The two of them proceeded to ignore their meals and sat there frowning.
It seemed neither of them had any ideas.
I was the one concerned, so I couldn’t act like it was someone else’s problem.

“I have an idea. Why don’t we move to another country?” Maria started.
“Another country?”
“Yeah. I guess it’s fortunate, Nicole has the talent of enhancement magic, right? And we know people who are extremely skilled in magic training.”
“You mean Maxwell and Cortina?”
“Yeah.”
“But that still means, Nicole will be separated from us.”

Maxwell was one of the heroes, currently living in an elven country to the west.
There he managed a magic academy.
It was the best place in the world to receive magic training, but it was very far away from here.
Lyel defended the estate and single handedly acted as the village guard, so he couldn’t simply leave at his own convenience.
It was the same for Maria too.

Maria continued, “We’d also have to check with them.”
“That’s right. What do you think, Nicole? Do you want to go where Maxwell lives and learn magic?”

In my case, being able to use magic was one of my aspirations.
My first aspiration was becoming a swordsman, and my second was becoming a magic wielding swordsman.
It’s unfortunate that becoming a world cla.s.s swordsman in this body would be difficult. But if I made up my weakness with magic, becoming a successful swordsman wouldn’t just stay a hopeless dream.
And Maxwell was a world cla.s.s mage, Cortina worked with him as a teacher too.

Speaking of Cortina, as a mage she couldn’t quite be called world cla.s.s, but her quick thinking and practical ability were to be admired.
And there was Maxwell who was known as one of the best mages in the world.
I’m sure there were no shortage of mages in the world who would have liked to be taught by those two.

And I had connections to make that happen.

But I couldn’t reply immediately.
I was five year old child. If I immediately decided to live away from my parent’s, I would not be able to escape suspicion.

“Hmmm?”

So I pretended to not understand, and tilted my head to show them I was worried.
Seeing that, Lyel ran to me at the speed of light, and rubbed his bearded cheek on mine.

“Gyaa!”
“Ahh, why did we even consider parting with Nicole!? Papa will protect you forever!”
“Aren’t you hogging the hugging s.p.a.ce, dear?”

Maria hugged me from the other side.
Maria was fine, but I couldn’t describe rubbing cheeks with Lyel as anything but gross.
Gooseb.u.mps formed on my skin.

“Letーmeーgo!”
“Hahaha, you don’t like it!”
“Fuuhhhhh!?”

I pushed Lyel back with all my strength, but the difference in strength was similar to that of between a dragon and baby.

“Alright! I’ll go! To Maxweeel!”
“Eh, why!?”
“See dear, Nicole’s angry because you’re too clingy.”
“It’s my fault!?”

And like that, I decided to go see Maxwell to study magic.
However in Lalm, the earliest you could start school was seven years old. I needed another two years.
That would require putting off the royal palace’s request. I’m sure Lyel knew that too.

But even if my studies were decided, there was still the problem of Mich.e.l.le.
I visited her the next day, and asked her if she would like to come study with me.
Lyel and Maria had already successfully persuaded her parents.
It was my duty to persuade her. I was in her room face to face and worked hard to persuade her.

“Hey? Will you come to the Kingdom of Lalm with me?”
“Lalm is the country of the elves right? Are you going there?”
“Yeah. To study magic.”

Naturally, I couldn’t go study abroad alone. Just to be careful, Finia would be coming with me as my guardian.
Lalm Academy also had a facility to train warriors. The perfect place for Mich.e.l.le to go get the fundamentals of marksmanship drilled into her skull.
She was also someone who would probably suffer misfortune if she stayed in this country.

“But I can’t go with Mama and Papa……”
“Lalm has a dorm. You can live with Finia and I.”
“Yeah, but……”

I suppose this was a normal answer for a five year old. Mich.e.l.le was looking very reluctant.
But I couldn’t quit there. It was almost settled that I’d be going. It was easy to imagine me returning to this country to find her enlisted as a soldier.
She was my first friend in this life. I wanted to avoid that terrible situation at all cost.

