Chapter 4: Reversi (1/2)

Lute,  4 years old.

Johann Cruyff, former soccer representative of Netherland, said,『The foundation of it all is ball control. If I can’t control the ball then I will run after the ball in another sport.』

So rather than using magic, I decided I will start to train to control my Maryoku.

But after becoming 4 years old, you needed to look after the younger children.

Conversely, it means I was permitted to do what I wanted after that.

There were three 2- to 3-year-old boys and girls we had to take care of.

And we four 4-year-olds had to take care of them daily.

We were expected to keep them company at the『Nursery』room where there were 2 to 4 year-old children sleeping.

But since all 3, except me, were girls, I let them involuntary take care of the children.

Thanks to that, I could devote myself to improve my control technique on my Maryoku.

I took up a corner of the nursery and recalled the content of El-sensei general lecture class.

El-sensei explained what『Maryoku』concretely was.

Maryoku is the energy that enters a person through soul as its vessel.

The amount of soul to maintain a body—and soul—hardly changes regardless of race.

Maryoku refers to the amount of energy which is contained in the soul except the part that is necessary to maintain the body and soul.

The amount of Maryoku also varies widely by race.

It may be as large as a lake, a basin, or as small as a cup of glass.

And if Maryoku is completely spent, the energy which maintains the body and soul will be insufficient and will cause fainting.

I will faint, since I will not be able to maintain the condition within my spirit and body once I spent all my Maryoku.

If that was the case, then I would start to grasp the total amount of Maryoku and measure how much of it could be used before reaching the limit.

I kept my eyes closed while I focus my consciousness inside.

In the center of my chest, I felt a warm clump faintly.

I imagined slowly pouring that warm light little by little to my right hand; the light moved from thecenter of my chest to my right hand.

There was neither sense of Maryoku consumption, nor fatigue, nor despondency in the body.

I tried to release the Maryoku that I collected in my right hand outside.

「Uoo….」

About half of the light was released.

The body became heavy like after a sleepless night.

Is this clump of light itself the useable amount of Maryoku?

My expectations were probably right—my intuition tells me so.

The next day.

In the『Nursery』room, the girls were looking after the younger children.

I sat at the side of the corner of the room and started my special control training again on my Maryoku.

I closed my eyes and clumsily felt the warm light inside the center of my chest.

I imagined channeling my Maryoku little by little to my right hand.

Yesterday, I didn’t mind it because I only moved it to my right hand but the flow did not go straightforward.

The light was distorted like a straight line painted by a mouse.

The width of the lane was wavy and not uniform.

Is it possible to quickly send a stable amount to the point where I want it?

First, I needed to reach the point where I could freely adjust the width and straighten the flow myself.

If this became possible, then I could quickly send the necessary amount of Maryoku to the point where it was needed.

It would be fair to say that you needed to go that far if you wanted to control Maryoku without interference.

I’m fired up and rolled up my sleeves.

But the training was interrupted by the protests of the 3 girls.

「Lute-kun, you’ll get scolded if you don’t properly take care of the little kids with us!」

The young girl—called Snow—said that as the representative of the girls.

Her characteristics were: a shoulder-long silver hair, pure white skin, dog-ears and -tails. She was also from rare species called White Wolf tribe that was living on the Snowy Mountain of the North Continent.

She and I were childhood friends who get along very well. When we were babies, we were left behind in the orphanage at the same time.

Surprisingly in this world, there were almost no parents that leave a baby without notice behind.

In the orphanage, the children who came here are those whose parents died through illness, accident, war, etc.

It was because of Economic reasons that the other orphanage are full.

Because there were no relatives that they could rely upon, the two remaining girls in our group were brought over at the age of 3 when their parents died of illness and accident.

Snow and I, whose parents left us in front of the orphanage on the same day and were put on the same bed since we were babies, have strong childhood friendship and bonding.

Because of that, we often formed a pair of two.

While remembering that, I excused myself with a forced smile.

「I want to help you all very much but the way you you did is so good that I didn’t get a turn. That’s why I was sitting in a corner so that I won’t get in the way.」

They were really good at comforting the children.

And children were already sleeping comfortably in the bed.

Snow came with unyielding big eyes near my face and pose a demand.

「If that’s the case, then you can help playing house. We have roles enough for the four of us.」

「Playing house?」

When I turned my eyes, the other 2 girls were sitting down in the middle of the room and waited.

「If Lute-kun does not play, I will tell sensei that you skipped work.」

「Even though I didn’t skip it particularly… OK! Let’s play together.」

I gave in when El-sensei’s name came out.

I interrupted my special control training on my Maryoku and sluggishly got up.

「So which role should I take? Father or Master?」

「Lute-kun, you’ll take the role of a pink slime pet!」

「Is that really necessary…?」

I blurted out my reply.

On that day, I continued saying『purupuru』until the girls “released” me.

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

I was made to play house with the girls three days consecutive after doing the role of the pet.

During those days, either I took a pet role as a 『Black and White Rabbit』『Long Bearded Weasel』『Paradise Parrots』etc.

One time, I objected the role of a pet.

But was bluntly overruled.

They play house as noble ladies.

Raising a pet was a fashion sense for the wealthy. That was why they insisted the role of a pet was necessary for me.

A man cannot win against a woman using his mouth whether in the previous world or in this world.

Furthermore, the other party I lost to had three members.

Even though my mental age was over 30, there was no way I could win against them.

But even though I was obediently following them, it did not mean I was being pushed around by those 4-year-old children.

When there was time, I went to the dry river bed near the orphanage and gathered flat stones.

I painted one side with black ink and dried it.

I took an unneeded wooden board and carved a grid of 8×8(64 boxes) on it with a knife.

The 4th time playing house.

The girls requested the usual—the role of a pet.

This time, I came up with a certain condition.

「If any of you manages to defeat me in a game I made using the knowledge from the former world, I will keep the role of the pet.」

『Reversi』was laid before them.

「「「Lute-kun?」」」

The girls voice were in unison as they tilted their head.