Hahaha!

Who knew that performing this simple act would make one feel like a god. One, two, one, two. Yes! Finally, I would no long be stationary! I could finally crawl! Obviously, this meant that mother was going to be worrying a lot because she wouldn't be seeing me most of the time.

Now, to some, this may not seem like an achievement, but to a person like me who always from the get-go has been the strongest person in the room, these past few months have been like hell. The only reason why I'd even been able to tell that it had been months was the change in seasons. From summer to now winter, I'd say about 6 months had passed. I hope.

Lack of communication with people even pushed me to the edge sometimes. The fact that I talk to any of you is proof of just how crazy I'm slowly getting.

Well, returning to the important bit, with my new found ability to crawl, it was time to finally explore this god-forsaken house. It was a cottage made of stones and wood with two floors – ground floor and first floor. The ground floor had the fire room, the kitchen/dining room, a bathroom and the storeroom. Upstairs, there was another bathroom, three bedrooms, all though only two of them were being occupied at the moment. Made me wonder why exactly there were three rooms and just how in the hell they were able to afford having extra space.

I mean, currently I slept in their room with them, but on nights were Roland needed to release some stress, mother would put me in a different room for that night. I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary in the third room, so I just moved on to the next room I could find.

Another storeroom. This time, however, instead of food stuff and basins, I found three treasure chests and a crap load of dust. Unfortunately, given as my current status was a crawling baby, opening these heavy looking treasure chests were a bit out of the story for me.

"Hyah! Hyah!", Just as I was about to continue roaming the house till I passed out, I heard some grunting sounds from outside.

Crawling my way up to the window, I tried to take a look outside. It was no easy feat I tell you, but I managed to get onto the window sill to get a look. Right behind the house where most of the neighbours wouldn't be able to get a good view, Roland was swinging a long sword.

I was a bit taken aback by this, but at the same time, I was mesmerised. The way he handled the blade awakened something in me.

His muscles twisted and turned with each perfect movement of his. The sweat snaking down his well-toned body glistened in the morning sun and the snow around his feet evaporated wherever he stood. Although bare chested in the snow, he moved like he felt nothing. Around him, a majestic purple light glowed dimly.

There was something so beautiful about his form and the focus in it that drew me to it. For the very first time, in all my incarnations, I had witnessed a swordplay that called to me. A swordplay that I wanted to learn, not for the sake of growing stronger, but simply because.

The focus in his eyes, the peaceful aura around him, as if swinging that sword of his just cleared away all his problems. I wanted that. I needed that.

I reached out to have it, but then… "Oh shit."

I'd reached out too far. My whole body was sent tumbling out the window. I rolled down the thatched roof with no real way to stop myself from falling. With no other options, I simply prepared myself for another death. The key to death by falling was to go headfirst. That way, you were definitely going to die.

However, that never happened. I felt a gentle touch on my back and head, but there was no massive impact that could kill me. When I opened my eyes, I saw a sweaty Roland, with a purplish aura, looking at me with wide eyes. He was panting heavily as if in disbelief at what the hell just happened.

Seeing him with these worried eyes felt a bit odd and unnatural, but there was no way he was fooling me. It didn't change the fact that he was scum. Even scum wouldn't be able to sleep well at night if they just let a defenceless baby die.

"What in gods' name…?", He muttered, looking at me, then tracing his eyes to where I fell from. "D-Did you fall from the attic? How did you even get there?"

"That was an attic? No way, that was definitely just a storeroom.", I corrected him. Of course, this was just nonsense in his ears.

I wanted for him to hurry up and drop me on the ground, but then, something weird happened. His lips curved upwards slightly and although his bangs covered his eyes, I could see them glowing with something weird. I couldn't tell what exactly it was I was looking at, but I could see tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

Nope. There was no way those were tears. His sweat from swinging the sword all morning just got there.

"Thank the gods you… you didn't die. T-Thanks gods."

Huh…?

"I'll seal up the window later today. For now, let's get you in warmer clothes."

"Warmer clothes? What for? It doesn't feel cold at all!", I explained, before realising that the warmth I was feeling was from his body. He radiated so much warmth that the cold around me faded into nothing. It was so *YAWN* soothing that I could just fall *YAWN* aslee…p.

Later that night, Roland started an argument with mother about how careless she was with me.

"If you can't raise him, just send him back to your family to raise him!"

"I-I'm sorry. I'll be more careful with him."

"Don't apologise to me! You're lucky it's Intereve. I'd have sent you packing."

Yep, the usual argument formula, almost as if it was being scripted. Roland really was all bark and no bite, and mother was, well, she was pitiful to say the least.

