01.14 - Jobless Reincarnator

“How the hell am I supposed to be your great-granduncle?” I asked, still confused by the sudden revelation. “You must be older than me!”

“Huh?” Lucy asked. “I am pretty sure the name I read about was ‘Gry’, I don’t think there are any other Elden with a similar name on this planet.”

“Well, yes,” I said, “but…”

“Besides, great-great-grand…” Lucy paused. “The Elden Lord has a lot of legitimate and illegitimate children. Surely, that isn’t news to you?”

The campfire crackled beside us as I took a moment to take in the information.

“Well…” I said, “it’s not like I’ve ever met him.”

“Ah, right,” Lucy said. “I first met him after my evaluation ceremony. You did miss out on Officer’s School after all. Is that why you are an adventurer now?"

“It’s not like I wanted to join Officer’s School to begin with,” I said.

“Aww, don’t be like that,” Lucy said. “You seem pretty capable, I am going to put in a good word for you.”

She had a slight mumble after taking a bite more from the horned rabbit stew than she could chew.

“No thanks, I am fine as is,” I said.

“As an adventurer?” Lucy asked. “You’re what? Half Elden? That’s beneath us!”

“Three quarters, actually,” I said. “And I am looking forward to a career in alchemy!”

“Wait, are you with ‘The Great Works Company’?” Isabella suddenly asked.

“Who?” I asked.

“You want to be an alchemist and you haven’t even heard of ‘The Great Works Company’?” Lucy asked. “You gotta be kidding me!”

“You scared me there for a second,” Isabella said as she exhaled audibly. “They are a famous conglomerate. Their founder, Lord Isaac has been opening branches on every other planet’s capital. They actually poached most of our former apprentices. That’s why I am on my own this year.”

“So you escorted an actual alchemist without telling her of your plans?” Lucy asked.

“There just wasn’t a good time to mention it,” I said.

“You seem pretty capable with the sword,” Lucy said. “You sure you don’t want my help?”

“No, thanks,” I said, then turned towards Isabella. “So, does that mean that you’re looking for new recruits?”

“You don’t plan to join ‘The Great Works Company’?” Isabella asked.

“I’m not a fan of conglomerates,” I said.

A little white lie. Besides, they probably used a sphere to select candidates.

“Really?” Isabella asked. “We are looking for new hires, but we require a certain level of competence.”

“Are you using one of those spheres?” I asked.

“No,” Isabella said. “But there’s a practical crafting test. I can introduce you if you’d like to try your luck.”

It was at this point that the conversation drifted to other topics and I finally decided to take a look at my new found nieces status using ‘Know Your Enemy’:

//========================================

// Hero-Kin - Lvl. 43 - Lucy Morgenstern

// Classes & Skills:

…

// Swordsman Lvl. 36

Basic Strike

Slash

Parry

…

Disarm

Guard Stance

Cleave

Riposte

…

// Spellblade Lvl. 34

Mana Shield

Mystic Blade Dance

Imbue Weapon

…

Spell Parry

Arcane Slash

Dispel Cut

…

// Stats:

Physical Power 64

Physical Resist 52

Special Power 52

Special Resist 46

Status Power 32

Status Resist 34

Random Power 42

Random Resist 38

//========================================

Not too shabby.

She could probably rival Kentaro, or put up a little fight with me, if I ignored everything but my Swordsman and Spellblade Classes and didn’t make full use of all of my Stats.

This encounter did bring up a couple of questions though.

What was the number of planets under the rule of ‘father’?

What was the number of potential half siblings, nephews, nieces, and otherwise?

And what was the number of family members serving in the military?

I decided to ignore the blatant nepotism for now, and focus on the first two questions.

The way Lucy talked about planets suggested that there were a lot more inhabited worlds than I was aware of.

Add the potentially huge territory and it was no surprise that the war that had been going on for the better part of a year had never really affected this planet yet.

I didn’t even know whether we were winning, losing, or if the fight was in a stalemate for the longest time.

I also didn’t know who this Lord Isaac and his ‘The Great Works Company’ really was, but it didn’t matter for now.

If working for Isabella’s workshop would allow me to gain a stable job… pardon, ‘calling’, with a regular income and the social status of a regular working adult in the years to come, it would be good enough.

I’d still need to somehow find a way to gain additional Experience Points, if I wanted to make a name for myself as an Alchemist, let alone expand my repertoire of available Classes, Skills, and Stats.

I just hoped that there are no added restrictions on adventuring.

But even so, I could just use ‘Transform’ and start a side hustle if push came to shove.

—

Two weeks had passed since the escort quest.

Tia and I were back to culling the local fauna, while waiting for an official invitation to join Isabella's workshop for a test of my capabilities, when another letter from my ‘father’ arrived.

It was another, second letter of introduction.

A new chance at joining Officer’s school.

Stipend and all.

I still didn’t plan to answer his call to action and support him in his war against ‘Seth’ and his allies. No top down commanded heroism for me. Hard pass.

It was at this point that Alfred finally decided to inform me of the amount of debt my mother had left the household in.

I say ‘had left’, but ‘is still leaving’ would be the correct wording.

Long story short, we needed money.

I needed money.

Not immediately, but soon enough.

A couple of years at best.

With interest accumulating on top of it.