A year and a half had passed since the Makishima family’s New Year gathering.

Kurato was now three years old and would turn four this coming autumn.

And starting this April, he had begun attending kindergarten.

“Lord Kurato, Lord Raito. Please take care on your way.”

Yanagi bowed toward the backs of Kurato and Raito as they headed for the kindergarten bus.

Their mother had already left for work, so Yanagi was the one handling their drop-offs and pick-ups.

“Ah… eh…”

“Come on, Raito, let’s go.”

Kurato took the hand of Raito, who was hesitating slightly about getting on the bus and led him aboard.

Raito had only just started attending and still felt reluctant about being separated from home, but—

“Nii-ni, today too, shugyō (disciplined training)?”

“Yeah. Today as well, fun ability training. You’ll do it too, right, Raito?”

“Yeah! Shugyō and become like nii-ni!”

Raito seemed to enjoy doing things together with Kurato and ever since enrolling, he had been continuously participating in ability manifestation training.

He disliked the elite education at home, but when it came to training with Kurato, he went along cheerfully, as if it were play.

Thanks to that, just saying “shugyō” was enough to instantly lift his mood.

* * *

Ever since then, Kurato had continued training both his body and his abilities.

When it came to physical training, his body was still too young to handle extreme strength training.

There was a risk of hindering his growth.

Because of that, his current training consisted solely of walking. He endlessly walked around the neighborhood and went up and down the stairs at home.

Thanks to this, his legs and lower body had grown quite strong and he took pride in being able to walk as much as an adult.

Another thing he did was flexibility training. While his body was still naturally flexible, he made sure to do stretching exercises every night after bathing, maintaining that flexibility and focusing on building a body that was hard to injure.

As for abilities, he focused on increasing manipulation speed and raising his magical power reserves.

For speed training, he repeatedly spun his shields around, moving them as fast as possible over and over again.

He also practiced shield movement while carrying himself or Raito. By now, he could move at roughly the same speed as running on foot.

For increasing magical power, he initially repeated the same internal magic circulation training he had done right after birth.

However, he changed the method half a year ago.

Half a year earlier, Raito had once again developed Ability Fever.

Kurato immediately held his hand and normalized Raito’s magic circulation, but this had also been extremely taxing on Kurato himself. Compared to training using only his own magical power, it felt about one and a half times as exhausting.

That meant it worked as effective training.

As a result, he was now able to deploy five iron shields at once.

‘…Hmm. I thought it would increase more than that.’

That was Kurato’s honest impression.

Since he was circulating Raito’s magical power as well, he had even wondered if he might reach A-rank.

But Kurato reconsidered.

Rather than magical power itself, he needed to hone technique.

And besides, the magical power enhancement training produced an unexpected byproduct.

Raito.

Because they trained while holding hands, Raito had begun training alongside Kurato as well.

Raito himself probably thought of it as playing with his older brother, but Kurato could feel that Raito’s magic control was gradually improving.

In other words, his magic circulation was becoming smoother.

Raito still hadn’t manifested his ability yet, but according to what Ryuko had told him, at Raito’s age it was normal to not even be able to control magical power properly.

That meant Raito was already far ahead.

‘Our Raito really is a genius.’

Kurato thought proudly.

* * *

“Alright, everyone, we’ve arrived. Hold your teacher’s hand and get off slowly.”

“Yes!!”

The bus arrived at the kindergarten.

The children burst out of the bus with such momentum that it looked like they might charge straight into the teachers waiting at the bottom of the steps.

They were incredibly energetic—just watching them was overwhelming.

“Kurato-kun! Raito-kun! Good morning!”

As soon as they got off, a young female teacher waved both hands enthusiastically and greeted them with a smile that looked ready to burst.

She was truly devoted, doing everything she could to keep the children in good spirits.

“Good morning, Naoko-sensei. Come on, Raito too. Say good morning.”

Kurato gave the teachers the utmost courtesy, bowing at a perfect ninety-degree angle, then gently pushed the brother hiding behind him forward.

Raito responded—

“Goo… morni… mmm…”

…Well, yes. Please acknowledge that he’s trying. Raito was extremely shy around strangers.

