chapter 6

How to Live as a Hero in a Magical World

Eldarin’s rules were as follows.

One. Anyone who does not work cannot stay in Eldergrove. Naturally, they have no right to eat, either.

Therefore, from 8:40 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., Kaian was to help with the fields and the garden.

Two. Keep to mealtimes.

The table would not be set twice. If you wanted to eat, you had to eat when the meal was served.

Breakfast began at 7:30 a.m. Lunch began at 12:30 p.m. Dinner began at 6:30 p.m.

Three. Tea time is both etiquette and culture. After meals, you must participate in tea time.

However, evening tea was optional.

After hearing all the rules, Kaian asked,

“What happens if I don’t eat?”

“Then there will be no tea, either.”

In the end, it simply meant that he had to eat on time and work on time.

Which meant he would have to sleep on time as well.

Compared to following the etiquette of a noble family or avoiding getting on his brothers’ nerves, these rules were much simpler and easier.

And I like tea time, too.

Eldarin took an old pocket watch out of her bag and handed it to Kaian.

“Here. From tomorrow onward, you will have to move according to the schedule, so you should rest for the remainder of today.”

“Yep.”

“…You may speak casually. I am not human. There is no need for such pointless formalities as children having to use honorifics with adults or teachers and students having to maintain a certain level of formality. However… refrain from shouting. It makes you look careless.”

“Okay.”

Kaian immediately dropped the formal speech and began talking however he pleased.

Eldarin gave him a faint smile before descending the stairs without making the slightest sound, as though she were walking through the air.

Kaian called out to her in confusion.

He still couldn’t even get out of bed by himself, let alone walk, and his hands trembled so badly that he sometimes had to put down his spoon while eating soup.

“Uh…? You’re just leaving? What about me? Give me a hand, at least…!”

But he couldn’t bring himself to raise his voice any further because he had just been warned not to shout.

In the end, Kaian sighed and gave up.

“I guess I’ll have to crawl down.”

Of course, there was an unimaginably painful price between making a resolution and actually carrying it out.

“Urgh. Ow. Hngh. Ugh.”

Kaian crawled carefully down the stairs, steeling himself for what was to come.

Starting tomorrow, I’ll have to work in the fields with this body.

So even if he had to lick up his food like a dog because his arms hurt too much to use, he would definitely finish the rest of his soup.

Kaian barely slept that night.

He was afraid that if he fell into a deep sleep, he wouldn’t wake up in time for the mealtimes Eldarin had specified.

“Hmm… I’m a little worried.”

He had no idea how long it would take him to reach the kitchen. He didn’t even know what floor he was on.

Judging from the dim view outside the window, perhaps the third or fourth floor? Of course, since he didn’t know the height of each floor, even that was only a rough guess.

There was only one thing he was certain of.

If I fall, I’m definitely going to say goodbye to this world.

Eventually, when the pocket watch pointed to six in the morning, Kaian got out of bed.

“Ugh… ahh… oh, dear. Hngh.”

He stopped and sat down on the stairs dozens of times, swallowing back tears.

He wiped away the drool that escaped from his mouth from the pain more than a dozen times.

He bit and chewed at his shirt so many times that one side of it became completely tattered.

Finally, Kaian reached the first floor.

Thank goodness. It was only three floors.

He glanced back.

The elegant wooden staircase, stained with his tears and drool, looked horrifyingly frightening.

Can I really crawl back up that thing later?

But Kaian quickly shook his head and pushed the fear away.

From what he had learned from his conversation with Eldarin yesterday, it was wiser to worry about later when later actually came.

“Okay, now I have to find the kitchen.”

Kaian flopped down onto the floor and checked his watch.

The hour hand that had been pointing at six had moved to seven.

So it took me an entire hour to crawl down three floors. Good grief.

Even so, Kaian felt much more comfortable and relaxed than he had a moment ago.

Because he was on level ground.

