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Life is a peculiar thing¹.

As she lowered her hatchet and looked around, the 11-year-old Merc thought to herself.

Only 4 or 5 folks could be spotted roaming around outside her house’s yard. Each of them had distinct characteristics, and their ears were pointed at the tip, unlike most humans.

Those were the common traits among the forest’s residents. Friends of the spirits, or Elves as they are more often called. That’s exactly what this forest was. Home to the elves. A species that rarely interacted with humans, and Merc was one of them.

“I’m not sure how to phrase it… Although I’ve become accustomed to this environment, it still feels foreign.”

Merc whispered as she gazed at the area. There was no one nearby to hear the old man-like statements pouring out of a little girl’s high-pitched voice. And, of course, Merc had spoken in hushed tones so as not to be overheard.

The young elf with blond hair and jade green eyes had a secret.

A secret that neither her father, who worked as a teacher to humans outside of the village, nor her mother, who served as one of the town’s guards, were aware of.

That secret was that she carried Estert’s consciousness with her. The swordsman who fought against the Falgaro.

Or, more accurately, she still thought she was him. Her current name was given to her when she was born in the elf community, but she couldn’t seem to accept it.

I never expected to be resurrected as a girl, let alone an elf. To top it all off, my memory is still entirely intact…

Merc took up her hatchet after mumbling the same complaint she had uttered numerous times since her rebirth.

It had not been easy for her when she first saw this world; nevertheless, she had already spent more than ten years inside this body. She had no choice but to adjust, whether she liked it or not.

She had already gotten used to going to the toilet or taking showers. She would likely have to face some physical desires as she grew older, but she didn’t have to worry about that yet because she was only 11 years old.

Furthermore, elves’ bodies were known to age slowly, so she still had a lot of time before she’d have to worry about it.

Merc, after all, had no intention of engaging in pedophilia.

“Hey, Merc². Have you finished chopping the firewood yet?”

An elf boy with red hair emerged at the entrance of Merc’s yard after she had completed chopping another 4 to 5 logs.

He and Merc were the same age, and he was also her self-proclaimed rival. Ganan was his name.

“Good grief! You really are slow, aren’t ya? I’ve already met my quota for the day.”
“… Ganan, how many times are you going to make me say this? You’re way too young to chop firewood. It’s dangerous, so I’d advise you to stop.”
“What?! Don’t look down on me! To begin with, aren’t you the same age as I am?”
“I’m different. I’m quite used to it.”

While saying that, Merc neatly split three pieces of firewood.

“Amazing…”

Ganan couldn’t contain his surprise and mumbled before shifting his head to the side.

“Just watch! I’ll get used to it in no time. By the way, do you wanna go to the mountains after you’re done?”
“I’m sorry but I need to practice circulating my magic power today. Afterwards, I plan to go and visit Master.”
“Huh? You’re going to Rousseaurumu’s place again? What is that granny teaching you?”
“I’ve told you several times already. She’s teaching me about medicine.”
“Medicine? Why not just ask your father? Mr. Oron’s a teacher, isn’t he?”
“I’ve already learned everything I could from Father. And he doesn’t know anything about medicine.”

Merc continued to chop wood while speaking, not even looking at Ganan. Ganan left while making a complaint, presumably enraged by her behavior.

“Fine then! DUMMY, DUMMY!”

Ganan made his way to the mountains, his feet thudding against the ground. Merc just glanced at him and sighed.

“Good grief. He’s one energetic boy.”

Merc was well aware that Ganan, her self-proclaimed rival, had affections for her. After all, it wasn’t as if Merc hadn’t had any experiences. It would be more accurate to say that her former self had.

Merc recalled a girl who had liked her while she was still in Estert’s body acting rudely towards her. However, upon closer inspection, it was clear that she was expressing affection rather than hatred.

The current Ganan was the same. He would often start fights and then suddenly end with “Let’s go to the mountains.” If he really did hate her, then he would have never done that.

“I suppose one’s first love just isn’t meant to be.”

Merc thought Ganan’s actions were amusing, but she would never be able to see the young boy in that light.

After all, on the inside, she was a middle-aged man. Furthermore, having ulterior motives for an 11-year-old youngster was simply unacceptable. If Merc had her way, she’d choose a mature woman with huge breasts.

In that sense, if she were to attempt to be kind, she’d describe the women here as slender, but in reality, they were just flat. She felt this village was a bit lacking.

After all, she had yet to meet a busty female since her rebirth. Of course, even if she did meet her, there was nothing she could do.

“… Well, I suppose that’s it for the firewood. It’s time to work on my Mana Manipulation.”

She wrapped up her after cutting some more firewood and working up a sweat. Merc sat down on the ground, cross-legged, after putting her hatchet away and began to concentrate.

This was in order to try and feel the Mana sleeping inside of her body. If a human has a certain amount of Mana, they should be able to detect it if they calm down and look for it.

Merc hadn’t had much Mana in the past, so even when she tried to discover it, she couldn’t grasp it at all. She had more than enough Mana now that she had been reborn as an Elf. After all, Elves were a race with a high quantity of Mana.

Merc had started her training when she was only five years old. Thanks to that, she now needed only a few seconds before she could find the Mana sleeping inside of her body. However, freely circling the Mana inside her body was still difficult.

… Chest, then spread it out from there, abdomen, neck… arms, legs…

She was able to circulate the Mana to every nook and corner of her body by imagining it traveling with her blood. Even though it was something that she did every day, she still found it hard.

A skilled magician could instantly fill their entire body with Mana, but Merc was a long way from that.

There really is only so much I can do by myself…

After a few minutes, Merc successfully filled every portion of her body with Mana, all the way down to her fingertips. She then gathered all of her Mana in her right fist and pushed it out.

It goes without saying that Mana that hasn’t been utilized in a spell or technique will vanish. Naturally, the Mana inside Merc’s body vanished in an instant.

If you were to ask her why she was doing it, she would say that if a huge amount of Mana was consumed, the maximum amount of Mana would grow the next time it recovered. Of course, the increase in maximum amount was insignificant, but if done consistently from a young age, it would ultimately add up.

It was a dangerous practice in which anyone who went too far would suffer from Mana Depletion. In the worst-case scenario, they could possibly die. Merc, on the other hand, had a firm grasp on her limits as a result of her continual training.

And, despite the fact that it was still a little, she could notice an increase in her Magic pool, so it wasn’t all for naught³.

“Good. That concludes morning practice… I suppose it’s about time I paid Master a visit.”

Merc headed towards her Master’s location after rising up in a wobbly manner due to the massive loss of Mana.⁴

1. Robinxen: Already got thrown off by the fact this section is called Prelude and not Volume 1.
2. Robinxen: Wait her name is literally Merc? My brain fried here thinking it was short for Mercenary.
3. Robinxen: Ah I see this world subscribes to the “use all your magic to increase your capacity” rule.
4. Robinxen: No editor or translator comments this time, guess I get free reign! Muahahahaha.