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MK 03 – Straightening Out the Things You Have to Do
[Not enough. Everything’s not enough~] (Kunon)
A week has passed since Kunon had awakened his desire to ‘see using magic’.
The night has arrived after Kunon’s training for the day and he is now currently in the middle of the realization that even though he’s starting to get more familiar with mana and magic, there are still a lot of things that he lacks as a mage.
[—Hm? How about my overflowing love for you though?] (Iko)
His handmaiden is apparently saying something as she serves him his dinner but Kunon…
‘Yeah, I didn’t hear anything.’
[—I… After all these years, I’ve devoted my love and affection to you… *sniff*…] (Iko)
‘Noooo, I’ve just decided that I’d pay her no mind!’
Or so Kunon had been thinking as he actually thought to reply.
—
Kunon is munching on his mini sandwiches trying to guess the identities of the ingredients inside of it while trying to look back on the things he did.
Lectures in the morning, magic practice in the afternoon.
Even though he spent the whole week doing the same thing over and over again, Kunon believes there isn’t anything about it that needs to be changed.
‘There’s been little progress since I started but  — even though there’s progress, it’s tad too slow.’
[Thank goodness. Seeing how well you eat, it seems pouring all of my love and affection to you has been worth it.] (Iko)
[Yeah, no, you’re just fine, Iko.] (Kunon)
[If you’re still saying that my love for you isn’t enough after all these sandwiches then you leave me no choice! Shall we sleep together then!?] (Iko)
[You really think so? Yeah, no.] (K)
His handmaiden aside, Kunon thinks that he is well loved by his father, mother and brother.
And due to their love, Kunon’s heart grows heavier with guilt for just being a burden to them.
And because they love him, it must have been painful for them watching Kunon forlorn and seemed always in despair.
As a result, a separate living space had been prepared a few distance away from the mansion of their family and that is where Kunon stays together with his maid.
It’s something that Kunon had requested himself.
They’ve always had to take extra care of him whenever they see him — and sighs would follow eventually. Kunon didn’t particularly wish for things to be like this either however.
Even so, his family still visits him from time to time and that’s more than enough for him to think that they do love him.
‘I’d need to be able to get my vision for my family as well. That way, I won’t remain a burden to them.’
[It’s my knowledge and mana I am talking about. Everything just ain’t enough. My stamina especially.] (Kunon)
He’s been falling down unconscious almost everyday from his training.
It’s maybe because of the exhaustion of his mana, or maybe his stamina.
‘Or perhaps both.’
Or so Kunon had thought.
[Not that we can do anything about it though? Kunon-sama, you’re still just seven years old so your mind and body are still just about to develop and grow.] (Iko)
‘Iko might be right.’
‘But that would take time. Too much time, in fact.’
‘If I could just do it now, I’d create my own vision right this instant.’
‘Wait for my mind and body to develop? No way I’d be able to wait for that.’
[…Hmmm, but yeah. Maybe because you’re a light eater yourself, Kunon-sama? You’re on the smaller side for kids of your age as well, I think.]
‘That makes sense.’
[My body’s quite lacking too isn’t it.]
‘I didn’t expect that my body would raise concerns about training my magic but — if that’s the case, then I now have an idea where to begin.’
‘All I’ve gotta do is eat. Eat a lot and take my fill!’
[Also, doing some kind of physical training would help too, no?] (Iko)
Because Kunon can’t see his surroundings, he had trouble moving around.
Just a little awkward misstep and he will immediately lose his footing and stumble to the ground.
That’s the reason why Kunon’s stamina immediately drains even though with just a little amount of light movements.
That being the case, Iko, without even breaking a sweat, carries Kunon’s full weight by herself whenever he faints.
[That – I guess that could be true… Perhaps I’d really need to put some muscle in my body too.] (Kunon)
Kunon might be blind but his body isn’t really that helpless, in fact.
It’s just that he didn’t think of actually ‘living’ before so he didn’t really care about it that much.
But not anymore.
It took him a week for him to learn its importance.
Whether it’s mana that will provide the energy for him to create magic, at the end, mana still comes from inside his body. And ultimately, it’s resilience and stamina.
‘It’s pretty useless if I could only use magic twice or maybe thrice.’
‘At the minimum, I need to build enough stamina for my training at least.’
‘Otherwise, I’d spend more time unconscious and sleeping than actually practicing magic.’
‘–That reminds me of the story of that foolish ruler who dabbled his hand both on his kingdom’s prosperity and corruption at the same time. In the end, he passed away without being able to accomplish either of them. It’s a rather famous story about failure as its subject.’
The story, at the very essence of it, is how one can’t accomplish a single thing trying to do everything.
