On my way back from the remote dining room, I saw Lumia practicing her magic in the garden.
　Even though it's already dark, she's taking her father out and chanting a spell.


... hmm ...

　The one next to Lumia is my father.
　From my position, I can only see his back, though.

"'Light up in response to my voice...' - 'Lighting'!

　A ball of light the size of a pebble is born in the palm of Lumia's hand.
　My father next to me claps his hand.
　A broad back, thick limbs. Short, cropped, golden hair.
　That's my father, Georg-Grossalia.

"Aren't you just marvelous, Lumiere!　When did you learn to chant accurately?
Well, I can't tell you that. It's just that I've been practicing.
That's good to hear. That's great.
Father.........

　Lumia succeeded in her magic a few times after that. It seems he's still not very good at chanting the curling tongue.
　Finally, Father invoked the magic as an example.
　It's the same 'light ball' magic. It's about the size of a person's head.
　The size is about the size of a person's head, just like the general magic of my era. It's not developing or declining at all.

　After confirming that, I returned to my room.







"........It really is 200 years since I died.......

　I was sitting in a chair in my room, remembering the words of my teacher, Kachel.
　Kachel said that this year is 220 years since the 'Sanctuary Church' discovered the ancient magic and vessels (items).
　The me of my previous life, Dean-Nosferatu, died 20 years after the discovery of the ancient magic and instrumentation.
　In other words, it's now 200 years after the death of my previous life.

　To be honest, I don't really feel it.
　Two hundred years later. Lyle and Alice........are already gone.......
　.........it can't be helped.
　At that time, I had no other choice but to reincarnate.

　But.........200 years?
　The grammar of magic hasn't changed, so I thought it was closer than that.
　The social system hasn't changed much either.
The ancient magic is still a secret skill that can only be used by a select group of people, and those who can use it are at the top of society.
　That's why Kachel, the teacher who can use ancient magic, is so proud of himself, and his brother is aiming to join the Magic Guild.
　The only difference from 200 years ago is that no one talks about the 'Sanctuary Church' anymore.

I wonder what happened to them in 200 years...

　I'll have to check it out.
　I believe there is a book room in the main building. I'll check there, maybe I'll find something.
　But then again I'm a bastard and I have no right to enter the main building.
　We need to start thinking about what we need to do.

To do that, I need to put my skills to the test.

　Also, I want to eat meat.
　The dinner I had with my maid, Martha, had very little meat in it.
　It's not much of a choice, I guess. We're sharing our meals with the main building.
　I'll go hunting for the meat myself, as well as experimenting with witchcraft.






　Midnight.
　I decided to slip out of the mansion as planned.

　Baron Grossaria's mansion is surrounded by a tall fence. There are guards patrolling the yard.
　I know the course of the patrol though.
　With your skills, it shouldn't be too hard to get out of there.

　Let's go over your skills before we leave.



"Yuki-Glossaria.

　Age: 13 years old
　Race: Human
　Strength: D
　Arm strength: E
　Agility: D
　Magic Power: C
　Dexterity: D

　Skills: none.



　I usually disguise my status as this one so as not to surprise Lumia and the others.
　My real status is as follows.


'Yuki-Nosferatu'.

　Age: 13 years old
　Ethnicity: Unknown
　Strength: B
　Arm strength: B
　Agility: A
　Magic Power: S
　Dexterity: B

　Skill: Flying. Magic Blood. Awareness Blocking. Ice Magic. Squire Creation. Erosion. Purification.



　With these skills, it's enough.

"──Flying...

　I kicked the window of my upstairs room and jumped out.
　Softly, my body floats up.
　My body slides through the air as if I don't have any weight on it and flies straight off the property.

　No big deal. I'm just using my magic power to temporarily erase my weight.
　With this body, is the limit of floating like this? It's nice to feel human.

Well...

　I landed on a tree branch that was outside the property.
　I kicked the branch again and jumped up.
　The guards don't notice. The "Kehayshadan" is in effect.

Well we should be back by morning.

　I picked up my movement speed.





　A few minutes later, I was in the back mountains near the mansion.
　This is a mountain where demons come out, and my father and Brother Xellos usually use it for hunting and training in magic.
　Just as well.
　Let's make this secluded mountaintop a testing ground for my magic.

　I jumped from tree to tree as I headed for the summit.




''We've been waiting for you...''

　The squire's bat greeted me in a tree near the summit.

