Chapter 7

Right…

I ended up going outside with Lumi and now we’re down in that town that I saw before. Earlier, I was wonderring if it was save without anyone around, but a few guards made their presence known. It appears that before, as I’d never gone out of my room, there wasn’t a need for me to have a personal guard. Isn’t the weird thing here that there are guards within the castles walls?!

I asked the guards the reason that there were guards all the time and they responded with something along the lines of “The children of royalty must be protected!”

I forgot I was still a child… Lumi interrupted the conversation with an immature attitude; saying that I’d agreed to play with her. She’s not wrong, I did agree.

We’ve come to a decently sized building which is populated with grass and tress. It contrasts with the desolate yellow landscape found outside. It’s pleasant on my eyes, considerring the only plants outside are cacti. It’s no wonder the castle has other plants inside – though they must have been quite expensive.

“onii-san, we’re here to play!”

Oh, right. I got distracted. I decided to look around instead of play because of how interesting the place was. I must’ve spent a fair amount of time simply thinking about things as Lumi’s mad that we haven’t begun to play yet. I should check the amulet before we start…

Oh, it’s only two days consumption – does reading take more energy than moving? Or is it a simple matter? It could be that control is important and the more skilled I get, the less energy I waste. If so, I need to train harder!

“Alright then, what are going to play?”

“Plant analysis!”

“Plant analysis?”

“… Onii-san will point out a plant and I’ll name it and what it can be used for!”

“Is that really a game?”

“Hmmm…. Instructor said it was? No, it is!”

Lumi says so with a little doubt, but after a shake of her head, she seems to be completely confident that it is.

Lumi, my lovely sister… You’ve been tricked!

“Alright, alright… Then how about this one?”

I point at a plant which has a red-brown tinge on its leaves, while its branches are a weird green colour. I’d say it was a poisonous plant, but I’ve already seen this plant before… Remembering it leaves a horrid taste in my mouth.

“It’s for the paste that onii-san hates! It’s used for relieving muscle pains, reducing fatigue and er… Curing hangovers? I don’t know what that means…”

…

There’s a plant which can be used to cure a hangover? More importantly, if Lumi knows that it’s for curing hangovers, shouldn’t she know what a hangover is? Did they just tell her the cure in case someone told her they had a hangover, she could offer them a cure?

It seems that no matter what world I am sent to, alcohol is still a drink which humans constantly consume. No matter what, alcohol is a prominent drink that adults drink. The stubborness that humanity has, even across worlds, is incomparable.

“It doesn’t matter – let’s move on. How about this one?

It’s a plant from my original world, I think. If so, it’s mostly a flavouring used for cooking. If it’s not the same thing I will be immensely depressed over the fact my knowledge isn’t useful. Otherwise, I’ll be amused that my past lives can still grant me extra knowledge. Even if it’s not really useful.

“Mentha! Also known as mint. It’s often thought that if you eat it, your skin will have a nice glow for a while.”

It seems that a third option appeared. It’s the same thing but the purpose is different. Or it’s a purpose I’ve never heard of. Doesn’t really matter.

“Alright – that, that one.”

Eh? I stammered. Weird. I didn’t think I was that tired.

Anyway, I’m pointing at a plant which seems fairly interesting. It has long, blue leaves coming from the top of it, while shorter ones reaching out to the sides near the bottom. It’s sort of ugly but I have a feeling it’s cooler than it looks!

“It’s an Aphrodia… Aphrodile… Aphrodien… Aphrodes….”

“An aphrodisiac?”

“Yes! Onii-san, what’s it for?”

You half educated sister! Why are you tilting your head while asking that?! No, more importantly, why are you asking me that? Why didn’t you ask your instructor? Argh… I don’t want to answer this, but if I don’t answer it, won’t she just keep asking me? That’s a normal thing for kids to do…

“It’s something, something that you give to a person you love.”

My heads feeling a little groggy. EH? I just said something strange… Why didn’t I just say that I didn’t know either – I’d just heard the word said? I’m barely older than this girl, she shouldn’t expect me to know things like this – after all, I’ve been bedridden! A fatal mistake has been made!

“So, it’s something I’d give to onii-san?”

I did say a fatal mistake… It turned our exactly how I expected it? Actually, why was I expecting it to turn out like this? The obvious answer… THE CURSE OF ANIME! Fine, we’ll just play the scenario out ’til the end then! Worst thing that’ll happen is I’ll reincarnate again, right? Hahaha!

“Not exactly…”

“Is onii-san saying I don’t love him?!”

“No, no no… It’s just that you need to be older…”

Yeah! That’s right! This should settle it for now… It’s almost a perfect anime-esque scenario!

“Right! When I’m older, I’ll give onii-san an.. Aph… Aphrod…”

“Yeah, I got it.”

…

Did I just, just tell my sister that she could give me an aphrodisiac when we were older? It appears that the grogginess in my head is worse then expected. This feeling… Isn’t it the same sort of feeling as being drunk? Why the hell would I be acting like this?

Hahaha.

I take a step forward and it seems like the worlds spinning a little… Don’t tell me!

“Lumi, I don’t suppose there’s a plant that gives off a type of gas or something, right?”

“You’re right, onii-san! There is, but I haven’t learnt what it does yet.”

She puts on a cute smile, displaying a completely innocent face. Why the hell is there a plant like that in an enclosed space? Especially with this effect…

“We should go back.”

“Right! onii-san needs to rest after playing with me!”

