I am Sirius.
I am Sirius, the second son of the Rayvan family.
I am still only five years old, and I don’t quite understand difficult things, but it seems that my family is what is called ‘nobility.’
‘Nobility,’ it seems, are the subordinates of someone called the ‘King,’ who lives far away.
And this village appears to be my father’s ‘territory,’ and protecting the ‘territory’ is said to be the job of the ‘nobility.’
However, only the eldest son can become ‘nobility,’ and when I grow up, it seems I will be doing work to help my older brother.
My brother…
Exus Rayvan.
My brother is amazing.
He shares food with me and my sister when we are hungry.
He goes to play in the ‘Forest of Magic,’ which seems dangerous even for adults, and he is also training to be a knight.
But what made me think my brother was even more amazing than I thought was something recent.
When I turned five, it was decided that my brother should take care of me.
Normally, in any family, the eldest child takes care of the younger ones.
So, it was decided that my brother would take care of me.
I was very happy thinking that my busy brother would play with me!
…But instead of playing, my brother said we would study.
At first, I thought I didn’t like studying, but after listening to my brother’s stories, I wanted to study.
”Father says that for nobility, martial prowess is of the utmost importance, but that alone is not enough. Only those like the ‘Sword Saint’ who reside in the royal capital can live by the sword alone. That’s why I want to teach you the ‘art of survival.”
My brother said so.
It’s a bit difficult, but it seems that even if you become strong, that alone is not enough to live by.
Certainly, even if you have great sword skills, it doesn’t fill your stomach.
I am hungry every day.
My brother always shares his portion of food with me, but I am still hungry.
Father always says, “Become strong!” but even if I become strong, I wonder if my stomach will ever be full…
But it seems that my brother will teach me how to fill my own stomach.
First, my brother taught me how to make a weapon called a sling.
It’s a weapon for throwing stones.
But I’ve never heard of a sling before.
Usually, hunters use bows.
I asked my brother, ‘‘Isn’t a bow good enough?’” He said that bows can’t be used by children and they require a lot of practice.
But a sling can be easily used by children.
So, I worked hard to practice with it.
My brother praised me a lot, saying I was good at it!
I was so happy to be praised by my brother that I practiced very hard.
Just as my brother said, even I, a child, could use the sling easily.
Then next, it was time to go into the forest and catch rabbits.
The forest was dark, smelled of trees, and was full of insect noises; it was a scary place.
But it wasn’t scary because my brother was with me.
We made a promise not to go too deep because it’s dangerous.
So, we searched for rabbits around the entrance of the forest.
Then, a black rabbit jumped out from the bushes!
‘Now, do it!’ my brother exclaimed.
So, I quickly threw my sling.
The stone from my sling hit the rabbit on the head, and the rabbit fell.
I knocked down a rabbit with my sling!
My brother taught me how to skin and cook the rabbit, and we ate it!
We usually only get to eat meat when the hunter brings some or once a year during the festival.
But my brother told me that if I can knock down rabbits myself, I can eat meat anytime!
He also taught me how to make fire by rubbing wood, how to make charcoal, how to keep bees, how to make traps…
And how to carve wood, sharpen knives, tan leather, sew, climb trees, read and write, do arithmetic…
My brother knew everything.
For example, the way to start a fire was different from our usual method.
At home, we use flint, but my brother would wrap a string around a stick and spin it to create fire.
The way to keep bees was also completely different from the church’s method.
At the church, they find a beehive and destroy it completely to take the honey.
But my brother would build a beehive in a box, only take the top part, and squeeze the honey out from there.
When I asked my brother, he said:
”Ah… bees store honey at the top of the hive. So, we only destroy the top part to get the honey. If we destroy the whole hive, we’ll have to start from finding a new beehive, right?”
I thought it was amazing.
It’s something even adults wouldn’t think of.
Adults always say, ”Just listen to what the adults say!” But I thought my brother was amazing because he really thinks things through.
And so, we made a secret pact with my brother.
My sister and I secretly share honey with my brother.
If the adults find out, they might take away the beehive box.
The honey…
It was incredibly, incredibly delicious.
So sweet and tasty.
We keep the secret because we don’t want anyone taking away the delicious treat!
