Two years passed since Reito was reborn in the new world. The 2-year old Reito, thanks to his training, was now able to walk.
He often walked around the residence, much to the servantsâ dismay.
They often chased him around, worried about Reitoâs energy and dangerous behavior: they played their game of tag day after day.
This day was no different; todayâs game of tag was about to end in the servantsâ victory. Reito approached a study room in a corner of the residence, when a maid grabbed him by the neck.
âYoung master! This corridor wasnât cleaned yet, please stay away!â
âNooo! Let me goooo!â
âNo complaints! HonestlyâŠwhy are you trying to go into the study room all the time? You canât even read yetâŠâ
âI caaan!â
âYes, yesâŠbe a good boy and stay in your room.â
In the last year, Reito had become able to enunciate pretty well. His protests, however, were ignored by the maid, who brought him back to his room.
Things were not going too bad until then, but the maid saw picture books scattered all over the room and sighed deeply.
The maidâs name was Aria. She was an Elf and, as typical for her race, she had blond hair, blue eyes, and long, pointy ears. She was supposed to be in her early 20s, but her appearance was much younger than that: to Reito, she was like an older sister.
Aria sounded pretty troubled at the moment.
âYoung master, how many times do I have to tell you to keep your things in order? HonestlyâŠâ
âIâm very sorry maâam.â
âYou sure take after your motherâŠah!! Donât you dare sneak out of the room!!â
âAwâŠâ
As soon as Aria started putting away the picture books, Reito immediately took the opportunity to go out, but Aria easily caught him again.
Reito was not sorry at all, however, and made her a request instead.
âThen, then, teach me magic, Aria!â
âThat again? Like I told you many times already, young master, itâs too early for you to try magic. Besides, I canât use Support Magician spells.â
âJust show me some~â
âI said no! Letâs put our things in order first.â
âBlahâŠâ
âHehe, you sounded just like a sheep right nowâŠâ
Reito acted spoiled, as typical for a child his age. Aria chuckled at his antics but continued shelving the books.
In this world, only those with Magician or related jobs could use magic. Most Elves had Magician-type jobs, either as a main or sub job, so all of them could use magic to a degree. Ariaâs main job was Spirit Magician, so she could definitely use magic, but Reito had never seen her do it.
Reito pouted and protested.
âAria, you meanie!â
âYes, yes, Iâm the meanest maid in the world. Magic is dangerous, itâs not something you should play with.â
âI know that, butâŠâ
Reito was still unhappy at the loss of a chance to see magic. As a small token of revenge, he decided to pull a prank on Aria.
He assumed the most nonchalant air he could and called the maidâs name from behind her.
âHey, Aria~~â
âWhat is it this time, young masâŠeh?â
Aria turned around but found no one. She hurriedly looked left, right, everywhere, but Reito was nowhere to be seen.
âYoung master!? Where did you go!?â
Aria raised her voice, confused.
At the same time, Reito jumped on her from behind.
âGotcha!â
âWaah!?â
Aria turned around, utterly surprised.
âYo-young master? Where were you hiding?â
Aria was still shaken, but Reito didnât let go of her back and just smiled.
âI was behind you the whole time! But you didnât notice, right?â
âI canât believe itâŠwait, but ifâŠno, it canât beâŠâ
Aria looked positively shocked, so Reito thought he went a bit overboard and regretted it. He then let go of the maidâs back and apologized.
âI-Iâm sorry, AriaâŠI just wanted to prank you a littleâŠâ
âNo, thatâs fine, butâŠwhat a mystery.â
Aria couldnât understand how Reito hid from her: she eventually finished putting the room in order and left, but the mystery still left her confused to no end.
Now alone, Reito started his communication with Airis.
ăAiris ~ă
Airisâ reply was in a rather cheerful tone.
ăYes, Iâm here. I thought it was going to be hard for you to play the small child role, but I see youâre having fun. To use the Stealth skill to pull a prank is really fitting behavior for a child, I suppose.ă
ăYes, I am having a lot of fun, honestly.ă
In the two years since his rebirth in this world, Reito learned several skills under Airisâ guidance. Stealth was one of them.
It was a Tech Skill often used by Assassins, which allowed the user to suppress their presence to a minimum. Reito learned it while hiding from the servants when they were looking for him.
The boy then told Airis about something that had been troubling him for a while.
ăItâs pretty boring to have to stay inside all the time, though. Itâd be nice if I could climb over the iron fence and explore the forestâŠă
Reito was not allowed to leave the residenceâs premises by himself: he normally played in his room. He tried pleading to his mother, Aira, to let him go out of the residence, but she never said yes. According to her, the residence was surrounded by the dangerous âAbyssal Forestâ.
Reito tried putting his imagination to work.
ăI wonder what itâs like outsideâŠă
ăThe forest is extremely dangerous, just like your mother says. This residence was initially built to keep undesirable people away.ă
ăReallyâŠwhen you put it like that, it sounds like a prison. It must have been pretty difficult to build a residence in a place like this though.ă
Airis promptly answered Reitoâs question.
âThat is true. Many monsters inhabit the forest, so normal people wouldnât even be able to come close to this place.â
âBy monsters, do you mean stuff like Goblins or Orcs?â
ăCorrect. Other animals from the realm of fantasy in your world, like Unicorns and Dragons, actually exist here.ă
Airisâ explanation was very easy to understand for Reito, but because of that, he realized what a terrifying environment he was in.
ăâŠit really is dangerousâŠă
ăOn the other hand, as long as you stay here it will be difficult for dangerous people to come here to do you harm, so this residence can also be said to be safe.ă
ăWhy are the servants living here though? If Iâm an accursed child that must be kept away from the castle, why would they send servants to take care of me?ă
ăYouâre still part of the royal family though. They might be thinking of using you in the future, so it might be troublesome for them if you died, I suppose. You might have âhopelessâ jobs, but you are still the kingâs sole male heir.ă
Reito was somewhat impressed by Airisâ very pragmatic hypothesis, in stark contrast with her divine powers, then expressed his understanding.
ăI see. Well, now I know why I should stay out of the forest.ă
ăLetâs continue training, so you will become strong enough.ă
Reito cut off communication with Airis and continued training, day after day.