Chapter 1: The First Page of the Book

Books. Past and present. The answer to what connected our wills had always been books. Throughout history, many tyrants tried to wipe out books. There are even terms referring solely to the act of book burning, such as bibliocaust. However, so far no one had succeeded in getting rid of them. Books had been burned, turned to ashes, and scattered to the winds, but they had never completely disappeared. There had always been someone who stealthily saved them from the flames. Someone who buried them in their garden to escape the tyrant’s eye. Someone who dug into their unreliable memories and recreated them after the flames had ceased.

Books had always been fighting against tyrants alongside brave and passionate rebels. Even at present, the fight continued. They were engaged in a battle which had been going on since the birth of history, or rather the birth of books, against perhaps the greatest tyrant of them all. A merciless and diligent enemy who was constantly watching and incessantly trying to wipe them out. It was the tyrant called time.

Indeed, even now, books were fighting against their erasure by the tyranny of time. It was yesterday when I decided to volunteer for this grand and sublime, noble and gorgeous, loud yet quiet, and—more than anything—exciting battle. My name is Ash. I’m an eight-year-old boy with something like past-life memories.

“I want to read books!” I passionately confessed while opening the church door with a loud bang. No answer. The church was empty but for some rows of shabby chairs and piles of dust greeting me upon entering. As expected, it looked like Father Folke had retreated to his study at the back of the church. Completely understandable. The church was not only supposed to be a religious institution performing the rituals of the village, but also an educational institution providing a certain degree of knowledge to the community. It’s like those learning seminars at the shrine. There was even supposed to be a learning seminar at our shrine.

The shabby chairs were for the attendees of religious service, as well as any villager who wanted to come and study during their free time. However, this village where I was born was without question a hick town in the middle of nowhere. There was no such thing as a family register, but since there were only about 100 people living here, everyone knew each other anyway. Now the question was, in such a marginal village, was there any person who had the time to come here and study?

In terms of civilizational development, this village was still stuck in the Dark Ages. There was no such thing as the internal combustion engine; everything relied on human power. There used to be one workhorse, but it died two years ago. We held a funeral at this church and ate the same horse afterwards. It felt more like a BBQ party than a funeral. I’m getting hungry. I wish I could eat it again...

But let’s get back to the question. In a village without tractors, horses, or cows, and with a community who would be hopelessly lost at the mere mention of chemical fertilizer, was there anyone who had the free time on their hands? As you might have expected, the answer was no. Everyone was working day in, day out until they were dizzy. Given my age, I was actually already an excellent worker myself. While I was exempt from most hard manual labor, I was great at pulling weeds and getting rid of stones in the fields, as well as collecting edible wild plants in the outskirts of the woods and catching fish at the river.

At the village chief’s house, they were exceptionally making time for their children to study. However, even then it seemed like they were not making use of the church at all. As a result, the number of people that Father Folke had educated since his arrival one year ago was zero. Or rather, it had been zero until now. I wanted to become his first pupil.

“Father Folke, Father Folke! It’s Ash, from the house of David! Since you are not answering, I’m just going to let myself in!”

Standing in front of the priest’s study at the back of the church, filled with idols and chairs, I knocked on the door—according to proper etiquette—before barging in with brazen rudeness. I found myself in a cozy little room which felt a little too small for its purpose. Inside the room, a man—who had been sleeping with his head on the cleared-out desk—brushed back his long hair and looked towards me.

“Oh, it’s the bra—it’s the son of the house of David.”

“Yes, it’s the brat of the house of David, Ash! Father Folke, your face looks horrible!”

The man had rings under his eyes as if he had stayed up all night. He was very thin and not well-groomed, to a point where he did not resemble a clergyman at all. So much so that the villagers were secretly calling him ‘zombie priest.’ You know, the type that normal children would see in their nightmares. It looked like the zombie priest was trying to shrug off the damage he had taken from my energy-filled voice.

“What do you want? Would you mind lowering your voice a bit? It hurts my head.”

“Please forgive me, I was just a bit excited. I have come to ask you to let me read some of your books!”

“My books?” Folke looked at the bookshelf behind him and snorted. His motions propelled some of the dust on the books into the air. “What do you plan on achieving by reading books in a forsaken village like this?”

It seemed like he was trying to imply that books were useless in a poor village. The masochistic smile on his face made the priest indeed look like a zombie. If I wanted to get my hands on a book, I had to get past this aloof zombie guarding his graveyard of books.

“I guess I just want to have some fun reading.”

The zombie priest tilted his head. “What did you say, you brat?”

“I don’t know what you are trying to say, but we are talking about books! Isn’t the purpose of reading books to enjoy yourself? If you can’t have some time where you are just enjoying yourself to your heart’s content in this oh-so-cruel world, then what is the point of it all?”

For someone like myself, who knew an affluent life from my apparent past-life memories, the poor standards of this world were unbearable. It was at least ten times as painful for me than for anyone else. How often had I thought about ending it all? I was not even sure of my own sanity at this point; that’s how bad it was. However, the day before, I realized something. When the village chief’s wife was reading me a story, I realized that I could travel to some other place by delving into the world of books! It seemed so obvious now! If reality was too painful, you could always just find pleasure somewhere else, and that somewhere was the world of fantasy!

“And this is not just a mere baseless assertion,” I argued. “When you are hungry, do you need a purpose to eat? When you are drowning in the water and suffocating, do you need a purpose to get back to the surface and take a big breath?”

Compelled by the questioning of an eight-year-old, the zombie priest nodded hastily. “Of course, you would eat and breathe without thinking about it.”

“Exactly! In the same way, books are something you just read and enjoy!”

“I see.” Folke nodded in agreement and reluctantly reached for the bookshelf. “Wait a minute, that reasoning doesn’t sound right.”

“No, it’s perfectly logical! What is wrong about my reasoning? Those are my pure and sincere feelings toward books!” I gathered all my passion and gave Folke a fierce look. If looks could kill, he would have died a hundred times over.

I don’t know if it was due to my stare, but the priest’s face turned even paler than usual and he cautiously nodded. “Alright, you can have a book. But can you even read?”

“Father Folke, do you know how many people in this village can read?”

“Two. Three including myself.”

“Precisely. I see you already know the answer to your question!”

“Of course, you can’t read.”

It had already been eight years since I was born into this world, but I could count on my fingers how many letters I had seen in that time, so it couldn’t really be helped. If we were talking about letters from the civilization of my past life on the other hand, I could read and write them fluently.

“I don’t know where you learned to talk the way you do, but I have no interest in teaching a little brat like you how to read.”

“Oh, you are not being very helpful,” I said, even though I had anticipated this outcome.

Listening to rumors and judging from my own experience, Father Folke appeared to have a rotten personality. Not in the sense that he was evil; this man in his early thirties had just lost all motivation and sense of purpose after being relegated from the city life in the capital to this remote, impoverished village—the end of the line for a demoted elite. It was to be expected that asking someone like him for a favor would not go over well.

“In that case, could you please lend me an easy-to-read book? That’s all I will ask of you in your capacity as the educator of this village,” I requested.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Do you have any idea how valuable books are? What am I going to do if you ruin or sell them?”

“Come on, no one will notice if one book is missing.”

Hearing my words, Father Folke turned around to look at the bookshelf, where the dust was shamelessly piling up. Seeing how poorly it was maintained, even he couldn’t oppose my statement. “Tsk. You have a lot of nerve saying that to a priest, you stupid brat.”

“There’s nothing to fear; no matter how angry you get, I’m sure none of the other villagers will mind. Especially if I managed to get some money for those books.”

