Chapter 3

Having been reincarnated, it was already the tenth day.

"Unsho. Unsho."

On a sunny day, in the courtyard of the mansion, I spread out the hem of my clothes and gathered the leaves scattered around.

I looked like a three-year-old, no matter how you looked at it.

While doing this, I was thinking about something else in my head.

Conclusion.

It seems I really am in a different world.

That night of the ritual, after being brought back from the basement to the grand mansion, I looked up at the sky to check the constellations.

There were two moons. That's when I realized.

According to the wisdom of ancient Greece, the earth is a sphere that rotates on its own axis.

So, from the opposite side of the sphere, a different night sky should be visible... but when it comes to the moon, it should be visible from anywhere, orbitally speaking. It shouldn't increase.

After listening to the family conversations for a few days, I never heard any familiar place names or country names.

There's no other way to think about it; I must have come to a different world.

The condition for reincarnation was a body that could replicate the structure of my soul. That was all.

So, I had no idea where I would be born... but I never thought it would be a different world.

It seems that after searching the entire world for a suitable body and not finding one, the search range expanded to external addresses. It's completely unexpected, but there's nothing I can do about it now.

Regaining my composure, I continued to gather more information.

My name in this life is Seika Lamprouge.

The Lamprouge family is a noble family, a baronial house.

I'm the third son, but this is actually a stroke of luck.

If I had been born as a commoner and died immediately from a plague like in my previous life, there would have been no way out.

Still, it seems to be a wealthy and developed country.

At least better than Japan. It might even be on par with or better than the Song Dynasty, the Islamic world, or the Eastern Roman Empire.

There's still a lot I don't know.

I need to gather more information.

"Unsho. Unsho."

I took the gathered leaves to the shade of a tree.

When I let go of the hem, the leaves fell to the ground with a rustle.

Hmm, this should be enough for now.

"――――Om Panchalika Vidi Swaha"

I quietly chanted the mantra.

Then, the leaves on the ground all floated up, exposing their veins. I wrote characters on them with my magical power.

"...Done."

I gave a light command and watched the leaves fly vertically and horizontally to check the result. Not bad.

It's a simple but completed spirit familiar.

A piece to serve as my eyes, ears, and limbs. Ideally, I would make them in human form, but paper seems to be a valuable commodity in this world, so I can't be too picky.

I can prepare them gradually.

I gave a third of them the form of crows and released them into the sky.

I gave a third of them the form of rats and released them into the fields.

I made the rest invisible and kept them nearby. The spirit can be used as a substitute for talismans and as a medium for spells, making it quite versatile.

"Hey Seika! What are you doing over there?!"

Startled by the loud voice, I turned around.

Standing behind me was a child with a nasty-looking face.

My older brother, Grail, who is three years older than me.

"I saw you. You were gathering leaves, weren't you? That's creepy! What are you going to do with them? Huh? Hey, where are the leaves?"

Seeing Grail look around, I felt relieved. It seems he didn't see what I was doing.

I must keep my past life a secret.

"Say something, you dropout!"

Grail, irritated by my silence, kicked up some dirt at me.

I brushed off the dirt without a word. What a brat. My disciples were all good kids, which makes this even more noticeable.

Father doesn't pay much attention to the children, and Mother is overly indulgent. The servants do everything for him, so he's incredibly spoiled. Still, the older brother is somewhat normal.

"...Stop it, Grail."

I said that, and Grail's mouth twisted into a sneer.

"Say 'please stop it.' Your manners are terrible. Don't you think you're in the same position as me and Brother Luft?"

"Are we not?"

"Of course not. Because you're not part of the main family!"

I tilted my head. What does he mean?

"The maids said you're the child of a concubine! That's why you have no magic power and are a dropout!"

I see. It finally makes sense.

I thought my mother was ignoring me, but it was because of this. The maids treated me like a sore, and Father and the older brothers were distant for a reason.

It's useful information. Thanks, Grail.

But since I'm being raised in this family, I'm practically part of the main family.

"Got it? You have to do what I and the older brothers say! ...Right, I'm practicing martial arts now. You can be my practice dummy."

Saying that, Grail backed away, as if taking a run-up.

"Got it? Don't move!"

As soon as he shouted, Grail ran towards me.

Is he going to kick me? I've never seen anyone do that in battle, but I'd rather not.

I sent one of the invisible spirits to his feet.

Grail tripped and fell face-first with a loud thud.

Ouch, that must hurt.

"Ugh! You, you...!"

He seemed to be about to attack again, so I called back the two crow spirits I had sent earlier.

The crows descended on Grail, squawking, and started pecking at his head with their beaks.

"Ow, what are these things?"

Grail resisted for a while, swinging his arms, but eventually crouched down, protecting his head, and started crying loudly.

I felt a bit remorseful. I might have gone too far with a child.

Just as I was about to call back the crow spirits,

"Grail!!"

Another child's voice.

I saw the eldest brother, Luft, running towards Grail with a stick.

"Stop it, stop it, you!"

Luft swung the stick to drive away the crows.

The crows, seemingly intimidated, flew away together.

Actually, I made them do that.

"Are you okay, Grail? Are you hurt?"

He showed concern for his crying brother. Compared to the second son, Luft had a more normal personality and, being five years older than me, was more mature. Still, he was only eight.

"Why were there crows... Is Seika okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Brother Luft."

I smiled and answered, and Luft looked at me suspiciously.

It's understandable. It's strange that only I wasn't attacked.

But that's all.

Luft took Grail, who was still crying, to the mansion to treat his injuries.

Left alone, I thought.

Although I was interrupted, I managed to release the spirits. This will make information gathering easier.

There's a lot I need to do.

But with this three-year-old body, there are limits to what I can do. I should spend at least a few years preparing carefully.

This life is still long.