Chapter 1

I will attempt to serialize this as practice for writing a novel. My immediate goal is 40,000 words (cumulative).

The saying "poverty and children in abundance" is indeed apt; even if one has blue blood flowing through their veins, they cannot escape this rule. This is what Node thought.

Node is a member of a lesser branch of a noble family. His family, the Felis family, is a noble family in the Kingdom of Hamil, located in the eastern part of the Ilva continent.

The Felis family has served the founding king Alba I since before the Kingdom of Hamil was established, a family of distinguished lineage. They have continued to serve the royal family generation after generation, and their favor with the royal family is said to be great.

However, no matter how much one talks about honor, it does not fill one's stomach.

The Felis family, though rich in history and tradition, is merely a knightly family of the sixth rank. Their stipend is only 16 silver coins—enough to support four people (it is said that the living expenses for one adult for a year are four silver coins). Additionally, the allowance for the position of Captain of the Guard, which is also a part of their duties, is also 16 silver coins, enough to support four people.

If one can support eight people, one might think that they are quite wealthy. However, things are not that simple.

As a direct vassal of the royal family, the Felis knightly family, of course, must maintain the dignity of a noble and hire servants. At the very least, they need a butler to manage the household and a head maid to oversee the maids. In practice, they would need to hire several more maids.

Furthermore, the Felis knightly family must fulfill their role as Captain of the Guard. The Captain of the Guard, who oversees the guards, must bring at least two soldiers with them, unlike a regular guard who can serve alone, as stipulated by law.

Additionally, it is common for nobles to have personal attendants who serve them individually. A noble without attendants is considered to be of a lower rank, such as a minor noble. In the case of a military family, it is certain that they will have attendants.

Let's do the math. One butler, one head maid, two soldiers, and one attendant—five people in total. Adding the Felis knight and his wife, that's seven people. Children are said to require half a person's support (two silver coins), so with two children, the budget is already tight.

Now, how many children does the Felis family have besides these?

It is—twelve.

One might naturally wonder what they were thinking, but unfortunately, Node did not have an answer to this question. If he had to guess, it was because the head of the Felis family and his wife were very much in love, and the head maid and the maids below her were also loved as his mistresses.

In terms of the family composition, the eldest son, Albiore, is 22 years old. Below him are the eldest daughter, Hanna, who is 20, the second son, Johan, who is 18, and the third son, Node, who is 16. The second daughter, Lilia, is 13, the fourth son, Eren, is 6, and the third daughter, Iris, is 5. The age gap between them suggests that the family might have thought they were having too many children.

However, another baby boom followed, and the fourth daughter, Helena, is 4, the fifth daughter, Franca, is 3, the sixth daughter, Miria, is 2, and the latest additions are the twin fifth son, Christopher, and the seventh daughter, Clarissa, born this year, making a total of twelve siblings.

Naturally, the living expenses are insufficient.

Even when Node and his older siblings were young, the family was so short of money that they had to rely on support from relatives to put food on the table. The current situation is even worse, with twice as many people.

Fortunately, the eldest and second sons have reached adulthood (in the Kingdom of Hamil, adulthood is at 18), so their living expenses are not a burden. The eldest son, Albiore, is already serving the country and receives a stipend, and the second son, Johan, has married into a relative's family in exchange for their support.

On the other hand, the eldest daughter, Hanna, is in a dire situation.

Hanna works as a maid for another family (it is not uncommon for daughters of lower nobles to work as maids in higher noble families as part of their bridal training) and does needlework as a side job. Her embroidery is valuable and has become an important source of income for the Felis family. However, Hanna is now 20 years old.

Despite her good temperament and beauty, which make her popular among men of marriageable age, the Felis family lacks the dowry to marry her off. Therefore, in a kingdom where a woman is considered a late bloomer after 20, Hanna continues to work for the Felis family and cannot marry.

The fourth child, the third son, Node, made a decision.

He decided to earn money and somehow improve the strained finances of the Felis family over the past few years. He also vowed to marry off his beloved older sister, Hanna, who had taken care of him since childhood, and to prevent his younger sister, Lilia, who will reach marriageable age in a few years, from going through the same hardships as Hanna.

To achieve this, Node decided to give up attending the military academy, which every noble knightly family must attend.

The military academy is a place where one is trained to serve the king as a soldier, and graduates are appointed as hereditary nobles.

By excelling in battles, one can advance from a hereditary noble to a hereditary noble. This is the typical path to success for the second son and younger sons of noble families.

Additionally, if one aims to marry into another family, graduating from the military academy is a must. This is because no noble would want a non-hereditary noble as their heir (in fact, the second son, Johan, was appointed a hereditary noble before marrying into a relative's family that had only daughters).

While a minor noble might have special skills, Node, being from a military family, has none. His only skill is swordsmanship, which he learned from the head of the family and his brothers, but this is not impressive to other noble families. Therefore, Node's decision is tantamount to abandoning his blue blood heritage.

However, Node thinks:

The Felis knightly family, which is on the verge of poverty, is still his beloved family.

He loves his parents, his siblings, the butler, the head maid, the maids, and the attendants and soldiers who come and go in that house.

That is why Node decided to give up everything and become an adventurer.