Blackwater Town, which governs Lusaka Village, got its name from a knight who once lived there. He drank a special Potion that turned his water-aspected magic black—and made it stronger than ordinary water magic. The town had once been his fief, so it was named Blackwater Town.

Although that knight had been dead for many years, the town now supposedly belonged to the lord’s third son. They said the knight’s statue still stood in the center of town.

As for the lord’s third son, he was the owner of the estate where Tori’s father was working.

Nobles really are something else.

Tori walked along the road with her mother. The road from the village to the town was usually called a horse road. As the name suggested, it had to be wide enough for horse-drawn carts carrying goods to pass. It was meant for traffic in both directions, so you could just about call it two lanes. It wasn’t very wide—around five or six meters—and it was rough, basically a layer of gravel covered with dirt.

The main roads from towns to cities, and between cities, were usually called dragon roads. They had to be wide enough for carts pulled by earth dragons, so they were much broader.

Tori carried a cloth bag on her back. She wondered if she could make some high-end bags to sell to nobles and earn a quick buck off their gullibility—but she still lacked the resources.

Her bag held her rat poison and a few experimental mice tied to wooden boards. She and her mother had set out for town early that morning, but since Tori had finally managed to meditate, she still had plenty of energy.

You had to admit, kids in this world were pretty tough. At least, they had way more stamina than kids in her old world. Maybe it was because of magic. Maybe it was because they had to work.

When buildings that looked clearly different from the ones in the village came into view, Tori knew they must have reached their destination.

Most village buildings were made mainly of brick and wood. You rarely saw large blocks of stone or iron fittings. After all, the blacksmith’s main job was forging and repairing things like farm tools.

The town was different. They used more neatly cut stone blocks, and the roof tiles looked a little more refined, too.

Was the class divide really that obvious?

Tori frowned, then relaxed. There was nothing she could do about it. Come to think of it, the most striking thing about the town’s buildings was that they’d all been painted black with something.

Was it some kind of idol worship? Like the town’s name?

Tori stayed close behind her mother, just like any child entering town for the first time, full of curiosity and caution. But Tori was more sensible than most. She wouldn’t mischievously reach out to touch things and invite needless trouble or hostility.

They continued on, passing through the center of town. There they saw a statue of a knight in heavy armor, his face resolute and a greatsword in hand, with black water swirling around him. Now that was art!

Tori didn’t know much about art, but whoever had carved the statue was clearly very skilled.

It wasn’t until they reached the other end of town that Tori saw a huge plot of land enclosed by a fence. People were hurrying back and forth inside: some were driving stakes into the ground, some were pushing materials in wheelbarrows, and others were mixing some kind of adhesive. That looked familiar. Maybe she could make money by introducing a new technique?

No, no. The construction industry in her old world was built on a highly industrialized society. This world probably didn’t work that way.

She saw two or three people strutting around arrogantly. They traced magical patterns with their hands, then imprinted them onto the wooden stakes. The stakes glimmered briefly. Once the light faded, they signaled the workers to drive the stakes into the ground.

So this world really was built on magical civilization.

What level were those two or three Mages?

Tori felt a little excited.

Xilika brought Tori to someone outside the estate. After she handed him nearly twenty copper coins, he motioned for Xilika and Tori to wait.

Before long, a tall man with sun-darkened skin came out.

“Xilika, what’s up? Didn’t you come to town just a couple of days ago?” he asked as he walked over. Then he realized he didn’t need to ask. A little head peeked out from behind Xilika. It was his daughter, Tori.

The man hurried over. He circled around behind Xilika, scooped Tori up, and rubbed his rugged face against hers. “Oh, my Tori! My angel! What brings you here? You’re still as cute as ever!”

“Dad!!! Your face is all sweaty!”

Tori pushed her father’s face away, deeply displeased. She’d thought she might have trouble calling him Dad, but once she did, it didn’t feel like a big deal after all.

She really had no shame. That was probably a skill she’d picked up after years of working construction. Anyone could be her dad.

“Oh, oh! Sorry, Tori! Dad was working just now!” At her words, the man quickly put Tori down.

Xilika watched the two of them with a smile. “Tori said she missed you and insisted I bring her to see you. Can you get a day off?”

“Tori! Ohhh!”

Seeing him like that, Tori quickly took two steps back.

Her father’s name was Tuona. They were villagers, after all, and people were pretty casual about names. When he named Tori, he’d picked a girl’s name with syllables similar to his own.

They were commoners, and commoners didn’t have surnames, so people were pretty casual about it.

