Sevens

Volume 2, Chapter 18 – Growth

Translated by: Reiji

Inside the Jewel.

Its biggest distinction was easy to notice compared to the Gem before it became a Jewel.

A Gem was a tool to record the Art of the user. The condition so that the Art would be recorded was that the user used the Art until its third stage. The Art would be recorded by the Gem when the condition was fulfilled.

And then, even when the owner changed, if the owner knew the “way to use the Art” and the “Art’s name”, even a new owner would be able to use the Art from the first stage until the third stage like the previous owner.

In case the owner didn’t know these two, the Gem would only teach the first stage of the Art.

However, my blue Jewel that changed from a Gem into a Jewel resurrected the personalities of the recorded Arts’ owners in the figure of their golden age and I could talk with them.

The way to use the lost Arts was taught to me directly by the ancestors. Why it could become like this? Even the ancestors didn’t know why.

I was also able to send my consciousness inside the Jewel──inside the round table room.

I was able to meet the ancestors who were resurrected as memories inside the Jewel. This was the Jewel’s great difference with a Gem.

A round table was placed inside the rectangle room, a large blue sphere was embedded on the ceiling, and surrounding it were small spheres embedded in radiating circle shape. Among the total of 22 gems, six were shining.

There was also a large blue gem embedded at the center of the round table. The chairs for the ancestors were placed surrounding the round table. Behind the chairs were the respective distinctive doors of the ancestors.

There was also a chair for me, but behind me there was no door──the door to the room of memories. Behind the doors, the memories of the ancestors were sleeping.

By entering there, I was able to watch the memories of the ancestors. But, we also didn’t understand why these memory rooms existed.

In the end, what is a Jewel……there were a lot of things that we didn’t understand.

The round table room.

The fourth who served as the moderator pushed up his glasses with his fingertip to fix its position while managing the meeting.

『Ee~, then, I think we should begin the meeting regarding “That’s a bit strange you know, Lyle” now.』

I was more bothered with the topic name rather than the subject of the meeting but I stayed quiet.

The first one to speak was the Second.

『No, I think this isn’t just a bit. Isn’t this at a fatal degree? It’s not normal to treat strangers and comrades equally.』

I felt ashamed at this new opinion. I was only following the teachings of my surroundings though.

The Third put his elbow on the round table and looked at me.

『Until now it didn’t stand out because he was only alone with Novem-chan or with the instructor too. Lyle is surrounded by capable people and he was on the side receiving help.』

The Fifth whispered,

『Your capability in personal relations is catastrophic.』

The First swung down his fist on the table.

『Such thing doesn’t matter! Listen Lyle! Those girls are already your comrades! So to speak, they are existences who you must protect! Don’t treat them the same like strangers!』

I looked at the First.

「From my standpoint, it’s still not decided if I will accept them though……. Besides, the two of them also aren’t my lovers aren’t they?」

The First messed up his hair.

『Look at Aria-chan’s behavior! She is in love with you! So make her happy! I’m begging you here so do that! Please make her happy, this bastard!』

I don’t understand whether he is begging me or ordering me.

The Sixth spoke admonishingly at me.

『Lyle, about that girl Sophia. Her house was erased, and from now on she is going to become an adventurer to pay back her debt to you. Right now she isn’t useful, but she is a girl with no other place to go. It should be alright to take care of her until she is able to take care of herself at minimum. Even if you abandon her, her personality is like that. She will get tricked by bad guys.』

Sophia-san was overly serious and, although not as bad as me, she wasn’t knowledgeable about adventurers. Aria-san had Zelphy-san, but Sophia-san had no one nearby.

「N, now that you said it that’s true.」

The Seventh was looking at me uneasily.

『Lyle, in the past weren’t you someone who was more sensitive to other people? You were also bright and lively, you could do anything……just, what happened?』

Then the Third raised his face.

『Ah, that’s also in my mind. Lyle, you……you were treated coldly in your house right? What kind of treatment did you receive?』

The Third showed interest at my treatment, but the others didn’t look like that. Although I called it a cold treatment, they were surely able to imagine it in general already.

「……I think it’s just like everyone imagines. Err, it was when I was around ten years old. Since I received a saber as my birthday present I think?」

From there I talked about my treatment at my house to the ancestors.

But, the ancestors’ faces were turning pale before my eyes.

Since I got treated coldly, the place of my livelihood was limited to only my room──and the garden that I used to train.

My meals were brought to my room. After I finished eating, the utensils would be taken by the servant when they came bringing the next meal.

The private tutor only handed me books. They didn’t really teach me anything, I read those books in my room and studied by myself.

