Fushi no Kami - Volume 1, Chapter 2

 One month has passed since I borrowed the thin book. There were times when the strange characters looked difficult to remember. Sometimes, because it was a handwritten manuscript, it was more difficult to make out what letter it is. But the main reason why it took me so long is that I have no time. The autumn harvest was over a month ago, but that didn't mean the farmers were free. If you don't prepare winter wheat for the next harvest, you will die of hunger, and if you don’t prepare for winter, you will die of freezing. I think that the difficulty to survive in this world is too high. Though what's comforting is that even though it is winter, there is almost no snow, so the mortality rate is lower than the countries with snow.

There is too little comfort in this world.

"So, please lend me another book."
"What, are you tired of the previous book?"

Priest Folke expresses his amaze through a face that lacks sleep. I don't know why he looks like that. 

"Rather, don't you think it's because it has been a month?"
"It's only one month. To learn letters in a month is the same as saying that you aren't doing anything. Especially if no one has taught you." 
"Oh?"

He seems to have made a mistake. He likely thought that I would give up learning letters after reading this book.  It's a bit irritating, but it's a reasonable guess if one doesn't have the memory of their past life. As a person who knows manners, I answered politely because he had lent me a book.

"No, I have already remembered the letter in this book, so please lend me another book."
"Hah, you should learn how to lie better."

He laughs at me in a ridiculous manner and I could feel all my gratitude for him disappear. 

"Are you calling a naive eight-year-old child a liar without any reason?"
"It's impossible to memorize letters in a month no matter what the reason is. I bet you could read only the first sentence. That's the only thing I taught you."

I can't bear to listen to what he said. It can't be helped if he can't communicate properly. The first steps to greater civilization is to connect with a person who can't communicate properly. 

It's a war. 

It's not just a war. It is a holy war.

An uncompromising holy war to correct a priest who should've believed in people but instead easily became suspicious in believing others. 

I will flip the world of this pitiful person who can't believe in other people. 

"What if I remember?"
"That's impossible."
"If I remember, I demand the right to borrow all books that Priest Volke has."
"Oh, sure. I'll lend you as much as you want."

How do you plan to prove your words, Priest Folke laughs with an unhealthy face.

"Well then."

It’s good that I get to read books, but all the books are handwritten. Therefore, there might be an accident where I accidentally pick up a terrible habit from one of the books. It's possible that the book Priest Folke had given me is one of those kinds. 

"Oh, I got a good idea. Please lend me a paper and a pen."
"What are you planning?"

Unlike in my past life, paper and pen are also moderately priced. It's so expensive that it doesn't exist at least in farmers' houses. So my practice was to write on the ground with a wooden stick or with water on a wooden board.

"Let's write a contract. If I lied, I will be punished by you. If I don’t, then you will lend me books. Isn't it like killing two birds with one stone?" 

The letters I learned are from Priest Folke. It is unlikely it'll be so different that it cannot be read by him. If the written letters are incorrect, the contract itself will be invalid, and if it is correct, Priest Folk will sign it. When I told him about my plan, Priest Folke looks nervous. He thought that it was impossible, but since I even speak about contracts, he can't help but to think of the worst. 

"How about it? We don't have to actually write a contract but in that case, I'd like to have an apology. I was called a liar and it hurted me so badly. I can't stop crying because of your harsh words."

I put a sad and almost crying face. It's a provocation. It might have been better if you apologize to a cheeky brat like me instead. 

To my delight, Priest Volke bit the bait. 

"What are you saying when there isn't even the slightest injury on you.. Alright, I will pull off that demon face of yours, shitty brat."

Priest Folke angrily said and take out a pen and paper. 

Alright, I won!

By the way, I have heard from other adults that there are really demons, isn't this world? You're just threatening your child not to do anything dangerous, right? It's a problem that when you encounter a spiritual experience such as remembering the memory of your past life, you can't easily laugh at other mysterious phenomena.

"Here. If you can write, then write it, shitty brat."
"Yes, yes."(Fast update at https://silver-slime.blogspot.com/)

He is folding his arm but worries and anxiety reflect in Priest Folke's eyes.  I add ink to the quill and slowly write on the rough paper. I'm not used to writing, so I can't write smoothly. Also, it's difficult because I'm not used to writing with quill.

"It's harder to write on paper than on the ground. It looks terrible but can you read it?"

After I finished writing it down, I wiped my forehead even though I wasn't sweating. Looking at the complexion of Priest Folke, I confirmed that it was readable. 

"Now, please do read it out aloud, Priest Folke."
"You really did learn all those letters in one month..."

He was too surprised to read it aloud, but the text I wrote is:

"As a punishment for unreasonably accusing Ash for lying, Priest Folke will give Ash unlimited access to all the books under his control."

I really liked the phonetic alphabet. If this was an ideographic script, I wasn't very confident of learning it in a month. This is because the letters will be more complicated and more numerous than phonetic alphabets. It's more convenient with phonetic alphabets, which can be easily written in the form of spoken words if you memorize the sounds and the corresponding letters.

"You- No, Ash! How did you learn it? I couldn't read it at all!"

Priest Folke firmly grasps my shoulder and asks. He looks really scary at the moment.  If someone is caught with that kind of face, they will surely be too scared as they thought he's going to bite their head off. 

"I just remembered the first sentence that I learned, applied it to another sentence, and filled in the unknown letters by guessing."

Of course, with a little decryption.

I've read some sentences in these eight years. if I decipher them, I can fill in the characters that I don't understand. 

However, there might be incorrect letters. Even if I know the letter, there might be words I don't understand. It's more like studying than reading a book.

Priest Folke seems so frightened that he falls on his chair. I feel that he shouldn't be so surprised. However, in a rural area where the literacy rate is close to zero, if an eight-year-old child pulls off something like this, I guess it's surprising enough. 

In any case, now the contract has been made. Let's ask for Priest Folke's sign and borrow the next book

"If possible, can I borrow religious books that are easy to read and often use repeating words?"

A story of a saint or something like that is good. Most of the vocabulary is easy to understand and interesting to read. 

The still stunned Priest Folke stands to choose a book, and I smile brightly receiving it. 

Previous | Index | Next