Chapter 1
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Hello this is! new series, I hope you like it!
Rattle rattle rattle… CLUNK!
Huh!
It didn’t take me long to understand my situation when I opened my eyes.
I’m riding in a horse-drawn carriage, surrounded by luggage, all alone at the age of 5.
…Ah, I’m being dumped ‘somewhere’, it seems.
For a 5-year-old kid to be abandoned, I, the person involved, should be freaking out… but I’m calm because I’ve regained my memories from my past life.
I’m Mozukoji, a 32-year-old Japanese man… I remember working and heading home, getting into a car accident on the way…
One of the cars at the intersection crashed into me while I was waiting for the traffic light… I probably died from that.
I was tired and spaced out, but since it was a big intersection, there were many people waiting for the traffic light around me who couldn’t move.
What happened to those people?
I don’t think they all died, but…
Well, worrying about it won’t do any good, and there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’ll just move on.
I have… a life-threatening problem in this world too.
In this world, my name is Norn Fakers, and I was born as the 6th child of a rural noble family in a medieval Western-style fantasy world.
In this country with a class system where royalty, commoners, and sl*ves exist, I lived a humble life in a small village, almost like a commoner.
This year, at the age of 5, I’m being taken to the nearest town from the village by horse-drawn carriage.
The reason is something called the “Ceremony of Blessings,” a ritual at the church where I’ll learn about my talents and suitable occupations.
You know, it’s said that the ones who can hear it are the church officials…like priests or something, who receive divine messages and then convey the contents to the target person or their guardian.
Apparently, if you have a “title,” you have a high chance of getting a special power, known as a “skill.”
I don’t know the extent of it, but at least in this country, according to tradition, this ritual is typically performed on children aged 5 and above.
It seems that not everyone does this ritual, and for those with a predetermined career path, such as inheriting a family business, the ritual may not be necessary, as their future is already laid out.
Anyway, it seems one needs to make a decent offering to the church.
Well, as the 6th child, I don’t have a high chance of inheriting the family business, so I’ll probably have to leave home and make a living on my own. That’s why I underwent the ritual to see if I had any talents…and I recall the conversation from my memories as a Norm.
’Sir Baron, I’m afraid I have some difficult news to report…’
’Ah, is that so? Well, it can’t be helped if there’s nothing.’
’No, it’s not that there’s nothing…it’s just that…’
’Hmm? Why are you having trouble saying it?’
’It’s just that it’s not something you’d want to share with others…’
’…The contents don’t matter, but the fact that he underwent the ritual will be recorded. If we didn’t hear anything and just went back, and then this child does something with their talent… we can’t just pretend we didn’t know.’
’That’s… true. So I’ll tell you, Sir Norm has a title, and it seems the contents are…’fake’ or something.’
”Fake’? You mean like a fake or a counterfeit item?’
’That’s what I heard, so I can’t say for sure, but… probably.’
’What?! Is that true?!’
’Yes. Without a doubt, that’s what I heard.’
’…So, about this…’
”Listener’ constraints won’t let me talk about it outside. Please don’t worry.’
’Ah, yes.’
’That, how should I put it…’
’Thank you for your concern. We’re good now.’
’Okay… take care!’
And that’s how the conversation went, with my father becoming much quieter after we left the church.
Before I regained my memories of my past life, I didn’t understand the meaning of words, and even asked about “fake” that I didn’t know about, but they didn’t teach me.
Later, I was forbidden from talking about the ritual’s results, and even after we returned to the village, that continued. My mother and siblings were suspicious, asking about my ritual… but I thought I was just sleeping that night, and Mother was the only one who knew the truth.
And… it seemed like Norn (me) was eavesdropping on them.
”Fake’? Isn’t that… a bad title?’
’Yeahh. So… we’ll kick Norn.’
’What!? That kid did nothing…’
’Not yet, but if he misuses his talents in the future, it could be a big deal. With a title like ‘Fake’, he might have a talent for counterfeiting. What if he start making fake currency or valuable items? Our whole family would be executed for certain.’
’!’
’Not just our family, either. They’ll also suspect Maurice, who’s already working as a guard in the nearby town, and Hilda, who married into a merchant family. They’ll think Maurice might be leaking investigation information, and Hilda might be spreading fake money through the merchant guild.’
’…’
’Hilda’s side is especially bad. If it’s thought that the child who married into the merchant family spread rumors from within… houses that still have daughters left might stop marrying into our family, and other merchant families might be cautious about dealing with us, thinking they’ll get infiltrated like Hilda did.’
’You mean merchants will stop coming? What about the villagers…’
’Yeah, it’ll be tough. Our village isn’t strong enough to survive without merchants. So, we need to get rid of Norn quickly… for everyone’s sake.’
’That’s…!’
’You don’t need to worry about it. I’ve already decided.’
’Ugh…’
Noun, who heard this conversation, thought that it was for everyone’s sake, and a few days later, quietly got on the horse-drawn carriage that was leaving the village… and now, here I am, being transported like this.
I don’t know if it’s the same everywhere in the world, but at least in this country, there are monsters and demon beasts that attack humans. Abandoning a 5-year-old child in such a place is basically the same as killing them.
The Fakers family, who are almost like commoners, didn’t have anyone who could directly do the deed emotionally, so they chose to send me far away and abandon me instead.
It’s already been 4 or 5 days since I left, and the people wearing the family crest armor, including the carriage driver, are escorting me to my destination, spreading the word that I was dealt with by my family.
Even the carriage coachman is just a normal villager… they might get attacked by monsters too, and it’s a crappy job, sorry to say.
Well, at least it’s better than my situation.
That’s what I thought, but… I wasn’t giving up on surviving either.
”A fake”… normally, you’d think it means “imitation”.
If you say it’s a fake, it means something that’s been fabricated or copied… but thinking about it, I also think that Father’s prediction about me having a talent for crafting items might be true.
Even if it’s a fake, there’s a high possibility that I can create something that’s useful for survival.
So… if I’m going to be abandoned somewhere, can’t I make something that would be helpful for survival?
Right now, I’m the only one on the carriage, and since they’re not letting me see the surroundings, I can’t even see outside… Ah, but there’s no usable materials anyway.
The people around me are managing the resources, and if I take too much, they’ll notice that I’m trying to survive.
Even if I manage to create something, they’ll inspect it when they abandon me and take it away.
They don’t want me to survive, after all.
That’s why they’re only giving me the bare minimum of water and food.
It’s a death sentence, but they don’t want to kill me just yet, it seems.
Thanks to that, I’m extremely hungry.
However… creating some kind of tool in my current situation is almost impossible.
I could try to escape by taking the resources, but… where is this carriage even headed?
I’ve been riding it since I was picked up in front of my house, and the curtains behind me have been closed, so I don’t even know the direction.
I’ve only seen the outside during rest stops and campsites.
I tried asking before my memories from my past life came back, but no one would tell me.
At night, it’s just camping, and I don’t meet anyone except my companions, so I’m in a place with few people… but I don’t know, there’s just too little information.
If I could at least figure out the direction, even if I’m abandoned somewhere, I might be able to avoid encountering enemies and make it back to civilization, and maybe even meet someone who can help me along the way.
So, even a 100-yen store item would be fine, I wanted a compass, or rather, a magnet that shows directions…
Humm!
”Huh?!”
I quickly suppressed my surprised voice so that the people around me wouldn’t notice.
After confirming that there was nothing unusual around me, I next checked the object that had appeared in my hand.
And there… the compass I had been thinking of just now existed.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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