Chapter 16— Baptismal Ceremony

"It's getting bigger. Is it about time for it to hatch?"

　I muttered while looking at the egg in the net that was hanging on my waist.

　It's the Familiar Egg.

　At first, it was about the size of an M-sized egg sold at a supermarket.

　However, I have been raising it while watching the magical power contained in the egg every day and injecting magical power into it.

　And now it's about twice as big as it was originally.

　The visible magical power around the egg has also changed from the original light blue color to a dark blue.

　I'm hoping that it will be born soon.

"What are you doing? We’re leaving soon."

　As I was looking at the egg like that, my mother called out.

　Apparently it's about time.

　I will be 6 years old this year.

　And at the age of six, a baptismal ceremony will be held at the church.

　Today is the baptismal ceremony.

　In my previous life, I didn't have many opportunities to go to church.

　Perhaps I wouldn’t be too happy to hear that I would go to a baptismal ceremony in my previous life.

　But this time it's different.

　After all, I can get magic.

　Magic that is not the original magic that I have used so far.

　What the church gives us is life magic that is very useful in our daily lives.

　If you are baptized in the church, you will be able to use this life magic.

　Once upon a time, humans lived in fear of monsters.

　Nowadays, the number of towns where humans live has increased to the extent that humans can compete with each other for more land. (TLN: Wars. Before, everyone had to worry about monster raids.)

　Why is that, you ask?

　Magic was the driving force behind humankind's breakthrough.

　Especially life magic, which was very useful.

　Life magic has magic such as [Lighting], [Water], [Ignition], and [Washing].

　All of those effects by themselves are very small. All you can do with light magic is just have light appear, ignite fire, create drinking water, and wash things.

　However, as more and more people have become able to use this magic, the range of human action has expanded dramatically.

　Perhaps the best example is that we were living like primitive humans but suddenly were able to use abundant electricity, gas, and water.

　Thanks to this, even humans who cannot match strong monsters by themselves can increase their number and expand their survival area.

　That's why the church gathered 6-year-old children every year to hold a baptismal ceremony, where they gave life magic.

　The church can then acquire believers, people can obtain life magic, and those in power can obtain a resident list from the church. (TLN: Don’t know what “resident list” is. If you have any guesses, leave them in the comments.)

　We have a system in which everyone can benefit.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go, now"

　I replied and walked towards the church with excitement.

　* * *

　There is only one church in the village.

　I came to a square shaped building with a brick roof that was triangular.

　Once inside, there is a room with benches as there would be if you were to have a wedding.

　Beyond the many benches, there was a low step like in front of the school blackboard, and something like a teacher's desk was laid down.

　Perhaps the priest will stand there and preach.

　I sit on a suitable bench with my parents and wait. There were a few others around, as well.

　Is it because this is not such a big village?

　It seems that there weren't even 10 children turning 6 this year.

　Perhaps when everyone that was turning six and their parents were there, the priest and a sister came in through the back door, climbed up the steps, and looked around as we sat down.

"Then, I'm about to start the baptismal ceremony."

　The priest says so and begins to talk about the origin of the church.

　For the most part, I will explain how human beings have been saved by the church from their history of hardship and have prospered as they are now, while summarizing the tales that the priest told.

　In a village like this where there is little entertainment, just listening to these stories can be a good stimulus, but there are many stories that I already know of.

　However, the priest in this village, who was still relatively young, seemed to have a humorous and talkative technique to keep us from getting bored.

　It was a story full of immersiveness, as if you had actually seen the history of humankind with your own eyes, and the children who gathered continued to listen to the story with their eyes shining.

"Now, let's do the naming ceremony at the end. We will guide you one by one in order, so please come to the back room."

　Then, the priest who had kept talking for a good amount of time finished the stories that had attracted everyone's hearts.

　It seems that the naming ceremony will start from now on.

　The naming ceremony is, as the name suggests, a naming ritual.

　Actually, I still didn't have a formal personal name yet. (TLN: Did you, the readers, just realize that?)

　This is because the church only gives a name to an individual when they are six years old.

