I Need a Pillow (1)
Lake Delin had an exceptionally high mana concentration in its atmosphere.
If the mana levels had merely been moderate, it would have been a prime training ground—a genuine jewel of a spot. But because the density was far too high, anyone short of a truly accomplished mage couldn't even breathe properly there.
This was precisely why Luid always slept at Lake Delin. The absence of people was a perk, sure, but the greatest advantage of all was—
I sleep so well here!
Luid possessed a blessed affinity for mana, and thanks to it, he could maintain an exceptionally stable state of mind in the lake's embrace.
Yet even Luid had his troubles.
"I need a pillow."
Tap, tap.
He knocked his knuckles against his stiff shoulder. Sleeping on a book for the past week had left his neck in knots.
"…A bed would be nice too."
A bed of naturally growing grass. It had seemed utterly delightful at first, but the human heart is a fickle thing.
"Really, what I need is a blanket…"
His wishlist kept growing. But the most urgent item was the pillow.
Luid pondered the matter with grave seriousness. The setting was medieval—nothing like the ergonomically engineered pillows of his old world, and thoroughly uncomfortable to boot. Bringing one from home wouldn't really improve the situation either.
"What to do…"
What if he cast an air bubble spell and slept underwater?
"…!"
Luid snapped his fingers lightly. Good heavens—what a brilliant idea. He resolved to put it into practice immediately and closed his eyes.
Casting magic was simple. The very first time he'd possessed this body, he'd tried a half-hearted "maybe like this?" and it had worked perfectly. The secret to using magic was, quite simply, imagining it.
Luid pictured himself encased in a transparent air bubble that would never, ever pop. Fresh oxygen, refilled infinitely. The bubble soft and cozy to the touch.
At once, the ocean-like tide of mana within his body stirred. Moments later, it manifested exactly the phenomenon he had envisioned.
"There we go."
When Luid opened his eyes, a transparent air bubble enveloped him entirely. He prodded it experimentally—boop—and a ripple spread across the whole surface like pudding jiggling.
Magic truly was a convenient and wondrous mystery. But it couldn't do everything. The domain of creation remained beyond reach.
Still, Luid was more than satisfied with this much. Time for an experiment. He willed the bubble to move, and his body drifted slowly upward.
Perhaps because the bubble was so soft, he lost his balance and toppled over—but it caught him gently, wrapping around his body without the faintest hint of impact.
Then Luid submerged the bubble into the lake itself, pinching off smaller bubbles and draping them around his body. Instantly, a feeling of comfort washed over him, as cozy as being tucked beneath a blanket.
Just as the thoroughly pleased Luid was drifting off to sleep—
He spotted a fish living in Lake Delin. It was four times the size of anything from Earth, and whether due to the high mana density, it bore an uncanny resemblance to a deep-sea creature. Honestly, calling it a monster wouldn't have been far off.
"……"
Luid's eyes met the fish's.
-What the hell is this thing???
That was exactly the expression it wore. Most striking of all were its wickedly sharp fangs.
The bubble was reinforced enough that it wouldn't pop, but sleeping in an environment like this seemed… inadvisable.
"Nothing to be done, I suppose."
With a look of mild disappointment, Luid—
Swish.
—cast a sight-blocking barrier spell! And while he was at it, he muted all the surrounding noise as well.
What you can't see can't hurt you. In theory, this air bubble would survive a nuclear blast going off right beside it.
Luid was deeply content.
"I'm a genius."
A comfortable pillow. A plush bed. A cozy blanket. One spell, and he'd achieved all three at once.
Being a genius was supposed to be nothing more than a character trait in a novel, but Luid drifted off to sleep thinking he wasn't half bad himself.
Amelia strode swiftly through the forest.
It really won't do after all.
Earlier, she'd been swept up in Luid's pace and retreated—but she simply could not, would not, stand by and watch her one and only little brother live like a loser. Not if there was dirt in her eyes.
She resolved to give him a firm scolding as she made her way toward where Luid was.
"Lui… huh?"
Nobody was there. There were traces of flattened grass, but that was all.
Where did he go?
She spotted his shoes. Since he'd left them behind, he surely couldn't have gone far. Besides, the only proper path through this forest was the very one she'd just come by.
A chill of dread seized Amelia.
"Luid! Lui!"
She searched all around, shouting with a voice edged in panic. But there was no trace of Luid anywhere.
Could he have gotten lost?
Just then, Amelia noticed droplets of water scattered over the spot where Luid had been only moments before. Slowly, she lifted her head.
Lake Delin glittered in the light. The ground around its edge was wet.
A terrible thought struck her like lightning.
Don't tell me—he rolled into the lake in his sleep.
The back of her neck went clammy with sweat. It was entirely plausible. Once Luid fell asleep, he slept deeply, and he was a restless sleeper at that.
"N-no—"
Amelia dove into the lake without a moment's hesitation.
He can't be. He CAN'T be.
Her heart felt like it was plummeting out of her chest. She swam frantically toward the lake bottom—and then she saw it.
