Chapter 87

Father is kind, but he is not the type to casually shoulder the expenses for just any adventurer and find them employment, let alone make them the bodyguard of a duke's eldest son.

The reason Father hired Lisa is that she was an excellent adventurer whose reputation had reached his ears, and he had been targeting her.

I don't know when Lisa realized her own talent.

It was probably when she used the appraisal stone at the adventurer's guild after leaving her village.

If she had known about it while still in the village, the village would have definitely tried to keep her.

They wouldn't let someone with high-level skills leave easily.

They would have raised her to protect the village from monsters, or to serve as a noble's bodyguard or wife, to bring prosperity to the village.

Her skills are so strong that she could easily take over the role of my maid and bodyguard, a position that would normally be filled by a noble's knight or a noble's daughter, despite her being a commoner.

I haven't seen many precocious types before.

However, all of them have at least one stat that is below average for their level.

I am a late bloomer, but due to my age, my stats are below average for my level, though my MP increases very easily.

In contrast, precocious types have something below average compared to others of the same level.

Lisa's HP is about 30 to 40 points lower than others of the same level.

But if she can compensate for it with her skills, there's no problem.

That skill is the rare level 5 skill, Swordsmanship.

Its ability is to increase the sharpness and durability of swords and prevent them from chipping when used.

Combined with wind magic, Lisa, as a swordsman, was top-class among adventurers.

Another reason is that she is from the Kingdom of Pornezia and her movements were very easy to track, and her character was easy to investigate.

Of course, she wasn't the only strong adventurer, so there were probably several candidates. Among them, her sisters unfortunately fell ill.

The rest was to wait in ambush at the place where she would undoubtedly come, the noble's mansion where a level 7 water mage resided.

Father pretended it was a coincidence and approached her, and successfully hired her.

I heard this from Father a long time ago.

When I heard it, I felt like I was witnessing the machinations of the nobility.

It might sound bad to say it was a transaction, but if I were asked whether it would have been better not to cure them, the answer would be no.

Then should it have been done for free?

It would be delightful for the one being cured.

However, I don't recommend that for the one doing the curing.

As I mentioned earlier, Rose is a former court magician, or in simpler terms, a professional.

In anime, professionals often say things like, "Pros don't do things for free," which is also a form of self-defense.

If you do something for free for a stranger even once, people who hear about it will keep coming.

Eventually, the one doing it will get tired and want a break.

When you tell them, they will likely say, "Why did you do it for that person but not for me?"

People can't tolerate unexplained discrimination. They can't accept it unless the difference in treatment is clearly explained.

But for the one doing it, it's a nightmare.

If you yell, "I'm tired of it!" and turn them away, you might not have dinner the next day.

So, professionals don't do things for free for strangers outside their family. They take the self-defense action of charging money.

Rose, being a professional, charged a proper fee. This is just my guess, but it was probably the market price. However, Lisa couldn't pay.

So, she hired her.

In exchange for not paying, she borrowed Lisa's strength.

The process was properly followed.

If I asked if Lisa was set up, Father said the illness was a coincidence and she needed help.

If I asked if he wouldn't have helped if she didn't have talent, he said it couldn't be helped.

This is where I feel a cultural difference from Japan.

As I mentioned before, in this world, skills and magical talent greatly influence one's life.

In my previous life, I would hesitate due to fear of jealousy, but in this world, there's a rather casual attitude that if you have talent, you deserve special treatment.

There's also a casual acceptance that if you don't have talent, it can't be helped.

Both sides readily accept clear distinctions.

Maybe it's different because talent is visible?

Recently, I've been traveling to various cities, and I've had many thoughts.

While my mind was wandering with these thoughts, Lisa came to request my return home.

"Lord Rain, it's time to return to your room."

"Understood."

Nothing particular happened, but it was a good distraction.

After that, I returned to the lord's mansion in Drinade and went to my assigned room.

I lay down and thought for a while, and then Father came in.

"Rain, I'm coming in."

He opened the door without waiting for my response.

Usually... he almost always enters without waiting for a response.

It wouldn't matter if I weren't in my teenage years.

Father's face was very serious, and I could tell he had come to have a serious conversation.

"Ah, Marshal Orion, it's good of you to come to this humble room.

If you had called, I would have come to you.

Please, have a seat."

I immediately pulled out a chair and invited Father to sit.

"You can be at ease in the room.

And I have come to have a serious conversation."

...Understood.

I was implicitly told to listen seriously.

After preparing two cups of tea at the table and chairs, I was about to leave the room, but Father stopped me.

"Lisa, wait. It's fine for you to stay. You should hear this too."

"Ha! Understood."

She said this and stood behind me.

"Then, since there's no time to waste, I'll get straight to the point."

He placed his hands on the table and looked at me sharply.

I straightened up, more than ever, to listen to Father's serious gaze and prepared to listen seriously.

"Rain, I've come to hear about the content of your level 10 rare skill."