When Kurato gave the teacher an apologetic smile, she returned one, then led them to their classroom.

* * *

The kindergarten Kurato attended was a private one located not far from their home.

The tuition was apparently high, but their mother had chosen it because she wanted to provide Raito with a good environment and education.

And tagging along—or rather, because Raito had stubbornly insisted—Kurato ended up attending the same kindergarten.

Originally, their mother wanted to send only Raito to a kindergarten inside the Special Zone, but she worried that doing so might bring them into contact with the main family.

As a result, she chose this kindergarten, which was among the best outside the Special Zone.

Leaving such adult matters to them, Kurato spent the playtime for the class in a state of mental emptiness.

Dancing and running around with small children was, in a sense, torture for him.

Suppressing his emotions and enduring it was the only option.

“Kurato-kun? What’s wrong? You don’t look very energetic.”

This is bad. He must have had dead eyes—the teacher was worried and approached him.

Kurato waved at her with a full smile.

“Yeees! (Desperation)”

* * *

That time passed quickly and most of the day consisted of free time.

The children played house, read books, stacked blocks indoors, or ran around outside.

Kurato and the others, however, gathered not in the open, but behind the building near the back gate.

There were Kurato, Raito and two boys they had quickly become friends with after enrolling: Keita Yamashiro and Ryosuke Satomi.

Facing the three toddlers, Kurato looked them over and held out his hand.

“Alright, let’s start by feeling magical power. Ryo-chan, please start from there too.”

“Sure. But I can already feel it. Is there nothing after that?”

Ryosuke twisted his well-defined face in slight dissatisfaction.

He had recently cleared the step of sensing magical power.

At first, he had no knowledge of magic at all, yet in just a few weeks he had learned to sense it—more of a genius than even Raito.

Apparently, his father was a doctor and his mother a city hall employee.

‘An elite family, it seemed.’

Facing the dissatisfied Ryosuke, Kurato nodded lightly and raised his index finger.

“Circulate the magical power inside your body. Try moving the magic you feel inside you, even a little.”

“Okay. This… move it… Ah, it moves, but… not where I want…”

Once Ryosuke started concentrating, he became intensely focused, so Kurato could leave him alone for a while.

Next was Keita, who was lagging behind the most.

“How is it? Did you find it?”

“Hmm… dunno!”

Even narrowing his already narrow eyes further, Keita smiled brightly.

A positive kid who didn’t fret over what he couldn’t do.

Kurato took Keita’s hand and forcibly created a magic flow.

“Right now, what’s around your heart and upper stomach is my magic and yours, Kei-chan. Can you feel it moving?”

“…Ah, it’s warm!”

Keita’s eyes widened in surprise.

Since he usually squinted, opening his eyes fully was a little scary.

“That’s your magic, Kei-chan. Even after we let go, try to keep feeling it there.”

“Amazing! That’s my maho! Ku-chan, thanks!”

Keita jumped around in excitement.

But then he suddenly stopped, lowered his head and fell silent.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“If I jump… I lose track of it…”

‘Good grief.’

Kurato circulated magic again and turned to the last student—Raito, who was waiting with both hands thrust out toward him.

“Raito. You’re already at the magic circulation stage, right? I don’t need to hold your hands anymore.”

“Nooo! I wanna hold nii-ni’s hands too!”

Raito puffed out his cheeks in protest.

Maybe he’d been influenced by the exchange with Keita. He was completely in spoiled mode now and once he got like this, nothing would move him.

With no choice, Kurato practiced magic control together with Raito.

This also contributed to increasing Kurato’s magical power, so it was welcome for him, but he really wanted Raito to practice ability manifestation.

Thinking that he’d have him work on that later, Kurato turned his attention to the presence watching the four of them from the shadows.

An elderly woman smiled, deepening the wrinkles around her eyes.

She was the kindergarten’s principal.

Kurato had formally obtained permission from the kindergarten to conduct this training and the principal was the one who granted it.

She allowed them to do it in the back garden under the supervision of staff and on most days, she herself watched over them.

So far, she hadn’t said or done anything.