I never talked with anyone. ──If there was something, I would only be told indifferently and I also never conversed with my family. Even when I talked to them I would get ignored. Thinking back now, it was only Novem who would call out to me when she came to check up on me sometimes.

No, I also had memory of getting knocked around by the young retainers.

Come to think of it, there was a time when I forced myself too much and my health broke down. There wasn’t any particular change even at that time. No doctor came, and I also didn’t receive any medicine.

……Until then. Until I was ten years old if I’m not mistaken……I can’t remember. The hazy memory of kind parents, the time when I received the saber, and then playing with my family……. I could recall until there but, no other memory came out.

I held my head with both hands and felt something was out of place. I couldn’t recall it in detail.

「……Eh? It feels like something is strange.」

I couldn’t recall my own memory at all. The Sixth yelled at me who thought of that as strange.

『That’s totally strange! Brod, did you really raise Maizel correctly huh! Because this is impossible! This is already a genuine life of house arrest!』

The Sixth who grabbed the collar of the Seventh mentioned father’s name. For the Sixth father was his grandson, but I heard that the relationship between father and the Sixth was cold.

The Seventh was also confused.

『N, no, I never thought that it would be this bad! E, even I didn’t imagine that Lyle would receive that kind of treatment!』

It seemed the me that the Seventh knew was loved and anticipated by my family and also by the retainers. I said seemed because for me it already felt like something that happened to another person.

The Second sweated.

『They treated the eldest son like that. Or rather, that’s not a treatment for a child. Even the livelihood of a second son and lower living at home is still far better than that. ……Well, I don’t really know how other houses are though.』

The Fourth was also a bit bewildered.

『It’s far surpassed my imagination that I don’t know what to say. Furthermore, even the retainers were laying their hands, that’s not normal.』

The Fifth was staying silent. But, his eyes were looking at me with a complicated expression, then he hid his face with his hand.

「Eh? Err? ……That treatment, is really that terrible?」

The Third laughed drily.

『Yep. Other than you not getting thrown out, everything else is the worst. It’s far too terrible than what we imagined, to the degree that I can’t get angry at Lyle right now.』

The First folded his arms with a serious face, then he looked at me.

『……Lyle, did you ever get troubled with hunger?』

「Ne, never. They at least properly brought me food.」

Then the First spoke with a small voice.

『I see. At least there is that.』

The Fourth clapped his hand, then the Seventh who got his collar grabbed was released and everyone sat down.

『Yes. Then, now that the cause of why Lyle is more hopeless than expected has been cleared, let’s think constructively about the future from now. In fact, it’s important for Lyle to learn various things with this as a chance. Let’s make use of this chance as much as we can.』

The Fifth slightly shrugged.

『Regarding Lyle’s ignorance of the world, it’s fine to change our perception of him from “he won’t get it unless he is told” to “he will understand if he is told”. Rather, we can consider Lyle as doing better if he is in this state even after receiving that kind of treatment in his emotional period.』

Then, the Seventh turned a sad expression towards me.

The sudden change of attitude from the ancestors made me felt scared instead. Was it really that terrible? For me that was normal.

Somehow, it felt hard to stay here. Then the Fourth switched the topic.

『Then let’s decide about our plan going forward. Look, about Lyle’s combat style.』

Apparently they talked about my combat style.

The Third snapped his finger.

『That’s right! This is only perhaps but, Lyle might be a specialized type. You know, that dexterity he displayed when he fought with the leader-kun of the bandit group before this, I think it was really amazing.』

I tilted my head.

「……Dexterity?」

The Second was a bit exasperated. Gazes were directed at the Fourth.

『No, why didn’t you get it? Look, it’s that time when you used a duel wield style with a saber and a short sword. That was skillful even from our view. Even us, if we have to do something like that perhaps that’s impossible……』

The Fourth slightly straightened his back.

『There is only me huh. But, my duel wield style used two daggers. As expected it’s impossible to use a duel wield style with a saber.』

「……We have two arms, so I think it’s possible to do it though?」

The Sixth rubbed the corner of his eye with his fingertip.

『That thinking is already strange. Normally a person has a dominant arm. Well, from the amount of your mana reserve, no matter how you thought about it you are a type who goes through “Growth” extremely in one aspect.』

The Second folded his arms and nodded several times.

『Your mana reserve is small, but it isn’t bad to grow specialized. In fact, rather than growing with a half-baked rate at everything, it’s easier to decide your own style like this, after all there won’t be any hesitation. What you can and cannot do are made clear.』

I felt discomfort listening to the conversation of the ancestors. Certainly, the current me often ran out of mana. But, I had the perception that previously I had a mana reserve on the larger side.

