A Not So Fantasy World

Veronica

I had always known this but... My mother really is capable, isn't he?

He swiftly put the changes to the fief in motion, and I even got to be there when the very first batch of water wheels and wheelbarrows were delivered to those twenty villages.

At first, I was worried that the villagers wouldn't take the changes very well, but my worries were unfounded. As it turned out, those village leaders were so dazzled by Mama during that meeting that they practically sang his praises when they returned, exalting him as a “benevolent young lord”.

How did it lead to that?

The person in question seemed unconcerned and only paused his hands that were flipping purposefully through a thick stack of documents for a moment before saying, “An unexpected turn of events... but not entirely unpleasant.”

Were these people so starved for the bare minimum that doing even this much for them automatically promotes the benefactor to god status?!

I mean, I saw the living condition for myself, but still… The image of “The Duke” in their eyes completely went from “cruel tyrant” to “great hero” in just that one meeting. They even seem to have disregarded the fact that their new Lord is a young child. Actually… I think that point may have worked in his favor.

No matter how much of a nuisance the gifts from the goddess are sometimes, they're still pretty useful...

Now, on the streets of the main town, all the rumors you can hear is focussed on the new lord and the strange constructions on the banks of several rivers in the fief. The people were becoming restless. Some of them anxious, some excited and others sceptical.

The sceptics annoyed me. They weren't few either.

I could understand their reluctance to trust nobles after what the previous lord did, but I can't help but wonder if they plan to continue to liken Mama to that man that could barely be considered human!

Mama, being a businessperson to the core, predicted this reaction, of course, so this is why he chose that sample group to win over first. When those sceptics see the sure-fire techniques and equipment from our world blow the common caveman methods of this world out of the water, they'll have no choice but to change their tune!

In those twenty villages, the people didn't follow the normal routine when it was time to get to farming.

The villagers could be seen picking the rocks and weeds from the dusty fields. Able bodied men were running to and from the nearby forests with wheelbarrows filled with rich dark earth mixed with rotting fallen leaves that had accumulated for who knows how long, dumping it into the cleared fields. Remaining livestock were hitched to bladed contraptions that dug furrows into the earth.

These odd movements stirred up endless curiosity and slight wariness in the neighbouring village. Many came by watching in confusion, scratching their heads. When asked, those village chiefs that had been thoroughly brainwashed by Mama's broken charisma skill eagerly spread the word of the new Lord's brilliant plans. Six more villages came forth after the changes started, and the craftsmen guild was commissioned to build another two water wheels and several more wheelbarrows to get those villages started as well.

The other villages remained hesitant with a “watch and see first” feel to them. Mama didn't seem to care though. He maintained that when the results started to show, they would come around.

I couldn't help being anxious, though. There were officially some sixty-three villages in the entire fief, but just twenty-six chose to get in on the changes off the bat.

Are the other thirty-seven villages going to be okay this harvest?

It's not like I had the luxury to sit Around and agonize over this, however, as I already had sword training to begin with, and now there was magic lessons to add to my schedule.

After Mama let the demons loose on poor Dean, he didn't dare slack on my training, and wouldn't you know, it turned out that our brand new, resident, clutzy mage sheds his frightened bunny aura and gets super serious when it comes up to magic. He's a total perfectionist.

Basic tutoring. Sword training. Magic lessons. Basic tutoring. Sword training. Magic lessons. Basic tutoring... Sword training… Magic lessons!!!

Free time? What is this free time you speak of? Is it tasty? Can I eat it?

_(:зゝ∠)_

After the first couple days of magic lessons in which we covered the basic elements and theory we made a discovery…

….

…

It turns out I suck at magic.

Yup. No talent to speak of. Nada. Zilch.

How come?!?!! Wasn't the game's Veronica an okay mage?!

I very nearly blew my fingers off with the most basic of beginner fire spells and was subsequently banned from performing any magic without permission and Orion there to monitor me.

My self-confidence took a critical blow. (〒▽〒)

Unlike myself, Mama took to magic like a fish to water. In just a month and a half he was already through with every single basic fire, water and earth elemental spell. It wasn't at the level of mountain destroying lethality, but the speed of his progress was astounding, according to everybody else.

These were still at the level of only a fist full of fire or a highly compressed orb of water that could knock a person out at least, but it was further than I'd gotten. I was almost begging those pathetic, sputtering sparks in my palm to turn into a fireball already. Even one the size of a pea would be okay too!

Apparently, I could probably easily summon up the raw element without a spell formula, but… it might go out of control and roast me. I'm way too much of a noob to even think of manipulating raw elemental mana.

Meanwhile I've been struggling, Mama and Orion are having fevered discussions about magic theory. Mama looking contemplative and Orion just looking… oddly flushed? They're always throwing around formulas and terms that bounce right off my noggin.

Geniuses are really something else, huh? It's hard to keep up…

If there's one saving grace, it would be the fact that I turned out to be a natural in swordsmanship~♡.

Mama seems to be slightly below average for this household, though it's more than made up for by his monstrous magic aptitude.

That seemingly out of the blue blessing from Ares is good for something. Hurray for small victories!!

… it somehow feels pyrrhic though…

“Why?” you ask.

