Chapter 3: The Baby Learns Words

I want to understand more about the situation around me.

To do that, at least two things seem necessary.

One is to understand the language of this world.

The other is to expand the range within which I can move and act.

Regarding language, the only method I could think of was to listen carefully to the conversations when Bettina carried me around.

Fortunately—or rather, as it happened—I was able to hear a decent amount of conversation every day.

As I have said many times, Bettina’s most frequent destination was the kitchen.

The cook, Lansel, who seemed to almost live there, wasn’t very talkative, but his wife Westa, who was also my nursemaid, was very chatty. 

Every time she met Bettina, they would exchange all kinds of small talk.

Hearing those exchanges live every day, I made an effort to learn the language by ear.

As a result, I was able to understand the meanings faster than I had expected.

There were some fortunate conditions.

First, the language of this world pronounces each syllable relatively clearly rather than blending words into indistinct sounds. 

This aspect had something in common with the native language in my ‘memories’, making it easier to grasp.

Also, grammatically, it shared similarities with a foreign language I was most familiar with in my ‘memories’, so it was easier to understand.

Just as a simple example,

“I go outside, to the forest behind, to gather firewood.”

The word order was something that naturally settled into my head.

Once I had a rough understanding like that, I could widen the range of what I could comprehend by memorizing new words one after another.

Perhaps it was also thanks to the soft, flexible brain of a baby. 

In just about ten days or so, I was able to understand a certain level of conversation.

“I still couldn’t get decent vegetables today,” Westa complained.

“Even if I want to eat more, I guess I just have to endure it,” Bettina replied.

I had started to be able to catch such conversations.

From those talks, I began to understand some things.

Our family name is Berushuman. 

It seemed that we were a minor noble family.

Father was not at the house now but appeared to be working somewhere.

This mansion was part of the estate Father owned.

Though the estate was small, it was an agricultural area, but it had been experiencing poor harvests in recent years.

‘So that might explain the poor atmosphere here.’

What the cook couple showed on the kitchen table as almost the only ingredients they could get were green leafy vegetables—called Kuroaosou. 

My ‘memories’ wavered between komatsuna and spinach—and some kind of tuber—Goroimo. 

My ‘memories’ whispered that it was similar to potatoes.

Even for six or more people including the lord and servants, the amount looked rather insufficient.

Well, I suppose it wasn’t yet a level where we needed to worry about starving to death anytime soon.

Anyway, that’s what I had come to understand.

The other challenge, expanding my range of movement, still faced several hurdles.

After all, I was still a baby who couldn’t even crawl.

The range Bettina could carry me around was unlikely to get any larger.

That meant I had no choice but to rely on my own efforts.

In other words, I would train myself to gradually increase what I could do.

On the bed.

I managed to roll over within a few days after deciding to try.

According to the common knowledge in my ‘memories’, this alone would have made my family go wild with joy.

But I wasn’t satisfied with that alone. 

Next, I aimed to crawl.

During training on the bed, I gradually felt myself gaining strength in both arms from a prone position.

This progress felt unusually fast compared to the norm.

Maybe this was normal for the physical strength of humans in this world.

Besides, I was tackling this with a ‘sense of purpose’ that ordinary babies didn’t have, so maybe it wasn’t surprising I was advancing faster.

Also, as I did this, my vision became clearer—I was beginning to see normally with my eyes.

This progress was happening in parallel with language acquisition.

At the same time, besides listening, I practiced making sounds alone at night a few times and gradually gained a bit of proficiency.

Still, with a baby’s body, my pronunciation was inevitably unclear.

Hearing myself sounded pitifully unpolished, so I firmly swore not to let anyone hear me for the time being.

No, even aside from that.

All the progress and skills I’d acquired so far—I decided to keep them hidden from others.

That I was close to crawling, that I had begun to understand conversations, that I could now speak—even if poorly—all this was probably far ahead of what was normal for a baby my age.

If people found me ‘creepy’ or started watching me more closely or restricting my movements, it would ruin everything.

Though part of me wanted to share these achievements to make that mother happy, I decided to reveal things little by little.

For that, I first needed to be very careful not to let Bettina find out the truth.

So, all this training other than listening to conversations was limited to nights when Bettina left the room.

Though she looked young, Bettina was quite a capable nursemaid.

Even when she wasn’t in this bedroom, if I made any discomfort sounds, she would come running within minutes.

She always seemed to keep an eye on me, even when outside the room.

Once, in the middle of the night.

Unconsciously, I apparently moaned in my sleep, tormented by a bad dream.

When I noticed, someone was next to my bed, gently stroking my chest and head.

Half still dreaming, I felt comforted by that touch and drifted back to sleep.

I couldn’t see the face in the dark, but judging by the small hand that touched me, it was Bettina.

When I saw her face the next morning, I almost forgot my earlier resolve and wanted to thank her.

I managed to calm myself down and held back.

So, while there had been some progress, the amount of information I wanted was still decisively insufficient.

Looking back, I realized it had only been about ten days since I started having such awareness.

There was no need to rush. 

Yet every day passed with a sense of urgency weighing on me.

* * *

Ding-dong-ding-dong!

Good news.

My name was finally revealed.

Apparently, it is Rudolf.

Just now, during the usual visit from Mother, she said with a smile, “I’m glad, Rudolf is well again today,”

Rudolf.

If the family name I learned from the nursemaid and cook’s conversation was indeed mine, then it would be Rudolf Berushuman.

Somehow, I was moved.

In my excitement, I unintentionally offered an unexpected “service” to Mother.

“…Mo—ther…”

The light brown eyes right in front of me suddenly widened, she took a sharp breath, and after a brief pause, a high-pitched scream burst from Mother’s lips.

“Kyaaaa—!”

“Hey, hey, did you hear? Rudolf spoke! He said ‘Mother’!”

“Yes, yes, I heard it,”

“Congratulations, my lady!”

Isberga and Bettina spoke to Mother with bright smiles.

“Only six months old, and what a clever Rudolf is.”

“As expected of Lord Rudolf!”

Seeing everyone’s joy, I felt relieved that the unexpected thing I did was worthwhile.

But I decided to hold back from doing more for the time being.

Also, I remembered something.

I had heard the term “Lord Rudolf” before in conversations between Bettina and Westa.

That was referring to me. 

I realized it late.

Well, today, I was able to deepen the bond between Mother and her son.

So, I’d call that a win.