Kays Translations

Chapter 6: I'm a Candle

It's been about a year since I started living with a flame lit at my fingertips. Among the servants, it seems I'm called the "Candle Boy."

Well, I am aware that my behavior is unusual. They don't seem to be calling me that out of malice, so it can't be helped.

Thinking about such things, I deftly wield a fork with my right hand while keeping a flame lit on the fingertips of my left hand.

"Leonhardt-sama, you really do enjoy eating, don't you?"

"Yeah. Celia, don't hold back, eat some too."

Today's snack was a cake similar to mille crêpes. The fluffy batter and fresh cream were a perfect match, making it incredibly delicious. Thanks to that, I ended up eating three while Celia ate just one. Seconds, please.

Is it because it's a marquis family that they use good ingredients, or is it the chef's skill, or perhaps because it's not filled with food additives like on Earth, that the food in this world is simply delicious?

As a result, I have no motivation to diet. I'm steadily walking the path to becoming fat. What a dilemma, right?

"Leonhardt-sama, you have cream on your cheek."

"Really?"

It's embarrassing to look like a child. Well, I am still a ten-year-old child, though.

"The other cheek, a bit higher. Hold still for a moment."

"Okay?"

Celia gently wipes my cheek with a handkerchief. Her face came close, and my heart skipped a beat.

"There, it's all clean."

"Th-thank you..."

At that moment, Celia seemed to have a gentle smile. She's so beautiful that I could fall in love with her all over again.

Over the past year, Celia's expression has softened. Initially, her face showed nothing but despair, but recently that’s no longer the case. Still, there are times when she looks deeply melancholic. Whenever that happens, I try to speak to her as much as possible, but I'm worried.

"Celia, I want to protect you no matter what. Even if the whole world becomes your enemy, I will protect you."

"W-why are you saying that all of a sudden?"

Maybe it was because I got carried away by Celia's smile that I blurted that out.

"It's nothing. I just felt that way."

"I see."

I can feel my face heating up. Celia's face also seems a bit red. Camilla watched us with a broad grin.

◇

"The birthday festival is coming soon..."

In this country, nobles have a tradition of celebrating their children at ages five, ten, and fifteen. It's something like the Japanese Shichi-Go-San festival, I guess? Well, fifteen is considered adulthood here, though.

"Well, for me, it's going to be the beginning of my trials..."

At the ten-year-old birthday festival, the attributes of the magic I can use will also be examined. When I was five, it seems I had six attributes. Being able to wield that many attributes is something only very high-ranking nobles in the country can do. Normally, it would be a festival where everyone would gather, and I would proudly show off that I can handle six attributes, proving I’m an excellent child.

However, since I inherited the power of Ifrit, I can only control the fire attribute.

Losing the ability to handle attributes is a very dishonorable situation, indicating a loss of trust from the spirits. Leonhardt, who lost as many as five attributes at once, will be abandoned and mocked by people.

But I don't intend to end it like that.

At the end of the story, Leonhardt uses the power of Ifrit to destroy the evil god that even the protagonist couldn’t defeat.

If I train desperately, I should be able to master Ifrit’s power ahead of schedule!

“I will definitely make Ifrit’s power my own.”

With that determination, I walked through the streets of Baden, the castle town. I pulled my hood deeply over my head so no one would recognize me, in what is commonly known as a stealth outing.

Normally, I would have math lessons, but I couldn’t sit still and slipped out of the mansion.

“If I remember correctly, the dungeon should be this way, right?”

The place I’m aiming for is a dungeon called ‘Heaven’s Trial.’

In the game, it was the most difficult dungeon. The reason is that the number of floors you clear in this dungeon determines how much of the protagonist’s stats you can carry over in a new game plus.

For example, if you clear ten floors of ‘Heaven’s Trial,’ the protagonist can carry over ten percent of their final stats as bonus points for the next playthrough.

Honestly, clearing ‘Heaven’s Trial’ is more than a hundred times harder than defeating the final boss. It’s one of the game’s ‘Spirit Country’ challenges for hardcore players.

Well, of course, I’ve already cleared it.

But this time, I’m not aiming for a full clear. I’m just planning to defeat monsters on the shallow floors to level up.

Finding treasure chests would be a bonus. And if I could get some equipment, that would be fantastic.

Right now, I don’t have anything that could be called equipment.

At my current low level, I’m desperate for any gear that could strengthen me, even a little.

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