Weeks passed quietly.
I was three months old now.
And frustrated.
I had tried everything.
Chanting fire, water, earth, air—every keyword I remembered from my previous life. I tried breathing patterns, focus techniques, even silent visualization.
Nothing happened.
No spark.
No warmth.
No response.
Daniel: This body… is infuriating.
I almost forgot myself.
And that was when I crawled.
Right in front of my mother.
Leslie: "DANIEL?!"
She screamed like the world was ending.
Leslie: "Oh my God—he's moving! He's crawling!"
She rushed toward me, panic and joy mixing in her voice.
Leslie: "My baby—my baby is crawling!"
Daniel: …Oops.
Daniel: "Sensei."
Sensei: "Yes, Daniel."
Daniel: "When do babies here usually start crawling?"
Sensei: "Approximately four months."
Daniel: "And walking?"
Sensei: "Nine to twelve months."
Daniel: "Talking?"
Sensei: "Twelve to fifteen months."
Daniel: So I'm already ahead.
Daniel: "Sensei… does my mother have any magic affinity?"
Sensei: "No. She is a normal human with no magical affinity."
Daniel: Figures.
Daniel: "If you can't teach me magic, can you at least suggest how to learn it?"
Sensei: "Books."
Daniel: "…I'm a baby."
Sensei: "God did not inform you?"
Daniel: "Inform me about what?"
Sensei: "You were reborn with full linguistic comprehension."
Sensei: "You can read, write, and speak all common languages of this world."
Sensei: "Including elvish and beastkin dialects."
Daniel froze internally.
Daniel: "What."
Daniel: "WHY didn't God tell me this?"
Sensei: "You must ask him personally."
Daniel: That bastard.
Daniel: "Fine. New plan."
Daniel: "If I look at a book once… can you store all its contents?"
Sensei: "Yes."
Sensei: "My purpose is to organize and explain information you have already perceived."
Daniel's heartbeat quickened.
Daniel: "So I only need to see it once."
Sensei: "Correct."
Daniel: "Then this blessing isn't useless at all."
Daniel: "Sensei, where are the books?"
Sensei: "Two shelves in this bedroom."
Sensei: "One shelf in the living room."
Sensei: "And a small library behind the yard, adjacent to the mansion."
Daniel: "Library?"
Sensei: "The door is locked. You lack the strength to open it."
Daniel: Damn it.
Daniel: "Then we start here."
I looked at the bookshelf.
Too high.
Daniel: Guess I'll use my ultimate weapon.
I crawled deliberately.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Making small noises.
Leslie turned.
Leslie: "Daniel?"
Good.
Closer.
I pointed clumsily toward the shelf.
Then—
I cried.
Loud.
Messy.
Leslie rushed over.
Leslie: "What is it, my baby?"
She picked me up.
Leslie: "Books?"
She laughed.
Leslie: "You're far too young."
Leslie: "And we're not allowed to touch these. They belong to my lord and lady."
Daniel: No, no, no—
Before I could cry again—
Octavia: "Leslie."
The Baroness entered the room.
Octavia: "Stop scolding him."
Octavia: "You and Daniel are family to me."
Octavia: "They're just books."
Octavia: "Let him play with one."
Leslie hesitated.
Leslie: "Thank you, my lady."
Leslie: "Which one do you want, Daniel?"
Daniel: "Sensei. Scan the shelf. Find magic."
Sensei: "Third book from the right. Bottom row."
Daniel pointed.
Leslie pulled it out.
Leslie: "…Basic Principles of Necromancy and Dark Arts."
My stomach dropped.
Octavia stiffened.
Octavia: "Leslie… don't tell anyone about that book."
Octavia: "I was desperate."
Octavia: "I thought necromancy might help me conceive."
Octavia: "In Valoria, practicing necromancy is a crime."
Daniel: Of course it is.
Daniel: "Sensei, why didn't you warn me?"
Sensei: "You had not learned that information yet. Data was restricted."
Sensei: "Also, there are no other magic books here."
Daniel: Unbelievable.
Leslie shook her head.
Leslie: "My lady, please don't seek forbidden paths."
Leslie: "God will bless you."
She tried to take the book away.
I cried again.
Harder.
Octavia sighed.
Octavia: "Let him have it."
Octavia: "He can't read anyway."
Leslie frowned.
Leslie: "I have a bad feeling…"
Octavia paused.
Octavia: "Wait."
Octavia: "I remember something."
She left the room.
Leslie looked down at me.
Leslie: "Daniel… this book is evil."
Leslie: "It hurts society."
Leslie: "But… fine."
She placed it in my hands.
Daniel: Finally.
I slowly turned the pages.
One by one.
Sensei: "Scanning."
Sensei: "Content stored."
Sensei: "Full analysis available."
Octavia returned, holding another book.
Octavia: "This is my gift to you."
Octavia: "The first book every parent gives their child."
Leslie gasped.
Leslie: "My lady—I can't accept this."
Octavia: "You're my sister in everything but blood."
Octavia: "Please."
Leslie bowed.
Leslie: "Thank you."
She handed it to me.
Octavia laughed softly.
Octavia: "Look at him."
Octavia: "He bowed."
Octavia: "So polite."
Daniel: Of course I bowed.
This book is—
Introduction to Nature's Magic.
Daniel: Perfect.
Daniel lowered his head again.
Daniel: Thank you, my lady.
Daniel: I hope you have many children.