal ambition.
“For the so-called commoners, the Lucia Trading Company! Ah… it’s such a splendid role…”
“Ah, yes.”
It was a company filled with only the desire to fulfill what she thought of as a noble’s duty.
“In the future, our company will buy a lot of relief supplies for the commoners and distribute them widely!”
“…Wait a minute. Then where will the profits come from?”
“Uh… why do we need to worry about profits?”
From my perspective, it looked like a trading company that would close down just two years after its establishment.
And if it was simply about supplying goods, it would hardly qualify as a trading company, but more like a non-profit relief organization.
So.
Oh, thick-headed trading company owner.
If what you’ve got up there is truly your head, please think about it for a moment.
“If you don’t pursue profits, your company will fail, regardless of your noble ideals. And you mentioned repaying your life’s worth—1 billion dera.”
“Hmm, of course, I’ll just earn enough to keep the company running, and with the remaining money, I’ll provide relief supplies! And if it’s a 40-year long-term repayment for 1 billion dera, it’s more than manageable…”
“Ah, what are you going on about now?”
“I, Lucia Vicente Todorika Seymour, will create a company for the commoners according to my noble obligations! My primary goal is not profit!”
“…”
I wondered if striking that noble head in this instant would result in the end of my journey.
As I entertained such thoughts for a moment, I let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“Listen. Noble lady with a very poor sense of reality.”
“I’m not a noble lady but Lady Lucia Vicente Todorika Seymour.”
“Enough. Even looking out for the commoners will require managing people; one must account for their wages, regular outgoing expenses, and surplus funds. If you run things without any remaining capital and fail to deliver goods even once, it will be the end for the company.”
“It’s your job to run things well, Ain! Stopping regular outgoing expenses is my job! This way, at least labor costs are free!”
“…”
Is this person truly insane?
“Hmm, what a perfect plan!”
“Hey, d*mn it… Well, I’m a commoner, you know?”
“Yes, you are a lowly commoner! So it is only right that you follow the commands of me, Lady Lucia Vicente Todorika Seymour!”
“….”
Hey, you crazy woman.
You talk about a company for the commoners while treating them like dirt. Where’s the consistency in that?
Besides, I didn’t accept her as a comrade just so that I could work like a slave under her.
“Let’s just exchange the 1 billion dera and part ways.”
“Ah… please don’t abandon me… I’ll work hard managing the company…”
Just go away.
You insane idealist.
Thus.
The plans to establish Lady Lucia Vicente Todorika Seymour’s senseless non-profit relief organization have been canceled for now.
That grand plan would only be considered once the company had indeed grown large enough that capital could be managed without worrying.
For now, we agreed that it was best to manage the company like a proper trading company, pursuing profit as a means to aid our journey.
Of course, while traveling, if we see places that need help, we would help them, but still.
“It’s a pity…”
“Shut your mouth.”
“How rude, Commoner! Following the words of a noble is an insult!”
“If you really don’t want to repay that 1 billion dera, just shut up and go play with the children over there, noble lady.”
“…I, Lucia Vicente Todorika Seymour, will quietly play with the children.”
So I left the whining Lady Lucia, who kept grumbling about how unfortunate it was, with my twin siblings, trailing behind like a ghost.
Thinking back, it was quite absurd that we weren’t heading to Seymour Mansion and had somehow ended up at our lodging.
“Wow! Noble lady!”
“Wow! Pretty sister!”
“Fufu! It’s not noble lady, but you should call me Lucia Vicente Todorika Seymour! I am the beautiful Lady Seymour!”
“Indeed, noble lady!”
“Ah, no. I’m not a noble lady; I’m Lady Lucia Vicente Todorika Seymour…”
“However, that’s too long, noble lady.”
“It’s also a noble’s duty to listen to the commoners…? Then I am a noble lady!”
“Wow~”
Looking at it closely, they seemed to be roughly of a similar mental age, making her perfect for playing the role of the bored children’s toy.
And.
Before long, Old Horn and Avery, who had merely been watching the scene from a distance, approached me.
“Hmm, what a very chaotic woman. Just like a fairy, noisy and all.”
“Haha… I was quite surprised when I first saw it… Nobles rarely mingle with us…”
“It’s strange, but still, she’s a good person.”
We took a step into that scene, our lips curving into a smile.
In any case.
The steps I had taken and the preparations I had in mind took three long years to finally reach this starting point.
An intermediate adventurer without a speck of mana.
A continuously failing quack plague doctor.
War-orphaned twin siblings.
A raving idealistic noble lady.
A fucking racist dwarf blacksmith.
….
It was clear that it looked like a party of madness.
Nonetheless, each of them intended to move forward with their own uncommon goals.
Because they were not ordinary individuals.
Since they were a gathering of those who possessed flaws and deficiencies.
The incompetent sought to learn how to move forward, knowing their own incapacity.
The children once toppled by the world’s tempests wanted to learn how to overcome those tempests.
The plagued doctor, who had collapsed by his own deficiencies, struggled to stoke the flame of life in those who were dying.
And the noble entangled in a decaying society wandered within, starting to firmly grasp what light he must harbor.
And the dwarf, left alone through the years, stepped forward to pursue what he wished.
Our goals were all uncommon, yet we sought to fill the deficiencies each of us possessed.
That was our collective ideal.
Though each had different ideals, the conclusions led to a singular path.
It seemed like we would progress in parallel lines, but when we gazed at the still vague distant target, it would surely weave into a single tale.
I extended my hand towards them, and they grasped mine.
Thus, I am hoping.
At the end of this journey without signposts.
I hope we will each reach our respective goals and meet at the end, bearing light.
