"Knock knock."
"Come in."
The door opened, revealing a man with blond hair and emerald-green eyes. His face was relaxed yet handsome.
Oh? Hmm, it was my ever-so-busy father who had finally shown up.
Looks like there's trouble.
Was using magic at my age considered auspicious? Or was it a bad omen? Damn, I should've done this somewhere else, I didn't want to get scolded.
Being treated like a child was annoying enough as it was!
I wanted to get up from the bed to greet him, but an invisible force pushed me back down.
"Stay put; you're still tired."
He grabbed a chair and sat by my bedside.
"Arai, was that little hole in the tree your doing?"
"Yes."
I didn't lie because there was no point in doing so! Plus, I wasn't the type of person to lie in the first place. Passed out near a tree, holding a book on magic, with burn marks on the bark? Even someone with the brain of a scarecrow could piece it together.
After hearing my reply, Verdi's expression scrunched into a mix of annoyance and faint amusement.
He looked at me thoughtfully, as if debating internally.
The atmosphere grew tense, and I suddenly felt like a fresh graduate anxiously waiting for a job acceptance, even though I had never experienced that feeling before.
After a moment of silence, he seemed to conclude. "You can learn magic if you want. I won't stop you. But you'll have to wait until you're five."
That's it? That's his decision? No punishment?
Or was waiting 2.5 years my punishment? Wait, I'm confused. Is this a crime or a blessing? I don't get it.
He chuckled at my bewildered expression and patted my head as he explained.
"Using magic early isn't necessarily bad. The issue is that you're still too young. Continuously depleting your mana could put excessive strain on your fragile body. Also, you don't know what path you might take in the future. You could end up becoming an Enhancer, which would make practicing magic now a waste."
Tsk, he had a point.
His face softened with genuine admiration. "But Arai, you're incredibly talented! To think you'd try to learn magic so early!"
"When I was your age, I was…"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Why stop? What were you? He coughed lightly and changed the subject.
"Anyway, at your Awakening rite in two years and a half, whether you awaken a Spellbook, a Mana Core, or even nothing at all, I'll fully support you and personally teach you."
"Promise me you won't use magic again until the ceremony."
He sighed, covering his face with his hand. "Boy, you've no idea how hard it was to calm Koyumi down after you passed out. Just getting her to settle took a toll on me!"
Ah, this is bad. I was so engrossed in the moment that I completely forgot about the danger known as "Mom."
"But you'll teach me yourself? Dad, are you a magician?"
My father was about to say something when—
Creak!
My mother burst into the room.
"Arai, are you okay?!"
Without sparing my father a glance, she rushed to my side, frantically checking every inch of me as though I were on death's doorstep.
"Kuyomi! Relax. Arai is perfectly fine. He just passed out from mana exhaustion!"
Dad tried to reassure her, but it was futile.
"Mom, I'm fine! You don't need to worry so much; I just fainted a little."
"Arai, why did you do that?"
"…I was curious and wanted to try magic."
I answered honestly.
"Arai, I don't mind if you become a magician. But don't make me worry about you. So, if you want to practice magic, you need to build up your physical strength first, since you were born with a frail body."
This excessive worry was a bit annoying, but it gave me a strange warmth.
Oh, I've accepted her as my mother, haven't I? Well, it doesn't matter—there's no problem with that.
"Alright, Mom," I nodded.
"Verdi, do you have any suggestions?" she asked.
"Of course! Why not train with Haist?"
"Haist?" She paused. "Oh, you mean that friend of yours?"
"Who's Haist?" I asked.
Verdi looked at me and said, "Haist is the estate's guardian and an old friend of mine."
"Alright, it's settled then. Starting tomorrow, you'll train with Haist and learn swordsmanship from him!"
Ugh, that's annoying. I don't like moving my body.
Thinking back, I once fell off a cliff because my fingers were so weak and slender that they couldn't lift my body. I didn't even have the strength to hold on to the walls.
But I see… hmm. Dad wants me to practice magic so I can become a magician like him. At the same time, he wants to stop me to give my young body time to grow. Mom doesn't want me to practice magic because she fears it might harm my body. Instead, she wants me to train physically so she won't worry about me all the time.
