Friedrich Erde von Zähringen was the grandson of Hermann III, Margrave of Baden in the Holy Empire, and the second son of Hermann IV, the eldest legitimate son.
For several generations in the Zähringen family, those who inherited the headship had taken the name "Hermann."
There were three boys and four girls among the siblings, but it was commonplace for nobles to have concubines and mistresses, so this number of children was nothing unusual.
Of the three boys, the elder brother Hermann V and the younger Heinrich were born to the legal wife Anna, whereas Friedrich's mother Erde was a concubine, making him what was commonly called an illegitimate son. That mother, too, had disappeared when Friedrich was still very young.
Because of this, even if something were to happen to his elder brother Hermann V, it would be Heinrich who inherited the family headship; the chances of Friedrich ever becoming the heir were practically zero.
If he served his brother faithfully as a knight and was granted even a modest fief, he could probably live a peaceful life, but Friedrich wanted to carve out his own path through his own strength.
That was why, from the age of three when his previous-life personality had awakened, he had devoted himself to rigorous training in swordsmanship and other martial arts within the margraviate's knight order. His instructors eventually told him there was nothing more they could teach him.
In his previous life, his father's affiliated company had operated a security firm, and through those connections he had been able to study combat arts.
He had trained in the Saotome-style All-Ranges Combat Art, a school that took karate, judo, and aikido as its foundation while shamelessly cherry-picking effective techniques from every fighting style in the world.
His skill had reached a level where, if world championships existed, he could have placed among the top contenders.
That experience proved enormously helpful in his martial training in this world.
This was, after all, a fantasy world in which magic existed.
He had also studied magic under the magicians attached to the margraviate's forces.
Still unsatisfied, Friedrich continued self-study in the university library, until his diligence caught the eye of the dark spirit Obskuritas. Once he took her as a familiar, it snowballed: one after another, the other spirits who governed magic also took a liking to him.
They wished to transform into human form and live together with Friedrich, which caused quite a stir when he had to persuade his stepmother.
Officially they were called maids, but within the castle they were widely regarded as de facto concubines.
Even more astonishingly, Friedrich discovered that what his previous world called "psychic powers" could be used quite easily here, so he trained in those as well.
In this world, noble children usually began formal education around age five, but three-year-old Friedrich was impatient to learn everything about his new world as quickly as possible. When he asked his father whether he could receive instruction, the reply was, "We've just hired a tutor for your brother, so you can study together."
As a result, thanks to the intellect he carried over from his previous life, within two years there was nothing left for the tutor to teach him. His father wrote him a letter of introduction, and Friedrich began spending all his time in the academy library.
The town of Baden-Baden had its own small academy. Within another two years he had read everything it had to offer.
In this world men were considered adults around age fourteen and women around twelve, but it was customary to begin apprenticeships from about age seven.
Friedrich planned to become an adventurer for the time being so he could hone his strength, but given his noble status it was difficult to join an ordinary commoner adventuring party as an apprentice.
In the end he decided that, once he turned ten and could reasonably operate solo, he would begin his life as an adventurer.
While the margrave's house was respectable, it was not unheard of for second sons and onward of poorer noble families to become adventurers; to the outside world his choice was hardly outrageous.
He had discussed it with his parents in advance and met with no opposition at all. Perhaps they felt some guilt or pity toward him because he was a concubine's son.
◆
Today was the day Friedrich would take his first step as an adventurer.
"Then, Father, Stepmother, I'm off."
"Mm."
"Take care. Be careful out there."
"Oh, right. I don't want to stand out too much, so I plan to use the name 'Alex' instead of my real one."
"Borrowing from Alexander the Great, eh? Bold and reliable. But are you really expecting to become famous enough for the name to matter?"
His father replied with a hint of sarcasm.
"That's a long way off in the future."
In truth he had considerable confidence, but he answered with modest humility for the moment.
◆
Accompanying him was the black panther Nigul Pearl, affectionately called Pearl.
Though rare, there were people in the world who possessed the "familiar tamer" skill, so Pearl took the outward form of a familiar beast. In reality she was a mid-tier dark spirit, far stronger in combat than the average magical beast.