Tuona thought it over carefully. “Normally, I should be able to get a day off. But I heard the third young master has arrived in town. No one knows where he’s staying yet, so the foreman doesn’t dare let anyone take time off. He’s afraid the young master might find out. No one knows what kind of temper he has, and the town does fall under his authority. Even if he’s still young…”

Xilika looked a little disappointed.

Tori shook her head and comforted her parents. “It’s okay. I’m already happy just to see Dad. As long as he’s healthy, that’s all that matters.”

Even the most iron-willed man was about to cry.

He pretended to wipe away sweat, brushing a tear from the corner of his eye. “Tori! Dad’s going to work hard! For your bright future! I’ll work even harder!” He turned around, putting on a brave face, and waved. “I’m going back to work, then! Xilika, take Tori around town and buy something. You’ve come all this way, after all.”

“Mm,” Xilika replied simply.

As she watched her mother return to work, Tori sighed inwardly. She didn’t feel her soul suddenly merge with the body in some smooth, seamless way. Nor did she feel her affinity for magic suddenly improve.

So the original Tori was really gone.

Otherwise, seeing her parents and saying a proper goodbye wouldn’t have been her wish.

This was weird. Wasn’t this supposed to be a standard reincarnation trope? What was going on?

Speaking of the third young master—

The important thing wasn’t the third young master. It was figuring out how to sell her rat poison.

From the sound of it, that third young master was just like the protagonist of a broken-engagement story. Who’d dare get close to a character like that? Who knew if he was the sort who’d kill your whole family just because you looked at his woman?

If she provoked him and he killed her, he’d still get to call himself decisive. That was way too ruthless. Someone like that wasn’t a good match for Tori, who only wanted to make money. Besides—what if this third young master really was useless?

If he really was useless, that’d be a disaster.

Then people in both the town and the village would probably have a hard time. Bullying people and taking advantage of women might become routine. Whatever. It wasn’t her problem. If he was that kind of useless, then being able to fool him with a little money later might actually be a good thing.

“Is there anything you want to buy, Tori?”

“Mom, where do you think I should sell my rat poison?” Tori didn’t hide her intentions. She was clearly after money.

Xilika frowned. “Tori, I asked the old village chief about it before. He said he never taught you how to make rat poison. Catching rats does help the village, but the old chief asked me to tell you not to neglect your studies just to earn a little money. You’ll regret it later.”

“Mom, I promise I study the old village chief’s notes every day. I’ve almost memorized everything in them. Look, I hardly ever need to flip through them anymore. I’ve got it all memorized.”

Xilika didn’t know what to say. She’d glanced at the complicated parts of the village chief’s notes herself, and just looking at them made her sleepy. She had no idea how Tori managed to read them. The girl seemed to find them fascinating. If you asked Xilika, the illustrations in the notes were ugly, too. There was nothing about them that made you want to keep reading.

She realized she couldn’t win an argument with her daughter, so she sighed. “Let’s go take a look at the market first. It’s in the other direction. We’ll see if anyone’s willing to buy your rat poison.”

“Okay!”

…

“Young master, the lord asked me to tell you not to worry about the matter of magic. As for the Sakaran Family breaking off the engagement, he’ll personally speak with Lord Keluoluosi and get an explanation for you. Though most likely, all he can do is secure some gold coins for you, so you’ll have enough to live comfortably. Your older and younger siblings will need an explanation, too.” The old man wore fairly ordinary clothes, but his manner was deeply respectful. He spoke to a boy of thirteen or fourteen, who was dressed just as plainly.

The boy shook his head. “Go back and write to Father. He doesn’t need to do all that. This is my own problem, and I accept my fate. He doesn’t need to spend so much time worrying about me. My siblings are all outstanding. The family’s prosperity will depend on them.”

“Yes, young master.”

As they spoke, the boy suddenly noticed a little girl in the market holding a wooden board. A rat was tied to it.

“What do you mean, fake medicine? Huh? See this rat? Huh?!”

Tori was getting annoyed. She held a small knife in her other hand and poked the rat in the belly. She didn’t use much force, but even so, the rat kept squeaking, “Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!” as if it were at death’s door.

Tori tucked the knife back into her cloth bag, then took out the rat poison.

“Watch closely! A surefire rat poison that makes them roll their eyes in five minutes, foam at the mouth in ten, and bleed from every opening before they’re dead in fifteen! Just crush it up and mix it into your leftovers, and every rat in your house will be wiped out in no time!”

She grabbed the rat and tried to force the poison into its mouth. Her title as a rat-control expert wasn’t just for show.

“Interesting. You said the town was boring, but this is quite a development. Come with me. I want to see what kind of stunt that little girl is pulling.” For once, the boy smiled.

“Yes, young master.”