Suteko Ni Narimashita Chapter 2
If I Could Use Magic
I became a powerless infant, and when I woke up, my father was gone. Aside from that, it seems I was left in the middle of the forest. To sum it up, I was in a huge pinch.
To top it all off, I was also hungry. Normally, a newborn infant would drink milk from its mother for nourishment. However, my mother is not around to give me milk either.
Currently, I have no one to protect me and it is difficult for me to move on my own as well. The only progress I’ve made is that I can now control my chi, but if I use it, I’ll lose consciousness again.
This is inconvenient. I can’t live like this.
As I was thinking about my situation, a thought that I had been trying to ignore since earlier came to mind.
Could it be that I was abandoned?
If that’s the case, then I’m in trouble.
What would I do about food? Where should I live? Isn’t it dangerous here? But first, what am I going to do now?
A list of actions started to form inside my head. For now, I had to survive. To be honest, I didn’t care about my parents whose faces I don’t even know.
Anyway, I had to get some food first. Then, an idea came to mind about the “chi” I used earlier.
If I can feel things by spreading my chi and touching them, then can I also give things the feeling of my chi?
In other words, wouldn’t it be possible to touch and move things with chi? Since I now have an idea, I should try it out next.
My goal was the red fruit that was just right above me. I don’t know if I can eat it, but I have to eat something or I’ll die.*
As I reached out my hand, I extended my chi and coiled it around the red fruit. As I put some force in my grip around its smooth surface, the red fruit fell out surprisingly easy. However, its course was directed at me.
I let out a short yelp and tried to duck, but I couldn’t avoid it and it hit me directly in the stomach.
It hurt.
And it hurt like hell.
Maybe it was because I didn’t have any muscles, but the pain seemed to hit my internal organs directly, and I was in agony. Nevertheless, my face relaxed at my first success.
But I had another problem. I wanted to eat the red fruit, but I was toothless. I literally had no teeth. I had no choice but to crush it with my chi and let the juice flow into my mouth.**
It tasted like an apple with half the sweetness and three times the acidity. At least it didn’t seem to be an immediate-acting poison, so I ate it up. But it tastes bad.
Frowning, I finished my first meal in this world.
Once my stomach was full, I had to think about what to do next.
What should I do now?
Clothing, food, and shelter are essential for living, but I have neither of those.
Food may be available by gathering fruits from trees. But I can only count on one hand the amount of food that is growing within my reach.
The only piece of clothing is the piece of cloth I am wearing now. It might be fine for a while, but as my body grows, I would need more. Above all, I don’t want to wear something dirty from continuous use.
And then there’s shelter. I don’t want to continue being exposed to wind and rain, and I cannot stay in this crate forever either.
Considering all this, it would also mean that I needed a means of transportation. Should I… try crawling first?
I wriggled my arms and legs, but in the end, I couldn’t move. This is bad.
In the end, I had to rely on my chi again.
I covered my body with chi and moved like a caterpillar. If I covered the wooden box instead of my body, the box could move with me.
I moved to the shade of a tree and settled down, which was good enough for now.
I started to feel a little sleepy again. Just as the thought entered my mind, I lost consciousness.
It seems I only slept for a bit this time.
With a refreshed mind, I thought of my next step.
I was able to obtain a means of transportation albeit unreliable. It also seemed like I would not have any problems with food for a while. So the next thing I needed was clothes as this piece of cloth was not enough.
However, I don’t think I can get any clothes out here. Getting thread, weaving cloth, and sewing clothes would be impossible for me under the current circumstances.
So what if I find a substitute for clothes? I could wrap myself in leaves and live like that. But how long would that last?
It’s fine for now since I’m still an infant. But what should I do when I grow up? What if I grow into a reasonable physique and only have a straw skirt to cover myself? It’s fine if I lived inside the forest, but I would stand out if I went to a village or a town. I only have a faint memory, but I think my parents wore proper clothes.
I felt a gaze as I was thinking about all of this. It felt as if something was watching me. Reflexively, I spread out my chi. And there it was, hiding among the trees. It was a dog.
It was a bit bigger than your average dog, and it was around 150 centimeters. It was covered in short, brown fur, and wild-looking muscles.
It was looking at me and it did not even try to hide its ragged breathing and drooling. I couldn’t say for sure, but there seem to be several others behind it too.
That’s not good. I don’t have the strength to defend myself yet, and I’m small and soft, so I’ll be easy bait.
My body tensed up. I tried to raise my voice, but I could only whimper.
It’s still being wary and won’t be attacking me right away, but I’m sure it will come for me soon.
