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Translator: Nonon
After returning to Attuca village and spending busy days preparing for departure and a village-wide farewell party, Horacio hung the fire magic tool around his neck, put on the new shoes I bought for him in Ibro and departed.
That day, the only things I bought after walking around the stores until I got lost were a sturdy backpack with a lot of pockets and a nail filer.
I had a lot of money from selling Blaune mushrooms, but I had decided since the start that I would be saving that money for the future when I would be leaving the village.
I’ve especially been reincarnated to a world with magic, I refuse to spend my whole life in a mountain village.
Felans have a low status in this world.
The law prohibits discrimination based on race, but discrimination still exists in reality.
There are many races, but the more mana you have, the stronger you are, the smarter you are and the more evolved you are, you are considered to be more superior.
For example, the average height of an adult male lupan is about 180 centimeters, and their facial features and the way their body hair grows is close to the so-called humans, leaving only ears on top of their heads and the tail as the wolf traits.
On the other hand, we, felans, only reach 120 centimeters as adults and only look like bipedal cats.
Felans are considered to be no match for lupans in everything, including mana, physical strength, intelligence and the degree of evolution.
There are races that are similar to felans in physique, like leporidans and canidans, but the way their body hair grows is similar to so-called humans and with just that, they are considered to be superior to felans.
But I don’t think that felans are that inferior.
Many felans are poor, because they are discriminated against and are not receiving a proper education.
Nothing can be done about the inborn physique, but as for the intelligence, it’s probably the difference in the opportunity to receive education.
“Grandma Karisa, I picked medical herbs so I’m here.”
“Welcome back, Nyango, Did you come across any monsters?”
“It was fine. But, the dayflower isn’t growing well.”
“Ah, it must be because there wasn’t much rain in the early spring.”
In Shrendol Kingdom, you are supposed to attend a primary school from the spring when you finish the ‘rite of independence’ to the spring of when you’re 15.
Those 5 years are like the preparation period for becoming an adult and you’ll be treated as an adult when you become 15 years old.
However, children from poor families often start working instead of going to school after the ‘rite of independence’ so they can register at the adventurers guild.
Even in my family, among my 2 older brothers and 1 older sister, only my second older brother is attending school properly.
My eldest brother is in the position to inherit the family’s farm one day so he’s being made to help with the farming work and my older sister, who will eventually marry, is made to do side jobs in weaving.
Since I would eventually be forced to leave the house to reduce the number of mouths to feed, I’ve been frequenting the pharmacy of a canidan grandma Karisa and earning some small change by picking medical herbs.
In order to collect herbs, you must enter a steep mountain and you also need specialized knowledge.
I’ve also told grandma that I’m frequenting the pharmacy because I want to gain knowledge about medical herbs and that I’m planning to eventually leave the village and become independent.
“Yeah, you have all the medical herbs I asked for.”
After she put away a basket full of medical herbs, I received the payment of 5 copper coins.
I worked for half a day from the morning and received the payment equivalent to 500 Japanese yen.
It would be less than 100 yen per hour, but this is still a normal payment for children in Attuca village.
The village itself lacks any industry to earn foreign money, and while peddlers will buy animal skin, textiles and medicine, most of the received money will be used to buy goods and end up returning to the peddlers.
Livelihood is poor compared to Ibro but the whole village except for the village chief’s family is poor, so I don’t feel particularly poor.
“Then, I’m going to catch mice. I’ll bring some if I catch anything.”
“Sure, I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Other than picking medical herbs, my job is to also catch forest mice.
Forest mice, as their name suggests, are mice that live in the forest and are about 15 centimeters long, or 30 centimeters if including the tail.
They are vermin that eat crops in the fields and stored grain. If you catch one, cut off its tail and bring it to the village chief’s house, you’ll get a reward of one copper coin per five tails.
There may be a reward, but it’s difficult to catch them because they are quick and smart enough not to get caught in traps.
The reason why I’m catching forest mice is because it’s the perfect practice for my sky attribute magic.
After leaving the pharmacy, I headed towards the border between the fields and the forest.
