X773 (8 years later)

Running while avoiding people I increased my speed a little more, I had a little more than 2 minutes for the package that I was carrying on my back to reach its destination, if I did not succeed I would have a problem.

-Come on, just another bit- I said to myself as I tried a little harder when I heard something behind me, and turning my head I could see a greyhound chasing me from all things, the dog barked while also increasing its speed to reach me.

-Damn damn damn!- I yelled as I pressed my legs even more, but all this seemed to be insufficient as the dog was decreasing the distance between us more and more.

Turning a corner and entering a less traveled street I found myself about to collide with a man crouching down while tying his shoelaces, frantically searching for a solution I could see a rope tied to a large wooden beam, conveniently the rope was hanging just above the man, so taking as much momentum as I could I jumped up and held onto the rope as I swayed.

I went flying a few meters and when I landed I rolled on the ground taking advantage of the momentum, two turns later I was standing and running again, turning a couple more times around other corners I looked back and couldn't see the dog.

-I still have 45 seconds more, yes, at this rate I will be able to achieve it- I cheered as I looked at the little clock on my wrist, let me give you some advice, never celebrate before time because otherwise, things like this could happen.

Taking my eyes off the road for the second I looked at my watch I couldn't see what I had stepped on until it was too late, my foot slipped and as I lost my balance I was able to turn my neck enough to see a short man, somewhat plump and with a mustache standing in the doorway of a cafeteria and looking at me with a surprised face while holding a mop, next to him was a sign that read "Be careful with the wet floor"

-DAAAAAMN!- I screamed as I rolled on the ground, in a quick movement I released the box from my back and hugged it so that its contents would not be damaged.

A few seconds later my head hit a solid surface pushing it slightly and causing a small bell to ring.

Then I heard footsteps and a female voice speaking -Oh, Jean, you arrived, and with 7 seconds to spare- Opening my eyes and looking up I could see the amused expression of a woman, the long light brown hair falling to the sides of her face as she leaned over to look me straight in the face, a simple cream-colored dress gave her the appearance of a young housewife.

-Special delivery from the Grayson fabric store- I said still lying down as I lifted the box.

A second later a new figure blocked my view, standing directly in front of my face and the next thing I felt was a tongue licking my face -Wah Roshter wai- I stammered desperately when the weight of the box was lifted from my hands.

I quickly moved the dog's muzzle away a bit so I could get up and when I did I started scratching it under the ears -Good boy, you almost caught me this time- I said happily and then looked at the woman.

-Is everything according to the order?- I asked when she opened the box and began to check fabric by fabric.

-Yes, with this special fabric I will be able to fulfill the last order that came to me- She confirmed me quite satisfied -You ran a lot, didn't you? Why you don't go in for a while to have some lemonade before you come back? Today is quite hot-

-Sure, this was the last order for this route so I have about 45 minutes to get back to the store for the next route- I replied as I walked behind her with the dog by my side.

-Perfect, then a very cold lemonade comes out- She said happily as she went to the back of the store and I sat on one of the sofas at the entrance.

-Tell me, did something interesting happen today?-

-Today Mr. Roland told me that next week he will make a trip of about 3 weeks to visit a nephew who is getting married, so I will have vacations until he returns-

-I see, you've been working for Mr. Roland for about 10 months, right? I think a break from running around to make deliveries would be nice, during that break would you like to help me with the store? You would only need to take care of the customers' orders and deliver the finished products, I will pay you the same as Mr. Roland, what do you say?- She asked as she returned and gave me a large glass of lemonade with ice.

-Why was I going to charge my own mother to help her in our store?- I answered her question with another, my voice with a tone between skeptic and amused.

-Son, you have to learn that every effort one makes has the right to be rewarded-

-But that's not why you have to pay me- I said when a better idea came to my mind -How about this? I will help you in the store if you promise me that you will make your beef stew every weekend for a month-

-Mmm ...- She hummed with a feigned expression of thought for a few seconds and then smiled -It's a deal- She said happily.

-Good!- I celebrated and then took the whole glass of lemonade with ice at once -Now I'll go back to work, I still have a couple more runs before finishing- I said as I got up from the chair and caressed the dog who was panting a little and wagging the tail -See you later mom- I waved goodbye before going through the door and starting to run.

#####

This has been my life since I reincarnated, Mr. inhabitant of higher dimensions had told the truth and I was reborn in a magical world, although it was not exactly a medieval world, I mean, there were things like cars or trains, even those lacrimas things that functioned as screens or broadcast cameras, a somewhat peculiar world, but still, it was more or less what I expected.

In my early years when my mother taught me to read, I began to look for, in addition to the general information of this world, anything that emitted vibes of the type "I´m going to cause the end of the world" and the best thing I found were the guilds of dark magicians and a little about dragons, what? Is my information too vague? Well, let me dig a little deeper.

The continent where I was born was called Ishgar, to be more specific, in the kingdom of Fiore, a kingdom that was the mainland's peninsula, the population was about 17 million people.

