Chapter 372. [Standards Of Intelligence]
From that day, the way the locals looked at me changed slightly.
Until then, I was seen as "the weird one," but now it was more like "a pretty capable guy."
Or maybe, from "a useless person" to "someone useful."
Among them, the children’s change was the most striking.
‘Me bad—You smart, good—’
‘Amazing, amazing! Come, one!’
They began pulling my hand and inviting me to play like that.
They were probably saying, "I thought you were a fool, but you’re pretty capable!"
That’s right.Up until then, I had actually been... the stupid person in the village!
"I don’t get it—life is strange."
The kids weren’t mocking me out of malice.
They were simply genuinely curious.
I couldn’t distinguish plants or handle fire properly.
What was second nature to them was something I struggled with even when taught.
Huh? That’s just how it is? It’s normal not to know?
You’re right. But still...
"That’s only from our perspective of common sense."
They probably think the same about numbers.
Because the knowledge and skills essential for survival differ by place.
In modern Japan, math is a must, but here, it’s recognizing plants.
Change the setting, and common sense changes. The standards for "stupid" change too.
"Ugh... How many times have I been told because of that?"
‘You all—can do—not—.’
It’s a line the kids often said to me. In other words...
—"Big sis, you’re useless at everything!"
"Ugh!?"
Even now, remembering it stabs my chest.
The lack of malice made it hurt even more.
"Really, sorry for being so incompetent."
‘???’
The kids looked at me with puzzled expressions.
After all, these were the kids who had earnestly tried to teach this failure of an adult so many things.
I must have seemed really dumb to them.
With a “can’t be helped” attitude, they treated me like a younger sibling.
Maybe “the more flawed the child, the cuter” is universal.
Or perhaps they just wanted to act older.
Not that there’s any strict age hierarchy here, of course.
After all, everyone here is roughly "3" years old.
‘Come, quick.’
‘Amazing, see!’
"Y-Yeah, I get it. You don’t have to rush me so much."
Through the measure of "counting objects", I had finally grazed their worldview.
Because of that, they began to respect me a little...
Treating me according to my age, even relying on me.
Who would’ve thought counting to "5" could be such a big deal?
Speaking of which... I remembered something.
"Oh, Ah-nee said she loves the number ‘5,’ didn’t she?"
That was just after finishing our ‘Bet Game’ stream.
Curious, I had asked her—
"Hey, Ah-nee, why do you like the number ‘5’ the most?"
"Hehe~ You wanna know, Iroha-chan? Should I tell you~? Or keep it a secret~?"
"Ah, never mind."
"Wait, wait! You’re supposed to say, ‘I want to know!’"
"Sigh... Fine. I want to know, I want to know."
"Since you insist, I’ll tell you~"
"Irritating."
I sighed at her usual antics...
And then she told me.
"Because lately, it’s my absolute favorite! Me, Ogu, Mai, Illyena, and Iroha—look, there are five of us!"
"------!"
"I just love doing things with this group... so much! That’s why... let’s always stay together!"
...I felt a little warmth in my chest.
My nose wouldn’t stop sniffling.
‘You bad, no—Good, yes—’
"...Thank you."
The kids peered at my face with concern.
“Are you okay? Cheer up.” That’s how it felt.
My language learning is steadily progressing.
I will, without a doubt...!
‘Hey, girl! Come!’
A young local man called out to me, gesturing to come over.
When I went with the children, I found a group of young men sitting in a circle.
Each held a bowl filled with a cloudy white liquid.
A sweet, fermented scent lingered in the air.
It was alcohol brewed here in the settlement.
"Alcohol really exists everywhere, huh."
Well, if there’s sugar, you can make it out of anything.
From its appearance, it was probably something like amazake.
‘You one eat, do?’
"No, sorry... I’ll pass."
It probably had little to no alcohol content, but I refused.
The first time I drink alcohol in this body will be during my oshi streamer’s drinking stream.
Still, what exactly were they gathering for?
It didn’t seem like just a drinking party.
"Um... what are you doing?"
‘We, men, one smart, fight—’
"Hmm?"
Not entirely clear. A test of wits, maybe?
At that moment, a young man stepped into the open center of the circle.
‘Watch.’
"Just watch," someone nearby said.
The man in the center raised his right wrist—
And revealed a wristwatch.
"...What!?"
Why is something like that here!?
And—weren’t they supposed to have no concept of time!?
Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.
Report