Her little brother, sleeping peacefully inside a bubble of water.
Grrrgle.
"……"
Amelia stared at the absurd spectacle with the dead-eyed stare of a week-old fish.
"Honestly, are you out of your mind or not?"
"……Sorry."
"I don't care how you spin it, who on earth decides to sleep at the bottom of a lake?! If your concentration slips even a little, you DROWN. DROWNED!"
Amelia thoroughly dressed Luid down while looking like a drowned rat herself. Luid blinked slowly and repeated the same words.
"Sorry."
Amelia let out a sigh.
That had been genuinely terrifying. She'd nearly fainted when she realized what could have happened to Luid—her blood had run ice cold. She was relieved he was safe, but she never wanted to experience that again.
This isn't going to work, is it.
Luid thought, still half-asleep. He'd completely forgotten about Amelia. She came looking for him three times a day, so of course she'd notice if he wasn't where he was supposed to be.
Come to think of it, how did she find me?
He decided to let that one slide. Luid let out a long, drawn-out yawn.
"Perfect timing, actually. Sis."
"Anyway, from today you're really going to start attending class—huh?"
"I need a pillow."
"Ah, right. If Luid needs something, I should get it—wait, are you even listening to me right now?"
"You said not to sleep at the bottom of the lake."
"That's… true, but… why am I getting mad?"
Amelia grumbled, feeling oddly aggrieved.
"Anyway—a pillow?"
"Look at that."
Luid pointed at the book he'd been sleeping on.
"Pretty hard, isn't it?"
"Well, yes, mm. It is a book."
"My neck's all stiff."
Luid rubbed the back of his neck with a tap tap.
"So I'd like you to go find me a nice, comfortable pillow, Amelia."
"Ah, sure. Got it. Just find a pillow, right?"
"Bring it back quickly."
"Okay, okay."
Amelia smiled brightly and turned to head back the way she'd come.
She didn't make it more than a few steps.
Whoosh—she spun around and rushed back to Luid.
"Wait, no! That's not it!"
Thankfully, this time he'd come to his senses. Amelia steeled herself and sat down on the ground, patting the spot in front of her as if ordering Luid to sit, glaring at him all the while.
"Classes started a whole week ago, Lui."
"Mm."
"I don't care that the Headmaster permits your laziness—a first-year shouldn't be doing this from the very start."
"Why not?"
"What do you mean, why? Well, because…"
Amelia faltered. There was no denying it—her little brother was a genius beyond all reason.
Luid had been able to cast magic from the moment he was born. He'd moved mana before he ever learned to speak. When he was ten, the family had hired a tutor from outside, and Luid had beaten him the instant they met. The Master of the Magic Tower, hired at great expense at the time, was reportedly still battling depression over it.
No one could explain why a magical genius had been born into House Windsor, a family famed for the sword. But one thing was certain: the Academy's level was nowhere near enough for him.
"…M-magic isn't everything, you know. The depths of learning are as vast as the sea."
"Like what, for example?"
"Well, that would be…"
Amelia's eyes darted around. Luid's brilliance had never been confined to magic alone. Before he'd been dubbed the Lazy Young Master, his nickname had been the Reincarnation of the Sage.
He was far smarter than she was—and she'd spent her whole life handling nothing but the sword.
But then Amelia remembered why she was here in the first place.
"Social skills, Luid. Attending the Academy is about learning academics, yes, but it's also about learning to navigate human relationships. Meeting all kinds of different people."
So pleased with herself for saying it that she sniffed and rubbed her nose proudly.
"Now, you understand, right? You sleep at home, and at the very least you attend—"
"Why do I need social skills?"
Amelia's eyebrow twitched. She was irritated by her little brother's constant back-talk.
But one look at his face and her anger melted away on its own, so she answered gently.
"Being alone is a sad thing, Luid. Humans can't live by themselves. You may be a genius, but that's the one area where you're genuinely lacking. You haven't made a single friend your whole life, have you?"
"If that's all it is, I don't need them."
This time, Amelia truly resolved to give him a scolding he'd remember.
But then—
"I have you, Sis."
"……"
A single sentence from Luid, and she melted like ice cream left in the sun.
Amelia tried to hold back her laughter, but it kept escaping, and she scratched her head with a sheepish chuckle.
"Hehe. Right? With a sister like me around, who needs anyone else? My little brother really is a genius."
Amelia affectionately ruffled Luid's hair, then rose to her feet.
"Well then, Sis will come back after classes end, so sleep tight~"
"Mm. Don't forget the pillow."
"Yes, yes. Got it."
And so Amelia marched off toward the main building with a spring in her step.
"Playing the doting big sister is exhausting."
The moment Amelia disappeared from view, Luid stretched with a long yawn and flopped back onto his bed of grass.
Ah, cozy as ever.
"Fifteen years of schooling was plenty."
He'd already done fifteen years of school in his previous life. Being made to attend school again in this one went against the grand plan of living a happy, leisurely life.
Stress is the root of all illness.
Luid intended to live a long, long time.