The Former Child Prodigy Aims To Become A Freelance Adventurer

One week after making such a fiery vow—

I was lazing around at home.

Well, you know, I do not have any of that hardworking energy ingredient called Gambarin, so I cannot keep working hard day after day. If I could stay active and energetic like this, I would not have spent two whole years as a NEET in the first place.

I entered a recharging period.

And then my little sister Arisa grabbed both my shoulders with a bright smile on her face.

“Big brother? Could you give me back that emotional moment I had? Don’t you think it’s about time you started moving again?”

From both of my sister’s hands, I could feel the pressure of her anger.

With the power over life and death nearly being held over me, I was forced to take the second step toward independence.

“M-my recharge is over, I guess…?”

“You’re going to become a freelance adventurer, right? Until that’s done, don’t you dare step back over this threshold.”

After being hit with a mini exile declaration, I was driven out of the house.

Before kicking me out, Arisa said this to me.

“Hey, before you go to the Adventurer’s Guild, why don’t you at least get a haircut? You look all shaggy, and your first impression is terrible.”

…She had a point.

As a NEET, I did not care about my appearance—I had no need to. So I just let my hair keep growing, and every now and then I would cut it myself in a rough, careless way, and that was the end of it. Because of that, the hair at the nape of my neck had grown wildly down to my shoulders like weeds, and my bangs were so long they covered my eyes.

Hmm, this was supposed to be the restart of my life! So maybe tidying up my appearance really was a good idea.

“All right, I’ll go get a haircut.”

So that was why the first place I headed was the barber.

There, I had them chop my hair off in one go.

My black hair rapidly shrank in volume before my eyes. My neck felt cool and refreshed, and the bangs that had always been flickering into my line of sight were completely gone.

It was the kind of short hairstyle ordinary men usually had.

In the mirror was someone who hardly looked like me—no, that was too much. Honestly, it was just me. If I had to put it a little more sentimentally, then it was “the me from two years ago.”

Back when I was a student, I had short hair that gave off a clean-cut impression…

“Man, that looks so much better, young man!”

The middle-aged man who had cut my hair spoke up.

“Now that we’ve cut that much off, you don’t even look like the same person!”

That did not really feel like an exaggeration. Even if the examinees who had seen me at the Black Dragon’s Fang selection exam saw me now, they probably would not think I was the same person.

…Well, I had stood out in a bad way during that exam… It would be a pain if people formed weird preconceptions about me. Being able to reset my image like this worked out nicely.

And so, after finishing my image change, I headed for the Adventurer’s Guild.

The Adventurer’s Guild was an organization that supported adventurers in all their activities. It introduced adventurers to jobs such as subjugation and escort work, and it also bought materials such as medicinal herbs that they gathered.

Incidentally, it was a different thing entirely from a clan.

A clan was a loose association that formed when some adventurers gathered together on their own. Its purpose was for the members who belonged to it to help each other and handle jobs more efficiently. The guild, on the other hand, was an institution meant to support all adventurers, and it had a much stronger public-service character.

That was why becoming an adventurer required going through procedures at the Adventurer’s Guild.

The first floor of the Adventurer’s Guild was a lounge, and it was packed with adventurers. As always, I was wearing nothing but cloth clothes, so I stood out terribly.

I walked briskly toward the counter in the back.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes, how can I help you?”

When I spoke to her, the receptionist responded.

“I want to become an adventurer. What do I need to do?”

“You would like to register, correct? Certainly! Please read through these explanations carefully, then fill in the required information on the application forms!”

She handed me a full set of documents with a rustle.

I moved to a nearby table and began reading through the papers.

…Adventurers had ranks: F, E, D, C, B, A, and S. By raising that rank, the number of quests one could accept through the guild would increase.

At first glance, it looked like you started at F—but actually, you began with no rank at all, in provisional registration.

You completed a few simple quests under provisional registration, and then, after paying a registration fee of fifty thousand gold, you officially became a guild-recognized adventurer.

Fifty thousand gold! So it needed money…

As a NEET, I did not exactly have much room to spare… In the worst case, I would have to talk to Arisa about that…

Next came the application form.

Name, age, sex—all of that was fine, but—

…There was a profession field again… At least I had learned my lesson this time. Instead of writing NEET, this was where you wrote something like warrior or mage. But what exactly was my profession?

I left only the profession field blank and filled out everything else.

Lastly, there was the pledge form.

…To sum it up simply, it said: “I won’t complain even if I die!”

That was probably not for the sake of avoiding complaints after someone died, but rather a document to make sure you understood: “This is a dangerous job that puts your life at risk. You know that, right?”

I signed it without hesitation.

Then I took the completed forms and returned to the receptionist.

