Who Says I’m Not a Legitimate Adventurer?

Everything began with that horrifying Underground Dungeon rampage that had swept across the entire eastern coastal province.

At the time, due to certain circumstances, Ryan had been transferred from the royal capital and temporarily assigned under the Iris Kingdom’s Third Legion.

Their unit had been urgently dispatched from the stationed White River Province to the eastern coastal province for battlefield rescue operations.

It was during the evacuation of civilians that an overwhelming tide of monsters violently crashed against the army’s defensive line.

The entire legion collapsed instantly, and all the soldiers were scattered.

Ryan could no longer clearly remember the scene back then. He had probably fallen unconscious from exhaustion, and when he woke up again, he was already inside the rear army’s wounded soldiers’ camp.

And everyone told him that a soldier named Moloch had saved him.

That was also the first time Ryan met Lance’s father.

During that monster rampage, Ryan’s left leg suffered severe irreversible damage.

Because of the resulting disability, he could no longer continue serving in the military and had no choice but to retire.

Coincidentally, Moloch was also among that batch of retired soldiers, and they had even both chosen Graystone Town as their retirement destination.

After returning home together following retirement, Ryan discovered that Moloch had an exceptionally gentle personality. No matter how difficult the situation became, he always smiled warmly at everyone.

Even when bullied by other veterans, he never got angry. Every time, it was Ryan who stood up for him.

As things went back and forth, combined with the bond of saving his life, the two gradually became close.

Later, Moloch left Graystone Town for a period of time. When he returned, he brought back Lance in his arms.

Ryan would also often visit Moloch’s home just to play with the little fellow.

At this point in the story—

Ryan suddenly seemed to remember something.

He stood up and walked to a cabinet, pulled open a drawer secured with a copper lock, and took out a photograph from the innermost iron box.

This world had long already developed photography technology, and due to improvements and widespread adoption by the Alchemy Association, there were many photography studios in large cities.

“Look, this is a photo your father and I took before I retired.”

The edges of the photograph had already yellowed badly with age.

Printed on it were two men wearing worn-out military uniforms.

One of them was a younger-looking Ryan.

And beside him—

Stood another man with extraordinary bearing.

Although that man wore rough clothing, a gentle smile hung at the corners of his mouth, giving off an aura that made people feel as if bathed in a spring breeze.

But when Lance looked at the smile on the man in the photo, a piercing chill suddenly rose through his body.

When this man died in his memories, he had looked exactly the same as he did twenty years ago.

Time had not left even the slightest trace of aging on his face.

And throughout more than ten years of memories, whenever this father appeared before him, he always wore that same flawless and gentle smile.

Always like that.

That was what made Lance feel the most wrong about everything.

How could a normal person maintain the exact same expression forever?

That gentle smile lacked even the slightest emotional fluctuation a human should have. Instead, it resembled a realistic mask forcibly welded onto his face.

Yet Uncle Ryan had never noticed anything at all. Was this some kind of cognitive interference ability?

He suddenly thought of—

【Talent: Ouroboros Ring (Red)】

【……】

【Additional Effect: After resurrection, all negative conditions affecting the body will automatically be dispelled, and all abilities currently on cooldown will be reset.】

In other words, perhaps this cognitive interference had always existed. It was only because he resurrected and all negative conditions had been removed that the other party could no longer interfere with his cognition.

Feeling as though he had finally grasped a crucial clue, Lance now only wanted to leave immediately and verify things at the final location.

“Thank you for today. Next time I’ll bring even better liquor to visit you.”

Lance adjusted his expression and bid farewell with a smile.

Just as he turned to leave, Ryan suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Wait a moment.”

Lance felt somewhat puzzled, but facing this elder who had always taken such good care of him, he obediently stopped where he stood.

“There’s something else I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

Ryan turned around and placed the yellowed photograph back into the iron box. Then he bent down and took out two more items from the lowest drawer of the cabinet:

A neatly folded parchment document and a feather quill stained with ink.

“Lance, come here.”

Ryan beckoned him over.

Lance immediately turned around and returned to the dining table missing one corner.

“What is this?”

“This is a will with legal effect under kingdom law. It also includes a special merit transfer contract.”

