"I want a pet!" (Wendelin)
Although I've been given the freedom to do what I please during the day, I don't actually have all that much to do with my free time. I'm strictly prohibited from helping with the work of developing the territory since it could cause a succession crisis within the Baumeister House. Well, nobody around here has actually told me so directly, but Erich warned me before he left and regularly reminds me in his letters.
"Kurt isn't brave enough to go so far…" (Wendelin)
I'm more than capable of cultivating new land, digging irrigation canals, or clearing land for roads and other logistical works. I would probably be used if this were a large territory. Of course, the heads of large noble families set aside cash reserves to be used as compensation for non-inheriting children that have special skills or usable talent. With those funds, the younger siblings are properly compensated and allowed to become the head of a branch family, a vassal, or a retainer with preferential treatment.
However, the Baumeister House is too poor for such accommodations. Only the second son, Hermann, was able to be married into a branch family.
As such, if I were to assume an active role in the development of the territory, the local population would almost certainly start to clamour for me to inherit the house and territory instead of Kurt.
And they would be justified.
As a rule, in a small territory like this, the person that is most able to contribute to the territory's development will win the support of the territory's people. In that respect, receiving more admiration than Kurt would be all it takes to foment rebellion.
"You could be assassinated in your sleep. I don't want to see my brothers murdering one another, so please be circumspect in your actions." (Erich)
Jealousy is frightening. I've seen it before, even when I was nothing more than a middling employee for an inconsequential trading company.
I can't imagine how the experience would be magnified and complicated as a small kid fighting over the right to succeed a noble family.
Erich's probably right. I'd probably be killed in my sleep and then the family would tell the outside world that I had died suddenly of illness. No matter how powerful I may be as a magician, I can't fight off an attacker in my sleep.
Kurt is the presumptive successor to the title and territory. And frankly, I'd rather be written off as an unnecessary burden than succeed Father.
"It's best if you pretend to be the useless, wayward young son. It should be easy for you. You've been treated as an oddball for a long time, after all." (Erich)
I'm a bit hurt that Erich would call me an oddball, but I'd never admit it. In the end, I can only defer to the wisdom of the only smart one to come out of the Baumeister House.
If I'd occupied a woman's body in this world I might have fallen in love with him.
Then again, as siblings, our love would be forbidden. I could have at least cooperated with him. I definitely wouldn't hesitate to lend Erich a hand if he ever needed it.
Anyway, Erich is right, I can't do anything to contribute to the territory. And because of that I spend my days alone in the undeveloped area that occupies the southern part of our territory, the Savage Lands.
I also travel to Breitburg incognito once or twice a week. I can't afford to make my true identity known, as knowledge that I am able to teleport will cause a succession crisis just as fast as walking through the villages firing off large scale battle magic. I cringe when I imagine how the villagers would react if they realized that I could supplement or replace the triannual caravans. Of course, if the villages began to rely on me to replenish their supplies, it would only lead to a new crisis once I die.
So this is a great example of the fact that no good deed goes unpunished. Even if there were a benefit to the territory in the short term, it would ultimately cause greater damage and disruption in the end.
Still, since I can travel to the market whenever I want, I no longer have to depend on the caravans myself, which is a relief.
But since things would only get ugly if I were to be found out in Breitburg, I make every effort to limit my acquaintances in the city. When I visit Breitburg it's usually just to sell the game that I've hunted. I hide under the guise of Wendelin, the local farm boy and trapper, who comes to town as a dutiful son to sell his catch and do some shopping for his family back home.
I've developed a number of contacts in the merchants guild, become friendly with a few of the gatekeepers, and done regular business with several shop owners and employees.
I've also become friendly with the receptionist at the library. She doesn't wear glasses, but she's a beautiful woman who you can tell is well read just by looking at her. After my mother, I think she's the woman with whom I've had the most contact in this world. That was a surprising revelation I'd had a while back.
Needless to say, because I am distancing myself from the people of the territory and the people in Breitburg, I am fairly lonesome. In my previous world, there were lots of lonely people that kept pets as a form of companionship.
As a magician, it wouldn't be unusual for me to have a familiar. So I had done some research of late into the topic of magicians and familiars, first in the library and later in the book that Master had left me. Master didn't actually have a familiar, and the reason for that is laughably simple.
"Familiars become a magician's eyes and ears. They also can be used to allow for faster mana recovery. However, only magicians with a high affinity for animals can form a contract."
Simply put, only those magicians that are loved by animals can have a familiar.
"So let's see if I'm loved by animals…" (Wendelin)
I doubt that it's so simple as walking up to a wolf and saying "good boy", but I still tried that as a test. I figured that maybe one of the wolves would, by some chance, be attuned to my same wavelength or something and decide to become my familiar.
So I took out some rabbit meat from my magic bag, located the nearest pack of wolves using my detection magic, and walked right up to them waving the meat in their face.
"Look here! it's delicious meat! Good boys, you want the meat?" (Wendelin)
"Wuuuu!" (Wolf)
"Here boys! Don't be scared! No need to be frightened!"
I feel like I'd seen a similar scene in an anime I once saw, but since it's not really bad to rehash it, I continue trying to lure them.
Upon hearing my words,the wolves moved at once.
"Grau-grau!" (Wolves)
"Uwooon!" (Wolves)
"It's no use!" (Wendelin)
Instead of being tamed, the pack of wolves came at me like a group of starving kids in a buffet line.
It was actually a little frightening.
"Damn it! It's not working!" (Wendelin)
I was aware that it isn't easy for a human to communicate with other species, but I guess I'd gotten my hopes up. I guess I'll have to resign myself to being a loner.
So, having given it the old college try, I accepted my failure and consoled myself by acquiring a few new wolf pelts. I can't eat wolf meat because it smells disgusting, but the fur can be sold for a tidy sum.
