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As for the currency’s value, I estimated that one Awl was roughly equivalent to 10,000 yen in Japan, though that was just my sense of comparison… However, considering the Clouds, mentioned that 11a was enough to live on for an entire month, it didn’t seem entirely reasonable to apply to modern Japan’s criteria¹.

On a related note, in Amukham, fur and bone materials from slain Demonic Beasts could be sold in the village. The village processed these materials and sold them to help cover the operating expenses of the Village Guard.

The Boa and Wolves that Sir Howard and I hunted last time were Demonic Beasts from the middle layers, and it was hard to stumble upon one, so their purchase price was quite high—one Two-Headed Boa fetched around 17-18a. I had always known that snakeskin was expensive!

Wolf pelts, especially those in good condition, were also rare, and I was told that an undamaged piece was worth about 12-13a.

In the end, I froze when Sir Howard handed me a pouch containing more than 100a, including the share for the Wolves I had split in two, and said, “This is your share.”

I tried to tell him that it was far too much for me, but he just laughed and said it wasn’t too much at all. According to him, if we had sold the materials in the Royal Capital, they could have fetched more than ten times that amount!

Still, that wasn’t the point—I wanted Sir Howard to keep the money! After all, it was the responsibility of guardians to look after their children. It wasn’t something a child needed to be concerned about.

There was a lot of back-and-forth before we finally reached an agreement. In the end, we decided that the money would be used for my tuition, and the remaining amount would be saved and kept by Sir Howard until I became an adult.

Also, when I told him to use that money for things like the clothes I’d bought before going to school, Sir Howard looked at me and said with a sad expression, “Don’t take away my joy of buying clothes for you.”

After seeing Papa Howard’s face like that, I couldn’t help but pull away.

Incidentally, the reason I only got 100a for a total of 10 Wolf pelts, each of which fetched about 12-13a, was because the materials from the Wolves and the Boa were being used to make gear for me! I was told that it’d be ready sometime during summer vacation, so I figured I wouldn’t have to wait long. I was looking forward to it—I hoped it turned out to be some cool-looking equipment!

One surprising fact I recently learned was that the Cloud family actually held the title of Margrave.

This revelation certainly took me by surprise! If put in today’s terms, Sir Howard would have been a count… or maybe a marquis? I didn’t know much about noble titles. Apparently, even Sir Howard’s great-grandfather had been a Margrave.

In addition, it appears that the Margraves’ home was known by the name Amukham 150 years ago. However, the title was reclaimed, and the noble family name was eliminated following the fall of the feudal order and the advent of democracy.

According to the story, Cloud was actually the maiden name of Howard’s great-grandmother, and after the title was returned, they began using that name instead.

There were five villages in total, including Amukham Village, that were adjacent to the Great Iroshio Forest, or the Amukham Forest. Together, these five villages and one town formed what was known as the Amukham District. Historically, all of this territory once made up the Amukham Margrave.

The Amukham District was also the one responsible for the Village Guard, which was tasked with guarding the Amukham Forest. And the one with the highest authority in the Village Guard was none other than Howard Cloud!

The reason some people referred to Sir Howard as Boss was because of that.

The families leading the Village Guard today were descendants of the original warriors of the Amukham Margrave, so Sir Howard’s strength and decision-making were always respected.

(But can we please drop the boss thing? It makes him sound like some bandit leader. I don’t like it!)

◇◇◇

So, I usually wasn’t home in the afternoon, but after the evening, I was expected to help out at home again. My main responsibilities included general household chores like sewing and cooking, all under Mama Sonia’s guidance.

Having lived on my own for about 15 or 16 years, I was pretty confident in my housework skills. Or so I thought, but I quickly learned that things here were on a whole different level!

When I thought about it, it made sense—there were no vacuum cleaners, washing machines, microwaves, or gas stoves here. Everything had to be done manually. The most I had done in terms of sewing was fixing buttons. I never imagined I would end up knitting laces or doing embroidery!

