Chapter 2: What it takes to be strong

A few weeks have passed.

Looking out the window from my bed, I saw that the leaves had fallen off the trees outside.

I was six months old when I tried "summoning a magic sword," so I must be about seven or eight months old now.

If you count backwards, I was born in April.

By the way, this world is based on the real world so that it's easy for players to understand, so a year is 12 months and a day is 24 hours.

Therefore, Ren's birth month should be correct.

(I'm getting it.)

Ren grabbed the summoned wooden magic sword in his hand, his cheeks relaxed with satisfaction.

In fact, since the day I tried "summoning a magic sword," I had summoned a wooden magic sword every day except the next day. I say "except the next day" because I was afraid of the headache so I avoided it.

But I didn't give up —-.

While trying without giving up, the second summoning was not as painful as the first.

And after repeating it three or four times, I noticed that the headache and the heaviness of my body became much lighter than before.

(Was it like that the first time because I ran out of magic power?)

In the Legend of the Seven Heroes, characters who run out of magic power have their status temporarily reduced.

Ren was in the same situation.

(Maybe this world doesn't have a level concept in stats, unlike games, otherwise I can't explain how I grew up.)

For example, physical strength, which is attack power, does not depend on the level.

　Although there are individual differences, physical strength grows as the body grows.

Or, like Ren, you can grow by having your magical power consumed to the limit. In other words, we are talking about making an effort.

(And even so, one plan has gone bankrupt…..)

It's assumed that this world is the same as the world of the legend of the seven heroes, and if that's the case, Ren knew how to raise the level efficiency.

He was thinking of making it easier for himself and living in peace, but unfortunately it seems to be useless.

Recently, he had a sense of how much magic power he could handle at this level, so he had no choice but to continue his efforts at this rate.

"Au..."

However, my body doesn't move the way I expect it to.

It seems that my magic power has grown by using "Sword Summon" over and over, but I couldn't do anything more than that.

I wanted to learn how to swing a sword at an early age, but my baby body wouldn't allow it.

(I guess I'll just have to give up now and develop my magic…)

Ren sighed deeply—-.

"Ren! Are you awake?"

The door to the room was opened and a large man stepped in.

In his haste, Ren erased his magic sword and bracelet. This was another thing he had recently learned.

"Oh, you're awake. Have you been looking out again?"

"Au!"

"Good, Then your father will show you closer!"

This man, as he himself mentioned, is Ren's father.

His name is Roy Ashton, and he's still a young man, the same age as Mireille.

(He still has great muscles.)

Roy's face is fearless and he looks great standing next to Mireille.

As Ren is lifted up in his arms and looks up at his face, Roy smiles freshly, shows his white teeth,.

"Look. My nameless village is still on the frontier in a splendid way today!"

Using frontier as a verb, Roy opens the window and shakes his short blond hair in the slightly chilly wind.

(Yup. It's another day on the frontier.)

Although it was not revealed in the legend of the Seven Heroes, Ren Ashton was born in the countryside, a small village with a population of less than two hundred people.

The countryside outside his window is dotted with rustic houses.

"You see that? That's the forest over there."

Roy pointed in the direction of the forest, which was thickly overgrown with trees. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary forest, but there was one rock with a strong presence.

"Wah?"

Ren pointed at it and Roy said.

"That rock bothers you? That's called Tsurugi Rock, and as you can see, it's a rock that's sharp like a sword. It takes about an hour and half of walking to get there after you enter the forest."

It looks as tall as a ten-story building.

As he gazed casually at the rock, a strong breeze suddenly brushed Ren's cheek.

"Dau!"

Ren complained that it was getting cold, but Roy seemed to misunderstand.

"Oh yeah! You enjoy looking outside!"

Realizing that this was no longer going to work, Ren gave a distant look.

It seemed that all he could do now was look out at the countryside until Roy came to his senses. And then, just as he was about to give up halfway, he heard a voice saying

"But remember, you must never go into the forest behind the fields you can see from here. The monsters around there are weak, but they will attack you if they see you."

Roy said something that caught Ren's interest.

(Monsters...?)

"Well, thanks to their weakness, this village is getting by. If you defeat them, you can eat their meat and sell their magic stones for money. That's why we can manage on our own."

(Magic stone! That's right! There are magic stones!)

Besides repeatedly summoning magic swords and growing in magic power, there was something else I could do.

Yes, I have to use the magic stone to increase my proficiency.

(Can you show me the magic stone...?)

When Ren looked up at Roy with expectant eyes, Roy noticed his gaze and looked down at Ren.

"Perhaps you want to see the monsters?"

Ren shook his head.

"Hmmm...… does that mean you care about the magic stones?"

This time he nodded his head.

Roy immediately noticed and closed the window.

"Good! Then Dad will show you!"

He then took Ren out of the room in his arms.

Ren's first glimpse of the outside of his own room was no less shabby than his.

The wood used in the hallway was a dark brown color, but the color had faded in some places and it looked old. It would have been different if it had been decorated, but there was not a single piece of furnishings to be seen.

(Come to think of it, the Ashtons were knights, right?)

This is just my knowledge of the legend of the Seven Heroes.

"Mmmm ... this mansion should be fixed up soon ...."

The floorboards suddenly creaked loudly, and Roy, with a wry smile on his face, opened his mouth.

He looks at Ren, who was in the process of observing, and says as if to narrate.

"I'm very attached to this mansion that I inherited from my parents, but it seems that It's come to the end of its rope. Well, I'll think about repairing it if it's something that will make the village profitable —-Ren should remember well. It means that poor knights can't afford it."