Probably because it hadn’t caused any notable trouble.

At first, many more students had joined, but finding the training plain and boring, they all went back to play elsewhere.

In the end, only these three remained.

“Ku-chan…”

A dejected Keita walked over to Kurato.

“What’s wrong, Kei-chan?”

“I lost track of it again…”

‘Oh dear. This kid is the same ordinary-type as me.’

And so, Kurato and the others continued accumulating training during their free time.

* * *

After about a year of doing this without getting bored, the three had grown remarkably.

First, Raito.

He succeeded in manifesting his ability.

For now, all he could do was create a tiny shard of ice in his palm, but the difference between zero and one was immense.

From here, he could simply make it larger and more precise.

“You worked hard this past year.”

“Yeah!”

Raito smiled shyly, an adorable expression.

“But don’t tell Mother.”

Their mother’s dependence on Raito had been growing worse by the day.

Because of that, they hadn’t trained since she returned home.

Whether it was Kurato or Raito, using abilities always involved exaggerated movements, making it easy to notice.

If it was Kurato, it would provoke jealousy and resentment over the difference between them.

If it was Raito, it would deepen her dependence and excessive affection.

To avoid drawing any more of that, Kurato made Raito promise to keep quiet.

“Yeah! I won’t ever tell!”

Raito seemed to vaguely understand what would happen if he told her.

Recently, he’d begun to feel uncomfortable about their mother doting only on him.

Next was Ryosuke.

Half a year ago, he manifested his ability and was now working to improve it.

His ability was healing—an ability that restored wounds and illnesses to their original state.

Maybe it was influenced by his parents being doctors.

In any case, it was a rare type of ability.

Healers were in extremely high demand, even if their magical power was only D-rank.

Kurato stood beside Ryosuke, nodding in satisfaction.

“The time it takes to fully heal has gotten much shorter. At this rate, you might even be able to heal missing limbs.”

“That’s giving me too much credit. At best, I can instantly heal cuts.”

Ryosuke’s face as he said that was stiff.

“Ryo-chan, aren’t you happy?”

At Raito’s question, Ryosuke shook his head weakly.

“I don’t know. Whether I’m happy or not. If only I didn’t have this power, I…”

Ryosuke let out a sigh that didn’t suit a child.

In truth, Ryosuke was scheduled to move next month.

To the Special Zone.

In the Special Zone, men needed at least C-rank magical power to obtain residency rights.

But there were exceptions—politicians and doctors among them.

Ryosuke’s mother was C-rank and his father was an E-rank doctor from a prestigious medical school.

Add to that Ryosuke’s rare healing ability and the Special Zone authorities, suffering from a healer shortage, couldn’t ignore them.

Like a summons, a relocation offer had come through Ryosuke’s mother and both parents were overjoyed.

They even came to the kindergarten to personally thank the teachers.

“I’m sorry, Ryosuke.”

Kurato bowed his head.

If not for this training, Ryosuke might have been able to stay here.

Seeing that, Ryosuke panicked.

“No, that’s not it! It’s not your fault! I just… I was so happy that I ended up saying it out loud.”

His face flushed slightly as he spoke.

His usual mature manner vanished, making him look his age and Kurato laughed.

“W-What are you laughing at!”

“Sorry. It’s just that you usually act so un-cute, but you looked a little cute just now.”

“D-Don’t call a guy cute!”

Ryosuke lightly smacked Kurato.

Just embarrassment, that was all.

Lastly, Keita.

He’d improved the most.

His magical power had risen from E+ to D and he had also manifested his ability, successfully raising small clumps of earth from the ground.

He’d been the slowest to start, but once he learned to sense magic, he improved at a breakneck pace.

At this rate, reaching C-rank by kindergarten graduation wasn’t just a dream.

Incidentally, Keita had told his parents about the training.

In great detail.

As a result, his parents, filled with hope that his magical power might have increased, took him to a government agency called the Ability Awakening Center to have his power remeasured.

There, it was confirmed that he had risen to D-rank.

His parents were apparently overjoyed.

They even bowed deeply to Kurato to thank him.