“But……buut……”

Unable to decide, she started getting tears in her eyes. She was incredible timid for someone with a combat oriented gift.

“You will go with her, Mich.e.l.le.”

The voice of a brazen man cut into our conversation.
Mich.e.l.le’s father stepped into the room and stood at the entrance.

“Eh, but……”
“Will she be alright? By herself?”
“Yes. Lyel strongly requested us to allow Mich.e.l.le to study abroad. And since you can’t let a child go on her own, we’ll be coming too.”
“Really!?”

Mich.e.l.le’s suddenly started to smile, but economically, this should have been a very drastic decision.
Seeing my worried face, her father turned towards me and gave me a hearty grin.

“Lyel said he’d support us economically. We’ll be looking after you too.”
“Franco is a hunter, so he can survive anywhere there’s forest.”

Maria peeked over Mich.e.l.le’s father, Franco’s, shoulder and complimented him.
That reminded me he hunted for a living. With those skills, he’d have been able to thrive in the country of elves as it was surrounded by forests.

Mich.e.l.le was all smiles after finding out she’d be able to go with her parents.
Of course we wouldn’t be departing in the near future. We needed to spend two years diligently studying the fundamentals.
Even so, she was able to choose her future through her own will.

Our plans for the future had been settled.
We started studying because, in two years time, we aimed to enroll at the magic academy in the Kingdom of Lalm.
I had the Gift of Enhancement Magic.
It has the ability to temporarily interfere with a weapon and strengthen it’s attack or defense, so it’s a kind of support magic.
It definitely isn’t strong offensively, and the strengthening magic lasts at least a few minutes, or at most a single day. It’s not permanent.
It’s an easy magic to get the hang of; a student can use it after dabbling in magic just a little. That’s enhancement magic.

“That’s what I’m saying. It’s not something to look down on. In a close battle it’s effects can be the difference between life and death, and if it’s mastered to a high level, it can produce extraordinary results. Those are the strong points of enhancement magic.”

Maria puffed out her chest as she stood at the teacher’s podium.
This was a room in my―or rather Lyel’s estate that was being used to teach us magic.
Together with Mich.e.l.le who was looking to enter the academy as well, we began studying the fundamentals of magic.
She wasn’t going to be enrolling in the magician’s academy, rather the adventurer’s academy, but the chairman of both of them was Maxwell.

“Really?”

“Don’t you think this could be especially helpful for Mich.e.l.le? Nicole could strengthen Mich.e.l.le’s bow and then she’ll defeat the enemy, it’s a good combination you two could use.”
“That’s amazing! Let’s do it, Nicole!”

Mich.e.l.le announced cheerfully, fiercely raising her arms, but that was a.s.suming that I would eventually be able to use magic.
At that point, I could sense mana, but I was unable to reach the stage where I could produce any effects.

“But Mama―”
“Call me teacher, Nicole.”

She poked my forehead, and corrected me on what I should call her.
This was a habit of hers. Going overboard on the physical contact and acting overfamiliar.
She was a backline healer, and as someone who was usually being protected, it was rare for her to take the initiative and lead.

“Teacher, if it’s only possible to raise your base ability, we won’t be able to expect dramatic results, right?”
“Nicole, that’s a good point. But there are many kinds of enhancement magic. One of them is a magic that can enhance an existence itself.”
“Existence itself?”
“Yeah. For example there’s a magic that can enhance, well, monsters and transform them.”
“Monsters!?”

I was truly surprised.
Maxwell had used magic like that before, but I had never actually seen him transform a monster.
But after that, Maria said something more surprising.

“You can only transform living things if you know them very well.”
“Know them very well……”

That was right, you can transform into living things if you know them well. And the existence I knew the best, that was……

“Can I……transform into Rayd?”
“Rayd……? Ahh, you heard that from Finia. My friend from a while back.”
“Er, yeah. I did.”