In this village, books weren’t worth anything. Even if I stole a book, people might judge me for the act of stealing itself, but no one would bat an eye for the book. And if I bribed them, I was certain that the act of stealing would be forgiven too. If the books weren’t worth anything, stealing them would have been akin to taking a stone from the roadside and putting it in your pocket; no one would consider it theft.

Wouldn’t you agree, Father? I’m sure you would. I looked up at the priest while smiling.

“You stupid brat, are you threatening me?”

Come on, you don’t have to look so scary. It’s not like I am talking in a way that might sound threatening because I want to be threatening. I just want our church’s priest to faithfully fulfill his role as an educator. The only one trying to sabotage you is yourself. I’m only demanding my right to education by speaking in a way that maybe could be interpreted as threatening. Even a child would know who the bad guy is here.

“Well, I hope you will believe me that I won’t do any such thing as selling your books.” If that were the case, I would have stolen, not borrowed them. I tried my best to convey this message with my mischievous smile. “However, I can’t guarantee that I won’t get your books dirty. I will try my best, but accidents will happen.” Before the priest could get an objection out of his mouth, I added the following words, which were hard to deny, “Aren’t books getting naturally worn down over time too?”

“Well yes, eventually they will get damaged,” he admitted.

As expected, he agreed with me. If I were talking to someone who had left all their reason in another realm, this wouldn’t have worked. Luckily, Father Folke was a logical person, so with a feeling of gratitude, I expanded upon his words. “Exactly. Books will deteriorate and eventually perish. I wonder how often those books have been read so far? And how often will they be read until then?”

Obviously, there was no way of knowing, but I was certain that the answer was not very often. At the very least, it looked like they would naturally lose their form before being worn out from reading.

“Wouldn’t those books also prefer to maybe receive some damage being read by me, rather than decaying while simply collecting dust?” I continued. “Besides, if I read them, there is a chance that they will be resurrected in the future through my memories.”

“I see.” The priest looked impressed as he crossed his arms and nodded several times. “I have to admit that you are a glib-tongued brat. Are you sure you are the child of a farmer? You sound more like a merchant to me.”

“I think you already know the answer to that question.”

“Right... Well, out of consideration for your eloquent speech, I’ll let you borrow a book. Make sure you read it thoroughly so it can be passed down to future gen—” And just as it looked like I had gotten my way, it seemed that Folke had come back to his senses. “Wait a minute! You can’t even read!”

“Damn, you noticed.”

“Damn you, you dangerous little brat!”

“Me? Dangerous? I wouldn’t even harm a fly! I’m only a helpless, innocent eight-year-old!”

What an outrageous attempt to damage my reputation! I wasn’t trying to trick him. Maybe I worded it in a way that could be interpreted like I was, but I was merely trying to convince him.

“Yes, it is true that I can’t read right now. That is why I want you to lend me an easy book, so I can teach myself.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! If it was that easy to learn how to read, they wouldn’t have to send priests like me to remote villages.”

“I didn’t say it was easy. Please let me borrow a book with scripture passages that you often recite during service, like a textbook compiled of them. A collection of prayers? That would be good.”

Father Folke was thinking to himself while looking like he had just been proposed a get-rich-quick scheme by a swindler. He must have been suspecting that I had laid out another trap.

Once again, I might have been talking in a way that could be interpreted as a threat or a swindle, but I was only trying to convince him; nothing I said warranted this much suspicion towards me. Please just look at my puppy-dog eyes and believe me.

“There! You got that suspicious look on you again!”

Folke must not be seeing right. Maybe due to his insomnia.

“Whatever,” he finally said, “if that’s what you want, I have a manuscript that I wrote myself. Even if you tried selling it, you wouldn’t be able to make much money out of it, and even if it gets damaged, it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Thank you so much, Father Folke! May God bless you!”

In the end, all my convincing had worked. After all, taking your time and being polite in conversation was the best approach! Violence, as well as swindling and threats, were the tools of barbarians who didn’t know how to reason. People could understand each other if they talked rationally to each other.

With a great sense of achievement, I reached out for the manuscript. But Folke held on to it with a tight grip, not wanting to let it go.

“Once again, thank you so much. Please rest assured that I will take good care of the manuscript.” Let go of it, you bastard.

“Listen, don’t even think about doing anything strange.”

“Even if you don’t intimidate me; I am not planning to do anything strange.” Hurry up and hand it over. Just let go. This is mine now.

At last, Folke reluctantly let go of the manuscript, as he should have done from the start. I refrained from saying anything regarding his generosity, his slowness, or his stinginess, flipped through the book—or rather, the stack of papers—and with my eyes traced the letters whose meaning eluded me.

Among them, I discovered a few letters which seemed familiar, so I asked Folke, “Could you please tell me how to read this sentence?”

“Hey, didn’t you say you wouldn’t ask anything else?”

“I did say that this was all I would ask of you in your capacity as the educator of this village. So, this time, I am asking you in your capacity as the priest.” Come on, don’t just stand there with that stupid look on your face; hurry up and tell me. I swear I won’t ask you for anything else... At least not today.

According to Folke, it was a prayer that was widely used. Not just by priests, but also among the peasants. It read, ‘Strong wolf god, wise monkey god, and fierce dragon god. Bless us with your great powers today.’

As I had expected. I had already guessed it when I saw the punctuation and the letters for ‘wolf god,’ ‘monkey god,’ and ‘dragon god,’ which were the same as those of the engravings on the idols worshiped at the church. These letters were phonograms and not ideograms. Lucky me!

It took me one month to finally finish reading the thin manuscript. Reading unknown letters was already a difficult feat, only made harder by the fact that it was a handwritten manuscript. Regardless, the main reason why it took me so long was the lack of free time.

The fall harvest had ended a month ago, so farm work had calmed down a bit, but that didn’t mean that farmers had free time at their hands. If we didn’t plant winter wheat in anticipation of spring harvest, we would face starvation, and if we didn’t make preparations for passing winter, we would freeze to death. It felt like playing the game of life on nightmare mode, where even the slightest bit of negligence led to immediate death. The only consolation was that we had a lower death rate than other colder regions during winter because we didn’t get much snow. What an abysmal standard for consolation.

“So, can I borrow the next book, please?”

“What, are you already bored of this one?”

As usual, the sleep-deprived Folke rolled his eyes. I had no idea what annoyed him so much.

“Wouldn’t you say one month is quite long for this manuscript?” I countered.

“It’s only one month. There is no way your reading ability has progressed much at all in one month. Especially teaching yourself.”

“Huh?” It seemed like we were talking past each other. He thought I had given up teaching myself how to read with this book. I was a little offended, but that would have been a correct assumption if I didn’t have my apparent past-life memories. As I strived to be an honorable person, I remembered my debt of gratitude towards the priest for letting me borrow the book and politely rephrased, “Oh no, I already remembered all the letters in this book, so could you please let me borrow another one?”

“Don’t think I’m stupid. If you’re going to lie, make it a bit more believable.”

As he laughed, making fun of me, all my remaining feelings of gratitude disappeared in an instant. “I see, you are calling me, an innocent eight-year-old, a liar without any proof?”

“I don’t need any proof. Learning how to read in a month is just impossible; out of question! I mean, you were only able to read the first sentence, and even then, only because I taught you!”

It looked like he wasn’t going to listen to me. In that case, I had no other option. If I was not able to talk to him like a civilized person, there was only one way left: I had to go to war. And not just any war—a holy war, unquestionably justified in the face of a clergyperson who was inclined to doubt someone’s intentions before believing them. I was going to pull the carpet from under the feet of this sad priest who didn’t believe people and make him trip over.

“What would you be willing to do if I can prove you wrong?” I challenged him.

“There is no way!”

“Well, then I will ask you for the right to borrow any book under your supervision if I can prove to you that I can read.”

“You’re on. If you can prove me wrong, I will let you borrow as many books as you want.” Folke was challenging me with a condescending sneer.

