Chapter 6: You did not see me.
As the light of dawn shone down on my reality, and the chirpings of the birds pushed away the foggy world, the body of a young toddler woke up from slumber. My days are spent from early mornings. Nothing much, just light stretching for good health. Of course it wasn’t anything as brutal as actually exercising. The only reason I even did this is to build a habit. Plus, moving different muscles at once burns calories. The future me will appreciate all the hard work I’m doing today.
As I came down from my blanket, I entered the courtyard to learn magic with Roxy in the mornings. That said, her indescribably terrible classroom only left me with a desire to want more than this. Well, considering that I’ve been yawning from here and there, it wouldn’t even be weird to assume that I dislike magic. But no. I actually prefer magic. I was a magic maniac in my previous life, after all.
Well, I guess calling her teaching skills horrible is a bit too much. Rather, her patience was lacking to the point where this woman wouldn’t even consider the possibility of failure on the first try. And then, when her two miraculously abnormal twins succeeded, she would nod to herself while muttering "See? I knew I could teach"… Seriously, if life is not a chore, then I must assume that reality has been cast aside so that this woman could prove herself.
And then there’s physical training with Paul in the afternoons. Another hell of Spartan stamina training. Well, technically… I was just running like a kid, so it wasn’t as dramatic as one might think.
In the evenings, I went on reading about magic circles. It was a horror movie. Like learning chemistry all over again. Roxy was not well versed in it either, so I was like a blind bat learning how to see colors. But I eventually decode—deduce, to be exact—but basically it’s a mix of numbers, symbols, and shapes, as well as runic words that I believe are Anglo-Saxon. Not that knowing how it works made it easier.
“Hah. If I knew I was going to reincarnate, then I would have learned the damn thing.”
I sighed. How was I supposed to know that reincarnating into novels was a real thing? Hah. At the rate I’m going, it might not be a bad thing to try and make a dictionary. Well, maybe around five or six, considering that I intended to travel the continents. Ooh~ Maybe I can make a translator. That’d be nice.
I lay down in bed, trying to sleep with all these ludicrous thoughts. But the vigorous sounds coming from the other side implied that today was one of those days. Hah. I covered my heated face. I’m never going to get used to this, aren’t I?
Maybe it was because I wasn’t used to this body yet that my physical reaction was harder to control. Or maybe it was because I died a virgin that it was affecting me so deeply. Looks like I’m a Greyrat to the bones. Now I’m starting to get curious about the act of intimacy with a woman, especially more since, in this life, my chance of dating is far higher than ever. I’m born with good genes, after all. Damn, now I’m horny.
I crawled up, carrying my usual pen in my right ear. Being a young bachelor in my 20s—well, I’m not that young, considering I have around 4 more years in life. Anyway, hearing the moans and sounds coming from the other room was no different from hearing ASMR.
Normally I would tire myself from exercise and not even be awake at this hour, so I would never have to face this reality. But it seems today wasn’t enough. Has this body already grown used to my regimen? Looks like I must push myself to new limits again. I’m doubling it. Four rounds a day it is. I’ll probably manage to push it into a full one hundred eventually. Eventually.
But first, how do I deal with this? Ah, wait, there is a way. I’m a child. Well, not literally; mentality speaking, I AM old enough to know the biological workings of a man. But being a child—at least in appearance—has its benefits.
Splashing cool water on my face to calm myself down, I went out. Hah, walking around is a hassle. Should I just splash water at Rudeus and make him do it instead? I think Rudeus just went back to sleep. Was he tired today?
Whatever. I just need to play the innocent card. Actually, it might be fun to see what kind of excuses they would make. Hah! Imagine you were humping like rabbits and suddenly your three-year-old came and asked you why you were naked.
Ah, to be bullying people at my age. Shame on you, Laurel. It seems like I have had a sadistic streak in my past life. I never knew since I never had friends. Well, not that kind of close compatriots, at least. I should be careful when growing up. This world seems to have more bad influences in comparison to modern society. I am the only one who can take care of my own mental health.
With that in mind, I slipped out of my room as quietly as I could. Yup. All for the sake of my sleep. Except that I forgot this was a well-known scenario. And I realized why Rudeus came back. Only a little too late. The sudden stopping in the middle of the stairs caused a lack of balance, and while I did not make a sound, the pen on my ear thought otherwise.
Thud. Thud. Thud. It fell. While the dropping sound of the pen wasn’t enough to stop the lovely rabbits from enjoying their time together, it did stop a certain blue-haired lady who was enjoying herself from peeking into the bedroom.
“…”
"…"
I could feel the heat creeping up my face as we stared at each other. I was NOT built for this. Handling my parents, sure, but handling Roxy? To be fair, our relationship is that of teacher and student. But to be honest, despite being twice my age, Roxy was more like an older neighboring sister than a respectable teacher. And walking into your sister’s room when she’s… Never mind that.
“L-Laurel, I-”
Before anything weirder could happen, I decided that the best thing to do was simply walk away. Yup. I saw nothing. You did NOT see me. The fallen pen flew towards my right ear as I calmly walked up the stairs.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, my rationality is telling me that I should fix this mess, but my instincts are telling me otherwise. Next time, I’m attaching that pen to a string. No, wait, double down on telekinesis instead. Actually, maybe I should learn hypnosis and make myself sleep. That might be better.