Chapter 4

The life that followed was unexpectedly peaceful.

Cruise seems to have an office in the city, and he leaves for work not long after sunrise.

He returns before dinner, but after the meal, he often works on various documents in the mansion’s study until quite late.

His appearance is that of a typical salaryman.

He is the back of a capable man.

In this world, it is common for work to be limited to daylight hours, so there might not be many people as diligent as him.

By this time, I had become quite adept at using my sixth sense.

If I concentrated, I could generally tell what kind of actions people were taking within the mansion, and I could detect when someone was approaching the grounds early on.

However, I didn’t use it too frequently due to privacy concerns.

The biggest change in our lives was the books.

The variety had increased significantly.

So far, there are six books.

It seems that Cruise arranged for them to be delivered along with the groceries and other supplies.

I read each one carefully from cover to cover.

The content was simple but varied, covering topics like geography, history, morals, and fables.

The one common point was that they were clearly educational.

I had some reservations about starting a gifted education at this age, but personally, I thought it was great.

I was incredibly happy.

Among them, the most interesting were the ones related to religion and magic.

It seems that in this world, the technology related to magical power is systematized!

Given the existence of Odo and Mana, it’s not that surprising that such technology exists.

Still, the excitement of witnessing something like magic and accessing systematized knowledge is hard to contain.

The book, while written in a story-like tone, seemed to be aimed at elementary education, providing methods to confirm one’s abilities and simple training techniques.

According to the book, the source of magical power, which is the power of the gods, lies deep within the earth, and the gods are those who draw out this power.

The source gradually leaks magical power through the power of the earth goddess, which accumulates in the ground.

Most living beings benefit from this magical power, and their activities release it into the atmosphere.

The dispersed magical power eventually returns to the earth along with lost lives.

This story seems to provide a clue to solving the Earth Mana problem (tentative name).

The magic used by humans is a technique to transform this ground-based magical power.

To do this, special knowledge and techniques, as well as innate talent, are required.

A select few people, through rigorous training and research, use magical tools, magic stones, and magic arrays to transform this power.

That is what magic is.

Since it’s a book for young children, some parts are filled in with imagination, but I don’t think my interpretation is far off.

While I was disappointed that only a few people can use it, I found many things I didn’t know and wanted to try them out.

The book was very informative, but compared to what I had already tried, there were a few points that caught my attention.

The most significant was the Odo cycle, which was not mentioned anywhere.

Is it not covered in the basics, or is it treated differently from magic?

In any case, I will have to continue my independent research.

Recently, the days had been quite cold, but today was unusually warm.

It must be a mild winter day.

Thanks to that, we had a long-awaited walk day.

While Kyle and Louise were playing a sumo-like game with a tree, I took the opportunity to put my hands on the ground.

It was the basic training for magic that I had read about in the book.

Magic, above all, starts with feeling the earth’s magical power, the 'geomantic current.'

It’s not just about sensing the flow of Mana, but also exploring it by touching it directly with your skin—your palms.

High-level practitioners sometimes use special staves to do this.

However, even when I tried it, I could feel something as I had before, but I couldn’t sense the flow of Mana.

This must mean I don’t have the talent for magic.

So, I decided to try something different.

I extended the Odo circulating in my body, imagining it flowing from my right hand to my left hand through the ground, not my body.

I felt a different kind of heaviness, but there was definitely magical power.

The moment I felt I had 'grasped' something, a heavy magical power, incomparable to the Odo circulating in my body, rushed into my left hand.

I felt a sharp pain and pulled my hand away, falling backward.

My left hand was red and swollen, like a severe sunburn.

It stung...

This is quite dangerous...

I need to be more careful.

I might have to be cautious so Kyle doesn’t imitate me.

However, if I get hurt, Elise will worry...

To see if I could do anything, I tried circulating extra Odo in my palm, and the pain eased a little.

This might be quite convenient.

After that, I joined Kyle and the others in a grand sumo tournament and did my best.

I think I managed to cover up the injury.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the methods for magic experiments, but with fewer opportunities to go out, I haven’t been able to try much.

Winter has arrived.

In fact, the winter in Romus isn’t that cold.

Perhaps because of its proximity to the sea or its lower latitude, I hadn’t really noticed it until the people around me started preparing for winter.

Still, it seems they don’t play outside much.

Instead, people who stay at home gather in the living room during the day.

This is because of the fireplace.

Even in a mild winter, no one wants to spend time in a room without heating.

The cost of heating with firewood is not negligible, so I think this is a reasonable way to spend the time.

Cruise also started doing his work in the living room, and sometimes Ilma and Zeb played board games similar to chess.

It was interesting to see this unexpected side of them.

Another thing is that information became easier to come by.

All work-related conversations take place here.

The commercial guild and the church’s conflict in the neighboring country, the price drop of the southern region’s specialty due to a bountiful harvest.

There are many things I don’t understand, but my interest never wanes.

Still, I think these peaceful days are precious.

