Maseki Gurume – 004Some Time Later…

“Fuu… Fuu…”

Currently I’m doing my daily swings.

Since I’ll soon become five years old, I finally got invited to a party.

Although I say party, in fact it’s just a bunch of nobles living close to the capital, gathering and bringing their children to introduce them to others.

Grint and I will be attending.

The reason why a three-year-old like Grint will be participating is because it’s simply convenient to have him debut alongside me.

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Father was thinking about Grint having his debut into society when he would become around 5 years old but mother Alma disagreed.

——And the reason obviously was:

“We have two amazing children, especially Grint who has a brilliant talent like a Holy Knight, isn’t it a must to bring him to the presentation as well?!”

Basically, she wants to use me as a comparison so that my little brother can stand out even more.

And Father being his usual self completely agreed with her.

At a later time Mother apologized to me, although she was not at fault at all.

“ Haa… and a thousand.”

The training that I started with Father when I was four has now become pretty much self-training. For the time being I did 1000 swings.

You might think it’s impossible to do a thousand swings at my age, right? Well that is true indeed, that’s why I’m using a specially made super-light wooden sword.

And what has happened to my Decomposition? Well I stopped thinking about it altogether. I’ll simply move forward with my hard work.

“Oh my, good job out there Ain.”

“Mother! Have you been watching me?”

The only comfort in my life is my mother.

“Yes I was watching. Your swings have become quite beautiful, haven’t they.”

“I’m so happy that the results of my daily training are showing.”

“…Where is your father?”

“Father is… training with Grint or something.”

About Father, he has stopped coming to my training lately, that is why I’ve been training alone.

Recently he has been overlooking my little brother’s training… although he can’t train properly yet, father has been showing him the small nuances like the way to hold a sword or take a stance.

“That person, abandoning the eldest child.”

However, that’s fine, because of the way he is now, is causing mother to not get along with him which is perfect for me.

“As the eldest I can train by myself, so he needs to look after Grint.”

“You really are a good child Ain. Such a good child.”

“Mother… I c..can’t breath.”

I’m very happy being embraced by mother, but I need to breathe too.

“Oh my… I am sorry Ain. So, have you finished your training for today?”

“Yes!”

“Is that so? Then, I’d like to go shopping… so Knight-sama, would you escort me?”

“I’ll gladly go with you Mother.”

“Fufu… thank you my cute Knight-sama.”

If Mother is going shopping I should protect her.

Just leave it to me mom, I won’t let anyone lay a finger on you even if it’s Father!

“Olivia-san? If you are going shopping… oh my, you were here too.”

“… Mother-in-law.”

Here comes disliked person number 2.

My father’s mother, Isis. Although I think she might’ve been a beauty during her younger days, I just can’t come to like her.

She is also the second person who loves Grint very much and thinks of me as a nuisance, the first being Alma.

“…Are you going somewhere Ain? That’s weird… your younger brother, Grint, is giving his best at training yet you have already finished? Since you lack talent shouldn’t you be training several times harder?”

“I am very sorry for worrying you Grandmother. I started my daily training quite early so as to not get hurt I thought it was about time for me to finish.”

“Oh my, I guess I was being rude, excuse me. I shouldn’t have Grint as a standard to compare you to.”

Every time she opens her mouth only poisonous words come out.

Do you want me to decompose you?! My Decomposition skill has an EX in it! You should not look down on my skill which has Goddess’s guarantee.

“Not at all… I’m just grateful for your advice.”

“It is fine. No matter how much of a failure you are, you will still be aiding the future head of this house, so I only said what was expected.”

I have been told that over and over again, it seems like in her mind, I’m not qualified to inherit this house.

Well that is to be expected, since a Holy Knight is usually the protagonist.

“M..mother-in-law… is there anything you needed of me?”

“Ohh, that’s right Olivia-san. Can you buy some tea please? I trust in your taste more than the merchants.”

“I understand. I will buy a few.”

“Thank you. By the way, about the presentation that is coming soon…”

“Yes?”

“Logas and I have officially decided to announce Grint as the house successor.”

“…is that so.”

“That’s right. So please act accordingly. Well, be safe on your way.”

I see, so that’s the reason why Father has been spending more time with Alma lately, makes sense. Certainly, an official announcement would have plenty of merits. It would be easier to find a fiancée and would make the position as the head clear, the only demerit is seeing my mother’s sad face.

“Mother, shall we be on our way?”

“Ain… but…”

“So long as I can protect mother everything is fine. Not being able to do that would be the worst.”

“S…sorry. I am… truly sorry.”

Even if you say so. These are my true feelings. I do understand that my mother-complex is slowly getting worse but I don’t feel like changing that. Moreover recently Father has only been with Alma at night, so it is all good. Well, shall we get going Mother. I’m so looking forward to going shopping with just the two of us (although there are going to be guards with us).

