Infinite Mage - Chapter 1
Chapter 1
“Wah! Wah!”
In the early morning, Vincent was roused from his sleep by the sound of a baby’s cry echoing through the mountain.
“Ugh.”
The sad sound of the infant continued to be heard as he ran his hands through his disheveled hair.
“God, what have I done so wrong?”
The hunter’s muscles strained in the dark as he kicked the blanket off of the bed.
‘Who on earth is that this early?’
Vincent looked at his sleeping wife, hoping she was having a good dream.
If she heard that, there would have been some measure of trouble.
“Haah…“
The couple, who had been married for seven years, had no children.
They had visited the clinic once with a large sum of money, but all they said was that the cause was unknown.
–There’s a thing called compatibility in bed. It’s just the way it is. Olina and you don’t seem to have a problem, so keep trying. Haha!
Vincent smiled through it at first.
However, the situation did not improve over time. By the time they entered their fifth year of marriage, he had no choice but to admit it.
He couldn’t have children.
His wife, Olina, didn’t speak of her disappointment. But at times, she would get a lonely expression on her face. And at those times, Vincent couldn’t help but be resentful towards his lower body.
“What kind of rascal is it? It’s like he’s trying to rub salt into the wound!”
Putting his complicated feelings aside, Vincent left the house with his single-edged axe.
“Who is it?! Who’s the one causing all this ruckus, at this time of the night?!”
His shout echoed through the mountains.
There was no response, and Vincent’s expression hardened at that silence.
‘Perhaps it’s a trap?’
Most hunters built their houses in the mountains.
This was due to the fact that they would have to check the traps they set at night early in the morning, and it sometimes became necessary for them to spend days in the mountains when they were tracking large animals.
Of course, safety was his responsibility, and there were a lot of bandits looking for vulnerable prey.
On the other hand, it could have been a merchant from another country. However, there was no torch in sight in the dark of the night.
“That rotten–! I’ll cut you to pieces!”
In the worst case scenario, there would be no choice but to shed blood.
He slowly approached the stable the noise was coming from. Then he quickly flung open the door.
The hunter’s excellent vision scanned the interior.
Neigh.
He heard the horse whinny.
Because animals do not lie, the impulsive Vincent’s heart relaxed a bit.
‘There’s nowhere to hide.’
There was also no sign that anyone had broken in.
“But, how…?”
Vincent looked at the bundle laying on the straw bed.
The baby, who seemed to be about two months old, was crying with a frown on their face.
Vincent hurriedly hid the axe behind his back.
When he went down to kneel in front of the bundle, he threw the metal somewhere in the corner.
“Wah! Wah!”
There was a baby, as pretty as the moon.
A baby who didn’t know anything yet, who’d just been born, and would one day spread his name around the world.
At that moment, the baby saw the adult’s face and stopped crying, a smile spreading across his face.
Vincent’s lips trembled.
Then, as if he was struck by lightning, he stood up and ran out of the stables.
“Who is it?! Who’s pulling a prank on me?! Abandoning a child! You bastard, come out!”
His roar rang throughout the mountain.
“Come out! Really?! How can you abandon a child?! You’re a monster! You know that?!”
There was still no answer.
“You’re really abandoning the baby? I’m giving you no more chances! If you show up in front of me, I’ll turn your face into a rice cake!”
Vincent shouted with all his might.
He didn’t want to have any regrets when he looked back on this day in the distant future.
“Haah. Haaah…”
Vincent, after a few moments of staring into the darkness, went back into the stable, breathing heavily.
The baby was asleep, perhaps exhausted from crying.
Holding the baby in trembling hands, he gently pressed his ear to the baby’s little chest.
“Oh…”
His heart was beating much faster than an adult’s.
“Honey, what’s going on?”
His wife, who had run outside after hearing him shouting.
Vincent showed her the sleeping child in his arms instead of answering.
“What’s with the baby?”
Vincent hesitated, as he wasn’t sure how to explain the situation.
“It’s… It’s our child.”
* * *
[Translator – Anwen]
[Proofreader – Harley]
‘This is…’
It was quite surprising.
It was hard to look at it and think that it was done by a beginner, as the blade had been driven into the same exact spot, over and over.
If this continued, it would have been more difficult to knock down the tree without brute strength being used. The trick to easily cut down a tree was to hit around the target spot, instead of aiming at the same place repeatedly. Because of Shirone’s frightening accuracy, it would have been impossible for his current self to cut it down.
