Chapter 1-3: The Beginning of My Studies

Starting today, it was decided that I would begin learning magic.

Mother seemed a little troubled by the idea, but Father, on the other hand, looked extremely excited.

“From now on, I’m going to teach you all kinds of things.”

“But just like with the fire magic yesterday, even a small mistake can make things dangerous.”

“So you absolutely have to listen to your mother and me.”

“Magic places great importance on the fundamentals.”

“For a while, I’ll mainly teach you through books.”

“If you get bored halfway through, or if you can’t follow what I tell you, then your magic lessons will end right there.”

“Do you understand?”

“Yes! I understand, Mother!”

“Good.”

Mother smiled in satisfaction and nodded at my answer.

Looking at her expression, I couldn’t help wondering:

(Then what was with that worried look at the beginning?)

But just then, Father started talking, so I put the thought aside for the moment.

“Father is going to teach you how to use a bow and a knife.”

“But Tenma is still too young, so using real weapons in combat would be dangerous.”

“So for now, I’ll teach you using a child-sized bow, practice arrows without sharp tips, and wooden knives.”

Father continued:

“However, I won’t be able to teach you directly while I’m out hunting.”

“So when I’m not home, study with your mother or walk around the village.”

In other words, Father probably wanted me to build up my stamina by walking.

“Yes, Father!”

I was given an explanation of my study plan in the morning.

By the afternoon, my magic lessons began.

Father went out to process the remaining wild boar meat from yesterday into preserved food.

“All right, magic has many different attributes.”

“For example, magic that uses fire is called the Fire Attribute, while magic that uses water is called the Water Attribute.”

“There are also special types such as Space-Time Magic, and sometimes Alchemy is also treated as a magical attribute.”

“I’ll explain those in more detail later.”

“Do you understand so far?”

“Yes!”

“Good. Next are the different attributes.”

“Basically, magic has eight primary attributes:

Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Light, Darkness, and Non-Attribute.”

“You said ‘basically,’ so does that mean there are attributes that aren’t considered basic?”

At my question, Mother smiled as though she had noticed something interesting.

“That’s right.”

“The things I mentioned earlier, like Space-Time Magic and Alchemy, are examples.”

“In addition, the Light Attribute is sometimes called the Holy Attribute or the White Attribute.”

“The Darkness Attribute may be called the Dark Attribute or the Black Attribute.”

“More powerful forms of fire magic are sometimes called the Flame Attribute.”

“And within the Water Attribute, magic related to ice may be called the Ice and Snow Attribute.”

“There seem to be quite a lot of them.”

“That’s true.”

“Actually, there’s a theory that magic originally had only a single attribute.”

“That attribute is magical power itself.”

“But because the effects change depending on the caster’s way of thinking and individual differences, people eventually began dividing magic into the attributes we use today.”

“The person who came up with that theory must have been either incredibly intelligent or extremely strange.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because not everyone can look at things we use or see every day and think about them that deeply or in such a complicated way.”

“So that person must have been either a genius or someone very unusual.”

Hearing Tenma’s answer, Celia was astonished.

It was not only because Tenma’s way of speaking was completely unlike that of a three-year-old.

It was also because he had accurately guessed how the world viewed the person who had proposed that theory.

However, Celia convinced herself:

(There’s no way this is really the thinking of a three-year-old.)

(He must have heard it from someone while walking around the village. Maybe the village priest told him.)

Of course, she did not ask Tenma directly.

She did not want to ruin his enthusiasm for learning.

“That’s right, Tenma. You’re absolutely correct.”

“Now then, let’s get back to attributes.”

“The reason they’re called the eight basic attributes is that magic outside those categories is extremely rare.”

“In other words, those eight are simply the most representative.”

“Space-Time Magic includes things like flight, levitation, and gravity.”

“Though flight by itself can also be achieved using wind magic.”

“As for Alchemy, it can use magic circles to break down, separate, or construct matter.”

“However, because it’s difficult to learn and doesn’t have much practical use, it isn’t used very often.”

“The most common thing people use it for is separating water from clothes when doing laundry.”

“And even then, using wind magic to dry them is much easier.”

That was different from the alchemy I had read about in manga in my previous life…

In this world, Alchemy did not seem very popular.

But to me…

The idea of being able to “simply clap my hands together and instantly create all kinds of matter” was still incredibly appealing.

I made up my mind:

(I’m definitely going to practice it someday.)

After that, Mother continued teaching me the basic knowledge of magic.

From time to time, she also told me about her experiences from when she had been an adventurer.

The lesson continued until late in the afternoon.

A Conversation Between Idle Gods

War God (War):
“Aaaah~ He’s so adorable…”

Death God (Death):
“What’s wrong…? Why are you making such a strange sound…?”

War:
“How rude! Why would you call it strange?!”

Goddess of Life (Life):
“Now, now. So what exactly happened?”

War:
“I’m watching Tenma-chan.”

Goddess of the Earth (Earth):
“Did something happen to Tenma-chan?”

Goddess of Love (Love):
“What is it, what is it~? What happened~?”

War:
“When I look at little Tenma-chan…”

“I suddenly feel something warm swelling up inside me…”

Earth:
“Ah~ I understand that feeling.”

“Tenma-chan really is adorable.”

Love:
“Exactly~”

Death:
(Nod, nod.)

Life:
“That’s because his mind is gradually adapting to this body.”

Beast God (Beast):
“Mm.”

Life:
“…Huh? When did you get here?”

War:
“Oh, the Beast God usually watches with me.”

Love:
“Seeing you dressed in wolf fur and secretly watching like that…”

“You look like a loyal dog watching over its master.”

Beast:
“///”

Death:
“He’s blushing…”

War:
“A rival?!”

Love:
“No, that’s not what this is…”

War:
“But this feeling…”

“Could this be maternal love?///”

Love + Life:
“NO!”

Death:
“No… definitely not. It still feels weird.”

Earth:
“Oh my…”

War:
“What?! Everyone’s picking on me!”

Beast:
“…War God.”

War:
“Beast God, you understand me, don’t you?”

Beast:
“…That isn’t maternal love.”

“You’re a man.”

“So it would be paternal love.”

War:
“That’s so mean!! I’m a maiden～～～”

His voice echoed into the distance:

“～～～”

“～～”

“～”

Watching the War God run away…

Everyone said in unison:

“No way.”

Earth:
“Oh my…”

End of Chapter

Author’s Note:

I tried writing a short, lighthearted side scene.

I also want Tenma to grow up quickly, but for now, I’d like to keep him little for a while longer.

I’ll do my best not to make the title of the story feel like false advertising.