Originally, I'd assumed Roland was some sort of farmer, but considering just how precise and perfectly practiced his movements were, he was clearly an expert swordsman. For someone like me who had also mastered the sword multiple times in my past lives, I couldn't help but feel a sense of camaraderie with Roland purely for the fact that he was so good with the sword.

Anyone who practiced the sword just as seriously as he did couldn't be a complete scumbag. It's like my masters always said, "a man's sword tells his true nature".

The next day came and mother wouldn't let me out of her sights no matter what. It would seem Roland's shouting really got to her as she wouldn't even smile around me. I felt bad for her, but there was nothing I could do so I just played about like a child.

There was a knock on the door today, which was unusual for this house.

"Hm? Who could be here at this time?", She wondered, grabbing me from the ground and walking over there. When she opened it, there was a woman standing out there, holding a child a bit bigger than me in her arms, who also held a book in her arms.

"Lisa. I need you to watch Rosine for me for the day.", She walked in quickly, dropping the little girl on the ground, before my mother could even react to her.

"What?"

"I need to go into the Bewildering Forest for something and I'm not sure when I'll be back, so take good care of her for me."

"H-huh? What's happening?"

The woman crouched and checked the girl's body from head to toe. She kissed the girl on the head and whispered something into her ear before walking out the door.

"In case I don't come back today or tomorrow, you can just go get her a new set of clothes from my house. Don't touch any of the medicine there and under no circumstances should you enter the study.", Leaving mother with that, the woman disappeared into the snow.

"S-Seriously?", Confused and exasperated, she muttered.

Now, that is what I called a speeding tornado. Came in, did what it wanted, then gone as if it never was there. She was definitely the type of person I wouldn't like interacting with.

Mother took in a deep breath before closing the door, having accepted her reality. She walked over to the little girl who was just looking up at us with the biggest emerald eyes I'd seen in a while. She was wrapped from head to toe in thick furry coat to keep her warm. Her cherry red hair fell to the side, covering her ears and parts of her freckled face.

"Hello, Rosine. Do you want something to eat?", Mother asked kindly. The girl timidly shook her head and held her book tighter. "Hmm, is there something you wish to do?"

Ah yes, a timid child in an unfamiliar location. Of course, she wouldn't want to do anything here. No point in trying for now.

"Story!", With shimmering eyes, the girl raised the book she'd held tightly in her arms to my mother.

Or maybe not?

"Oh? You like reading stories?", Mother asked, a gentle smile on her face.

The girl nodded fervently, her nostrils fuming and her cheeks flushing red in excitement.

"You know, I used to love stories a lot when I was your age. May I?", Mother stretched her hand forward, gently requesting for the book. The girl looked at the book closely and took a moment with it before finally releasing it to her. "Oh? 'The Six Gods And The Star'? I haven't read this one before. Would you like me to read it to you?"

Rosine nodded, jumping up and down and squealing in excitement. She must've really loved stories because I wouldn't expect a kid her age to be jumping around for a book. Could kids under the age of five even read?

"Let's go over to the fire place where it's warm and comfy, then we listen to the story, ok?"

Quickly worming her way into Rosine's heart, we moved over to the fire place where mother told us the story of 'The Six Gods And The Star'. It was a simple fantasy story about six gods who roamed the lands, all minding their own business, until a star appeared before them.

This star requested the aid of the six gods to help him in pushing back the darkness that had taken over his land. The six gods were reluctant to actually involve themselves in the star's conflicts and instead, they chose to each bless him with a part of their power, with the catch being that should he overuse this power, he would die.

What the gods didn't expect however, was that the star had predicted that the gods would attempt something like this. As clever as he was, the star already had 4 other smaller stars ready to split the power with. Now with the powers split, the stars faced no risk of death from the overwhelming power.

With it, they managed to repel the encroaching darkness and live happily ever after.

After reading it to us, mother had an awkward smile on her face. She closed the book and tried to act like normal.

"Remember kids, this is purely fictional and does not relate to the faith of the six gods in anyway, ok?", She beat into our heads. Mostly into Rosine.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

I'd never heard this tale before, and since I already knew the origin of the world, I didn't even give the story any time of the day. Just as she said, it was a purely fictional tale, done by an aspiring children's author.

"Mwore! Mwore!", Rosine completely ignored her words and yelled for more story.

"Hm, oh dear. You aren't satisfied?", Mother asked, looking at the book then at Rosine. Admittedly, the book was very thin and barely had any pages in it, making it more like a booklet than anything.

