"Mom?"
Elara saw her mother holding an axe in her right hand and some sort of serrated knife that seemed enchanted with wind magic in her left hand.
Scattered around the ground, beneath where her mother stood, were many neatly cut pieces of wood.
"What are you making with these woods, Mom?"
Elara approached her mother, her face and tone filled with curiosity. Although Elara could guess that her mother was weaving something from the various pieces of wood that had been meticulously cut to different sizes, she couldn't help but wonder.
Elara had seen her mother engage in weaving when she was just 8 months old. However, it was a short-lived endeavor as her mother had only done it to earn some extra money during late-night shifts.
After establishing a successful bakery and stabilizing their finances over the past eight years, her mother stopped those late-night weaving sessions to focus on baking.
So, Elara hadn't expected her mother to take up weaving again as a hobby during her free time when the bakery was closed. Remarkably, this hobby was proving to be quite profitable.
Even though they never had financial difficulties, especially when it came to food, as their bread always sold out, Elara was still grateful for the second chance at life she had been given.
Back to the topic at hand, Elara was secretly awestruck by how her mother's woodworking skills had improved over the years. It was no wonder that many merchants, and even a noble, commissioned her mother for various items.
'Wait, didn't my mother used to be a noble?' Elara thought to herself while discreetly observing her mother, who was weaving with an air of mysterious elegance.
Elara couldn't comprehend how a former noblewoman could become skilled in weaving with such proficiency, using ordinary wood fibers.
One thing Elara was certain of, though, was that weaving was incredibly difficult, as she had never managed to create a single decent piece of work herself.
Interrupting Elara's reverie, her mother, with her long, braided brown hair, smiled at her and handed her something.
"... " Elara remained silent for a few seconds after receiving the object.
It was a large wicker basket, perfect for a 9-year-old, capable of holding many small fruits.
"You mentioned wanting to pick cherries again. Well, it turns out I just remembered that your old basket is missing, right?"
Elara recalled having a similar basket, woven by her mother when she was 5 years old. However, it had disappeared a long time ago while she was collecting fruits, and now Elara preferred to order the necessary materials from wandering merchants to save time.
'Again....'
Strangely, every time she thought about the vanished basket, Elara felt that something odd had been forgotten without her realizing it.
But what was it exactly?
"..."
Since Elara didn't respond, her mother, who was secretly observing her with an inexplicable expression, tried to force a cheerful smile, as if she were trying to conceal her awkwardness from Elara.
"Ta-da!~ I decided to make a new one for you!" She exclaimed loudly. Her mother even moved one of her hands, and a gust of wind magic appeared from her hand.
Elara gazes at the miniature wind in her mother's hand, which then moves closer to her and gently swirls around her tiny body, causing her feet to lift off the ground, and Elara's face lights up with joy.
In the past, her mother seemed hesitant to use magic in front of Elara, as if she were anxious and worried about her daughter's reaction.
Elara had seen her mother use wind magic for the first time when she was 6 years old, accidentally witnessing her mother using it to clean the backyard. She still remembered her mother's shocked expression, as if she had been caught doing something forbidden in this world.
At first, Elara didn't understand why her mother had reacted that way. It turned out her mother had never told her about her abilities, fearing that Elara would be angry, thinking she had intentionally kept it a secret.
Once Elara realized what was happening, she told her mother that she loved magic and wanted to see her use it at least once a day, which not only relieved her mother but also made her incredibly happy.
Elara didn't know much about magic because it didn't exist in her previous life, but from the books she had read, she understood that everyone had an affinity for a particular element from birth. Judging by her mother's frequent use of wind magic, it seemed that her mother had an affinity for wind attributes.
Accustomed to seeing it, Elara had come to enjoy watching her mother use wind magic. The sight of a miniature wind suddenly gathering in her mother's hand and slowly moving towards her, swirling gently as if inviting her to play, was delightful.
It was as if it reminded her that she had truly been living in another world for the past 9 years. This was reality, not just a dream she sometimes imagined during her idle moments.
Having put such thoughts aside, Elara finally focused on her current life. Yes, there was something she couldn't wait for!
'How will my elemental affinity be? Will I be able to use wind magic like Mom?' Elara thought, filled with anticipation.
Elara, who had a penchant for reading fantasy-isekai novels during her free time in her previous life, often came across situations where the protagonist, after being transported to another world, possessed incredible talents.
So, at the age of seven, Elara began to imagine magic emanating from her fingertips, trying to mimic what her mother had been doing in front of her all these years.
But it wasn't as easy as she had thought. Elara failed. She wasn't the main character in the novels.
Shocked and on the verge of tears, Elara ran as fast as she could toward her mother in the kitchen, crying hysterically and asking if she had no talent.
As she cried, 7-year-old Elara began to remember many things, as if reviewing her life up to that point.
Why hadn't she been bestowed with any extraordinary abilities, like the main characters in the novels she had read? Why wasn't she born into a noble family or wealthy? She was just an ordinary person who happened to have memories of her previous life.
Could this be called 'winning the lottery'?
'Nonsense, hicc!! Return all the benefits possessed by those who successfully reincarnated into another world, O God of reincarnation! Hicc...! Wait, should I call it Goddess Gaia...? But there's no guarantee that Goddess Gaia is the one who brought me here, hicc... with my memories of my previous life intact....'
