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Common Knowledge Breaker
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It was the next day, and Erina-san had safely made a full recovery.
Just to be on the safe side, I’m making Erina-san rest for today, and Noel and Dee are busy with the housework so there’s nobody around. What I was about to do is a bit unconventional, so it’s just the right time for it.
I realized it the other day, but the fact is that I should’ve questioned the common knowledge of the world. Before I knew it, there I was, thinking about the common knowledge of my previous life and of this world together.
The world where science had advanced and magic does not exist.
Second, using a magic tool.
In other words, it hasn’t permeated society. Even though you can make something like frictional heat anywhere if you rub your hands; it’s in spite of that. It’s probably because of the common knowledge that has strongly taken root in this world: ‘it’s likely that other than those mentioned, there are no other ways to light fires’. I think it’s precisely because I know of the modern-day science of my previous existence that I have this point of view, but what caught my attention was something not related to fire.
There’s a magic that I wasn’t able to see due to the entrenched common knowledge……is what it boils down to.
I open the [Intermediate Level Magic Guidebook] that I had left beside me.
I’ll try to experiment with them one-by-one.
First, the aria.
There’s the [Impact] which I used yesterday on the goblins, but I got irritated at the aria, stopped in the middle of it and fired the spell.
The keyword of the aria for [Impact] is: make the maryoku within you activate, condense it, and let it fly……that’s what it’s in terms of.
If it was to follow what was written in the elementary level book, then it shouldn’t activate, but it activated. It seems like it could be settled with the discussion on aria shortening, but it activated even though I had omitted the essential part of the aria at that time: ‘to fly’.
At that time, other than ‘throwing the ball of maryoku’, I had mixed in the image of ‘putting a high-explosive projectile into a grenade launcher and launching it’. Even though it’s called ‘magic’, the weapons that I had become accustomed to in my previous existence had unconsciously interfered.
In society, the impression that ‘[Impact] is of no-attribute and is weak’ is the only one there is, and in practice it was weak.
What I’ll visualise this time is an old-fashioned cannon in an embrasure with which I personally use a pole to pack in the gunpowder and ball inside it.
In an instant, there was feeling of maryoku loss together with a *pan* sound and the resounding sound of wood breaking. When I opened my eyes to see what had happened, the hanging target was broken into very small pieces and had tumbled down to the ground. I was astonished at the larger than expected power, but my hypothesis was correct.
Moreover, I didn’t call out the spell name, let alone the aria, and there’s also not much difference in the maryoku consumption. Truly revolutionary. However there are still many more things that I want to do.
The next thing to visualise is an automatic style pistol: a handgun.
My favourite was the Magnum, but after taking into consideration its strength, this time I visualise the common handgun. The important points are: to make the bullet tapered in order for it to fly straight, and the grooves of the barrel that cause the bullet to rotate: the rifling. This time I focus on the tree target without closing my eyes, and in preparation, I erect my thumb and index finger on my hand in the shape of a handgun.
Gather maryoku, bullet production, loading, rifling is okay, trigger!
With a *pshew*, a thick sound reverberated, the tree that I aimed at shook a little, and a thumb-sized hole had been opened in the tree. I continued by gradually increasing the distance of the targets that I aim at, and I confirmed that there’s not that much of a difference with both the firing range and power when compared to the real thing. In addition, there’s no discharge sound and there’s barely any recoil. The ballistic trajectory is even more stable than that of the real thing, and the maryoku consumption is also low. It’s utility was so good that it would make one suspect: ‘isn’t there a catch to this?’.
I continue to shoot while forming an hypothesis; I ran out of maryoku at around the time I exceeded twenty shots, so I stopped.
The next experiment—while the lethargy is assaulting my body—is meditation. This isn’t magic but it’s one of the actions through which maryoku can be quickly recovered.
The method is just to relax, seize the maryoku with your whole body, and take it in. Becoming able to seize maryoku seems to be an obstacle of the elementary level, and because of that, it’s mentioned in the intermediate level book. I think of zazen when I hear of ‘meditation’, but it seems like it’s all right as long as I can relax, so I lay down in the shape of the 大 kanji.
