A Man Must Eventually Leave Home
This can't go on!
This is bad.
Is it because of my title as the next head of the family?
Grace, my bodyguard knight who usually listens to my requests without complaint. Emma, my personal maid—airheaded, but obedient. Neither of them has taken a single step away from the door outside my room.
And my room is on the third floor, so leaping out the window isn't exactly an option either.
…Or is it?
Three stories. I might be able to manage that…
Just to gauge the drop, I cracked the window open a fraction.
And then—
Clunk!
"Young Master!!"
"You mustn't jump!"
"…"
Completely screwed.
I'd opened it as quietly as humanly possible so they wouldn't hear from outside. Yet the instant the latch clicked, both of them burst through the door.
"I was just trying to get some air! It's stuffy in here!"
Whooooosh—
"Achoo!"
"Young Master, are you unwell?!"
"I'll fetch the physician at once!"
Damn it.
It was colder than usual today. Still, I'd been born and raised in the north; a chill like this was nothing I couldn't handle. Unfortunately, I'd just sneezed right in front of the two people who fretted over my health more than anyone else in the world—and that only made them worse.
"Ed~!!!"
Oh, for the love of—
Emma had gone to fetch the physician… and brought Lirith back with her.
"Haa… damn it…"
It took a full hour of enduring the three of them fussing over me before I was finally left alone in my room. Thankfully, they at least granted my request to be by myself for a while. If they hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to plan anything—and worse, I would have been stuck under the constant gaze of women who, family or not, made every second of scrutiny pure torment.
The window's a lost cause.
There had to be another way. I racked my brain, but nothing came.
Wait… do I even need to run right this second?
Thinking about it, no. From what I remembered, the imperial debutante wasn't supposed to happen for another month. Moving the venue to our grand ducal estate? That should buy me at least two months of breathing room.
"Emma!"
"Yes, Young Master! Do you need something?"
"Do you happen to know when the debutante is being held?"
"Hmm… from what I've heard, it's in a week."
Gurgle…
The moment her answer hit me, I foamed at the mouth and collapsed backward.
"Y-Young Master?! Grace, call the physician right now!!"
"R-Right!"
This is pure, unadulterated bullshit!
I'd blacked out completely this time, and two whole hours had vanished. Wasn't the debutante always held next month every year? Why the hell had they suddenly changed the venue and moved the date up like this?!
In the middle of my despair, my stomach suddenly spoke up.
Growl…
Evening was approaching, and I hadn't eaten a proper lunch. The pitiful sound was pure starvation. How wretched had things gotten that I hadn't even noticed until my gut started complaining?
Ah! That's it!
Hunger was secondary. A brilliant idea had just sparked in my head.
"Emma, Grace! It's almost time for dinner!"
Even if the sky falls, there's always a hole to crawl through! At last I had a legitimate reason to leave this room.
"Young Master… for the time being, you've been ordered to stay in your room and not cook…"
"Huh?"
"The head chef will bring your meals up, so…"
"No. I'm not eating. I'll starve to death."
"Young Master!!"
In a situation like this they wanted me to eat someone else's cooking? These girls were saying dangerous things.
"Just come with me to the kitchen. Emma's always by my side anyway, right?"
"Ugh… uhh…"
"Hm?"
"N-Nothing! Grace, let's go together!"
"Young Master, I shall escort you as well."
"Of course you're coming too."
"Thank you!"
"Ugh… alone time with Young Master…"
I had no idea what Grace was so grateful for, and Emma seemed to be muttering something under her breath, but the three of us headed for the kitchen regardless.
Because of the frequent nightmares that jolted me awake, I always kept sleeping powder on hand so I could drift off again. Tonight's cooking would put it to good use.
"Young Master? You seem to be adding something different today."
"Hm? My appetite's off, so I thought I'd try a new seasoning."
"Does that mean I get to taste Young Master's cooking too?"
"No! That's my job!"
"You always get to eat it right away!"
Don't worry. This dish is for the two of you.
The plan looked like it would succeed more easily than expected.
Hmm… how much should I add?
Too much might be dangerous. Grace was half-dragon, so she'd probably be fine, but airheaded Emma would need careful measuring.
"Emma, want to try it first?"
"As expected of Young Master!"
"Urgh…"
Don't look so left out, Grace. You'll get some too.
"Mmm…"
"How is it?"
"It's delicious today as well, Young Master!"
