Chapter 9

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Thunder Dad (tentative name) came up to me, his shoulders tense. He seems to have a bit of gray hair, but he’s a sturdy, intimidating man. Nicola has moved behind me as if she had been there all along.

*If things get tough, I can pretend to cry and make it all vague. Leave it to me.*

She says this telepathically. Well, if it comes to that, I’ll leave it to her. First, let’s try talking.

"Hey! Was it you guys who did this mischief!?"

*Yikes, the pressure from Thunder Dad is not something a five-year-old should be facing. No, in this violent and free other world, this is probably normal.*

"It was me. My sister just happened to be here today... I’m sorry!"

I bow my head at a right angle. If this doesn’t work, I’m prepared to do a full prostration. But it’s really scary not being able to see the angry dad! If he suddenly goes into a brutal other-world mode and starts hitting me, who knows what would happen to a five-year-old!

I keep my head down and observe, but there’s no reaction from him.

I glance at the dad, and he’s trembling, looking shaken as he stares at my butt. More accurately, he’s looking at Nicola behind me.

Nicola has her hands clasped at her mouth, her eyes welling up. She’s quick to act!

"I’m sorry..."

"Ah, no, miss, I, I was just... recently, a mountain of sand appeared out of nowhere, and it keeps growing every day. I thought, ‘This is weird, scary, and strange...’"

*(Sniffle...)*

"Ah, wait, hold on! I’ll bring you some sweets! Okay!"

Thunder Dad hurriedly ran off.

"Hmph, he’s easy."

Nicola said, flicking her hair. I’m starting to get scared of you, though.

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"So, you were practicing magic here?"

"Yeah. I was practicing earth magic. I’m sorry for causing trouble, Uncle."

I was eating a mysterious snack, not an apple pie or a crepe, but something made by flattening dough and adding apples. It’s my first time trying it, but it’s pretty good.

"Well, as long as it’s not to annoy me, it’s fine! By the way, if you don’t need that sand, can you give it to me?"

"That’s fine, but what will you use it for?"

"Magic-made soil is better for growing plants than regular soil! I was thinking of making a small vegetable garden on the side of this empty lot. It’s a waste to leave it unused."

"Wow, I didn’t know that. If that’s the case, I’ll give you today’s portion too."

I took out today’s practice sand from my item box, forming a small hill.

"What, kid, you have an item box?"

"Yeah, ‘Big brother’s is a small, mediocre one!’"

Nicola answered, covering me.

*Didn’t you want to show off? Big brother’s item box expands based on mana capacity, but to those who don’t have one, it’s a tremendous treasure. It’s better not to show it off too much until you can defend yourself.*

Oh, that’s how it is. I was careless. Come to think of it, this is the first time Nicola has warned me about it.

*Oops, I forgot.*

Wait, can you only communicate telepathically without reading my mind? Stop muttering as if you can read my thoughts.

"Hehe! So it’s a small one! Still, don’t show it off to strangers. If you do, you might get kidnapped!"

The man spread his hands like a bear attacking, startling me, and gave the same warning. He seems like a decent guy.

After that, the man watched me create sand. It seems he’ll let me use this place in the future. If I had been banned, I would have had to keep making sand at home and storing it in the item box, which would have been mentally tough.

I don’t think it makes much of a difference whether I do it inside or outside, but if I stay cooped up at home, my parents might worry, and cleaning up spilled sand would be a hassle.

"Alright, you’ll be practicing here from now on, right? If you’re going to practice earth magic, why don’t you try making a field with magic?"

A field with magic. Since the practice involves consuming mana, having a task is helpful.

"I just started practicing, so I can’t make it that quickly. Is that okay?"

"It’s fine, it’s fine. I can only handle enough mana to operate magic tools, so for a kid your age to be able to do this much is impressive. Besides, I’ve been gradually handing over the store to my son lately. I was just thinking about this unused land and wandering around here out of boredom, so there’s no rush. Just try to till the ground with earth magic for now."

"Okay."

I place my hand on the ground and transmit the image. There’s a feeling of the soil bubbling up and rising. When I stop releasing mana and touch the soil, it’s soft, as if it’s been tilled.

The man squints, impressed.

"It seems to have worked. Don’t overdo it. If you come tomorrow, I’ll bring you some sweets."

With that, the man left. As the innkeeper’s son, I get plenty to eat, but snacks are a different matter. Even without a reward, it’s not a problem, but I’ll take what I can get.

By the way, I didn’t even know the man’s name. I’ll ask him tomorrow.

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I just realized that it would be easier to understand if I added subheadings when revising. I’ll start adding rough subheadings from now on and will gradually add them to previous chapters.