I let that slip, a mistake, but the possibility existed.
I had reincarnated into a woman’s body, but there remained the chance to change back to a man.

“I want to use that transformation magic too!”
“It’s really difficult. It’s the peak of enhancement magic.”
“But I’ll do it! How long does it stay in effect?”
“I see, since the transformation puts a lot of pressure on the body, the effects seem to last quite long. Probably around a day?”

A day! That means once I became Rayd again, I wouldn’t have to transform until the next day.
Essentially, it would be similar to returning to my former body.

“Okay girls. The chat ends there. First, let’s start practicing how to sense the magic within our bodies.”

She clapped her hands and returned to teaching us basic magic theory.
But I couldn’t contain my excitement. I wouldn’t have been able to swing the sword in this body. But if I used this situation to learn Lyel’s sword skills, and used them in my former body……
I could maybe reach the heights I was aiming for.

I could already sense mana. For that reason, I put on an act, and made it seem I had succeeded in sensing mana just now.
Maria opened her eyes wide, seeing my quick success, but after I explained that I’ve felt something like this before, Maria looked satisfied and moved onto the next step.
Mich.e.l.le wasn’t yet able to sense magic, so for the time being I progressed to the next stage in magic cla.s.s without Mich.e.l.le.

Yesterday, Maria went into the courtyard of our estate and ordered Mich.e.l.le to fire an arrow at a wooden plank they were using as a target.
Mich.e.l.le followed Maria’s instructions, confused.

She had a small hunting bow suitable for her young age, and she furrowed her brows in concentration as she loaded the arrow, pulled tight, and…fired.

“Hmm, it’s pretty impressive being able to hit a target this far away at your age.”
“Ehehe.”

After Maria patted Mich.e.l.le’s head, she took us to check the target.
The arrow had pierced the bottom left of the plank, and the arrowhead was stuck halfway in.
It wasn’t enough force to hunt animals.

“Ooh, it didn’t go far in.”
“You aren’t strong enough yet, so there’s nothing you can do about that. Instead you should be proud you were able to hit it.”
“Yeah, you’re amazing Mich.e.l.le.”

The distance Mich.e.l.le shot through was actually more than ten metres.
Being able to hit a target at this distance was really impressive, especially since this was her first time touching a bow.
Even better that she was able to do it with a primitive child sized bow.

“Okay, let’s go back to where we were. Mich.e.l.le, can you shoot again?”
“Ah, yes.”

We went back to our starting point, and Mich.e.l.le fired the arrow again.
However this time, Maria put strengthening magic on it beforehand.
As Maria specialised in supporting, she knew some enhancement magic. Of course, she was far from the level that Maxwell was at.

The arrow curved, just like last time, and hit the bottom left of the target.
But, this time, the left half of the target split into two from the force and flew backwards.

“Oh, wow!?”
“We don’t need to check it this time. Right? Enhancement magic’s amazing, right?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“When Nicole is able to use magic, you’ll be able to do this kind of thing.”

I rushed over to the target and checked the broken piece.
The arrow was stuck in the middle of the fragment, and I was able to see it’s force.
It was fired by a young girl, yet it pierced deep into the wooden plank.
This was proof that the added strength from enhancement magic was nothing to make light of.

“It’s amazing.”

I had strengthening magic placed on me many times in my previous life.
From the start, our party was made up of the strongest of people.At the time I already had very powerful attacks.
Surprisingly, there wasn’t many times I could truly understand the favor I was receiving.

“Right? If you work hard Nicole, you’ll be able to do it soon too.”
“Yeah.”
“Ah……it’s gone?”

There, Mich.e.l.le’s voice cut in.
She stared closely at the hunting bow in hand. She sensed the strengthening magic had worn off.

