“Sibyl, as of today, you are to leave this estate. You will never be permitted to use the Lockwood name again!”
“Father, why?!”
I had been summoned to the study, and I somehow managed to answer the sudden declaration from my father, Leonard. But when he heard me, he merely looked exasperated before opening his mouth again.
“You know that your younger brother, Hail, has acquired the Sword Saint skill. You will yield the position of family head to him. An eldest son with a suspicious, useless skill like yours is nothing but a disgrace. Leave our territory—and this kingdom—before the day is over.”
In this world, everyone awakened a skill when they turned fifteen. I knew that my younger brother, Hail, had awakened the Sword Saint skill the other day, but I never imagined I would be driven out immediately afterward.
My skill was called Divine Answer—Metis. It was a Unique Skill that had never appeared anywhere in the world before.
Divine Answer—Metis allowed me to learn whether the answer to a question was “Yes” or “No.”
For example, if I used the skill while gambling on a coin toss…
‘Will the next toss come up heads?’
‘Yes.’
I could know with one hundred percent certainty which side would land faceup. Becoming the king of the gambling world would be easy.
As for the projects I currently handled in the management of our territory…
‘Will this project succeed?’
‘No.’
If the answer was no, then we ought to stop it.
‘Yes.’
If the answer was yes, I would ask more detailed questions and proceed with the project. In practice, every one of them had succeeded.
“I may be weaker than Hail, but I have devoted myself to our territory’s domestic administration in his place!”
“Silence! If you have time to busy yourself with making money, spend it training with the sword! You coward!”
For generations, the Lockwood viscount family had been a muscle-brained clan that rose to its current position through brute strength alone. As the eldest son, I had therefore been expected to receive a combat skill.
Instead, I had received this Unique Skill. It was useful, but difficult to employ in a one-on-one fight.
To make up for that, I had worked myself to the bone for three straight years after awakening my skill at fifteen, using it for the prosperity of House Lockwood. Thanks to those efforts, our territory developed year after year, and its income had risen by more than forty percent in three years.
By now, I handled nearly all of the territory’s administration. Yet this was how I was treated. No matter how hard I worked, I had never once been praised. All anyone ever told me was to train more and stop being a coward.
“Understood. I’ll leave at once.”
There was no point fighting my brother over the succession. To be honest, I wasn’t good at fighting. Crossing blades with someone still frightened me, and domestic administration suited me far better.
“I’ll give you a small amount of money for your journey. Never use my name again.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Father Leonard stared at me as though I were garbage. I fought back tears and rose from my seat.
When I returned to my room, a knight who should have been my subordinate opened the door and tossed a single Arte silver coin onto the floor.
“That is your travel money.”
“You must be joking. This isn’t even enough to live on for a week.”
One Arte silver coin would, at best, buy a week’s worth of food. If I stretched it, perhaps ten days.
“Do you intend to reject Lord Leonard’s generosity? I can take it back, if you like.”
“…Fine.”
Pathetic as it was, shouting here would change nothing.
“You have also been ordered to leave behind all your personal property. We’ll inspect the room before you go. A carriage will arrive shortly. Make yourself ready.”
With that, the knight left. I had thought we had maintained a cordial relationship until now, but apparently I had been badly mistaken.
“Do they seriously want me to die?”
I dropped my shoulders and sat on the bed. After a polite knock, Sebas, our family steward, entered the room.
“Lord Sibyl, I cannot express how deeply I regret this decision. I, too, appealed to Lord Leonard many times to stop it, but my efforts were insufficient… I am truly sorry.”
Sebas bowed deeply. He was already over sixty and had looked after me since I was a child. He was like a second father to me.
“It’s all right. Father never listens to what anyone else says anyway.”
“Why would he commit such an outrage…? You now manage nearly all of the territory’s administration, Lord Sibyl. Surely he can understand that your sudden departure will cause a disaster.”
“Father probably thinks anyone can do it. He hasn’t trusted my skill at all since that incident.”
That incident had happened immediately after my skill awakened. Father had asked me,
“House Lockwood will continue to prosper, of course, won’t it?”
So I had asked Metis,
‘Will House Lockwood prosper?’
But the answer was…
‘No.’
Shaken, I had simply repeated that “No” to Father. That had been my mistake.
“Never use that suspicious, fraudulent, useless skill again!”
His eyes bloodshot, he had shouted at me and stormed away.
Since then, Father had never relied on my Divine Answer even once.
“As a retainer of House Lockwood, it is something I do not wish to believe, but…”
“Telling someone the truth isn’t always the right thing to do.”
That had been a failure.
“Lord Sibyl, please take this… Lord Leonard has kept an eye on me since I made those appeals, so it isn’t much.”
Sebas handed me a leather pouch. Inside were ten Arte silver coins.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more, but moving a large sum would be discovered. These are the silver coins my mother gave me when I first entered service with House Leonard. They won’t be traced.”
“But these must be precious to you…”
“No. I want you to use them, Lord Sibyl. Please take care of yourself.”
With those words, Sebas embraced me. My chest tightened at the kindness he showed me—far more kindness than any of my blood relatives had.
“Thank you, Sebas! I’ll use them carefully.”
Sebas worried about me until the very end.
Soon after parting with him, I climbed into the carriage waiting in front of the mansion. Neither my mother nor anyone else came to bid me farewell. Mother had always been cold toward me for refusing to fight, but it seemed she truly hated me.
The two knights accompanying me checked that nothing had been removed from my room. Then they took their places on the driver’s bench and set the carriage in motion.
And so, I was banished from the nobility—and from my country.