“Let’s see...” The quickest method would have been to just read another book from his collection, but they were all handwritten. If I happened to choose a book with peculiar handwriting, I could run into a problem. Of course the opposite—Folke’s handwriting being the peculiar one—was also a possibility. “I thought of a good way to prove it! Could you please lend me a pen and paper?”

“What are you trying to do?”

“I will write up a contract, stating that you are going to let me borrow your books as a punishment for calling me a liar, killing two birds with one stone.”

Since I used Folke’s letters as an example in my studies, it was unlikely that he wouldn’t be able to read my writing. If by any chance I made a mistake, the contract would be void, but if I managed to write everything down correctly, I could get him to sign it.

As expected, Folke was getting nervous after hearing my plan. Although he thought it was impossible, it looked like he started having doubts at the mention of a binding force such as a contract.

“How are we going to proceed? We don’t have to do any of this, but in that case, I would like you to apologize. I was deeply hurt when you called me, a pure child, a liar. I am so sad I cannot stop crying.”

I tried to look as sad and pretended to cry as unnaturally as possible. I wanted to provoke him. It would be much more fun to get him to a point where he absolutely refused to apologize to a feisty brat like me. And it looked like it worked.

“What are you saying, you stupid brat, you’re not even hurt in the slightest. I’ll tear through that demon-like, thick skin and show you who’s right.” Father Folke squared his shoulders before going to look for pen and paper. I won.

By the way, those demons that adults always mention... Do they really exist in this world? I always thought they were just a bogeyman to scare children into staying away from danger. However, having gone through the spiritual experience of having apparent past-life memories, I can no longer easily laugh off other mysterious phenomena.

“There you go. Show me what you got, stupid brat.”

“Yes, sir.” You are crossing your arms and looking tough, but I can see the wavering in your eyes.

I dipped the quill pen into the ink and slowly started writing. It didn’t go very smoothly, since I wasn’t used to writing or using a quill pen.

“I’m sorry for my bad writing, but can you read it?” After finishing, I wiped my forehead, even though I hadn’t sweat at all. When I saw Father Folke’s face turn pale, I knew he could read it. “Would you be so kind as to read it out loud?”

“I can’t believe it. You really went and learned how to read and write in one month.”

He was too surprised to read out my sentence, but this was what I had written:

‘As punishment for baselessly calling him a liar, the priest Folke will grant Ash permission to borrow without restriction any book under his supervision.’

Luckily, I was dealing with phonograms. If those were ideograms, there was no way I could have learned them within a month. Ideograms were usually more complex and numerous than phonograms, which were easy to write in their colloquial forms once you remembered their pronunciation and the corresponding letters. In that regard, the latter were much more convenient.

“You little... I mean, Ash! How did you remember the letters? You weren’t even able to read at all!”

He cross-examined me while firmly grabbing my shoulder. I was scared. Having the so-called zombie priest draw closer to my face felt like I was about to be bitten.

“Well, all I really did was remember the letters from the first sentence that you taught me, apply them to the other sentences, and then guess from context the letters that I didn’t know.”

It was like cracking a code. Using the many sentences that I had heard over the past eight years as a starting point for my decipherment, I was able to fill in a lot of gaps. However, there were probably still some letters that I didn’t know, as well as words that I could read but whose meaning eluded me. It felt more like I was still studying rather than reading the book.

Father Folke let himself fall into his chair. There was no need to be overly dramatic. Although considering that I was an eight-year-old in a village with a literacy rate close to zero, maybe he wasn’t exaggerating.

Anyways, with this, the contract was set up. I had him sign it and thus was ready to borrow the next book.

“If possible, I would like to read another religious book, or an easy story with similar vocabulary.”

I was thinking about something along the lines of a story about a saint, or maybe a textbook. Those usually didn’t have many difficult words and were fun to read. As I watched Father Folke choose a book, a bright smile came over my face.

I left the church with a spring in my step, cherishing a new hope called books. All that was on my mind was books. In my hand, I was unmistakably holding a book with a story inside. This human work of art, filled to the brim with hope which was igniting my will to live, raised my mood through the roof. I was riding on such a high that I felt I might get blasted up in the sky to join a star constellation.

I thought I was flying in the air with no ground underneath my feet when I heard someone call out to me. “Hey, Ash! Can you come over here for a moment?”

Certainly, I could. In high spirits, I returned to the ground with a broad grin and greeted the girl who had called me. “Hello, Maika. Today the weather is the best that it has ever been in my entire life!”

It was Lady Maika, who was the same age as me. She was the most popular girl among all the boys our age, since she always had a bright smile on her face and was very sociable. As usual, her ponytail was flying in the wind and her smile felt like a ray of sunshine in this gloomy village.

“Yeah, today the weather is... not that great? Did you not see all the clouds?” Her face suddenly clouded, just like the sky above us. That was a rare sight.

While thinking about the possibility that the weather was actually linked to her mood, I nodded. “Yeah, both the clouds and the temperatures are low. It looks like winter has finally arrived.” I smilingly added that she should take care not to catch a cold in this weather.

More and more clouds of doubt passed across her face. They looked like they were about to burst into hail. “I feel like you aren’t making much sense... Could it be that you are in a good mood?”

“Yes, a very good mood indeed.”

I answered with a sunlike smile, trying to counter Lady Maika, who looked like she was brewing up a winter storm. In winter, the sun was usually weak, but due to my atmosphere-breaking, high-energy mood, my smile was shining brighter than any ozone-layer-filtered summer sun.

“I didn’t think you could smile like this,” she said.

Hearing her murmur those words, I tilted my head. Wasn’t I always smiling? Well, at least my face muscles were. On the inside, I was constantly in despair, so if anything, it was mostly an expression of my resignation. It was only recently that I had been able to smile from the heart. I thought my smile still looked the same, but maybe Lady Maika was able to tell the difference. That was amazing. However, right now she was frozen.

“Maika? Are you alright?”

Was there something wrong with her? I got a little bit closer to look at her beautiful face and noticed that it had been flooded with an unhealthy-looking deep red. Was it this red earlier? She was also pressing her hands against her chest and looked like she was in pain.

“Have you caught a cold?” I asked.

That would have been bad. In this world—and in this village—the common cold was still a fatal illness. On top of their diets lacking in nutrients, medicine—which was a common commodity in the world from my apparent past-life memories—was virtually non-existent around here. As a result, catching a cold was akin to a death sentence.

“If you are not feeling well, you should not be outside. Let me take you home,” I proposed.

Upon touching Lady Maika’s shoulder, her small body (I say small, but she was taller than me) started shaking as if she had been shocked. Was there some static electricity? I didn’t feel anything myself, but given the dry air, it was possible.

“No, I’m fine!” Lady Maika was vigorously waving her hands in denial and took a step backwards. She looked at me and started playing with her hair. “You really don’t have to worry about me; I don’t have a cold.”

“Are you sure?”

Her face was still red, but maybe she was just flustered because I got too close. I figured she had no problem being around boys, as I had seen her play with some only the day before, but I guess I was wrong. Girls tended to mature much faster than boys.

“Well, I am relieved you are fine, but take good care. You are an important person, after all.”

Lady Maika was a very friendly and active young girl, but she was also the daughter of the village chief. As such, she was of great importance around here, and if all went well, she would become the next village chief. Given how cute and tall she was, it was no surprise that she was popular among the boys our age.

“I am important?” Lady Maika reiterated with a red face.

“Yes, very much,” I nodded in agreement.

Please be more aware of your own importance. I sometimes worry that you will hurt yourself when I see how rough you play.

“Uh... yeah... I guess...” Lady Maika mumbled and looked down.