And, it also turned out that Mama Sonia was quite a spartan. While always smiling warmly, she’d say things like, “Oh, that’s very well done. Let’s try it again, shall we?” or “You can do this now? Amazing! How about you try this now?” She’d give me task after task while steadily increasing the difficulty.

I felt like going crazy every time the task got harder, and as I prepared myself for the next obstacle, I couldn’t help but think, “Whoa, really?”

Thankfully, this body—Susie’s body—was remarkably dexterous and was great at learning things. If I had still been in my old man’s original body, I doubt I would have been able to keep up with such a pace.

Honestly, back when I was an old man, if someone had asked me to do lacework or embroidery, I probably would’ve gotten fed up right away. But somehow, as Susie, I genuinely enjoyed it. When I finished a piece and it turned out cute or beautiful, I couldn’t help but feel a rush of excitement!

It’s a way of thinking that would’ve been unthinkable for my original body, but maybe this was what people meant by saying that the mind and body were in sync. I felt as though my original memories, body, and mind were gradually becoming alienated, making way for the person I was becoming, namely Susie Cloud.

At the very least, I really liked who Susie was at that moment and the environment she was surrounded by. An adolescent girl with the memories of her former life as an old man… That was who Susie Cloud was.

(Come on, Mama Sonia! Please continue whipping me up into a better person! A person who someday will grow into a respectable young lady who won’t be ashamed to stand tall wherever she may go! Someone who will live up to your expectations!)

Oh, and I finally understood why things like showers, hair dryers, and washlets were usable! It was all because a thing called Magic Tools existed here. I was in a true fantasy world alright!

At the core of each device was a removable, Mana-filled, battery-like object. Since it didn’t store electricity, calling it a “battery” felt a bit odd!

Magic Tools were devices capable of performing only a single type of Magic, and they could be used for an extended period either by refilling their Magic Cell with Mana or by replacing it with a new one. The Magic Cell itself was a cylindrical object, just like a battery, and the smallest size was comparable to an AA battery. The largest one we used at the Cloud Mansion powered the Magic Tools that produced hot water, and it was about the size of a can of hairspray.

The cylinder body of the cells had a narrow vertical window, through which a soft emerald-green light would glow. When the light dimmed, it indicated that the stored Mana supply was running low, and we would have to refill it. I was taught that if, after attempting to refill it, the light failed to return and the contents appeared dull, it meant the cell had reached the end of its lifespan, and the Magic Cell needed to be replaced.

Spent Magic Cells were taken back by the village Fuel Shop. Miss Sonia had taught me that when discarding these cells, it was customary to place our hands together and say, “Thank you for all your hard work so far.” I thought it was a wonderful culture—showing gratitude and respect for things.

However, I couldn’t help but ask her, “If such useful tools exist, why not use them for more things?”

“We have lamps for light, don’t we? We have wood for the oven. Why go through the trouble of using Magic Tools? What a strange child you are.” Miss Sonia said, teasing me².

1. Robinxen: Of course it ruddy well doesn’t you twonk. Seriously. Let’s not even get into the logistics of everything and just take the bare minimum, FACTORIES DON’T EXIST! The common sense of this world probably still weighs the state of the economy by the COST OF BREAD. Can you imagine if Japan was judging how healthy its economy was doing by how much bread cost?!?! “Economy in shambles as cost of bread goes up by 200 yen, is this the next collapse of the nation?” You know the biggest expense back then? Food! You know what we pay most for these days? Housing! Modern economies are entirely different beast. I cannot stress how much it annoys me when I see these price comparison things in novels. And if we DO include logistics, literally all of that falls apart anyway. You know what would be impossible to get in some places no matter how much you spent? Fish. You know what would be super cheap if you lived next to the ocean? Fish. There’s no standardised measurement of pricing because MOVING things drastically changes the cost of stuff when you don’t have truckloads of transportation capacity to move things around in a matter of hours instead of days, or days instead of weeks, or weeks instead of months!
2. Robinxen: Death to the nonbeliever. Magitech reigns supreme! Viva la industry! Revolution!

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