Apparently, only 10% of the population can use magic, it seems a bit low proportion, right? Well, that is offset by the power wizards wield, even a more or less decent wizard could easily deal with a relatively large group of normal people.

But well, since magic has been relatively common in this world for a while, it has been possible to correctly register the process in which it "wakes up" in a person, and to be honest I am a bit worried since from what I read, the age at which one begins to "feel" magic is between 6 and 8 years old and can awaken their affinity in that period or up to 10 years, or learn some other different magic if the person wishes.

And precisely the problem I have is that I am 8 years old and until now I have not been able to feel the "magic" even once, until now I have tried everything that came to my mind, meditate, fill myself with emotion, even there was that time where I jumped from that waterfall in the most shonen style, but in the end, I could not awaken my main power, one would think that the "inhabitant of higher dimensions" could have lied to me, but I had discovered my secondary power, so if I had that then I couldn't find a reason for him to lie to me.

Even so, that did not change the problem, if I did not have magic then I would have a problem that could be serious in the future, I had been sent to a magical world after dying, that was literally a premise Isekai, so it wasn´t possible for this world to be at peace for a long time, remember what I mentioned about the dark guilds and dragons?

Well, the first were groups that were not regulated by the Magic Council, something more or less similar to a governmental organization that regulated the guilds and their wizards, by forming a guild that was not recognized by them and carrying out illegal missions they were branded as a rogue and dangerous magicians in the most of the cases, simply put, were like criminal gangs and mafias, but with magic, so it wouldn't surprise me if in the future some of these guilds would try something like taking over the kingdom/continent/planet or just make the world would burn just because it would be fun.

Then there are the dragons, most of the books that I read considered that these were a fantasy and that they never existed, there were others that said that they suffered a mass extinction for unknown reasons, something like dinosaurs, but come on, the epitome of the power and magic extinct, just like that? My instincts told me that there was something else behind that, perhaps the constant growth of the human population made them go to another continent? Maybe they lived in the center of the planet? I did not know, but a scenario like:

"Humans, you took our lands from us, and now the proud dragon race is coming to claim it back."

It was not completely out of the question, and of course, if the case were given, I would bet that neither side would want to dialogue, because surely the dragons would see us as inferior beings yada yada yada, and humans would not want to live with them out of fear and considering them monsters or something like that.

But my point was, how on earth was I going to face an organization full of crazy criminals with magic or a flying army of super-developed lizards if necessary, if I don't even have magic?

There is the option of science, I could start creating weapons, real weapons and not the magical version that this world had, but for something of the level "invasion of giant flying reptiles" I would need missiles and since I am not Senku, I do not have the knowledge to do none of that, nonsense like that should be left to poorly written characters full of conveniences like the protagonist of Arifureta with his fetish for weapons.

No high school student could create damn satellites that shoot rays of sunlight from the planet's orbit or the magical equivalent of fucking nuclear bombs no matter how much "ancient magic" they have, that's nothing but lazy writing.

And we better not even start talking about demons, I did not find anything about them, but I bet all the jewels I have won so far that there must be some form of demons in this world, be it the traditional demons of the isekai, youkai or something like that, so, demon king-san, if you're out there please wait for my power to awaken so I can kick your ass unless of course, you're a pretty girl.

But putting aside all the little jokes, I'm actually a bit worried, it's a matter of thinking about it just a bit, I really doubt that that higher-dimensional inhabitant has given me powers for no reason, and although it is not 100% certain that some scenario apocalyptic happens, I would prefer to be prepared for any problem that may happen, but since I have not yet discovered what my main power is, and I may not have magic, I can only depend on 2 things at the moment, physical training and my second skill.

And luckily, both things were extremely compatible, at least in the right situations, which is why I had worked hard to convince my mother to let me get a job, no matter how simple it was, not that we lacked money, even though it was just the 2 of us, she managed enough that I was never lacking for anything.

And about my father, well, I did not know the man, he was not dead, at least that is what my mother told me, according to her one day he was passing through the city and they both met in a bar, at that moment she was depressed because her parents had passed away when the ship they were on sank while returning from doing business on the Alakitasia continent, he approached her seeing her drinking alone in a corner, they both continued drinking, one thing led to another and 9 months later I came to the world.

She did not speak to the man in the morning because she woke up before him and went home, he left that day a few hours later and neither of us saw each other again, especially since we had moved from that city a little over a year, she said that we did not move because she resented him, but because everything there made her think of her parents and that she could not be really angry, after all, in her own words "half the blame it was mine, and how could I be upset if I received the most wonderful gift of all in the form of the most adorable baby in the world"

My mother had a shop where she made any kind of suits or dresses, the business was so good that even orders came from the capital of the kingdom from time to time, once mom told me that when I was still a baby she made a dress for the queen.

But I'm deviating from the topic, even if money was enough and leftover, I told her it would be a good lesson for me to learn about the value of money and hard work.

