CH 5

CHAPTER 5

Four years had passed since Reito’s rebirth in the new world.

At four years old, Reito had grown physically, so his range of “exploration” had expanded too: it now encompassed the whole residence.

One day, during his usual exploration, he found a hidden passage behind the chest of drawers in a certain room. He entered it immediately and found out it led up to the roof of the residence.

He was now looking down on the residence from the roof and could see the immense forest surrounding it.

“I never expected to find a secret passage there though…”

The forest surrounded the residence in all directions and seemed to extend infinitely. No other man-made buildings could be seen.

Reito was overwhelmed by such a sight. He wondered if the day he could leave the residence would ever come, and started communicating with Airis.

『Airis, I get the feeling there are a lot more secrets in this house…』

『There are various contraptions and hidden mechanisms in this residence, which is true. The secret passage you just used was built for emergencies.』

The word “emergency” triggered another question from Reito.

『Airis, you said you can’t see my future, right?』

『Yes, that’s right. So even if, a few seconds from now, you were to slip and fall from this roof to your death, I could not warn you in advance, so please don’t resent me if it happens.』

『I definitely don’t want to die in such a lame way. Anyway…I really want to start learning magic soon…』

『Reito, you are still four years old. It’s simply reckless to practice magic with such an immature body. You have learned a good number of skills, but your level is still 1, so it would be very dangerous for you to use magic.』

Reito understood that what Airis said was right, so he nodded — begrudgingly.

『I see…by the way, what kind of magic can a Support Magician, learn?』

『You shouldn’t expect too much. Compared to other Magician jobs, it’s rather unique.』

『Can’t you tell me more?』

『Let’s focus on acquiring skills for now. What would you like to learn today? You have learned Accuracy already, right?』

Reito realized Airis deftly dodged the topic but decided to focus on learning skills until his body grew enough.

He answered Airis’ question with confidence.

『I sure did! It took a bit of time, but I finally learned it yesterday.』

Reito recalled how he acquired the Accuracy skill.

For the past two years, he had been practicing throwing a ball to a target he hung in his room. The servants and his mother thought he had found a new game, so they didn’t think much of his regular practice.

After practicing every day for such a long time, he had finally learned to hit the target even with his eyes closed yesterday. This event prompted a status window to appear before him.

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Accuracy — The user is guaranteed to hit unmoving targets.

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It was a skill learned by jobs that used bows, like Hunters and Archers, which — as the name said — improved the user’s accuracy.

Reito, feeling glad that his efforts paid off, asked Airis for more guidance.

『What skill can I learn next?』

『The skill called Far Sight. It improves your sight and lets you see very far, naturally. It shouldn’t take you as much time as Accuracy.』

『How do I learn it?』

『Just clear your mind and look in the distance, like you did when you learned Observing Eye. If you become able to look far away without thinking about it, you should learn the skill at the same time.』

『Okay then…』

Reito followed Airis’ instructions and gazed at the scenery before him. During the communication with Airis time was still, so even if he was on the roof he didn’t risk being yelled at by Aria.

During his few years of training, Reito had learned the trick to acquiring skills.

It was to repeat a set of motions until it became second nature. If he had to think in order to perform the motions, he was still far from learning the skill. After realizing this, Reito started practicing while keeping his mind as clear as possible, and successfully acquired various skills.

As Reito emptied his mind and looked at the distant sky, a whisper escaped his lips.

『I can see the forest…the birds are flying. There are butterflies too…』

『You don’t have to force yourself to speak, like when you learned Observing Eye. You should concentrate only on looking as far as you can.』

『Okay…』

Because time was stopped, Reito’s eyes wouldn’t get tired. Despite this, his mental fatigue piled up.

Reito continued to watch the scenery in silence. He felt like he continued for several hours.

Eventually, a status window appeared before his eyes.

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<Tech Skill “Far Sight acquired.”>

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『…ah, I learned it!』

『Congratulations. It’s impressive that you learned it so quickly. This skill simply allows you to see far away, but I am sure it will be of good use.』

『Okay, thank you. I’m getting tired, so I’ll cut the communication now.』

Reito, a bit unsteady on his feet, closed the communication with Airis and breathed a sigh of relief. The next moment, sharp pain ran through his head.

『Agh…it really hurts to keep the communication open a long time…』

Reito, holding his head, was about to go back to the secret passage, when he heard a familiar voice.

“Y-young master!? What are you doing in a place like that!?!”

“Oh shucks…she found me.”

Reito looked at the rear garden, where the voice had come from and found Aria, who was watering a patch of flowers.

