There was even one vendor selling something that tasted like chicken but shaped like peanuts. Though it cost me about thirty copper coins it was worth it, for it tasted incredible. As I circled around the village I found there was an examination building in the village.

This was the place I would go to when I reach seven years old, in it I would take my test and be granted swordsmans.h.i.+p and magic ranks. I looked at the building and noticed that it was a little smaller than my house but still pretty big. There was no examination going on today, so the place was pretty empty. I checked the schedule posted on the board outside of the building and it seems like there is an examination every two months. Well, it looks like I won"t be able to look inside today so I went elsewhere.

As I was walking away I couldn"t help but look back at the building, feeling a bit excited to go in one day. I might have the experience of a twenty-year-old man, but right now I was in the body of a four-year-old. It would seem that I have regained the excitement I used to have, that childish wonder that I had discarded long ago. Well, either way, I will never allow a repeat of what happened before.

After looking at the examination building a bit more, I left and continued my stroll.

†

I got to go around the village but I didn"t see much children playing. Maybe I just miss them or something. While I was thinking about this I suddenly felt a strong presence. The presence came from the forest near the village.

The presence I felt was like no other, it made the presence of the demon lord in my past life seem like a joke. I only felt the presence for a brief moment, but it made me curious. Though I understood that there would be many beings stronger than the demon lord of my previous world, here in this world. But to encounter one so close to me piqued my interest.

With my current strength, I obviously couldn"t check it out in person. Especially since I had bodyguards following me, the moment I try to do anything dangerous they would probably stop me. So I settled for the next best thing. I gathered information about the forest near the village, by asking around.

While I was going around the village asking the villagers about the nearby forest, I also tried to look for a library but I was told by the villagers that a village such as this doesn"t have one. They only had one in the capital. So I had to depend on the information given by the villagers regarding the forest.

It seems like deep inside the forest there are some ruins. There was even a legend that deep inside those ruins a sword of unbelievable might rested in its depths. Numerous young adventurers have challenged the forest, but none have seen the legendary sword. Then was the legend nothing more than a story, or was that sword the strong presence I felt? I really wanted to check it out but the villagers had warned me that the forest was filled with numerous monsters, plus a giant B cla.s.s monster had made a nest near those ruins.

With my current ability, I would die instantly. Also, I won"t be able to ditch my guardians. So even though I really wanted to check where that presence came from it seems like I"m not good enough yet.

†

So after that, I continued to look around the village some more, and when I saw that it was getting a bit late I decided to return home.

Once I returned I told mom and dad the adventure I had today, like what a normal young boy would do. As I told my tale with the excitement you would expect from someone my age, my parents listened to me with a smile on their faces laughing cheerfully. It was then I thought, just this was enough, I hope days like these could last forever.