---Two Weeks Later---
Days no longer passed as slowly as they used to, and without my mother having to look at me with worry, I now went outside on my own.
Aria had taught me the basics of magic. From what I understood, every being had a certain amount of mana, but this mana varied only slightly from person to person in humans. So, how could someone become a better, higher-level mage?
The answer to this question actually lay in spirits; the better you could communicate with spirits, the more extra mana they could grant you. In short, you had to convince them to "lend" their mana to you. Of course, convincing them wasn't like a casual chat you'd have with people.
Aside from that, there was another criterion for elves and long-lived demon races. As a person use magic, their mana pool could expand, even if just a little. In this world, where the average human barely lived until their 40s, the amount of magic they used over a lifetime was more or less the same.
But what about elves, who were barely considered adults at 40? As you might imagine, elves over a thousand years old—the arch-elves—were incredibly powerful beings.
For some reason, though, there were no arch-elves in our village...
Today, after running around and using up our energy with Aria, we were playing liar's dice again. By now, it had become something of a routine And it turns out, Aria really was cheating the first time we played.
Since we were playing on the table she created, the tree spirits that gathered around it could easily obey her commands, secretly relaying my dice rolls to her.
Since I still couldn't communicate with spirits, I couldn't do the same, so I cast a small barrier spell over the cup to keep the spirits away from my dice.
By incorporating simple spells like this into our games, we were able to practice magic while playing.
"Ugh, how are you so good at this game!" Aria groaned after I won our second game today.
We were playing at the place we encountered each other for the second time. Next to us was a lake, and between us and the other kids was a big tree. Normally, we could hear the other kids' voices while we played, but they'd gone silent for some time. Maybe they went back early today...
Just as I started responding to Aria, "I'm not *that* goo—" a voice behind me cut me off.
"Oh, I see you've finally found a freak like yourself, Aria."
Her cheerful expression turned as stern and angry as when I first met her, and she responded.
"Looking for another beating, Elric?" she said, slamming one hand onto the table and clenching her other hand into a tight fist.
Elric was a young male elf who looked around six or seven, but I guessed he was about fifteen, just like Aria. To better explain, if you want to estimate an elf's age by their appearance, you multiply the human equivalent by 2.5—at least until they're fifty, after which their appearance doesn't change much.
Elric had long blonde hair and green eyes, and despite his young age, his features were already starting to sharpen, hinting that he'd grow into a strikingly handsome elf. He looked exactly like the elves I'd seen in movies, and the five or six kids around him didn't look much different.
Elric held his hands out in front of him, palms open, and waved them slightly as he responded, "Oh no, no, of course I don't want a fight, Aria. You know we elves aren't prone to violence... though, maybe you wouldn't understand. What do you say, half-blood bastard?"
As I wondered what they were talking about, I noticed that the only thing that made Aria stand out was her striking red hair. In my past life, there had also been kids who mocked me about my long arms—but wait a second, in this life too, the other kids hadn't exactly treated Lio kindly.
From what I remembered, Lio had been a cheerful kid. Even though the others tried to exclude him, he'd still try to join in, and if that didn't work, he'd have fun himself alone. My mother must've been talking about this when she said I wasn't acting like myself. Maybe this also explaineds why she was so happy when she met Aria.
Kids really can be cruel, huh? But still, from the way Elric spoke, I hadn't expected this level of malice from a child.
Without another word, Aria stepped toward Elric, and when she got close enough, she swung her fist toward his face. A hand reached over Elric's shoulder, stopping Aria's punch in midair.
The kid who stopped Aria's punch from behind Elric looked about ten years old; by now, you probably know how to guess their actual age.
Elric looked down at Aria and said, "Did you really think I came here just to get beaten up again? Is fighting all you know?"
Aria didn't bother to reply. She kneed him square in the groin, causing him to crumple to the ground, struggling to hold back tears.
"Did you think bringing friends would let you say whatever you wanted?!" Aria yelled, kicking him again as he lay doubled over on the ground.
"Elric?" one of his friends whispered.
''I'll make sure you never bother me again!'' Said as she walked towards Elric
Elric gritted his teeth, glaring up at them. "Don't just stand there—she's crazy!"
The other kids hesitated for a moment but then began charging toward Aria. In that moment, I didn't know what to do. Questions raced through my mind, like, "Should I go get an adult, or should I try to help her? What help could I even be with this small body?" But it didn't take long for me to decide.
I was going to get an adult. I quickly ran for find the nearest house, There was a house next to the lake where the children normally played, I went there and knocked on the door, and my knock on the door was answered by an elf with glasses and curly blonde hair who looked around twenty. Calm and unassuming, he seemed like someone who could help.
Pointing behind the tree, in the direction of the children, I simply said, "Fight." Luckily, I didn't need to say anything more, as he seemed to understand and immediately ran toward where I had pointed.
I followed behind him, heart pounding. When we arrived, the scene was far different from what I'd expected: the other kids lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious, and the elf I'd called stood between Aria and the ten-year-old who had blocked her punch, lecturing them both.
When Aria saw me, she ignored the lecturing, walked toward me, and yelled, "How could you snitch on me!?"
Huh?! What was she talking about? They were the ones who started the fight; I only called for help.
"I didn't—" I tried to explain, but she cut me off, saying, "I thought we were friends," and it seemed like she was holding back tears in anger. I tried again to explain, "I didn't snitch on any—" but without listening to me, she turned back to the adult's side.
"All of you are coming to my room tomorrow," the man said, pointing at Aria, the other elf child, and the unconscious kids on the ground. "For now, I need to deal with these little ones."
Then, the other kid left, followed by Aria, she didn't look at me while leaving but I could tell she was angry. I stood there, replaying everything in my mind. Had I made a mistake?
The adult elf was checking the children one by one, and I thought maybe I could ask him, so I moved towards him..