When I came to, I was butt naked.
And it was winter.
"...?"
Of course, if my memory's right, I went to sleep in my bed last night.
Crouched down and shivering while trying to figure out what the hell was going on, I felt something weird when I hugged my arms around myself—something I'd never felt before.
"What the..."
My skin was soft. Like, ridiculously soft.
My voice sounding a bit childish was nothing compared to how bizarre this was. When I stretched out my hands, it wasn't my body. Chubby and small.
It was the body of what looked like a 5-year-old boy.
Looking around, I could see this place looked like some medieval street at night.
So basically...
I couldn't understand a single thing that had happened to me.
While I was sitting there dumbfounded and shivering, I heard someone's surprised voice.
"Oh my, look there. Is that naked kid from the orphanage?"
"Looks like it. Hey, what are you doing out here in this cold?"
"...Huh?"
Two ladies dressed like nannies came over making a fuss and put their clothes on me.
"Wait. This isn't one of our kids. I've never seen this face before."
"Then this child is... oh dear, how pitiful. Tsk tsk..."
"Wait, hold on. Where is this place?"
At my lisping question, the ladies' expressions filled with sympathy.
"Oh no... looks like he doesn't know what happened yet."
"If they dumped him in this weather, they basically wanted him to die. What kind of awful people..."
"No, I don't know what you're talking about—"
"Come inside first. You'll freeze to death out here."
I was dragged by the stern lady's hand into some building.
Inside was a horrific scene of grimy kids choking each other, beating each other up, and crying their eyes out.
Not that surprising, really. Put 50+ kids under 10 in one place and this is what usually happens.
The ladies didn't get mad either—they just clapped their hands to get everyone's attention.
"All right, everyone. We have a new friend today. Please be nice and welcoming."
"..."
Feeling dozens of curious eyes on me, I realized:
Could this be...
That... reincarnation in another world thing?
"Why the hell did this happen to me when I was just minding my own business...?"
"Oh my, we can't use bad words like that in our orphanage!"
I had no clue what was going on.
***
After being reborn, I thought about it thousands of times over the 5 years until I turned 10.
Why me, of all people?
I didn't kill myself because I was depressed about life. I didn't get hit by a truck. I wasn't betrayed by a lover or defeated by some sworn enemy.
I just lived a normal life and dozed off because I was tired.
If anything, my only "sin" was being satisfied with an ordinary life.
And when I opened my eyes, I was an orphan with no family.
It felt like I was walking down the street and got slapped out of nowhere. No matter how much I thought about why some bastard sent me here instead of all the other people who were actually suffering—leaving me, who lived pretty comfortably without any real worries—
I never found an answer.
What can you do? In this world, I'm just a regular orphan. So I just lived.
"All right, everyone, class is starting soon, so gather in the classroom."
"Okay!"
Living in the orphanage, I realized something.
This country has a ton of money.
"Zern, how much allowance did you get?"
"500 copper."
"What? Why is yours twice as much as mine?"
"It's not that I got more; it's that yours got cut in half because you pissed on Louis's face while he was sleeping last time."
"He said it was okay to piss on him if he didn't wake up!"
Zern—that's the name I got. Still not used to it, though.
I stared at the green-colored coin for a while before putting it in my pocket.
It's not like they expect us to buy our own food with this. We get fed three meals a day on schedule, and the allowance is literally just spending money for snacks or entertainment.
The food quality is fine too. There are so many weird vegetables and meats that I can't be sure, but seeing how the kids have been growing—or more like getting fatter—over the past 3 years, I sometimes wonder if they're mixing in growth hormones. The portions are plenty, too.
The living space is decent. Four kids per room, but it's spacious enough that it's not inconvenient, and you can take a bath whenever you want.
Most importantly, they're serious about education.
"Who knows the three things absolutely necessary for farming?"
"Me! Land, strength, and... water!"
"Strength is definitely needed, but no matter how hard you plow the field, crops won't grow without this. Think about it one more time."
It's elementary school level education by American standards, but that's because we're actually elementary school age. When I eavesdropped on classes for the older kids with bigger brains, I could tell they were teaching all sorts of things seriously.
Math and science are just the basics.
Mostly history, law, language, and job experience programs to broaden their options.
For kids with talent in studying, there's even a program to push them toward becoming civil servants. Honestly, I didn't expect it to be this good.
At first, thinking it was a medieval orphanage, I imagined some gangster operation that wouldn't feed you and would beat you while making you beg for money. But this place is so bright and hopeful.
For me, it couldn't be better news.
Sending infinite gratitude to the unnamed princess who apparently worked hard on child welfare, I was listening to class when crumpled paper balls kept flying at me from behind.
I ignored it at first, but when I heard the careful sound of someone taking out a rock from their desk, I frowned and turned my head slightly.
"What."
"You have to come see the show after class."
"?"
After thinking for a moment, I realized this was the kind of conclusion-already-decided invitation that kids are known for.
Recently, kids keep sticking to me. Probably because my black hair is pretty unique and catches the kids' interest.
A blonde girl giggling as she talked. Her name was Linmel, I think. We're pretty close... probably.
I shook my head.
"Not interested in shows."
"Then what are you gonna do?"
"Watch ants, and when it gets boring, step on them."
"That sounds fun! Can I do it with you?"
"You have a show... never mind."
Kids this age change their minds so fast that "fickle" doesn't even cover it. I checked that the teacher was spitting while writing the basic elements of farming on the blackboard and quietly replied.