Friedrich also had a personal maid named Oskrita who was strangely attached to him.
She normally masqueraded as human, but her true identity was the superior dark spirit Obskuritas.
Naturally her combat ability was exceptional, and at first she had begged to accompany him on adventures. However, because everyone already saw her as his de facto concubine, taking her along would look terrible in the eyes of society. After much persuasion he convinced her to stay behind, but she then insisted he at least take a trustworthy subordinate.
In Friedrich's room Oskrita raised her hand; a magic circle glowed on the floor, and from a swirl of black mist a large beast slowly emerged, a massive black panther. The panther let out a single roar, then turned toward Friedrich with a low, threatening growl.
Friedrich was startled for a moment, but if he flinched here he would lose face, so he forced himself to maintain a poker face.
"Stop that! From now on you are to serve as Lord Friedrich's familiar. Protect him with your life!"
After a brief silence, a voice echoed directly in Friedrich's mind:
«Great superior dark spirit, Lady Obskuritas. I shall obey your command.»
Some form of telepathy. Spoken words were impossible, but telepathy allowed communication, Friedrich understood that much.
"My name now is Oskrita. From today you will address me as Oskrita."
«Understood, Lady Oskrita.»
"Then, my lord. Please bestow a name upon this one so that it may become your familiar."
Friedrich thought for a moment and decided on a name derived from the Latin word for black panther.
"Then I name you Nigul Pearl."
«My lord. I am grateful for this magnificent name.»
And so Nigul Pearl became Friedrich's familiar.
◆
Friedrich donned the silver mask he had prepared and headed straight for the adventurers' guild in Baden.
Fortunately he was well developed for his age, his height had just passed 150 cm, but combined with being only ten years old and having the beautiful, androgynous features of golden hair and blue eyes, it was painfully obvious he would be underestimated as an adventurer.
Following the precedent of China's Prince of Lanling, therefore, he chose to conceal his handsome face.
His other equipment consisted of two orichalcum broadswords worn at either hip for dual-wielding, a bow and quiver on his back, a dur-aluminum breastplate enchanted with magic resistance, and a white cloak likewise enchanted. Everything was handmade by him.
The moment the masked stranger entered the guild hall, all eyes turned toward him. Tension rippled through the room for an instant.
Pearl had been told to wait outside to avoid causing a scene.
As Friedrich approached the counter, a thuggish-looking man deliberately bumped into him.
"Ow! You broke my arm! Pay up for the treatment, hand over all your money, punk!"
So this is the infamous "adventurer mounting" I've heard about. The mask wasn't enough of a deterrent after all.
His small 150 cm frame apparently marked him as easy prey.
The man kept yelling, "It's broken, I tell ya! Got a problem with that?!" but there was no way a simple bump could actually break an arm.
The surrounding adventurers just watched with smirks. Looked like he would have to handle this himself.
Best to demonstrate some strength right away.
Friedrich swiftly struck the man's upper arm with a knife-hand strike.
"Gyaaah! It hurts! It huuurts, you bastard!"
The man clutched his arm and crumpled to the floor, tears in his eyes. His upper arm was bent at an unnatural angle, a compound fracture.
"When I say broken," Friedrich said dryly, "this is what I mean."
"What the hell are you doing?!" Three other men, presumably the thug's companions, took fighting stances toward Friedrich.
—Three of them? No problem.
Friedrich readied himself, but before anything could happen a guild staff member stepped in.
"Sir, we cannot allow fights inside the guild."
That gave him a moment to breathe.
Friedrich glanced at the three men. "If I heal him there won't be any issue, right?"
They glared back as if to say obviously not.
Ignoring them, Friedrich crouched, grasped the broken arm, and carefully straightened it. If he healed it in its bent state it would fuse crooked.
"It huuurts! Help, somebody heeeelp!"
The man screamed in agony.
"What are you doing?!" His companions looked ready to lunge.
"Light, come forth. Healing grace, Heal!"