I turn around slowly as I feel turning quickly will end badly. As I begin to walk out, Lumi holds onto my right arm and it makes me a little happy. She’s still too young to have perverted thoughts, but in the future… What am I thinking about?

Nah, these thoughts are normal. Who wouldn’t be happy with a little sister who clings to them? Yep, totally normal.

As we’re making our way back to the castle, the guards stop us for a little chat. Apparantley, they get bored as they’re not supposed to interact with anyone – something about leaking important information. The only people they are allowed to interact with is me and Lumi, and that’s only in the case of danger. You shouldn’t be breaking the rules, guards! Eh, I don’t blame them though. If it was my job, I’d quit…

They talked to me for quite a while, simply about general things like what it’s like to the prince and princess. I felt that as guards, they should know what it’s like, though they were probably asking for conversational purposes. If it’s like that, please forgive my rudeness! I was uninterested in answering with longer sentences due to my slightly intoxicated state.

The guards noticed me grin when I thought that and questioned me about it. Told them it was just nice to be moving finally. They believed it. Thank the stars! I am never going to thank that goddess though. Too annoying. Mental correction: She’s too annoying. Yeah, that’s better.

The guards have ended up skeaking about one topic of interest, though…… It interestets me enough that I use an entire days worth of energy to try and remove the poison (alcohol) from my body. I was unsure if it was possible, but I tried to purge the toxins by overloading my body with energy to force them out. It worked. There were two reasons I didn’t try this earlier. The first was simply that I didn’t wish to waste the energy on something that might not work. The second was my selfish indulgence in the feeling of being drunk…… If I were to be accused of being an idiot, I couldn’t disagree. Oh well.

They begin to speak to me about Martial practices and the human race’s lack of magic.

“Humans are a race that lack magic. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the way our gods created us. Rather, humans are one of three races that rely on Martial Practices as their main fighting method. In terms of uniqueness though, humans win as every other race has at least some magic.”

“So are Martial Practices any weaker than magic?”

“In a way. To develop them, we must develop our bodies relying on ancient medicines – and treasures – which allow our bodies to evolve. They can either allow our strength to reach another realm, or increase our proficiency in a particular Martial Practice.”

“The problem is they’re so damn expensive!”

A different guard joins the conversation to add that in. The way he chimed in was in such a comedic fashion that I start laughing. The genuine frustration he shows is sad, but at the same time he doesn’t want to seem as though he’s asking for help. That would be bad for him, wouldn’t it? Asking a child for money would surely be worse then not having enough money to buy medicines.

“Hahaha. You’re just poor!”

“What are you talking about, you’ve got no more Minor Grass than I do!”

“True, true.”

They got in and out of that argument so quickly – these people definitely spend way too much time around each other. Though they said they get bored, aren’t they fine like this? I would be boring to be with the same person all the time, actually. Huh? Aren’t there cases where you’d want to spendtime with one person forever? Ehhh, not really, it doesn’t actually matter anyway.

“Is there a Martial Practice I could learn?”

“Hmmm….. A Martial Practice for the sick prince? How strange a question…”

“Isn’t there one, ey?”

“You couldn’t mean…”

“Mmmm, that one.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s going to go to waste otherwise.”

I made them go off into their own little world! Call the doctor! He’ll save everyone at the expense of the few! That’s not saving everyone, but who cares? As long as you learn the illness it’ll help in the future. I’m rattling off these things in my mind so the guards can finish their discussion. They keep going for some time until-

“It seems we do have something for you!”

“Really?”

“It’s a little useless, but if you need something to waste your time, it’ll help you out.”

“Oh…… What is it?”

The guard that spoke first did the same thing that my father did earlier with this necklace. The facy that magic isn’t used to do this makes it even more impressive. What comes out is a book… A book for learning the Martial Practice? Giving that to a normal child is useless – they can’t read!

“It’s a Martial Practice known as ‘Flavour’. Basically, it can change the flavour of the food you are eating. It’s quite useless as it never seems to create a pleasant taste. ”

“I’ll take it!”

The guard hands the book to me while laughing heartily. Perhaps he’s experienced a similar situation and is reminiscing? It does remind me of the laugh of nostalgia. However, now that the conversation is over, we should get going. Lumi’s been quietly holding onto my arm this entire time, not interrupting us. She’s quite the sister… A normal sibling would have gotten impatient and said we should go, I think.

“Thanks. We should be heading back now.”

“Of course. Just call us if you need us.”

It should really be akward to know there are guards following us around, but in fact, it makes me feel better. They don’t seem to have any ill intent and our father trusts them enough to guard over us. Of course, if they had any ill intent, I’d have made sure they were punished. That’s the way of life.

The trip back to the castle is uneventful and although I wish to say there was a great view, the fact that other than the castle, it consisted of sand and cacti made it quite hard to make any judgement other than bland. What was surprising though, was I had actually survived to the point of sunset. Though, the amount of energy I have left is only a single day’s worth – hopefully enough to let me get back to my room.

Splitting off from Lumi at the castle’s entry, I went back to my room and instantly fell asleep.

———-

The angel who was watching over Fei had a slight grin on her face. She’d managed to control the energy consumption he used today. She knew that her power was too weak at the moment to reduce it drastically, but her accomplishment today left her satisfied.

The more she observed this boy, the more curious she became. He had a divine aura similar to her own, but it wasn’t a true divin aura. It was practically a pseudo-divine aura.

Her curiousness was making her want to meet the boy personally, but she – and he – both needed to gain more power before such a thing would be possible.

“Hehe~ ”

The angel giggled thinking about the boy and how she’d meet him in the future.

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