"Won't weed anymwore?", She asked, fumbling over the words she spoke. Her eyes widened tearily, giving her large adorable puppy eyes.

I wasn't falling for it. Clearly this child was a master manipulator. No worries though. If I could see it, then mother could definitely see it as well. There was no way she was going to get played by a child that was barely 3.

"I think I should have some story books upstairs. Would you want for me to read those to you?", She asked.

Rosine nodded, her eyes now turned into stars. Jumping about the fire place and shouting, "Yay! Yay!", the girl managed to bring mother completely under her grasp.

"Well then, watch Belfry for me.", She said, dropping me gently right next to the red head. "You can think of him as your new little brother, ok?"

"Bwother?", She quizzically asked, taking my arm. "That means he sister is me?"

"Yes, that's what that means. Well aren't you smart?", Mother complimented, clapping her hands.

"Yes! Rosine is the smwatest!", I could almost see her nose growing longer as she confidently accepted her praise.

Mother got off the ground and marched her way to the attic.

I could feel Rosine's grip on my hand tightened. I took a glance at her face and she was staring at me with the widest, most innocent smile I'd seen in a while.

"Hmph. Maybe you aren't so evil. I will accept you as my new sister just because of your adorable smile. Be grateful!", I humbly accepted the child's new position. She could be my new little sister, although I felt that giving her this title just might end up being the death of her. After all, it was only a matter of time before everyone around me died.

"Keh.", A wicked sound entered my ears, leaving me perplexed. Taking a second glance at Rosine, her adorable smile quickly changed into a vicious, cunning smirk the moment mother got to the staircase. "Cheap old bag actually fell for it."

Huh? Did she just say what I think she said?

No. No way. Nope. I misheard. There was no way a kid her age would be saying this kind of things.

"Commoners really are as stupid as they come.", She said, confirming my fears.

This kid really is evil incarnate, huh? Such cockiness, almost as if she were some form of nobility. Those snobby kinds really were the most obnoxious.

It was unfair for such people to have their way with the world. For that reason, people like me were born. It was my sole duty to interfere in the whims of the snobby and be a massive thorn in their side. For that very reason, I had to find a way to stop mother from fetching the book for this little demon. No rude child was having their way while I was around.

But then again, what in the world was a baby who only learnt how to crawl a few days supposed to do for a distraction? There was obviously only one option. A baby's greatest strength and the bane of every fresh parent.

The Baby cry.

I took in a deep breath to prepare my unholy wail, just when…

*BAM*

The door leading to the house slammed wide open. From outside, a man wrapped in a simple grey cloak came into the house, dragging behind him a massive lug of meat. This lug of meat was the reddened corpse of a what looked like a deer with massive horns.

It went without saying that the man was Roland.

"I brought some extra meat for the storeroom. I'll saw off the horns later, so skin it and prepare some venison.", Dropping the stag corpse in the dining room and with a trail of moist footsteps, Roland walked past her, upstairs, most likely to go take a bath.

Mother didn't even get to land in a single word. Instead, she went into the kitchen to fetch the knife she used for skinning.

"Sorry Rosine, but I'll be a little busy now. Can you just play with Belfry for now? Oh, that's right. You can even tell him any story you like.", Saying this, she went to work.

Ha… I didn't even need to interfere. I'm really the best, huh?

This is where the troubles should've ended, but I was dealing with an unusually tricky opponent this time. Never underestimate a child's stubbornness.

"Tch, if she won't get it for me, I'll go do it myself.", She growled, her eyes quickly darting over to the stairs.

I was starting to get a bad feeling about this. Welp, only one thing to do.

"S-stop following me.", She ordered, trying to run away from me. She grabbed me, and moved me a bit further away, before walking back towards the staircase. Unfortunately for her, I was going to be hot on her tail no matter what. I was crawling at the speed of light back to her.

"Tch. Whatever.", When she noticed me, she clicked her tongue and gave up on making me not follow her. "It's not like you can climb the stairs fast enough anyway."

Saying that, she quickly ran up the staircase and I had to hand it to her, she was right. Traversing the staircase took a lot of energy and time. I wanted to call mother to come stop this girl, but seeing as she was busy skinning the stag Roland brought home, I had to take care of this myself.

Considering Roland was also upstairs, I didn't know how he would react to seeing Rosine.

When I got to the top of the staircase, I saw Rosine frozen in front of a room. I walked a bit further to get a better view and was met with a disturbing scene. Roland was undressing himself and it would seem Rosine was caught peeping at him. Or rather, the shock of seeing the naked body of a fully grown man must have shut off her brain.