She seemed to have some self-awareness, but after all, she was still a child, so it was natural that she wanted to play. She also seemed to like moving around more than the boys her age, so even if you told her to calm down, she probably wouldn’t listen.

I should probably take this book back home soon. While Lady Maika’s clouded face was slowly clearing up again, the same could not be said for the sky above. I wanted to avoid getting caught in a cold rain shower. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

“Uh... uhm... No, I just wanted to say hi.”

“I guess I better get going then!”

I bowed my head and tightened my grip on the book before heading back home.

I wonder how much I can read until the sun goes down. I say reading, but I’ll probably end up having to decipher half of the letters. I can’t wait to be able to just purely read.

Maika’s Perspective

I used to not like Ash.

At that time, I just wanted to fall into my comfy bed. When I came back home from playing with my friends, my mom told me to take care of some work at the warehouse. She said it was an important job, but working after playing and running around all day was tough; I didn’t wanna do it. However, I knew that no matter how much I complained, the work wouldn’t just disappear, so I reluctantly walked towards the warehouse. That’s how I was feeling, so when I ran into Ash, I thought it must have been a sign from God. Since Ash was very smart, getting him to help usually made work a lot easier.

“Hey, Ash! Can you come over here for a moment?” As I called out to him, Ash immediately noticed me and stopped walking.

“Hello, Maika. Today the weather is the best that it has ever been in my entire life!”

As always, Ash was greeting me in a very mature way. He sounded like the people from the city who came to visit my mom and dad.

“Yeah, today the weather is... not that great? Did you not see all the clouds?”

There was barely any sunlight and it looked like rain was going to fall out of the sky any minute. I had never heard anyone call this good weather. Who would consider this to be the best weather of their entire life?

“Yeah, both the clouds and the temperatures are low. It looks like winter has finally arrived.”

So, it seemed that Ash was also aware of the dark clouds above our heads. He even worried about me catching a cold. Yet at the same time, he was comfortable saying with a smile on his face that this was the best weather of his entire life. Something seemed off. Ash had some... or rather, a lot of strange habits, but even considering his usual self, something seemed off.

“I feel like you aren’t making much sense...” But somehow, looking at Ash today made me feel happy. “Could it be that you are in a good mood?”

“Yes, a very good mood indeed.”

Ash quickly replied with a smile to my question. It was the first time I’d ever seen such a genuinely happy smile on his face. Usually, he had a more reserved smile, which was popular among girls our age and often described as gentle. I couldn’t say I blamed them; he was handsome. However, I didn’t like that smile; it looked fake. It made my chest hurt to think that he was only pretending.

When I talked to my mom about this, she frowned at me with a sad look in her eyes and patted my head. “You are just like your mom and your dad; you can tell what someone is truly feeling just by looking at them.”

She said that, while Ash was nice to me, he was probably suffering and going through a lot of pain when he was on his own. She said that he was too smart for his own good.

If that was the case, then why didn’t he just say so? He didn’t have to pretend to be a grown-up, and there was no shame in crying. At the same time, I knew that wouldn’t make his suffering magically disappear; just like the work at the warehouse didn’t magically disappear. I realized that was the reason why he was always putting on a smile. He had to convince himself to keep going on, no matter how painful and miserable life was. I became sad and I felt a strong, throbbing pain in my chest when I thought about Ash.

I was bad at dealing with negative thoughts. I preferred to always be as bright and happy as possible. If I were to fall in love with someone, they would have to make me feel that way. They would have to be like a fire in the hearth that softens a cold winter night. Like a light that guides me to the safety of my home on a scary night. Ash’s smile didn’t make me feel any of these things. Well, I thought it didn’t.

“I didn’t think you could smile like this.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off his smile—the same one that I used to dislike. I had never witnessed anything shine so bright; even the summer sun burning over the fields looked pale in comparison. What a beautiful smile. I wondered what made him so happy. How was it possible that someone who was in so much pain could suddenly produce such a grin? I wished I could smile like that. I felt my chest tighten. ...But it didn’t feel uncomfortable. It didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.

I used to not like Ash. Now, I did not dislike him either.

●　●　●

Winter was in full swing and even though dates were a bit vague, I was now able to call myself a nine-year-old.

My studies went smoother than expected. There were still a lot of technical terms that I did not know, but I was no longer tripping up over more common vocabulary. You could say that I was no longer just studying words and letters, but that I could properly read.

However, not everything went so smoothly. Since spring was drawing near, I would soon no longer have as much time to spare for reading. Work in the fields was going to be busy again and my father was ostentatiously clicking his tongue regarding his son going to borrow new books.

“I don’t get whatcha tryin’ to achieve by readin’ those books—you won’t get any more grains of wheat from reading. Once it’s spring, I will teach you how little those books are worth.”

My father did not have any love or understanding for academics. Considering the low literacy rate of the village, being able to read and write was already considered great scholarship.

How deplorable! How could you not understand that someone studying, trying, thinking, and creating would eventually lead to a more affluent life! Even though that was what I was thinking, I could only shrug off with a polite smile the ridicule from the whole village, who had the same philosophy as my father. There was no point in getting worked up and trying to argue my point of view, as that would only scare them away. I was trying to keep my seat at the negotiation table until the right time came. So, for the time being, I just had to be patient. Eventually, I would make sure they understood, even if it meant punching them in the nose.

Having renewed my determination, I headed to the church, where Father Folke was already waiting for me.

“Did something happen, Father Folke?”

“I need to talk to you.”

Lately, his complexion seemed healthier. The black rings under his eyes had disappeared and his previously sunken cheeks looked much fuller. He was surprisingly good-looking, and there had been whispers going around of the zombie priest coming back to life.

“You need to talk to me? I feel like this is the first time you have come to me to talk about something.”

“It is indeed. Up until now, you’ve only come here to get your books...” He led me to his study, where he offered me a seat. This also felt like it was a first. I sat down in the chair while I tilted my head in confusion. I felt a bit sad when I realized that I was not yet tall enough for my feet to touch the ground sitting down. “So Ash, it looks like you have become able to read quite well.”

“And all thanks to your kindness. I cannot thank you enough.”

As I bowed my head in gratitude, I saw a wry smile come over Father Folke’s healthy-looking face. “My kindness, right...”

“Yes, you have been very kind!”

After our initial disagreement, I never had to resort to invoking the contract, so it was indeed all thanks to Father Folke’s kindness.

“Well, enough about me. Now that you have learned how to read, I will force you to continue even if you don’t want to.”

“I am not intending to stop any time soon, but that does sound scary.” I wonder what he’s up to.

I had never seen such passion in his eyes when he finally got to the point. “Seeing how extraordinarily intelligent you are given your age, there is a book I want you to read.”

“Oh?” I did not consider myself to be particularly intelligent, but to someone who did not know about my past life, I probably looked like a child prodigy. I wondered what kind of book you would want to make someone like that read. Indeed, it was a remarkably interesting development for this village without any real entertainment. “What kind of book is it?”

“Hmm... there’s a lot... I need to do some explaining, but first, take a look at it.”

He took out a book that had been stored away in a special case and put it on top of his desk. The binding of the book already looked different from the ones on the shelf. You could see that someone had spent a lot of money to carefully craft it in a way that it would survive for a long time.

“This does not look like an ordinary book,” I remarked.

“Yeah, it is custom made. Go ahead, take a look inside.”

“As you wish.”

When I turned the blank, leather cover, I saw some letters inside that looked like a title. They looked different from all the letters that I had seen these past three months. I had never seen handwritten letters quite like these. And it was not just any handwriting—it looked like it took a lot of time and great care to produce such neat writing. The shapes of the letters and the spaces in between them were extremely consistent, almost as if they had been printed, but still, I could not read them. The methodical letters continued to the next page and only the occasional irregular ones reminded me that this wasn’t a printed book. I wondered how much time it would have taken to create a volume like this. The high-quality bookbinding only added to my awe.

