Otoko Aruji - Chapter 48: Birth
Amazed I finished this one before I have to go do stuff. Next chapter probably not until tomorrow. Though the next few chapters are some of the longest ones yet and like this chapter filled with a lot of pointless crap. Next chapter not so much but the few following that until the last one are pretty dragged out. I don't feel like fixing the PoV switches in this chapter so just beware that the way I wrote it is kind of weird at times.
Year 7439, Month 3, Day 26
Hegard and the others returned. It seems that Mill was safely able to pass the entrance exam for the first knight group. Since it was something that everybody was
wondering about when they stopped by to greet Marquis Webdos, Knight group leader Sendhel, and Viscount Kindou they all without fail asked the result and gave praise
each time.
It seems that the entrance exam is always given privately while cutting all contact with outsiders so he didn't know what kind of content it was at all. It seems
there was a gag order put on it for Mill as well so she was prohibited from disclosing it and after passing she was allowed to stay outside for just one day but she
didn't talk about it then.
That's why there's no announcement of what kind of grades the examinees got or what the standards for passing are, only the names of the ones who pass are announced
and it's a bit dull. Although, while it was dull it's only obvious that the other than Hegard the other examinee's had people accompanying them so every time
someone's name was posted there was voices of rejoicing.
The announce of those who passed was done on the next morning from the last day of the exam, after the announcement ends those who didn't pass quickly come out of the
gate of the knight group but those who pass didn't come out until close to lunch. I'm sure those accompanying the ones who passed like Hegard were bored, it seems
that until Mill and the others who passed came out of the gate they were exchanging information about where they were born and all the troubles until then but since
Mill hadn't really gone through much trouble at all it seems he couldn't help but to shut his mouth while feeling a bit troubled. However, it seems that squires who
accompanied Hegard couldn't stopping grinning.
If it were my past life then I guess it would be something like, "Someone from our villag passe tha exam inta Tokyo University dabe~"? No wait, if I think about the
number of people able to take the exam and the low rate of success then it would be closer to the level of passing into the army officer school or naval academy in
the pre-war days. Exchanging information between the parents of the examinee's or that sort of thing, I think it's that sort of image.
After that she was allowed outside for just one night and she purchased all of the things she'll need for the time being, and in celebration they ate at a high-
quality restaurant, during that time it seems that Sharl's parents and older brother the current Duke Sandak appeared, offered words of congratulation, and gave a
gift, it seems to have been a fun experience because Mill was too tense in front of the Duke and couldn't speak properly.
After the topic of Mill passing into the first knight group had passed, next up was Hegard congratulating them on Shani's pregnancy and while it's a bit too fast he
got them some baby clothes as a present. I see, it's the first grand child for Hegard. I was about to laugh thinking, he's a
grand father before 40, what kind of DQN (Delinquent)
family is this? but this is Orth, normal, it's completely normal. In reality Farne was born from Sharl and Hegard when they were past 20 years old so it's only just
a bit fast that Farne and Shani are having a child.
Also, along with baby clothes Hegard returned with two horses. It seems these two horses aren't farming horses but war horses. I guess it's consideration for the
fact that both Farne and Shani received investiture as knights so they can both ride on horseback. Since last year starting from the dispatch of troops, Farne's
wedding, and the purchase of these war horses even though our family finances must be a burning chariot he sure is in high spirits. Putting aside the expenses since
the war horses will definitely be needed from here on out the most I can do on that is show admiration that he was able to buy them in just a few months such a short
time after the wedding but it seems it was something requested by knight group leader Sendhel during the last dispatch of troops when the wedding was decided.
In any case, finally Hegard had returned. Mill is no longer here but with this our family has all gathered together. I'm sure the period from here on out we'll all
be giving it our best at our jobs to recover the money we used.
That night when I went out to hunt I heard voices come from not just the kid's room but my parent's bedroom. It's good I was able to collect enough rubber for my
parent's water bed before Hegard returned. Being young is so nice~
Year 7439, Month 9, Day 1
Shani gave birth. Old woman Shaymi acted as the midwife and Sharl was present. I did as old woman Shaymi said and did various jobs preparing the hot water and
preparing the baby clothes. However, since I didn't have any kids in my past life when Shani suddenly started having labor pains my heart started beating in a
fluster and I wasn't able to focus on training or rubber production. When everyone was panicking only Sharl alone was calm and when I was told by Sharl to call old
woman Shaymi I rolled out of the house and ran at full speed.
In my half-assed knowledge I think a lot of luke warm water, clean cloth, and the delivery stand was necessary. Come to think of it I don't remember seeing a
delivery stand. I just had a sort of vague image that it was somewhere in old woman Shaymi's house but there's no way there'd be something like that. In the first
place the childbirth was done in our house.
I thought healing magic would required during childbirth but it seems that healing magic is only needed after childbirth. If you use healing magic while in the
middle of childbirth then the birth canal returns to normal and the contractions could kill the baby it seems. After I thought about it that's only obvious. You
could say childbirth equals injured. What's it going to help healing that midway through?
