This story is a work of fiction.
The characters, organizations, and names appearing in this story are entirely fictional and have no connection to real-world people or entities.

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Chapter 2: The Slave's Child

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I can’t move…

I understood my current situation.
It seems I have been reincarnated as the child of a slave.

A ragged woman was trying to feed me milk, but it was clear she was severely emaciated, and there was barely any milk.
I was desperately sucking, but hardly any milk came out. Sucking was using up energy, and my hunger was growing. This was bad.

On the right side of this mother's chest, there was a star-shaped mark. It was quite faint, but as I desperately tried to drink the milk, I kept staring at that mark.

Well, I was in immediate danger. If I couldn’t get any milk, I wouldn't be able to survive. What should I do? What can I do?

"I'm sorry I can't give you more milk…"

The woman, who I assumed was my mother, was on the verge of tears, apologizing to me.

Her words were filled with love for me. In my previous life, my parents were awful, but it seemed I had found a good mother in this life.
Still, my hunger was unbearable. If I didn’t do something about this, I would really die. I’d be stuck before I even had the chance to level up.

“Aww, aww, I’m so hungry…”

At this rate, I was really going to die. I had to figure out how to break out of this situation.

Then, I remembered.

The skill, Transformation.

[Transformation: Level 1 – Transforms one material into another substance.]

Could I use this skill to create food?

I was lying on what seemed like a storage room.
There was straw, the wooden board I was lying on, and various farming tools scattered around.

If only I could turn the straw next to me into food.

I thought back to the meals I had in my previous life. When I lived with my parents, I survived on the crusts of bread, relying on school lunches to stave off hunger. After I was taken into a children's care facility, I occasionally got meat. That made me so happy…

It was probably cheap meat, but I’ll never forget how good that meat tasted.

“Owa owa owa (Turn into delicious meat!)”

Something drained from within me. I felt sick, overcome by exhaustion.

But the straw had turned into grilled meat!

I checked my status, and my mana, which had been at five points, was now at zero.
It seemed like using my skill had depleted my mana.

Uh-oh, my consciousness is fading...

I woke up from hunger.

I’m going to eat that meat! Or so I thought, but my mother was eating it.
Ah, well… yeah. I guess I'm not the only one who's hungry.

"It's so delicious…"

My mother was crying as she ate the meat.

Seeing her like that, I wanted to give her more.
That being said, I was still hungry myself.

It wouldn’t be a good idea to use my skill in front of her, though.
I’d have to wait until she left.

After breastfeeding me (though she didn’t have much milk to give), my mother left.

Now was my chance!

I checked my status, and my mana had recovered to five points again.
I quickly transformed the straw into meat.

“Awaaa (I’m sleepy…)”

And again, I lost consciousness.

When I woke up again, my mother had eaten the meat.
Hey, come on…

“Owa owa owa (That’s mine…)”

Then it hit me.
I was a baby. Even if I ate the meat, how would I chew it without any teeth?

This time, I’d turn the straw into milk.

I was so hungry…

Wait a minute…? Even if I turned the straw into milk, how would I drink it?
The milk would just soak into the ground. Even if I managed to transform the straw into milk in a bottle, I was too small to hold the bottle.

“Awaaa… (This is impossible…)”

“You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

My mother tried to breastfeed me again.
Of course, she didn’t have much milk, but I sucked anyway to alleviate my hunger, even if only a little.

Suck, suck, suck, suck, suck.

Huh? Wait… Is there more milk coming out than usual?

Whoa! Milk is actually coming out!

I desperately drank the milk.
I was still hungry, but I felt a bit of happiness, as though I had come back to life.

It was that meat!
Because my mother ate the meat, she was able to produce more milk!

Indirectly, this had helped me deal with my hunger.
It wasn’t quite enough yet, but if I kept feeding my mother, she’d get more nutrients, and in turn, that would extend my survival!

From that day onward, every time I woke up, I transformed the straw into meat or fish and fed my mother.

Day by day, my mother’s health improved. Her milk production increased, and so did the amount she could give me.