However, I could not read what was inside. Even considering the fact that the letters were extremely neat compared to the ones I had seen until then, I could not find any common points. Every time I thought I had found a letter that looked similar to the ones I knew, I had no idea how to read the adjacent ones and thus could not comprehend anything.

“What do you think?” Father Folke asked me timidly.

You could tell from the cadence of his voice that he was expecting good news, but unfortunately, I had to disappoint him and shook my head. “I’m sorry, I can’t read anything...”

“I see.” He let out a deep sigh.

“There are some letters that look similar to the ones I know, but most of them I can’t read, so I have no idea what it could say. What kind of book is this anyway?”

“Oh yeah, I should probably explain that.” He looked at me with a facial expression close to that of the zombie priest once again. “This is a manuscript of a book that is believed to originate from the early period of an ancient civilization.”

“Am I hearing that right? An ancient civilization?” The mere mention of these words fills me with excitement and nostalgia!

“What a strange reaction... Weren’t there also stories about ancient civilizations in the books you read?”

“Um... yeah, there were, but...” There were indeed stories about beggars finding happiness after discovering treasure in the ruins of ancient civilizations. Similarly, there were also ones about tyrants falling to their own doom. However... this was different. “A manuscript from an ancient civilization?”

This was a real manuscript from an ancient civilization. With a cluster of orderly letters that looked as if they were printed. In that case, had printing technology been widely available in their culture? Not necessarily. The mechanism of printing itself was fairly easy, but its dissemination was a whole other story. I shouldn’t dream too big; I’ll only end up being severely disappointed later. Okay, I have calmed down. Looks like the lack of excitement in my everyday life has left fertile ground for my imagination to spiral out of control.

“Please excuse my strange behavior,” I apologized, carrying on the conversation. “So, you were saying that this is a handwritten copy of a book from an ancient civilization?”

“Yes. The early-period ancient civilization dates back to approximately 2000 years ago.”

Thinking about the history of my apparent past life—repeating ‘apparent’ is kind of annoying, so from here on out I will just drop it and say ‘my past life’—2000 years doesn’t seem very long ago.

“The early period was then followed by a late period which took place about 1000 years ago.” In other words, there were two periods of ancient civilization. It might have seemed like a lot, but it wouldn’t have been surprising even if there had been more. “The letters that we are using now originate from that late-period ancient civilization. Although that was also a long time ago, it is commonly understood that the letters haven’t really changed since then, since it isn’t impossible to read texts from that period.”

“Wow, that’s quite impressive. I would love to read those sometime.”

“If you go to a temple in the city, you can read manuscripts of late-period books. Unfortunately, the originals are kept from the public, as they haven’t been preserved very well.”

“I would actually be scared to touch an original. As long as I can read it, I don’t mind manuscripts.”

Either way, I was astonished by the fact that it was possible to easily read 1000-year-old books. In my past life, there were also copies of literary works dating back 1000 years, but the letters were so different that it was exceedingly difficult to read them.

“And it is said that the letters from the late period developed from the ones in the early period.”

“I see. So it is not impossible to read books from 1000 years ago, but it is impossible to read those from 2000 years ago.”

“Exactly.” Well, that was not surprising. Reading a text from 2000 years ago was a Herculean task, even with a cushion of 1000 years in between. Or maybe the cushion was making it even more confusing? I was satisfied with that conclusion. “Back in the capital I was studying to decipher this book, but...” Father Folke expressed his dissatisfaction in a trembling voice. “I talked to my fellow researchers over and over again, I went through all the past research papers, but... I still couldn’t read it. I couldn’t even read a single bit!”

He did not raise his voice or clench his fist that was laying on top of the book, but even so, I could still feel a burning passion emanating from his body. He was not satisfied. Or rather, he did not want to give up yet.

“In the capital, I was working as a professional researcher at the temple. However, since I didn’t produce any results, I was sent here to this remote village.” Even then he did not want to give up the deciphering of the ancient language, so he paid a fortune to bring this manuscript with him. He went on to say that he was engaging with the book night and day to a point where he got permanent rings under his eyes. I had learned the true origins of the zombie priest from his monologue.

“Why are you so fixated on a book from an ancient civilization?” I asked.

“It’s strange...” He had a soft smile on his face. “I don’t entirely know myself. Why was I so fixated, now and back then?” He broke into a big smile. “It might have been the same reason why you wanted to read books.”

“Huh?” I could not help but also smile. If it was for the same reason that I had wanted to read books, that meant that it was simply because he enjoyed it. “In that case, there’s no way around it.”

“Indeed, that’s who I am.”

“You are not going to stop.”

“I’m not going to stop at all.”

Both our shoulders shook as we let out a stifled chuckle.

“I am guessing you want me to help you decipher the book, since you showed it to me,” I said.

“Of course. I was impressed when I learned that you deciphered the first book merely by relying on a few hints. Eventually, anyone could come up with the same idea, but to actually do what you did is not as easy as it sounds.”

“I am flattered by your praise.” I was also interested in this rare book, promising a transcending experience—it was just what I wanted. “For a start, could you tell me what you have found out so far in your research?”

“Sure. You were right when you noted earlier that there are similar letters. That is also the consensus of all the researchers so far.”

It must have been extremely stressful for Father Folke to be exiled to a remote village where he couldn’t continue his work, or maybe even more importantly, where he couldn’t talk to anyone about his passion for deciphering this ancient-civilization book.

He continued talking with relish until the sundown. Listening to him made me quite exhausted, but seeing the carefree, childlike joy on his smiling face, I could not help but feel happy for him and let him talk.

After getting through Father Folke’s tumultuous research talk, I noticed that the sun was about to sink behind the forest when I stepped outside the church. By the time I got back home, it would be pitch dark already. Putting aside my dad, I had to hurry back home, or my mom would worry herself sick. However, it looked like I was going to take a little detour.

“Good evening, Maika!”

For some reason, the daughter of the village chief was walking near the church.

Maika’s Perspective

I had messed up. Before I knew it, everything around me had turned completely dark. I was looking at the sun disappear behind the forest trees. How had it come to this?

I had stopped playing with my usual friends before sunset so I could head back home. Maybe I shouldn’t have made a detour. Since I was going back early, I thought it was a good idea to go for a little walk, and for no special reason whatsoever, I ended up passing by near the church. It was not related at all to the recent rumors that had been going around the village of Ash regularly visiting the church. But, since I had come here, I wondered whether Ash was inside today. I wasn’t fixated on him or anything; I just couldn’t help but wonder... because of the rumors. What was he doing there?

Maybe I could have peeked inside. But no, it was a church, a place for studying, and I hated studying more than anything. My parents were always telling me that I had to study for my future... and they were right. It was important—I had to study. But I didn’t want to; most of the time I didn’t understand a thing, and it was so boring.

The church. Studying. Ash. I wanted to go take a look, but at the same time, I also didn’t want to go inside.

While I was worrying about all these things, the evening sun had already started to go down. This was bad; my mom was going to scold me. Also, it would have already been dark in the village, and I hated the dark. Not as much as studying, but I still hated it. I was anxious thinking about the dark way back home and my angry mom waiting there for me.

While I was in a fluster, the door of the church opened. I immediately thought that it must have been Ash, since Father Folke almost never went outside.

“Good evening, Maika.”

And I was right. It looked like he was a little surprised when our eyes met, but he responded with a smile. The same smile that I used to dislike until recently, now relieved me.

“Oh, he-hello, Ash!”

I felt relieved, but at the same time I was nervous, and I couldn’t find my words.