Ah, Farne and Hegard just kept pacing around impatiently and were completely useless. I guess it's that sort of thing for men after all.
Well, it's unthinkable that Shani would lose her life in childbirth because of her endurance and health from training in the knight group. I'm sure it's fine just to
be careful in the case of an abnormal pregnancy. That's the reason there's a midwife after all. In the case that something happens if we jump in then even if Farne
is useless if I'm calm I can use healing magic I'm sure.
Twins were safely born. The older brother is named Zellot and the little sister is named Rebeccana. Zett and Becky huh? Since there was only one bed for infants in
the house we had to prepare one more in a hurry. We went to Sean's house who had just had a child born several years prior and were able to resolve it by borrowing
the bed they aren't using anymore. However, fraternal twins huh? Since it only showed Shani as Condition: Good (Pregnant) when I identified her while she was
pregnant I didn't think it would be twins. That's right isn't it, I can only identify the the things that I can see.
Year 7440, Month 2, Day 14
I've turned 12 years old. As a result of my vigorous hunting at night I gained another level last night and became level 9. I've stopped easily losing in power but
if I were to seriously compete using strength with father or the squires in their 30s then I would definitely lose. However, I've gotten to the point where I'm not
that much weaker. It seems like my skill with the sword is going up as well but I still can't win against my father, older brother, or sister-in-law. However, since
my physique has gotten bigger if I use bayonet style I can overwhelm them. Up until now I've been misrepresenting the large portion of it using technique but since
my height has grown reasonably and along with that my weight has increased it's big that I can somewhat use power attacks.
Shani's returned to training since the start of the new year and I've been getting hazed by the two of them for the first time in a while. However, since there was a
six month blank when I tried identifying her, her strength, dexterity, speed, and endurance had all decreased a bit. Since I've grown in level, age, and while it's
just feeling my endurance is going up from running the growth of my abilities is considerable. It's stopped being as painful as I thought it was. Zett and Becky are
quickly growing up. I think their current weight is about 6-7Kg or so.
The water bed has a good reputation in the family but since it uses far too much rubber we decided not to mass produce it but it's about time for the rubber trees we
planted in the past to be ready. After next year they'll just keep increasing so it might be good to start limited production. By going through Webdos Company the
circulation has somewhat gone outside of the territory and there's been an explosion of orders from companies from distant places. It wasn't just the jelly beans?
Since Shani's condition had returned starting from April they're both accompanying on the deliveries for the first time. It seems that during that time several
people from the Ryouga family that exclusively works on rubber production will be accompanying them. At long last our income has stabilized and since last year we
introduced our first cows in Bakkudo. Since I unusually stubbornly said a female would be good while it was a big expensive we purchased a female cow. We can drink
milk and while I don't know how to make it but if I put some effort into it then I might be able to make butter and cheese. Since it will normally be used for
farming I'm sure the production amount will be less than a milk cow but I doubt it will be zero. In the first place, wasn't the milk cow made through selective
breeding? I don't know for sure though.
In any case, the fact that we introduced a female cow is a big reason why Shani was able to accompany on the rubber deliveries. Since she doesn't have to worry about
milk for the babies. After that I made a bath besides the rubber work shed. Since you can make hot water as long as you can use water and fire magic I thought baths
would be normal in Orth but that doesn't seem to be the case because of level and MP. I mentioned it previously when I talked about the shower but in order to make
the minimum amount of hot water for a bath you need at least water and fire magic level 4. It's pretty much impossible for an average person to get their level that
high. They either need to seriously start training with magic or use magic to damage monsters in live combat. Even the squires that are involved in rubber production
didn't have any of their magic to level 4 until we started half-forcing them to do magic training. Sharl certainly had both at level 5 but she's never used MP to
take a bath. I'm sure it's taking into consideration the worst case of an urgent situation or she has to use healing or attack magic right after preparing a bath.
Diane is at level 4 now and Shani is at level 2. There's several others as well and I'm good as well. Since I've pretty much completely stopped working on the
production of rubber I can use the excuse that I'm using that portion of mana. I gradually changed the rubber I had saved up into ebonite and plastered that to the
inside of the bath then hardened it. It's fine if I open a hole in the floor and use a rubber stopper to stop it up. After that if I just leave water in it then it's
fine to just heat it up using fire magic and when the water starts to get dirty it's easy to replace. I prepared two baths and just one of them is to be used for
bathing. The other one is for pouring hot water. The bath for pouring hot water I put at a higher elevation and then connected it to the bathing bath with a hose. If
you just heat that hot water up to boiling then it'll last for over two hours as plenty of warm water at a good temperature.
After releasing this bathroom to the villagers the number of people that have resumed magic training has increased it seems. The method of training magic has already
been established, or rather as much as you use elemental magic while small you gain experience points for that portion so as long as you're careful of your MP
there's no problem with using magic everyday. Since we primarily do agriculture there was plenty of people who could use water magic from the start. Although, unless
you can make it shower using water magic, which is difficult, it can't be used for farm work so it isn't used very often. Since there's a river nearby as long as we
do the irrigation properly then the amount of water magic used by the villagers can be ignored.
