CH 3

Ren didn’t get any notable training until he was seven years old.

Surprisingly for a child of a knight, his parents did not rush it and waited for Ren’s body to grow up.

Fortunately, when Ren turned seven and became physically mobile, his father, Roy, suggested, “Why don’t you try swinging a sword?” 

It was spring, and the morning after Ren turned seven.

“So I’m going to let you go out of the house. From now on, you may go out alone only in the garden of this house. But if you go outside the fence, you will get a slap on the wrist.”

“I understand that, but …… can’t you just fix that fence too? Grandma Rigg said it was dangerous.”

“Mhmm, if Grandma Rigg says so, I guess I have no choice. I’ll try to fix it by the end of this year.”

The “  Grandma Rigg” mentioned in the conversation is the aged voice Ren heard who was with Mireille when he was born into this world.

She’s the only midwife in the village, and no baby has been born without her help in recent decades. Therefore, the Ashtons, a poor aristocratic family, weren’t able to keep their heads above water.

“—- Training begins in the afternoon. We have plenty of wooden swords in storage for training, so choose whatever you like.”

Roy said and headed for the door by the dirt floor with his long sword at his back.

“Take care dad!”

“Oh! Wait for me! I’ll do my best to hunt more monsters today!”

Although Roy is a knight in title, he doesn’t have any noble-like job. The only work that is typical of a knight is the preparation of documents to be submitted to the baron several times a year.

On these occasions, even the usually cheerful Roy is groaning at his desk. On other days, like today, he is engaged in hunting monsters, and unlike when he is working on paperwork, he is very lively.

(It’s for our safety and for his income. It’s a job that kills two birds with one stone.)

As Mireille once mentioned, Roy’s hunting of monsters also helps to increase the income of this poor village.

With farming alone, life is tough for both the Ashtons and this village.

(I felt like if that was the case, they should just emigrate.)

People cannot leave the land of their birth so easily. There are some things that cannot be solved by logic alone, and we have to do our best to survive.

“Thanks for the food! I’m off to the library to study!”

“Oh, dear, you’re such a good boy today.”

With a dainty smile, Ren leaves the kitchen and proceeds through the mansion, stepping on the wooden floor, which has become especially creaky lately.

The library is located at the end of the hall, and although it’s called a library, the amount of books in it is not very large.

However, it is one of the few sources of information for Ren. For this reason, he has been going there every day since he was three years old.

“Now.”

Today, as usual, he walked to the front of the storehouse, opened the old-fashioned door, and went inside.

The library in the Ashton family’s mansion is by no means large. If you line up three beds for one person, it’s big enough that you can’t put anything else on it.

The only furnishings are a bookshelf on one wall and a desk by the window.

Ren went to the desk and sat down in a round chair with wobbly legs.

“What shall I read today?”

On the desk were the books Ren had used to learn to read and write up until today.

The reincarnated Ren had no problem with spoken language, but he could not write or read the letters of this world. In the beginning, he read books and practiced writing while Mireille taught him. It was only within the last year that he was able to read books on his own.

Remembering this, Ren opened a book with nostalgia.

“Even so, this’s a really big continent…….”

The book contains the same geographical information as in the game days. Len begins to read the book after taking a break from eating.

The first page of the book describes the continents of the world, starting with the continent where Ren lives.

The name of this continent is Elfen, and it bears the name of the main god Elfen.　

The land is fertile to the point of overflowing, with the exception of a few areas. It is also blessed with mining and marine resources and is therefore called a continent blessed by the Lord God.

However, even though it is blessed, there have been conflicts among people in its long history, and there have been damages caused by demon king and other monsters. Hence, many countries have not been able to survive until the present day. Most countries were either absorbed by other countries or met their demise.

However, there is one country among them that is an exception.

—- That is the country where Ren was born.

It is the Empire of Leomel, where the hero of the western Elfen continent lived and the setting of the legend of the Seven Heroes.

Since its founder, the Lion King, founded it some 1,000 years ago, Leomel has been undefeated in numerous wars.

Its military power is unmatched by any other nation, and no other nation has ever attempted to wage war against Leomel.

In addition, the defeat of the Demon King by the Leomelites, known as the Seven Heroes, has reduced the number of countries that have launched a war against Leomel to zero. Many countries felt indebted to Leomel and did not want to interfere.

………… and that’s the basic information about the world in the Legend of the Seven Heroes.

“So our village is —-.”

Ren turned his attention to the northwestern corner of the world map, where the Leomel Empire is located. Here is marked with a black marker. This is the location of the village where Ren lives. It’s so remote that it takes two months and a little more by carriage to reach the imperial capital. Even to the city where the baron, the lord of the city, lives, it takes about 10 days by horseback to the east.

If you go to the northeast, you can find an even larger city……

But the baron who presides over that city has no connection to the Ashton family. So it seems unlikely that he will ever visit.

“……I’d better start studying.”

