...
(8 months from birth)
“Ahh, Joseph. So, you came, huh?” Minerva said, smiling. Quite a few of her teeth were missing.
“I came as soon as I reached the garrison and saw your message inside my office,” he nodded, removing his sword from his waist, putting it aside before he helped her climb down the rest of the stairs.
“Usually, Amelia is here to help me with these things, but today she went to purchase some things from the travelling merchant,” she sighed, once Joseph finally helped her into a chair.
“I am not getting any younger. Soon, I will be too old to be any help to this village. Why must you be so cruel to this old woman?” She grumbled, hitting her walking stick on the wooden floor. She let out a sigh.
“I am not fit to be the village head.” Joseph was quick to turn down the offer.
“Neither was I. You will learn the ways. I will teach you, but I cannot do it after I am dead. Now, do you want these old bones to serve you from her grave?” She hit his legs with her stick.
 
“I am not fit, elder. My skills are more aligned towards killing rather than running a settlement. Nor do I have the brains to compensate for that! At least, not without the skills. Then, I have a family to take care of. There are better options than me. Let me stick to what I am good at,”
“Fine. Since you read the letter, tell me. What is your opinion?” She frowned as wrinkles danced over her face.
“It sounds plausible. The convergence of all five moons affects the magical energies as much as it affects the ocean tides. Under such circumstances, some animals can very well mutate and evolve into magical beasts,” he said, contemplating.
“So, you think there can be a crystal antler roaming inside the forest as we speak?” She was worried about all the attention that it would bring to the village. It could end in mayhem.
“It is a rare beast. Found only in deeper levels of a dungeon. I have never seen one, but the tales that powerful dungeon explorers say about the beast always describe them as powerful and agile beasts of slaughter,” he picked up his blade, pulling it out of its scabbard to rest on his lap. His fingers traced the length of the blade while he reminisced about his days in the dungeon city.
“With a beast like that in the woods, I cannot allow the hunters to go into the woods. Sadly, their earnings are dependent on it. We cannot be sure that it is the only animal that evolved in the last four months. My Premonition skill is tingling,” she said, pressing her forehead to her palm.
“Even if I tried, I won't be able to slay the beast. Not even with a capable team, and not alone. It doesn’t work like that,”
“Nor do I expect you to. It seems we have to issue a quest to the adventurer guild and hope that someone capable accepts it.”
“Our village cannot afford to have a skilled party. If I may add my two cents, why not just unintentionally tell this information to the travelling merchant’s party?” Joseph said, with a knowing smirk.
“And you say that you lack the brains. Soon, the word would spread, and noblemen would hire the adventurers for us to deal with the beast.” Minerva nodded sagely.
“That’s one problem down. I would issue an order for the hunters to only hunt in the outskirts, and earn their pay by collecting wild herbs for the moment,” she added.
“Speaking of, how is my lovely Mariah and her child doing? I would have visited them, but as you can see, walking such a distance is a chore for me,” she sighed, rubbing the back of her left palm.
“The child is growing well for his age, while his mother has almost recovered from her childbirth. I will make sure to tell her to visit you once she is fully recovered to get blessings for the child from you.”
“That's good now,” She laughed, delighted before making a stern expression.
“Don’t start bugging her in bed only because she is back to her spirits. A late childbirth is scary, nonetheless. Wait until the child is at least two years old. However, I would recommend you both not try for another child even then. She is getting past her prime for childbirth.”
Joseph's eyes dropped for a while.
“Don’t worry, I understand. This one was the hardest for her as it gets. Never seen her in so much pain,” his lips trembled.
“She would not have survived if not for Amelia using her holy magic to give her strength.”
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“No, Pete. You cannot play with that. It will ruin your clothes,” Mariah criticised, separating his palms from the feathered pen. She let out a sigh, retreating to her work.
“Why don’t you play with the dolls instead?” She tried to give him one of the dolls, only for him to throw it away.
Waaaa
“Cry as much as you want. Mama cannot give you that. Nor can she play with you. She has work to do,”
WAAAAA
“Oh dear,” Mariah felt her forehead with the back of her hand.
“ROSE,” she screamed, turning to the door.
“YES, AUNT”, a reply swiftly came from the ground floor.
“CAN YOU COME UPSTAIRS FOR A BIT?”,
“COMING”, soon there were footsteps on the creaking wood floor.
The door to the study room opened, and Rose peeked her head inside.
"Yes?" she asked, spotting both mother and son staring at her.
“Thank you. Can you keep Peter busy until I am done with my work, or till he gets sleepy? Also, I need you to deliver these papers to the inn once I am done. Tell him that I have done all the expenditure and income calculations,” Mariah pleaded, lifting Peter from his position on the study table and pulling him close.
