“Brother!”

As Paul headed to his tent, Rira hurried in after him.

Paul gave a signal to his servant to hold her back, and the servant, who had cared for him since childhood, moved to intervene. This servant had been with Paul even during his time in the capital, where he had once seen Helga with his own eyes.

“…What do you think, Paul?” the servant asked carefully, watching Paul’s face closely.

Paul nodded heavily.

“You were right. It’s unmistakable.”

The servant’s face turned pale.

Rira, who had been babbling something from the corner where she was confined, was ignored entirely. The news that someone who looked exactly like Helga had appeared had caused quite a stir, prompting Paul to rush over to confirm it for himself. And there, he encountered a barbarian using wind magic.

Not only that, but the man spoke with a noble’s accent.

Although he was speaking in a more common manner, traces of his refined accent were unmistakable.

‘There’s no doubt about it. He’s Helga’s son.’

If it weren’t for the servant’s keen observation, Paul might have overlooked the noble accent entirely. He had never met Helga in person, so he would have found it difficult to connect the barbarian to her. Moreover, the idea of a barbarian using wind magic would have seemed impossible.

But thanks to the servant’s warning, Paul had been vigilant—and now he understood.

He placed a hand on his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

‘What do I do?’

Helga’s son was now a part of this city’s adventurer community. If word spread, his mother’s enemies might soon descend upon the city.

No, they definitely would.

Even from the brief encounter, Paul could tell that the man’s magic was powerful. He could summon wind without any incantation, and its force was strong enough to knock people back.

And if he was anything like Helga in terms of physical strength...

‘If we’re not careful, this city could be reduced to rubble.’

Though Paul had never personally witnessed Helga’s destructive power, he had heard the stories. Towns along her path to the Forest of Magic had looked as though they had been struck by a natural disaster.

Recalling the countless tales associated with Helga, Paul clenched his lips tightly.

From what little he had seen, Helga’s son didn’t seem as wild or violent as she was, but he had still raised his axe without hesitation against a woman. He might be more restrained than Helga, but he was far from ordinary.

If his mother’s enemies were to come seeking revenge, they wouldn’t resolve things with mere words.

Yet, Paul couldn’t simply drive him out of the city either. The guild in this city had a much closer relationship with adventurers than most. Even if they learned that the man was Helga’s son, they wouldn’t just throw him out on Paul’s word.

And if this “Rafa” really possessed great strength, driving him out would be foolish.

With the increasing threat of monsters, strong adventurers were more valuable than ever. In fact, if anything, they should be begging someone like him to stay and fight for them.

Especially now, with the dragon menace looming, Paul found himself caught in an impossible situation.

Paul sat down in his chair, burying his face in his hands.

“Brother, you’re so cruel! How could you side with that barbarian and treat me like this…?”

Rira, who had managed to push her way past the servants and guards, rushed to Paul’s side. Her face was smeared with grime, her tears falling freely, and her voice rising to a fever pitch.

Paul’s thoughts were already in turmoil, and her crying grated on his nerves.

“Shut up!” he shouted, looking up at her in frustration.

Rira’s face twisted into an ugly scowl.

“Why are you doing this to me? I’ll tell Father everything! I’ll tell him how you hit me! You know what will happen when he finds out, don’t you? I’ll tell him everything!”

She screamed and sobbed, her voice echoing through the tent.

Tch. Paul clicked his tongue in irritation.

Rira was their father’s late-in-life daughter, spoiled beyond reason. Not only that, she was born with a rare aptitude for magic, something that had been absent from their family for generations. The promise of a magical connection had clouded their father’s judgment, leading him to pamper and indulge her every whim.

As a result, Rira had grown into a selfish, uncontrollable woman. Even their father, who had once spoiled her, could no longer handle her tantrums.

However, her supposed talent in magic had proven to be underwhelming. In the eyes of a common family, her skills might have seemed impressive, but in the world of true mages, her abilities were mediocre at best. Noble families with strong magical lineages sought powerful mages as marriage partners to continue producing skilled descendants.

Unfortunately, Rira wasn’t good enough to be accepted by any of the high-ranking magical families.

Given her volatile personality, even lower noble families had little interest in marrying her off. Whenever the topic of marriage came up, Rira would throw a fit, refusing any potential suitor unless he met her absurdly high expectations.

She had been so coddled by the family that she had grown to believe she was an exceptional mage, refusing to face the reality of her limitations.

Now, she was past the age where suitable matches could be easily found. If they didn’t marry her off soon, the only options left would be inferior prospects, perhaps as a second wife, or in the worst case, sending her to a convent.

