Volume 1 - Magic and Growth ①

<Author's Note>

Since I haven't posted a chapter yesterday... or two? due to personal circumstances... 

I'll be posting two chapters for today (I think) so enjoy!

...

A few days after my birth, my parents were forced to put me under the care of Clara Meire Schultz, my Mama Diana's personal maid, and a dear friend of hers due to the threat of being forcibly taken by the holy knights of the Holy Sirussiyan Empire for scanning whether I'm the Hero that they were looking for, or not.

With that being said, my identity has now changed from being their daughter to them to an adoptive child of Mama Clara, which I'm now named "Emi Meire Schultz". My residence has also been moved from within the main household to the Maid Quarters which is not far from there.

At only 7 months of crawling through a lot, I've walked for the first time in my new life. I really tried hard on doing so to get my new body to get used to it. 

When Mama Diana and Papa Edmund caught wind of the news, they already celebrated that achievement between the three of them in secret even though Mama Diana herself is already 6 months pregnant with a second child. I can't believe that I'm already going to have a little brother or sister?!

Though they only did that to avoid suspicion from the eyes of the other nobles, I'm still quite happy for them as someone who's technically the same age as the two of them...

At age of 9 months, I can already speak short phrases shortly after speaking my first words although I only painted myself to speak like a baby at this time around to not be suspected. 

But even with that manner, it's still quite an achievement for a baby to do that, and the maids within the mansion were quite suspicious as to how the parents abandoned such a child like that in front of the mansion's gate.

I guess that the ruse that Mama Diana, Papa Edmund, and Mama Clara have worked spectacularly. Though this time around would also be the time when Mama Diana is at her most sensitive due to her pregnancy, so she's mostly out of the public's eye at this time around.

Mama Clara meanwhile would juggle her responsibilities of both being a maid attending to Mama Diana, and being a mother to me which is really admirable in my eyes though quite a weird experience since I can already think consciously even before getting born.

At the age of 18 months, I was brought to the library room within the mansion by Mama Clara to help me read through the usual children's stories that were stored inside the room. It became a bi-weekly occurrence that happens every night of that day.

That was when I learned about a lot of stories around the world, especially the mythical stories that have been passed through from generation to generation. Especially the story of the First Hero who fought against the Demon Lord and its army with his party friends.

Meanwhile, these are also the times when I need to act like a curious child and ask her about magic...

[Come on now, Edmund! Give your all into this or I'm going to swoop that Duke title off of you!]

[You don't need to remind me that, Clara!]

At the age of 3 years old, I am capable to walk continuously and was also allowed to watch Papa Edmund and Mama Clara fight which often happens weekly. It was quite a spectacle to see the two of them fight even if it was for training.

Parries after parries, fast evasions after one another, their speeds are literally something out of this world. At one point, Mama Clara seemed to have coated something on her magic sword which its blade turned into flames, and shouted.

[O'fire, endow this blade with your fiery will. Flame Wave!]

[W-Wait! Wait! Magic's not fair!]

...

After they were finished training, the two of them came over to the seating that I, Mama Diana, and my baby brother who's named Clarence by my father. Mama Clara looked pretty relieved after sparring with Papa Edmund while he, on the other hand, Father has some burnt marks on his clothes. 

While Mama Diana was attending to Papa Edmund and checking on whether he had something wrong with his body, Papa Edmund meanwhile is drinking a glass of water while panting heavily due to the rigorous sparring that they were doing. I then immediately asked Mama Clara.

[...Mama...?]

[Yes, Emi-chan?]

[Mama is powerful right? Coz Mama took down Uncle Edmund.]

[Y-Yes, that's right...]

[Then why is Mama not the Du--]

[G-fuhhh!]

Papa Edmund almost spilled the glass of water he was drinking from his mouth which prompted Mama Clara to immediately reply to my question.

[Emi-chan, please don't blurt out and say things like that out loud... Your Da-- Uncle Edmund is crying because of what you said, you know...?]

[Ehhhh... Then why is Uncle Edmund weak?]

[G-fuhhh!]

When I asked that question with good acting as a curious child, Papa Edmund spits the water from the glass of water he drank from his mouth which made both Mama Diana and Clarence laugh while Papa Edmund began sulking afterward from that.

[Mama!]

[What is it, Emi-chan?]

[How did you do that flamy thingy on your sword?]

[Ah, I endowed the magic sword's blade with some fire-attribute magic that I have as a Magic Swordsman.]

[What's a Magic Swordsman, Mama?]

[Ah... It's basically a combination of a Mage and a Swordsman. Those who fight at short range and at long range like a swordsman and mages would have their obvious shortcomings. But a Magic Swordsman would be able to fight not just on both short range and long range, but also on the mid-range which is usually covered by spearman.]

[Your Mama's right, Emi-chan. Coincidentally, I'm a priestess so I can do healing and support magic in general while your fa--Uncle Edmund is a Swordsman like what you're seeing right now... errr... he's just sulking now...]