After all, just think about it. I want you to imagine that there's an average serf male here. He starts working in farm work at age 7, turns adult at age 15,
starting there he will try doing magic training for the first time. If he has talent and uses it then that's fine at this point it's already 1 in 10. And the number
of people that can use water magic is 1 in 4 or 2 in 4. Among adults, there's 1 in 30 that can use water magic. However, at first they can't make more than just a
single spoonful of water. Farm work won't wait for them. There's no way they could be leisurely doing magic training. And then they get married, have kids, and have
to work even harder at farm work to feed their children.
If a normal person learns to use magic the level will finally go from level 0 to level 1 after using it everyday for several months. And with that they can make a
cup full. After that if they give their best at it everyday without getting bored, making water that doesn't taste good, after a year they'll finally notice when
they check their status that in red levels their level has become 2. Even if they have high hopes for how much they'll be able to make, it's a bowl full. Even then
they're still young in their 10s. There's almost no benefit in MP increase from aging. In order to use magic you have to concentrate but they've started to get used
it, I'll give it my best, is what they think while using magic every day, every single day. It's not like their MP will become zero every time they use magic but
since they don't have much mana in the first place they know full well that if that decreases they'll become mentally unstable.
I think it's around this time that they'll start being warned about doing it too much from their partner, friends, siblings, or parents. And they break down. Ah,
magic isn't that convenient, is what they'll think. After that they just forget about magic and just continue giving their best in farm work everyday as something
that doesn't exist in the first place. I'm sure the lord's wife was originally a noble and I'm sure they were talented enough that they can defeat monsters as
adventurers as well. In the first place our births is different and there's talent as well. It's only obvious that it's impossible for a serf or commoner like me.
They think that, comforting themselves, and putting more energy into farm work. I'm sure there are times they suddenly remember it and use magic as well.
However, one day on the side of the work shed where they've been doing rubber production since several years ago a bathroom was made. After the great squires that do
farm work, practice with the sword, and of course the ones doing rubber production as well finish their jobs anyone is allowed to use it. Since there's a river we're
not lacking in water and we often bath but occasionally we also boil up hot water and wipe our bodies as well. However, I've never soaked in hot water. Come to think
of it, Hans from next door said it felt good. Well then, I'll try entering as well?
I take my towel and while it's not so expensive to be called precious a small bit of soap that cost a bit and go right away. There's quite a crowd. I wonder if it
feels so good that this many come. In a large bath made of rubber that's roughly 2m in all directions there's about 50cm of hot water. Since lots of people are using
it the depth of the water seems to go to 60cm. Now then, let me in as well, when I was about to enter I was called out by the guys already submerged, "Hey, Kaninda,
wash your body before you enter", that guy is Sakrigan. He warns me with his face red and laughing almost as if he was drunk.
Hmm, I see, and think as I look around and find several buckets laying around. I wash my body the same as several other people doing the same way and finally
submerge into the hot water. It's lukewarm but it certainly feels good. Then the hot water slowly gets warmer. But the increase stopped at a temperature before it
was too hot. It seems that there's another large bucket on the dirt hill nearby above this one and that's filled with hot water. If the water in the bath starts to
cool down then you take out the stopper in the rubber tube going to this bath and the hot water comes down. Yeah, this feels good, the exhaustion gradually
disappears.
Sakrigan says, "I'll get out first" and leaves. I continue bathing a bit longer while saying "Ah". After getting out of the bath Sakrigan puts his right hand on his
head. What is it? Is he going bald? Is what I thought but his right hand lit up. It seems he used magic. A bowl or so of water comes from his right hand and Sakrigan
says, "uhya~ it's cold!". Obviously. Since it's water. Sakrigan turns around with a crude thing hanging down and says, "You can use water magic as well right? Try
doing it when you get out of the bath. It feels good."
When I get out of the bath I try doing like Sakrigan. It's been a while since I used magic but I was able to do it without trouble. Oh~ This certainly feels
refreshing. I wipe my body with the towel and return home. I'll try suggesting it to my wife, it seems tomorrow is the day when women can enter. Since she can't use
water magic I'll have to tell her to take a bucket full of water with her.
And well, just like this it becomes a current where they start using magic again. Well, it's all just my imagination though. However, I think it will raise the
ability of this village if everyone uses magic to raise their level when they have free time so it's true that we started paying wages to people who have a certain
level of water and fire magic to manage the baths. Also, if they have a certain level of wind or earth magic then they have uses for the production of molds in
rubber making and drying magic so we put out a notice for this as well. In other words if you can use magic then we'll pay so it's fine if you come and work.
Isn't there meaning in offering jobs to women and the elderly who are unsuited for the physical labor jobs?
I was thinking about that on my 12 year birthday. Then while accompanying as a guard for gathering latex sap I found something unusual. Of course, since there's a
need for a guard we're gathering at the gathering place that's considerably far from the village.
I found several trees with cuts on them at a point that's higher than an adults height on the way. The cuts are three parallel lines running across. All of the cuts
are still fresh.
Ah, I see.
I thought it was about time for it to come.
Let's end this.