'Thanks for the welcome. Then we'll be experimenting with magic. Show me where your prey is likely to be a good training ground.
"Before that, may I ask you a question? Sir.
What?
Would you mind telling us your name?
It's Yuki. What's yours?
"I don't have a name. You can name it whatever your husband likes.
How's that for Dick?
'Thank you. Good name.'
It's the name of a father I used to know. Before he died, he asked me to get Lyle for him.
"Your husband is young, isn't he?
Speak for yourself. Forget about it. But where's your quarry?
"I'll take you there. I found the spot before your husband arrived.
Please.

　I fly from branch to branch, guided by Dick the bat.
　After a while, I see a rabbit at the base of a tree.
　It has golden body hair and horns on its head. It's "The Large Rabbit".

　Just in time. Let's hunt that one.
　I'll hunt it down, as I'd like to feed meat to my maid Martha from time to time.

"The Raj Raj Raj rabbit is a cautious beast.
'I know. He's got some pretty powerful horns and back kicks.
"That's my husband. So knowledgeable.
Common sense. And we won't be fighting in close quarters. You said you were going to experiment with witchcraft.
"They'll notice the flames by the light and the wind by the sound, won't they?
My specialty is ice magic.

　In a previous life, they had a motto: "Keep low profile, keep quiet.
　If they used flashy great magic, they would be wary of it.
　In the end, though, they still attracted the attention of the 'Sanctuary Church'.

"There's no sound, no light, and no tremors in the air.

　I put my hand on the tree trunk.

"'Freezing cold...' - 'Freezing Nest'.

　From my fingertips, a thread of ice was born.
　It travels down the trunk and extends to the base of the tree.

''──?

　In an instant, the thread of ice entangled the Large Rabbit's legs.

''Kyu~~~!

　Noticing the abnormality, the Large Rabbit starts to run.
　But in front of it is a web of ice.
　My magic had created an ice ward at the base of the surrounding trees.

''──!　Yeah!

The Large Rabbit is on the loose. He's stuck in the tree.
　The ice thread is completely entangled in his body.
　I mean, no matter how hard I push, it won't budge.

Sorry.

　I got down to the ground and put a stop to the Large Rabbit.
　'Let's just hang it up for a while and let it bleed out.

'Soooo great. 'Master!　Even we can't escape that kind of magic!
It's simple witchcraft.
'No, no. No sound and no light!　Even the prey won't notice!　It's the most powerful magic to survive in the mountains!'
'Still, it's not as good as 'Ancient Magic'.

　Normal magic is activated by chanting spells and using the magic power in the body.
　So it takes a lot of work. Once it's activated, you have to wait a while before you can use it.
　My ice magic is simplified as much as possible, but it still can't be used continuously.
　But 'Ancient Magic' is different. It doesn't consume a lot of magic power, and it's also effective for continuous use.

　I've seen the priest of the Sanctuary Church use Ancient Magic to wipe out a group of thieves in a previous life.
　The priest kept firing flames until the bandit group was wiped out. Even when the enemy surrendered, he didn't stop.
　That's one of the reasons why I thought I was no match for the 'Sanctuary Church'.
　Their 'Ancient Magic' is very much a battle specialty.

If I could use more powerful magic I wouldn't have become the person I am today.
'Master. Our bat friends have found another 'big rabbit'.
Do you have friends?
When I told them about your husband, they all said they wanted to be a part of our group.

　The moment Dick said this, a black shadow appeared in the sky.
　I looked up and saw a large number of bats dancing about.
　I don't know how many there were, maybe 40 or 50, that's about it. Amazing.

''I just wanted everyone to understand how amazing your husband is.

　Dick the bat spread his wings proudly.

''My fellow bats already know everything about this mountain. Consider this mountain as your master's territory.
Thank you. You're a good squire. Dick.
"Thank you for the compliment.

　I nudged Dick's head with my fingertips as he climbed onto my shoulder.
　If the bats led by Dick were on our side, we could get all the information about the mountain.
　At least that's the way it's going to be. I'll use this mountain as my base of operations.

Dick, take a few of them and put them in charge of communicating with me. "Dick, you'll be in charge of assigning a few of them to be my liaison, and you'll let me know if any of them are out of your control or if there are any hostile intruders. I'll use my powers to help you in return for my services.
"Thank you so much for your concern.

　As soon as Dick bowed his head, the bats in the sky chirped in unison.

'Now, lead me to the next location of the 'Large Rabbit'.
"Yes, sir. This way.

　I'm with Dick the bat, kicking the branches and heading to my next prey.

　I'm done checking my skills.
　Flying. Magic blood. Awareness blocking. Ice magic. Squire creation. Cross-species conversation. We can use them all.
　We will use them to our advantage and for the rest of our lives, we will continue to pretend to be human.

Hunt a few more animals and we'll return to the compound. We'll have a plan.