‘So, to not let myself end up the same way, I should set targets that I’d finish one at a time.’
‘I’m sure that would eventually be the shortcut for me getting my eyes.’
‘Number one in the list must be magic.’
‘Getting the hang and mastery of it is the top priority.’
‘Second should be building up my body.’
‘I should train it in a way that will allow me to use magic efficiently.’
‘So, when my mana runs out, I should train my body. When my stamina runs out, then I’ll be training my magic.’
‘That’s how my training should go, at least ideally.’
With such things in Kunon’s mind, his training regimen is now initially done.
[Iko, I’d like you to increase the volume of my meals.] (Kunon)
[Understood.] (Iko)
[Also, about the physical training you mentioned, what do you think would suit me?] (K)
If we’re talking about building up stamina, the first thing that would immediately come to mind will either be running or walking. However… things like that won’t help Kunon specifically.
Chances are that he’d just stumble, fall, and get injured on his own.
Iko, being the one who witnessed such similar scenarios countless of times, of course had no intention of recommending such things to the young child.
[Hm, yeah. What do you think of ‘Practice swings’?] (I)
[Swings? Are you talking about swordsmanship, perhaps?] (K)
[Yes.] (I)
[Would you teach me how to do it?] (K)
Even though Kunon could understand why Iko suggested that, he had never once swung a sword in his dear life.
That’s why he thinks that asking for guidance would be a more efficient way to practice than relying on what’s in his mind.
[Oh, no. I am not familiar with any kind of martial arts, after all. How about we ask master Gurion for now? If it’s just practice swings even the gatekeepers would be able to help us.] (I)
[Very well. Then, can I leave it to you?] (K)
[Understood. Then before the night ends I — oh, I just remembered that the master and the madam are currently outside. I’ll talk to Baren-san first thing in the morning tomorrow, okay?] (I)
Baren is a butler of the Gurion family.
Whenever the heads of the family are away, he is the one overlooking the family’s house and property.
[Okay. Please do.]
The things that Kunon had to do increased.
However, for the child, it’s another thing that he is now looking forward to accomplish.
‘There must be some kind of close connection between physical and magical training.’
No matter how gruesome it will be, Kunon is fully committed to finish his training until he can finally see using his magic.
‘Otherwise, what else is there for me to continue living.’
—
The following day.
As sweat drizzle down like rain from Kunon as he trains his magic in the afternoon, an unfamiliar sound of footsteps have reached his ears.
[—Nice to meet you, Kunon-kun. I’m Ouro Tauro, a former master of Tiger style swordsmanship.]
‘Judging by his voice, he seems like a man on the older side.’
‘The pitch of his voice isn’t that high either… he must be an old man with a small build.’
[Ouro… that Master Ouro?]
‘Speaking of Master Ouro, that’s the same name of the person who’s teaching swordsmanship to my brother.’
[Yes, that Master Ouro. I’ve heard that you want to learn how to do practice swings, Kunon-kun. That’s the reason why I came here to meet you.] (Master O)
[Is it really fine? For the renowned teacher to personally teach someone myself… As you can see, I am blind so for me to learn such distinguished swordsmanship under your tutelage is a bit…] (Kunon)
Just as Kunon’s self deprecating tendencies are starting to appear for a little bit — the old swordsman in front of him then laughs cheerily.
[Fufufu, you see, this thing you call swordsmanship, isn’t really that distinguished in the first place. It’s just another form of technique that would help the weak to become strong themselves. By the laws of nature, it’s a rather unnatural way of transforming the prey to become the predator. I wonder if something like this can really be called distinguished.]
‘Not that I really understand what you’re saying but can you just teach me?’
Or so Kunon said inside his head.
Translator’s Notes:
The ‘something’ that’s coming out from Kunon’s inside from the previous chapters is ‘mana’. Since Kunon doesn’t know what that was before and not familiar with it, it was described previously as ‘something’.It was hard transitioning the translation from a depressing one to Kunon getting more positive then back to the negative one! I had to watch Konosuba again so I can get that rhythm! It’s like that 60 secs of Kazuma dying before laughing as he took Aqua with him xDIs there any better isekai protagonist than Kazuma? I wonder though. I haven’t watched any new anime lately so if you have any recommendations, feel free to drop them! Thank you!Sometimes, you, know, life is like an RPG. Except that most of the times, you are the one who will be setting your own quests and you’ll also be the one who will decide what are the rewards once you completed them. IRL, it could either mostly be stats (intelligence from books, or strength from lifts) or experience though (at least you are now a better version of you than yesterday), especially if you’re students. Gold comes after once you get Jobs and enter a guild (work or corporate). xD