TERNLF Vol. 1 Chapter 1 Part 1

Full title: The Exiled Reincarnated Noble Lives Freely

Note: If you found any typos/mistakes, pls write them in the comment. Thanks.

Translator: Canon

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◆Chapter 1◆

Ten years later.

In the study of the Kashit household—a place I had not returned to even once since the day I left—I finally reunited with my older brother.

But there were no smiles in this reunion between siblings.

“Now that I’m head of the family, I have no intention of continuing to support a useless parasite like you. Nor will I allow you to bear the family name.”

Those were the very first words Glaas uttered upon seeing my face.

Just days ago, our father—Viscount Bardin Kashit, head of the family—had died suddenly.

As expected, my brother inherited the title and assumed the position of household head.

Lady Sharite, the first wife, fell into grief and withdrew from public life, entrusting all family affairs to Glaas. She had already left the royal capital.

In other words, all authority over the Kashit family now rested with my brother.

“If you understand that much, then get out!”

Glaas was twenty years old; I, eighteen. Only two years separated us.

When I first saw the faint traces of his younger self still lingering in his features, I felt a flicker of nostalgia.

It had been a decade since we last saw each other, since I was exiled from this house under the guise of “education.”

I hadn’t expected a warm, emotional reunion. Still, I never imagined that the first thing out of my blood brother’s mouth would be a formal declaration of severance.

“Ah, yes… that’s just the kind of person you’ve always been.”

Perhaps because he was the son of the first wife and I of the second, my brother had never truly treated me as family.

No doubt the attitudes of those around us—who mocked me as a failure—had shaped his view.

Incidentally, my expulsion from the household had not raised any eyebrows among the other nobles.

My status as a “dropout” was already well known in aristocratic circles, and sending someone like me away “for educational purposes” wasn’t unusual.

What they didn’t know was that the destination had been the kingdom’s literal hell; its frontmost line of defense against monsters and foreign incursions.

I suspect my parents and brother half-hoped I’d be killed by a rampaging beast while stationed there.

But I survived.

I lived on not only because of my sheer refusal to die in a place like that, but also—and more importantly—because I encountered true warriors on the front lines.

Over the ten years I spent at the frontier fortress, all I ever received from the Kashit household was a pittance, barely enough to survive.

Certainly not enough to hire tutors like in my former life of comfort.

And yet those warriors told me, “We don’t need any of that,” and spent a decade shaping me into a first-rate fighter.

By the way, it turned out I wasn’t actually that slow a learner.

The problem had been that I was constantly measured against my brother, who had exhibited innate talent for both sword and magic from a young age.

Whatever the case, I had gained the power to stand on my own.

So when Glaas announced he would strip me of my noble status and cut all family ties, I was surprised but far from devastated.

“Understood.”

I looked directly into the eyes of my brother—or rather, the man who was no longer kin to me—and opened my mouth to speak.

“From this moment forward, you and I are no longer brothers. Nor are we family.”

“That’s right. Now get out of my sight.”

Glaas waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting away a fly, not even bothering to meet my gaze.

It was clear from his demeanor that, in his mind, this conversation had already ended.

“Of course I’ll leave.”

I fired that retort as I turned on my heel and took a step toward the exit.

Then—

“So, do you fully understand what it means to be cast out from a noble house?”

Those words were hurled at my back.

“Of course. It means I’ll never again be allowed to cross this household’s threshold, and I can no longer exercise any of the privileges of the nobility.”

To be honest, I’d never made use of those so-called “noble privileges” to begin with.

“That’s right. And from now on, our family won’t be paying so much as a coin toward your living expenses.”

So he really wanted credit for that miserly trickle of support?

The Kashit family had exiled me for their own convenience, sent only the bare minimum allowance, and left me in silence for years.

To hear Glaas, now the current head of the house, speak as though I owed him a debt of gratitude… it was infuriating.

But there was no point in stirring up conflict here.

Without turning around, I raised one hand beside my face and responded as calmly as I could.

“I don’t need anything from you. If anything, I’m relieved to be free of any further debt to you or this family.”

“Hmph. So you at least acknowledge it as a debt. In that case, carry it with you for the rest of your life, and don’t you dare step foot in the noble quarter again. This conversation is over.”

He was right about one thing: I did consider it a debt.

Despite the neglect, the abandonment disguised as “education,” and the suffering I endured, it was still true that I had received just enough to survive until the age of eighteen.

And that debt was mine to repay.

Strangely, I felt a flicker of gratitude toward Glaas for reminding me of it before I left the estate.

Suppressing the smirk threatening to rise, I turned back toward him and spoke.

“Oh, that’s right. Almost forgot.”

Deliberately slow, I drew a burlap sack from my item storage; a form of magic I had learned at the frontier fortress.

“What’s that?”

He must not have expected someone like me—a supposed dropout—to use storage magic.

Glaas blinked in surprise, his brow furrowing in suspicion.

Without a word, I tossed the sack onto the floor of the study.

The heavy thud echoed through the room.

“I figured I might as well settle my debt.”

“A debt, you say?”

I pointed at the sack lying at his feet.

“That’s money I earned at the frontier fortress.”

“You earned… that?”