Kaian solemnly grasped the pocket watch hanging around his neck with one hand.

Then he began rolling across the floor.

Roll, roll, roll.

It wasn’t exactly painless, but it was much easier than crawling down the stairs.

And, just a little… fun.

Flat ground is the best…!

That was when it happened.

Tap.

Tap?

Kaian stopped rolling when he felt something catch against his arm.

He cautiously raised his head while lying face-down.

Immediately, he saw a pair of brown enamel shoes.

Huh? I haven’t seen Eldarin wearing shoes like these…

A prickling mixture of curiosity and unease ran through his nerves.

Kaian swallowed hard and slowly raised his gaze.

Standing there was an unfamiliar woman wearing a maid’s uniform in the same color as her shoes.

“…”

“…”

The woman’s eyes were a beautiful golden color, like amber, but they were filled with contempt.

Kaian barely managed to move his stiff tongue and greet her.

“…Hello?”

The unfamiliar woman looked as though she might spit in his face at any moment.

Just then, Eldarin silently passed by them and greeted the woman.

“Good morning, Amber.”

“Oh, your name is Amber. Nice to meet you.”

“…”

Kaian tried to greet her cheerfully, but Amber didn’t respond at all.

Eldarin sat down at the dining table, opened a book, and said,

“Good morning. I’d like a cup of warm tea, Amber.”

“Of course. That’s right. Today is a very good morning.”

“…”

“Hahaha…”

Kaian put on the most innocent, childlike expression he could manage.

It was one of his secret techniques for reducing the number of times his brothers would hit him from five to two.

It worked especially well on my second brother.

But Amber clenched and unclenched her fingers as though trying to suppress her anger, then abruptly turned around and walked away.

Her green hair, grown all the way down to her waist and neatly braided into a single braid, swayed behind her.

Like the tail of an angry cat.

“Phew…”

Only after Amber had completely disappeared from sight did Kaian let out a quiet sigh.

He thought peace had finally returned.

Then—

“Oh, Amber. Give Kaian some astragalus tea. Warm, please.”

Kaian squeezed his eyes shut.

Why did you have to say that?!

At this point, he decided he would sit at the dining table before Amber brought the tea.

He thought he at least needed to show that much courtesy if he wanted to make up for the horrible first impression he had just made.

It would be bad enough being an unwanted guest without making her dislike me even more.

Kaian gritted his teeth and pushed himself up from the floor.

Drool dribbled down.

Urgh. Amber won’t like it if she sees this.

He dragged his legs along and casually wiped away the drool with his foot.

Every joint in his body creaked and screamed, but he forced himself to move faster.

Move, move! Just ten more steps! Five more! Two more…!

At last, his hand found a chair.

Clack, scrape.

The moment he finally managed to sit down at the table, Amber brought out the tea.

“Th-thank you.”

Kaian held the teacup with trembling hands.

Oblivious Eldarin took a sip of her tea and introduced Amber.

“Amber is the spirit of this house. I lent her the body of a spherical-jointed doll I created so that she could freely use magic. Amber takes care of all sorts of chores around this house, so you should always be grateful to her.”

“The spirit of the house…?”

Kaian’s pupils shook more violently than the teacup he was holding.

A scene flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

I’ll kill you… I’ll burn everything to the ground…!

It had been the day he first arrived at Eldergrove.

He was pretty sure he had burned down quite a lot of things that day…

Kaian broke into a cold sweat as he cautiously asked,

“If you’re the spirit of the house… then, by any chance, before, I… um… here…”

Eldarin gave him a gentle smile.

“You burned it.”

“…I burned it.”

“You did.”

“…”

After receiving such absolute confirmation, Kaian’s vision went hazy.

No wonder.

He had only been rolling around the house, yet she had been glaring at him with such terrifying hostility.

I’d already ruined my first impression.

Kaian felt Amber’s piercing gaze coming down from beside him as he took a sip of the astragalus tea.