The reason I fell into mana depletion should be due to this cursed tool called a Jewel that was sucking my mana, not because I had a small mana reserve.

Putting that aside, I was really curious about the word “Growth” that came out in this conversation. When I silently raised my hand, the Fourth said 『Yes, Lyle』 as permission for me to speak. The seven people’s gazes gathered on me.

「Err……what is this “Growth” everyone mentioned?」

Everyone froze.

Did I say something that terrible just now?

.

……Speaking from the conclusion, apparently I was really ignorant of the world.

『That’s impossible! If anyone lived normally, a “Growth” will absolutely have come already at least once at Lyle’s age!』

The Second messed up his hair in confusion, then the First confirmed it with me.

『Lyle, did nothing ever happen to you while living your days? You know, a feeling like *pikkiiin!*. Your health will suddenly get worse, and then after staying in bed that sensation will come!』

The Third hid half his face with his left hand while pondering.

『Eh? Isn’t the sensation like *buwah─*? Leaving that aside, in Lyle’s case he was in house arrest, so perhaps he earned few experience? You know, various life experiences is necessary for growth after all.』

Growth──that was a phenomenon that occurred in order to advance to the next level.

Apparently at first the body condition would become worse. After that, the body’s condition would become good or something as though the sickness was a lie. There were also a lot of cases where people could do what they couldn’t do before by experiencing Growth.

About that Growth, apparently by simply living normally people would at least experience it once by the time they were my age.

Growth would happen two or three times in a peaceful life. It was said that people fighting monsters like knights, soldiers, or adventurers would experience it five or six times.

Because of that, it was said that Growth would come faster by fighting monsters apparently. “Apparently” because I never heard something like this until now.

The Seventh pondered.

『In Lyle’s case, the environment around him was bad. For something like this, most of the time the family would stay quiet about it until that time came, and after the Growth the family would watch over the person smirkingly. That’s the norm but……』

Apparently the person’s mood would be uplifted after experiencing Growth and they would cause a blunder. The family would watch that attentively while smirking. Apparently that was the normal custom.

What an unpleasant custom.

The Second looked at me.

『Wait. Lyle who didn’t even know about Growth and never felt any sensation like *shakiiin!* has this much ability without any Growth or experience? Even though he also can use magic!?』

Magic was greatly influenced by bloodline, a magician was considered as noble because it was magicians that created the class called nobility. But at present, it was the family lineage of Baron house and above that were befitting when mentioning magicians in the real meaning.

The houses with lower status like Baronet or Knight could only use several magic.

But, the bloodline of magician spread widely and not just between the nobility. That there were other people who weren’t nobles able to use magic was because of that.

Well, the likes of magicians were in a fickle position. From the view point of nobles, magicians other than nobles were fakes. From other’s point of view, as long as someone could use magic than they were a magician.

No, right now the matter regarding magic was inconsequential.

「I had nothing but time, so I trained quite a lot in magic too.」

Then the Sixth was exasperated at me.

『That’s not we are talking about. Lyle, you can use magic before your Growth. This is something really amazing.』

It seemed that talent was necessary to use magic that had a high difficulty before experiencing Growth. In other words, I had that talent.

But, not everything was good news. The Fifth made a difficult expression.

『Lyle is that isn’t he. The type that can be found sometimes. The type whose growth is extremely slow……the recoil will be big or the ability will grow drastically in many aspects when the growth comes for this type.』

It sounded good from the contents of the talk, but everyone around me was holding their head.

The Second was troubled.

『That kind will rarely appear huh. That type will also blunder a lot. Because they become drastically stronger, a lot of the time they will be conceited after their Growth even when they try to stay calm. They are the type that died young.』

That’s an unpleasant type. From what the Second said, after the growth they would suddenly become able to do what they couldn’t do before, which caused their feelings to be uplifted. Even if they tried to calm down they would fail a lot.

They would be conceited too, but it would be mostly them wanting to investigate how much their current self could do. Like that, many of this type of people would measure their own strength wrongly, and a lot of times that mistake would lead to their death.

The First listened to the surrounding’s opinion, while,

『Well, it’s that! Anyway, you will experience Growth if you do many things. Defeat lots and lots of monsters from now on. If there is a dungeon nearby then it will be even quicker.』

The Second lifted his face.

『That’s it! Lyle, challenge a dungeon! If you do that it will be faster. After all, dungeons are like a training place in order to achieve Growth.』

「Eh? Dungeon, isn’t it a place that is scary or troublesome?」

A dungeon was a place that was like a distortion in space that naturally appears. At the same time, it was said that the dungeon itself was “alive”.