This is bad. Is there anything, anything I can use to fight back? A way to oppose its attack?
While I was thinking, the other side began to move. Deciding that I cannot do anything on my own, it slowly made its way to me. One, two, three. Those two were probably the ones behind it earlier.
What should I do? There’s nothing around here. I was too nervous to move my arms and legs. Should I just hit them with my chi to drive them away? No, I don’t think that would work. Even if I could move my body, I would only be able to shock it with the power I had.
Wait. Isn’t it fine to just startle it and make it run away? I used my chi and aimed at the eyes and nose of the dog nearest me. It may only be a bump, but it should be enough to surprise it.
The dog jumped back with a surprisingly cute yelp. The other two dogs behind it followed suit and stepped back. Success.
The dog looked at me and growled. I guess it didn’t like being resisted by a smaller being that it only regarded as a piece of meat and continued to look threatening.
This time, I shocked all three dogs’ eyes. I guess the obvious resistance increased the dogs’ wariness as they gradually retreated. Then, they hid behind the trees.
I was a bit relieved, but it wasn’t finished yet. The dogs were still looking at me from behind the trees.
I was still their target. But what should I do? Right now, I couldn’t resist more than that. What should I do to drive them away?
Of course, I probably had no experience of being attacked by a dog in my previous life. I have no idea.
I was still in a dangerous situation and didn’t know what to do. At this rate, the dogs might attack again while I’m thinking of a way to drive them away. My life was still like a torch before the wind.***
A torch before the wind? That’s right, fire! If I use fire against wild animals, I’d be able to drive them away!
But there was another problem: how do I start a fire? Even if I tried to rub some wood together, I don’t think I could do it with such precision. I didn’t even have a lighter, a match, or anything of the sort. If thunderstruck right before my eyes now, then a forest fire would break out and I would have fire, but of course, something like that is impossible.
This was no time to escape from reality. But there was nothing else I could do.
I was only born a few days ago, and now I’m going to die. I don’t know if this is my first time to die or not, but I’m going to die.
For some reason, I didn’t feel much attachment to life. Maybe it was because I hadn’t lived much yet, or maybe it was because I had already lived enough, including my previous life. I don’t know.
The dogs were closing in on me again.
They showed their fangs and growled as they slowly walked towards me. I tried to attack their eyes again. But their reaction this time was different. I was sure I hit them. However, the dogs were merely taken aback, but they still continued to advance. I guess they knew the attack wasn’t dangerous.
Aah, this is no good. This won’t do anymore. All I can do right now is pray for a painless death.
Would those fangs hurt? The first one to bite me is the leader, the first dog. It would pierce through my stomach, take my innards out, and chew them up as blood drips all over the place. As it chews on his bloody meal, it would give the two other dogs behind it the rest of the meat.
I wonder why. When I imagined the look of pride on its face, I became irresistibly angry. I want to give that dog one last stab. I want to leave some kind of scar on that dog.
I stared at the dog, unable to do anything. In my mind, I wanted to punch it. I imagine it. Of course, it doesn’t hurt or itch. But I couldn’t help but think about it.
I narrowed my chi and shoved it in its ear. The dog shook its head and avoided it.
A lump forms at the back of its throat. It coughed, as if something had caught in its throat. I imagined stabbing its body with a blade. Of course, nothing happened.
The dog got closer. Its claws were about to reach me. I could even feel its breath. It’s the end, isn’t it?
I cried. It’s a lie that I wasn’t attached to life. I’m never giving up. Die, die, all of you! I hope something… something happens and you die! Hit your head on something and die! Drown and die! Die in a blaze!
It was sudden, but a flame appeared.
With a bang, a ball of fire appeared in front of the dog. It was about the size of a baseball, but there was a hint of heat and light. It disappeared in an instant, but it was a fireball.
The dog was surprised and jumped back. It looked back at me a couple of times and then disappeared into the forest. This time, it seemed to have run far away.
I don’t know what happened, but it seems I got out of a tight spot for now.
Of course, I couldn’t feel relieved either. However, my body was overcome with fatigue. And once again, I faded out of consciousness.
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Translator’s Notes:
*This is only a work of fiction, please do not give newborns fruit juice. For more information, please refer to this article: https://www.happiestbaby.com/blogs/toddler/when-can-babies-drink-juice
**Letting an infant drink something while lying on their back will cause the baby to choke or introduce liquid into their lungs and may lead to death. Again, this is fiction, do not try this in real life.
*** …a torch before the wind – The original Japanese phrase was ‘fuuzen no tomoshibi ( 風前の灯火)’ or to be in a precarious situation (literally a torch before the wind).
