I had decided to see if my power was actually good for anything.
I was super lacking in confidence, though, since all I could do was make gears.
On top of that, I decided to give up on my magic lessons. I mean, I couldn’t imagine lessons about magical techniques would be of any use to me. My parents, by the way, just shrugged the matter off with a, “Well, guess there’s no helping that.”
As long as I at least took the monthly exam, then I would still be able to graduate.
I asked if they were okay with me not helping around the shop anymore. What I got back was, “Leave the shop to us! We told you you’re free to become our poster girl full-time whenever you want, right?”
“Get out there and do everything you can while you have the time!”
My condolences, Pryce...
“In that case...”
“Hmm?” Mom and Dad were both attentive.
“In that case, I want to try going to the adventurer’s guild in the neighboring town!”
“Ooh...”
“So that’s what you’re going for, huh?”
“You know why I said I wanted to go to school, right?”
“Umm, if I recall right, you said it was because of that... Purple Lighting magician?”
“No! Purple Lightning! The Purple Lightning! What’re you saying, Dad?!”
Right, it happened back when I was a kid, when I absolutely adored that picture book.
Some monsters got into town: forest wolves that slipped in while our fence was being repaired. They were just wolf-types, but they were a serious threat to Cardiff back then.
See, Cardiff was so small that our adventurer’s guild was just an intermediary. The closest adventurer’s guild or church was one town over in Donius. So we all evacuated to the upper floors of the buildings while we waited for someone to come take care of them.
The adventurer who came to take care of them was known as the “Purple Lightning.” She happened to be in Donius at the time, and came to Cardiff in an express carriage. And when she arrived, I saw her carry out the extermination.
She was a girl with light purple hair. The surprising thing, though, was that she seemed to be about my age. This was four years ago, so I must’ve been around 11 years old.
The girl held up her hand. Light seemed to flow out of it, and lightning struck the wolves.
It had just taken an instant. That was all it took for her to become my idol.
Afterwards, I asked around (mostly customers) how I could be like her. In the end, I figured going to school was my best bet. In retrospect I made that decision pretty lightly, but my parents still happily gave their permission for me to enroll.
“If I’m going to test out my power, then I’d like to follow my dream and become an adventurer. I-I’ve got no intention of taking on dangerous monster extermination jobs, though...”
My parents thought it over.
“Hmm, well, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, so I’m sure you won’t do anything reckless...”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Adventurers gather herbs and do deliveries, too, right?”
“And if we tell you not to go, you’ll just regret not taking the opportunity... Alright, Anti! Go ahead and give it a shot!”
I was shocked. “Really?!”
“Just make sure you’re prepared. If you’re going to go to the adventurer’s guild, that means you’ll be based out of Donius, right?”
“Ah!”
T-that’s right. You don’t just go to the adventurer’s guild to get registered... If I want to take on jobs, then the intermediary in Cardiff wouldn’t cut it. I’d need to be in Donius at least part-time.
“Well, you’ve gotta come back once a month for your tests, so it may end up being a pain! Ahahaha!” Dad laughed.
Mom cut to the chase. “You’ll have to at least earn enough for a round trip between Cardiff and Donius once a month.”
“If that’s all the money we’re talking, then shouldn’t we just give it to her?”
Cardiff and Donius weren’t all that far apart. If you left by carriage early in the morning, you would arrive before noon. As the bigger of the two towns, Donius was equipped with all sorts of facilities. Cardiff was a nice place to live, but since there was an adventurer’s guild so nearby, they didn’t go out of their way to build a proper one of their own. All we had was a simple altar and an intermediary here.
“...No, I want to try to earn my own way as best as I can.”
“I see. Alright, that’s the spirit!”
“Hehehe.”
Now that I’d decided to challenge myself, I had to aim to at least be able to support myself.
Aim to be as good as the Purple Lightning! ...would be impossible, right? I can only make gears, after all...
“Oh, Dear, what about that?”
“Hmm? Oh! That!”
“...?”
What’re they talking about?
Dad brought out a little wooden box.
“What’s that? It’s sure is a pretty box. It looks like a treasure chest...”
“That’s because it is one. I happened upon it while digging a long time ago.”
“Huh?! What?! You’re telling me the mine you worked in was a dungeon?!”
“Well, to be more accurate, the mine I worked in turned into a small dungeon!”
“W-what’s that mean...?”
“Man, it sure was crazy! The walls of the mine suddenly started moving, like the whole place was alive!”
“A-and then what happened...?!”
“I dug and dug and kept on digging!”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, I didn’t even know where the exit was! And all I had on me was a boxed lunch from Sola and my pickaxe!”
“I remember being so worried! But you sure did it!”
“Huh? What did he do?!”
“I smashed the dungeon core! Used my pickaxe to do it!”
“With your pickaxe?! S-so wouldn’t that make you a dungeon clearer?!”
“That’s right! If you look up the official list of dungeon clearers in the capital, you’ll see my name! Ahahaha!”
“Seriously...?”
To think... Dad, a dungeon clearer...
“And so back then, the government gave him a bit of reward money. That turned into the capital for starting our restaurant.”
“S-so that’s how it went, huh...?”
The history of my household...