“How come a young girl like you is walking alone this late?” It seemed unusual that a shorter, young boy was worrying about me. However, he said it in a very calm way that didn’t feel weird. “I understand that playing around can be fun, but it is dangerous outside this late!”

His wry smile, that made it seem like he was talking to a younger child, made him look mature. My chest tightened again.

“Yeah... uhm... you’re right. Before I knew it, it just turned dark...”

I felt a hot flush come on my face, and I instinctively looked down. I didn’t want him to see my surely-very-red face and think of me as someone weird. While I was busy hiding my blush, Ash started to naturally walk in the direction of my house.

“Come on, let us go home. I will walk you back to your house.”

“Really?” My mom was still going to scold me, but at least the dark way back home wouldn’t be as scary if Ash came along. Still, Ash’s house was in the opposite direction of mine. “I mean, no, it’s fine. Really. It’s already this dark, so you should hurry back home too.”

“That is exactly why I cannot let you go alone!”

Considering how late it was, Ash was surely going to get scolded by Mr. David and Mrs. Sheba. Although maybe they didn’t worry as much about him, since he was so reliable, unlike me. In that case, maybe it was okay to accept his offer.

“...If you insist.” I was in such a flutter that I started to sound formal like Ash.

“Do not worry about me. Please make sure to watch your step.”

So, I ended up walking back home together with Ash. As expected, he didn’t seem to mind the darkness at all—he was so reliable... yet also strange.

We were both born in the winter of the same year. Normally, as the daughter of the village chief who was told to study, I should have been the more reliable one, but he was so far ahead of me. How had he managed to get such a head start? I knew he had recently started studying at the church, but even before that he was amazing...

Then, out of nowhere, Ash grabbed my hand.

“This way, Maika!”

“W-W-What are you doing?”

I was startled and walked in an awkward way. Not because he suddenly grabbed my hand too strongly, but because I just wasn’t expecting it.

It seemed like I was the only one panicking; Ash looked completely fine. He even doubled down, saying, “This way is much darker than I expected, so let us hold hands until we get back!”

I couldn’t believe how unfazed he was by holding a girl’s hand. Why did he think he could so easily hold my hand just because it was dark, or the way dangerous? Of course, I didn’t say anything. I hoped he wasn’t going to get any wrong ideas. I only allowed it because we were on a dangerous path.

Of course, I didn’t say any of this out loud, but I tried conveying it through the hand that he was holding. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like it worked—how unfair. I didn’t realize Ash was such a sly person. And there were still so many other things I didn’t know about him. Since I thought that was unfair, I tried my best to get some answers.

“By the way...”

“Yes?”

“Lately, you have been going to the church a lot, right?”

“I have. Father Folke has been helping me out.”

I wondered with what exactly he was helping Ash, but then I remembered that the church was a place for studying, so I felt like there was no need to ask him.

After a short pause, I changed the angle of my question. “Do you have fun at the church?”

“Yes, a lot of fun.”

He replied with a happy smile I was almost envious of, like the one he showed me last time.

“...I’m glad you enjoy it, then.”

I didn’t understand why, but it seemed like Ash had fun studying. So much so that he smiled just thinking about it.

Not even once had I thought of studying as something fun. However, I thought that maybe, just maybe, it was also possible for me to enjoy studying if I could be together with Ash. I wondered if I could smile and have fun just like he did.

In front of my house, Ash and I split ways. He left rather quickly. Since he had held my hand, I had expected him to stick around for at least a little longer. I was so upset at Ash’s inconsiderate behavior that I had completely forgotten that I was about to get scolded by my mom. I only remembered it when I opened the door and saw her waiting for me.

“I-I’m back.”

It was so dark that I wouldn’t have been able to tell what her face looked like, even if I had looked directly at it. The only light in the room was a candle burning on top of the stick in my mom’s hand. The flickering light only made her seem scarier, as it reinforced the darkness covering her face.

“I’m... I’m so sorry I’m late.”

“Maika...” My mom talked in a calm voice. Most people in the village weren’t aware of this, but my mom could be really scary when she was angry. As the person who upset her the most, I was able to vouch for that. My dad was always saying with a smile on his face that she was only angry out of love. However, I always ended up crying because of that love. “Do you know what I am about to say?”

“Y-Yes, Mother.”

I straightened myself, feeling as if I had been pierced through my back by my dad’s sword. I had broken my promise to come back home before sunset, as well as my promise not to walk around after it became dark. Breaking one promise was already cause for a good scolding, but I had broken two at once. My eyes were full of remorse. I’m so, so sorry.

While I was shaking, my mom slowly nodded her head. “I am not angry. You already know you did something bad, right?”

“Well, yeah...”

“But that is not what I want to talk to you about.”

“It’s not?”

Was there something else I had done? Today I had played with my girl friends, and we didn’t do anything violent. Oh, but yesterday I made one of the boys cry. That must have been it. No, but that was only an accident when we were playing knights... Or maybe she had found out that I had stealthily eaten the strawberry jam?!

As I reflexively moved backwards, my mom stopped me by putting her hands on my shoulders. She was fast. As usual, she had easily stopped my movement and her face was drawing nearer.

“Do you know how you feel about Ash?” As I was finally able to see her, she had a big smile on her face.

“Ash? Uhm... I don’t know... How do I feel about him?” I didn’t understand what she wanted to know. Or rather, I was embarrassed, and I didn’t want to understand.

However, my mom kept pressing on with her witch-like smile. “When I asked you last time how you felt about Ash, you said you didn’t like him. Do you remember that? I think it was in summer.” She tilted her head.

I remembered it. Back then, she was talking about possible candidates to become my husband.

“I was disappointed that you didn’t like anyone I proposed,” she said. She held her hand to her cheek and purposefully let out a sigh.

Back then, we concluded that it was okay if I didn’t like any of them, since I was going to visit the city in the near future, but it looked like my mom was still disappointed. ...And it seemed like her favorite was Ash.

“So, if I asked you again now, I wonder what your answer would be?” she said meaningfully.

Well, now he seems like a lot of fun. I enjoy being around him. ...Could it be? If my mom is suggesting it, then it must be true.

“Could it be... that I... maybe... like Ash?”

My mom was clapping her hands just like she did when I got an answer right during a lesson.

How could my feelings have done this to me? Why did they want my first crush to be the boy that I didn’t like until recently? As their owner, I felt embarrassed. My knees felt weak and I collapsed on the floor.

I was ready to drown in a river of embarrassment when my mom roughly helped me back up. “Stand up, Maika! Now that you have realized your feelings, there is no time to fall over.”

“But... But...”

“No buts! There is no point in acting cute when Ash isn’t around! But I will admit that your reaction just now was adorable.” My mom was talking in a very serious voice—even more serious than when she was teaching me. She looked like she was about to join a battle with sword and shield in her hands. “Love is war! There are no rules and no judges either! You won’t get a pass for crying and you won’t get any mercy for falling down on your knees!” That sounded different from the love that I had always imagined. Was that really love? It sounded more like the battles in the stories about knights that my dad told me. “Get a hold of yourself, Maika! It is not a good look to get down on your knees as soon as the battle starts!”

“...I don’t know what to say.”

“Just as in war there are losers, in love there are too! It is like your father always says, when you get on your knees on the battlefield, you end up having your head cut off!”

Are you sure you aren’t talking about real war?!

I was flooded with my mom’s energy to a point where I was struggling to keep afloat. Earlier I was drowning in embarrassment from Ash, and now from my mom. It looked like I was going to sink to the ground very soon.

My mom seemed to worry when she saw the tired look on my face. “Maika, it seems like you haven’t fully understood yet.” However, it was more in the sense that she was afraid of pushing me away rather than being worried about me. “I have failed my duties as a mother; I shouldn’t have waited on teaching you about love. But you always looked so lively and didn’t show any interest in these kinds of things...”

