Chapter 5 Time To Hit The Books

"Ara, ara? My cute little darling wants to learn already? Of course you can!"

That was the answer I got when I asked her if I could start learning stuff, absolutely throwing all the arguments and counter-arguments I had prepared in case she rejected me out the window.

Instead of the black gown that she wore yesterday, she was wearing a simple black one piece dress where the skirt reached her ankles. The design of it was simple enough that it wouldn't be out of place to be worn at home like this.

"Rweally?" I gasped, my words coming out weird since I still had bread stuffed in my mouth.

Hey, the bread was awesome ok?! It's even homemade and fresh from the stove!

"Fufufu~ If my little darling were to ask me with such a cute look on your face, of course mama will agree~" She giggled while hugging my face to her chest.

After almost suffocating me with those weapons of hers, she pulled back and wiped my mouth with a napkin, "Dear me, my cute little one. Only a day old and you're already aspiring for greatness. As expected of my dear child~"

I'm not sure how to feel about her words… She's really taking all this in stride too. Is a one day old child doing this normal?

Ugh, this is what I need to know, my common sense of this world is entirely nonexistent. Hopefully that can change when I start learning about it.

After clearing up the breakfast table, we relocated to the living room where I could see a clear view of the sea from the window.

I ended up sitting on her lap while she cuddled me from behind, not that I had a choice to begin with.

Incidentally, my body didn't change much when I woke up this morning, still looking like I was a two or three years old instead of growing any more.

I really don't understand the rules of this world…

"Fufufu~ So what does my cute little one want to be when you grow up? A conqueror? A destroyer of Worlds? Or maybe the bringer of the apocalypse?"

…

Is this woman really my mother? What kind of things are you saying to your one day old child? Are you really a criminal like I thought?

Ahem… No, err… Let's see… I probably should just tell her my main objective, which is to find interesting stories to write about.

Before I could, I felt a hand rest on my head and began patting me, "What does my cute little one want to be? You can tell mama anything~"

Hmm… Maybe I should reconsider… Perhaps she's also joking so I should try and maintain a look of a young child?

Honestly… Because of those good for nothing parents from my previous life, I'm still hesitant on acknowledging her as my actual mother in this one. I guess it's because I'm subconsciously expecting her to abandon me sooner or later?

I didn't expect myself to have abandonment issues… Oh well, I'll deal with that later.

"I want to eat all the sweets!" I blurted out, thinking this should be the safer choice.

"Ufufufu~ Mama understands~ My cute little one wishes to claim all the sweets in the world for yourself, yes?"

"Yes!"

"Fufufu~ Then that means you will want to be strong enough to conquer the world and make everyone gift you tributes of sweets! Yes~ Mama shall teach you the ways of a conqueror!"

What.

Not noticing my utter confusion, she stood up and walked over to the bookshelf with me still in her arms.

"Ufufufu~ To be a conqueror, you will need to be strong enough to make others kneel before you and to crush any opposition who dares raise their hands against you. This is perfect! As expected of my child~"

She pulled out a folded sheet of paper from the shelf before returning us to the couch, opening it up to a and spreading it on the table to reveal what I guess to be a map of the world.

"This is the World of Erednay, my cute little one. And this World is yours for the taking~ Mama shall teach you how~"

I ignored her words in favour of looking at the map for now. This map is actually quite detailed, something I wouldn't expect to find… Ah.

One of the options that I could buy in the character creation screen was a "Trusty Map". I'm assuming this is it. To think that this would be how I would find it… I was actually assuming that this would be just like the other options where they would just appear out of thin air on my birthday or something…

Then that means the "Pack of Folding" I bought might also be somewhere in the house? Not that I'm in a hurry to find it now and if I really need it, I'll just ask my birth mother if this thing exists.

While I was still occupied with my thoughts, the woman placed a finger on the bottom left corner of the map labelled 'Dragon Sanctuary', specifically at the rightmost edge of the island.

"This is where our little nest is my little one~ Mama built this home just for us, you know?"

Oh? She… Built this place? By herself?

"Amazing…" I gasped.

"Ara, ara? Ufufufu~ To hear my little one's praise makes everything worth it~"

She picked me up so that she could set me on one of her thighs, allowing me to face her as she leaned back on the couch.

"Now, I suppose mama should start from us, yes? We are Meslatars, the ones with the blood of dragons running through our veins. And you, are my cutest little one~"

She booped me on the nose.

I realised she was expecting a response so I humoured her, "I'm a dragon, mama?"

"Ufufu~ Yes you are, my little one~ And mama shall make you the strongest dragon there ever will be~ That is why…"

She waved her hands in the air and several books flew off the shelves to land on the table in front of us.

That was… Magic. Definitely magic. I so badly want it but I doubt I have any of that potential in me yet until they manifest later on.

Also… Why didn't she do that just now with the map, did she just want to carry me?

I took a look at the books wondering what she had brought out to… Eh? I… Don't understand the words…

"First lesson! My little one shall learn how to read!" She declared proudly.

I looked up at her, "Mama… Why can I speak and understand?"

"Ufufufu~ That's because it's a blessing from the Creation God. He had made it such that everyone in this World is inherently knowledgeable about the Common Tongue, allowing everyone in this World to communicate with one another."

"And the words?"

"Ara, ara? My dear little one is so smart! The words are different as these are a creation of the denizens of this World. Thus, it is not something that everyone will inherently know. For that, we must learn it the long way~ Now, shall we? This is the letter 'a' and 'a' is for 'armageddon'!"

…

Did I really sign myself up for this?

*

"Ara, ara? It seems it is time for lunch~ Come now my little one~" She giggled before prancing away to the kitchens.

I put the notebook away after I had finished practising writing the alphabets. Honestly, they weren't really that hard, they look quite like the alphabets I knew in the previous world except more cursive and with a little bit more extra details.

Needless to say, my birth mother was utterly ecstatic to see how fast I was learning everything that she kept patting me, praising me and also hugging me every other second.

I thought I would be annoyed by the praise but… I have to admit, it actually felt nice.

I can't remember the last time I had a parent praising me after all.

Ugh, putting aside my sad past, let's see what my birth mother has made for lunch.

She surprised me by coming out again, this time with woollen gloves on her hands and a pair of boots on her feet. There's even a straw hat resting on her head…

"Mis… Mama? What are you doing?" I asked.

"Ara? Mama is going out to get lunch of course~ Does my cute little one want to follow mama?"

I'm a little curious why she needed to dress up like that so I nodded my head.

Taking me by the hand, she brought me outside and headed straight for the chicken pen. Ah, she's coming out here to take ingredients, I guess that makes sense.

Although I'm also wondering why the chicken pen's walls have to be as high as our house's?

The answer was evident the moment she opened the gate.

"Bock?"

That sound should have belonged to a chicken… Unfortunately, the things in front of me definitely do not resemble chickens in any way.

It sure has the head of a chicken, the body of one, heck even the legs of one… But the fact that the three chicken-like animals were about half the size of a house definitely meant they were not normal chickens.

One of them immediately turned to me, giving me a glare that looked like it could kill me alone with its gaze.

That moment was broken when the woman beside me literally punched it in the face, sending it sprawling onto the ground with a loud squawk.

She then turned around to hug me, "Oh my poor sweet little cutie! Did the bad chicken scare you? Don't worry! Mama will protect you!"

Right… It seems like this woman is rearing three cockatrices in her backyard like normal chickens… I just hope her vegetable garden isn't filled with carnivorous plants or something.

Did I really sign up for all this?