“You really are slow on the uptake. I’m repaying the ‘loan’ this house sent me all these years.”

I added, feigning exasperation.

“The amount in that bag is more than double the total I ever received. Though considering how much probably got siphoned off before it reached me, I added a bit extra.”

“Ridiculous. There’s no way someone like you could’ve earned that much—”

“The ridiculous one here is you, Glaas. That one line alone shows just how little nobles in the capital understand about life on the frontier.”

There was no use continuing this discussion any further. I sighed and offered my final words.

“With this, I’m finally free from the shackles of this farcical noble status.”

I had been using formal, noble speech out of habit—but there was no longer any need for that.

“From now on, I’ll live as I please. You, on the other hand, can shoulder my share of the burden and play noble all you want.”

Leaving those words behind, I turned and exited the room, leaving Glaas speechless.

I may have said more than I should have, but at least I didn’t raise a hand to him. I’ll give myself credit for that.

As the door closed behind me, I heard his muffled voice shouting something from within.

But this was a noble estate's study, its walls were solid and well-insulated.

Whatever he was yelling, I couldn’t make it out.

Which was probably for the best. If I had heard it clearly, I might’ve gone back in and punched him.

“Well, no need to go out of my way to hear things I’d rather not. No sense in working myself into a rage.”

Muttering to myself, I made my way to the front entrance.

Along the way, I passed several servants; each one scowled faintly at the sight of me, not one offering a bow.

Perhaps because I no longer carried myself as a proper noble.

As I walked past, I heard their whispered gossip behind me.

“Such a lack of refinement…”

“Savage, like all those who come back from the frontier…”

They spoke as if their comfortable lives and the nobles’ indulgences weren’t built upon the daily sacrifices of those risking their lives to defend the borders.

I considered shouting back at them.

But what good would that do?

They lived peacefully in the capital’s noble quarter. People like them would never understand.

Back then, I was the same.

I never realized someone was out there staking their life to protect this nation’s peace—until I became one of them.

Maybe I was just angry at my former self.

First, I needed to calm down.

Stay composed. Stay composed.

“Anger clouds judgment, and that clouding can be fatal… wasn’t that how it went?”

One of the many lessons I’d learned at the fortress.

Repeating it softly under my breath, I steadied myself and left the noble estate behind—ten years since I last saw it.

I passed through the absurdly large front garden and exited through the servant gate beside the magnificent main gate, who knows how much money that had cost to build.

As I heard the gatekeeper shut the door behind me, I started walking through the noble quarter toward the castle town.

The royal capital was structured in layers: the royal castle, surrounded by the noble quarter, which in turn was encircled by a wall that separated it from the castle town.

I had arrived by carriage from the city gates to the Kashit estate. But no such carriage awaited me now.

On the way to the castle town, I passed several opulent carriages.

The coachmen, clad in fine livery, gave me suspicious looks, as if I were some anomaly.

“Well, I guess that’s to be expected. Wearing clothes like this, walking alone without even a servant.”

Ordinary nobles traveled by carriage, not on foot.

If it were just a servant, walking might be acceptable, but here I was, dressed in obviously noble garb, strolling around without escort. I was only wearing this because I had nothing else, having been forced to accept the outfit the Kashit family gave me.

Still, it had been ten years since I last came here, and nothing had changed.

This kingdom—now as then—felt stagnant, unmoved by the passage of time.

“…Well, now that I’ve been formally demoted to commoner, guess I should start by registering with the Adventurer Guild.”

I stepped through the gate separating the noble and commoner districts and took a look around.

When I first arrived at the Kashit estate, I hadn’t looked out the carriage window but the town seemed much the same as I remembered it from a decade ago.

I rarely visited the castle town as a noble, but I did have one memory: when my mother was still alive, we rode a carriage to her favorite boutique, where she bought me new clothes.

I wonder if that shop’s still around.

Not that it matters now, I no longer have any reason to buy from noble-exclusive shops.

“I’ll just pawn off these stiff, pompous clothes later.”

Undoing my collar, I mumbled to myself and started looking around for a place to change.

“If I see a store before I reach the Guild, I’ll buy something there and borrow a changing room.”

And so, I made my way toward the capital’s Adventurer Guild headquarters, changing clothes along the way with what I’d planned in advance.

I’d known about the Adventurer Guild since I was very young.

But back then, I dreamed of living a life of peace and comfort. The dangerous life of an adventurer was the furthest thing from that ideal.

Once I realized I didn’t have any cheat-like protagonist talents, I became even more convinced that adventuring wasn’t for me.

But after being trained by countless mentors at the frontier fortress—learning real skills and gaining confidence—that story had changed.

With everything they drilled into me, becoming an adventurer now felt like a true calling.

Of course, the job came with risks.

There were safer paths to wealth and stability. I could’ve chosen one of those and still achieved a leisurely life.

Back when I was first exiled from the Kashit family, I considered returning to the capital and using my knowledge from my past life to pursue a more conventional job.

But after seeing those who risked their lives to protect peace on the frontier, I couldn’t bring myself to follow that path.

So when the summons from the Kashit family arrived and I was relieved of my duty at the fortress, I prepared. I asked my mentors everything I needed to know about becoming an adventurer.

I had left no stone unturned.

—Or so I thought.

—

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