# Chapter 6
The rules Eldarin gave Kaian were as follows.
First.
Anyone who did not work could not stay in Eldargrove.
Naturally, they did not deserve to eat either.
So from 8:40 in the morning until 12:20 in the afternoon, Kaian had to help with the fields and garden.
Second.
Meal times had to be followed.
Food would not be served twice.
If he wanted to eat, he had to eat when the meal was served.
Breakfast began at 7:30.
Lunch at 12:30.
Dinner at 18:30.
Third.
Tea time was both etiquette and culture.
He had to participate in tea time after meals.
However, evening tea time was optional.
After hearing all the rules, Kaian asked,
"What if I don't eat?"
"Then you don't get tea either."
So in the end, she was simply telling him to eat on time and work on time.
And if he wanted to do that, he would have to sleep on time too.
Compared to following the etiquette of a noble family or trying not to get on his brothers' nerves, these rules were much simpler and easier.
Besides, I like tea time too.
Eldarin pulled an old pocket watch from her bag and handed it to Kaian.
"Take it. Starting tomorrow, you'll have to move according to the time, so you should rest for today."
"Yep."
"...You may speak casually to me. I'm not human. I have no need for pointless customs like children always speaking formally to adults or students and teachers maintaining strict etiquette."
Then she added,
"However... stop shouting so much. It makes you look careless."
"Got it."
Kaian immediately started speaking casually.
Eldarin gave a faint smile, then went down the stairs without making a sound, almost as if she were walking through the air.
Kaian stared after her in confusion and called out.
His body was still in such poor condition that he could not even get out of bed by himself.
Sometimes his hands shook so badly while eating soup that he had to put the spoon down.
"Uh... You're just leaving? What about me? Help me down. Just a little...!"
But he could not bring himself to raise his voice any further.
He had just been warned not to shout.
In the end, Kaian sighed and gave up.
"I guess I'll crawl down."
Of course, there was an enormous amount of pain between deciding to do something and actually doing it.
"Ugh. Ngh. Haah. Urgh."
Kaian carefully crawled down the stairs while making a new resolution.
Starting tomorrow, I have to work in the fields with this body.
So even if his arms hurt so badly that he had to lick the soup from the bowl like a dog...
He was absolutely going to finish the rest of it.
***
Kaian barely slept that night.
He was afraid that if he slept deeply, he would fail to wake up in time for Eldarin's meal schedule.
"Hmm... I'm worried."
He had no idea how long it would take to reach the kitchen.
He did not even know which floor his room was on.
Judging from how far the ground looked through the dark window, perhaps the third or fourth floor?
Of course, since he did not know the height of each floor, even that was just a guess.
There was only one thing he knew for certain.
If I fall from here, I'm definitely saying goodbye to this world.
In the end, Kaian left his bed when the pocket watch showed six in the morning.
"Ugh... Ngh... Ohhh... Haah..."
He stopped on the stairs and sat down to swallow tears dozens of times.
He wiped away drool from exhaustion more than ten times.
By the time one side of his shirt had become ragged from repeatedly biting it...
Kaian finally reached the first floor.
Thank goodness. It really was only the third floor.
He glanced behind him.
The elegant wooden staircase, now stained with tears and drool, looked terrifying.
Can I really crawl all the way back up that later?
But Kaian quickly shook his head and threw away the fear.
From his conversation with Eldarin yesterday, he had learned that worrying about future problems should be left for the future.
"Now I need to find the kitchen."
Kaian collapsed flat onto the floor and checked his watch.
The hour hand that had been pointing at six had moved to seven.
It took me an entire hour to get down three floors.
"Wonderful."
Still, compared to earlier, Kaian felt much more relaxed.
Because now he was on flat ground.
Kaian solemnly grabbed the pocket watch hanging around his neck with one hand.
Then he started rolling across the floor.
Roll, roll, roll.
It still hurt.
But compared to crawling down stairs, it was far easier.
And...
A little fun.
Flat ground is the best...!
Then it happened.
Tap.
Tap?
Kaian stopped rolling when he felt something catch against his arm.
Still lying face down, he raised his head slightly.
The first thing he saw was a pair of brown leather shoes.
Huh? I've never seen Eldarin wear shoes like those...
A strange mix of curiosity and fear sent a chill through him.
Kaian swallowed hard and slowly raised his gaze.
A strange woman stood there.
She wore a maid uniform the same brown color as her shoes.
"..."
"..."
Her eyes were a beautiful golden color, like amber.
And those eyes were filled with contempt.
Kaian forced his stiff tongue to move.
"...Hello?"
The woman looked as though she might spit on him at any moment.
Just then, Eldarin silently walked past and greeted her.
"Good morning, Amber."
"Oh, your name is Amber. Nice to meet you."
"..."
Kaian tried greeting her cheerfully, but Amber gave no response.
Eldarin sat at the dining table, opened a book, and spoke.
"Good morning. A cup of warm tea, please, Amber."
"Of course. That's right. Today is a very good morning."
"..."
"Ha... haha..."
Kaian put on the most innocent, childlike expression he could manage.
It was one of his secret techniques.
It had once reduced five punches from his brothers to two.
It worked especially well on my second brother.
But Amber merely opened and closed her fingers as though trying to control her anger.
Then she turned sharply and walked away.
Her green hair, braided neatly down to her waist, swayed behind her like the tail of an angry cat.
"Haah..."
