“I don’t fully understand it, but I get it.”
“Hm.”
“I don’t know why someone like you was born. But with a brother like you, I’m incredibly happy. You’re going to be a huge help going forward. I guess all I need to do is just be glad about that.”
“Hm.”
“Besides, you’re probably smarter than me.”
“…Unclear.”
“I’m counting on that and hoping you’ll help me out.”
“Hm.”
Still, there’s one thing I want to make perfectly clear first.
“I want my identity to be a secret.”
“You want to keep it from everyone?”
“Hm.”
“Why? If word got out that a genius baby has appeared, everyone would respect you. Father and Mother would surely be proud.”
“What if others find out? Like the Kingdom’s Capital?”
“The Kingdom’s Capital, huh…” My brother folded his arms and thought for a moment.
“If the Church found out, they might treat you as a ‘miracle from God.’ If it’s the Royal Palace, they might want to keep you for your promising future… and other nobles might start targeting you…”
“Do that.”
“…I see. Well, I don’t want the Royal Palace to take you either. After all, I want your help to rebuild our domain.”
“Hm.”
That was always the plan.
For the sake of our people and Mother—and with that looming deadline—I hadn’t planned on revealing my true nature to anyone but my brother.
“Except you, brother, it’s a secret.”
“Well, the fewer people who know a secret, the better.”
“Hm.”
“But are you sure? If what happened yesterday with Kuroaosou doesn’t get spread around, it won’t mean anything. Everything will end up credited to me.”
“That’s fine.”
“To be honest, I feel a bit guilty or uneasy about it.”
“It’s the duty of a lord.”
“Ah, hm?”
“My duty.”
“The next lord… it’s the responsibility of someone who leads.”
“Hm.”
“I kind of get it… but somehow, I feel like you’re just trying to pass the tricky parts onto me and secretly take it easy behind the scenes.”
“Correct.”
“You little…”
My brother chuckled bitterly and ruffled my hair roughly.
Since my hair isn’t fully grown yet, I wished he’d go easier on me.
“Well, it can’t be helped. But that’s only because you’re still a baby. Once you grow a little more, you’ll have to take on appropriate responsibilities.”
“…Can’t help it.”
“And for now, that’s how it’ll be. But if anything serious happens, I’ll be the first to tell Father.”
“Hm, good.”
“That’s the deal… Now, was there anything else to confirm?”
After looking up at the ceiling once, my brother glanced back at me.
“Oh, about Kuroaosou. Yesterday, I talked with Ahim and Rinus. I told them the light we saw the day before yesterday was probably just someone in the manor’s meddling. Then I explained about the Blessing. Since Rinus’s Blessing is ‘Light,’ we decided to run a proper experiment. He’s been holed up in the shed since yesterday, excitedly testing ‘Light.'”
“Hm.”
“If it goes well, the three of us will present our results and spread the method throughout the village to help with food supplies this winter. It’s a vegetable that usually takes less than a month from sowing to harvest, so there’s hope we can get multiple harvests. Its downside is that it doesn’t keep well after harvest, but that doesn’t matter given the winter food shortages.”
“Hm. Sounds good.”
“Still, no one expected the Blessing of Light to be useful like this. Both I and those two are surprised. Rinus, especially, has been working hard since this morning to redeem the honor of the so-called useless ‘Light.'”
“Useless?”
“Yeah, you didn’t know?”
“Please… tell me.”
“Ah, so that’s where we start.”
After all, I only knew what I did from Bettina’s mutterings.
Everything else was just me trying to figure out how to use ‘Light’ on my own.
My brother’s explanation was basically the same as Bettina’s.
Everyone in this world is born with one of four Blessings: Fire, Water, Wind, or Light.
After turning one year old, they go to the Church to test their aptitude and then begin using their Blessing.
The strength and quantity of Blessing they can use is roughly as Bettina described.
For ‘Water,’ it’s about half a cup per day; the others are similar.
Differences between individuals are considered mere margin of error.
There’s an urban legend that training body and mind might increase one’s strength, and many attempt it, but no one has proven it yet.
One thing for sure is that overusing Blessing tires you to the brink of immobility.
…And so on.
Still, the phrase ‘useless’ stuck in my mind.
When I asked about it, my brother frowned slightly, “Don’t take this the wrong way. From everyone’s perspective, among the four types, ‘Light’ is considered a step below.”
“Really?”
When I asked further, ‘Fire’ and ‘Wind’ are obviously practical for daily life.
‘Fire’ especially is indispensable for cooking.
‘Wind’ is useful for blowing away unwanted things or chasing off insects and small animals.
On the other hand, ‘Light’ is only good for lighting dark places.
But don’t say that makes it useful enough.
Life here, especially for farmers, is simple.
They wake up when the sun rises and go to sleep when it sets.
That’s it.
There are hardly any situations where darkness appears.
If such a situation does arise, they just think ‘It’d be nice to have that.’
That’s how it’s viewed.
I reluctantly nodded in understanding.
“On top of that, I think there’s something like Knight common sense that’s influenced the general public.”
“Huh?”
Knights pride themselves on their martial skills.
Among them, those who use ‘Wind’ well are considered the best.
It enhances the power and precision of bows and arrows, and when skillfully applied with a sword, it increases strength, sharpness, and what you’d call the ‘clarity’ of one’s swordsmanship.
Swordsmanship refined with these techniques is highly praised as a master art.
‘Fire’ and ‘Water’ are also useful in combat.
Blowing ‘Fire’ to disrupt an opponent’s movement can cause burns or injury if done well.
Pouring ‘Water’ to impede movement and skillfully deflect attacks earns a reputation for tactical excellence.
However, while these are valid tactics, compared to pure swordsmanship, they’re often seen as somewhat flashy or showy.
Hearing this, I couldn’t help but think internally: ‘Isn’t that just because ‘Wind’ is harder to see with the eye?’
Compared to those, ‘Light’ can also be used in battle.
Essentially, as a ‘blinding’ technique during a sword fight.
But for Knights, this is seen as more of a flashy trick—frankly, a kind of ‘cheating’—even more so than ‘Fire’ or ‘Water’.
‘Because ‘Light’ doesn’t physically affect the opponent?’
“—Well, there might be lots of things to say, but that’s the general consensus.”
“…I see.”
I can’t say I don’t understand.
Noble Knights who value pure swordsmanship would have this kind of evaluation.
And the value standards of respected Knights influence the common people.
“So, basically, this case might be a big turning point for changing the value of ‘Light’ among farmers at least.”
“It might, right?”
With that hope, even the pessimist Rinus changed his mind.
Hearing that, besides making Kuroaosou cultivation a success, I found myself wanting Rinus to do his best as an advocate for those with the Blessing of Light.
Of course, the most important thing is improving the food situation for our people, and many problems still remain.
To discuss those, I first need information.
No need to rush—step by step.
I decided to start with an explanation about the entire country.
“You said you don’t know anything, right? Even the name of this country?”
“No idea.”
“…Starting from there, huh?”
Remembering he was dealing with a six-month-old baby, I hoped my brother took that into account.
He sighed in a way that was both secretive and showy, then began his lecture.