I’ve had enough of this food break.

With a light slap on the cheek and a touch of enthusiasm, Ren opened a handy book, but unlike usual today, he lacked concentration.

He knew why.

He was looking forward to this afternoon’s training so much that he couldn’t concentrate on his studies.

“No. This is no good.”

He tried several more times to concentrate, but the result remained the same.

Giving up, Len got up and walked towards the warehouse where the training equipment was.

◊ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

In the afternoon, Roy returned to the mansion.

He returned to the house with five little boas on his shoulders, and Ren was surprised to see Roy’s strong arms.

Roy put those monsters on the earthen floor in the kitchen and returned to the garden where Ren was waiting for him.

“Hmm? Was there such a wooden sword?”

Roy’s gaze fell on Ren, who was holding a wooden magic sword in his hand.

“Is this not good enough?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m just surprised you found such a small one.”

When Ren went to the warehouse, he saw a number of wooden swords.

He’s also equipped with the bracelet, but since he’s clad in leather armor for training, it’s not seen by Roy.

“It looks good on you.”

“Is it true that you made this equipment for me?”

Roy was surprised. 

“I’m good at sewing leather because I use it myself.”

“Thank you very much. I’m sure it will help me a lot.”

The actual fact is, Ren was not sure if he should hide the “summon magic sword” skill.

But since he wasn’t sure if it was normal for children to use the skill, he thought it would be better to keep it hidden for a while, and here we are.

“So, training, —-.”

Roy opened his mouth, and Ren’s heart leapt at the first experience.

“Come on.”

“ —- What?”

“I’m sorry, but don’t expect me to be able to teach you how to use a sword, because even though the Ashtons are knights, I was born and raised in this remote area and have never taught anyone how to use a sword.”

“…..that’s very persuasive.”

“I had the same training as my dead father.”

“I see. So since you were able to fight monsters with that, does that mean I’m going to be okay too?”

“That’s right. You understand very quickly.”

To put it better, it’s a practical principle.

Ren doesn’t know what the right way to learn to handle a sword, but if that’s how Roy was raised, he can’t say that he was taught badly.

“Look, don’t hesitate.”

The exuberant spirit remained intact, except for a few things.

Ren naturally put more strength into his hand that gripped the wooden magic sword and he lowered his back —-.

“— I understand!’

He stepped strongly as if pushing his body forward.

It’s light. The actuality of it felt like it was not his own body.

I’ve never moved my body with such force since my reincarnation. Here, I am amazed at my own physical abilities.

“Nice step!”

Ren heard Roy’s voice and raised his wooden magic sword in a big swing.

As expected, he had no intention of trying natural magic (small), but only swung down toward Roy with all his might.

“Gu……!”

The sword is caught as if it were a matter of course.

As soon as Roy’s wooden sword clashed with Ren’s wooden magic sword, a strong shock rushed through Ren’s hand.

“You’ll keep going until your body stops moving!”

“Huh… yes.”

The first time he answered stoutly, Ren noticed that his hand was a little numb.

The aftermath of the strong impact earlier.

“—– Ahhhh!”

He stepped forward a second and third time.

He swung his wooden magic sword again and again at the waiting Roy, trying to break his defenses.

However, due to the overwhelming difference in physical strength and size, there was no sign of being able to break it down.

Still, —-.

(What fun!)

Ren finds enjoyment and confronts him without giving up.

The only thing he was doing was simply swinging his sword at Roy, who was waiting for him, but he was having a great time.

(I’m sure the reason it’s fun is because this is what leveling up is to me —-!)

After all that hard work, there must be an increase in skill level waiting for him.

Thinking of this, Ren was able to endure the exhaustion that was attacking his entire body.

“Haa… haa.”

Even though he was out of breath.

“Gghh……!”

Even if he was knocked away by Roy’s physical strength.

“I can still do it!”

He was able to abuse his body without giving up in order to improve the level of performance that awaited him ahead.

…… But no matter how high his aspirations, Ren is still a seven-year-old.

A seven-year-old who has been reborn in a fantasy world with special skills, but who has never trained in any way, will not be able to continue his current movements for tens of minutes.

Within 30 minutes of starting training, Ren’s entire body began to lose strength and in the end, he simply fell to the ground.

“………… I can’t move my body anymore.” 

“You’re tired. You fell suddenly again.”

Ren, who was a big boy, looked up at Roy.

“I guess that’s enough for today.”

“…….”

“Don’t be like that. You’re a child, but I can’t believe you’re seven years old. I’m going to go boil some water to wash the sweat off, what about you? Want to cool down a bit first?”

“Yes—- I will.”

“Alright. I’ll be back to pick you up in a bit.”

Roy leaves after saying that.

When Ren saw the figure disappear into the mansion, he removed his arm armor and turned his attention to the bracelet he had been hiding

“Alright!”

Seeing that his proficiency had indeed increased, he was pleased with a carefree smile.