Chapter 4

The magic has also grown a little. I can now walk around the grounds and practice on my own during the day. First, with the basic elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—I can now attack each target. However, I haven't been able to check the power because I can't practice openly. Therefore, I've been focusing on improving the activation speed, accuracy, and the amount of magic power.

I also realized that what I thought was a healing spell was a bit different. It was indeed healing, but more accurately, it was activating the cells. I figured this out because the physical abilities of those who regularly circulate magic, like myself, and my sister who receives the healing spell every day, were higher than those of the other children. At first, I thought it was because my sister was from the beast race, but she was as strong and fast as the older wolf race children. When I tried moving while circulating magic, my physical abilities clearly improved.

In other words, I hypothesized that the circulation of magic activates cells and enhances physical abilities, which in turn improves natural healing. Our abilities were likely heightened because we were always in a strengthened state due to the daily circulation of magic.

Therefore, I decided to change this from a healing spell to a physical enhancement spell. This spell probably won't work on the severely injured or sick, so I need to come up with a new healing spell for emergencies.

Another problem has emerged: the orphanage has no money. The number of children has more than doubled to over 20 since I arrived, but the town's subsidy hasn't increased. The older children work a bit, which helps, but the meals have become simpler compared to before.

While thinking about what I can do to help, I practiced magic and decided to take action. What I plan to do is simple: gather various things from the Dragon Forest.

The Dragon Forest is about an hour's walk away. Although there are monsters, they rarely appear near the entrance, and it's a common place for children and new adventurers to gather materials. Of course, monsters can come from deeper in the forest, so caution is necessary.

Thanks to the physical enhancement spell, I have the physical abilities of an adult, which led to this decision.

The purpose of gathering is, first, firewood. We can never have too much because we use it daily for cooking and in large quantities for heating in the winter. Buying it would also cost money.

Next, food. Nuts, fruits, and if there are herbs or vegetables, that would be great. I'm not confident about the plants in this world, but with the identification skill, I should manage.

Lastly, medicinal herbs. I don't know what will sell, but I can gather valuable items and store them in an item box to check later. I'm not sure where to sell them, and it's questionable whether I can conduct transactions with my appearance (that of a three-year-old).

By the way, I've never used an item box before.

Hunting might be another option. The forest is rich in food, so there are many wild animals. It would be great if I could hunt something, but my only means of attack is magic, which I haven't practiced. If I can't take them down, it could be dangerous.

Also, even if I do manage to hunt something, I don't know how to process it or how to hand it over to the director. Fruits and nuts are possible, but a three-year-old saying, "I hunted this," sounds a bit off.

If I do manage to hunt something, I'll probably just store it in the item box.

So, my plan is:

- Go to the Dragon Forest

- Gather firewood

- Gather food

- Avoid being seen

First, I can manage going to the Dragon Forest with the physical enhancement spell. Gathering firewood shouldn't be a problem because there are plenty of dead branches on the forest floor. The main issues are finding food and staying hidden.

For staying hidden, the magic detection skill I learned as an advanced magic control might help. I noticed this while checking the magic in the air at the orphanage; I could vaguely sense people's magic. If I can sense people's magic, I should be able to detect monsters with magic cores.

Incidentally, the difference between animals and monsters is whether they have a magic core. Monsters can be born in several ways, but a common one is when animals are exposed to large amounts of magic and mutate.

For now, I'll gather firewood while being cautious of monsters and look for food.

Thanks to everyone, my work "Orphanage Tamer" has won the "HJ Net Novel Award 2018." As a result, it will be published in book form in 2019. Thank you for your support!

Friday, May 24, 2019

"Orphanage Tamer"

Decided to be published by HJ Novels.

Thank you all for your support.