In order to invite people to enter, a treasure was placed at the place that was called the dungeon’s deepest room. That was metal that emitted mana, rare metal. Even if it was copper, if it was emitting mana, then it was a rare metal. It became precious material for magic tools.

Also depending on the dungeon’s type, there would be monsters inside, and also troublesome monsters called floor bosses which protected each level.

Monsters would come to kill if people entered.

Humans were food for dungeons. Dead humans would be absorbed by the dungeon it seemed. It was a really dangerous place, but the quality and quantity of the treasure in the deepest room was great dependent on the size of the dungeon. It was a place that people aimed at and risked their lives for.

And then, a dungeon would dry out when the treasure in the deepest room was taken. By drying out it meant that the dungeon died.

It was like a dungeon was alive. That was why, challenging such a dungeon was called “growing”.

……And then, the most troublesome thing was a dungeon that wasn’t visited by anyone and monsters were overflowing inside it. In that case a lot of monsters would be released from the dungeon.

In regard to such troublesome dungeon, it felt like the reaction of the ancestors were a bit off.

『Dungeon huh. It’s nice!』

『It’s nice isn’t it. The treasure at the deepest room can be used for a magic tool, and we also can get money if they are sold.』

『You can obtain money and it’s also training for you.』

『Everyone will be scrambling to challenge it when one is found!』

『As expected we don’t have the know-how to manage one, but if it’s only defeating one then we have so much know-how it will make you fed up. Dungeons are easy money.』

The Third until the Seventh also had a strange sense of values regarding dungeons. Normally, it became the feudal lord’s responsibility to subjugate a dungeon when one appeared in their territory. There were also cases where it was entrusted to the guild. Even so, I heard that subjugating one would cause quite some damage.

「Say, I heard that dungeons are really troublesome, and I thought I cannot participate in the subjugation at Dalien.」

Previously, a second dungeon appeared near Dalien. No, even now, manpower was gathered and the subjugation of that dungeon was still in progress. Depending on the dungeon, subjugating it could take from a few weeks until a few months.

When the second dungeon appeared, I told Hawkins-san that I won’t participate. At that time, my party consisted only of me and Novem. The instructor Zelphy-san was, in the end, an instructor and not a comrade.

Everyone was at their wits’ end. Like that they all were talking in disappointment.

『Dammit, even though that’s a good idea.』

『A dungeon is a place to test one’s skill. Don’t put limitations on it.』

『Other than this there is only the plain method……』

『It will become money though. It’s regretful.』

『Aria and Sophia have only joined up too……certainly it will be difficult for them.』

『The number of people is the bottleneck.』

『In our era we could gather manpower ourselves after all. Lyle right now is lacking manpower. It’s overwhelmingly insufficient.』

It seemed they gave up, but why are they this disappointed……. I couldn’t understand the ancestors’ sense of values.

Then, the First talked nostalgically of the past.

『You know, in my era there was an undeveloped area stretching out nearby, there was a forest there. A labyrinth appeared there……』

The First reminisced deeply, but his next words were terrible.

『……That dungeon, even when we cut the trees they will grow back right away. In addition, the trees would grow big immediately and we chopped down lots and lots of wood for the village’s raw material and also to sell. It was awesome!』

It was awesome! Not. This person, what was he doing with a dungeon?

The Second complained, but as expected his complain was off.

『It was because you rashly subjugated even the dungeon, that we lost the precious forestry resource! Give it back! Return back my plan damn you!』

『You dare say “damn you” to your father! Come outside, you sh*tty brat!』

The First and the Second started punching each other again.

The talk deviated, so the Fourth clapped his hand and declared the meeting was over.

『Well, let’s finish here for today. Lyle too, let’s work hard together from tomorrow too. Especially at various things about human relations……especially woman relations.』

The Fourth looked serious and his glasses glinted. This person was also problematic in his own way. Why was he this fussy about money and woman relations?

.

The next day after my consciousness left the Jewel.

Because we had just returned from going outside the city, today was a holiday for us.

But, I alone had some business, so I went to the guild in the morning. Although, my business wasn’t at the first or second floor.

The guild had a reference room. Adventurers could make use of it. A lot of the data there was regarding monsters and dungeons. There were also the documents that the guild kept in reserve.

What kind of monsters there were, what kind of incidents happened. I could investigate various things here.

Other than that there was also data that could be obtained anywhere. It was the Second who mentioned about going to look for data. The Third who loved books was also in agreement, so today I decided to go to the reference room.

When I entered the room, the unique scent of books filled the inside. The smell of paper and ink. Also dust……the place must be cleaned, but it seemed it wasn’t done that frequently.