He could have cast it silently, but not wanting to stand out he chanted the words anyway. A soft light enveloped the injured arm; before long the wound healed visibly.
A compound fracture would normally require mid-tier "High Heal," but again, to avoid attention, he deliberately used beginner-level "Heal."
"It's… healed. It doesn't hurt anymore!" The man who had picked the fight stared in honest amazement.
His three companions stood dumbfounded, mouths agape.
Friedrich asked coolly, "Is there a problem?"
The three looked as though they wanted to say something, but the other adventurers were now gazing at Friedrich with respect. The mood no longer allowed for continuing the fight.
"Tch! You'll regret this!"
With a classic small-fry line, the troublemakers slunk out of the guild.
The staff member who had intervened spoke up.
"You can use light magic, sir? That's wonderful!"
No wonder he was so moved. In this world, people with magical talent were already few, and only nobles, the church, or wealthy merchants could afford proper training, making mages rare to begin with.
Healers who could use light magic were almost entirely monopolized by the church, so an adventurer capable of light healing was extraordinarily uncommon.
"Yeah. By the way, I'd like to register as an adventurer…"
"With your ability you are more than welcome! Please come to the registration counter."
"Oh, one more thing. I left my familiar waiting outside. May I bring it in?"
"My goodness! You even have a familiar? As long as it is properly trained, that is perfectly fine."
Friedrich sent a telepathic message to Pearl: «Permission granted. You may come in.»
Pearl entered the guild with leisurely grace. The adventurers immediately buzzed; a few even let out stifled yelps.
Understandable, black panthers were already rare, and Pearl was noticeably larger than a normal one, radiating considerable intimidation.
Maybe a bit too eye-catching. Couldn't be helped.
"Amazing! Entering without being called because it sensed its master's intent, what an outstanding familiar!"
—Urk. Maybe a little too cheat-like.
Pearl sat calmly beside Friedrich and purred softly.
"What a magnificent familiar indeed."
"Yeah. Seems he's happy to be praised."
"I'm glad to hear it. Now then, please fill out this registration form."
He had already learned that a real name was not required, so as planned he wrote "Alex" and filled in the rest.
He hesitated for a moment at the sex field. Friedrich intended to keep his personal specs as secret as possible, or fake them when disclosure was unavoidable. Revealing the truth could allow potential enemies to prepare countermeasures.
His voice had not yet changed, so letting people mistakenly assume he was female and lower their guard might be amusing.
The age field went without saying.
"Is it all right to leave age and sex blank?"
"Those fields are not mandatory, so yes."
Good.
The guild staff gave a brief explanation of the guild system.
Adventurers were ranked, and could only accept quests appropriate to their rank.
Ranks ran from highest to lowest: SSS → SS → S → A → B → C → D → E.
Each came with a plate made of orichalcum, adamantite, mithril, gold, silver, copper, iron, or wood respectively.
As a new registrant Friedrich started at E-rank with a wood plate.
E-rank adventurers were treated as apprentices and mainly took gathering quests (herbs, etc.) or hunts for very weak magical beasts. D-rank was considered full-fledged.
The exact criteria for rank-ups were not public, but in general the guild evaluated the quantity and quality of completed quests. For A- and S-rank, passing a practical exam was also required.
Quest failures counted against you, so it was safer to avoid unreasonable requests.
"No practical exam for SS and above?"
"At those ranks there aren't even staff qualified to conduct the test. SS-rank beast subjugation happens maybe once every few years, and SSS maybe once every few decades, so rank is determined almost entirely by quest success or failure."
"Can I gather or hunt first and take quests later?"
"Yes, that is possible."
"Then for now I'll take a wide variety without narrowing down. Even if I end up subduing higher-rank beasts, you'll still count it as completed, right?"
"No need to worry about that."
"The quests are posted on that board, feel free to browse."
"Got it. Thanks for the thorough explanation."
Looking over the board, he saw that besides the main hunting and gathering quests there were quite a few "odd-job" requests as well.
At this point they were basically handymen.
As he was about to leave, the staff member called out, "Already finished looking?!"
Indeed, Friedrich's speed-reading was extraordinary.