How unfortunate, Rosine. You got exposed to the secrets of adulthood far too early.

Roland walked out to see Rosine, and I suddenly realised I'd made a mistake in my earlier assessment. She wasn't staring at Roland because he was naked. She was staring because of his body. It was littered with wounds and scars in all manners of places that felt a bit much. Particularly, his right thigh had a scar about the size of my head.

Roland crouched, patting her on the head.

"You kinda look like that crazy giant. You his kid?", He asked, not caring to mention the man's name. "Is your mother around then?"

Rosine timidly shook her head, for some reason she was beyond terrified.

"That so? When you see her, tell her I'll need some more medicine, ok?", Requesting this of her, he pushed her gently, then slammed the door shut behind him.

Rosine, after a moment of still silence, shook her head, remembering that she had a mission here. She sped off, looking at the other rooms and my chase begun once more.

The attic door was open and the rattling sounds escaped the room. She'd reached the attic.

I hurriedly crawled into the room and saw her struggling to open one of the chests. It was the most prestigious looking out of the three chests. However, something else caught my eyes.

As she struggled with the chest, a purple aura started to envelope her body. The sound of bells chiming rang loudly, but in that moment, all I could think about was just how similar that was to Roland from before.

However, pulling me from the moment was the sound of the chest starting to creak. Somehow, she was actually forcing the chest open. I had to stop her.

"No! Stop that!", I roared from the door. Rosine turned her head to meet me, then her lips curved downwards. She let go of the chest then glared at me. Oddly, the purple aura faded into thin air, leaving plain old Rosine.

"You again? How'd you… gah! Leave me alone!", Saying this, she moved on to the next chest and this time, flung it open easily. "Yes!"

"Buhuh!?", Caught off-guard by that, I could only let out such a sound.

Grunting, she reached into the chest, in an attempt to retrieve one of its treasures, but her limbs were far too short to do so.

"Heh, stupid girl.", I smirked.

After struggling to reach in, she had the bright idea to simply tilt the chest over, allowing for its contents to spill out. Books and letters flooded the ground, stopping just about a foot away from me.

Rosine crouched, scanning through the books and listing them out.

She mentioned a bunch of different names. "Iolo's Guide To The Modern World", "The Neutral Grounds and it's Ecology", "Mari's Happy New Life", "The Great Defender of Humanity", "The Holy Partition" and "A Tale Of Divine Water And The Rising Sun".

Out of all the names, the ones to catch my attention the most were "Iolo's Guide To The Modern World" and "The Neutral Grounds and it's Ecology". The first to obviously acquire some understanding on current affairs of the world and the second to get some understanding on where the hell I was. I'd kept hearing "Neutral Grounds" from mother, Roland and the other villagers, but didn't even bother with it as there was no way for me to communicate my confusion at this age.

"Hm, let's see this "Mari's Happy New Life", then.", She said, picking out of the novella from the rest and leaning against the treasure chest to read it.

"Huh? Why the hell is that one the most interesting to you when these are here!?", I cried, slapping on "Iolo's Guide".

She looked at me for a moment then put her finger to her lips. "Shush. I don't want to draw any attention to myself."

"I want to read this! Come help me read this!", I kept slapping down hard on the books, but she chose to ignore me, covering her ears with her hands and looking away. "So that's how you want to play, huh?"

"Waaah!", I let out my unholy wail. If I didn't get what I wanted, none of us would. We were sinking together.

"Gah, fine.", Resigning from her stubbornness, she gave into my demands. She came to lie down next to me and flipped open "Iolo's Guide To The Modern World".

"This is a comprehensive guide to understanding the modern world and how it works. My name is Iolo, an aspiring author and anthropologist. In this book, I have compiled all the information I have gathered from my travels around the world and only hope that this helps in the bringing together of our people.", Rosine read, her voice getting sluggish the longer she went on. "Gah. I don't want to study!"

She shut the book and placed it back in the chest with a shout of affirmation.

"Oh come on!"

"Hm? What is this?", Saying that, she reached into the chest and pulled out something else. A dusty book, wrapped in what appeared to be a leather covering. A strap was wrapped around the book, with a fang-shaped hook, keeping it closed tightly.

"Woah. This looks worthwhile.", She tried to undo the strap, grunting as she forced the hook to come undone.

I wanted to stop her, but at this point, I had given up. She couldn't even last 10 seconds on one book she had no interest in even when I was forcing her. There was no point.

"Ow!", She yelped, placing her thumb in her mouth and dropping the book to the floor. It would appear that she had pricked her thumb on the fang and quite the amount of blood landed on it.

