~ Chapter 14: Straying thoughts ~

After we received our Blessings, mother and father had to complete some paperwork, while we waited patiently on one of the benches inside the church. Not far from us were several people who were praying with their eyes closed at the statue of goddess Sapherya.

I didn't see any reason in this separation from our parents, but at the very least the High Priest made sure we weren't left alone over here; one of the priests was diligently watching over us.

My sister didn't make a fuss about it and was still trying to figure out the difference between one and three. I didn't even have the energy to try to help her out, I was just looking with dead fish eyes at the representation of the goddess. The shock I received was simply too much for me...

Despite how things were, I was gifted with a Blessing by the gods, but to the people of this world, it was almost the same as having none. I was well aware of the fact that it could be one of the most powerful if not the most powerful one out there, so besides the language it was written in, I had nothing to complain about.

Thinking about it logically, putting 118 Blessings from all those different gods would have most likely cause another type of mess. If having just three was considered a National Treasure, I would have become a phenomenon, an impossibility, a cheat. The adults in power in this country would have certainly refused to leave me alone because I was an unknown variable in their plans.

In fact, I had to admit that condensing those 118 Blessings into one and writing it in an unknown language by the people of this planet was a stroke of genius from Sapherya. She spared me a lot of trouble from both the Church and the Kingdom's political and military world.

Unfortunately, the cruel reality was that in seven years from now, I would have to say my farewells to Cassandra and then wait another four years before I would get the chance to see her again. Being so close to marriageable age and with experience in a completely different environment, she would certainly have a hard time socializing with me afterwards. I might even end up being treated as a complete stranger!

But then, it struck me...

At what age is it legal to marry in this Kingdom? If I remember my history lessons right, it was normal in all countries around the world in medieval times to marry at the age of 12 or 14. This was because of two factors though: high chance of death during childbirth and the average life expectancy was nowhere near as high as it was in modern times. Reaching 24 years was considered lucky! I thought and then immediately began to try to remember if anyone had mentioned anything about this until now.

All of my efforts at squeezing that piece of non-existing information out of my brain were futile.

After our parents returned, Cassandra was finally able to understand the difference between one and three. The little girl was so proud of her little achievement, but unwillingly was rubbing salt on my wound.

“I have twee! You one!” she kept saying and showed me three fingers then one.

Her bright and cheerful smile made it impossible for me to retort anything to her. I simply didn't have the heart to ruin this moment for her, but our parents understood quite well the predicament I was in and put on wry smiles.

Our parents picked us up and after having one more chat with the High Priest, we returned to the carriage. Meanwhile, I kept trying to dig through my memories and see if there was something I missed.

Separating this world's memories from my former one was a bit hard, but although I took this whole reincarnation thing quite well, there were several things I realized about it. From my past life, all I could remember was the fact that I was born as a Romanian citizen, I finished some sort of college, I was working at some company, but the rest was more of a blur. Bits and pieces of information here and there, but nothing concrete that could be of use for me in this world. However, I was unlocking some of that past knowledge as I grew up.

This was most likely an elaborate way of helping me get used to my new life and not cling to my old one. There was no special connection or emotion regarding my past life. On the bright side of things, non-personal information regarding the morals, technology, and history of Earth remained almost completely untouched.

I had no idea who the president of my country was, but I knew that all matter in the Universe was made out of elemental particles called Fermions and Bosons. The exact laws and ways to use this knowledge wasn't there though. Basically, I only retained the idea, theory, or confidence that somehow, someway, a tech that did something was proven to exist and work at some point.

How exactly all of this scattered and broken knowledge was supposed to help me, I had no idea, but only time would tell. As for why it was so... I was suspecting that it had something to do with the possibility of me confusing people from Earth with those found here or being unable to act as a toddler at all. Which made sense, in a way. The former me would have refused to eat from mother's breast or gotten needlessly excited as a pervert, while the current me was unable from all points of view to see her as anything else but my caring, loving, and protective mother, and her milk was the food I needed in order to survive and not feel hungry. Thankfully, the last part stopped when I was around two years old. It would have been odd if it continued.

Ah~ And I got sidetracked again lost in my useless thoughts and worries~ I thought as I let out a small sigh.

Right now, I was staring at the scenery outside the windows of our carriage. We were heading back home. Cassandra was already exhausted and was sleeping in father's arms. Our old man was frozen in place, unable to move a finger out of fear of waking up his precious angel.

“Nose... itchy...” he mumbled.

Mother took care of it, and he sighed with relief.

As I watched this scene, I asked them “At what age will we marry?”

My wording was a bit strange, but I was a toddler, I had an excuse.

“Erm...” mother looked at me and then at father.

“Ahem. 16 is the age for commoners, while 18 is the age for nobles. You are seen as an adult at the age of 16. If you wish to register as an adventurer or merchant, the minimum age is 12 under the condition that you are supervised by an adult until you are 16 of age. Other conditions and limitations are placed on you accordingly, but...” father explained but abruptly stopped when he noticed mother's glare.

“You idiotic husband of mine... Leo is barely three years old. How do you expect him to understand such complicated things?” she scolded him.

Despite her valid argument, thanks to my past life memories and ability that helped me learn languages faster, I understood perfectly what my old man was trying to say.

Patting my head, mother then told me “Don't worry about it for now, Leo. When you will grow older, you will know. Also, in a week, you'll finally be able to meet your no-good adventurer aunt!” she was smiling cheerfully, but the way she put it made me worry.

Thus, my first journey to the Church came to an end. At least, mother and father didn't bother to find out why I asked such a strange thing.