Chapter 4: Scumbags Are Everywhere

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A fist struck my left cheek. I fell to the ground after being punched.

“Hahaha! You’re weak, scum!”

The one who hit me was a six-year-old boy named Jaiz.

I’m about one year and three months old, and I can barely walk on my own. There’s no way I can beat a six-year-old.

However, no one watching bothered to scold Jaiz.

Jaiz is the legitimate grandson of the Lord (the legitimate son of the legitimate son). To put it simply, he’s a child from a bloodline destined to inherit the title of Marquis of the Lightstar family in the future.

If someone like me, a concubine’s child, were killed, no one would blame Jaiz.

A few months had passed since my living environment had changed, and I’d learned a lot.

As I mentioned before, this house belongs to the Lightstar Marquisate. The head of the family (the Lord) is Elgard Bard Lightstar, 62 years old.

His legitimate son, Jaiz’s father, is Badras Bard Lightstar, who currently manages most of the affairs within the territory.

The Lightstar Marquisate is part of the Kingdom of Kuldia. The Bald territory, which the Lightstar family governs, is located in the southern part of the kingdom and is famous for producing the largest amount of wheat in the country.

Technically, Jaiz is my nephew, but he doesn’t see me as a blood relative.

“You’re just a slave’s child! You shouldn’t even be allowed to exist in my presence!”

This "I’m the best" type of person... There were quite a few of them. My father in my previous life, and that classmate, also used to say “I’m the best.” There are more of these types than you’d expect.

Besides, this is the annex where I live, not the main house where Jaiz resides. He’s the one who comes here; I’m not going to the main house.

In other words, Jaiz comes here just to beat up me and the other concubines' children.

He probably doesn’t even know my name. Nor does he know the names of the other children. He just enjoys hitting whichever child catches his eye.

Even if he’s just a kid, it’s enough to make me sick to my stomach—he’s a true scumbag.

After a round of punches and kicks, Jaiz was panting heavily. His body had gone past chubby, and just a bit of movement left him out of breath. His lack of stamina was obvious.

“Phew…phew… That’s enough for today, I’ll let you off!”

Jaiz walked away, his shoulders and stomach wobbling.

It hurt quite a bit, but I managed to minimize the damage.

If I break a bone or injure my organs, my life could be in danger. I have to avoid that at all costs.

I’d gotten used to being hit in my previous life, and somewhere along the line, I’d developed techniques to avoid fatal injuries.

Of course, there are limits. It’s always best to avoid getting hit in the first place.

“Toma, are you alright?”

The person who helped me up was a woman named Louise, one of my mother’s close friends.

She’s only twenty, and she was sold by her family because they weren’t well off. Her situation is hardly different from being a slave.

She also has a child, a girl one year older than me.

“I’m fine.”

I’d only cut the inside of my mouth a bit, nothing serious.

Getting hit by Jaiz was nothing compared to being hit by my father in my previous life.

“I’m sorry, Toma. I couldn’t protect you…”

“It’s not your fault, Louise. The one at fault is Jaiz.”

Louise hugged me tightly. This is what humans are supposed to be like. Not like those people living in the main house.

Louise carried me over to my mother.

I can walk, and walking would help me build strength, but Louise wouldn’t let go.

“Toma!”

“Was it Jaiz again?”

“I’m fine.”

“Toma…”

Louise handed me over to my mother’s arms.

“I’m so sorry, Toma. I’m so, so sorry…”

My mother cried as she apologized to me.

In my previous life, I was abused by my mother, but in this life, I’d been blessed with a good mother. That made me very happy.

Alone in my room, I used my skill as always.

I transformed walnuts into soybeans and chewed on them. Soybeans are highly nutritious. I’m eating them to build up my body.

And once I run out of mana, all I can do is sleep.

[You have leveled up.]

As I continued using my skill, my level increased. Not just the skill level—my actual level went up.

= ・ = ・ = ・ = ・ = ・ = ・ = ・ =

Name: Toma
Race: Demigod (Human-God hybrid)
Information: Male, 1 year old, healthy
Title: Apostle of ×××
Rank: G
Attribute: Divine
Blessing: God of Transformation (Unawakened)
Level: 3
Skill: Transformation, Level 1
Life: 5 (25)
Stamina: 6 (31)
Mana: 7 (37)

= ・ = ・ = ・ = ・ = ・ = ・ = ・ =

The numbers in parentheses show what my stats should be at this level.
It seems that since I’m still a toddler, my stats are limited.

Although my mana has only increased a little, the amount I can transform has also grown, even if only by a bit.

My mother, now a concubine, and I live in this annex, but our environment is still not safe.

Believing I need to raise my level as quickly as possible, I continued to pass out from mana exhaustion.