I close my eyes and seize the maryoku……seize……how do I do that?
I was dozing off in the middle of it, but that sensation was unmistakably maryoku.
I recognise it. It’s overflowing throughout the air, and even now it’s gently brushing my body, like fog would; so this is maryoku.
Continuing on, ‘taking in maryoku’ is written, but that’s the very thing that I don’t understand. It’s not like taking a deep breath will work, so I had once again run into an obstacle. While groaning with an *unun*, I attempted various things, but to no avail.
I became able to sense it and I realized it: doesn’t this maryoku throughout the air resemble the maryoku that I personally let out? It’s a feeling like: ‘the red within the colour red, the tree within the forest’. And now, the current me is exhausted of maryoku and in a state close to a vacuum. It’s not ‘taking it in’, but how about attuning my maryoku to my surroundings?
I lie down once again, and I take things as they are, thinking of nothing: towards a clear and serene mind.
“Sirius-sama!? What’s the matter?!”
As I was about to reach that stage, I was shouted at by Noel. Well, one would be surprised if someone were to drop to the ground right in the centre of the yard. To indicate I was okay, I waved my hand to Noel, who was rushing over here, but without stopping her momentum, she came over and looked into my face.
“Are you alright?! As I thought, there were some after-effects from yesterday’s incident?!”
“Iya, I was able to ‘seize it’, however I don’t really get how to ‘take it in’. I’m at a stalemate right now.”
“‘Self-study’… I received instruction from Noel, didn’t I?”
“I was able to reach this point because you showed me magic. Who did Noel receive her instruction from?”
“School? So there are schools that teach magic…”
“I had just become a little nostalgic, so please don’t worry about it. Besides, I am happy right now. Aria-sama, Erina-san, Dee-san, and Sirius-sama. I am so glad that I was able to meet you all.”
I feel a little bit fulfilled at the sincere smile of a young lady of marriageable age.
“Yes, I am free. I’ve reached a point where I can take a break from my work, so I came to see how Sirius-sama was doing.”
My maryoku is recovering?
“Ah, iya……as my maryoku had recovered, I was sort of concentrating…”
What I visualise is something called ‘kevlar thread’, and even among the aramid fibres, it’s the strongest tier of threads. It’s also employed in bullet-proof vests, and even though it also has a thickness of less than one millimeter, it has a tensile strength of 60 kilograms; it’s an excellent scientific material. Bundling these in multiple layers, I create one toughened rope.
“You know that sort of thing will snap in no time, right?”
“Haa……are? …the feeling that there wasn’t an aria just now…?”
I didn’t say the spell name, let alone an aria. I ignored Noel, who appears to be puzzled, and I let her take hold of the tip of that which is extending from the palm of my hand.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry; rather than that, hurry and pull. I don’t mind even if you pull with all your might.”
Umu, it’s a success. Perhaps it’s because of the maryoku, it’s a strange rope that doesn’t creak or bend, but it’s strength is nearly perfect. However, I made just one blunder.
“Uoo!”
Well, I have been training, but I’m still three years old, so it can’t be helped.
After that, I hang it on a tree and climb up it; as a result of having used it as a substitute for the chains of a swing, I concluded that it’s sufficiently able to be fit for practical use. If I vary its thickness, it’s serviceable for various practical uses; it’s not an all-purpose tool, but an all-purpose magic.
“Yes, it is. I have become hungry.”
My hand was grasped by Noel and we return to the house.
“In the future?”
“You’re right, I wonder what I should do…”
I can’t recall their names, but there were five of them: girls and boys that I myself gathered and educated with my own hands. For me—who had neither parents nor a wife—they were, in a way, something like a family. It’s possibly my sole regret: that I wasn’t able to watch over all of their futures, as their shishou, and in place of their parents. It’s not just to become strong, this time I want to properly watch over them.
Un, I saw the future that I’m aiming for.
After lunch, I began to talk to everyone gathered in the living room.
