Prologue
The memories of her mother in her previous life are few. Not that they were ostensibly on bad terms, but her mother was cold toward Elria. They only spoke the bare minimum, and there was no conversation between them that felt like a typical parent-child relationship.
That was why Elria immersed herself in the study of magic. It was a way for little Elria to capture her mother’s attention, thinking that if she could accomplish something amazing, her mother would praise her. That was a pure and innocent desire of a child.
However… this may have been the reason that drove her mother away. Not only did little Elria study and master sorcery like an adult, but she also delved into developing a new technology called ‘Magic’, which must have seemed unusual. And with each passing day, she had fewer chances to converse with her mother.
On the other hand, Elria seemed to have had many conversations with her father.
“Father, I want to read this book.”
It was an academic book related to the sorcery that her father had.
Her father was often away from home, and even when he was at home, he confined himself to his room. Compared to her mother, Elria had far fewer opportunities to meet with him. Despite that, little Elria wanted to know more about her father.
But even so, her father scratched his head in embarrassment and smiled.
“Hmm… even if El reads it, I think it’s probably too difficult to understand, you know?”
“Mm, it’s difficult to understand?”
“Yeah.”
“But I don’t think I should avoid reading it just because I don’t understand.”
“…El really says deep things.”
And so, with a troubled expression on his face, her father read the academic book to Elria.
Elria sat on her father’s lap, and whenever she did not understand a word or meaning, he carefully explained it in a way that even a child could understand.
Then, it became a daily routine for her to sneak into her father’s study and read academic books whenever he was not around. She would demonstrate her sorcery skills in front of him when he came back home.
Seeing Elria like this, her father would smile happily.
“El is really such a hard worker.”
He said that as he gently stroked her head.
“Yes, I did my best.”
“Yeah. I never thought you would understand sorcery so quickly.”
said her father while looking up at the towering tree in front of them. It was created by Elria’s sorcery.
She had prepared various catalysts, arranged them to create a synergistic effect, and constructed a formation to ensure that the magic power flowed in the correct order. It was Elria’s masterpiece.
“With this, I challenge Father to ‘Gekokujō’.”
“…Where did you learn that word?”
“It was written in a book.”
“Come to think of it, you said you started reading other books after reading all the academic books…”
“I read them all and memorized them all.”
As little Elria proudly puffed out her chest, her father scratched his head, looking troubled.
“Well, since you’ve challenged me to gekokujō, I have no choice but to accept it…”
“Bring it on!”
“…El learns more words every time we meet.”
As her father patted Elria on the head ―― the exact same towering tree was created next to the one she had made. It broke through the ground, mowing down the surrounding trees, and grew towards the sky.
As Elria looked at the towering tree, her father smiled a little proudly.
“Let’s see. I guess mine is taller.”
“…Father, you’re acting childish for someone who is dealing with a child.”
“Ugh… I don’t know what to say to that!!”
“But how did you do it?”
Despite being a child, Elria had a complete understanding of the basic fundamentals and principles of sorcery. However, what her father just did was a technique that deviated from those theories.
“Father, please tell me how you did it.”
“Hmm… I don’t think I can do that.”
Her father smiled wryly as usual. However, it was the first time he refused to teach her something. That was why Elria pouted.
“Not only is Father immature, but you’re also mean…”
“My evaluation as a father is going to plummet…”
But then her father continued speaking,
“Rather than me teaching El, I think it’s better for you to discover the answer on your own.”
“……On my own?”
“Yeah. It’s easy to just give El the answer, but that would take away the fun of exploring and discovering new things for yourself, wouldn’t it? So from now on, instead of just focusing on sorcery, it might be good to put effort into creating new things.”
He then patted Elria’s head as usual ――
“So that you can create a technique that can fulfill your wish. You can call it ‘Magic’ or whatever you like.”
He spoke to the little Elria with a gentle smile.