“T…that’s right, Ain. The thing I ordered has finally arrived.”

“The thing you ordered?”

“Yes. Do you remember how much you were looking forward to receiving this..”

“Mother… This is.. ”

Ain Roundhart

[Job] none, eldest son of Roundhart house

[Level] 2

[HP] 55

[MP] 41

[Attack] 22

[Defense] 21

[Agility] 25

[Skill] Decomposition EX, Automatic HP recovery, The Gift of Training

“Whoaa! It’s my Status! Nice!”

“Fufu, congratulations Ain. It was worth it making them hurry and send it. I am sorry it took this long. But you see, when they make it for nobles they have to worry about counterfeits so it takes a lot of time.”

“It is completely fine, thank you… hmmm… did I have Automatic HP recovery before?”

“Ohh about that, I think you inherited that skill from me. You see, children can inherit one skill from their parents.”

“Is that so. I thought that I only had Decomposition, so it surprised me.”

“There will be skills that won’t be visible unless you grow up a bit, like the inherited skills. By the way this skill recovers 1% HP every 5minutes.”

I see, so there was such a thing.

For a second there I thought it was a cheat, but if it is only 1% every 5 minutes… it is still quite strong.

I’m not really sure what the average for a 5-years-old would be, what’s this? I don’t really understand these stats. …But it seems Mother knew what I was thinking.

2019-08-03 (3)

“Listen here. HP is your life essence, so if it becomes empty, you will die. For an average 5 year old, except for HP and MP, I believe all stats should be around 10.”

“Then I am…”

“That is right, you are stronger than the average. Congratulations Ain.”

“T..thank you very much!”

I was almost blown away from Mother’s praises.

Just as I had theorised before, compared to an average person my talent should be way higher.

This is such a relief.

“Hmmm… The Gift of Training?… what is this?”

“That’s right, that’s the source of my pride.”

“What do you mean?”

“This skill can only be acquired by those who do a single action over and over again with all their heart and soul until they are recognised by the World… Although you are still a child, but the Goddess has recognised your hard work that you put into your swings every day”

“Well, it is true that I’ve been doing that every day… but this skill… is it strong?”

“Yes, although some people look down on this skill as plain, thinking that your body gets less tired while training and nothing else, but they do not understand this skill’s true worth.”

When I think about it… this skill is indeed great. I mean, since I don’t get tired easily while training I could train longer which is great.

But hold on a second, is it something that can be acquired by someone of my age? Or is the Goddess…?

Ohh well, who cares.

Since I received it, I should just be happy about it.

If Goddess is watching over me then you have my gratitude.

I am living my life quite happily.

“Mother! Mother!! Hurry!!!”

“Yes Yes, Ain, I’m coming”

Shopping with Mother.

The place where Roundhart family is governing is a port town, which is very close to the capital, therefore there is plenty of items from a lot of different places that are sold here.

“We found some good tea that Mother-in-law asked for, so all that’s left is…. Ain… what are you looking at?”

“What is this shining crystal?”

“Ahh, that’s a Magic Stone.”

“Magic Stone?”

“It’s like a heart for monsters. And using that stone as a fuel, we can heat up the bath or clean the water.”

Ohh, I did think they might have it, but seeing as they really have it…. wait, is it fine to sell them in street stalls?

Well it is a necessity in every household so I guess it’s fine.

“Is it cheap?”

“It depends. If it’s from a very strong monster, then it can be used for a large scale ritual… for example, if the country is about to be invaded it can be activated to cast a big spell. Those types of stones are really expensive.”

“Hmmm… how about just a normal one for boiling the water?”

“1 months worth… I would say is around 3000G”

As a side note, I didn’t need to familiarise myself with the currency here, since its value is about the same as Japanese yen.

So that would mean, in order to boil water you spend 3000 yen monthly…which is about the same as a single person pays for gas back in my world.

“So it’s that much huh…hmmmm…. something smells sweet…”

“Ohhh look at the time, it’s going to get dark soon, we should be heading back Ain.”

“Um…yes Mother!… SO SWEET!?”

Since the magic stone gave off a sweet smell, I secretly gave it a lick and it tasted like caramel.

Maybe this could double as a snack.

——

“Hm?! Hey old man, what’s with this!?”

“Yes, how can I help you dear customer?”

“This magic stone is empty ain’t it, it looks just like a normal crystal”

“Hm? Are you talking about this 500G magic stone, please excuse me for my blunder. But this is strange, I certainly checked my goods before….”

Ain Roundhart

[Job] none, eldest son of Roundhart house

[Level] 2

[HP] 57 – 2UP

[MP] 41

[Attack] 22

[Defense] 21

[Agility] 26 – 1UP

[Skill] Decomposition EX, Automatic HP Recovery, The Gift of Training