LIGHTNOVELSTORY EP.1
I loved romance.
Stories about three loyal subjects even in a collapsing nation.
Tales of scholars who risk their lives for loyalty and righteousness.
Even the story of a businessman, driven mad by profit, sacrificing his position and wealth to save lives when true evil arose.
Every time I encountered such romantic tales, something swelled in my chest.
Transformable giant robots, knights slaying dragons, saints vanquishing demons, artists enduring pain to create masterpieces.
Whenever I saw materials that touched upon romance, my imagination took flight in my mind.
My childhood was filled with the reckless aspirations of a child dreaming of and pursuing such romance.
And it’s still the same today.
“Billy! Get down here right now!”
“Seriously, please just call me Bill!”
Well, there was a small issue that the world of living had changed.
—
Wilhelm, Wilhelm von Brandenburg.
That is my current name. If you were to refer to my family line, you might also call me Wilhelm Karl Hoenbern. Of course, that’s a shortcut, and the name recorded in the family tree is quite different.
Anyway, the reason why I, once a big child chasing romance, am stuck playing a role of nobility that doesn’t suit me is not that complicated.
On my way home from work as usual, I jumped in to save a pedestrian when a car came racing towards him and ended up losing my life instead, and just like that, I was transported to another world. Or more precisely, I should say I was reborn as a baby.
At first, I was sad to hear that I couldn’t see my original family and lived in lethargy, almost like I had depression.
But that didn’t last long.
“Billy!”
“Billy!”
“Billy~”
“Oh, come on! Just call me Bill!”
For starters, my current family was excessively kind to me. Aside from repeatedly calling me a nickname that conjured images of a muscular Westerner and enjoying my reactions, they did their best to keep me entertained without leaving me alone even for a moment.
And as a baby, I couldn’t really do much when I was feeling down. This god-forsaken body just cried when hungry, cried again when I needed to go, ate whatever was put in my mouth, and simply fell asleep when sleepy.
As if to say, “What can you really do about it?”
After living like that for a few years, I naturally began to adapt to this world.
‘The funeral must be over now; it wouldn’t be polite to resurrect.’
By the time I could control my body with my will, the irreversible results had already been established, and I realized that whining was pointless and I could let go of my regrets.
Only then did the world I was living in come into view.
A world where magic exists, knights exist, auras exist, and monsters exist.
A world thick with romance that you’d expect from a former Earthling.
I quickly fell in love with the world I was born into. So, I tried all sorts of things.
I learned magic.
I practiced swordsmanship.
I went hunting with my father and traveled around with my siblings.
“And having s*x.”
“Excuse me?”
“Just talking to myself.”
And I was overwhelmingly satisfied.
Unfortunately, I had no talent for magic and could only learn the basics, but just being able to light a cigarette with my fingers, sans lighter, was enough to set off an explosion of romance.
However, I did have talent in swordplay, and I soon found myself joining the knights order in my territory. Thanks to my status, I quickly rose to a position more than what my skills warranted. Long live the class system!
Hunting monsters was a little shocking. Unlike the games I had merely enjoyed through a monitor or the novels I had read, here blood splattered, and people got hurt and died, making me keenly aware that this was indeed a world where people lived.
And while I traveled around, I was convinced.
“This is just perfect.”
It was a world brimming with romance.
Of course, there were irregularities, bad things happened, and villains existed, but the administrative network and legal system were somewhat flimsy. Because of that, individual actions, unwritten rules, and social norms held even greater value.
So, I made a decision.
“Alfred.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Please tell my mother not to look for me.”
“Excuse me? What suddenly—, W-what, Young Master?!”
Hop.
With my pre-packed bundle from the previous night and the sword my father gifted me when I joined the knights, I leaped out of the window. The height was a bit much, but for a knight who could wield magic, that was no problem at all.
“Ha ha ha! I’m going to enjoy life!”
“Wil-helm!”
My mother’s furious voice erupted from the mansion. Now, for the sake of survival, it was time to run like crazy.
Our mother was no joke in terms of strength.
So, I dashed away on my own two legs, fleeing the territory. A knight running was much faster than any horse, even though the knights raised horses in the order; those were just workhorses, not steeds meant for riding by people.
Therefore, unless I fetched a fine horse from the mansion’s stables, it would be difficult to shake off the family knights. In any case, I wasn’t lacking in physical strength within the knights order of our territory.
With that, I escaped the territory and set off on a journey to enjoy romance.
It wasn’t as if I was running away from the engagement my father had unilaterally arranged.
—
While traveling, I enjoyed adventures. Although there was no formal profession of adventurer in this world, I wasn’t being dragged away as a lackey.
After all, this was a class-based society. As long as I could prove I was noble, I could avoid most suspicions. Of course, if I carried myself like an ambiguous noble, I’d likely be questioned instead, so I boldly displayed my identity.
There was no need to worry about being pursued by my family. After all, the engagement was nothing grand, just a strategic marriage my father arranged on a whim over drinks with a friend.
If it had really been that serious, I wouldn’t have been able to escape so easily.
I was merely afraid of getting caught and facing my mother’s wrath.
“What brings you here?”
“I heard from a farmer while passing by that there’s a man-eating monster in the mountains nearby. I came to hunt it down.”
So, if you were to ask me what kinds of adventures I’ve had over the past few years, it would be a bit hard to answer. It wasn’t that I did nothing. Just that my journey wasn’t straightforward enough to be defined in one sentence.
In some places, I hunted monsters that were terrorizing people; in others, I rescued those in danger. I helped farmers who had unjustly lost their land fight for their rights, and I granted wishes to noble ladies.