“Okay,” Rose opened the door, getting in, and extending her arms to take the little boy. She made sure to close the door after exiting the room.
…
(1 year from birth)
‘This girl, Rose, was an interesting person.’ Peter judged, looking at her. Very often, he would talk to himself after being subjected to boredom. Not a lot to do for a man in a child's body.
Rose tended to do the same when she thought she was alone. Of course, Peter didn’t count.
She would talk on and on about the boy she particularly liked, about times when she had to suffer a scolding from her father whenever she made a mistake taking care of the animals.
One day, she noticed that Peter tended to focus on her face as she talked to herself. He had no excuse; He was bored, and sometimes her ramblings would include pieces of knowledge that he lacked.
Now, a year and two months old, Peter had already learned their language before his first birthday. He could walk now, a major victory for him.
It changed his whole world. No more being dependent on others, at least in the house. A lot of good things happened as he grew up. Some degree of control over his bowel movements was one of them.
He could say a few words now, but the pronunciation was terrible. The most notable development was related to his brain. No more shifts between adult Peter and baby Peter. He was in complete operation all the time.
She noticed that he was actively listening to her whenever she rambled. Since then, she started to tell him her pet peeves. Peter pitied her. Poor girl lacked friends, such that she was desperate enough to make a baby her conversational partner.
And thus, Peter gained his first friend. Another small win for him.
Like usual, she was just talking to Peter while changing the mattress in his parents’ room when they both heard Mariah going down the stairs.
The sun had just risen a few hours ago, and Peter knew something was different about today. Everyone was wearing a new set of clothes, including him. Nothing fancy. Colored dyes were expensive.
‘Once I am self-sufficient, I will gift her dresses that would put royal dresses to shame in terms of design,’ Peter promised himself. After all, he was from the 21st century.
Soon, he was in her arms.
“Ouf, you have grown heavier.” She said, complaining before turning to Rose.
“Do you wish to come with us?” she asked, smiling. Peter agreed, the girl complained a lot, but she was equally hard-working.
“Okay,” came the meek reply.
‘Oh, look at her blushing,’ Peter laughed, enjoying it from his mother’s arms.
…
“Woah, careful, darling.” Mariah patted her child’s back to calm him down as he struggled in her embrace. His head was resting on her shoulder, face positioned to look behind her. He would repeatedly look around before he finally settled into one position.
Peter looked around. The sky was dyed in the colours of pink, orange, and blue. The two visible moons in the sky made it seem more charming. The closest of them was a shade of red. Once in a while, different flocks of birds flew in one direction, making sounds.
They were right outside of their house, letting him finally see how it looked from the outside.
On a flourishing landscape, the two-story wooden house stood proudly. It exuded an air of tranquillity and warmth, with weathered wooden beams crisscrossing along its exterior, supporting its weight and adding a medieval allure that Peter hadn’t seen in his past life. Each plank was likely carved meticulously by skilled craftsmen.
At the ground level, the exterior was adorned with a well-built wooden door. The windows, devoid of glass, were fashioned with wooden shutters, easily swung open to welcome the gentle breeze or closed tight against the chill of the night.
The second level above extended a bit past the ground floor, forming a slight overhang that sheltered the entrance below. A thatched roof of golden straw adorned the eaves, with its wavy lines blending seamlessly into the surrounding landscape.
Beyond the house, a garden emerged, showcasing a vivid tapestry of colours and fragrances crafted by nature. Lush greenery framed the edges, intermingled with splashes of vibrant flowers – roses, lilies, and daisies swaying in the soft breeze. Stone paths wound their way through the lush landscape, beckoning visitors to discover its wonders.
This was his home. It took some time before Peter was able to look away from the house to see anything else. He noted that their house was quite close to the forest, full of trees likely hundreds of years old.
The ancient forest ended up at some fair distance from the wooden house, and a grassland started as far as his eyes could see. The house was made in the very grassland, and they were slowly moving away from the house.
The grass was only big enough to reach a height of 15 to 18 centimetres, by his estimates. They were walking along a well-trodden path in the middle of the grassland.
At some point, farmlands replaced the grasslands on both sides of the road. People were seen working in the field and if they noticed them, often they would be met with waves and a smile.
Peter saw one man dragging a multi-pronged plough through a section of empty field so effortlessly that he wondered if he was dreaming. The plough was digging deep inside the earth and likely required three bulls to move, according to his common sense.
That was not the only thing that looked out of place. In another field, he spotted two women diligently cutting mature crop plants. They would cut them and then pass the bundle to other women who would separate the useful part of the plant from the portion that was not needed. It was all collected in one place.
Once the bundle was big enough, a woman pointed her open palm at it and muttered something. A ball of fire materialised in thin air before it flew to fall into the bundle to ignite it all at once.