Chapter 2

As I had resolved, from the next day onward, I started putting in real effort.

Though to be honest, I had been working hard even before that.

In a fishing village with no school, helping the adults was both play and work.

For example, picking shellfish or making traps for shrimp.

Those things were helping my parents, increasing snacks or side dishes for dinner, and above all, they were fun games.

Now that I had turned 10, I borrowed Father’s harpoon and joined the adults standing in the shallow sea to spear fish.

The water here stays cold even in midsummer.

The river water is quite cold too, so that might be why.

Because of that, children who don’t have as much stamina as adults end up with purple lips.

It’s a sign of hypothermia.

As if timing it perfectly, the adults would give us different tasks.

It could be picking shellfish, helping with farm harvests, preparing bonfires, or watching the smaller children.

That day, it suddenly got chilly, so I was asked to prepare the bonfire.

Us kids up to age 10 gathered driftwood and stacked it on the beach, starting with the thinner pieces.

Once that was done, we went to call the guild master.

In this village, only a few guild members can use fire magic.

But we especially liked the guild master, Baldom.

He would chant dramatically and fire an unnecessarily large fireball, which made him popular with the kids.

“Baldom-san, we were asked to prepare the bonfire, so please shoot a fireball!”

This village’s guild handles tallying and distributing the fishing and farm yields collectively.

Baldom always has a stern face while keeping the ledgers and calculating something.

“Oh, it’s gotten cold today.

Hey, Lambda, go light the fire.”

“Ehh~ Baldom-san, you do it~”

“If I do it, it’ll burn up in no time and the adults will get mad at me.”

“It’s okay!

We got a lot of thick driftwood today.”

“Hmm, then I guess I’ll go.”

“Yay!”

While having that kind of exchange, the guild master came down to the beach.

He stood in front of the piled wood, checked how it was stacked, then instructed the kids to step back.

He looked up at the sky and spread both arms wide.

“Here we go!

‘O spirits! O spirits of fire! Lend your power to us humble beings! Grant us justice with the blazing flames that scorch the heavens!'”

As he chanted, particles of light gathered between his hands and formed a mass.

He pushed it together with both hands, compressing it, and it turned into flame, then shot out vigorously.

“Fireball!”

The ball of fire seemed like it would hit the wood directly, but it fell short, struck the sand, and vanished as if scraped away.

On purpose.

The disappointed children.

“You don’t need a fireball to light something like this…

‘O spirit of fire, grant me a lamp to dispel the darkness.’

Candle!”

The guild master said that, created a small flame on the tip of his index finger, and flicked it toward the wood.

The fire drew a beautiful parabola and landed in the center of the pile, starting to produce smoke as it ignited.

“Fire is better when it’s small.

If it’s Candle, even you kids can learn to use it with a little practice.

But if you want to memorize the chants, you need to learn how to read letters.

Come study letters.

I’m always waiting for you at the tutoring sessions, got it?”

“Yes~”

This was the usual exchange.

The kids were satisfied having seen the fireball.

But no one wanted to go to the tutoring sessions.

Everyone preferred going out to sea over studying letters.

And no one wanted to end up like the guild members who were always just calculating.

The guild members’ main job was delivering supplies to the military ship that visited once a month.

Each time, they got yelled at for it being too little or insufficient, and had to apologize.

Bowing and scraping to get a small share of wheat or iron in return.

That was the guild’s work.

No one wanted to become like that, so nobody went to the guild-sponsored tutoring.

Until yesterday, I thought the same.

I thought guild members were uncool.

I thought fishing was everything in the world.

But that’s not true.

Now that I’ve regained my previous life’s memories, I understand.

The guild members are this country’s civil servants and tax officials.

And the one controlling the guild is the kingdom that possesses the navy.

Having a military means there are other countries.

There is wealth, and there is war.

And above all, the most important fact!

Anyone can learn to use magic?

I decided to attend the tutoring sessions.