“I’m thinking of trying to go to school.”
At my one utterance, three people were exchanging glances while at a loss.
“It’s not your fault. It’s something that I thought about and decided on my own.”
“It’s not like I’ve already settled on it, but I want to become an educator.”
In this world, death is taken lightly.
However, those things is nothing more than information that I discovered in books.
Attend school and learn about the society, take a trip to get acquainted with the world, be an educator……that kind of flow.
“The person I saw in my dreams taught various things to children. Although he experienced hardship, he felt that it was immensely worthwhile, and it became something that I also want to do. In order to do that, I should first go to school for the sake of broadening my knowledge…”
I could easily imagine being called an ‘incompetent’ and looked upon with eyes of contempt if it were to be discovered. The attendants were frowning, but only Noel nodded with a serious face.
“……I think it’ll be okay.”
“……That’s right, it’s just as you say. We attendants only serve for the sake of the head of the household. Besides, it’s Sirius-sama’s first wilful request, I want to grant it.”
“Me, too.”
I certainly feel bad for the three of them who have roused themselves to action for my sake. But…well, I’ll presume upon these people’s benevolence for now.
“Thank you for your concern. First is the entrance fee. While selling my compounded medicines, we will make up the insufficiency in funds.”
“I will check up on the school-related things in advance. It would be a waste for Sirius-sama’s talents to end here!”
Is what a wildly enthusiastic Noel said, but she looked lonely for an instant and I heard her murmur: ‘although I had completely given up on it’. Oh, I see…perhaps Noel’s enthusiasm is from having overlapped her past self with me. Not being able to attend school herself was probably a regret of hers.
“It looks like it will get busy from now on. Before that, Dee, give that to Sirius-sama.”
“A sword that I procured around the time when I was an adventurer. If it’s with this, then even against goblin opponents it won’t break, so please accept it.”
A sparse pattern is set into the 50 centimeter length of the blade, and it has a rustic handle; it’s a short sword with not one ornament on it. It’s a bit big for me—as a three-year-old child—to use, but I was pleased with its exterior that stressed utility.
“Not a problem. Because I am no longer an adventurer, and it’s short for me, so this sword is one that I was keeping as a spare. I found that sword in the depths of a certain ruin, but it was too light to use it as a sword, so I took charge of it without being given a second glance by anyone. There was an occasion when I showed it to a weapons shop, but the qualities of its materials was unknown. I kept it as an omamori, but if it’s for the current Sirius-sama, I think it’s a weapon that’s just right.”
Oo, it’s the first time Dee has been this talkative.
I’m not quite familiar with the sword, but it’s not like it’s cursed, so I’ll gratefully accept it.
“Please take this. It is a belt to hang your sword on.”
“You look cool, Sirius-sama. With this, you are a splendid adventurer.”
Dee is pleased with my expression of gratitude: the shape of his mouth slightly breaks into a smile. The adjustments to the size of the belt is also completed… if I equip this, then an adventurer is what I look lik—……there’s no way that I do! It’s impossible for a three-year old.
“Sirius-sama, you now possess a weapon, but please, never do anything unreasonable.”
“I want you to avoid fighting as much as you can, but you do need the experience. However, next time, I ask that you please bring Dee with you without fail.”
She is probably racked with worry, but Erina-san is holding that back and encouraging me. I think she really is a person of character. Wanting me to bring Dee with me, it’s the least I could do for her isn’t it?
Things like goblins would only take a moment if I used gun spells, but to defeat them directly, I want to regain the abilities of my previous life. I’m not inclined to repeat such a disgraceful fight: being showered with blood back-splatter with reckless abandon and only being able to defeat two at the same time.
Using magic is fine. But I won’t mature by being dependant on magic, in particular my gun spells: they’re too powerful. If I really wanted to, then I think that sniping from a very long distance away would be feasible, but as a risk factor, there’s also the possibility of me becoming pursued if it’s discovered. Other than the times when it’s necessary, let’s go with hiding it as much as possible.
Well then, from now on it’s real training.