Sometimes, I even accepted requests for escort missions from noble families while getting paid for providing protection.
“Oh, the troll, you say?”
“Troll?”
“Well, farmers don’t know much beyond the common types of monsters. If it weren’t for our lord, we probably wouldn’t even know the name.”
But no matter what, the thing I enjoyed most and did the most was hunting monsters.
“I’ll guide you to the lord. We should hear the details.”
Thus, people referred to me as ‘Monster Hunter Bill.’
“Oh, thank you, my lord! Our territory didn’t have the power to deal with that creature, and we’ve been at our wits’ end, but with Wilhelm here, we can rest easy now!”
“Uh, you can just call me Bill comfortably.”
“E-excuse me? But I heard you were called Billy…”
“Ugh.”
Anyway, that was the situation.
—
Hunting a troll wasn’t an easy task.
Setting aside its absurd strength, thick skin, and remarkable regenerative abilities, its very nature was quite bothersome for humans.
First of all, this creature slowed down when exposed to sunlight. From experimentation, it seemed that sunlight hardened its skin, rendering it immobile.
Of course, it would gradually regain mobility once the sunlight disappeared, but even a troll’s intelligence was enough to understand that being unable to move was dangerous.
Thus, they lived in places with little sunlight. Given their massive size, they couldn’t just live anywhere; they preferred large caves or densely forested areas.
Once they settled in, they consumed any nearby animals. The issue was that they sometimes crawled out of their lairs unannounced to prey on woodcutters or herbalists.
Since their appearances were random, addressing the situation consumed excessive resources and manpower. They usually resided in areas difficult for humans to access, where their combat effectiveness significantly declined.
As if it wasn’t tough enough to deal with a troublesome monster, they inhabited even more troublesome locations.
“But that’s no challenge for me.”
“Did I really just behead a troll…?”
The soldiers who had followed me for safety (mostly to carry me off if I got hurt) gasped in awe. Ignoring their admiration, I began to skin the troll. This creature’s hide had immense value as a material. When exposed to sunlight, it hardened to the point that not even ordinary steel could penetrate it, but in the shadows, it became soft and pliable.
Just thinking about it would drive mages and alchemists mad with excitement. In reality, it did. Fresh, high-quality troll hide was literally worth its weight in gold.
While I could sell the troll’s blood or meat, they held little value. Apparently, they used to sell for a fortune back in the day, but due to some wizard towers that managed to catch trolls alive and exploit their regenerative abilities, the prices had plummeted.
In any case, it was true that trolls were strong and hard to approach, but if you had enough physical power, there was no creature easier to hunt down.
“Hey, Bill-y—uh, Mr. Bill. What should we do with this bear?”
“Well, since we captured it to track down the troll, do whatever you want.”
“Wow, thank you!”
With no natural predators in the wild, these trolls left their mark everywhere they went. So, when we searched for a bear, which happened to overlap with the troll’s habitat, tracking down a troll wasn’t too difficult.
Somehow, the bears seemed to sense the troll’s presence. If they got closer to a troll, they’d let out a terrifying roar and flee, making it easy for us to find the troll’s dwelling just by heading in the opposite direction.
Once again, I followed this method, and another troll became a sacrifice for my reputation.
Having secured the troll’s corpse and gathered my loot, I headed back to the lord’s mansion. As a baron who rose through accomplishments without a noble background, I wouldn’t receive extravagant rewards, but I wasn’t counting on that anyway, so I descended the mountain with a light heart, whistling a tune.
However, in front of the lord’s mansion, I sensed something was off about the flow of air.
This wasn’t a metaphorical difference in atmosphere. Literally, the air felt distorted, as though some noise magic was at play.
“Stop.”
Such magic could only be wielded by a wizard at the very least. Us mere magic users could only manage a breeze at best; we certainly couldn’t manipulate air on this broad of a scale.
And to my knowledge, a wizard’s fees were far beyond what a new baron could afford.
I lowered my body, muscles tensed with caution, and approached the mansion slowly. If a rogue wizard with ill intent had taken over the mansion, mere soldiers would stand no chance.
“From here, let me—”
“Stop posturing and stand straight. You little brat.”
*Whack!*
“Augh!”
With a sharp pain, stars flashed before my eyes. I turned to find my father standing there, fist raised with a grin.
“Oh, Dad?”
What was he doing here?
As if he could read my thoughts, he dusted off his fist and replied, “It’s time to stop your little games and get back.”
“Wait, why?”
Was there anything I had to be there for? My siblings handled the family matters, and my position as deputy commander of the knights was just a title; I had no real responsibilities.
Not to mention, I wasn’t some bigshot who needed to invoke my aura for political consequences.
However, my father seemed to be getting annoyed by my question. His veins popped at his temples, and a slight smile emerged.
“Why? Do you even need to ask that?”
Crap.
This was the expression I’d only seen when my father had his firstborn brother pinned down and was whacking him in the garden until it was dusty, even on a rainy day.
“Because right now, there are people from the Imperial Family and the Duke’s Family in the mansion, and I want to know why?!”
Upon hearing that, I turned on my heel and sprinted away with all my might.
Unfortunately, escaping from the grip of a Swordmaster was impossible at my current level.
“Dad, uh, I mean, Father! Please, just give me a moment—”
“Shut up, you foolish kid! Just because I thought it might not be a good idea to suddenly marry you off to some complete stranger, have you been wandering around all this time?!”
No way, I honestly felt wronged.
I had received a solid assurance that there would be no issues with the princess and the noble lady!
“Seriously, there’s no one trustworthy in this world.”
“I could say the same!”
And with that, I was dragged back toward the mansion.