I wouldn’t have said I didn’t show any interest; I realized a lot of the boys my age liked me. I was going to reply to her, but I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth. Yeah, I had a little bit of awareness—I was aware that I didn’t have as much interest in love as other girls my age...

My mom tightly grabbed both my cheeks and fixed her gaze. Even at her angriest, she had never done anything like this. “Maika, listen closely. There is only one Ash.” Yes, it would be strange if there were actually two. “And there are a lot of other girls who like him!” That is true; I have heard that too. “Do you want Ash to be taken by another girl?!”

“No!!” Absolutely not! Ash needs to take responsibility for having stolen my heart. Crawling out of the river in which I nearly drowned, I found myself on the battlefield.

As I stood up, my mom looked me in the eyes and strongly grasped my shoulders. “That’s more like it! You truly are a daughter of the house of Amanobe! From the beginning until the end of time, there will be no defeatists among the daughters of Amanobe in the game of love!”

“Yes!” I wasn’t entirely sure what she was saying, but I agreed. By the way, what is a defeatist?

“We need to come up with a strategy!”

“A strategy?” That sounded difficult.

“Yeah, a strategy. Love is war after all. First, we need to gather intelligence regarding our target. From there we can formulate a hunting plan and lay out a trap in advance. Then, once you go out on the hunt, everything will already be in place for it to be a success!” I really didn’t understand what she was saying, but she looked fierce. I was convinced she could have even defeated my dad holding a sword in this state. “I know a lot about the Ash who used to be so quiet until recently, but he has changed a lot,” my mom said. “I have seen a lot of different people in the city, and it looks like Ash is the type to forget all about his surroundings once he becomes absorbed in something.”

“He forgets about his surroundings?” Including me?

“Yes. Even for someone as cute as you, I don’t think he will notice you if you just sit around and wait.”

What?! Although he did just let go of my hand earlier as if it was nothing. That must have been because he didn’t acknowledge me as a girl, just like my mom said. How rude!

“Yeah, that’s right, Maika. You can’t let yourself get discouraged so easily or it’s your loss. If you feel like he doesn’t acknowledge you, you just have to put in more effort. You have to become more motivated and express your feelings more strongly!”

“Got it!” Don’t worry! I hate losing so much that I got the seal of approval for being a sore loser from Dad! I’m not going to let anyone take away the victory from me!

“First, we need to find out what Ash has been absorbed in lately. And then...” My mom took a good look at me from my head to my feet. “We have to polish you up so that he will be instantly charmed when he notices you.”

“Am I not good enough as it is?”

I was a little shocked to hear this even coming from my mom.

“Your appearance is fine but... Maika, what did you think about your own study progress after seeing Ash?” Being compared to Ash was an even more devastating shock. Having completely gouged my heart, my mom tilted her head with a worried look. “Do you know why I thought Ash was a good fit to be your husband? It is because he is so extraordinarily intelligent. If you are going to engage in a battle with someone like him, you need to get to the same level.”

“The same level?” The same level as Ash? That goal was very, very, far away. I felt as if I had been left alone in the deep forest at night. But then... I remembered his smile. It was as if its bright light was showing me the way towards the goal. Like a candle, like the stars, like the sun—the light was letting me know that there was something ahead. I wanted to walk towards it. “I’ll do my best!”

I was prepared to set off towards the light shining far away in the distance.

“Right now, you have a beautiful expression on your face.” My mom was gently patting my head. I hoped that someday Ash would do the same. “It’s decided then! We will start studying tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow?”

As soon as I heard the word ‘studying,’ I let out a moan.

“What’s wrong?” She was smiling as if to say, ‘Do you have any complaints?’

I did, but I was going to keep them to myself. When I looked away, my mom let out a defeated sigh. But I hate studying!

“If you are going to be like this, you will never catch up to Ash.”

“I know. I will really do my best.” If only I could study together with Ash... If I studied with someone who is having as much fun as he is, I might also enjoy myself a little bit.

“That might actually be a good idea!” It seemed that my mom had picked up on the words that I had mumbled under my breath while letting out a sigh. “You are right—if you are with someone else, it might be easier for you to remember things. Especially if you are with someone you like, studying is much more fun. I remember how fun it was together with Klein... I mean, your father.”

She was nodding her head while smiling. Really? Like, really?

“Next time Ash is at the church, you should go and join him!” she proposed.

“What?! No way! He is gonna find out how stupid I am!”

“I am sure he already knows.”

How cruel! Even though I kept complaining to her, she wouldn’t listen at all.

When my dad came back home, she told him there was good news and they went back to their room. How unfair. I mean, I complained, but I never said I wouldn’t go. It’s not like I don’t like the idea. You could say I’m even a little thankful.

Also, it seemed like my dad had gone out to search for me when I hadn’t come back in time. I was really grateful to my parents. Unrelated to Ash, I decided that it was time for me to become more mature.

●　●　●

There was a common point between modern letters and those of the early-period ancient civilization—most researchers seemed to agree on this. That in itself was not particularly strange, considering that there was a link between modern civilization and the late period of ancient civilization, and that the latter had taken over knowledge from the early period. It also was not unusual that letters had been lost going from the early period to the late period, and then again from the late period to modern times. In the case of phonograms, there were certain sounds that disappeared over time. Due to the spread of spoken dialects, people stopped differentiating between certain sounds that used to be clearly distinct in the past. The problem with the language of the early period was that a large amount of the letters had disappeared. It was also possible that the shape of our vocal organs had greatly changed over time. Judging from the sheer amount of letters in the language of the early period, it was not inconceivable that people back then looked closer to lizards or octopuses, and used unique sounds that modern humans were no longer able to pronounce. However, that explanation seemed unlikely to me.

I was pondering to myself while pulling out weeds from the field.

“Whatcha think, Ash? Ya books can do this?” Also pulling weeds next to me was my father, David, annoy—I mean, passionately explaining to me. “Readin’ books won’t make any new spring crops. If ya got time for that, might as well look after the field. That’s what ya call a proper man. Like how we’ve been doin’ for generations.”

He was a narrow-minded—I mean, serious man. He said that this was what we had been doing for generations, but if I remembered correctly, he had boasted before about my great-uncle working as a soldier in the city, so it was not like he was particularly proud of being a farmer. Most likely, he did not have the talent to do anything else. Not that I thought being a farmer was bad compared to being a soldier! Farming was an essential job in any civilized society.

“You are correct. Reading books won’t make the harvest any better.”

“Right! Books are a waste of time! They make ya lazy!”

However, my father did not have any understanding for books. Someday I will make him regret—I mean, I will convince him.

While occasionally throwing in appropriate interjections to show that I was listening, I continued the work in the field.

Interestingly enough, the farming in this village was quite scientific. It was a lot more advanced than you would have expected if you judged the level of development purely from the material conditions and conversations of the villagers. I wasn’t that familiar with farming practices myself, but they used a crop rotation in this village. On top of that, it was a fairly advanced version, commonly known as the ‘Norfolk four-course system.’ If I remembered correctly, this farming system had only become mainstream in relatively recent times. Of course, depending on the region, there would have been places where people had worked this out over time from their long past experiences. As such, it was not much of a surprise that it had found its way even to a remote village like this.

However, seeing how simple my own father was, I had another theory. Was it possible that this was a farming system used by the ancient civilizations?

I had no idea how both ancient civilizations had crumbled. According to official sources, they had been destroyed by demons, which I found hard to believe, but since even now there were holdovers from those periods, maybe a small group of their people had survived. While most of their culture had been taken away by the tyrant called time, they had managed to protect their cultivating systems.

