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Chapter 6: Ladybug and Textbook
The bright afternoon sunlight came filtering through the leaves of the trees.
With a gentle smile, I gazed at the palm of my hand.
There, a small, round insect tottered about.
It was a blackish insect, reminiscent of a ladybug.
I had previously said that there were no other living beings here in the basin besides myself, right?
…Sorry, that was a lie.
There was this small, ladybug-like insect here.
I had gone out this morning to pick some cranberry apples when I discovered this little creature walking on top of one of the leaves.
I suspected that this little guy must have been going around the trees, pollinating them.
“Fufufu, Mushitarou is cute.”
I had lovingly named this guy “Mushitarou[1].”
I thought it was a simple and good name.
He was the tiny living creature No.1 that I have encountered in this world.
He gave off a different sense of calm than the old man’s boney skeleton.
“Oh? What’s wrong, Mushitarou?”
Mushitarou had made his way to the tip of my finger, letting the wind blow over him.
And after sensing the right timing, he suddenly opened his wings.
“Ah…”
Mushitarou leapt from my fingertip and headed towards the sky.
And just like that, he grew smaller and smaller.
His figure disappeared into the direction of the fruit trees.
“Wa, wait, Mushitarou….! Don’t….Don’t leave me alone……!”
My hand trembled; my fingertips looked like they were trying to swim out into the void where Mushitarou disappeared.
It looked like I was desperately trying to catch something invisible.
“Mushi…tarou…”
My voice faded as I called out his name one more time.
However, Mushitarou would no longer come back. He had returned back to his own place in the world.
…Right, you perceptive ladies and gentlemen may have already realized.
At that moment, I was starved for interaction with someone else as I had begun to become crazy from isolation.
——————
“Now, what should I do this afternoon…”
I sat in front of the entrance way of the grass-covered house as I flipped through the pages of Introduction to Wizardry IV.
Presently, I was in the middle of a slightly delayed lunchtime with this book in hand.
Mushitarou’s departure was a bitter event, but it was necessary for both of us to move onto the next step in our lives.
I was a man who could adapt quickly.
“I should probably finish up the introductory books as soon as I can. Earth spells would probably be essential in escaping here.”
I muttered as I chewed on slightly warm jerky and cheese.
Yup, not bad. As expected, warm food was definitely good.
Especially the nice texture achieved from the way the warm cheese melts. Wonderful.
I sat on top of a cloth spread out on the ground. I also had in front of me rye bread and the glorious cranberry apple[2], a staple to all my meals from now on.
There was also a ceramic bowl holding the cool water I just fetched from the spring.
It had been two days since the destruction of nature and the tragedy brought forth by me “discerning my attribute.”
My scope of meals had gone through a dramatic improvement.
I had discovered an underground storeroom underneath the Luvel Zairen’s house.
It havened a large amount of preserved foods: jerky, bread, fermented dairy products, etc.
All of them were still edible.
By the way, there were various fermented dairy products I had never seen. However, I was a bit scared and didn’t touch them. Additionally, there appeared to be some unknown type of unripe beans and ingredients I didn’t know how to cook well. Therefore, I wouldn’t be able to fully utilize everything inside the storeroom.
Nevertheless, this much amount of food would probably last me 1-2 months if I’m by myself.
I was convinced at this moment that there must have been some kind of spell cast on the underground storeroom and study. I no longer had any doubt after seeing the significant difference of the pristine condition of just these two rooms compared to the rest of the aged interior of the basin. Even if these foods were nonperishable, jerky and bread shouldn’t be able to last that long.
But, the issue didn’t lie just there. This was certainly astonishing, but the rye bread (I called it “rye bread” since it looked dark in color and the taste was familiar, but I wasn’t sure if it was actually made from rye) wasn’t the least bit hard. I wouldn’t even need to soak it in soup before eating. This was a piece of bread that came out of a storeroom whose door was covered in dust.
