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Prologue
“Leon, are you okay!? Father’s here! Can you hear me!?”
“Leon! Are you awake!? Leon, answer me!!”
Ugh~, it is so noisy. And my head hurts so much. The noise is pounding in my head, please be quiet. While thinking that, I managed to open my heavy eyelids, and there were strangers in front of me. Who are they? Where am I? The incomprehensible sight in front of me further confused me, and then a wooden ceiling came into view. My house had a white ceiling. This is not my house, right? Then where am I?
“Leon, are you okay!? Does it hurt anywhere? Can you hear your mother? You fell down the stairs and hit your head. You were unconscious for a while and I was so worried about you…”
As I was confused, an unfamiliar woman spoke to me in a rather agitated manner. Fell down the stairs? And who is Leon? I’m Ryosuke Ichigaya. I do not know anyone with a foreign-sounding name like Leon… Ugh, my head hurts, I cannot think straight. Let’s think about this confusing situation later and go back to sleep. Maybe this is just a dream. If I fall asleep and wake up, I should be back to my normal daily life. Thinking so, I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
“*Yawn~*, I slept well… wait, where am I!?”
Come to think of it, I had a dream where I woke up in an unfamiliar place… Could it be that it was not a dream!? Why am I in this unfamiliar place? I was supposed to finish my lecture at university and go home. And then I left the university… What happened after that? Eh? I do not remember. Wait, there is a memory of something exploding or something… No, I cannot remember at all. I scratched my head vigorously with my hand, trying to dig up memories.
Then I felt something strange. My hand, why is it so small? Feeling that, I brought my palm to my face, and there was a child’s hand. What is going on!? I frantically checked my entire body. And there it was… a child’s body. Wait, I cannot grasp the current situation at all. It is too incomprehensible. Come to think of it… I was surrounded by strangers in my dream. And they called me Leon. Could it be that I became Leon or something? No, that is too ridiculous…
When I was deep in thought, suddenly, a sharp pain ran through my head, and memories from when I was Leon flooded in. Ugh… what is this? My head feels sick. And what are these memories? Did I really become Leon?
―― For a while after that, I was attacked by intense pain and nausea. Now it has finally settled down. But the current situation is still incomprehensible. According to the memories of Leon that suddenly came to me, this place is not Japan, or even Earth. What is really going on… I am so confused by this situation that it is too unbelievable. Just then, the door to the room I was sleeping in opened.
“Leon, are you awake? Are you okay now?”
This person is… Leon’s mother. I know that from Leon’s memories. She is a beloved mother in Leon’s memories, but for me, she is a stranger. But it is definitely better if nobody finds out that Leon has become Ryosuke Ichigaya. Nobody will believe it, and it would be troublesome if they said something like a demon possessed me…
And so, I have no choice but to pretend to be Leon.
“Good morning, Mother. It doesn’t hurt anywhere, and I’m okay. I fell down the stairs, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did! You have to be careful. Mother was really worried, you know!?”
“I’m sorry. I’ll be careful from now on.”
“You better be. Anyway, Leon, we already had breakfast, but do you want to eat something?”
Mother peeks into my face with a very worried look and asks. I guess I should not make her worry, but I am not feeling hungry right now because I am just confused. I just want to be alone for a little while to organize my thoughts.
“I’m not hungry yet, so I think I’ll pass. I’ll have lunch, though.”
“Really? Then get some more rest until lunchtime, okay?”
She says that and pats my head before leaving the room.
Whew~, at least it seems like nobody noticed. Anyway, I need to organize my thoughts.
First of all, did I die on Earth? I do not remember anything about that. However, based on Leon’s memories, I know that I am currently in a different world as Leon. It is probably best to assume that it is almost impossible to return to Earth, even though I worked hard to get into the university that I wanted to attend. And I would not be able to see my family or friends again… Thinking about my life on Earth, tears kept flowing from my eyes. I cried quietly for a while, but I realized that it would not do me any good to keep crying. So I decided to accept reality for now.
“It’s sad, but I have to understand the current situation first.”
I slapped my cheeks with both hands to pump myself up.
First, I need to think about Leon’s memories. It is strange, but even though my body is Leon’s, my personality has completely become Ryosuke Ichigaya’s. I can remember Leon’s memories if I try to remember them, but they would not come to mind if I do not try.
According to his memories, Leon had just turned 8 years old recently. I remember celebrating his 8th birthday. The seasons exist, but the temperature difference between summer and winter is not as severe as in Japan. However, it might be harder because there are no heaters or air conditioners.
Also, Leon lives in Lasria, the royal capital of the Kingdom of Lathlasia. His family apparently runs a restaurant there. His father’s name is Jean, his mother’s name is Loana, and his younger sister’s name is Marie. It is a family of four.
Leon’s daily routine is helping out at home when the restaurant is open, and when it is closed, he goes to the nearby forest with the neighborhood children to pick fruits, edible wild plants, firewood, and so on. He also buys snacks with his small allowance.
Leon does not know the exact number of days in a year or the exact time of a day, but there are churches in each region, and people keep track of time by listening to the sound of the bells ringing from there. The bells ring four times a day: morning, noon, evening, and bedtime. The number of times the bell rings in the morning indicates the day of the week, and it goes from one to five for the Day of Fire, Day of Water, Day of Wind, Day of Earth, and Day of Healing. It seems that these five days are repeated, so maybe a week is five days long. I thought the Day of Healing was like Sunday, but according to Leon’s memories, the restaurant does not usually take a day off unless there is a special circumstance, so there might not be a concept of a day off in this world.
As for money, when converted to Japanese yen, iron coins seem to be worth 10 yen, small copper coins are worth 100 yen, and copper coins are worth around 1000 yen. There are probably coins with higher value, but I cannot tell from Leon’s memories.
And this is the most important thing. It seems that there is magic in this world. According to Leon’s memories, almost everyone can use magic fundamentally. Each person can use magic of one attribute, which are fire magic, water magic, wind magic, earth magic, body strengthening magic, and healing magic, making a total of six attributes. It seems that the amount of magic that can be used is determined by the amount of magic power one has.
Around the age of 8, one can receive a magic power measurement and learn about their attributes and how to use magic at the church. Leon recently turned 8, so he is planning to go there soon. I am looking forward to this.
Oh, there is one more important thing. It is the level of development in this world. At least in Leon’s sphere of life, this world is not as developed as modern Earth. There is no running water, so everyone uses well water. Consequently, there is no bathtub or flush toilet. For the bath, water is scooped into a bucket, and one cleans themselves with a cloth. The toilet is more of a pit latrine or pit toilet.
Well, I can tell the level of development by looking at this room. There are no glass windows, only wooden window shutters. The bed has a wooden frame, but it is covered with straw and cloth. Furthermore, there is no electricity. There are candles, so they probably use those at night. The window is open now, so it is bright with natural light, but for me, who was used to living in a building with lights on during the day in Japan, it still feels dim. And then, there is the door that Mother went out of earlier in this room.
I do not think I can endure this without somehow raising the living standards here. For that, I need to gather information. Little is known from combing through Leon’s memories. After all, he is still a child, so he has a lot of vague knowledge, and there are probably many things he does not know. I have to learn them from now on.
For the time being, I should adapt to this world and make sure that no one knows that I have become Ryosuke Ichigaya.
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