There’s a road built around the field with a grassland of about 5 meters high on the outside and beyond that is the forest.
This road and the grassland are designed to make it hard for the wary forest mice to enter, but once they find out the taste of the crops, they start to trespass repeatedly.
After I sat down on the grass and waited for a bit, the forest mouse appeared.
It popped its face from the edge of the grassland, stood up on its hind legs and started to carefully scout the surroundings.
It’s about 30 meters away from me, but this is the minimum amount of distance needed to approach forest mice.
I’m sitting down right now, so it’s not showing any signs of running away, but if I move even a muscle, it should run away at a full speed.
Usually you can’t get within 30 meters of them, so generally there’s no other choice but to catch them with the help of traps.
The forest mouse continues to observe me, but it’s convenient if it’s not going to move.
“Cage.”
Using the sky attribute magic, I solidified the air in the shape of a cage on top of its head, just enough size to fit its whole body in.
Next, all I have to do is cover it from above and hold it in place and the capture will be completed.
When I ran up to it, the forest mouse was squealing and furiously digging the ground.
“Knife.”
I solidified the air in the shape of a knife, while still maintaining the cage with the forest mouse in it.
It was as strong as Styrofoam a month ago, but now it’s as strong as plywood.
It’s the result of my continuous training to increase the compression ratio when solidifying the air.
I took aim and thrust a knife made from solidified air through the gaps in the cage.
The knife slashed the forest mouse’s back of the neck, but it wasn’t strong enough and shattered.
The forest mouse that had its nape slashed screamed and rampaged in its cage while spraying fresh blood around, but it soon began to weaken and die.
It might be a vermin but I still can’t get used to the first-hand feeling of killing.
After draining its blood, I put the forest mouse in the bag, and covered the blood that was sprayed around with soil before moving.
It’s because other forest mice won’t approach this place anymore due to the screams of their kin and the smell of blood.
I continuously used magic even while moving.
The only way to increase my magic index, which indicates the scale of magic I can use, is to continue using magic.
When I use magic, I get the feeling that there’s something circulating inside my body.
It seems that the people from this world have an organ called a magic vein that circulates magic essence.
It seems that the reason why I feel resistance inside my body when I try to expand the range of the air I can solidify or increase its strength is because there’s a limit to the amount of magic essence magic veins can circulate.
For example, it feels like trying to pour a large amount of water with a thin hose.
The limit of the magic essence that can be circulating means that there’s a limit to magic that can be used.
By resisting this feeling of resistance and continuing to use magic, my magic veins will become thicker and I’lll become able to use stronger magic.
The magic I’ve been using while moving is something that I’ve named Case.
I made a case by solidifying air, wrapping up the bag with forest mouse in it.
This way, the smell of blood won’t alert other forest mice.
I’m consciously trying to improve its strength while continuously activating Case.
After that, I killed 4 forest mice while moving from place to place.
Before heading to the village chief’s house, I stopped by the village’s general store, a shop that belonged to the canian Victor.
“Uncle, I’m counting on you to buy!”
“Aye, how many today?”
The meat of forest mice that mainly eat grain is delicious and their fur can also be used for handicrafts, so I’m taking tails to the village chief and selling the bodies to Victor.
It’s two copper coins per 1 mouse, so if I catch 5 and sell all of them, the payment adds up to 1 silver coin plus 1 copper coin from the bounty.
“I’m selling 3.”
“6 copper coins then. If you catch more, I’ll buy all of them.”
“I can’t catch that many.”
“Makes sense, I guess… Well, do your best.”
Victor seems to be preparing the forest mice he buys from me, selling meat and using it to prepare meals for the guests of the inn.
I brought the cut tail to the village chief’s house to receive a reward, and stopped by Grandma Karisa’s pharmacy on the way home.
One forest mouse turned into 5 small potatoes and rock salt.
The last one will go on my family’s dining table.
Since I started to catch forest mice, I’ve been able to save little by little and my family’s food situation has improved too.
Today was another peaceful day in Attuca village.
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