The books pages flipped open as it landed and this may have just been my eyes playing tricks on me, but I believe I saw a white light shine from the book for a moment. But there was no way that happened. Unless books suddenly glowed when you touched them these days.

"It's finally open.", I thought, a little bit interested now.

"Ok, let's see what's inside.", She came back to where I was and lied down, opening the book with excitement. "Now this, kid, this is going to be an actual exciting read."

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in this book now. I quietly listened to her as she started to read it.

"5th day of Sonnend, 124 A.H

My name is Iolo. This is a journal I've chosen to write in order to keep my important memories down. Well, my good friend Konrad, says I have a bad memory so I have to do this in order to at least remember the important stuff.

I guess this is to say, Hello."

5th day of Sonnend, 124 A.H? Is that the date? Is this the same Iolo from the other book too?

After reading that, Rosine snorted.

"Isn't this just a diary?", She said, but I ignored her, beating on the book for her to continue.

"6th day of Sonnend, 124 A.H

We set off on our trip to see the famous Vega City. Hopefully we'll get to see the Cardinals of the Ardere Church. I hear the famed White Knight will also be attempting to join the Templar Knights at this year's Holy Flame Tournament. Should be a really good one."

Vega City? I've never heard of a city called Vega City before. Is it a new city? If so, which kingdom does it belong to. And what is this, Ardere Church. There's no such religion in the world… right? Maybe this actually isn't the same world I've been living in?

"7th day of Sonnend, 124 A.H

While on the road, I encountered an interesting figure. He was a man wrapped in all black, wearing a mask that had a single eye-hole. He is apparently a famous adventurer, although this was my first time seeing him. I didn't get to interact with him much, but he looked like he was being pestered by someone. Best not to get involved with him."

"8th day of Sonnend, 124 A.H

Konrad got bitten by a toxic silver fang. We'll have to take a few days off the trip to get him healed by an herbalist. Apparently, doing so with a Healer Abberant would just close off the wound, but leave the poison to kill him. I really wanted to make it in time for the Holy Flame Tournament too."

"13th day of Sonnend, 124 A.H

Konrad finally got better and we're on the move. Since we've already missed five days, we'll have to somehow make the trip in 10 days. We decided to take the Imperial Road to get to the Golden Blade port in the Artoria Kingdom, then, travel to Vega City by ship. If we're lucky, we'll only miss the first day or two of the events."

"18th day of Sonnend, 124 A.H

The Imperial Road was blocked off. Apparently, a horde of wyrms had spawned onto it from a nearby dungeon. No one was allowed to pass till S-rank adventurers took care of it. We had to pass a longer route. At this rate, we won't make it in time. If only I had some form of magic or aura control. I'd have cleared the road myself."

"21st day of Sonnend, 124 A.H

We made it to the Port. There was an event going on. The Merchant Express, I believe they called it. They were on their way to Vega City as well. I talked to the Ring Leader and he said we could tag along, only if we promised to never share how they moved so fast. I didn't know why he was willing to share such a secret with me if he didn't trust me, but I promised."

"22nd day of Sonnend, 124 A.H

The Merchant Express… my mind is blown. I am utterly bemused by what just happened, be it magic or technology. Surely, this was something on a level far too advanced for the current world. Konrad and I had our jaws dropped the entire time. This was an absolute thrill."

"23rd day of Sonnend, 124 A.H

According to Konrad, this Holy Flame Tournament is more unique than others. The tournament is usually only held on the summer solstice, but this one was being held 2 tendays later because of the White Knight. He must be really important. We didn't get to see him fight today though."

"30th day of Sonnend, 124 A.H

I… This event was… I can't put this into words. Maybe, it's best I never speak of this, being the only survivor. I can't have the Ardere Church coming after me. I think I'll take a break from journalling for a while."

Huh? What happened? It just skipped the entire event and straight to the end? That's kind of weird.

"The hell are you kids doing here?", Growling, Roland stomped into the room, with damp hair and a set of wood, a nail and hammer in his arms.

Upon seeing the nail and hammer, I reflexively looked back, to see the window. I looked back at Roland and was a bit stunned.

Was he actually going to seal it up because of me? That was a bit unexpected.

Roland walked over, picked up the book Rosine was reading and closed it shut.

"You shouldn't be reading this. Go downstairs, now.", Saying that, he placed down his items, then carried both of us out of the room and down the stairs.

He'd handled that entire thing surprisingly calmly.

Rosine and I spent the rest of that evening getting on each other's nerves, till dinner time and eventually me falling asleep.