Maybe thanks to his newly acquired Far Sight skill, he could clearly see the anger in her expression.

“You rascal!! Doesn’t your mother always tell you not to do dangerous things!? Bad boy, bad!”

“Bad boy, bad…really…? Anyway, I’m going down now…”

Reito headed towards the secret passage, but the headache started making him feel dizzy.

“Aah…!?”

He then stumbled and started falling.

“Aaah!! Young master!!”

Aria shrieked.

She tossed away the water pail she was holding and rushed to catch Reito.

She couldn’t make it in time though.

Reito seemed doomed to hit the ground but miraculously fell into the branches of the apple tree growing next to the residence.

“Phew…that was close.”

“Eeh!? Are you all right, young master!?”

Aria came running under the apple tree and Reito casually waved at her.

“I’m fine, I’m fine…and I’m glad mom loves apple trees.”

The apple trees growing in the rear garden had been planted by the king for Aira, or so Reito was told.

Aira was very fond of apples: even after they became separated, the king seemed to be looking after her to an extent.

Reito stood back up and prepared to climb down the tree.

That very moment, however, the branch he was standing on snapped.

“Whoa!?”

His body fell straight towards the ground.

(This is bad…! Even if I have Resilience and Break Fall, if I fall from this height…!!)

The distance to the soil was approximately five meters.

Reito instinctively protected his head with his hands, when Aria reached for him with her arms and shouted.

“Wind spirits, heed my call!!”

A gust of wind blew forward from her palms.

The wind pushed Reito’s body upwards, softening the fall and lightly holding him in midair.

Reito, surprised, looked at Aria and found her waiting under him, her arms stretched to catch him.

“You’re okay now…gah!?”

Reito tried hugging Aria, but mistakenly kicked her in the face.

“I-I’m sorry!!”

Aria crouched down, holding her face in pain. Reito was eased down on the ground by the wind, then rushed to Aria’s side.

“A-Aria, are you okay?”

“Honestly!! You would be dead now, if I wasn’t there!!”

Aria yelled, her eyes brimming with tears. Reito’s shoulders dropped as he apologized.

“I’m really sorry…”

Aria then ordered Reito to sit down on the ground and started scolding him.

Normally, it would be unthinkable for a servant to scold their master’s child like that. However, their relationship was much closer than just master and servant. Which was all the more reason for Aria not to forgive Reito’s behavior.

“Young master, you are still a child, you must stop such reckless behavior…if something happened to you, milady would be heartbroken.”

“Yes…I’m really sorry.”

Aria saw that Reito was truly remorseful, so she felt all her indignation leave her and smiled.

“If you won’t do something like that anymore, then it’s fine.”

“Yes…ow ow ow…”

Aria tried to help Reito stand up, but he had cramped legs after sitting with his heels for such a long time, so he stumbled.

Just then, his eyes fell on the flowers growing in a nearby patch. They were a rare kind, with crescent-shaped leaves.

“Aria, what’s the name of this flower?”

Reito was curious about them, but Aria looked at him with wonder.

“Oh? Are you interested in flowers, young master? Actually, to be precise these are not flowers, but medicinal herbs.”

“Medicinal herbs…?”

“Yes. There are many types of medicinal herbs, but this one can be used to make healing potions. You need to know how to raise it properly and have the Cultivation skill, though…”

“Cultivation, I see…do you have that skill, Aria?”

“I’m an Elf, after all. We’re all fairly knowledgeable about plants. I have been raising medicinal herbs since I was small. I take care of all the flowers and plants in this patch, with Lady Aira’s permission.”

So said Aria, with a hint of smugness, and Reito’s eyes sparkled.

He then pounced towards Aria and pleaded.

“Please, please, teach me too!”

“Eh…? Teach you…about medicinal herbs?”

“Yes!!”

Aria was very surprised for Reito to be interested in raising herbs, which was normally a servant’s job. His gaze, however, was nothing but serious.

“I could never force you to do a servant’s job, though…”

“It’s okay with me, really! Please?”

Aria was unsure at first, but she knew how persistent Reito could be, so she sighed and nodded.

“Well, I guess I could…but in exchange, stop asking me to show you magic, all right?”

“Okay. I already saw it once, so that’s enough!”

“Y-you only wanted to see it once…? Very well…”

Aria was taken aback by Reito’s quick acceptance.

She kept her promise, and taught Reito all she knew about medicinal herbs. He started taking care of the plants every day and helped Aria with the cultivation of the medicinal herbs.