Seasons have changed, and it's been five years since I came into this world...
With Sylvie's help, I have learned the languages and writing of this world. My mother's collection of books is not large, but I always cherish them.
The story of adventurers is so captivating that I long to be a part of it. Although I can finally leave my house, I still harbor the idea of staying home forever.
My mother already knows that I can use magic, and she is very pleased that I can cast advanced spells, after all, she is also a magician herself.
Today, as usual, I came to the attic intending to practice magic...
"Hehe... Hurry up and keep up..."
"Floren...you ran too fast..."
...
The sound of children playing could be heard outside the courtyard. They were children from the village. I hadn't seen them many times, although I had only watched them from afar from the attic.
I did consider joining them, but...
Let's just forget about it...
Even though they are all children of similar age, if someone rushes up to them and suddenly asks, "Can we be friends?", they'll probably be seen as a weirdo!
Looking at it from afar, I thought back to my past self; I probably didn't have any friends either...
Since I can remember, I've always had a strict father or a mother who reads all day. What were other people my age doing? Probably running around barefoot in the mud, wearing light clothes!
This is what I read in a book; this must be what true friendship is like...
To be honest, I really want a friend, even just someone who's annoying enough to talk to me...
I dismissed the idea. Rather than going out and being seen as a freak by my peers, I'd rather practice magic properly.
...
Although sometimes I would ask Sylvie how to get along with her peers and become so-called friends.
"Friends? Of course, you should maintain a gentlemanly demeanor, regardless of kinship or social status, so that others feel close to you, and they will naturally become your friends!"
I asked my father a similar question, but his answer deeply impressed me.
"Making friends... that's easy, just go up and beat them up, let them know how awesome you are, and they'll admire you. They'll naturally become your friends, right?"
"No, no, no! You're just taking on followers!"
This half-baked father certainly lives up to his name; such a crude and simplistic method can only be seen as bullying...
Although I've asked them for advice on this issue, I haven't had the courage to actually do it.
Because... I dare not...
That feeling of rejection or disgust... I guess I'll just have to let it go...
A new year is fast approaching, marking my sixth year in this world...
I can now unleash King-level magic, so I should be able to venture out into the world without any problem.
I don't know why, but I've started to feel reluctant to go out again. Even when Sylvie tried to drag me to town to shop, I made excuses.
Seeing me like this, my mother seemed to become worried. I didn't know what she was worried about. Isn't it the best thing that her child is healthy?
"I really don't understand what adults are thinking!"
Although I was initially inclined to stay at home, I don't know when it started, but I began to long for college life...
If you're lucky, you might meet someone who'll be like a best friend...
Or maybe you'll meet your childhood sweetheart...
The world in books is always depicted perfectly, but such stories probably only exist in fairy tales!
I mentioned this to my mother, but it only gave her a headache. Was she worried that I, staying indoors all alone at the academy, would be bullied...?
...
...and so another six months passed.
I remember it was a very sunny day when someone suddenly came to visit the courtyard. It was an old man.
It wasn't the white, roly-poly toy of a seventy or eighty-year-old; judging from its attire, it resembled a nobleman from this world, wearing a black swallowtail suit and monocle...
"Well……?"
This is the first time I've ever seen such clothing. Although I've heard stories about nobles in adventure stories, I still can't help but think of him as a "freak" after seeing it.
When we met, he was very polite, as if he were referring to himself as "the butler of the Croggs family"...
At this moment, I was unfamiliar with the etiquette between nobles. If I were to suddenly use the etiquette between royalty from my previous life, I would probably be laughed at. So I just stood aside and watched him and my mother negotiate something.
During their conversation, I noticed the butler repeatedly glancing at me, as if I were the very person he was discussing, which made me very uncomfortable. I could only respond with a smile.
Later I found out that my mother had some kind of agreement with the Croggs family, the content of which was: I would become the tutor of the Croggs family's second daughter!
"Are you kidding me!"
I thought I misheard. Me, only six years old, tutoring someone else's child? That's ridiculous!
"If you don't help your mother keep this promise, Leon's dream of going to the academy will also be dashed!"
I always say adults are such a hassle. How can they just carelessly leave me, who is only six years old, at someone else's house?
I had no choice but to follow in the footsteps of the butler and become a private tutor...
I'm just giving it a try; if it doesn't work, I can just sneak back...
But I seem to have underestimated the second daughter of the Croggs family…
My first meeting with him showed me what a fist the size of a sandbag really means!
Her name was Ilotti Croggs. She had an extremely bad temper and would look at me like a dog wanted to bite me whenever she saw me. I almost lost my life, let alone becoming a tutor.
She was always accompanied by a cold, aloof woman who watched me being chased and beaten by the unreasonable Ilotti, yet remained completely unmoved and made no attempt to intervene.
Until that day I hid in the Croggs family library, where I met a man who claimed to be the Duke of Croggs...
He was the master of this mansion, and also Iloti Krogos's father. He seemed so amiable, but his daughter's demeanor was completely different...
It was because of him that I received 100 magic crystals as a reward every month. In a sense, he was my boss.
Even so, I still didn't have the chance to teach Ilotti magic. Instead, she would catch up with me every day and rain down punches on me...
I knew this couldn't go on, so I started exercising. A mage who can't use magic has no chance against such a violent madman...
Occasionally, I would go to the library to read, simply because I could not hear Ilotti's irritable voice there; after all, the four big words "No Loudness" were an inviolable rule.
The key point is that the librarian here is an old man, who is said to be Lord Croggs' father and Ilotie's grandfather. It turns out that this grumpy little princess also has a side that is afraid of her grandfather.
I stayed at the Croggs' house for three months...
"Burning inflammation, rush forward! Bear my wrath and burn everything to ashes!"
...
"Emperor-level magic is still a bit of a stretch..."
"Oh no... my head is spinning..."
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