They couldn’t keep her at home forever.

If only she had a gentler personality, things might have been different. But neither Paul nor their father could control her anymore. Paul had hoped that bringing her along on the dragon hunt might help boost her reputation as a mage, but she couldn’t even grasp the gravity of the situation.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Her magical skills were mediocre, her intellect was lacking, and her looks, while pleasant, were far from extraordinary. In the capital, women of her beauty were common.

‘If only she were as beautiful as Klaus from the Valther Dukedom. Even with her personality, someone would have taken her.’

Frustrated, Paul shouted at her again to be quiet, but Rira only screamed louder, spiraling into a frenzy.

Hitting her had no lasting effect; it only made her worse. Now she was so far gone that he couldn’t even lay a hand on her.

Paul placed a hand on his throbbing forehead and closed his eyes.

“Take Rira back to her tent,” he ordered, waving his hand dismissively.

Then, reconsidering, he changed his mind.

“No, leave her here. I’ll go instead.”

Paul stood up and left the tent, with Rira screaming after him, “Brother! Where are you going?”

Sigh… She was so cute when she was little, he thought to himself as he walked away.

There had been a time when Rira had been his beloved little sister, trailing behind him with her innocent smile. But now...

Paul let out a long sigh and turned to the servant standing beside him.

“I can’t stay here. No one else can handle her. You’ll have to go to Father and explain everything. I’d write a letter, but there’s no way I can sit down and do that with her around… Sigh… Just tell him everything you’ve seen.”

The servant, pale-faced, bowed his head.

“Understood, Sir Paul.”

As Paul watched the servant hurry away, he sighed again. From inside the tent, he could still hear Rira wailing.

‘What am I supposed to do with her?’

For a fleeting moment, Paul thought, If only I had arrived after the axe had fallen…

Startled by his own dark thoughts, he quickly shook his head.

No, that wasn’t right. No matter how difficult she was, she was still his sister. He couldn’t wish her dead, especially not when he thought back to the days when she had been a sweet child, following him around everywhere.

He felt a pang of guilt.

Every time he threatened to send her to a convent, both he and their father always backed down. Deep down, they still cared for her.

‘She knows that, which is why she behaves this way.’

Listening to her cries from inside the tent, Paul sighed once more.

----------------------------------------

The registration process didn’t take long.

All I had to do was write down my name, rank, and guild affiliation, and that was it.

But I couldn’t help but notice how easy it would be to forge documents in this world. When the guild staff asked the noble official for my application, they just handed it over without much thought. I filled in the part about being a wind mage, and the changes were made.

‘No wonder they asked me to keep an eye on things; I guess I understand why now.’

From now on, I’d have to stay sharp.

Once the registration was done, the guild staff checked with the official and then led me to a nearby area.

“We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning,” they said. “It was originally scheduled for the day after, but it’s been moved up. You’ll stay with the guild’s adventurers in one of the tents tonight.”

“The ones who helped me earlier?”

“Haha, well, I’m not sure they needed to help you, but yes, those same adventurers.”

Our guild’s numbers weren’t large. There were no A-rank adventurers, and only about forty B- and C-rank ones. I was the only D-rank in the entire expedition.

“Since the base pay is high and there’s the potential for extra earnings, competition for spots was fierce. There wasn’t much need for a D-rank.”

The guild staff tried to reassure me.

“It’s fine. You could easily be registered as a B-rank with your skills. I made sure to emphasize that, so don’t worry. Besides, you’re a mage, which is even better.”

I already felt comfortable, though. I didn’t feel guilty or inferior, nor did I feel like I was taking someone else’s spot. It wasn’t in my nature to feel apologetic for my rank.

As if unaware of my confidence, the guild staff continued explaining things to be cautious of during the expedition.

As we talked, we arrived at a large tent.

It was massive, big enough to hold over a hundred people.

The noise from inside was loud and raucous. My heart started pounding with excitement.

‘It feels like I’m on a school trip.’

Seeing my reaction, the guild staff chuckled before turning serious.

“It’ll probably be loud like this all night. Some people will be partying, but you should avoid getting caught up in that. Make sure you get some sleep. Don’t let yourself be swept along.”

Just then, someone nearby burst out laughing.

“What are you, his mother hen? Acting like a protective mom, clucking at a little chick! You’re not even his real mom, yet here you are with all the nagging. All adventurers end up like us eventually, kiddo.”