Ryan directly pushed the parchment and quill toward Lance.

The battle-worn veteran raised his head and looked at the young man before him. On that scarred face, he forced out a somewhat clumsy yet warm smile.

“Sign it, kid.”

Lance froze completely.

His gaze landed upon the parchment stamped with the bright red seal of the Kingdom Military Department.

Listed upon it were the old veteran’s possessions.

On the transferor line, Ryan’s name had already been written in crooked handwriting.

“Your father passed away early, and now you’re an orphan too.”

Ryan sighed softly.

“To be honest, in my heart, I’ve long treated you like my own nephew.”

“I’m already over fifty. The fatal hidden injuries I suffered on the battlefield back then have been acting up more and more frequently these past two years. Even I don’t know whether, after closing my eyes and falling asleep one night, I’ll still be able to open them again the next morning.”

Within the ancient traditions of the Iris Kingdom, if a veteran who had fought on the battlefield died without relatives to perform the final guiding ritual for him—

Then his soul would be unable to enter the Hall of Valor governed by Tyris, the God of War and Victory.

“Kid, I want to entrust my funeral arrangements entirely to you.”

“When the day finally comes that I breathe my last, I hope you’ll personally see me off as family. In this world, aside from you, I no longer have any other relatives I can trust.”

Across this vast continent—

Because the legendary River Styx truly existed—

The final rites performed by relatives were considered extremely important.

The closest younger relative needed to personally use holy water soaked with white oak leaves to carefully wipe down the deceased’s cold body little by little.

After that, the dead had to be dressed in their neatest military uniform.

Finally, a “Rest Copper Coin” bearing the sword-and-shield emblem had to be placed over each of the deceased’s closed eyes.

That served as the expensive fare paid to the ferryman of the River Styx.

Once all this was done, the relatives also had to personally watch as the heavy coffin was slowly lowered into burial.

As Lance listened to Ryan’s heartfelt words, the original owner’s memories continuously surfaced…

Those were memories from childhood. Whenever Lance’s father frequently left Graystone Town, he would leave little Lance in Ryan’s care for a time.

When all the children his age held wooden swords while little Lance had nothing—

Ryan would carve him a wooden warhammer so he could proudly show it off to the other children.

Once, a traveling circus from the kingdom came to Graystone Town to visit retired veterans.

The crowd in front was packed so tightly that little Lance bounced anxiously in place.

Ryan had tucked his cane at his waist and, despite his trembling injured leg, lifted little Lance onto his shoulders so he could watch the performance.

In little Lance’s memories, every scene involving Ryan was always bathed in warm colors.

Compared to Moloch, Ryan felt far more like an old father.

Lance only felt warmth spreading through his heart.

Not long ago, he had just learned that his past life had been a false stage play manipulated by someone pulling strings from behind the scenes.

Starting yesterday, he had begun suspecting this body’s father, suspecting everything happening around him, even developing a sense of loneliness from being surrounded by falsehoods.

But at this moment, he genuinely felt Ryan’s pure and untainted warmth.

This was a real emotion built from more than ten years of companionship, completely genuine and without deceit.

That warmth caused the heart that had long remained tense from vigilance to gradually soften uncontrollably.

“Alright.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Lance looked into the veteran’s eyes and nodded heavily.

“But don’t think nonsense like that either. You still have to live long enough to personally witness my wedding.”

Hearing Lance’s promise, Ryan’s face finally bloomed into a bright and hearty smile of genuine happiness.

“Good kid! I didn’t dote on you for nothing all these years!”

The veteran forcefully patted Lance on the shoulder.

“Since you’ve already agreed to see me off when I die, then sign this contract too.”

“There’s something extremely important in this contract. If you ever have the chance to become a Professional in the future, it’ll be of tremendous use.”

Ryan patiently explained.

“Of course, if you only want to live a peaceful life, you can also sell the quota through the black market. The wealth you gain from it would absolutely be enough to fulfill all kinds of life dreams.”

Ryan raised his finger and pointed toward the middle of the contract.

Written there clearly in red ink were the words:

【Special Approval Quota from the Veterans’ Institute】