I Wanted to Use Magic, So I Trained My Magical Power. I Wanted to Eat Meat, So I Went Hunting. And Then, Before I Knew It, I Had Become the Strongest... - Episode 10: Nyumarin-neesan, do you have a grudge against me or something?

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Episode 10: Nyumarin-neesan, do you have a grudge against me or something?

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Spring has fully arrived. And I’ve officially turned six.

There is a proper calendar in this world. But only the high-ranking people use it.

People like us, commoners, express the year through the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

My birthday (birth season) is in early spring—the time when the cold still slightly lingers.

Once early spring passes and mid-spring begins, your age increases by one.

Today, I decided to go out and gather mountain vegetables for spring.

Of course, I took my childhood friend Clarissa with me.

I wanted to go out with just the two of us. But my little brother Maruda came along too.

Why is Maruda holding hands with Clarissa…?

While keeping watch on the surroundings, I keep an eye on the two of them.

At Clarissa’s feet, joyfully picking mountain greens, there was a snake.

I flicked a small rock with my thumb and crushed the snake’s head.

Clarissa stayed unaware and focused on picking greens.

I discreetly picked up the snake and put it into a burlap sack.

Snakes are proper food too. Surprisingly tasty.

“Hey, Nois. Can we eat this one?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. You can eat that.”

The side of Clarissa’s face as she picks mountain greens like zenmai is adorable.

“Nii-ni, what about this one?”

“That one’s not edible, Maruda.”

“Boo—”

“Ahahaha. There are edible ones over there.”

“Yay!”

Is it just me, or does picking mountain greens make you crave soba noodles?

Unfortunately, there’s no soba. And we don’t even have soy sauce.

This world’s pretty harsh to me.

After we filled the burlap sack with greens, we were walking through the forest.

“By the way, was your magic the kind that creates ice?”

“Yeah. I make ice.”

“Does it just feel cold when there’s no water around?”

“That’s right. But, you know, I get tired after using it once.”

Even she should be able to increase her magic capacity by continuing to use magic even when feeling unwell.

It might be something unique to me as a reincarnator. But if she can increase hers, then maybe little Maruda can too.

“Hey, will you do me a favor?”

“A favor? What is it?”

“This is a secret between just the two of us. Can you keep it?”

“A secret between Nois and me? Yeah. I can keep it!”

I whispered in her ear about the magic power enhancement method.

“Will that really let me use magic over and over again?”

“I was able to use magic for longer that way. So I want you to try and see if it works for you too.”

“Okay. Got it! I’ll try!”

“Yeah, I’m counting on you. But you absolutely can’t tell anyone, okay?”

If the method of increasing magic power is taboo at the temple or something, we could be in trouble.

If only I get killed, that’s one thing. But if Clarissa gets punished, I’d feel way too guilty.

—

Today, I enter the mountains.

At my waist is the Divine Blade Kern. And on my back are a crossbow and a quiver.

The clothes I’m wearing are full of patches—no one would believe they were brand-new just a while ago.

That’s also the wolf’s fault.

After that incident, Mother Norsh gave up on fixing them. So my second sister Nyumarin patched them up for me.

Thanks to that, they’re breezy in some spots.

Nyumarin-neesan, it’s been over a year since you went to the village chief’s house for etiquette training, right…?

I was going to sew them myself. But when she offered to do it, I let her—and this is the result.

Does she hold a grudge against me or something?

“Alright, a deer.”

We don’t hunt female deer, only males.

A knight who visited the village recently said that’s how to keep the numbers up for sustainable hunting.

That knight was the same Cain Shurard who came in the fall. And I was put in charge of caring for his beloved horse, Gorgo.

My sister suddenly called me out. And before I knew it, I was tending to Gorgo.

Knight Cain Shurard isn’t aging in vain.

He knows a lot about hunting.

He taught me about animal behaviors and such.

The experiences of elders are valuable.

This one doesn’t have impressive antlers.

Now that I think of it, deer shed their antlers in the spring.

That’s why you often find them lying around in the mountains.

I shoot an arrow into the neck of a male whose antlers are starting to regrow.

A vital point strike—done to avoid unnecessary suffering.

Even for beasts, causing too much pain is hard to stomach.

Just like with the boar, I drain the bl00d and discard the innards on the spot.

This time, no interference appeared. And I left the mountain smoothly.

Today as well, the butchering is directed by Grandpa Benas.

I take part too. Since I didn’t get lectured this time.

“Yeah, that’s good.”

I got to help with skinning, and he praised me.

Second son Kern, third daughter Ucica, and fourth son Maruda also help. But eldest son Mordan just sits in a chair watching.

You can hear the clanging of hammers from the blacksmith’s workshop. So Father Doga is working.

And yet, the eldest son lazes around doing nothing. He’s such a pain.

That night, we had deer steak.

Lean meat with almost no fat. But its wild flavor isn’t bad.

Father Doga wasn’t at the table because the village chief had summoned him.

Since Knight Cain Shurard came recently, maybe something happened.

Then again, sometimes they hold social gatherings and drink. So maybe it’s that too.