In this world, they know years as cycles, and to explain to the children in the village what these consist of, they use a fairly simple example. A cycle is completed once a tree that had lost its leaves in the cold season regrows them again.

Of course, with that, I could tell that there was basically not much difference between cycles and years. Specifically because this world also has four seasons that last approximately the same as the ones I knew.

It may be that the distance of this planet from its star and the relative sizes of the two are similar to those of my previous world. But I won't go into scientific details that even I don't understand perfectly.

In my mind, I will surely continue calling them years for a long time. And I will do the same with the days, which they call "ele" here, the same word they use for the sky.

That is to say that "three skys ago" means that the sky darkened and brightened again three times.

It originates from the myths of the gods of the sky and the sun. They tell us that no sky is the same as the one that has already darkened. It's quite poetic, but I prefer to continue calling them days to keep my thoughts more organized.

Well, enough of the explanations… The important thing is that, according to the new leaves on the old tree near the entrance of our cottage, I am already two years old!

I don't know if they celebrate birthdays in this world; apparently, we poor villagers don't, but who cares!

What is worth celebrating is that I can now control my body perfectly (within the limit of my capabilities as an infant). I can walk, jog, and run to my heart's content, as well as modulate all the new words I'm learning and carry on conversations without any problems.

Considering my situation, it's nothing to brag about (well, actually, I do brag a little from time to time), but the rest of the villagers treat me like a little genius. Although I have to admit that it is to be expected when within my generation some still fall when walking and others who barely babble something intelligible...

Fortunately, no one suspects my abilities. In addition to the fact that I have been careful not to stand out too much, everyone believes it is because I'm Vindel's son. Even before he was orphaned, my young father had already won everyone's hearts with his wit and hard work.

Vindel's situation reminds me a little of mine, but only the part where he is also an orphan. He has much more charisma than I ever had, so much so that he was able to conquer the most beautiful daughter of the village chief, Telize, my mother.

Although my grandfather is the head of the village, that does not mean our situation is comfortable. My grandfather has enough descendants with his three wives to worry too much about us. And even if he did, Videl wouldn't accept anything that wasn't the result of his own efforts, his personality is like that.

Videl is an innate worker, but it is also true that he is not even twenty years old yet and that my paternal grandparents only left him a dilapidated hut as his inheritance. So his fortune consists of our modest cottage and the group of batenkas that he has been able to increase over time.

It's not like we can expect more from the opportunities offered by a medieval village where the only sources of employment are cultivating the fields and raising animals. The only coins one can get here are those earned with great difficulty from traveling merchants.

Because of that, I have decided that when my body grows up, I want to embark on a military career. From what I have heard from conversations between villagers, wars are quite common, and if you rise in the ranks, you can even become part of the nobility.

Of course, it's not that I expect to get that far; it's just that I've decided to live this new life to the fullest. And in the army, perhaps the knowledge of the strategies I have read in my favorite historical novels will help me. Just thinking about introducing those of Hannibal Barca or Alexander the Great into this world makes my hair stand on end!

Sure, becoming a general is just a dream, but maybe I can be put in charge of a small group of men… I hope.

The other reason I want to join the army is to learn how to defend myself in case the "shadow" (that's what I've decided to call my assassin) really appears before me.

It will surely be a difficult road, especially considering that I lived in a peaceful country in my old world. But I have already seen death in person (and a pretty grotesque kind), and I have felt the fear of knowing that I am going to die (even if I was saved in the first instance but ended up dying later without realizing what was happening). Hence, I believe that I can do it... I hope (again).

However, I have found my first challenge now, when I am barely a two-year-old... No, even before that. This monster has wanted a piece of me ever since I was born.

My parents have kept it away, but I've noticed how it looks at me. It is an evil creature, always waiting for my trips to the bathroom... The fattest and largest of all the batenkas.

Batenkas are the chickens of this world; that is to say, they are poultry and provide eggs, meat, and feathers. But unlike chickens, batenkas are larger, rounder, have soft red plumage, and, above all, not only can they eat meat, but they also have no problem eating each other if there is a lack of food.

The worst part is that the females are the aggressive ones; I say this because they are the absolute majority. Meanwhile, the male we have is dedicated to fertilizing the eggs and sleeping all day.

Who would think that these plump birds could remind me so much of lions...

Of course, they are domesticated, and although smaller animals do not survive an incursion into their territory, humans are generally left alone.

But, for some reason, that batenka, the plump one, always frowns when she sees me.

From everything she was able to eat to grow to that size, one could assume that she may have been Vindel's darling before I was born and got all the attention. But that is to give too much credit to an animal; although I am in another world, I know that the poultry in our village does not have the capacity to reason as humans do. The look she always gives me is not one of resentment or jealousy; it is that of a hunter observing her prey.

