Just as life is, I believe that the flow of time also has its shades and hues.
The past six and a half years since I regained my memories have undoubtedly been filled with intense days.
Excited by my extraordinary magical power, I learned magic and trained relentlessly, and before I knew it, I could defeat monsters without much struggle.
Now, I can take down monsters from the Magic Forest in one-on-one encounters.
Well, there were times I nearly died against groups of them, but looking back, those are good memories… no, they’re still somewhat bitter memories.
If I could achieve this much on my own, I suppose that’s quite an accomplishment.
Though it’s a bit boastful to say so, I believe I’ve gained enough power to protect myself.
So today, the day after the coming-of-age ceremony, I will leave this house.
Having finished my preparations, I look around the room.
This room, which I’ve been taken care of for about six and a half years, cannot be flattered as being a good room.
It’s only about five tatami mats in size, and there isn’t much furniture.
The wooden bed is hard, and without the forced sleep from my magical energy deficiency, I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep at all.
However, having lived here for so long, I’ve developed some affection for it.
I could put all the furniture into my inventory and take it with me, but if I did that, it would reveal that I’m a magician.
It’s definitely all cheap stuff, and if I sold the monster materials I’ve accumulated, I could buy something much better.
I’ve got an insane stockpile of materials I’ve gathered since entering the forest.
If I sold them through proper channels after leaving home, I could probably live comfortably for the rest of my life.
Feeling a twinge of nostalgia, I exit the room.
As I start to walk out of the mansion, I see Latz standing there in a defensive stance, with Sara beside him.
“Hah, hah, hah… hey, Kuhn!”
Latz clearly looked flustered.
He probably never expected I would leave home so quickly the day after becoming an adult.
It seemed he had rushed out, as his clothes were wrinkled everywhere.
“What is it?”
The reason he’s able to enjoy steaks lavishly now is that I regularly provide him with monster meat.
If I, the one who can hunt, were to disappear, their meals would revert to the meager, seldom meat-filled days of the past.
Once humans experience luxury, it’s hard to downgrade their quality of life.
“You should become the exclusive hunter for our family. I’ll allow you to establish a branch family as a special retainer.”
“I refuse.”
“What did you say? You, the fifth son, dare to defy me, the head of the family!”
“That’s right. Kuhn should be bringing us more delicious meat!”
Both Latz and Sara seem to think it’s natural for me to stay here, continually reproaching me.
Latz was being arrogant, while Sara was screeching at me.
Their attitude, completely oblivious to their own errors, made me want to bury my head in my hands.
In reality, they don’t doubt for a moment that they are absolutely right.
Nobles are a privileged class.
They believe it’s natural for others to serve them.
That way of thinking is extremely hard for me, who has the memories of modern Japan, to accept.
How can they be so bold as to give orders to someone who can hunt monsters… it’s perplexing.
“You’re supposed to hunt more monsters for us!”
“Exactly! If you produce solid results, we might even share a little bit of meat with you…”
“—Enough, I can’t listen to this any longer.”
I used wind magic to cover my surroundings with a curtain of wind.
Thanks to the numerous times I’ve innovatively used magic to exhaust my mana, my proficiency in wind magic is very high.
Now I can not only amplify or muffle sounds with the wind but also perceive the movements of creatures within the area affected by the wind I create.
I drowned out Latz’ and Sara’s words with the wind and began to walk away.
I deflected Latz’ hand, which reached for me, with the wind.
The fact that I didn’t cut it off wasn’t out of kindness or anything.
As someone who is about to leave home and become just a commoner, it would be a huge problem for me to seriously injure a noble.
Listening to the sound of the wind, I walked slowly.
I already had my destination in mind.
For now, I plan to head east towards the territory of the Baron of Sather End.
What I’ll do beyond that isn’t decided.
We don’t have a decent map at home, so I couldn’t plan anything further.
Well, I have plenty of monster materials stocked up, so I should be able to manage.
It seems there’s an adventurer’s guild in this world as well, and as long as I have strength, I probably won’t have any trouble living.
“I must protect my family at all costs. Once I find someone important, I will make them my family and protect them for life. That’s a man’s duty.”
“Someone important… huh…”
In this world, my parents and siblings were never really family.
I’m not the kind of person who can silently forgive those who resort to violence without conversation.
They are merely strangers connected by blood.
However, upon reflection, the only important person I had in my previous life was probably just my grandfather.
Will someone who I can truly cherish and want to protect appear before me?
As I close my eyes, the greasy faces of Latz and the others float behind my eyelids.
“Family…”
Murmuring that, I began to walk slowly.
Having acquired power and stocked up on things that could be turned into money, you’d think this would be a new beginning in such a situation, but strangely, my steps felt heavy.
It felt like a mix of anxiety and anticipation was sticking to the soles of my feet.
I would likely be able to live better than before, and there are still many things I haven’t seen.
My understanding of the world is narrow, yet the world is vast.
As I took steps forward, I noticed my feet becoming lighter.
Thus, I would part ways with home and begin the path as just Kuhn…
