"The adventurer prep school entrance ceremony will begin now." (Adventurer Guild Master)
It is one year after the village headman Klaus, the father of my father's mistress and the man who wants me to become the next family head of the Baumeister house, made his ridiculous demands.
Finally turning twelve years old I have left my parents' household to enroll into the adventurer prep school that is in Breitburg.
If I thought about this last year it was entirely devoted to dodging the solicitations from Klaus that happened one after another.
I had a feeling that if anything were to happen I could convince father, along with the other supporters, that if I were pressed for a decision I would be unhappy to inherit. Why must I inherit a territory in such a remote place, anyway?
And I cannot manage a territory since I was just an employee of a second-rate trading company in my previous life.
It is the duty of a noble to act in a fashion that conforms to nobility, which I don't do. I think that it would be great if in that territory I could work to earn a living with some freedom, and can privately make full use of my magic for adventuring.
I am dreaming of becoming an adventurer in the future just for convenience's sake, but that does not mean I don't want to have a freelance career of using magic as a living.
I can easily go to the Savage Land and the sea with teleport, so I can make a fortune with magic.
With the results of what I have done in these five years I could keep on living as a NEET for hundreds of years if I wanted to.
That's right, I am already free.
I have considered never returning to my parent's house.
Father, mother, and also brother seems to agree with that idea.
Despite being a poor territory, if I help the countrymen with magic it would lead to a new family feud.
I have been already been asked to inherit, but stupidly my father has not noticed it.
That said, there is the possibility that it could harm me later if I report it unwisely.
That's why I didn't talk about Klaus's movements at all.
Had Klaus let out such schemes to father so easily I would no longer be in this world as of quite a while ago.
Father and brother had vaguely thought that there was something odd, but they didn't want to talk about it with me either.
Maybe it is just my imagination that they didn't notice anything.
Now then, let's end this troublesome talk about my house. Now is the entrance ceremony of the adventurer prep school.
The elderly man who is giving a long speech on the platform is supposedly the guild master, apparently a school is the same anywhere.
This is a prep school with the purpose of bringing up adventurers such that there are no failures.
Everyone is sitting in a chair listening to the speech.
"Every one of you will be able to participate in monster hunting when you become 15 years old, but preferably the talented ones…" (Guild Master)
The reason for this prep school is to make up for the disadvantage that by royal decree one must be at least 15 years old to enter the adventurer guild.
In other words it is intended to avoid the inefficiency of sending off a 15 years old amateur as an adventurer into monster domains all of a sudden .
Since an amateur will certainly die when suddenly sent to such a place, any person must do basic training under guild management at the very least for three months.
One in ten people are still killed or injured in their first mission, which is normal in the adventurer's world.
It is a heavy story but adventuring is a popular job that can make a fortune, but which also can take human lives in many circumstance.
And the entire continent is in the progress of growing in development and population.
Naturally the demand for material that can be collected in a monster's domain is rising, so a newcomer adventurer who can collect some is always welcomed.
So the purpose of an adventurer prep school is to train people from the age of 12 until the age of 15. There is also a school for those above the age of 15 to train their basic skills for one year at worst .
For the entrance exam, everybody basically can enter the school regardless.
When tested, the high achievers will be given preferential treatment, such as a scholarship for school expenses or to be under contract with the adventurer guild branch in Breitburg after graduation.
This is the major reason for the test.
Even adventurer guilds are also desperately securing excellent adventurers.
I leave the house one month before the entrance ceremony and immediately take the entrance exam.
The test consists of basic geography, history, biology, monsterology, and the customs of each country, a must have basic knowledge for adventurers.
Afterwards there is a mock battle with an instructor using the weapon they are good at and there is also a magic trial for magicians.
To be honest I can just use the basic training of sword and bow, but nonetheless it was a training that came from our noble ancestry.
I took the test and received a fairly high rating.
I am better in archery but…
About magic, I decide to take it easy and do as I see fit.
My magic capacity is at the highest point because of Master, who was the court magician of Margrave Breithilde.
Luckily there is no magician with sharp perception like Master here.
They were so engrossed in speaking highly of me when I fired off a fireball as big as a dodgeball and burning the target that they didn't realize that I am suppressing my magic.
It can become the proof of what master said, that only an excellent magician is sensitive to the existence of other excellent magicians.
An excellent magician is a really valuable existence, so they would not appear in the exam hall even if one is to pass the prep school using magic.
Beside, despite an excellent magician being sensitive to the existence of other excellent magicians, it's not that they can actually perceive magic power.