But the batenka doesn't know that she is not the only one in our usual exchange of glances observing with appetite. To be honest, I want to eat meat too! Meat is a luxury food in a village with little grazing land like ours. Most of the space is used for crops.

*****

One morning, I woke up determined to end the yoke that had oppressed me for as long as I could remember, and I was prepared to fight for my right to go to the bathroom in peace. I could never be a soldier if I feared facing a simple farm animal.

I escaped from my mother's arms and climbed my father's back to leave the bed where the three of us slept. It was very early in the morning, so the two of them still hadn't woken up. I knew they were both heavy sleepers thanks to their daily hard work in the fields, so I didn't worry too much about not making noise. I mean, I literally walked over Vindel, and he didn't wake up.

While making sure with my tongue that I had enough baby teeth (according to my parents, I could eat soft meat the next time it was available), I headed to where I had hidden my treasure. The longest, firmest stick I had ever owned.

But this stick also had a secret I couldn't show my parents, or they would take it away. When removing the loose bark at one end, the sharp point formed when it separated from the tree revealed itself (I had also perfected it with one of Telize's knives). It was extremely difficult to do with my two-year-old hands! Someone congratulate me, please!

From the scolding I was later subjected to, I know that not long after leaving with my weapon in hand, Vindel and Telize woke up startled when they heard the war cry of one of the batenkas. They got worried and ran outside when they saw that I was not in bed.

But when they arrived at my side, it was already too late... For the batenka, of course. The deranged creature had pounced on me as soon as she saw I was alone, but it was something I knew she would do.

I had waited for her in a place with a slight unevenness in the ground, and as soon as the plump bird was about to reach me, I revealed the improvised spear I had hidden behind my back and attacked with all my strength.

Of course, all my strength was equivalent to nothingness itself; that was where the unevenness came into play, which stopped the back of the spear pushed by the batenka, and caused the infernal creature to skewer itself on the spear with its own weight.

It was a gamble, but thankfully, I emerged victorious, and my first enemy had succumbed.

At first, I had my doubts as to why the villagers in this world raised these types of dangerous creatures. But after thinking about it carefully, I realized that bad-tempered roosters, or pigs, were not the safest company for children either...

Vindel and Telize were stunned when they saw the gigantic bird lying bloody before me. Fortunately, I managed to convince them that it had all been a coincidence, that I was just playing with the stick when the chubbiest batenka suddenly attacked me. While I was trying to defend myself with the stick, the bird accidentally stabbed herself with it (basically, almost everything was true). But that didn't save me from the scolding that awaited me for going outside that early and alone.

Still, my parents treated it all as my victory against adversity, and luckily, they didn't comment on the sharp side of the stick that appeared from inside the batenka; instead, they only looked at each other with doubt, not understanding why they hadn't noticed before that I had something so dangerous in my possession. But at that time, I'm sure they appreciated that I did.

Vindel gave one last thoughtful look at the batenka and took her elsewhere to bleed her. This specimen was particularly large, but not because she was his favorite and he allowed her to eat more food than the rest. Those types of situations are controlled to prevent a particular batenka from growing too much and starting to steal food from the others.

No, the chubby batenka had been born with a hunting instinct, and she acquired her extra food on her own; surely, no small animal that had fallen into her claws had survived.

Vindel had done nothing until now because the chubby batenka had not yet begun to steal food, and, above all, he hated the idea of prematurely losing a valuable source of eggs (that is to say, before it died of old age).

However, he was already tired of her excessively aggressive behavior, and at Telize's insistence, the batenka had already been marked for some time as the feast for the next celebration.

Of course, there aren't very good methods to preserve meat in this medieval village (besides turning it into jerky), so the animals are generally slaughtered the same day or the day before their consumption.

But as I sped things up, the chubby batenka went from being the main course of some special occasion to simply being our dinner. That means there was more for me!

*****

Or that's what I thought, but Vindel came up with the brilliant idea of calling family and friends...

But anyway, the official reason for the party was the victory in my first battle, and no matter how much of a barnyard bird it may have been, once the guests arrived, they congratulated me for having stood up to an animal bigger than me. Since the flattery didn't feel bad at all, I decided to forgive my young father.

Once the food was served, I must admit that I appreciated it for a long time. It was the first time I had a real piece of batenka in front of me! Of course, it was a kid's portion, but to me, it looked huge.

If I could have had some alcohol to accompany dinner, it would have been wonderful, but I couldn't convince anyone to share some with a two-year-old child; well, you can't have everything in life.

In my mind, I have always treated batenkas as giant chickens, but I must say that the flavor reminded me more of a turkey.