Chapter 0 Prologue
Prologue
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: Decisions Should Be Made Carefully
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I'm a modern person.
I've never forgotten that, and I still think so even now.
But the scenery before my eyes was quite— no, vastly different from the modern world.
Bluebirds alight as the rice ears ripen and bow their heads.
The sky gradually dyes itself in sunset hues.
Finally, the farmers lift their heads from where they had bowed them and smile with joy.
A golden wheat field creates a beautiful and heartwarming scene.
It's also the place where I, born on Earth and struck by that isekai truck, opened my eyes.
"Damn it."
"Edn. Don't say things like that."
The firm voice from beside me made my mouth snap shut on its own.
I turned my head and saw a familiar face.
"Sis. When did you get here?"
"Just now. Anyway, it's about time to head back inside. How long are you planning to stay out here?"
"...A little longer."
"No."
She grabbed my hand with a resolute expression and dragged me along by force.
I couldn't bring myself to resist her hand and followed as she led.
The one holding my hand right now was none other than my own flesh-and-blood older sister, Henebin von Rlangbur.
Rlangbur region's Henebin—that's what it means.
She actually has a middle name too, but no one in the family uses it, so neither do I.
Well, that's not the important part anyway.
"Edn. You're almost old enough to go to the academy, so how can you just keep lazing around like this?"
"But it's not like I have a choice."
This world just isn't fun.
As I mentioned earlier, I'm an Earthling—a modern person.
Whether I died in my previous life or was in a vegetative state, I don't know, but I was reborn into what looks like a medieval world.
At first, I was surprised and excited.
Even as a baby, I harbored those feelings in abundance.
But those expectations were shattered soon enough.
By the time I could walk and move around on my own.
I realized just how much I'd underestimated this medieval world.
For starters, there were no smartphones in this world.
The closest thing to video media was probably the circus.
Of course, knowing it was medieval, I accounted for that much.
But I was shocked again soon after.
Newspapers and books.
Surprisingly, paper was easy to obtain for nobles.
But the newspapers were filled day after day with nothing but politics, culture, and the like.
I was somewhat interested in the culture section at first, but it seemed like their own little world, so my interest faded quickly.
Next came books.
There were books on various subjects, but I focused on novels.
Illustrations like drawings were, naturally, absent.
Printing technology just wasn't there yet.
The mainstream novels right now were chivalric romances.
But this chivalric romance stuff was even more formulaic than Earth's pulp fiction.
With no concept of copyright, they just changed names and printed the same stories over and over.
At first, it was fun, of course.
But after reading a few, I realized they were all the same tale and ended up tossing them aside.
"Sigh."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just..."
Walking with Sis didn't seem like the time to think about it, but I still preferred watching the farmers work.
It was nice just spacing out like that.
But this kind of life was coming to an end soon.
I'd have to enter the academy before long.
To that end, my tutor had been teaching me diligently lately.
He was always enthusiastic, but lately it had gotten even worse.
How bad? After his lessons, I'd pass out for the rest of the day.
Since I was good at magic—specifically mana control—he'd made me practice all day sometimes.
I wanted to learn theory, but he wouldn't listen to me.
Thinking back, that was a bit much, wasn't it?
Even if we're rural nobility, he's still a viscount in his own right.
Hmm, should I have a word with him?
As I mulled that over, Sis brought up something out of the blue.
"Edn."
"Yeah?"
"Just get into the academy. Then you can do whatever you want. Then maybe..."
You'll find something you like.
With those words, the mansion doors opened.
I wanted to ask what she meant, but there was no time.
After that, Sis never brought up what she'd said again.
As if she hadn't said anything at all.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Time flew by quickly.
Before I knew it, I'd entered the academy and smoothly claimed top spot.
...Saying it "smoothly" might make me sound obnoxious.
But honestly, as someone who'd even gone to university, this much was expected.
"The next semester's a different story, though."
I'd never done any advance studying up to now.
Well, more precisely, I'd never studied hardcore.
I did prep before coming, but it wasn't enough.
This was the prestigious Aper Academy.
Backed by the imperial family and the Magic Tower, it boasted a high level of education.
At the same time, it was a place where all nobles were forced to enroll.
That's why it felt insufficient.
The other students had done every possible bit of advance study from childhood.
Not like me, who only skimmed the basics right before enrollment.
"Sigh. Guess I'll head back for now."
I'd checked my scores already.
I turned away from the bulletin board where the results were posted.
Then I spotted a familiar face.
Black hair with a bluish tint, cut in a hime style.
She looked composed, but her expression had a hint of coldness at a glance.
A great beauty who had helped me on the first day when I was lost.
Esili Hepild.
Daughter of a count.
But why was she staring at me so intently?
I shot her a questioning look, and she let out a small sigh before speaking.
"You're not going to brag about it?"