I turned to see the adventurers who had called me “the youngest” earlier. They each held small clay jugs, likely filled with alcohol. One of them tilted his head back and poured the liquid down his throat, drinking as if it were water.

It spilled down the sides of his mouth, but he didn’t bother wiping it away.

The guild staff frowned slightly at the sight.

“Don’t teach him bad habits. And remember, Rafa doesn’t drink, so don’t force him to. If you take him to one of those crazy places for another dumb courage contest like last time, I’ll dock your rank.”

“If you’re gonna dock our rank for that, we’d all be down to E-rank by now!”

The adventurers roared with laughter, sending a spray of alcohol everywhere.

These guys were disgusting.

As I grimaced in distaste, one of the adventurers standing at the front smirked.

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a pampered nobleman! We’ll make a real adventurer out of you yet, kid. I’ve heard all about you. The name’s Baldy.”

“Baldy…?”

“Yeah, and the guy next to me? He’s One-Eye. Missing an eye, as you can see.”

I must have made an awkward expression because Baldy burst into laughter.

“In places like this, when things get rough, you don’t have time to memorize people’s names. We just go with something obvious based on how they look. If we get to know each other better, we might switch to real names later on.”

“If you go inside, you’ll find another bald guy. Just call him Old Baldy,” One-Eye chimed in.

While that made sense, calling people “Baldy” or “One-Eye” out loud still felt a little off.

As I hesitated, Baldy laughed again.

“I like you, kid. It’s been a while since we had someone fresh join us. For now, your name’s ‘The Youngest.’ Some people call you ‘The Barbarian,’ but don’t take it personally. It’s just how people describe things around here.”

Another adventurer, who had been quietly drinking from a large jug, suddenly spoke up.

“If you don’t like being called ‘The Barbarian,’ you can always beat them down every time they say it. Soon enough, they’ll settle on calling you ‘The Youngest.’”

No thanks, I didn’t like either of those names.

My feelings must have shown on my face because the adventurers laughed again.

Their breath smelled horrible.

The guild staff sighed quietly.

“These guys are a bit rough, but they’re experienced and capable. They’ll be a lot of help. Just remember, you don’t have to follow everything they do. They’ve got a mischievous side.”

Just as the guild staff finished speaking, someone suddenly tumbled out of the tent and hit the ground hard.

I thought it was just one person, but it was actually two, tangled together and throwing punches at each other.

Whoa, that startled me.

I nearly swung my axe, thinking someone was attacking me!

Even Rela, who had been dozing off on my shoulder, perked up in surprise.

The guild staff sighed again as they watched the brawl.

“One of those two is from our guild. Expect this kind of thing to happen every day until the expedition is over. The guilds themselves aren’t on bad terms, but for some reason, adventurers always end up fighting.”

Apparently, our tent wasn’t reserved just for members of our guild. Adventurers from other places were staying here too.

Baldy and One-Eye started cracking their knuckles and stretching as if warming up for something.

One-Eye downed the rest of his drink and yelled, “Who’s the idiot that dares to throw a punch at one of our adventurers?!”

Without another word, he launched himself onto the two men rolling around on the ground.

He literally flew through the air and landed on top of them.

"..."

Hey, you’re gonna kill someone!

Hearing One-Eye’s shout, more people spilled out from inside the tent.

“Who just called me an idiot, you bastard?!”

The next thing I knew, the place had erupted into chaos. Fists flew everywhere.

Baldy twisted his neck with a loud crack and muttered to himself.

“Guess we should jump in too.”

Without waiting for a reply, he charged into the fray, grabbing someone by the head and smashing his forehead into theirs.

And then everyone started fighting.

What was wrong with these people?

I stared at the scene, dumbfounded, until the guild staff grabbed my hand.

“Rafa, don’t get involved. Not all adventurers are like this. These guys are just… rough around the edges. They’re experienced, but—"

Before he could finish, someone shouted in my direction.

“You!”

“Looks like you ran away earlier!”

“Our youngest got his nose smashed because of you!”

“We’ll kill you!”

It was those half-naked brothers who had tried to pick a fight with me before.

They thundered toward me, their footsteps heavy.

Oh, this is going to be fun!

I didn’t know why, but I suddenly felt excited, like I was caught up in the festive mood.

Ignoring the guild staff’s cries of “Rafa!” I rolled up my sleeves and ran toward them, this time without using wind magic.

I threw a punch at one of the brothers, sending him flying to the ground.

Oh, this feels surprisingly good.

As I launched a second punch at the other brother, I realized something.

I was smiling.