"Actually, I need to study. So I can't play with you. Sorry."
"Study? You're doing that right now."
"I need to do more."
"Why?"
"Smart people get adopted easier."
"Adopted?"
"...When parents show up to take us away."
"They said our mom and dad went to a faraway country, though."
"...Don't you think it'd be good to have fake parents, at least?"
"Hmm..."
Breaking out in a cold sweat as I answered, Linmel thought about it and nodded.
"Yeah, that sounds good! I'll study too!"
"Phew..."
The facilities are good, and people's attitudes aren't bad either.
But—it's still an orphanage. The first wish of kids who aren't too old yet is to get adopted.
Whether adoption is possible or not gets decided around age 10. From what I heard through rumors, nobody gets adopted after turning 10.
But honestly, I don't want to get adopted. I don't want to think of strangers as my parents.
My whole goal is just to become something like a clerk. Of course, the path to wealth and glory would be becoming a knight, but—
Thwack—
"Zern, you're weak."
"..."
A wooden sword was resting on top of my head.
Obviously there are lots of hot-blooded kids dreaming of becoming knights, so since the orphanage had a training ground and wooden swords, I brought Linmel once to try sparring...
I guess I don't have any talent with swords.
I have no idea how you're supposed to make a sword "writhe" or whatever.
If anything, Linmel's the one with swordsmanship talent—she accurately parried my floppy movements and rubbed my head with her wooden sword.
Even had the technique to ease up at the end so I wouldn't get hurt.
This girl's definitely going to be a knight.
I sighed and pushed the sword off my head.
"That's impressive."
"What? Zern's way cooler, though. You got first place on the history test again, right?"
"That's..."
Because I'm the only one who pays attention in class.
I mean, my software is an adult man's brain. If I can't even handle elementary-level memorization, I should just go die.
From my perspective, Linmel with her knight talent was way more impressive. I'd seen countless smart kids back on Earth, but I'd never seen anyone good with a sword.
I cleaned up and stood up.
Let's just live moderately here too, satisfied with what I'm given.
I realized my talent that wouldn't allow that the next morning.
***
Early morning.
When I woke up, the ceiling was wobbling.
"What the..."
Getting up from bed, crash bang, I rolled across the floor spectacularly.
My legs wouldn't listen to me, the floor touching my cheek was freezing cold...
My body was burning hot.
I felt like my whole body had become a fireball. When I called for help with a cracked voice, the kids who woke up groggily screamed in shock.
"Aaaah! Zern's dead!"
"Sh-should we call the director?"
The commotion made my head ring, and my consciousness became hazy as I fell back into a feverish stupor.
A bad cold? The flu? Something was different. It didn't feel like being sick... more like something was mixing into me.
When I opened my eyes in the infirmary, I could see the rare sight of the director and teachers looking at me with serious faces.
It's not like one kid catching a cold would make them all gather like this. Getting anxious, I asked.
"...What's wrong? Am I dying?"
They quietly talked among themselves, then the director approached with a grave expression and started speaking.
"Zern, you received a terrible gift from your parents."
"Excuse me?"
Divine fever.
That's the name of the illness that burned me up.
To put it more simply, it's the pain that all wizards go through in childhood.
I don't even know magic, so how am I a wizard? But that's not what it means.
In this world, being a wizard is like being born with three arms.
You have to be born that way to use magic, and if you weren't born that way, no matter what you do, you can't use magic.
Obviously, people aren't born with three arms that easily.
Even with incredible luck piled on incredible luck, it's a rare case that maybe happens once every 10 years, and even then it's usually when there's a wizard among your ancestors.
However, there's exactly one way to definitely create a wizard—
When both parents are wizards.
"Wait, hold on. From what I know, wizards are..."
I trailed off, remembering common knowledge from class, and the director nodded with a stiff face.
"Um, shouldn't we be using formal speech with him now?"
"We can't be sure. It could be from distant ancestors..."
"Well, we should consider hiding it for now."
A bewildering birth secret.
Apparently I'm a noble's illegitimate child.
The reason is simple—all nobles are wizards.
Because from way back in ancient times, nobles kept marrying, and marrying, and marrying the truly noble-blooded wizards...
Everyone is born with magical talent.
Of course, there are people who are wizards but not nobles, but they're extremely rare. I learned they're like hermit prophet types who train in snowy mountains.
Those people probably wouldn't have kids, so I'm likely an illegitimate child of nobles.
Me, an orphan, actually inherited noble blood?
Hmm.
This kind of status reversal—I didn't really want it.
"Sorry, Zern, but this matter..."
"We're in big trouble."
"It's not that bad, but spreading it around won't lead to anything good either."
I thought for a moment.
It was meant to be comforting, but yeah, we're in big trouble.
The fact that someone who isn't a noble is a wizard is, from the nobles' perspective, extremely annoying.
But it's not like commoners would know how to treat me either. It's like having a messed-up family tree.
I'd become something that both nobles and commoners would find awkward to deal with.
"So for now..."
"I'll hide it."
"Huh? Oh, yes. Let's hide it. Don't go showing it off in front of others."
"Yes, sir."
Since I agreed so readily, the teachers looked more anxious instead.
But why would I go around bragging about a tumor that would only create weaknesses the moment I revealed it?
Unless I was some unprecedented genius.
...
…
…
"Am I, though..?"
After floating about 100 books in the air in the storage room, my thinking changed a bit.
I guess I do have some talent.