“The effects of strengthening magic don’t last very long. At most only a few minutes. You need to consider the timing when you’re going to use it.”
“Hmmm.”
“Even at its peak, it can only cut through wood. It won’t be very effective against opponents wearing metal armour..”
“Yeah, looks useful.”

If it can pierce a wooden plank, that means it would easily have the power to pierce human skin.
It would be strong enough to function as a trump card if you were able to use this magic with pinpoint accuracy.
Compared to the transformation magic I had talked about earlier, it was the kind of magic I prefered.

At the end of the day, I couldn’t manage to perform magic.

No matter how hard I tried I was being held back by the memory that I couldn’t perform magic in my previous life, and I felt like this was preventing me from using magic.
I was able to sense magic easily without problems, but there I hit a wall.

And then in that time, Mich.e.l.le eagerly continued to practise shooting arrows.
Her hit rate was unbelievably high for a child, and she learnt very fast.
Though she was a complete beginner, we need to remember she was a child.
At any rate, if I was able to reach the stage where I could strengthen her bow, she would probably make a very a.s.suring partner.

“Fuhehh……”

I finished my training, and took a bath to heal my fatigue.
The bathroom in our estate was built quite large, and was even fitted with a bed used for ma.s.sages.
I threw myself onto it and received a customary ma.s.sage from Finia.

Honestly, getting a nude ma.s.sage from an adult woman is a situation that would have been impossible in my previous life, but I was a girl just like her.
Finia was a servant here, so there was absolutely no need to hold back.

“And like this, another terrible secret that would cause havoc if found out is added to the pile.”
“Eh? You’re really tired? You’re still young Nicole, so you can’t exert yourself too much.”
“No no, I don’t mean that.”

Regardless I couldn’t explain the details.
I tiredly stretched my body on the bed, and Finia ma.s.saged my whole body with her slender but supple fingers.
Warm steam covered my exhausted body, and I was being ma.s.saged with such smooth fingers. This was some kind heaven.

“But is it really alright?”
“Umm, what is?”
“Going to Lalm. It’s in two years time, but Nicole, you’ll still only be seven years old.”
“But you’ll be there with me, Finia?”
“Won’t you be lonely away from your parents?”
“Well, yeah, I guess.”

For me Lyel was a rival, but it’s not like I hated him. I was grateful to him just as much as Maria.
Even though I had my secrets, I didn’t hate living with them at all.
I would feel a little sad moving away from them, but I guess that was natural.
But in the first place, we were partners following paths. I was already prepared for our parting.
The main problem was if a seven year old would be able to comprehend that. If I didn’t give an excuse for that I’d be suspected.

“But if I don’t go I’ll be taken away from Mama and Papa. And I can come back on the holidays.”
“That’s, right. It’s true if you went to the royal palace, they’d easily keep you away.”
“If you consider how I’d be able to see them the most, isn’t it better I go to Lalm? That why I chose it.”
“……Nicole, I see you can use some hard words at times?”
“N-No I can’t? Maybe it’s because I’ve studied heaps in Mama’s cla.s.ses.”

I used the excuse of using a recently learned word, and she reluctantly accepted.

“Hmm……”
“Um, what happened?”

Finia raised her voice as she was ma.s.saging my back.
Her fingers repeatedly crawled up and down.
I felt a little ticklish.

“Nicole, I think you’ve put on some muscle?”
“Really!?”
“It’s a little sad for me because the soft squishy feeling has decreased.”
“Finia, recently your intentions have been wide open.”

I hadn’t seen any improvement in my swordsmanship or magic, but I was quite happy I’d gained more muscle.
Every day while growing little by little, my infancy slowly pa.s.sed.

I had become seven years old.
Two more years had pa.s.sed.
Aiming to enter Lalm’s magic academy, I prioritised studying magic and spent every day training.
Of course I remembered to train my body too.
My strength and stamina were a lost cause, but I felt that my muscle power was getting somewhere.

