Chapter 8

In the morning, as the sun rose, I got up, and after breakfast, I swung a wooden sword and a spear that wouldn't harm a five-year-old's body, and practiced shooting arrows at targets. Then, I read books quietly in the study.

After lunch, I practiced magic, and after dinner, I continued reading or practicing magic until the text became too dim to read.

Fortunately, I quickly learned how to use the light magic, so the time I spent on these activities extended well into the night. However, since my body was that of a child, I tended to get sleepy quite quickly, which was a drawback.

Incidentally, my father rarely entered the study. He couldn't read kanji and delegated almost all of his duties as the lord to the village chief and other heads. He even signed documents in the dining room, which was rather unrefined.

What would he do if he was cheated on taxes?

It didn't matter to me, so I didn't really care.

"Well, it's time to practice intermediate magic."

A week after my reincarnation and the start of my magic training, I was in the middle of a forest, where I planned to begin practicing intermediate magic. I couldn't cast fire arrows indoors, after all.

Moreover, even when I said I was going out to play, my family didn't seem to care much. They were busy and couldn't pay attention to a six-year-old kid.

So, I was standing at the entrance to a vast forest behind the mansion.

This forest was a typical one, with no monsters living in it. The family and the villagers regularly hunted rabbits and boars for protein, and collected firewood, wild vegetables, and nuts.

In other words, it was an important resource managed by our family.

The entrance wasn't particularly dangerous, and I wouldn't get scolded as long as I didn't burn anything with fire magic.

Even if something happened to me, it wouldn't affect the family, so I was completely left to my own devices.

On the bright side, I could practice magic freely, which was a lucky thing.

"Let's aim for advanced magic, right? After all."

The book said that intermediate magic required about a month of diligent practice. It was a detailed manual, and things were going smoothly as written.

I tried each intermediate magic spell in the book one by one. After that, I practiced advanced magic based on those basic spells, and even some original magic I came up with. I also started practicing non-combat magic.

"Still, it seems impossible to learn advanced magic here."

Not because of my ability, but because I couldn't cast huge tornadoes or fireballs in the backyard of the mansion.

I was still six years old, but I was steadily increasing my magic power and improving my magic precision, so I decided to focus on improving my magic skills with intermediate magic.

Besides, as long as I didn't draw attention, I could practice advanced magic. However, there weren't many opportunities for that right now.

"Probably within a kilometer or so?"

So, I was practicing a detection spell that used advanced wind magic to detect things without drawing attention. This spell allowed me to detect all entities within a specified range, and the book said that very few people could use it.

The precision varied widely.

Famous users of detection spells could detect the movements of all living things within tens of kilometers. Some could only tell if something was there, while others could count the number of humans and the size of animals and monsters.

Some were even more impressive, able to remember individuals they had detected before and instantly recognize them when they entered the detection range, like a human radar.

There were people with terrifying detection precision.

In my case, after this training, I could detect things within a radius of about one kilometer. I could grasp the size and number of the targets.

The image was like a radar scope floating in my head. I could determine the position and distance by the brightness of the points and the size of the targets.

Well, I could only detect humans and wild animals like rabbits, boars, and bears. I hadn't seen any monsters in this world in the month since my reincarnation, but even my new family, who left me to my own devices, wouldn't deliberately send a six-year-old to a dangerous place.

"From now on, I'll focus on practicing magic diligently."

This detection spell was very convenient. Even if I could use magic, it would be difficult for a five-year-old to deal with boars or bears, so I could explore the forest while avoiding danger.

Since I was exploring the forest, by the way, my father, who hadn't spoken to me much, gave me an order last night.

"Vell, I hear you've been exploring the forest recently."

"Yes."

"The forest is home to many dangerous animals. Be careful."

I was surprised at how easily I got permission, but it was probably a continuation of the laissez-faire approach. Besides, if I, the eighth son, died, it wouldn't affect the survival of the Bauwitz knight domain.

"Also, if you find anything edible in the forest, bring it back. And try to collect as much firewood as possible."

I wasn't asked to help with land cultivation, but I was already doing housework at the age of six due to financial reasons.

So today, I had a wooden sword for daily training at my waist. It was better to have it than not.

The economy of the domain wasn't rich enough to give a child a metal sword, and a metal sword would be useless for me now.

I also had a small quiver with about ten arrows, a small bow for training, and a bag for carrying firewood. The arrows were small and only had sharpened wooden tips.

With luck, I might be able to bring down a small bird.

It was better to have them than not, and the idea was to run away if I couldn't use them.

"I don't really expect much from these weapons, though."

More importantly, the magic I came up with myself should be more powerful. I created short arrows from stones and launched them with wind magic. It was like a magical crossbow, and in this world, such improvements were relatively easy to make with magic. However, whether I could execute them depended on my talent.

Fortunately, I succeeded in developing this magic. The power was enough to take down a bear if it hit the right spot. I could fire several shots in succession and was now working on improving the firing speed.

For control, I referred to my own bow training, so it wasn't entirely useless.

"Um... Can I eat this wild vegetable?"

I also collected mushrooms and wild strawberries based on the illustrated books I read at home, and picked up firewood to load into my bag. As the load got heavier, I used the intermediate wind magic to lighten it and enhanced my strength with water magic.

I also cast water recovery magic on my tired muscles, which made me feel lighter as the lactic acid in my muscles disappeared.

"I can use all the magic written in the books. Maybe I'll aim for a stable position in the palace in the future."

Today, I decided to go home with a considerable amount of firewood, wild vegetables, and wild strawberries, thanks to my magic training. The return trip was smooth thanks to the magic, and as I approached the exit, I suddenly saw a bird in my field of vision.

"(It's a Holoholo bird.)"

The Holoholo bird is a bird that is a bit fatter than a duck and is found all over the continent. Its meat is delicious, and its feathers are popular as materials for decorations.

However, it's hard to catch. Despite its appearance, it is sensitive to human presence and flies fast.

The best hunter in our domain might catch one bird a day if he was lucky. Naturally, it rarely appeared on the dinner table. In the past month, I had only tasted a small piece of meat.

It was better than nothing, but it was a sad story for a young eighth son.

"(Even a small piece of meat was delicious. Wait a minute...)

If I could catch this Holoholo bird, I could have grilled chicken with my usual diet of black bread and salted vegetable soup every day.

My family, though laissez-faire, wasn't heartless. They wouldn't ignore my achievement of catching the Holoholo bird.

"(Decided. Wait for me, meat!)"

The past month of reincarnation and magic training had been fun, but I had been cutting corners on my diet for the sake of nutrition. However, I was still a Japanese person who cared about food.

The level of my obsession might be a bit low, but I shouldn't worry about such things.

Now, I was determined to focus on catching the Holoholo bird.

However, with such a short-range, small bow, the Holoholo bird would probably fly away before I got close.

"Then, with the crossbow magic I developed!"

At first, I missed the Holoholo bird with my first five shots, but gradually my aim improved, and I finally succeeded in catching two Holoholo birds.

"I'm home."

"Vell? You brought firewood... Did you catch Holoholo birds!"

The two Holoholo birds were placed on the dinner table, and I, the hero, finally got to eat delicious grilled chicken. For the first time, I was praised by the entire family.