Chapter 1
My son, Thor Rigas. The great Dorgalia Empire has decided to send you to another country as a hostage. The carriage sent to collect you is already here. For the honor of House Rigas, you may as well use up that life of yours.
This was the first thing my father had said to me in two years.
My father twisted his lips, wearing an expression as though he were sharing some amusing idea.
I had absolutely no idea what he meant.
"Father, I don't understand. Why am I being sent to another country as a hostage...?"
"Because you're expendable."
My father, Duke Rigas, spat out.
Beside him, the ducal house's butler and captain of the guards were stifling their laughter.
Neither of them even tried to look at me.
This was the Rigas ducal estate in the imperial capital.
In other words, my family home.
I was listening to my father's explanation in the office of Duke Balga Rigas, head of House Rigas.
That said, I had severed my ties with the ducal house long ago.
When I was thirteen, I somehow found a job and left home.
For the next four years, I lived as a commoner.
I had no intention of ever returning to the ducal house.
And yet today, while I was at work, soldiers from the ducal house came and dragged me here without allowing me to say a word.
My coworkers and supervisor had silently watched us leave.
They were far too powerful to oppose.
The ducal house was made up of the highest-ranking nobles. There was no way a commoner could resist them.
And so I was put in a carriage and brought to the ducal estate.
I was dragged into my father's office, where I was now speaking with him.
"What do you mean, I'm someone whose death doesn't matter?"
There was no answer.
"I've already left the ducal house. I don't even use the Rigas surname. I'm working as a civil servant for the Empire now. My duties include paperwork, inventory management, and repairing items. It's not glamorous work, but I haven't made any particular mistakes, either—"
"Enough! Shut up!! You disgrace the ducal house!"
My father slammed his hand on the table.
"If you're useless, you should just die quietly. Why do you dare argue with me!?"
"Because I don't understand what you're talking about, Father."
"Why don't you understand!?"
There was no way I could.
He had explained almost nothing beyond "sending me as a hostage" and "someone whose death didn't matter."
"I told you before, didn't I? Our ducal house has no need for anyone without combat Skills!!"
The Duke shouted in a voice that echoed throughout the entire room.
But... why did he look as though he were the one being treated unfairly?
I was the one who had been forcibly brought here and was being yelled at.
"My ancestors took up the sword alongside successive kings and built this Dorgalia Empire. The first Emperor was also a hero who once fought alongside the Hero! The mighty Imperial Family is the pride of every citizen of the Empire!"
"I know that, Father."
"Therefore, all the people of the Empire place strength above all else. Even more so for nobles. Our ducal house must serve as an example to other nobles and to all the people! But you—!"
Just by looking at my father's expression, I knew what he was going to say next.
"You don't have a single Skill for fighting! You can't even use offensive magic! This is what the eldest son of a ducal house with a grandfather called the 'Sword Saint' has become! Can you understand the despair I felt when I learned the truth!?"
It was a line I had heard countless times since childhood.
I had long since learned exactly how I was supposed to answer.
If I said, 'I understand,' he would reply, 'As if you could!' and punch me.
If I said, 'I don't understand,' he would reply, 'Why don't you understand!?' and beat me with a wooden sword.
So I had no choice but to remain silent.
"—You seem to have nothing to say. Then, Captain of the Guards! Butler! Tell him of Thor Rigas's crimes!"
"Yes, sir!!"
The armored captain of the guards and the black-clad butler stepped forward.
"—At the age of ten, Thor Rigas underwent a Skill appraisal at the temple. According to the report, he had no combat Skills. Such a thing is unthinkable for the eldest son of a ducal house."
"—At the age of twelve, Thor Rigas underwent a second Skill appraisal. In addition to combat Skills, he was found to possess magic-type Skills, but he had no offensive magic Skills. It was an unbelievable disgrace for a noble."
The two of them turned their eyes away from Thor, as if their report were over.
This was how those without combat Skills were treated.
The Dorgalia Empire had expanded its territory through military might.
That was why both nobles and commoners valued combat ability.
Nobles without combat Skills were especially looked down upon. All the nobles around me possessed excellent combat Skills.
That was why I left the ducal house.
I took an examination, became a civil servant, and worked in paperwork and item repair.
I had done my work properly. Paperwork suited me.
Besides, there were times when I could put my Skills to use.
"It's true that I don't have any Skills suited for combat."
I met the Duke's gaze and said,
"But I do have the 'Alchemy' Skill."
I saw my father's face twist.
It was the same expression he had worn when he heard the results of my Skill appraisals at the ages of ten and twelve.
I continued.
"My 'Alchemy' Skill is useful for repairing and mending items. In fact, I've been entrusted with item management work at the government office. If I hone my Skill, I might even be able to create new items. That's why I've been saving money, so that one day I can have my own workshop—"
"That sort of thing has no value whatsoever!!"
"Father!"
