It''s been a little over a year since I woke up in this body.


    I was already able to walk normally by this time. A normal baby would have been a little later, but....


    ''That''s my son!　That''s what a man does!　You can do better than that!


    I was hoping to walk a bit more later, but thanks to my dad, I can walk now... but it''s just too loud.


    He''s still shouting loudly beside me, "Get hotter! I''m not sure.


    Get hot........I don''t get it. Do you want me to turn up the heat?　That''s not a line you would say to a child.


    I was walking outside, ignoring my dad.


    Outside was like the yard of the house, but still, it was a nice outing for me after being in my room all the time.


    I''d been working out for a while, running lightly in the yard, when the door of the house was slammed and then Tia walked into the yard of the house as fast as she could fly right afterwards.


    ''Eric!''


    Tina runs up to me and hugs me, jumping up and down.


    I take it in stride, but so far I can''t stand it and fall on my ass every time.


    I leave Tina''s usual strong embrace intact, rubbing my buttocks as they hit the ground with vigor.


    Almost every day since we first met about a year ago, our neighbor Tina has come over to our house to hug me.


    At first she wasn''t ready to stand up yet, so she would hug me normally, but after I started standing up, she started jumping on me more often, like now.


    I''m still old enough to call it a baby, so a normal child would cry if you hugged me with that kind of force.


    Just as I was thinking that, Tina''s dad came over and saw Tina hugging me as usual, her face turning blue as she frantically apologized to her dad.


    ''S-Sorry!　I always tell Tina not to do it because it''s dangerous...


    Dad says with an exaggerated laugh.


    ''Hahaha!　Don''t worry about it!　That''s a good thing!　Besides, if he''s my son, I''m training him in person, so he''ll be fine!


    Well, I work out, but I don''t remember my dad training me. I''m training myself.


    Tina was hugging me while they were talking.


    I''ve gotten pretty good at speaking, so I''ve thought about paying attention to Tina for that reason, but.......


    ''''Ehehe.......Eric.......hmm~!


    Because he''s super cute, you know?　I was over twenty in my previous life, so I think I''d be about the same age as Tina is now if I''d had a child, which makes me feel even cuter.


    I have no idea why they miss me so much, but I''ll forgive them for being so cute. ........who am I?


    I''m training my body, but of course I''m also training my ability to control the magic element.


    I''ve been doing this for about a year now, so this one is growing at a rapid rate.


    The first time I did this, I could only control the magic for about three minutes and passed out, but after a year, I can control the magic at my best for an hour without passing out.


    It doesn''t seem like it''s grown much in just one hour, but it''s still about the same level of control as I had in my previous life.


    Well, the amount of magical elements has increased to the same level as in my previous life, but I still don''t have the skills to manipulate them.


    It''s a good thing that the skill to manipulate the magic element is usually trained through the use of magic, so there''s no need to rush it just yet.


    I''m not really able to do magic at all in my past life, and it was only a tacked-on piece of equipment.


    If anything, I''m more confident in my sword skills. In a past life, if it was a pure sword fight, I never lost a one-on-one match.


    But when the uncertainty of magic enters the picture, it''s a different story.


    Magic is completely different in power and scale depending on the state of mind and emotions at the time.


    For example, the fire magic when you use it for cooking and the fire magic when you try to kill someone you hate, if the same guy uses the same amount of magic element and releases the magic, the latter is definitely bigger in scale and power.


    It''s a good idea to have a good command of the magic, and even if you''re not very good at controlling the magic, if you have strong emotions, you can still defeat an opponent who has a higher level of magic than you.


    Even so, it''s obvious that it''s better to be good at controlling the magic element, so I''m practicing and training now.


    I pretend to play in the garden during the day to build up my strength and muscle power, and at night I pretend to be asleep to manipulate the magic element.


    I pretend to be asleep at night, or rather, I pretend to sleep until morning after manipulating the magic element for an hour or so.


    It''s a good idea to have a good command of the magic element, so it takes a long time to wake up after passing out.


    I want to be able to shoot magic and improve its quality as soon as possible.


    It''s noon now, so I''m taking a short break from working out in the garden when Tina arrives as usual.


    ''So Tina likes you, Eric,''


    I''m resting in the shade of a tree in the yard, with Tina holding me, when Tina''s dad comes over and talks to us... or rather, Tina.


    ''Yeah!　When I''m big enough, Tina, I''m going to marry Eric!


    --Well, well, it''s a kid''s dream, I guess.................. It''s like a child''s irresponsible promise of a future.


    ''Yeah, well.......ick!　I''ve already separated my daughter from her father...


    No, you''re not, Dad. You''re not supposed to take that kind of kid stuff seriously.


    "You never told me you were going to marry my dad... d*mn it!


    There!


    Tina''s dad went into the house in a huff, drooping in a paragraph.


    ''Tina I''m in a bit of pain,''


    I call out as Tina''s embrace begins to choke me.


    ''Oh I''m sorry I''m sorry...''


    Feeling incredibly guilty as Tina leaves with a tearful look on her face, I get up and run around the yard again to work out.


    Tina was sitting under a tree, geezing and looking at me. She''s itching to look at me and try to make some kind of appeal.


    ''''Do you want to ... play with me?''''


    When I asked her that, Tina smiled like a flower blooming.


    ''Yes!''


    He nods broadly and stands up and runs over to me and hugs me. I manage to catch it and keep it from falling.


    I always think that being jumped on vigorously is indeed tough... I think I have more strength than you, but there''s a height difference.


    I''m not sure that I feel that way, but Tina moves away from me a bit and says with a face that can''t stop being excited.


    ''What are you doing?!''


    Well let''s play tag.


    You''re playing tag?


    Yeah, I''ll run, and Tina will get me.


    ''Do I have to hug Eric?　I get it!


    ........It''s okay because I''m not wrong.


    With a big nod, Tina dives towards me.


    I hurriedly duck and get behind Tina.


    ''''Oni-san, this way, towards the clapping hands.


    I clap my hands behind Tina''s back, stirring her up. Tina, who probably doesn''t even feel agitated, smiles and chases after me.


    ''Wait!''　Haha!


    Tina is happily chasing me around.


    There''s a difference in height, and if a one-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl were to seriously chase each other or something, I''m sure the one-year-old boy would be caught immediately, but I''m working out, so I''m not so easily caught.


    I might be slower than him if I really ran, but this is a game of tag. As long as Tina doesn''t catch me, that''s all that matters.


    I avoid Tina, who is coming in a straight line like a child, with minimal movement to get behind her.


    This is more training than I thought it would be. It''s a sensation I''m slowly remembering from my previous life.


    After a while, I was able to close my eyes and feel Tina''s movements and duck.


    I wanted to continue for a while longer and remember the sensations from my past life, but suddenly Tina stopped moving.


    Wondering, I opened my eyes and looked at Tina - there was Tina standing there with tears pooling around her eyes and about to spill out at any moment.


    ''''Ugh........Eric''s going to run away.......Oh no.......''''


    --Not good!　It''s too much!


    I stop moving and wait for Tina to run into me.


    Tina rushes into me more slowly than before, but I wait for her to welcome her, not wanting to escape.


    And when Tina touches me and hugs me, she hugs me with a big smile and clings to me with a big smile, as if it''s a lie that she was about to cry.


    ''''Eric........ehehe.......!


    Tina hugs me tightly as she says that.


    Thinking that, I kept Tina''s embrace intact and was trying to see if I could control the magic element even in my distressed state.