While there was still a month until the exam, Mich.e.l.le and I were in a forest laying low.
At my side I had a curved sword (a scimitar) that I had chosen after two years of careful consideration. I had resigned myself to a two-handed sword and chose this one for it’s sharpness.
Mich.e.l.le lay waiting behind me wearing leather armour and holding a somewhat large hunting bow.
Incidentally, I was so weak that I couldn’t even wear leather armour.

And in my line of sight nonchalantly eating the bait, was a monster known as an a.s.sault boar.
This monster is animal cla.s.sed so its suitable for food. It’s fur is also used for making fur coats and it’s tusks are popular as decorations.
That means it’s a ‘beautiful prey’ that can be used in it’s entirety.
But that’s only if we can can hunt it.

I looked back and exchanged glances with Mich.e.l.le who was waiting behind me.
We had been training closely together for two years. With just a glance she could understand what to do.

“One scarlett, one blue, and gold. Grant mine partner’s bow power.”

In response to my chant, Mich.e.l.le’s bow became covered in light―for only a second.
The light disappeared, but this should have increased the power of the bow. Scarlett represents power, blue is accuracy, and gold is how long the effects last.
Since I was using low level strengthening magic on only one person, it should have lasted around three minutes.
Furthermore the depth of the color changes depending on the strength of the magic used.

In her cla.s.ses, Maria was able to activate this magic without a chant, but that was still impossible for me.
Or rather, this was the most magic I was able to use. When I tried to use two scarletts or two blues with four golds, the magic disappeared almost immediately.

But there was one advantage to this.
If my partner could hear my chant, they would be able to know how much time they had.

I said the chant in a low voice, so the a.s.sault boar still hadn’t noticed us.
After I heard the creaking sound of a bending bow, Mich.e.l.le’s arrow flew through the air.
The arrow flew in a straight line, and struck deeply into the a.s.sault boar’s throat.
With her own strength, it wouldn’t have been able to pierce even half as deep.

“Bukee!?”

Suddenly the a.s.sault boar screamed in pain.
It turned this way, but Mich.e.l.le had already hidden herself behind a tree.

“It’s your turn now, Nicole!”
“Leave it to me.”

I unsheathed my scimitar and prepared to charge.
True to it’s name, the a.s.sault boar is good at counter-attacking direct attacks.
However, as long as this counter-attack is dodged, it’s an easy enemy to take care of.
In my past life I often hunted them for emergency food. But this time they were a powerful enemy.

“Buoorrrr!”

With a sidestep, I dodged the screaming boar’s attack.
Mich.e.l.le had already slipped into the shadows of the trees, so I didn’t have to worry about her.

And in pa.s.sing, I brandished my scimitar.

Since I was powerless I couldn’t do any meaningful damage. At best I could only leave a graze on it’s skin.
But that was alright. If I approached it like this, it couldn’t use it’s special charge.
The a.s.sault boar couldn’t move. That means―

“Bukee!?”

It only stopped for a second, but Mich.e.l.le didn’t miss this chance and shot a second arrow.
Her aim was accurate, and the arrow pierced it’s throat again.
The boar immediately turned it’s attention to Mich.e.l.le, but to stop it I swung my scimitar.
If I was going to attack, it would have been good to use strengthening magic on myself too, but I didn’t have the time.

“Syaaaaa!”

I screamed loudly but like before my blade didn’t cut very deep.
But I succeeded in turning the boar’s attention to me.
If this were an intelligent enemy, it would ignore me and aim for Mich.e.l.le who had more firepower, but the a.s.sault boar is just an animal.
It’s only smart enough to attack the nearest enemy.

The unadaptable boar attacked in a straight line and I dodged it easily.
I timed my counterattack by first lowering my head, jumping to the side, and slashing it’s thigh.
Upon receiving damage to its legs, the boar reflexively stopped. Then another arrow flew through the air.

To take it down we just had to repeat this.
And like that the battle lasted three minutes. With just our own power, we managed to succeed in defeating the a.s.sault boar.