As I walked down the snowy mountain with Lilith, I saw that there was a small village at the base of the mountain. Hm. I don’t remember that being here two hundred years ago, but I guess things are bound to change. There shouldn’t have been any kind of geological advantage to living in this remote area, but for some strange reason, the place seemed prosperous. There must’ve been a competent noble governing this area. As I considered all the possibilities, we apparently arrived at our destination.
“Here we are. Over there is a hideaway I’ve prepared for you.”
“Oh, wow...” I reflexively let out a sound of amazement.
The place in question was incredibly luxurious. Back in my day, this would’ve been somewhere royalty lived. It was a symmetrical two—wait, no—three-story building. I wonder how many rooms it has. I wanna see what’s inside already.
“My deepest apologies, Master Abel, but...I believe you are looking at the wrong building. It is the building next to that one.”
“Hm?” I shifted my gaze to what Lilith was indicating, and saw a wooden house. If I was being nice, I’d describe it as “simple.” If I was being mean, I’d describe it as “homely.” Though maybe I only felt this way because I was comparing it to that luxurious home. To be honest, it wasn’t too shabby. It had a chimney, and now that I looked at it, there might have been an attic too. It certainly had a sort of charm to it. Yeah...
“It’s pretty normal...”
“Normal is best. Taking your situation into consideration, I felt it best to avoid being conspicuous.”
Oh, I see. I guess she has a point. When I last lived, I was feared by some as the strongest mage, but in this child’s body, I couldn’t even muster a third of the power I used to have. It was probably best to lay low until I hit my growth spurt.
✦ ✦ ✦
As Lilith showed me around the interior of the house, all I could think was how much it resembled the typical houses from two hundred years ago. The wooden floors were well polished and the desks, also made of wood, had a bright luster to them. It also had a fireplace, a couch, and a skillfully crafted rug. I’d had a couch in my past life, so I wasn’t too surprised by that, but the quality of the rug’s craftsmanship astonished me. It was incredible. There was one item, however, that I was seeing for the first time. My eyes went to the ceiling where a mysterious sphere hung.
Suddenly, a bright light emanated from the sphere. What’s going on? The only people in here were me and Lilith, and I didn’t sense anyone composing a spell to light it.
“My apologies. I had no intention of causing you surprise. The glowing sphere is called a ‘light bulb.’ It is a tool for illumination. With a simple flick of a switch, you are able to light up your surroundings. It is a most exceptional invention.”
Lilith proceeded to toggle the switch on and off, resulting in the light going out and coming back on accordingly. Hm, I see. How convenient. Most likely, the inside of the light bulb contained small magic stones that would react to the switch being flipped and automatically activate an illumination spell. The small amount of mana flow that I sensed in the vicinity of the light bulb served as proof of my theory.
“You don’t seem too surprised.”
“Oh no, it’s really impressive. I just can’t help but think it’s more convenient to cast this kind of magecraft by yourself.”
Magecraft that could light up an entire area was typically the specialty of those with Crimson Eyes, who had mastery over fire magecraft. But also, simple magecraft like this, which was used to light a room, was something that everyone was capable of doing, regardless of their eye color. I remembered kids hurrying to learn the spell Flashlight because of their hatred for the dark.
Lilith giggled. “That line of thinking is just like you.”
How so? The illumination magecraft, Flashlight, was one of the most fundamental spells out there. If anything, my line of thinking shouldn’t have been unique. Anyone who studied magecraft would think the same way.
“I’ll get started on dinner. Please relax as you will,” Lilith said, before going into the kitchen.
Since this wasn’t a large house, I could easily see what was going on in the kitchen from the living room.
“If you’re feeling fatigued, please feel free to lie down on the couch. I will inform you when the meal is ready.”
Well, if you insist. Maybe it was because this was the first time in centuries that I’d been awake, but an unexpected amount of exhaustion washed over me. Moments after I lay down, I found myself drifting off into a comfortable nap.
✦ ✦ ✦
About an hour later, Lilith came to wake me up as promised.
“Master Abel, dinner is ready.”
I opened my eyes to find a meal laid out on the table. The house was filled with a delicious scent, stimulating my appetite.
“You were fast asleep.”
“Yeah. Apparently I get sleepier more often in a child’s body.”
“May I ask you something? Why did you choose a child’s body, knowing full well its physical limitations?”
“Well, sure, there are risks...but there are a lot of advantages as well.”
In essence, one generally experienced three peaks over the course of one’s life. An academic peak in adolescence, a physical peak in their twenties, and a magical peak in their thirties. The reason I’d chosen to reincarnate into a body that had not entered adolescence yet was because I knew that I’d have to learn a lot of new things after waking up in a completely different time period. But also, I thought that since I was going to the trouble of beginning a new life, I might as well start as a kid.
“Oh, wow, you really went all out with this meal!”
Clam and tomato cream pasta was on the menu today. Even though it seemed pretty simple, it began to look fairly upscale when paired with the stylish cutlery and the various side dishes.
“Please enjoy.”
“Thanks.”
Good grief. It seemed like sleeping for two hundred years had made my body crave sustenance. I didn’t even have time to comment on the food before I’d scarfed it all down.
“How was it?”
“I think it was pretty delicious. Did you study cooking somewhere?”
“Oh, nothing as extensive as that. I simply read some books.”
“I see... So this is an age where there are books about cooking, huh?”
Two hundred years ago, books were incredibly high-class items. Paper itself had been very pricey, but then the cost of books really shot up when you factored in the labor required to write out the contents of each book by hand. Plus, there was the tragic situation where some books would have a sharp reduction in quality, due to mistakes cropping up during the copying process. Back then, almost every book was about magecraft, while the rest were history books. At the very least, nobody thought of making books about cooking.
“I suppose that back then, you could purchase a small house for the price of one book,” Lilith said.
“Yeah. I pretty much put all my money into buying books, so I was constantly broke.”
In those days, I’d only wanted originals, which cost exorbitant sums. Thanks to that fixation, I was always in need of money. I chuckled to myself. I couldn’t wait to begin buying books at actually affordable prices. The advancements of humanity were sobering. Civilization had advanced more drastically than I’d ever imagined.
“If you’d like, I could show you the library upstairs after dinner.”
“Oh, wow! You made a library for me?!”
“Yes. I’m aware of your love of reading, and thought that it would be most efficient for you to learn more about the modern world through books.”
I could barely hide my excitement as I followed Lilith to the second floor. Yes, books! I can easily see myself getting through adolescence without fear of ever being bored! Or at least...that was the kind of optimism I carried before I learned of the secret decline that was occurring in the world.