02

“Seriously… that really hurts.”

Ains muttered while rubbing his head.

After Ains’s match, the remaining students’ bouts continued, and once everything had finished, Das dismissed them, sending everyone on their way home.

Silve Village was not particularly large, but Ains’s house was far from where the children gathered to train under Das, so he usually returned home alone.

Even on the way back, however, Ains’s mind was filled entirely with thoughts of magic.

Whenever he went to practice swordsmanship, some part of his body always ended up hurting. Much of that was due to lapses in attention caused by his lack of motivation.

Under those circumstances, Ains altered one aspect of everyday magic.

Driven by a single-minded desire to ease the pain, he produced ice from water-generation magic and cooled the injured area.

Ains did not understand the theory behind generating ice from water magic. It was more that he had unconsciously managed to visualize it into reality—or rather, it had simply happened.

However, he still could not develop everyday magic in the fields of fire or wind any further.

“I’m home.”

Because of the pain from the bump, his tone came out brusque.

“Oh, welcome back. You’re home early today.”

His mother, Lina, was preparing dinner.

“Yeah. We had matches today, so we were dismissed earlier than usual training.”

“I see. Then go wash your hands right away. Dinner will be ready soon.”

Ains did not head for the washroom and instead went straight toward the table.

As he walked, however, he generated water, stuck it to his hands, formed a stream, and washed them clean. He then dried his hands with wind magic, finishing the task.

This was simple everyday magic, but it had been applied through delicate control of magical power.

Not long after Ains sat down, the front door opened, and a man entered with a quiver slung over his shoulder and a bow in hand.

His build retained a flexible solidity, and rather than swordsmanship, he excelled at archery—moving through the forest and felling prey from a variety of stances.

“Oh, Ains. Didn’t you grow taller today? It feels like the top of your head is higher than it was this morning.”

Grinning as he put away his bow and quiver, this was Ains’s father, Kilza.

“Right? I’m in a rapid growth phase and all, but I’d really prefer if I didn’t grow this much just between morning and evening.”

“That’s sarcasm about the bump on your head, isn’t it? You know that perfectly well, and yet…”

Kilza smiled as he flicked Ains lightly on the head.

Even lightly, for Ains—who had a freshly formed bump—

“Ow!”

—it was intense pain.

Even though he had temporarily eased the pain with ice, that single flick was enough to blow away all his efforts, sending a dull ache spreading across his entire head.

“Both of you, what nonsense are you doing? You too, go wash your hands and sit down already.”

Lina said in exasperation as she placed a salad and a chicken dish on the table.

“Because of Ains, Lina got mad at me.”

“How is that my fault?”

The two bickered lightly once more.

And this time, they were scolded by Lina, her expression like that of a demon.

The three of them sat down and began eating.

When Kilza asked about the swordsmanship training under Das, Ains talked about everything that had happened that day. That said, since his interest lay solely in magic, most of it was imagining how things would be if certain kinds of magic existed.

Kilza likewise spoke about the day’s hunting.

With winter approaching, he said, the number of animals and monsters had been decreasing. Part of it was simply that they were beginning to prepare for winter, but Kilza believed that aggressive hunting by villages of the Gairin Empire was also a contributing factor.

Lina seemed to enjoy listening to the two of them, nodding along and occasionally asking about things that caught her interest.

Once the meal was finished, Lina cut up some mountain fruit Kilza had gathered that day, and the three of them ate together, spending a relaxed time.

They passed through this ordinary day, and after sleeping under the blankets and waking up, tomorrow would come.