That's not what I meant…
I must have put in too little. Maybe it was because this was a gender-reversed world—women were fundamentally stronger, so even medicinal effects like this barely touched them. One spoonful of this powder would knock me out cold, but I'd been cautious and used only a little for Emma. Even so, since it was mixed into soup and would spread, I'd added about four spoonfuls. Seeing her still perfectly fine, I clearly needed more.
"The seasoning's a bit weak. I'll add some more."
"Y-Young Master, you haven't even tasted it yourself!"
"It's instinct. Pure instinct."
Yeah. If I ate it, I'd be taking a one-way trip to the afterlife.
Making up excuses as I went, I added another six spoonfuls to be safe.
"This time both of you try it together."
"Th-Thank you!"
"Still, me first!"
Watching them accept the food without a shred of suspicion made my conscience twinge.
I'm sorry.
But—
I'm leaving this house tonight no matter what.
"Mmm…? Uh…"
Thud.
ZzzZzzZ
The powder's effect was incredible. Grace toppled over and was out cold instantly. That meant airheaded Emma should—
Huh?
"Eh…? Grace? Ah!…"
Thud.
zzzzZ?
"Whew…"
I'd almost panicked when Emma didn't drop right away—wondering if she had some kind of resistance—but thankfully she collapsed soon after. She was so airheaded even falling asleep took her longer.
Yes! Success!
I bolted from the kitchen at once. I thought I felt a gaze on my back for a second… but it had to be my imagination. No time to look back.
Finally—escape!
I didn't do anything stupid like heading for the front gate or swinging by my room to pack. I ran straight for the rear entrance of the grand ducal estate, the one closest to the kitchen. I hadn't managed to grab much in my haste, but I'd already stashed a pouch of gold coins and a dagger for self-defense, so it was fine.
I hadn't left the estate much in this life, but I had plenty of experience from previous ones. I wasn't charging out into the world on pure bravado. They always stopped me, saying a man's body was too weak and dangerous—but I had a secret.
Who do they think I am?
In my past lives, right before I got dunked into the next one, I'd trained hard and accumulated plenty of experience. I'd kept it hidden from my family, but even in a man's body I was a powerhouse capable of manifesting Aura in this world. I could protect myself just fine!
Probably.
I could live as a mercenary or adventurer and adapt without trouble. No—not just any mercenary or adventurer. I might even rise to platinum rank, maybe even legendary rank.
Of course, leaving this home I'd grown attached to without so much as a goodbye left me feeling guilty and a little sad. But the hope of finally living a proper life was swelling even larger.
And more than anything—
My instincts were screaming at me.
If I stayed quietly in this mansion, I wouldn't live past twenty, just like every previous life.
Finally, twenty years old.
In the end—
If you're a man, you have to leave home someday.
The moment I could break the jinx of never surviving past twenty was right in front of me.
A few guards stood at the rear gate, but I could just pull rank and walk out. It would look like I was throwing my weight around, and I'd probably get scolded later by the girls—but so what?
My life came first!
I reached the rear gate.
"Young Master? What brings you—"
The guards looked startled at my sudden sprint, but I was in a hurry, so I barked an order.
"I have some business, so open the gate and let me—?"
I never finished the command.
Because—
"Ed~♡…"
"S-Sister?"
A voice called from behind me. I turned and saw Lirith smiling with a terrifying expression.
How…?
"Whew! That was close, Lady Lirith!"
"Fufu… is that idiot bodyguard still asleep?"
"Yes!"
"E-Emma?"
Emma—who had definitely fallen asleep right next to Grace—was standing perfectly fine beside Lirith. Judging by the situation, she must have reported to Lirith immediately. Was that even possible with the timing? I couldn't tell if she'd actually been asleep at all.
"Young Master, it's dangerous outside!"
"She's right, Ed! It's dangerous, so let's go back!"
"I-I don't want to!"
"Eek?! Young Master?!"
The situation made no sense, but I had no choice! I shoved past the guards and ran.
"E-Ed?!"
"Young Master!!"
Their panicked voices rang out behind me, but I didn't even glance back. I sprinted with everything I had. I hadn't trained for this exact moment, but I'd worked hard on stamina as well as swordsmanship, preparing for any danger that might come. Time to show the results of all that effort!
Show th—
Grab.
Huh?
"Ed~♡"
Tackle.
"Aaaagh!!"
"Shall we go home♡?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Faced with an immediate threat to my life, I had no choice but to answer instantly.
In this world, a man isn't even allowed to run away from home.
Th-This isn't how it was supposed to go…