Conveniently, Roy explained it all.

(Dad, this is not the kind of story to tell a baby.)

To summarize, the Ashtons are a family of frontier knights and the current head of the family, Roy Ashton, seems to have inherited the house and title from his father.

I had thought that knighthood was only for one generation, but it seems to be different in this world.

(Oh, it smells so good!)

The smell of roasting meat tickled Ren's nostrils.

Roy walked in the direction the smell came from and opened the door that was just ahead.

"Mireille! I've got Ren!"

Behind the door was the kitchen.

It was a somewhat old-fashioned kitchen with a dirt floor over half the space and a door leading outside.

"Oh, you! What's wrong? Why did you suddenly bring him?"

"Ren wanted to see a magic stone."

"I don't think he could say such a thing!"

Ren said inward, "That's what I have in mind".

Roy held me in his arms as we headed toward the earthen floor where Mireille had been. There was a stone water feature and a small, sooty furnace.

Mireille, with a look of surprise on her face, was standing in front of the stove.

"Mmmmm! I had thought of the right time to let Ren out of his room! You're always like that! Whenever you have an idea, you do it by yourself!"

"No, I don't always ... that's not the case!"

"Yeah! Always! You were like that when we were five years old! The first time we went outside together, we talked about going to the fields! You went by yourself!"

"I'm sorry...."

Ren, who unexpectedly learned about their past, felt a sense of peace at the sight of them from the side.

For Ren, who was becoming attached to this world and this life, there was nothing better than if his parents were on good terms.

Roy is a little laid back, but that's probably a minor thing.

"... So you really just came to show Ren the magic stone?"

"Oh! Of course!"

"Haaaa.... You've always been a sword enthusiast, always fighting monsters, always collecting magic stones. That's why you heard an auditory hallucination that Ren wanted to see the magic stone."

Ren was secretly pleased.

This is convenient. If his father was a sword fighter and also liked to collect magic stones, he would be able to help him grow from now on.

"We'll know if it's an auditory hallucination if we give it a try! Then, lend me the magic stone of the one I just hunted this morning!"

"Yes. I've already finished processing it, so have it your way."

Hearing these words, Roy left Ren in Mireille's care and headed toward a corner of the dirt floor. There he found the fur still stained with mud and a translucent stone placed on top of it.

(Hey, is that the fur of Little Boa…?)

The name "Little Boar" flashed through Ren's mind.

It was the name of the first monster the hero fights in the game Legend of the Seven Heroes. It looks like a wild boar.

"Thanks to your father's efforts to defeat the monsters, we get money and we share the meat with everyone in the village. That's why your mother respects him a lot. I don't want you to be a boy who is always looking for a sword and a magic stone. Okay?"

(—- hahaha)

I couldn't promise.

So I returned it with a dry smile, but Mireille was still happy.

"I'm back! Come on, Ren, here's the magic stone!"

Roy, who had returned with great enthusiasm, had in his hand the translucent stone that Ren had seen earlier. Up close, it had a slight greenish tint to it. If polished, it would have a beauty similar to that of a gemstone.

It was about the size of the palm of an adult hand. Roy put it in Ren's hand.

(Oh ... oh ... this is a magic stone!)

Ren's cheeks relaxed more than ever as he looked at the magic stone in his hands.

"Haaa, He definitely looks like your child."

"What's with the sigh?"

"After my ... husband, even my beloved son is devoted to magic stones and swords. Oh Ren! Don't move too much, it's dangerous. If you want to see the magic stone, I'll put you on the table!"

Ren apologized in his heart for making Mireille say that. Meanwhile, Ren's body was placed on the table beside him.

Of course, Mireille stares back to make sure Ren doesn't move too much and fall.

"But —-"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Maybe it's good for the Ashtons that Ren is interested in magic stones... Maybe someday he will be brave like you and defeat the monsters and protect this village."

Mireille said a lot of things with her mouth, but in the end she praised her husband's behavior and her husband, Roy, laughed heartily, his cheeks slightly upturned.

However, Ren didn't hear much of the conversation.

(Fufu! ... I'm finally getting a skill!)

Ren, who had secretly summoned the bracelet, gloated.

However, there was no sign that the magic stone was going to do anything.

(I thought for sure the magic stone would be sucked into the bracelet...)

The fact that there was no sign began to make him feel bad.

Fearfully, he looked at the crystal ball on the bracelet.

"This magic stone cannot be used."

A message that discouraged —- Ren was floating on it.

(Could it be ...)

There are two reasons that come to mind.

The first is that only certain magic stones can be used to increase proficiency.

The second is that you cannot use it to increase your proficiency unless it is a magic stone from a monster you defeated yourself.

(I think the former feels ... wrong)

The description of the skill that I saw before I was reincarnated said that by achieving certain conditions, I could increase the type of magic swords I could use.

Until today, Ren thought that certain magic stones were related to those specific conditions.

For example, some magic stones dropped by boss monsters make it possible to increase the number of magic swords...

(If so, is it the latter?)

The latter seemed more fitting.

If any magic stone becomes available, it would actually be possible to increase proficiency just by buying magic stones.

To make it impossible to do so, you can use the magic stones of the monsters you have defeated.

(I can't believe they made it so hard for me: ...)

I thought about this recently, but they don't make it easy for me to grow

Ren erased the bracelet he had summoned, released the magic stone from his hand and rolled it onto the table with a clang. He fell down on the table in a heap and muttered "ah" with a disgruntled look on his face.