It's like intuition based ability.
Magical power would not spring up like hot spring from a person's body no matter how big their magic capacity.
It is usually saved in a magic bag or in the body of another dimension, the magic circuit just circles around afterwards.
Even if large-scale magic were to be invoked the magical power that has already been used will not remain as it was materialized into magic.
This is the reason why magicians can't easily perceive other's magic capacities.
With some exception, commoners at best only have a small amount of magic power. All they can do is put out a spark so the difference is clear.
"Intermediate class magicians are valuable. You pass the test as a scholarship student." (Examiner)
It appears that if one can use magic up to intermediate level one would be freed from school expenses without concerning the results of the previous writing test or their skill with weapons.
That is enough to show how valuable the existence of magicians are.
"It must be nice to be able to use magic…" (Examinee A)
"I can use magic but I can't get the scholarship since it's just beginner's class." (Examinee B)
While such an envious voice rises from other examinees I pass the scholarship student test without problem and enrolled into the adventurer prep school.
◆◇◆◇◆
"I am Wendelin von Benno Baumeister. As shown in my name I am the eighth son of the nearby Baumeister household, but I can't inherit the territory so I enrolled into this school with the aim to be an adventurer. It's nice to meet you all." (Wendelin)
Although the classifications will be announced after the entrance ceremony, apparently all of the scholarship students were incorporated into the same class.
The ages were approximately the same as mine with the highest being about 18 years old?
There are people with excellent sword skills, those who were good with the bow, good with the spear, and people who can use magic even if it is only from the beginner's class.
And finally, I ended the self-introduction with the fact that I could use intermediate magic.
The curriculum table is being passed around by the homeroom teacher's guild staff, with lessons in classroom for 30% of the time, and practical training for about 70%.
Moreover since we will be learning only the techniques to become an adventurer in the practical training, the lessons throughout the morning are a must.
In addition, it is easier with two days off during the week.
"All of you are not allowed to go into monster domains until you are15 years old. Those over 15 years old are also not allowed for one year. The smaller number of classes are to give you guys time to earn money from part-time jobs."
Indeed, even if school expenses were exempt for scholarship students it is not that everyone will attend school from home, rather, there are many people who left their hometown to go to Breitburg.
Naturally they must earn their own money for rent.
"Uhe. Come to think of it, we have to work. What kind of part-time job I should do? By the way, does Baumeister get any allowance from your parent's family?" (Neighbor)
The boy of the same age as me that I befriended in the seat next to me at the entrance ceremony asked me about my allowance.
It is uncommon, but when the parent's family is from a wealthy merchant or a great noble house there are some that give an allowance as apology for not being able to take the inheritance.
"As the eighth son of knight family, I've decided not to dream of it for years." (Wendelin)
"You're right…I am also in the same position but…" (Neighbor)
My height has grown to at least 160cm after turn 12 years old this year, but he is about 10cm taller and with a sharp look with short brown's hair in crew cut style. A son of a small lord in the west just like me, he introduced himself as Erwin von Arnim.
His parents' family is a knight peerage family that has a village with a population of about five hundred, and their financial condition is much the same as mine.
Erwin is the fifth son in that house.
Since it is a matter of course he can't take over the house, he told me his plan of using his natural talent with the sword to pass the scholarship exam and to live as adventurer.
"I got some allowance from my parents' family once, and I saved up money until now by selling the catch obtained by hunting." (Wendelin)
I honestly can live without doing that, but I can't tell that to others.
"I also got some but it was just a small sum. All my results in hunting were taken by my parents. I ought to find a part-time job soon." (Erwin)
"I can store the materials to sell in my magic bag." (Wendelin)
"That must be nice being a magician. Hey, do you want to look for a part-time job with me?" (Erwin)
The part-time jobs consist of being a babysitter, salesclerk of a shop, or cleaning the city.
Other than the prohibited monster hunts, which is the job of the adventurer guild to carry out, the low-level jobs issued by the guild are the important ones.
There was a risk of being attack by wild beasts, but they were being hunted for their meat and fur for the town supply.
This is recommended by the adventurer guild to help improve combat techniques.
"Baumeister is…" (Erwin)
"My name is Wendelin, just call me Wend. My family also call me that." (Wendelin)
"I see, call me Erw then. The younger children's name always gets shortened. Right, Wend." (Erwin)
"You're right. Take care of me Erw." (Wendelin)
"Same here Wend." (Erwin)
I enrolled to adventurer prep school without any problem, and got a friend of the same age for the first time.