"Huh? Oh, you mean topping the rankings?"
"Yes."
Seeing her nod as if that was exactly it, a thought crossed my mind.
Do I really have to brag?
I stared at her with even more puzzlement, and she shook her head as if to say never mind.
"Well, you were never one to obsess over skill anyway."
"So, what did you want to say?"
Esili didn't answer and instead twirled a lock of her hair around her finger.
She seemed dissatisfied about something, but I had no idea why.
"Nothing, really. Anyway, you're just going to head back like this?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"If you have time, would you like to study with—"
"No can do."
Huh? What was that?
A sudden high-pitched, clear voice cut in.
I looked toward the source—a voice different from Esili's.
"You."
"What? Got a problem?"
Ah, the annoying one's here.
Pretina Apontuna.
Daughter of the empire's sole living legend, a duke.
Unlike the calm and elegant Esili, her personality was the complete opposite.
Lively, arrogant, and subtly condescending toward others.
But the problem wasn't that she was just filling her ego or anything like that.
She truly believed her house was the greatest.
So, nothing ranked above her except the imperial family—that was her mindset.
And annoyingly, it was true, so there was nothing to say.
I usually avoided her, but escaping now might be tough.
Perhaps due to her imperial connections, she had that characteristic golden hair and eerie red eyes sparkling.
"Edn's going to be my pack mule from now on."
Pretina winked at me with one eye.
She probably thought that was charming.
For people of this world, or girls her age, it might work.
She was even pitching her voice a bit seductively on purpose.
The issue was that my mind was that of an adult.
I didn't see her as dating material.
I slowly shook my head so as not to hurt Pretina's feelings.
"Sorry, milady. I'm a bit busy today."
"You're refusing my order right now?"
"Yes."
She blinked in surprise at my unhesitating nod.
After staring for a moment, she quickly composed herself and smiled.
"So bold. Well, I don't hate that about you."
"...I see."
Definitely an annoying person.
Better make myself scarce.
I bid Esili farewell, gave Pretina a formal bow, and quickly fled.
Luckily, neither followed, and I was able to blend into the crowd.
"...Dorm's a no-go for now."
Pretina was the type to see things through once she decided.
She was probably waiting in front of my dorm room right now.
Ignoring that it was the men's dorm, using her duke father's name.
"Guess I'll hit the library then."
This world didn't have much in the way of entertainment.
So, well-off nobles either watched circuses or read books.
As I mentioned back home, chivalric romances had developed for that reason.
But the academy library didn't have those kinds of novels.
"Maybe I'll read some theses."
True to being the academy library, it housed books of every kind.
The only place better was the imperial library.
As I slowly browsed the shelves for something interesting, I spotted a thesis.
"Isn't this Professor Herman's paper?"
I grabbed it upon recognizing the familiar name.
Professor Herman.
The man always trying to turn me into his grad student.
Of course, I'd never volunteered to be his slave.
Until today.
"...Bidirectional information communication via mana?"
It was a paper on mana communication—research I'd never heard of before.
He'd never mentioned it despite always touting his achievements to lure me in.
Embarrassed about it, maybe?
I opened the book and skimmed the contents.
"Oh, this is intriguing."
To sum it up, it proposed exchanging intangible information via mana.
But it was still purely theoretical—no experiments yet.
No, this was basically just suggesting the possibility, right?
"If I use this well..."
I could probably make a smartphone.
No, it wouldn't stop at a smartphone.
This was mana communication!
Apply this to Earth, and it's wireless communication—developed after electricity's discovery.
"...Advance civilization entirely?"
This world had magic, unlike Earth.
So if I advanced civilization through magic, maybe I could revisit the dream I'd long abandoned.
A long-held dream, one I'd given up on.
"Returning to Earth."
My body had changed, but my soul was the same.
The dream of returning to my soul's homeland, Earth—maybe I could achieve it.
"Yeah. This world is starting to develop bit by bit too."
Progress always begins unexpectedly.
And from coincidence.
Even semiconductors for smartphones come from extracting silicon from sand.
That super common sand!
So even if this paper was just proposing a possibility, seeing that possibility was enough.
"Alright, then there's only one thing for me to do."
I headed straight for the professor's private lab.
As far as I remembered, he had no class right now.
Walking the corridor as the sky turned crimson.
"Here it is."
I arrived at Professor Herman's lab.
I steadied my slightly nervous mind and organized what I wanted to say.
"Phew. From now on, I'm recruiting a collaborator. I'm absolutely not volunteering to be a slave."
Good. Let's do this!
I knocked, and permission to enter came from inside.
The moment I opened the door, I prostrated myself flat before the professor.
"Professor! Take me on!"
"What?!"
Ah, crap. That's not what I meant.
I'd done it without thinking, and just like that, I became the professor's slave.