I open my eyes and look at an unknown room.

"It's true, something like that happened..."

For a second I was the Reiner by that river again but quickly returned to being the Reiner of the coming of age ceremony.

I get up and get dressed and then leave the room.

I follow the corridors on my sister guided me through the night before and I arrive at the dining room.

"Good morning, we were about to send Rita to fetch you for lunch" —a smiling Klein exclaims that sitting at the table.

Rita is the name of the maid. There are two other maids in the mansion, but these traveled with the rest of the Ren'Lai family.

Similarly, there are four other guards besides the one who watches the gate of the mansion, they are also with the rest of the Ren'Lai family.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you very much for receiving me despite not being an Osteen anymore"

My sister rolls her eyes while Klein laughs.

“Who cares about that nonsense? You are my little brother and it will always be that way”

"Same thing for me" —says Klein.

With a genuine smile on my lips, I join Klein and my sister for breakfast.

"Reiner, what do you have planned to do from now on? Seems to me that attending the magic academy should no longer interest you”

At the end of breakfast, Klein finally goes to the topic that he and my sister most likely discussed last night.

My sister is silent as she focuses her attention on me, waiting for an answer.

"I plan to go to the adventurer's guild and..."

My words are interrupted by a loud knock on the table. My sister's face reflects anger.

"Why should you do something so reckless? Do you think just because you possess a heroic skill you are now strong?”

Sister, although I have yet to accustom this body to the Achilles skill, I killed Ipheria and his four generals. What could be more dangerous than that? There's no way I can respond that way, and I'm also not able to get mad at her. My sister is truly concerned about me.

“Reiner, you need not go to that extreme. If you allow us to help you, with some training you could join the city guard and get a high position, from there it would only be a matter of time for you to ascend. Also, even if you are no longer a noble, with your skill, with your appearance and your cradle, you can easily get committed to the third or second daughter of some noble. My father could help you”

My sister nods vigorously at Klein's words.

Surely that would be the quick way to accumulate power, but it would be a power tied to a family, to the city, to the kingdom.

Being so far from the central zone of the continent, I cannot allow myself to be tied up like that when I have the freedom to move at pleasure.

"I have no favorable experience being a nobleman" —even if I could do as I please, I cannot do so because of my sister. "If I did what you suggest, I would go from being the hindrance of one nobleman to becoming the tool of another. It may sound naïve or even laughable considering that I'm getting your help but I want to stand up on my own two feet, I want to make my way without depending on anyone"

My sister falls silent with a painful expression on her face. As for Klein, for some strange reason, he continually nods fully satisfied.

"Rein..." —my sister cannot express herself.

"You seem to have thought it through, and that's an admirable thing considering the life you've led so far." —Klein continues to nod with satisfaction. "However, clear Elysa won't agree so easily, so why don't we take a little test run?"

Both I and my sister were confused by Klein's suggestion.

"Brother Klein, what do you have in mind?"

"Elysa worries that you won't be able to take care of yourself, right Elysa?" —my sister nods silently. "In that case, Reiner, all you have to do is show Elysa that you can lead a life as an adventurer"

That makes sense.

"How would I do such a thing?"

"It's simple, you will have a friendly duel with Jin"

"Hey! But what kind of madness are you…?” —my sister interrupts her protest when she sees Klein winking at her.

Does Klein think I'm so naïve as not to understand that he's planning something?

"If that way I can convince my sister, I will"

“Well then, why don't we go to the garden immediately? Rita, could you call Jin please?”

"Understood, Sir"

Rita leaves the dining room while I and my sister follow Klein.

After crossing several corridors, we arrived at a beautiful and spacious garden behind the small mansion.

"My father used to teach fencing me and my brother in this place, I plan to do the same with my future children"

My sister's face flushes slightly in response to Klein's words.

Despite how everything started for them, the relationship between these two is enviable. They both love each other deeply.

Probably that traitorous bastard Ketkar should have enjoyed a good life with Neria…

As Klein continues to discuss his plans, Rita appears accompanied by the guard who watches the gate of the mansion.

“Jin, you will have a little practice duel with Reiner, but you should not hold back. This is an important matter, do you understand?”

"I understand Sir, I will not be soft on young lord Reiner"

Klein gives us both a wooden sword and then takes us to a space in the middle of the garden, which comprises a wide circular area arranged for sword practice.