Kurato lied and told them it was a “Makishima family secret,” warning them not to spread it around.

How effective that had been was unclear.

At the very least, they seemed to be keeping the promise not to tell his mother.

* * *

One day at the kindergarten.

Among the fathers coming to pick up their children, two well-dressed women began chatting near the gate.

“Oh, Mrs. Satomi. Hello.”

“Mrs. Yamashiro, hello. It’s rare for you to be picking him up yourself. Are you on leave today?”

“Yes. Grandpa hurt his back, you see. My husband said he couldn’t change his shift, so I thought I’d come today.”

“That sounds tough.”

They were Keita’s and Ryosuke’s mothers.

Ignoring picking up their children, the two began chatting by the gate.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I had unused leave anyway, so I’m glad to use it. I should do some family service for my son once in a while too. What about you, Mrs. Satomi? Are you on leave today as well?”

“Yes. I took a few days off for the move. Today I came to greet the kindergarten teachers as well.”

“Oh, that’s right. Mrs. Satomi, congratulations on your move to the Special Zone.”

Keita’s mother bowed as she said that.

Ryosuke’s mother accepted it happily.

“Thank you, Mrs. Yamashiro. It’s all thanks to the teacher who helped awaken my child’s ability. I can’t thank them enough. When we move to the Special Zone, I’m thinking of quietly recommending this kindergarten.”

“Ah—um, I think it might be better not to do that?”

“Oh? You think so? Maybe becoming too famous wouldn’t be good?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just… my child’s ability also went from E to D…”

Keita’s mother spoke hesitantly and Ryosuke’s mother tilted her head in confusion.

“Oh? Then it really does prove how amazing this place is. I think it deserves proper recognition.”

“No, that’s not it. It might not be because of the kindergarten.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Actually, it seems the ability increase was thanks to a child from the Makishima family.”

Ryosuke’s mother’s expression turned serious.

“…Now that you mention it, Ryosuke did say something. That he’s been playing training games with Lord Raito and Kurato-kun.”

“Yes… apparently the four of them always played together, including Keita, but the other children didn’t have anything like their rank increasing.”

“No one… you mean none of the children at this kindergarten?”

“No, none of the graduates in its entire history.”

“……”

Ryosuke’s mother swallowed.

In the meantime, Keita’s mother pressed on.

“So I asked Lord Raito myself and he said he learned it from his older brother, Kurato-kun. And Kurato-kun told them it was a Makishima family secret and to keep it secret. Normally, I wouldn’t say this, but I thought it would be worse if rumors spread that the kindergarten was using Makishima family secrets…”

Ryosuke’s mother nodded in small, trembling motions.

“Y-Yes, you’re right. Thank you, Mrs. Yamashiro. You’ve saved my life.”

“You’re exaggerating. More than that, it’ll be lonely, won’t it? Keita really got along with Ryosuke.”

“Likewise. We’re grateful to Keita and the others. …Ah, Mrs. Yamashiro, sorry. I’ll go greet Lord Kurato.”

“Eh—wait…”

Keita’s mother’s attempt to stop her failed and Ryosuke’s mother went back into the kindergarten.

“Won’t that make it obvious I told him?”

* * *

A few minutes later, just as Keita’s mother feared, Kurato found out.

But rather than that, he was far more overwhelmed by Ryosuke’s mother nearly prostrating herself in thanks and pressing him with predatory eyes, insisting he be treated lavishly when he came to the Special Zone.

He didn’t have the luxury to worry about anything else.

* * *

Memo

Hinatamari Kindergarten… a private kindergarten. The monthly tuition is fairly expensive. Many low-rank young heirs attend.

Yamashiro Keita… uses Soil (earth) kinesis, one of the four great elements. An ordinary-type? Late-bloomer type?

Satomi Ryosuke… a healer. Despite being D-rank, he manages to enter the Special Zone. A future renowned doctor?

Makishima Raito… uses Cryo (ice) kinesis, the highest-tier of the four great elements. Compared to the other two, his growth speed feels slow…

The protagonist… it’s said his control over his ability has improved, but what about the crucial amount of magic power?