"You would have eaten so much delicious meat if you'd become my familiar. Now look at you… pathetic…" (Wendelin)
After berating one of my would-be wolf buddies as I scooped him and a few dozen of his kin into my magic bag, I activated my detection magic to look for a new familiar candidate (victim).
However, no matter how nice I am, every animal that I try to tempt bares its teeth at me and attacks.
Well, the name gives it away a bit, but the people of the Baumeister Knight Territory must not come to the Savage Lands all that often.
Wolves, wild boars, and even a few large deer. I try to woo them one by one, but all I get in return is belligerence. They're not monsters, so I had expected them to have better manners.
"At least I have lots of extra meat and fur now."
Eventually, despite my most sincere effort, I can't sense any animals in my area using detection magic. I killed them all. Instead of making a friend all this had turned into was an extended hunting trip.
"Oh well. I like being a loner anyway! I'll have more free time to train my magic this way!" (Wendelin)
I figure that putting more effort into this familiar thing won't really change anything, so I started to look around with detection magic while flying home.
"Is that…" (Wendelin)
For a brief moment, I thought I saw a thin light coming from the rocky mountain in front of me, so I headed over to check it out. Upon arrival, I grab a chunk of the loose rock and use verification magic on it. It turns out that the mountain contains a vein of copper ore.
Personally, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to minerals. If I were limited to my own acumen, I doubt that I could tell raw ore from precious gems. But when I use detection and verification magic in tandem I can easily unlock the contents of a piece of rock.
This is a lucky find. I can use this ore to practice Extraction and Recombination (my intro to alchemy spells). Practicing the same spells over and over allows me to increase my mana efficiency, spell accuracy, and power, so I try to do so whenever I'm able. As time goes on, if I am diligent in my practice, I should be able to cast the same spells faster, on a larger scale, and using relatively less mana.
"Oh man, it's almost bedtime. I need to get home soon… I'll have to leave it at that for now." (Wendelin)
Having done a preliminary assessment, I can say that the mountain definitely contains a decent vein of copper. Although I didn't detect much else, I'll be able to perform a more fulsome exploration tomorrow.
I'd really prefer to sleep out here under the stars, but it would cause a lot of problems if a minor like me didn't come home at night.
"Copper, silver, and also gold… maybe I can mine it a little…" (Wendelin)
The next day I investigated the mountain further while eating some homemade rice balls. Although I make sure to eat breakfast at home, I've been holding back lately to save room for my own dishes. When I was in Breitburg I had found a large pot that I can use to make rice, so these days I pull it out of my magic bag whenever I get a craving for rice balls.
I make a stove wherever I am in an instant using earth magic and apply heat using fire magic. Back in my old world I had once seen a commercial with a guy cooking over a large, open fire. I couldn't help but think of it each time I put together my outdoor kitchen.
At first, my attempts had only resulted in a scorched, blackened rice crust, but as I got used to the increased heat I learned to cook delicious fried rice. For ingredients, I often use either meat that I hunt myself in the Savage Lands or fish that I catch myself at the coast. From there, I add my homemade miso and soy sauce, eggs, boiled seaweed, and vinegar (which I made using materials that I purchased in Breitburg), and then I stir it all up with wind magic. If I make large portions and quickly store them away in my magic bag (so they don't spoil over time), I don't need to cook all that often.
Still, I can't help but marvel at how convenient magic can be.
Of course, despite my homemade dishes being absolutely mouthwatering, there are still some huge obstacles to mass production on a commercial scale.
But I am under no obligation to commercialize or disseminate these dishes, so I can't complain.
"I don't really want to sell it en masse. All I really want is enough for me." (Wendelin)
Also, since I use so much mana preparing the dishes, it's like killing two birds with one stone. The business of delicious food can wait until after I leave the house.
It's not like there's a merchant that would deal with an eight year old kid, even if the kid is the son of a noble. So I'll need to grow up a bit and get out of the house before I try anything like that.
Still, doing as I please out here in the wilderness is like a form of stress relief.
"Hmm?" (Wendelin)
As I was lost in thought and finishing up Recombination on a copper ingot I noticed a bear wandering into the range of my detection magic.
It's quite big.
It can't be compared with the quasi-tamed black bear that I had seen on a bear ranch in my previous life. I fly over to it, and am surprised that it just looks at me without getting angry or baring its teeth. Instead, it just stares at me with (what I think is) great interest.
"Maybe you're the one that I've been looking for?" (Wendelin)
An animal with a matching wavelength.
My research indicates that it's rare for bears to be familiars, but it's not completely unheard of. So I can only assume that, given his docile attitude, the possibility that I can tame this bear and make him my familiar must be high.
"Let's do this!" (Wendelin)
Despite my excitement, I managed to calmly take out some rabbit meat from my magic bag and show it to the bear.
The bear sniffs at it while cautiously approaching me.
"So my familiar is a bear… I wonder how we'll deal with transporting him… well, that's a problem for later." (Wendelin)
Honestly, I'm mostly thinking about how cool it will be to ride on its back.
But suddenly my dreams are shattered and morph into a nightmare. The bear lunges forth with huge teeth exposed in an attempt to make a meal of me. The situation became dangerous in a flash. I only survive thanks to my daily sword training.
Although I have no talent for the sword, training my body day after day has improved my body control dramatically when compared to a few years ago. If not for that, I probably wouldn't have been able to dodge the bear's sudden advance so nimbly.
"Damn it! How dare you play with my pure heart!" (Wendelin)
I find my vengeance in the form of a magic arrow that I send sailing directly between the bear's eyes. It leaves behind good quality fur, lots of meat, and its liver, which can be used as an ingredient to make certain medicines.
And once more I have confirmed the fact that I am a loner.