Thinking back, I realized that I had come across several concepts these past nine years that had seemed strangely advanced. Suddenly, I had expectations for the legacy of the ancient civilization. There was a glimmer of hope to return to the affluent days of my past-life memories, which had seemed forever lost, even if it was only a small fraction of it.

“Maybe I could use this to help decipher the ancient language,” I murmured. A while back, I said very maturely that I shouldn’t dream too big, but I’m still only a nine-year-old child! There’s nothing wrong with dreaming big!

Considering the current social conditions of the village, I did not have a very high life expectancy. My father was only in his mid-twenties, but he looked at least ten years older. Once you reached your forties, you were already treated as an elderly person, and anyone older than sixty was considered a ghost. Life here was short—I was going to dream big and use all my resources to achieve my goals.

“Time for a break, Ash.”

Finally, it was time for a break. For a developing child, this workload was harsh. I don’t remember any nine-year-olds complaining about their hips cracking in my past life.

While stretching my back, I drew a mark next to my feet with a wooden branch that I was carrying around for work. The mark signified that I had finished my work up to that point. My father and all the other farmers did the same. It was not just a simple line, but some sort of symbol. My father, who despised books, referred to it as a charm to improve the harvest which had been passed down since ancient times. An irrational custom like a charm was much more befitting of this village’s level of civilization.

However, I did not dislike that charm. In a severe life like this, having something that could make you feel at ease without any real reason seemed necessary. I was glad that it was something as harmless as a mark on the ground. If it were something as barbaric as a blood sacrifice, I was not convinced I could have lived this long. Therefore, as I said, I liked that charm.

“...Wait a minute.” When I gently stared at the mark, I realized something. Could this have been some sort of letter? “Wow.”

I was impressed at my own sudden discovery. If it was possible that this farming system originated in the ancient civilization, it would not have been a far stretch to think that the charm used by the farmers, who had taken over their methods, was also a remnant of that time. The preconditions are quite dubious, but given that there are no other clues, let me engage in a little thought exercise.

If it had been a letter, what could it have meant? Considering it was used to mean ‘abundant harvest,’ it most likely would have been ‘abundant,’ or ‘praying,’ or ‘protecting from bad harvest.’ On the other hand, it may not have had any relation to its function as a charm, and just meant ‘ending,’ since it was used at the end of the work. Would there have been this much meaning to a simple mark? Maybe it was an abbreviation. Or it was possible that over the years a part of the original mark had disappeared.

It was also not uncommon to just use the initials instead of a long formal name in a conversation. Or it was also possible that there were originally several letters which had been shortened and combined. You often saw this with company logos, where the initials of the name had been fused into a symbol. In the case of a logo, I was actually tempted to classify it as an ideogram. Even though it was supposed to be a mix of phonograms, it was closer to a picture or figure, and it expressed the entire company name with a single shape.

There were too many possibilities to narrow it down. At that moment, it was beyond my capacities to find an explanation. Nevertheless, I had realized something. Compared with the modern language, there were far too many letters in the book from the early-period ancient civilization that Father Folke had shown me. Could it have been that the ancient language was a mix of ideograms and phonograms, just like kanji and hiragana?

As soon as I had finished the farming work for the day, I ran towards Father Folke with my father’s jeers echoing in the background.

“Father Folke, I have realized something!” He seemed taken aback by me rushing into his private study at once, but all was fine. I was calm; I just had gained a little momentum. “There is a charm that is used for farm work—”

“Wait, calm down! What are you talking about?”

I‘m fine. I’m calm. Just be quiet and listen. Don’t move. Give me a pen. What are you doing? Hurry up. “This is the mark that is used as a charm. Does it not look too complicated to be a shape? Does it not rather look like a letter?”

“Oh! Yeah, I can see it being a letter.”

“But we do not use these types of letters, so I thought that maybe it was from the ancient language, and if it was from the ancient language, I was wondering what it could mean on its own, and when I could not think of an explanation, that was when it hit me!” Phew! I thought I was going to die saying it all in one breath. It looked like Father Folke had calmed down during my fiery speech; he had fallen silent with his mouth closed. I controlled my breathing and got ready to talk about the most important part. “What if the letters of the ancient language that we cannot read are not actually letters but pictures?”

“Wait, what do you mean? They aren’t letters?” I could see on Father Folke’s once again healthy and handsome face that he was beginning to comprehend the meaning of my words. “They aren’t letters, but pictures... What does that mean? Pictures usually don’t look like that, and they aren’t in between letters—isn’t that so?”

“Yeah, you are right. I was using pictures more as an example. It would be letters that resemble pictures.”

“Hmm... letters that resemble pictures—meaning... I’m sorry, I can’t imagine it.”

In theory, it was not that difficult to understand, but without the concept of ideograms, it was only normal to end up with a puzzled look on your face like Father Folke did.

“It is easier to understand if you do not think about it too much. Let’s see... How about we try having a conversation with letters resembling pictures?”

After making a start sign, I first pointed towards Father Folke.

“Me? I?” he guessed.

I continued to gesture as he guessed the meaning.

“Have”

“Am”

Next, I pointed towards me.

“Ash?” he asked.

“And”

“And Ash...?” he put together.

Somehow it had become really silly, but I decided to go through with it. I repeatedly opened my mouth and gestured as if I was talking.

“Open your mouth...? No, ‘talking’? It is ‘talking,’ right?”

“Yes!” I nodded in agreement and read out loud the conversation. “I just signaled the sentence ‘Father Folke and I are talking.’ If I were to put it into writing, it would look something like this.” I wrote it down on a piece of paper, which I had borrowed in a motion that may have looked like snatching. I turned the words ‘Father Folke,’ ‘I/Ash,’ and ‘talking’ into deformed characters resembling people and linked them with particles in the form of regular letters. “Can you understand it?”

“Oh, yeah. I guess you should say ‘read’ in this case. I’ve heard of puzzles like this before.” Once the meaning of the odd exchange from earlier had become clear, Father Folke was staring at the paper in awe. “I think I understand it now. What you referred to as letters resembling pictures earlier is that part that looks like a picture of a person.”

“You are right. That part that looks like a picture means ‘Father Folke’ on its own. That is an amount of information we cannot express with a single letter of the language we know.”

“This is... How should I put it? Quite interesting. And you are saying that something like this might have been used in the early period of the ancient civilization?” As I nodded, Father Folke started to inspect the validity of the hypothesis inside his head. I could tell from the enthusiastic nods that he seemed to agree with a lot of the components. “Interesting. Indeed a splendid idea. Do you remember that last time we talked we also came to the conclusion that there were too many letters?”

“Yes. It is an unnatural amount if you assume them to be purely letters expressing sounds. It makes you think that the people back then may have been able to utter completely different sounds which we can no longer reproduce.”

“And this unnaturalness could be explained by these picture-like letters expressing ideas... What should we call them? How about pictographs for now? So, if you use these pictographs to fill in the unnatural amount of blanks, the text could become coherent.”

“That is what I think.”

I wondered if we were right. Personally, I was getting more and more excited thinking we were on the right track.

Father Folke, on the other hand, kept a serious look on his face. “I can’t believe it.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it.”

“You did not see it?”

He was shaking his head up and down repeatedly. “It is only a hunch...” he murmured, but he could no longer keep a straight face. “It’s only a feeling, but we might have a huge breakthrough here!” He was shouting with exultation and a big smile on his face. “This is amazing! We have a lot of work to do. How are we going to prove this? I can’t wait to prove this!”

“Father Folke, please calm down for a bit!” Don’t shake the body of a delicate little child!

“Haha! This is the best! You’re the best, Ash!”

What I could not believe was not the clue for the decipherment, but rather the manner of his frolicking. Either way, I’m glad I could make you so happy. Let us do our best to decipher this language. At the end of the day, books only come to life once you have read them.