I recalled the Introduction to Wizardry mentioned some spells having the Time attribute…
I can understand why the storeroom, but why would someone use spells to slow down the deterioration of a study? This was in the back of my mind, but could it be that Zairein was really a scholarly-type of person? I felt that he was probably extremely fearful that a portion of his collection would be ruined. As a fellow book-lover, I could understand the sentiment. Although it was only in this aspect, I’m pissed at myself that I was feeling any kind of empathy towards the sh•tty bastard…
By the way, I created a spark to warm up the jerky and cheese. While recalling a survival show I saw in the past, I desperately struggled to create fire by my own hands.
Bwahaha. Humans from my world have no need for such Fire spells.
I am a man with the ability to live.
While I recalled the tear-filled struggles in these past few days, I finished my modest yet satisfying lunch.
For dessert, I bit into the glorious cranberry apple.
Aah, the eloquent sourness filled my entire mouth.
Its flesh felt like an irresistible, vibrant, and beautiful maiden.
Furthermore, the aftertaste was a faint, refined sweetness fit for a noble.
Just one bite revealed the vibrant ruby red color inside. A feast for the eyes as well.
Excellent. As expected of the greatest—the glorious cranberry apple.
With the meal complete, I headed towards the site ravaged by [Create Pebble] the other day and dug a small hole in the ground with my finger.
After that, I planted the seed from the fruit I had just finished.
I had decided that I would, without fail, come to this spot and plant the seed from the cranberry apple I finished after every meal.
No matter how you looked at it, numerous flora had been meaninglessly uprooted by me. I’m so sorry…
I would have to leave this land soon. However, I hope that in the distant future, this wasteland would be transformed and reborn into a beautiful cranberry apple orchard.
Nonetheless, it could be said that it was a small blessing that most of the destruction was concentrated in front of me.
As such, the only noticeable damage was done to the forest.
If that didn’t happen, the house behind me would have been absolutely crushed.
I was a bit worried when I first glanced at the collapsed portion of the roof, but in actuality, the only damaged part was the edges which had already been worn down by age.
Oh, and a portion of the pottery in the house was cracked.
Speaking of [Create Pebble], though I’m a bit hesitant to call that gigantic boulder a pebble, it immediately crumbled away after it was created.
As such, I was saved a bunch of time dealing with the mess.
…But, a fundamental property of Earth spells was that “once the supply of mana is cut by the wizard, the creation shall crumble,” making this world’s Earth spells difficult to use with such a disadvantage attached to it.
Another way to look at it was that since all things created will crumble, these types of spells couldn’t be used in engineering or construction.
At the very least, there appeared to be spells that a wizard could use to create weapons and tools from dirt. Unfortunately, without a constant supply of mana, the object would lose its form, making this attribute have horrid mileage. Bluntly speaking, as long as it wasn’t a specific situation that required it, it would be faster to just use the normal version. Rather than swinging around a sword made out of dirt as it guzzles away your mana, I think it’ll be better to buy a sword normally and use that instead.
There was barely a difference in the result. Quite the minus against Earth spells if they couldn’t really be used in daily life.
Hmph. The only attribute I’m attuned to was viewed in such a way by society…
The author of Introduction to Wizardry, Luvel Zairein, also looked down upon the Earth attribute in his series. It was really a struggle to hold back my murderous intent as I read his numerous insults.
You could even feel the discrimination through the size of the volumes—the number of pages of the volume on the Earth Attribute was 1/5 the size of the ones about Fire or Wind.
The Introduction to Wizardry series consisted of 12 volumes where the 1st described the general aspects of wizardry as a whole (such as “discerning attributes”) and the rest of the volumes were dedicated to explaining their own attributes. The bare minimum of what I was required to read was Volume I and the one associated with the Earth Attribute, Volume IV. Even if I did read the other volumes, it wasn’t like I could use those spells. And this 4th volume was light. I mean like “light novel” light.
…Incidentally, Introduction to Wizardry II about the Fire Attribute was super thick, roughly the same level as the Six Codes[3]. Ain’t this a complete discrimination of learning ability!? Don’t, don’t mess with me. I’ll kill you, Zairein! Ah, he’s already dead, right…
Nevertheless, I began reading Introduction to Wizardry IV.