As Mama Diana tried to boast Papa Edmund, the three of us remembered that he was sulking from the "conclusion" that I made... I'm sorry, Father... But it's a necessary way for me to ask them about magic and stuff...

[Mama, I want to learn magic!]

[Uhhhh... Emi-chan, you're only three years old. I mean...]

As I tried to ask Mama Clara about me learning magic, she immediately tried to shut down the idea but Mama Diana nodded a little bit as if she agrees with what I wanted. Mama Clara sighed and responded to my question with an answer.

[You can study the basics, Emi-chan. But great mental concentration and control are needed to even control magic. If not...]

[If not...?]

[Your body would heat up so much that you would go ka-boom!]

[EH?!]

[That's why as long as there's someone who can watch over you while you're trying to practice non-attribute magic, it's alright to me... But no practicing elemental-attribute magic alright?]

She said while having a defeated tone as she warned me not to practice elemental-attribute magic. I can sense that Mama Clara is really worried about me, so I responded...

[U...Uhhhh...]

[What is it?]

[No magic for me... I don't want to go ka-boom!]

While I can practice secretly about that, I don't want them to worry about me after all so I'll always remember her warnings from now on... 

The four of us then went back our separate ways as the skies are currently darkening as night comes some several minutes later.

It's already around bedtime right now and Mama Clara's getting herself ready to sleep while I was sitting on the bed while reading a book that tackles the basics of magic control, the nature of magic crystals, and magic in general.

[Mama...]

[Yes, Emi-chan?]

She turned around as she finishes brushing her hair in front of the mirror as I replied to her.

[If some magic crystals have elemental attributes, then why can't they be used for mama's work...?]

[Eh?]

She immediately approached me and sat beside me on the left side. As she looks over at the book that I have been reading, she can also see a chalkboard and chalk that's on my right side.

[What do you mean by that, Emi-chan...?]

[Uhmmm... The book says that if Mama were to pour mana into the magic crystal, it'll activate the magic crystal's elemental magic as a form of magic... Is that right, Mama?]

[Y-Yeah, that's right Emi-chan... It's common knowledge here...]

[If Mama's cooking, why use firewood instead of magic crystals...?]

As I asked that question as a way of testing her reaction, she sighs in relief as she responded.

[Because using mana continuously for cooking would be dangerous for anyone who uses it when used for a long time, Emi-chan...]

[The book also says that there's also the example of the antimagic crystals... They suck mana from their surroundings, causing magic to not work on its surroundings and would crack spontaneously, right?]

[Y-Yeah... That's mostly common around the Gaia Federation... What of it, Emi-chan?]

Now that I also asked about the antimagic crystals that I've read in the book, it's now time for me to act as a scholar... I'm already a member of a research organization from my past life, so I need to utilize what I've been thought not just in science, but also in my anime logic as well.

To test things out, I need their support for that matter...

[What if the antimagic crystals have the power to store mana, and a magic circle capable of releasing mana from an antimagic crystal linked to it... and then it would be utilized to the fire crystal for Mama's cooking... Would that be good for Mama?]

[Eh...?]

[Eh?]

[[Ehhhhhh?]]

Meanwhile... It's currently morning now. While Emi is still asleep, Diana and Edmund were in a meeting with someone else inside the reception room when Clara told the two of them about what Emi has made with the chalkboard.

[Seriously? Emi-chan thought of this??]

[T-That's right, Your Royal Highness... I wished that I was just kidding when she said that but...]

Clara replied after Diana's surprised reaction. As the two of them were done looking at them, Diana laid the chalkboard on the coffee table and shows it to that someone else.

[Ohoooo...? I'm quite interested in that idea. It could even be a revolutionary invention if handled well by research, Duchess Celestia. Do you mind if I asked who is this Emi-chan? Is she a researcher under your tutelage?]

All three of them looked at each other and synchronously sighed as Edmund responded to his question.

[I wish it was just a whim of ridiculous ideas that any 3-year-old kid would have but... the idea seems surprisingly plausible for an idea that was thought up by a 3-year-old girl...]

[She's only three?!?!]

[Y-Yeah... Moloch-san... I deeply trust our business relationship with each other. But Emi-chan is still three and you still need to consider the approval of Clara as her parent for anything that's related to the child.]

[Indeed, Duke Celestia... If that's the case, then can I visit Miss Schultz's daughter after our meeting here...?]

[Clara?]

As Edmund asked Clara a question, Clara went silent for a few moments before hearing a sigh from her and responded...

[If that's the case, then I could bring Emi-chan here later since she's still sleeping right now. I think that the idea itself would be plausible if researched well enough... Would that be alright...?]

[That's good enough for me, Miss Schultz. I want to see the genius innovator in front of my eyes.]

Meanwhile, back at the Maid Quarters...

"Achoo~!" *sniff*

A loud but child-like cute sneeze would be heard from Emi who's currently reading the book, unbeknownst... or would be probably as she has expected to what was discussed from the main mansion...