Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Lumi
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The morning foraging trip for wild herbs didn't wrap up until late lunch that day.
On the way back to the village, I walked slowly alongside the boy, chewing on a grass root.
The weight of the herbs strapped to my back was quite heavy, so I had to descend the mountain carefully. Of course, there were other reasons to take it slow. After working from morning till lunch and returning to the village, even more labor awaited.
It was grueling for boys and girls just entering their growth spurts.
"We picked a lot. The Village Chief's gonna be happy."
"Yeah."
The bittersweet yet sweet taste of the grass root filled my mouth—it was the only snack for kids in this remote mountain village. If not for the boy, I might have bolted into the empty mountains without looking back.
I glanced down at my small palm, flexing it. At first, I'd denied it, but now I had to accept that I'd resigned myself to life in this mountain village. An irrational, illogical, unsanitary life... that I had to keep living.
After finishing the hard labor and arriving at the village with the Nameless Boy, the atmosphere felt a bit lively. Someone must have come to visit. Judging by the strangely excited vibe, it was probably a peddler.
"Looks like someone's come to the village."
The boy shouted excitedly and quickened his pace. In a remote place like this, a stranger's visit was one of the rare entertainments. I hurried after him.
In the center of our tiny mountain village, a spot that only filled up during festivals, a wide rock was surrounded by a crowd of people.
"There... that guy's the one, right...?"
"Yeah..."
Where the boy pointed, in the middle of the gathered villagers, stood a man who was clearly an outsider. His hair was gray like ash, and he wore a tattered robe that hid his frame.
Was something bothering him? His irritated expression twisted as his eyes darted around restlessly, his mouth muttering nonstop.
The distance was too great to hear his voice. Should I get closer? As I thought that and turned to the boy, he was already rushing toward the village center.
At that moment, the entire village turned their heads at once. It felt so far away that my feet froze.
Right after, the Village Chief spotted me and shouted.
"You're here! Lumi!"
He was the old man who'd been peeved at my recent slacking off. Why was he greeting me like that?
"Go with this man!"
Age nine or ten. Lumi from a nameless mountain village.
Sold off to a mysterious man today.
In this world, a little girl couldn't do much on her own. Even her own life depended on others' help. Hearing she'd been sold, she stayed calm because she figured life couldn't get much worse than the mountain village.
Rumble rumble—
Sitting in the corner of the mule-drawn cart, I stared blankly at the sky. For a bumpy dirt road, the ride wasn't too bad. My butt stung from the occasional jolts, but I wasn't in a position to complain.
"You're calm."
I turned at the unfamiliar voice to stare at the man. He looked at me with evident interest. Two pouches—one of salt, one of sugar. That was the price he'd paid for me.
"What am I supposed to do?"
A powerless little girl couldn't do many jobs right away. Dark imaginings flooded my mind, furrowing my brow naturally. The man watching me replied in a dry voice.
"Help with simple tasks. It won't be hard."
Was that true? He said that, but what if he resold me to some brothel? I couldn't voice those thoughts, though.
Someone once said life is like waves. I agreed. For now, I had to go with the flow.
The journey with the nameless man proceeded without much discomfort. The food was good, and I even got more than enough sleep. It was far more comfortable than life in the mountain village, packed with hard labor.
A week passed like that.
On the seventh day with him, we reached our destination—a wooden house nestled deep in the forest.
Life at the forest cabin was just as the man said: a series of simple tasks. I'd sort the odd items he brought back, handle meals and laundry, and that was it for my work.
Even after more than a week with him, I still didn't know his name. He hated interruptions during questions or contemplation, so I hadn't dared speak up.
Late into the night, when the man was asleep.
I got up alone, grabbed a book from the desk, and moved to the window. Bathed in faint moonlight, it had been two days since I started reading it. My first hobby since arriving here.
Truth be told, it was more like skimming pictures than reading words. Lumi, who'd lived her whole life in the mountain village, didn't know this world's writing. She only knew pronunciations of a few words she'd seen.
I opened the thick book, and unlike the previous ones, it had plenty of illustrations. A large circle overlaid with bizarre characters—a feast of strange symbols. Words in a system different from the book's text. Their very shape made them easy to distinguish.
What could this be? As I kept turning pages, a massive character took up an entire page.
As if entranced, I reached out and traced it with my finger.
Swoosh—
Moonlight seeped in from the window, soaking into the character. No, light was actually flowing into it. The pure white moonlight filled it and kept going, wrapping around my lingering finger.
A soft, cozy sensation.
"Wow..."
Before I knew it, faint moonlight bathed my surroundings.
Then, a gentle breeze blew, sweeping away all the soft light around me. I reached for the vanishing glow, but it slipped away.
As I felt regret at the sight, a sharp gaze pierced from nearby.
"Ah..."
When did he wake? The man who should be in bed stared at me with wide eyes, reaching out in shock.
Was reading the book without permission the problem? As I hurriedly bowed to apologize—
He spoke.
"What did you think you needed?"
"Huh?"
"Answer the question. Just now, you thought of something you needed. Tell me exactly what it was."
It was a sudden question, but his serious expression forced a quick reply.
What I'd thought I needed moments ago.
"Light... light."
Bright light to properly see the book. That was it.
At my answer, the man rose and flicked his hand. A faint breeze followed, snatching the book from my grasp.
"Picked up an unexpected gem."
The corner of the man's mouth curved softly. A rare moment when his usual irritable face relaxed.
The man, Raymond, said I had remarkable magical talent. People who could move mana on their own without training were exceedingly rare.
"Must be thanks to me. I read that ordinary folk near a great mage get influenced. Your dormant sensitivity to my mana must have awakened..."
Had he always been this talkative? After the predawn incident, Raymond's attitude toward me changed drastically. He'd treated me like a roadside pebble before, but now he handled me like a child.
Today was when I finally learned the name I'd gone over two weeks without knowing.
"You must carry on my school."
Raymond said it, looking strangely excited.
And like him, I was thrilled.
Magic.
Magic. Right after regaining my senses in this world, I'd vaguely hoped for it but half-given up due to reality. Now it was in my hands.
How could I not be happy? How could I not be excited? Magic was the power to manifest imagination, summoning mysteries to influence reality. Even the wind Raymond showed me was magic.
Anything would do. As long as it changed my life—little Lumi's life.
And if it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
I had to cling to it.
"First lesson. Imagine a large windmill within yourself. One powered by a gentle breeze."
"A windmill...? Why that?"
"Magic is reaching into this world's principles, studying and sifting their flows. It's creating nonexistent laws and imposing them on the world with imagination—that's power. So you need a clear image."
"Choose and focus?"
"Exactly. Mages wielding diverse phenomena never reach the heights. That's why we concentrate on one. Familiarity measures magic's power and casting speed."
"Hmm..."
"No other tasks today. Until dinner, prioritize erecting a grand windmill in your inner world."
Raymond gave me the assignment and left the house to gather ingredients for dinner.
Left alone, I closed my eyes and focused inward.
I pictured a large windmill as he said. But it wasn't easy. Imagining wind and a windmill triggered a chain of miscellaneous knowledge.
Windmills, wind, fans, pinwheels, typhoons, airplanes, and more.
The windmill's form in my mind kept shifting. Modern knowledge from my other world was holding me back.
'Why stick to just one...?'
I frowned at the natural question. Just because other mages did didn't mean I had to limit myself to one phenomenon.
Raymond said a mage's imagination determined magic's power.
I stopped imagining the windmill. What would be a good image to systematically organize diverse things?
Deep in thought, my eyes fell on a book on the desk.
'A book.'
In that instant, the image of a vast library took root in my inner world.