Well, I was initially a modern girl, raised in modern civilization, so suddenly asking me to swing a sword and kill monsters… is a little too much.

I could do any amount of jogging, striking a wooden posts and practice spars in which I am knocked right onto my butt.

I just couldn't help having reservations against actually cutting somebody or-- god forbid, another person.

My training partners, Ian-- Maddie and Luke's twelve-year-old son, and a lately very enthusiastic Reggie, don't seem to mind the idea nearly as much as I do.

I may have Veronica's memories from my whole nearly seven years in this world, but I still spent more than twice that amount of time as Chiaki. My morals were hard to let go of.

Us three were glued together by Mama. Reggie, who for some reason still dressed like a girl, even though he was no longer required to, and Ian, who kept sneaking suspicious glances at the former, were a little bit ahead of me, but thanks to the War God’s blessing, I was already catching up quickly. It was decided that we would be going on periodic trips to one of the fief’s monster inhabited forests for battle experience.

Heavily guarded of course.

We lingered near the forest's edge where the weaker monsters were to watch how it's done at first.

I saw my very first goblin on our first trip.

Squat, waist high, humanoid creatures with greenish grey skin and gangly arms and legs attempted to ambush us from behind trees. They had rather ugly faces filled with yellow fangs, droopy, bat like ears and carried clubs and crude spears.

Compared to seeing then on the screen of “The Magus’ Romance”, seeing them in real life was predictably a whole new experience.

“little Buggers breed like roaches…” I could hear Ian, who was usually a man of few words, mutter as he drew his sword presumably in case any of them slipped through the guards and go for us.

He's been thoroughly drilled by his mother, huh? My condolences to the sullen boy who is forced to look after me…

Watching those goblins get cut down was….. scarring. I lost my lunch at the end of it, embarrassingly enough, and was pale faced on the entire return trip. I was still occasionally retching from the memory of the scent of blood. Not my best moment. Hey, at least I got to stop at the main town on the way back.

There wasn't much to see though...

Despite this disaster trip, my training continued, and my physical stats went up some more. After a few more trips to the forest, my s we squeamishness towards seeing the goblins get cut down significantly decreased. I still couldn't stomach killing one though…

My magic was still… barely passable.

Just when my depression was almost through the roof, that angel disguised as my mother disguised as a red-haired boy came forth with my salvation.

“The water wheels are almost fully installed,” he said offhandedly. “I'm going out tomorrow to one of the villages to watch. Would you like to come along--”?

“YES!!!!” I jumped to my feet so suddenly that the thick magic tome I had nicked from him in an attempt to remedy my poor magic went flying from my lap.

“...” He raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on my excited outburst.

Finally! A break in my endless routine of training. Good god. My callouses were about to grow callouses!

I was practically vibrating with excitement in the carriage all the way to the biggest village of the original sample group. Mama was as cool and collected as always. I decided to take this as an example and straightened out my face, sitting with a well-practiced ladylike posture.

Carriage rides also majorly suck. I swore the next thing I'd convince mana l Mama to make would be a comfy carriage. That our better roads.

By the time we got there my poor tush was ready to revolt.

Mama stepped down from the carriage worth effortless grace and I followed hoping I looked at least half as good.

We were brought straight to the riverbank where the huge wooden water wheel stood waiting to be released.

The small canal that the villagers and craftsmen dug and lined with clay and sand was all set and the craftsman at the side of the wheel was just waiting for Mama's word.

The villagers were staring at us with bays breath. There was far more than could be from this village, so I suspected they were mixed with residents of nearby villages instead.

We made our way to the side of the canal followed by Maddie, Reggie and Tish, holding parasols to block the too bright sunlight, and our entourage of guards now including Ian. Hundreds of eyes trained on us. It was a bit disconcerting, but thinking back to my days at school, it wasn't all that different. Mama was unmoved, making quiet greetings to the village head who seemed to be vibrating with a much excitement as I was on the way here.

Finally, Mama gave a slight nod to the men by the wheel who removed the wedge.

We all watched fascinated as the river current began to turn the wheel; slowly at first, but it began to gain speed. Bucket after huge bucket was filled with water, lifted and then dumped into the wooden water trough at the top. The water rushed down the trough and into the channel.

There were shouts from the villagers as some took off excitedly to follow the water rushing along the canal to the village where it would neatly cut across the fields and carry over into the nearest village to do the same before connecting to the river again downstream. Watering the crops and livestock would be easily done now.

I was trying to keep my elegant ojou-sama image, yet I couldn't help grinning.

We followed at a more sedate pace with the village leader who was belting out endless praises.

These people always thought that the growth of crops was completely up to the weather. If it didn't rain then the crops would just dry up, and villages weren't built too close to rivers for fear of flooding, so the concept of manually watering was still new. From now on, however, it would be a different story with the help of the water wheel, the wheelbarrows and the mulching methods. The difference this harvest was bound to be staggering.

We made it to the village to see the villagers dipping their hands into the running water and celebrating. It was a refreshing scene in comparison to the desolation and hopelessness we saw on our inspection.

We left feeling much better than last time.

Our feel-good moment didn't last too long though.

Our carriage was attacked by bandits.