IWBTP 07

Chapter 7

Is There Something Wrong with My Magic?

A few days had passed since I was expelled from the Royal Capital, and every morning, I was dragged to the training grounds. Grandfather and the Commander of the Knights were both incredibly enthusiastic about my training.

“Lord Rainid, ten more!”

“What exactly are you expecting from a five-year-old?!”

This knight order was what you might call a bunch of muscleheads.

Sword!

Muscles!

Guts!

Fighting spirit!

That was basically their motto.

By the way, I was an intellectual type, okay? I was absolutely not a musclehead.

“Grandfather.”

“What is it?”

“How about we reduce my training to once a week?”

“Rejected.”

He answered immediately.

However, there was a saving grace. In the afternoons, Mother’s magic lessons began.

There was a time when I thought they would be much more enjoyable than swordsmanship.

On the first day, we started with magic power control.

“Rainid, today we’re starting with the very basics. Magic power control.”

“Not magic?”

“If you can’t control your magic power first, your magic will run wild.”

“Yes! I understand!”

“Really?”

I nodded vigorously.

Okay, I had to feel my magic power, right? In light novels, they often said you could feel something warm around your navel…

Hmm? Is this it?

I moved that warm sensation throughout my body and gathered it at my fingertips.

And then—

Release!

“I think I did it.”

“That was too fast.”

The next day.

“Now, try producing some water.”

“Yes!”

Finally, actual magic! My heart was pounding with excitement.

I just had to make water come out of my finger, right?

Okay, I had to imagine water coming out.

Water suddenly shot forcefully out of my finger.

One.

Two.

Three.

Before I knew it, water was gushing out of all ten fingers.

“M-Mother! Mother! So much water is coming out!”

Water was shooting from all ten of my fingers like rocket thrusters.

No, no, no. Why was it coming out of all ten?!

“W-What are you doing?! This is why I told you magic power control is important! Stop it! Stop! You’re flooding the place!”

Stop! Stop!

Phew. It stopped.

“Young Master, please water the fields!”

Tess, the gardener, watched my rocket-powered water show and laughed.

“Pfft.”

“Hehehehe.”

The knights were laughing too.

“Lord Rainid, I’d love to take a bath after training, pfft.”

Damn it! This was my first time!

But why? Why couldn’t I control it?

“Rainid, learn magic power control properly one more time. By controlling it, you can adjust the size, intensity, and speed of your magic.”

“Yes.”

“Still, that was incredible power for your first attempt.”

Next! Next was earth magic.

“Next is earth magic. First, try raising the soil on the ground just a little.”

“Just a little?”

“Yes. Just a little. ‘Earth Lift.’”

Mother raised her hand, and the soil in front of her gently rose.

“Oh! I see!”

This looked easy.

I just had to imagine lifting a small amount of soil upward.

“Earth Lift.”

Rumbleeeeeee…

“Huh?”

The ground shook.

The next moment, the earth in front of me surged upward, forming a gigantic wall of soil that easily towered over me.

“……”

“……”

Huh?

I’d only meant to raise it a little.

“Rainid! How is this a little?!”

“I-I meant to make it just a little…”

“This isn’t Earth Lift! It’s Ground Up!”

“The name changed!”

“The power is completely different!”

Well, I mean, when I drew out the magic power, this was what happened.

“Why is a basic spell this powerful?!”

I didn’t know either!

“Mother, how do I put it back?”

“You can’t. We’ll have to level the ground.”

“Huh? Level the ground? You mean flatten it?”

“Yes.”

What a hassle.

If I just made it disappear, that would be like pressing Delete on a computer.

“Delete.”

The raised earth crumbled with a rumble.

“Huh? It didn’t disappear.”

“What are you doing, Rainid?!”

“I tried to make it disappear.”

“Why did you try to make it disappear?!”

“Just because.”

The following day.

“Today, you’re going to use water magic while maintaining control over your magic power.”

“Yes!”

“Honestly, Rainid, you’re awfully casual with your responses.”

That’s not fair. I was being serious.

“Now, make your magic power very, very thin, and then let the water flow out little by little.”

A tiny trickle of water came from my finger.

“Mother, I did it!”

“That was quick. Yes, that’s correct.”

“Next, increase your magic power a little. Just a little. Make it slightly stronger, then produce the water.”

“Water, come out!”

Whoooooosh!

“Everything about you is so extreme! I’m getting tired. Are you really five years old?”

“Yes! I’m five years old. Mother, when you’re tired, you need candy. Here.”

“Thank you, but what is this?”

“I bought it from Hyakkin. The money is linked to the money from the catalog shopping system, so I can buy things. Though, I guess it’s thanks to that ring of yours.”

“Rainid, when did you buy this?! Buy things when your mother or another adult is with you!”

“Huh? But there are so many things I want to buy.”

“When you’re a child, you don’t know what’s dangerous, do you? That’s why an adult needs to check things with you!”

“Really?”

“W-Why would I lie about that? There are so many things children don’t understand yet, so it’s important for us to manage this properly.”

“I-I understand.”

I reluctantly agreed.

“Still, Rainid, your magic power is extraordinary too.”

“That’s mean! I’m normal.”

“What part of you is normal…?”

As I stared at the drops of water remaining in my palm, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

“By the way, Mother. Water turns into ice when you cool it down, right?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? Ice is an ice attribute.”

“What? Water and ice are separate?”

“Of course. Water and ice are different attributes. They’re not the same. The ice attribute is a rare attribute.”

“I-Is that so?”

That’s strange.

If you cool water, it becomes ice. That was obvious in my previous life.

“Rainid, do you know something?”

“Huh?”

Mother was staring intently at me.

Her eyes had entered full researcher mode.

This was bad.

She was definitely planning to make me a research subject.

“Um… I just thought that was how it worked.”

“Who told you?”

“No one.”

“Then how do you know?”

“Just because.”

That was a painfully weak excuse.

In my previous life, it was common knowledge. Cool water, and it becomes ice. Melt ice, and it becomes water.

But in this world, were water and ice considered completely separate types of magic?

Mother stared at me for a while.

And then—

“Rainid, we’re going to do some research.”

A gleam appeared in Mother’s eyes.

Ah, I knew it.

I’d stimulated Mother’s researcher spirit.

“Hehehe. I’m looking forward to tomorrow already.”

…I wasn’t looking forward to it at all.