One thing I learned recently is about us brothers.

It’s a minor detail, but between the twins, I am the older brother and Kyle is the younger brother.

That’s why I sat next to the head of the household at the first meal.

However, it’s such a minor detail that I hadn’t noticed it until now.

It doesn’t seem like they intend to emphasize the age difference.

Personally, because of my memories from my previous life, I might have acted like a senior, so it might have been a relief.

When the cold eased after a not-so-long period, something like a birthday celebration was held for us.

Since our birthdays are close, or perhaps we are celebrating our age in years, Louise was included.

Ilma was very flattered.

The food wasn’t particularly luxurious, but the pre-meal prayer was longer, and a dessert-like dish was added after dinner.

It was a simple baked apple, but the shock of tasting something sweet for the first time in my life was incredible.

I vowed to work hard for another year, and Kyle was spreading his special angelic smile.

Louise, though quiet, was staring at her plate with the eyes of a wolf stalking its prey, savoring it.

Surprisingly, Louise might have enjoyed it the most.

The second spring arrived.

We continued to train in secret, study, and play with Kyle and the others as we had before.

Even in this port town, agriculture seems to be practiced, and Cruise looked busy giving planting instructions.

The magic experiments were going well, thanks to the winter planning.

At first, I touched the ground only with my fingertips and tried reversing the circulation to get a feel for it.

Since experimenting in secret had its limits, I also thought about shadow training with the Mana in the air.

This was quite interesting and led to many discoveries.

One thing that caught my attention was that every few months, Cruise would arm himself, though only with leather armor and a short sword, and gather people to go out.

He would be gone for several days.

Sometimes it was three days, and sometimes it was almost ten.

There are harmful beasts called monsters in this world, so it seems they were hunting in the nearby mountains.

Or perhaps they were dealing with bandits in areas with security issues.

So far, he hasn’t come back injured, and he always returns, but Elise looks worried.

Zeb always goes with him, so Ilma must be worried too.

By the next year, these opportunities had decreased.

According to Cruise, he had managed to secure the stationing of knights in the neighboring town.

The lord of this area must have a knight’s order, and they might be quite powerful.

In any case, it’s a relief that the family won’t be involved in dangerous situations.

Elise is also relieved.

However, it seems that Cruise is still busy with port management.

Protected by the family’s hard work, we grew up healthily.

When Kyle and I turned three, Louise discovered our Odo circulation training.

I was surprised it hadn’t been discovered earlier, but I had been thorough in hiding it from Kyle, and once we could communicate, it wasn’t difficult to manage.

Kyle is a quick learner.

On the other hand, Louise isn’t very talkative.

Being older, she could speak earlier, but she often made her points by staring silently.

Despite the physical difference, she had a considerable presence, but I got used to it.

She’s just a child, after all, and she’s cute.

I started to understand her points.

By this time, the circulation training had escalated to the point where I could jump to branches several times my height if I wanted to.

It requires some skill, but Kyle could probably do it too.

I had never shown Louise, but given how much time we spent together, she might have noticed earlier.

One day, her feelings exploded.

That day, Ilma was out on business, and Elise had gone to pick up Louise.

While Elise was talking to Chloe, who was staying behind, we were doing vertical jump training in the shadow of a building.

Louise must have seen us from the window.

"How do you jump so high?!"

Her eyes, like the night sky reflected in a lake, were filled with tears as she looked at me from a slightly higher position.

I realized I had made a mistake but couldn’t think of what to say.

Why is she asking me and not Kyle...

If it were Kyle, he could have smiled and bought us some time to calm the situation.

Louise, who usually doesn’t talk much, was unusually excited.

"I’m the older sister! I’m supposed to protect you! But Aine is always better! He’s always the one teaching you everything! It’s not fair! Do I not matter...?"

It was a mess.

However, I could understand her point, even as she tearfully accused me.

Being left out is lonely.

I glanced at Elise.

She was still some distance away but seemed to have noticed us.

Kyle, sensing my wish, was walking toward Elise.

"Sorry, Louise. We always study together, right? Kyle and I spend a lot of time together, so we try out different things. That’s why you don’t know about it. Jumping high is very dangerous. Do you still want to try it?"

Louise stared at me silently.

This was a sign of agreement.

"Also, it’s a difficult practice, and you mustn’t let Mother or anyone else find out. You have to follow my instructions exactly. Can you do that?"

She nodded vigorously.

I confirmed this and said,

"Then from now on, it will be our secret training."

I hugged Louise and looked at Mother.

Kyle had managed to buy us some time.

Mother was carrying her.

They were slowly approaching, but they couldn’t have heard our conversation.

"You shouldn’t make girls cry, Aine."

"I’m sorry, Mother. There was a misunderstanding, but it’s all right now. See?"

I let go of Louise, and she turned to Mother.

Her eyes were still red, but she wasn’t crying.

"Really... Who does she take after?"

Mother looked troubled, but it seemed to be okay.

I thought I had handled it, but I was still naive.