Only after Amber completely disappeared from sight did Kaian let out a small sigh.
He thought peace had returned.
Then...
"Oh, Amber. Give Kaian astragalus tea. Make it warm."
Kaian squeezed his eyes shut.
Why would you say something unnecessary like that?!
Since things had already reached this point, he decided he would sit properly at the table before Amber returned with the tea.
At least showing that much manners might help repair his horrible first impression.
It'll be bad if the freeloader gets hated.
Kaian gritted his teeth and pushed himself up from the floor.
Drool immediately ran from his mouth.
Ugh. Amber definitely won't like that.
Dragging his legs, he quickly wiped away the drool with his foot.
His whole body creaked and screamed, but he forced himself forward.
Move. Move! Ten more steps! Five! Two...!
Finally, his hand reached a chair.
Grab. Scrape.
The moment he barely managed to sit at the table, Amber arrived with the tea.
"Th-Thank you."
Kaian grabbed the cup with trembling hands.
The completely clueless Eldarin took a sip of tea and introduced Amber.
"Amber is the spirit of this house. I gave her the body of a ball-jointed doll I created so that she could use magic freely."
She turned a page.
"Amber handles most of the household chores here, so you should always be grateful to her."
"The spirit... of this house?"
Kaian's pupils shook even harder than the teacup in his hands.
A scene flashed through his mind like a final memory before death.
I'll kill them... I'll burn everything...!
That had been the day he first arrived in Eldargrove.
He was fairly sure he had burned quite a lot that day.
Cold sweat poured down Kaian's face.
"The spirit of the house... Does that mean before, when I... um... here..."
Eldarin gave him a gentle smile.
"You burned it."
"...I burned it."
"You did."
"..."
The confirmation finished Kaian off.
No wonder Amber had looked ready to murder him just because he had rolled across the floor.
So my first impression was already ruined before I even met her.
Feeling Amber's sharp gaze stabbing into his side, Kaian took a sip of the astragalus tea.
It was hotter than expected and burned his tongue and the roof of his mouth.
But he could not complain.
"Ahh. It's... it's good."
He tried to smile gently like Eldarin.
Instead, he looked like someone having a facial spasm.
Amber showed no response.
She simply stared at Kaian for a moment, then turned and disappeared into the kitchen.
Kaian desperately tried to understand what that expression had meant.
What was that? What kind of face was that?
Then his gaze fell on the tea Amber had given him.
It was a clear tea with a slight yellow color.
She didn't... spit in this, right?
And so began another chapter in Kaian's life as the youngest one in the household.
***
Kaian ate a simple breakfast, put on the overalls Eldarin gave him, and left the house.
She had even kindly given him a walking stick.
Kaian tightly gripped it, feeling like crying.
Would it have killed you to give me this yesterday?!
Still, this was his first time going outside since arriving in Eldargrove.
Kaian followed Eldarin with quiet excitement.
What kind of place is this? I hope it isn't too big. Walking is hard.
The moment he stepped outside the front door...
Kaian gasped without realizing it.
"Whoa..."
Endless golden waves stretched before his eyes.
His voice trembled.
"W-What's all this?"
"Rice."
Kaian slowly looked up at Eldarin.
Now that he thought about it, his mountain-goat elf teacher seemed a little slow at understanding people.
How could he not recognize the sight?
The Valancia Empire, where Kaian had grown up, was one of the greatest grain-producing regions in the world.
That was not what he had meant.
"Yesterday, you said I had to help with the fields and garden..."
"I did."
Kaian looked up at Eldarin with the saddest expression he could manage.
"Then do I have to harvest all of that?"
"Don't worry. The rice needs more time to ripen. I'll teach you field work first."
Eldarin answered with an expression so merciless it looked as though she would not bleed even if someone stabbed her.
Kaian immediately frowned.
Even the tears gathering in his eyes disappeared.
"...This is abuse of a patient."
"Hmph. You'll thank me soon enough."
Eldarin nodded with complete confidence.
Eldargrove, the space she had created, contained mana that was far purer and more balanced than the outside world.
Any mage who entered would be amazed.
Most would never want to leave.
That was Eldargrove.
But judging from Kaian's reaction, he could not sense the mana here at all.
Hmm. Is it because he awakened his inner world unconsciously?
Humans normally awakened their mana between the ages of twelve and fifteen.
Eldarin considered it a miracle that Kaian had awakened his inner world unconsciously in such a dangerous situation.
If it wasn't a miracle... then it must have been talent.
Kaian had used magic without being able to sense mana.
Mana was the source of magical power.
Using magic without sensing mana should have been impossible.
Yet Kaian had done exactly that.
Yes. His talent is incredible.
But from this point forward, I need him to adapt to mana as quickly as possible.
Only then could they begin repairing his inner world.
While Eldarin was thinking, Kaian hesitated and spoke quietly.
"...I'm already grateful."
Eldarin blinked.
Human children can say surprisingly admirable things.
But she did not say it aloud.
Kaian and Eldarin, both terrible at communicating with other people in their own ways, stood together and looked over the golden fields.
Kaian released a long sigh.
"Haah..."
In the end, he decided to accept his fate.
Maybe Eldarin had never planned to raise a hero.
Maybe she had wanted to raise a farmer all along.
Well... even a mage would need workers if they owned fields this huge.
Kaian sighed once more and turned around to close the front door.
Then he finally saw the outside of the house.
And gasped again.
"WHOA...!"