“There are a few things I want to confirm.”

“What would you like to ask?”

“What should I write under profession?”

“Anything that lets you demonstrate your specialty as an adventurer. Is there anything you have devoted yourself to, such as swordsmanship or magic?”

Hmm… I had only really done those during my student days.

I had been number one among students in both swordsmanship and magic, but… in the end, that was only glory from my school days. Saying that here would be the wrong move. The most likely outcome would be a half-amused, “Even if you tell me about your student grades…”

“Hmm, I have dabbled in both swordsmanship and magic… Does that mean becoming an adventurer would be difficult for me?”

“No, not at all. …This is an industry that does not exactly turn people away. However, please keep just this one point in mind.”

As she said that, the receptionist gestured toward the pledge form that basically said I won’t complain even if I die.

“Ah, I understand.”

“In that case, why not write ‘warrior’ for the time being?”

“Warrior, huh… All right.”

I wrote warrior just as she had suggested.

That was when it happened.

“Hey, hey! Cut it out, would you? Don’t go calling yourself a warrior when you’ve got no skills!”

A sudden loud voice full of mockery came from behind me.

When I turned around, there stood a middle-aged man whose face was red from alcohol. He only had a sword at his waist, but his well-trained build made him look exactly like what you would imagine a warrior to be.

“Listen up, kid. It’s a pain in the ass when some brat with no special skills starts calling himself a warrior! You’re in the way, so go home and get yourself some normal job!”

“Even if you say that, I really have no path left except becoming an adventurer.”

Being an adventurer, where I could work whenever I felt like it, was about the only thing I could manage!

The warrior’s face twisted unpleasantly.

“If you can’t understand that you’re a nuisance, how about I teach it to your body, huh?”

“Please wait! Don’t pressure a newcomer!”

“Come on now, I’m just trying to teach him how dangerous being an adventurer is. Do you really think some guy who gets scared just because someone like me throws his weight around can do this job?”

“Th-that…”

“If he gets left alone here and dies, that’d leave a bad taste in my mouth, wouldn’t it? I’m saying I’ll teach him the right attitude as a senior adventurer.”

The man cracked his knuckles loudly as he spoke.

…Whether this man truly wanted to teach me a lesson, or whether he just wanted to blow off steam, I could not tell—

“You’re right. In that case, would you teach me this attitude of yours?”

“That’s what I’m talking about!”

As the man laughed, the receptionist called out to me in a panicked voice.

“N-no, you mustn’t! That man is a mid-level adventurer! Saying something provocative like that—”

Ignoring the receptionist’s words, I stared quietly at the man.

So this was mid-level. Then he must have built up a fair amount of experience. In that case, this was convenient. It was a perfect chance to learn what an experienced adventurer’s strength was like.

Back in my student days, I had been called the Student Sword Saint and the Student Sage, and my grades had placed me overwhelmingly in first—there was a need to confront that fact with reality. Look, even someone at this middling level is still far beyond someone like you. I needed to break the arrogance still lingering in my own heart.

There was probably no chance someone like me could win—

But at least I would put up a decent fight.

“You’ve got plenty of nerve, that’s for sure! In that case, I’ll finish this in one hit!”

The moment he said that, the man suddenly threw a punch at me.

That thick, powerful arm crushed the air as it came—

Crushed the air?

…No, it probably was not actually crushing the air. It was not that impressive a punch… Well, whatever.

I crossed both arms and guarded. I could have dodged, but—for now, I wanted to feel his strength. The fist of a man who stood at the lofty height known as a mid-level adventurer.

Thud!

There was a sound.

“Hah! Blocking my punch—nice reflexes you’ve got! But there’s no way the arms you used to guard are unharmed, right!?”

They were unharmed, though?

I had no idea what he was talking about, but in any case, I had taken zero damage.

“How long can you keep enduring it!?”

The man repeatedly slammed his fists into the arms I was using to guard.

“Hyah-ha! Come on, come on! Can’t even scream, huh!?”

It was true that I could not get any words out. I was confused.

…Was this really the full strength of a mid-level adventurer? I did not think that could be the case… Was he holding back because he thought I was weak? And on top of that, he was drunk.

…I wanted him to get serious… Maybe I should throw out a little feint.

“Hmph.”

I drove my fist into the man’s stomach.

“Gghfhoa!?”

The man’s body folded in half, and his feet lifted from the floor. His body then lost all strength and dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.

Huh? I had only tapped him lightly…

A stunned silence spread through the guild. The other adventurers who had been watching the commotion between us stood speechless, faces full of shock.

The receptionist’s trembling voice reached my ears.

“…N-no way… A beginner just took down a mid-level adventurer in a single blow…?”

Hm? Did I do something or what?