It’s been eight years since I was born into this world. I’m eight years old now.
「Eight years, huh…」
Eight years… that’s enough time for the Olympics and the World Cup to have both ended twice already.
I have no idea what’s going on back on Earth, but those are huge, historic events. No way they got canceled or delayed, right?
In my previous life, I actually liked soccer a lot. I always watched Japan’s matches and even followed overseas leagues.
…But somehow, I don’t really care what happened in the two tournaments I missed.
「Probably because I don’t know any of the players anymore.」
The players I remember are all from eight years ago.
The veterans from back then must have retired by now. Even the mid-level players are probably off the national team. The young ones from my time… they’re probably the stars now, but—
I don’t know any of them.
I never saw their hard work, their growth, their big plays. So watching them shine in tournaments I missed… doesn’t really interest me.
For me, everything froze eight years ago. My time on Earth stopped right there.
「…………」
That thought left me feeling a bit melancholic.
…Though come to think of it, elves live for hundreds of years. They could easily stay active for eighty years—heck, maybe even eight hundred.
Wouldn’t they get bored? Both the players and the spectators?
I mean, imagine being on the opposing team. Humans, beastkin, whoever… they’d be stuck facing the exact same elf team for centuries.
They’d be like, 『Not these guys again, nyaa…』
「…Yeah, guess that gloomy mood didn’t last long.」
Well, anyway… most of the time I just think about dumb stuff like this.
But the truth is, I’ve been living a pretty happy life here in this world.
My time on Earth stopped eight years ago, but I’ve lived eight full years here.
「Yeah. All in all, it’s been a decent, pretty fulfilling life. I train every day too.」
Like this morning, before breakfast, I did my usual sword practice.
As always, Father gave me that sour look of his. And as always, I still don’t feel like I’m anywhere close to getting the Sword Skill.
But I kept swinging anyway. Swinging my beloved sword, the ‘Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi’, with everything I’ve got.
After breakfast, I practiced archery with Jered-kun.
As usual, Jered-kun managed to irritate me a little, but I still did my best to shoot arrows.
By the way, at some point Jered-kun had already learned the Bow skill art called Power Arrow. That was mildly annoying.
「…Somehow, none of this seems to be going well. I still haven’t even touched Fire Magic either」
In the end, the only thing going smoothly is the Woodworking skill. Maybe I really have no choice but to become a woodworker?
As I looked at the newly finished Mother Doll, I couldn’t help but think about it.
By the way, this doll is the fifteenth model so far. And because it’s the latest model, I… might have gone a bit overboard with the size.
…Okay, not just a bit. I definitely went overboard. And yet—
「Looking at it like this… isn’t Deis-san’s bigger though?」
That’s what it seemed like. Strange… I went all out with this one, so why…?
Could it be that Deis-san is just on a whole different level? Or maybe Mother is on the smaller side…?
「—Ah. Oh no, I really messed up…」
I just realized I said something weird out loud. What if Deis-san heard that just now…?
This is embarrassing… Maybe I should try to explain myself?
「Uh, sorry. About what I just said…」
「You talk to yourself a lot, don’t you…」
「Hii!?」
A voice suddenly came from behind me, making me jump out of my skin.
I spun around quickly――――and there was a young girl.
Somehow, without me noticing, a girl had entered my room and was now sitting cross-legged on my bed, staring at me with a look of mild exasperation.
Judging by her appearance, she seemed about my age. She had long, wavy green hair and mysterious green eyes. At the very least, she didn’t look like an elf. Actually, the color of her hair and eyes was giving me a bad feeling…
…Seriously though, why does everyone just barge into my room without permission?
I thought only the gods in heavens overheard my mutterings, but I didn’t expect someone right behind me in the real world to do the same.
「You were mumbling to yourself forever… something about ‘not these guys again, nyaa’ noja…」
Wait, I said that out loud too? That wasn’t in the narration?
「Well, whatever. So, you’re Alec, right noja?」
「Noja loli…」
「Noja what?」
This was bad. I felt like I had said something really rude all of a sudden.
Her strange hair color and mysterious presence aside, it was her way of speaking that really stood out to me…
「Ah, no, it’s nothing」
「No, I’m pretty sure you just said 『Noja-loli』, didn’t you?」
「Uh…」
「I don’t really get it, but don’t ever use that 『Noja-loli』 word again. It feels like you’re mocking me」
I wasn’t mocking her at all… actually, I felt like that title was used affectionately.
「Sorry about that. So, um… who might you be?」
「Me? I’m called Yggdrasil. And you’re Alec, right?」
Oh great… Yggdrasil-san…? Something to do with the World Tree? Or maybe the World Tree itself?
What should I do? Could I just say 『You’ve got the wrong person』?
「Uh, well…」
「What’s the matter? You’re Alec, aren’t you noja?」
Seriously, what should I do? I didn’t want to answer.
She was definitely here because of the World Tree Forgery Incident.
She came to interrogate the suspect: me.
This was bad… Could I just point at Jered-kun and say 『He’s Alec』?
「It is your name, isn’t it?」
「Uh…」
…Wait. Stay calm. At least Yggdrasil-san wasn’t acting aggressive or hostile.
She didn’t send any crusaders after me. She even came here herself to talk.
In that case, I should respond honestly. If I said something weird here, things could get much worse.
After thinking it through, I answered――
「No, I’m not Alec」
next chapter: I’m not Alec
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