　Until now, I was called the second child. (TLN: Hey, gonna disturb you again, but just want to say that this may be wrong~~ I don’t know why I typed that cheerfully…)

　When I first learned about this, I thought about how inconvenient it was, but it can't be helped if I was told that there was such a rule.

　However, if a name was given when a child was born, it would be less troublesome. Wouldn't some people get angry if they were given a strange name at this age?

　It's hard for most people to live up to this point without a name, so I guess I’m the only one who thinks that the person who gives the name is quite troublesome.

　With that in mind, it was my turn.

　I separated from my parents and headed to the back door alone.

　A desk made of heavy wood is placed in the center of the room, and the priest sits behind it.

　As I was directed to, I sat in a chair that was facing the desk.

"Now, I'm going to do the naming ceremony now. This will give you the blessing of the Lord and enable you to use magic, but the magic is only given to enrich people's lives. Can you swear you won't abuse it unnecessarily?"

"Yes, I swear."

"OK."

　I am told a preach that seems to be a fixed phrase which is told to everyone, and agree with it.

　After that, the priest touched a book on the desk.

　Apparently, it's a pretty valuable book.

　It looks like a book made of parchment, and the area around the cover is reinforced with metal and decorated with jewels.

　The priest held the parchment book in both of his hands and slowly turned the pages.

　It seems to be quite heavy, but I wonder if there are botanical paper-made books in this world.

　When the priest opens the book, I see that there is a list of small words.

　...... Maybe this book is a name dictionary?

　Somehow I saw the contents of the book and thought so.

　I was wondering how the church would do the naming ceremony if it gave a person a name every year, so I think they used this.

　It may not have been a mistake.

　While I was thinking that, the ritual must’ve progressed since the priest's line of sight was fixed to a certain character.

"Third son of Ashira and Marie, I am Paul, the priest of the Holy Light Church. From now on, as Ars, encourage and live with the Lord in good faith, and the Lord will also be with you. He will give you blessings and watch over you."

　Father Paul spins the words of the ritual.

　At that time, I suddenly activated magic.

　The magical power that was kneaded into my body was concentrated on my eyes.

　Father Paul stretches his right hand toward me while attaching his left hand to the book and saying the words of the ritual.

　Magical power is gathered from the body of the priest and into his hand.

　When I saw that, I suddenly thought something.

　Perhaps the words Father Paul is reading is a preparation before the activation of magic.

　Just as I would reach to the ground and send magical power to the soil, I wondered if Father Paul was about to concentrate his magical power on his palm and cast some magic.

　With that in mind, I carefully observe the movement of his magical power.

　Then, the magical power gathered in the hands of Father Paul changed its shape.

　The priest is using a technique that I have never tried before.

　The magical power spreads into the air as if it is overflowing from the Father’s palm, creating a shape.

　The magical power turns into a circle and includes complex symbols inside of it.

　Is this a magic circle, by any means?

"[Memory Preservation]."

　When I saw the magic circle, I whispered so that the priest couldn't hear it.

　This is the original magic I developed.

　When I concentrate my magical power on my eyes, I can see the flow of magical power that I cannot see originally.

　Then, I wondered what would happen if my magic power was sent into my brain instead of my eyes. (TLN: Ars, don’t try to do anything risky that involves your brain!)

　The result was the magic of instant memory.

　The magic was one that just allowed me to remember things more easily, so it wasn’t that useful.

　But that magic helped this time.

　The terrifyingly complex magic circle is usually not able to be remembered at first glance.

　However, by using this magic, it was possible to instantly save it as a perfect memory.

"Ugh ..."

　Then, the moment I remembered the magic circle, new information was inputted to my brain apart from that magic circle.

　Life magic information.

　I understood that magic such as [Lighting] and [Ignition], etc., which I couldn't use no matter how much I practiced until then, became mysteriously usable.

　This is how I got the magic of life.

　At the same time, I even learned about the existence of magic circles in baptismal ceremonies that I normally did not know.

TLN: So, we finally find out that our protagonist’s name is Ars, huh? No more chaps for the day… unless I have too much time on my hands…. Have a nice day. :)