The writing style of this volume felt a bit different from the style I had read in the stone book. Instead, this one felt sort of gentle.
Could this volume have been headed by the co-author, Emerly Heilem?
Just thinking about that, my motivation to study took a sudden turn.
That’s right. My teacher was Prof. Emerly. It definitely wasn’t the bastard Zairein.
Yeah, that definitely has to be the case. Alright, I just decided that now.
I passed that decision and restarted my studies with renewed fervor.
In the meantime, in order to maintain this level of motivation, I shall imagine Prof. Emerly as my type of gentle older woman: a bookworm and even more wonderful.
Ah, I know. Of course, there was no way to determine the professor’s sex. And even if they were still alive, I’m sure they would have a lived quite the long life…
…………
However, ladies and gentlemen and ladies, motivation is important.
Unlike Volume I, Volume IV contained rather specific explanations about sorcery.
So, if I were to become sloppy with my reading, portions will turn into those illegible scribbles.
In short, the book’s contents will look like “Nyupoporeperepereuhoho……@♪♪.”
Every time this happened, I was made to feel like a gorilla or a Neanderthal again…
But, this could be avoided if I properly understood everything as I proceeded.
I was already beginning to realize this.
I was a man who couldn’t be discouraged.
Please watch me, Prof. Emerly.
Still, I’ve only been reading introductory books these past few days. In fact, I hadn’t done any experiment or testing since the last time.
I was just thinking about creating a pebble the size of the tip of my pinky and got that as a result.
The destruction and tragedy that occurred two days ago had completely traumatized me.
——————
Now, the glorious cranberry apple replanting ritual had been completed.
I sat down in the garden. This place was a good location to catch some rays, but it became even clearer after that tragedy.
I thought about reading and studying the introductory book here this afternoon.
There was plenty of light inside the house to read, but the weather was so nice that I decided to read outside.
Aah. Instead of chairs, there were plenty of tree trunks scattered around that made for good replacements. I was grateful for this.
A gentle breeze brushed my cheek.
Yeah, that’s right. Someone had uprooted, knocked down, and blown away the trees in the area.
The air circulation turned out extremely well.
I flipped through the book.
Without being continually discouraged by my translation ability turning me into a gorilla, I was making decent progress.
I was roughly halfway through Volume IV.
I had just reached a new chapter.
—On that day, I encountered a spell that would drastically change my destiny from then on.
Was it a blessing from a benevolent goddess? Or was it a curse from a genocidal witch?
I was still ignorant about that at this moment.
“Uh….Let’s see. [Create Golem]?”
The volume structure of Introduction to Wizardry goes roughly like this:
Volume I: A simple explanation of wizardry as a whole and “discerns attributes.”
Volume II: practical explanation of beginner spells with the Fire attribute. (Thick)
Volume III: Wind (Thick)
Volume IV: Earth (Light. Could the author in charge be different?)
Volume V: Ice
Volume VI: Water
Volume VII: Lightning
Volume VIII: ?
Volume IX: ?
Volume X: ?
Volume XI: ?
Volume XII: Time
Among these, the protagonist is reading only Volumes I and IV.
Incidentally, if you were to finish reading the entire collection, you would be able to hold your ground well against a wizard in a fight. In fact, all of the volumes contain their own usefulness, making the series a good read.
[1] A “clever” name that’s a combination of 虫 (mushi, the word for insect) and 太郎 (tarou, a common ending for a male name).
[2] Yeah, the MC loves this fruit so much, he refers to the fruit as 林檎クランベリー様 (for those who can’t read it, he sticks –sama at the end of the fruit name).
[3] Six Codes (六法) refers to the six main legal codes that make up the main body of law in Japan, South Korea, and the Republic of China. Sometimes, the term is also used to describe the six major areas of law. [Quoted from Wikipedia]
Towards the Sky 
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