“Reiner, if you can beat Jin, Elysa won't be able to complain about your decision to become an adventurer, but you don't have to do it either. If you fail, based on your effort we could consider some alternatives to satisfy Elysa”

Klein has something in mind. I feel sorry for him, but I have no intention of falling into his game.

Jin, who must be in his mid-twenties, holds the wooden sword tightly as he watches me while waiting for Klein's signal to start.

In contrast, I hold my wooden sword in my left hand and taking no kind of combat stance.

"Ready?... Start!!"

True to Klein's instructions, Jin makes his move first and lunges at me.

Jin's wooden sword descends on me, I don't block, I just take two steps to the right and evade. With the clear physical difference, blocking Jin's attacks could raise unnecessary suspicions if I show off the physical strength my heroic skill provides. I can't show such precise control over the skill I supposedly just got recently.

Jin quickly responds to my movement by throwing a cut on my left side. I take two steps back and after taking a single step, Jin launches another cut from my right.

As the sword draws an arc from my right, I slide my right leg back. Thinking I'm trying to back off, Jin steps forward, which should cause his sword to end up hitting me.

Smiling at Jin's reaction, I leaned my body down without taking a single step back. Jin's sword cut passes over my head, and I watch his eyes widen in surprise.

From my position, I launch an upward cut with the sword in my left hand. Because of the step he took towards me when he thought he was trying to back away, Jin cannot put his posture back together and can only watch in disbelief as my sword stops right in front of his neck.

With the clear end of the match, I take two steps back as I direct my gaze towards Klein. The disbelief on his face has made him forget to end the fight.

On Klein's side, my sister covers her mouth with her hands.

"How is it possible? Jin possesses a dexterity skill..." —is all that escapes from Klein's lips.

"Sister, Brother Klein, I think you underestimate heroic skills"

My words cause Klein and my sister to catch their breath, while Jin lets out a long breath and shakes his head.

“An ordinary skill cannot be compared to a heroic skill. Even if Jin possesses a dexterity skill, my heroic skill is specialized in hand-to-hand combat, speaking in simple terms, it is as if I possess several ordinary skills; dexterity, agility, strength, sense of battle, swordplay…”

No wonder Klein and my sister misjudged this. With the low percentage of people carrying a heroic skill, neither of them has probably ever seen someone using one.

For this reason, it is easy to think a heroic skill is just a little better than a common skill. If the difference were so small, then the center of the continent would not have been thrown into chaos by Ipheria in the past. The human-to-demon population ratio is one demon for every thousand humans.

“Frankly, something as simple as fencing training would not affect me. The only way a heroic skill can improve is through actual combat”

Regarding the first, I take advantage of the fact that none of them have enough knowledge about heroic skills. In reality, no skill includes anything as convenient as the knowledge necessary to wield a weapon. My fencing is based entirely on memories of my previous life.

An ordinary skill can grow through training, but a heroic skill can only be developed through real combat. It is for this reason that my first years of campaigning against Ipheria's forces were so bitter, I must have seen many of my comrades fall while I had to deal with constant wounds and bitter failures.

If heroic skills were so convenient, then I could have faced Ipheria as soon as I completed my fencing training in the temple.

“So it's like that… I didn't imagine the difference was that big, I originally thought you were just being cocky about your skill and that you would be easily defeated by Jin. I planned to hold you here through fencing training while preparing everything for my next plan… ”—Klein shrugs.

"Your next plan?"

Klein completely ignores my question and turns to Elysa.

"It seems to me he can take care of himself. Also, just because he becomes an adventurer doesn't mean he heads headlong into danger. The guild has rules and an evaluation system, missions are not given to those who are not tested as capable of carrying them out, and most times, missions require them to be carried out by a party”

Klein knows adventurers, yet it doesn't seem like he will reveal what he had planned for me.

In response to Klein's words, my sister lets out a long breath.

"Okay, but you have to comply three terms Rein"

"What terms, sister?"

"First, you will continue to live with us" —Klein nods in agreement with my sister's words.

"It's okay"

"Second, you will inform us about each mission you take and the companions you make"

"Okay" —although it's a little restrictive, to lessen my sister's concern I can't help accept.

"Third, we will provide you with the equipment you will need, and I will not take no for an answer"

Klein continues to nod while I can't help but let out a very long, heavy sigh. Where in all this is my desire for freedom and independence from the nobility?