As Elara was deep in thought, her mother burst into laughter, her voice loud and joyful, as if she were delighted to see her daughter crying hysterically for the first time in 7 years over something trivial.
After her mother's laughter subsided, and Elara gave her a sharp look, her mother offered some comforting words.
"Magic related to elements can only be activated once you've received blessings from elemental spirits, which can only be obtained when you reach adulthood or if you successfully contract with a spirit that matches your elemental affinity."
Elara looked at her mother, who was explaining in more detail with a warm tone.
"If you're venturing into the forests within the Galatea territory, you may encounter various spirits, be they weak or strong. Spirits with the same affinity as yours will approach you and offer a contract if they find you 'intriguing'."
Though she had already done some research, Elara became certain after hearing her mother's explanation.
The reason why nobles, no, peoples from all over the continent of Okeanos would travel to the central region, Galatea, was to find an elemental spirit that matched their affinity and contract with it.
The problem was not all spirits were willing to approach and contract with humans who were arrogant and insincere, feeling unsatisfied with merely receiving blessings from elemental spirits. Therefore, only those with talent or something appealing to the spirits could get this golden opportunity.
"So, Mom, have you contracted with a wind spirit?"
"... Indeed, my dear." Her mother smiled, patting Elara's head, which eased her restless thoughts.
'It seems that in this life, I'm truly destined to be just an ordinary person,' thought Elara, feeling at ease instead of disappointed because she understood that she had already used up her luck being reincarnated into another world with her memories intact.
'No, I won't be ordinary! Because I'll become a famous figure by establishing the greatest bakery in the three capitals of the three Kingdoms!' Elara said to herself with excitement.
As Elara was busy planning her grand future, she didn't notice her mother's solemn expression.
"Lara?" Her mother's warm call broke Elara's reverie.
Elara shook her head, accepting the beautifully woven wooden basket with joy.
"Thank you, Mom!"
Placing the basket on a wooden table, Elara brought up a new topic of conversation.
"Oh, by the way, Mom, aren't you baking bread today?"
Elara remembered that her mother's schedule for today should have been focused on baking bread instead of cutting wood as if there were no other tasks.
Because the bread they sold in their bakery always sold out, sometimes even servants from noble families were willing to come up the hill to place orders directly rather than competing with other buyers for the displayed bread.
"No, today Mom has to take a day off. There are quite a few groups of nobles passing through Galatea today. Some of them stopped by, wanting me to weave something for them."
Her mother continued, knowing that Elara was listening attentively.
"I have to go to the place where they set up their tents to decline their requests. They have the nerve to give orders, even though I told them that I'm only selling bread now!"
"... Haha."
Swoosh!~
A cold morning wind suddenly blew towards them, instantly calming Elara's mother's irritation. Meanwhile, Elara looked into the distance where the tall, towering trees appeared even taller from afar.
Lately, nobles had been more active in visiting the Galatea territory. But what was more surprising was that in recent days, there were rumors that emissaries from the three Kingdoms' palaces were seen repeatedly visiting the Galatea territory.
From the rumors, it was known that in just about two weeks, the Kingdoms had been busy sending different individuals.
"..."
For almost a decade now, the Queen Titaia said to be the strongest and most revered person who dominated all kinds of powers, the beloved daughter of Goddess Gaia herself, had not appeared in public.
The three Kings couldn't confirm the condition of Queen Titaia, who directly controlled the Galatea territory, because the Galatea territory had turned into a dangerous sacred territory without her direct orders. The Queen only conveyed a message that she was sleeping somewhere at an unpredictable time.
People in need of blessings and strength from elemental spirits were naturally panicking because they didn't expect Queen Titaia, the owner of the spirits' dwelling, to be absent and to return the Galatea territory to normal.
Although there was another solution, which involved visiting the Elemental Temples scattered across the Okeanos continent, rumored to be the homes of the Elemental Spirit Kings, it was extremely dangerous. Spirits living there were more dangerous and wild than the ones in the Galatea territory.
"Maybe she's just taking a long nap, like a Sleeping Beauty waiting for her Prince to wake her up...?" Elara mumbled absentmindedly after enjoying the refreshing breeze that felt like a comforting embrace.
"..." Her mother looked at her without saying anything.
Honestly, Elara wasn't curious about it, but her surroundings on the outskirts of the Galatea territory made her feel obligated to inquire a bit.
In her environment when she was 5 years old, everything felt calm and peaceful, but as time passed, things suddenly changed into chaos when she turned 9, for reasons she couldn't fathom, which made her uneasy as well.
Perhaps because she had adapted fairly well, she realized the importance of Queen Titaia's presence for the continuity and safety of the otherworld she now inhabited.
"I hope you wake up from your slumber soon." Elara silently prayed without much thought.
Swoosh!~
The wind brushed against her again, as if in response to her heartfelt wish for the Queen to awaken from whatever deep sleep she was in.
"..."
Her heart was pounding, and she felt as if something far away was secretly watching her.
Lately, her ears have been itching, and sometimes she also experiences sudden shivers
'Weird, it seems like a lot of people have been talking about me lately?' Elara wondered silently in her heart.
"Did I make too much of a fuss when I was selling those recipes?" Elara muttered, scratching her head, before following her mother, who had already entered the house.