Four years passed quickly, and I was seven years old.

...

　The forest hut at midnight. In the faint light emitted by the shikigami, I silently stir a huge pot with a big spatula.
　Clearly, this is not the behavior of a seven-year-old. It's a suspicious scene, but I can't afford to be found, so I do it at this hour.

　Simple tasks in a quiet place are easier to think about.

　I've learned a lot of things since then.

　The Urdwight Empire, which encompasses the Lamprog territory here, was still quite a powerful country.
　The culture and other aspects of it were close to the West in the previous generation, but it was peaceful and rich, with a level of civilization that surpassed it.

　Although there are lords who govern each area, no military service is imposed due to the strength of the empire's direct army. The work of the lords is exclusively management, and conflicts over their domains are forbidden.
　In that area, it is much calmer than the empire that existed in the previous life.

　However, even so, there is still a threat.
　That is the monsters and demons.

　The monsters are like the demons that existed in the previous life. They are monsters that occasionally attack humans. But since their corpses can be used as resources, they seem to be more useful than demons.
　And the demons are the people who rule the demon territory that spreads outside the imperial territory and are hostile to humans. According to what I've heard, they are human beings that are close to monsters.

　Normally, the imperial troops stationed in various parts of the country keep the peace while glaring along the borders, taking out troublesome monsters (and hunting down wild thieves on the side) in the process.

　But even then, they can't fight all the monsters. That's why some towns had forces for self-defense or surrounded adventurers. There are vigilante groups in Lamplog territory as well, which also serve to maintain security.

　Speaking of self-defense----this world has its own magic system.

　It's a very close to existent magic system that classifies the entire system into fire, water, wind and earth, apparently.
　I'm not going to be the only one who can do it, but I'm going to be the only one who can do it.

　It's not that I'm not a fan of this one, but I'll learn it sooner or later.
　I'm sure you'll get something out of it.

But ... this one first.

　I looked down at the cauldron.
　I sigh at the thought of all the hard work that will follow.

　What I'm making now is paper.

　I need it to make Hitogata, the medium for the shikigami, but even here in this world, paper is a precious commodity, and it's not readily available as a child.
　That's why I decided to make it by myself.

　First of all, the grasses are torn into pieces and boiled in water with a strong base (alkali) that contains a high concentration of gold dust. Then only the fibers are removed and beaten well. The plant is then added to the plant to be used as a binding agent, and the pulverized material is poured into a mold and dried well. That's all.

　I got lucky. In a past life, I studied papermaking so that I could be particular about the materials used to make the spell, but I was able to find grasses that could be substituted for kouzo and gampi, the original ingredients of the spell, and berries that could be used as the glue.
　But it took us a long time to find them and to make the tools for them.

　The work itself is hard work and hard on a child, but it can't be helped. Although I enjoy using the jutsu and shikigami as much as possible, I can't do everything, you know.

''........hmm.''

　An uncomfortable feeling in my mouth.
　I pressed my tongue against the wobbly tooth and it fell out easily.
　I spit out the baby tooth and put it in my hand. I grinned at it and put it back in my pocket.

　Teeth can be a great tool of witchcraft.
　Reincarnation is a good opportunity to try things I couldn't try in my previous life.

　The more human gadgets you can make, the more you can do.
　My second life was going well.