Volume 1: Reincarnation in Another World
Chapter 1: Reincarnation
“Earth attribute… a dud, huh.”
The first sounds that ever reached my ears were a chaotic blend of voices.
My mother’s strained, exhausted cries as she labored to bring me into the world.
The thin, helpless wail that escaped from my own newborn throat, though I had no control over it.
The midwife’s long breath of relief after the delivery was finally over.
All around me, voices overlapped—some anxious, some relieved, some weary.
And yet, among those many sounds, there was one voice I remember more clearly than any other.
My father stood a short distance away, tall and rigid, one hand resting against the monocle over his eye. His tone was cold, almost bored, as if he were commenting on a disappointing purchase rather than the birth of his own child.
Even now, I can still recall every word.
“This child is no good. If the magical attribute he was born with is earth, he will never become an honorable mage. A useless child… a dud.”
There had been unmistakable disappointment in his voice.
And the gaze he directed at me—sharp, dismissive, filled with quiet contempt—was something I remembered with painful clarity.
It was the kind of look one should never cast upon a newborn.
Yet he did.
……
…………
Five years have passed since the day I was born.
“Well, it’s not like that left a deep scar on my heart or anything,” I muttered lightly to myself, letting out a small laugh.
Even now, five years later, I could still clearly remember the disappointment in my father’s eyes from that day.
For an ordinary child, being branded a failure—an unwanted “dud”—by their own father from the very moment of birth would probably be enough to leave emotional wounds for life. Some might grow up resentful. Others might break under the weight of it.
But I wasn’t exactly an ordinary child.
There was a perfectly good reason why I remembered the day of my birth so vividly.
I was a reincarnated person.
Before being born into this world five years ago, I had lived an entirely different life. In modern Japan, I had grown up to the age of twenty. I had loving parents who raised me with care, and I even made it halfway through a university education before my life ended.
In my previous life, I had been fortunate—blessed with opportunity and kindness. I had always thought of myself as someone who had lived a relatively comfortable, privileged life.
Which is why, although it might sound a bit ungrateful to say this considering the people who gave birth to me here…
A part of me still couldn’t see myself as a true person of this world.
My mind was simply too different.
And perhaps that was why my father’s disappointment never really bothered me.
The family I had been born into this time was a noble household—wealthy and influential.
Even if I had been branded the “useless child,” I was still a member of the family. My daily life was comfortable, filled with luxury that most people could never dream of.
All things considered, it wasn’t such a terrible situation.
“Mmm… delicious.”
The room I had been given was surprisingly spacious for a five-year-old.
Sitting near the window where sunlight streamed in warmly, I had arranged a neat little tea set on the table before me. Outside, the garden stretched beautifully across the estate grounds.
I popped a freshly baked cookie into my mouth and chewed happily.
Since my parents rarely interfered with me or my daily life, I had a great deal of freedom. I could spend my time however I pleased, lounging around or exploring the mansion.
Honestly, I didn’t have many complaints about my current treatment.
“Noaa!”
Suddenly, someone called my name.
The door to my room burst open with dramatic force.
“Shia-oneesama.”
Marching straight into my room without hesitation was a young girl.
She was three years older than me—eight years old. Like me, she had pure white hair that cascaded all the way down to her waist, shining softly in the light. Her crimson eyes sparkled with bright energy, giving her an undeniably cute appearance.
Her name was Shia.
She was the eldest daughter of the Willard Marquisate, one of the most influential noble families in the Kingdom of Lunoa.
And she was my older sister.
As for me, I was the third son of the Willard family.
Our household was quite large—four siblings in total, making it a rather lively noble family.
“Well, well! The genius child blessed with the fire attribute—Shia—has come all the way here to visit you again today, since you’re always sitting here alone!”
“Did you just return from your magic lessons?”
I calmly picked up the teapot and poured tea into the empty cup placed across from me.
“Yes, that’s right!”
Shia nodded proudly before dropping into the seat opposite me without hesitation. She grabbed the teacup and gulped the tea down with surprising enthusiasm.
“Unlike you, who were born with the earth attribute, Father actually expects great things from me! I’m nothing like you, the family’s little failure!”
The world I had been reborn into was completely different from Japan.
It was, in every sense of the word… another world.
And the most defining feature of this world was undoubtedly magic.
Magic was a miraculous power that every living being possessed. By channeling the magical energy—mana—within their bodies, people could perform extraordinary feats that defied common sense.
But even magic came in different varieties.
There was non-attribute magic, which anyone could theoretically use.
And then there was attribute magic, which depended on the magical affinity one was born with.
There were only four elemental attributes:
Fire.
Water.
Earth.
Wind.
They were known as the Four Great Elements.
Among them, however, earth was widely regarded as the most unfortunate attribute of all.
Simply being born with it was often enough for society to label someone as inferior—a failure who would never amount to anything remarkable.
“Yes, you always work so hard in my place, Shia-oneesama,” I replied with a gentle smile. “I think that’s really impressive.”
“Hmph!”
She puffed out her chest proudly in front of me, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
I watched her with a soft smile.
She had absolutely no reservations about looking down on me, and her attitude was undeniably cheeky. But she was still just an eight-year-old girl.
Technically she was my older sister, three years my senior—but considering my mental age, she felt more like a niece than anything else.
Even her arrogant behavior seemed oddly adorable.
“You’re tiny and weak, after all! I’m getting stronger so I can protect you someday! You should be grateful!”
“Hehe… thank you very much.”
The fact that she genuinely wanted to look after me as her little brother was definitely a point in her favor.
Although… the way she naturally looked down on me was a bit questionable.
Still, that was simply the standard way people thought in this world. There wasn’t much point getting upset about it.
“So, how were your lessons today?”
“Hmm… let’s see! Today’s teacher was awful! All he did was talk loudly and nag!”
“Oh? Was that so?”
“Yeah! But I guess one thing he said was a little useful.”
“What was that?”
“He talked about how to increase your mana,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “Apparently there’s this strange technique. If you circulate your mana throughout your entire body, your mana capacity will gradually increase.”
“Circulate… mana?”
“Yeah. Normally people say your mana increases the more you use magic, right? That’s the common way. But according to him, you don’t even need to cast spells. Just circulating it inside your body works too.”
She shrugged.
“It sounded like a pretty good trick… but that teacher was kind of suspicious, so I don’t know how much of it is actually true.”
“…I see.”
(Huh… so that kind of technique exists. I should try it later.)
I was still just a five-year-old “failure.”
My father had absolutely no intention of providing me with proper magical education.
Which meant that the small bits of information Shia casually shared with me—things she learned in her lessons—were incredibly valuable.
For someone like me, who had to learn magic on his own…
Every piece of knowledge mattered.