I entered the room and gathered several documents, then I sat down on a chair and opened a book. I flipped the page then the Second spoke.

『Lyle, fast! You are flipping the page too fast! Can you read like that?』

Being told that I flipped the page too fast, I slowly opened the page. The ancestors could also see the scenery outside through me.

The Third read the data and it seemed he felt something was out of place.

『Lyle, when was this document written?』

When I looked at the cover, from the year……it was from a hundred years ago.

It was really old, but there was also documents that were even older than this. I looked around and opened my mouth after confirming that there wasn’t anyone else.

「It’s mainly from a hundred years ago.」

『……Lyle, you can read it?』

「Well, it’s a bit difficult though.」

Sometimes the phrasing would also puzzle me, but I could somehow read it. Then, the Second seemed to notice something.

『I see. So the words we are saying are adjusted to suit Lyle. I thought it was strange.』

Strange? The Second didn’t say anything more and only urged me to flip the page. I found a bit strange description inside the document that summarized the data regarding the monsters that were often found around Dalien.

「……Orc subspecies? Purple skin and the ability to spit venom. I never heard of something like that.」

I didn’t know there was any monster like that.

Orcs fundamentally would appear anywhere. It had a pig head and two fangs jutting out from its lower jaw. Its legs were thick and short. Its arms were long, reaching until the ground. Its skin was said to be brown. They would carry weapons and I heard there were also some among them that would wear helms.

They were humanoid and would think more than other monsters. They were aggressive towards humans.

Then the Second murmured.

『It’s not subspecies. Even among monsters there are some that go through growth.』

The Third continued the Second’s explanation.

『A few of that kind of monster can also have an Art. Lyle, do you know? Seven Goddesses created this world. And then they granted magic and Arts for the sake of us weak humans. Growth is also considered as one of those blessings.』

The Second snorted.

『There isn’t such thing. Well, I won’t say it out loud because the priest will get angry, but whether human or monster, they all equally grow and also manifest Arts. Besides, there are even monsters that use magic.』

The goddesses equally bestowed their blessings on humans and monsters.

In this world that worshiped the Goddesses, they were considered as mankind’s allies. Because of that, surely people didn’t want to recognize that monsters possessed the same blessings as humans.

The Third laughed.

『Anyone wants to think that they are special. It’s a good thing. But, I wish they won’t force their beliefs on others. That’s why, people have no choice but to write in this way, that there is a subspecies. Feudal lords of the frontier like us have a lot of chances to encounter something like this no matter how we dislike it. I wish they would report accurate information.』

Frontier──in the past, the territory of the Walt House, Weihs was called a frontier. But, right now it was a territory that was really developed even in Bahnseim.

I heard that in the era of the First until the Third, it was a difficult period where even the head of the house at that time was personally plowing the fields.

「Then, the religion of this country right now is no good?」

『Eh, why?』

I felt puzzled hearing the Third’s voice. Even though just now he was saying negative things about it.

The Second spoke in exasperation at me.

『Lyle, we too also worship the Goddess. Err, if I remember right……it’s the Goddess faith that treats the seven as equal rank.』

The Third was also of the same opinion.

『Aa, depending on the region, the Goddesses could be ranked superiorly or inferiorly to each other wasn’t it. In other countries, the major Goddess was the seventh Goddess I think? She is the merciful goddess that bestowed blessings to humans they said. Honestly speaking, I think it’s fine even if they don’t rank the Goddesses or anything though.』

「No, that……just now, didn’t you talk about not writing something like this or that the priest will get angry……」

Then the Third laughed.

『Lyle is really stupid. It’s not like the religion itself is bad, there are even priests who are extremely benevolent. There are also wicked priests though. Well, there are also people who are complaining about this kinda thing. It’s not like that is limited only to priests after all.』

I felt the Second nodded.

『Everywhere you go there will be good guys and also bad guys. Well, a lot of times, the bad parts will tend to stand out more.』

The Third made fun of me.

『Lyle, could it be you are the type who cannot forgive this kind of thing? If you are already that stiff for this, you will get tired going through society.』

The Second said to me.

『It’s also no good if you become carefree like this guy though.』

The Third said his opinion to the Second.

『Eh? You are saying that? If I have to say, the Second is also a stiff person too. Wasn’t it terrible for you after you grew old?』

『That was because you changed my plans as you pleased wasn’t it!』

The two became noisy, so I read the continuation of the document.

What I understood once more after going to the outside world, was how ignorant I am of the world.

But, there were the ancestors who were teaching me who was like that, although……aren’t they themselves extremely off from the common convention? It was a fact that I was holding such doubt like that.