The tea was much hotter than he expected, burning his tongue and the roof of his mouth, but he couldn’t complain.

“Ah. N-nice. It’s good.”

He tried to smile as gently as Eldarin did, but he probably looked more like someone suffering from a facial spasm.

Amber still said nothing and showed no reaction.

She simply stared at Kaian for a while, then turned around and disappeared into the kitchen.

Kaian furrowed his brow and desperately tried to figure out what had just happened.

What was that just now? What kind of expression was that?

Then his gaze fell upon the tea Amber had given him.

It was a clear tea with a faint yellow tint.

She didn’t spit in it… did she…?

And so began Kaian’s second life as the youngest member of a household.

Kaian ate a simple breakfast, changed into the overalls Eldarin had given him, and left the house.

She had even kindly prepared a cane for him.

Kaian gripped the cane tightly, feeling like he might cry.

It would’ve been nice if you’d given me this yesterday…!

Still, this was his first time going outside since arriving at Eldergrove.

With a little excitement in his heart, Kaian followed Eldarin outside.

What kind of place is this? I hope it isn’t too big. It’ll be hard to walk around.

The moment he stepped through the front door, however, Kaian couldn’t help but gasp.

“Woooooow…!”

An endless sea of gold stretched out before his eyes.

Kaian’s voice trembled slightly.

“W-what is all this?”

“Rice.”

Kaian glanced up at Eldarin.

Now that he thought about it, his mountain-goat elf teacher seemed a little oblivious.

How could she not know what that scenery was? The Valancia Empire, where he had lived, was the world’s greatest breadbasket.

That wasn’t what Kaian’s question had meant.

“Yesterday, you said I had to work in the fields and garden…”

“I did.”

Kaian looked up at Eldarin with the most pitiful expression he could manage.

“Then… do I have to harvest all of that?”

“Don’t worry. The rice still needs more time to ripen. I’ll teach you how to work the fields first.”

Eldarin answered with an expression that looked as though not even a needle could make her shed a drop of blood.

Kaian’s expression immediately darkened.

Even the tears that had been about to come out disappeared.

“…This is abuse of a patient.”

“Hmph. You’ll be grateful to me soon enough.”

Eldarin nodded confidently.

The Eldergrove she had created was a space where mana flowed far more pure and balanced than in the outside world.

It was an ideal place where any mage would marvel upon entering and never want to leave.

That was Eldergrove.

But judging by Kaian’s reaction, he couldn’t perceive the mana here at all.

Hmm. Is it because he unconsciously awakened his mindscape?

Normally, humans awakened their magical power between the ages of twelve and fifteen.

Eldarin considered it a miracle that Kaian had unconsciously awakened his mindscape while in such a dangerous situation.

If it isn’t a miracle… then it must be talent.

Kaian had used magic without being able to perceive mana.

Mana was the source of magical power. Using magic without perceiving mana was, by common sense, impossible.

Yet Kaian had accomplished that impossible feat.

Yes. He has extraordinary talent, but from now on, I need to make him adapt to mana as quickly as possible.

That would also speed up the process of repairing his mindscape.

While Eldarin was lost in her thoughts, Kaian hesitantly spoke in a small voice.

“…I’m already grateful.”

Eldarin blinked.

…This human child can say surprisingly endearing things.

But she didn’t say that aloud.

Kaian and Eldarin, both of whom were exceptionally poor at communicating with others, stood together and gazed out over the golden plain.

Kaian sighed without realizing it.

“Phew…!”

In the end, he decided to accept his fate.

Perhaps Eldarin had never intended to raise a hero in the first place.

Perhaps she had intended to raise a farmer.

Right. Even if she’s a mage, if she has fields this huge, she must need workers…

Kaian sighed deeply once more and turned around to close the front door.

But when he saw the exterior of the house, he couldn’t help but gasp again.

“Waaaaah…!”