"Every citizen of the Empire is competing to become the strongest! We have no need for any other methods! Besides, the Empire possesses the Holy Sword and Holy Shield once used by the Hero. When the strongest weapons already exist... new items? Is that not a denial of the Empire's way!?"
"That's not what I mean! I..."
"To deny the Empire's way is tantamount to treason against His Imperial Majesty!"
The Duke kicked the table.
The heavy table rolled away with ease.
The Duke possessed a hand-to-hand combat Skill. Apparently, it had not weakened yet.
"—Hardly fit to be called a nobleman."
"—I thought that even after leaving the ducal house, he would retain the bare minimum of pride, but this is..."
The captain of the guards and the butler were laughing quietly.
The Duke ranted as he watched them.
"It has already been decided that you're being sent as a hostage. Stop your whining!"
"I understand that it's already been decided..."
...As I thought, there was no point.
My words did not get through to my father and his subordinates.
Enough—
If they would not listen, I could at least draw out some information.
"But what did you mean by 'use up that life of mine'?"
"Because you're going to a dangerous place."
"A dangerous place?"
"The Empire sent a hostage there several decades ago, but that hostage went missing. No one who has gone there has ever returned."
"Where am I being sent?"
When I asked, my father gave me a thin smile.
That alone told me the answer.
"Don't tell me... the Demon Lord's Territory!?"
"I commend you for your insight, at least."
He began to say something, then shook his head.
"—No, if you truly were perceptive, you would have understood what I wanted and killed yourself while you were young. The fact that you're still alive proves you're truly useless—"
None of that mattered.
I had never imagined that the Duke would go this far.
That bastard intended to send me into an enemy nation.
Several hundred years ago, the Demon Lord's forces and the human nations had fought over territory on the continent.
The Demon Lord, commanding powerful demonfolk, had invaded southward.
The Demon Lord and the human heroes were powerful, but the human heroes were strong as well.
After a fierce battle, the Heroes eventually drove the Demon Lord and his forces back with weapons and magic.
Afterward, a boundary was established between the human world and the Demon Lord's Territory.
Beyond the forest north of the Empire lay the region of the demonfolk and demi-humans—the Demon Lord's Territory.
The human world lay to the south.
No major conflicts had occurred since the boundary was established.
Humans and the Demon Lord's people lived without invading one another's territories.
Yet the Demon Lord's Territory remained a mysterious land.
Worse, people said that the Demon Lord and the demonfolk driven into the northern lands hated humans.
That was why there should have been almost no contact between the Demon Lord's Territory and the human world.
"...I didn't know there had ever been contact between the Empire and the Demon Lord's Territory."
"You know nothing about politics. Our Dorgalia Empire lies closest to the Demon Lord's Territory. Though we maintain noninterference with the Demon Lord's people, we still have to take precautions."
The Duke spat.
"That is why, once every few decades, the Empire offers a hostage to the Demon Lord's Territory. They are bloodthirsty, you see, so we appease them by offering a hostage—or rather, a sacrifice."
"—Demon Lords and demonfolk are little more than beasts, after all."
"—They must be satisfied once they've killed a human and confirmed their own strength."
"—Yes, that's why those Demon Lords have probably been staying quiet."
The Duke and his two subordinates laughed together.
A chill ran through me.
These men genuinely wanted me dead. That was why my words did not get through to them.
There was no need to speak with someone destined to die.
"We're done here. Get out. Didn't I tell you the carriage sent to collect you is already here?"
The Duke waved a hand.
At that signal, the soldiers waiting outside the room came in. Four of them restrained Thor.
I instinctively twisted my body, but I couldn't break free.
"You can't even escape the guards' hold. You really don't have a single Skill for fighting, do you? Why was someone this useless born into my ducal house...?"
"—How pitiful, Duke-sama."
"—We understand your feelings, Duke-sama."
"But your days of hardship end today."
The Duke dabbed at his eyes with the handkerchief the butler and captain held out, wearing a radiant smile.
I felt sick.
I should have refused the body search before entering the room.
Then I could have thrown the stone I carried as an Alchemy ingredient at that face.
"—I hate you. Duke Balga Rigas."
"Dead men don't talk."
"If you want someone sent to the Demon Lord's Territory, go yourself. Then tell His Imperial Majesty with your own mouth what you saw and heard there!"
"The Empire has triumphed over the Demon Lord's Territory. Why would we need information about the defeated country?"
"...You're too careless. You're finished, you—"
Thud.
A blow struck my stomach.
I realized that the Duke's fist had sunk into me.
My breath stopped, and I could no longer make a sound.
As the Duke drew back his fist, the butler wiped it with a handkerchief.
Had he stopped after one blow because it would be troublesome if I died before reaching the Demon Lord's Territory?
"...You're the worst... you damn old man."
"Take him away."
The Duke waved a hand.
"The child who was born by mistake will be gone, and our ducal house will enter a new era. His Imperial Majesty will surely think more highly of our house, too."
—And so I was exiled from the Empire where I had been born and raised.