From her perspective, I suppose she thinks I have a weak body because I died once before.
...And I do have one.
Hmm, alright.
While my parents discussed the details, I interrupted and returned to my main question.
"Dad, you didn't answer my question. Are you a magician?"
I felt intrigued. If he was, what rank was he?
Oh, I almost forgot. I started talking to my parents recently, but I tried to make my speech as clumsy as possible. Pretending to be a clueless toddler when I already knew the language was exhausting! It was such a hassle.
Oh no, I'm already a year and a half old! Why should I keep pretending to be foolish? I can walk and talk now, no one would think anything of it.
He scratched his nose, coughed, and said, "Arai, it's not like your dad wants to brag, but I'm a 5 rank magician! Ahem, the strongest in the kingdom."
Huh? Wait a second, did he just say 5 rank? Was I born into an amazing family?
Isn't that rank more than halfway to the pinnacle of magic? Hmm, having a strong dad is handy, I'll make sure to use his power in the future.
Ignoring Dad's childlike expression of wanting praise, I turned to Mom and asked innocently, "Mom, what about you? Are you a magician too?"
I wouldn't be surprised if she was.
I have an amazing mom.
"No!" She shook her head. "I'm just an ordinary human, not a magician."
"Eh?"
I felt a bit disappointed, but yeah, no problem.
After having a nutritious meal and taking a short nap, I left my room and headed to the library to return the books The Zadaka Language and The Loclover Kingdom.
Since I wouldn't be able to practice magic for years, I decided to immerse myself in books until then.
I stopped in the corridor and looked out the window at the blue celestial orb hanging in the dark sky.
"No matter where you are, the moon is always beautiful, isn't it?"
The blue moonlight poured through the window. Tonight, the moon was full, making it even more magnificent.
Hmm? As I focused on it, I suddenly noticed something odd about the moon.
"Isn't it... too clean?"
The moon, which should have been covered with craters from meteors and asteroids, was strangely pristine and spotless. There were no traces of craters or signs of impact; it was entirely smooth and new.
I had only noticed it now because I hadn't paid attention to its appearance before.
Interesting. This was genuinely intriguing. What could be the reason? Unfortunately, without a telescope, I couldn't observe it up close. Why does the moon look so clean?
Does it have some sort of magical barrier for protection? Or is it simply too resilient to be damaged by falling meteors? After all, this is a magical world! It's reasonable to speculate wildly with evidence supporting such phenomena.
"Let's forget about it for now… Thinking about it is like an ant trying to understand why it's so small compared to the moon." I shook my head.
Until I had a way to examine it properly, I decided to push the thought aside. Still, I wouldn't forget that the first thing to spark my curiosity as a scientist here was the moon!
I continued walking toward the library.
But I stopped again because something strange happened along the way.
My mother was leaning against the corridor wall, her left hand covering her face.
From her current expression… she seemed to be in great pain.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
She had been fine and very energetic just two hours ago.
She didn't respond, so I approached her and shook her hand.
But she remained unresponsive.
This is bad.
What's wrong with her?
"Mother! Mother!" I shouted several times, but there was no answer.
I placed my hand on her forehead to check her temperature.
"Too high." I frowned. Her temperature was high! If this continues, she'll fall ill.
'I shall take her to—'
Before I could finish the thought, my mother suddenly grabbed my small arm with her hand.
I felt a bit relieved that she was responsive and asked, "Mother, are you okay? What's wrong?"
She didn't answer, her expression still clouded and pained.
Something felt off about her. I wanted to speak, but at that moment, I felt a chilling cold coming from her.
Slowly, I raised my eyes upward, above her head. At some point, a black ghostly face had appeared.
Above my mother's head was a phantom! No, would it be right to call it that?
It was a shadow with long ears protruding from its head, like a rabbit's. Its eye sockets were hollow, and its mouth was twisted into a grim smile. Its body was composed of black particles, like dust. A faint blue glow emanated from its empty eye sockets, sending a chill down my legs.
Damn it! What is this thing?! It's terrifying!
It's terrifying, but I don't feel afraid. Even so, my body seems to disagree.
My legs are shaking!