And after searching for a while, I was able to find something simple that would make me do enough physical exercise to guide my body to develop the way I wanted.

I would take care of making all the deliveries that the Grayson fabric store had, and in order to challenge myself I even suggested that the policy of 30 minutes or less is added to the deliveries and that in case of failure I would pay the price of the deliveries with my own salary, at first Mr. Roland seemed reluctant, but after a few weeks proving that he was capable of doing it, he accepted and so far I had not failed a single time.

I work 6 days a week from 8 am to 1 pm taking care of deliveries and then return home for the lunch, and after resting for 1 hour I go to my secret training place, I had found it about 4 months ago, it was an hour away hiking inside the forest, although it usually took me between 30 and 40 minutes if I jogged at a brisk pace, there I exercised for 3 hours every day at the waterfall where I jumped hoping to awaken my power.

Normally this would have been impossible for me due to my infant body, but thanks to my second ability I had no problem and could even I could go on for much longer, but if I did that my mother would worry, besides that, If I was going to train my body I would follow one of the best mottos I had heard in my previous life "Eat well, rest a lot and train hard" after all, if training became the most important thing to me, I would not be able to live fully and enjoy to the maximum this new opportunity I had.

#######

-Welcome to the suit and dress store Faure, what can I do for you?- I asked when the doorbell, I hurried to get up from under the counter, I had been trying to pick up a coin that I had dropped.

When I saw the woman's face I smiled at her -Good morning Miss Layla-

-Jean, good morning- She returned my greeting with her own smile, and right after that another voice filled the store.

-Jeaaaan- A little girl yelled happily as she came around the counter and gave me a hug.

-Hi Lucy- I greeted her while I hugged her back.

Layla and Lucy Heartfilia, I had met them both about a year ago, from what my mother says to me, Miss Layla had met my grandparents when they were members of the Merchants Guild "Love and Lucky".

Last year, while coming home from the pastry shop, I ran into Lucy, apparently, she had separated from her mother when she overheard a man at the entrance of a library telling a story about a thief who stole from the rich who were bad to give to the poor, and after the story ended she realized that she was lost and started looking for her mother while she cried.

I must admit that it was a bit difficult to reassure her, I had to give her a muffin that I bought and promise her that I would definitely find her mother, after searching for a few minutes I suggested that we go to my mother's store to ask her for help.

It was quite surprising when we arrived and an adult version of Lucy ran towards us with a humanoid goat behind her of all things, apparently, my mother and Miss Layla had known each other for a while and that day she and her daughter had come to greet us when we moved to this city, in addition to making a special request to make Lucy a dress for her 5th birthday.

After that incident, it seemed that Miss Layla had liked me and said that I could go play with Lucy whenever I wanted, at first I had thought to accept and only go a couple of times, after all, I did not think I could be a partner of games suitable for such a small girl, but Lucy used the characteristic puppy eyes of a girl her age, that added to the fact that she was already one of the most adorable things I had seen made me promise her that I would at least go every weekend to keep her company.

And that's how I had become friends with this little girl, there were times when she even made me go 4 days a week, the convincing power of children really cannot be underestimated.

What she liked most about our meetings was definitely the stories, I told her as many as I could, from Little Red Riding Hood, the 3 Little Pigs, to things like Finding Nemo or Toy Story, from Iron Man or Flash, to Beyond: 2 Souls and The Last of Us, Dragon ball and Bleach, whatever I remembered became a simplified story for her to understand.

-I want to know what happens with the golems Wall-e and Eve- Lucy said raising her face to look at me with her puppy eyes while still hugging me.

-You know I can't tell you yet, you'll have to wait until Saturday- I said as I smiled at her, even though I hadn't yet gained immunity to her puppy eyes at least now I could resist a little more than a year ago.

-Jean is right Lucy, you can wait a couple of days until your birthday, right?- Layla said as she approached and patted her head.

-Yes, also, if you wait a bit, maybe I'll give you a special gift- I added with an indecisive tone.

-Really?- She asked with bright eyes.

-Um…- I hummed looking away without answering her.

-Jeaaann- She complained as she let go of me and hit my chest with her little fists, honestly it was quite funny.

-Quiet, of course I'll give you a gift, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't- I said laughing.

-Yay- she cheered with a smile.

At that moment I looked Layla in the eyes and spoke -My mother told me that maybe you would come today and that the dresses and suits were already ready, I'll go get them-

-It's okay-

Entering the back of the store I looked through the packages that were in the "Ready to deliver" compartment and shortly after I was back, seeing the same goat-man I found when I met Miss Layla.

-Capricorn- I greeted the spirit as he approached to receive the package.

-Jean-sama is a pleasure to see you again- He greeted with a smile on his furry face and then carried the boxes with the clothes and brought them to Layla.

She opened them and checked them one by one and then took a bag out of one of the boxes and handed it to me, I received it with some doubt and I looked at it curiously -Is there something wrong? If so, my mother will be back in a few minutes and she could fix it-

-There's nothing wrong, Claire did a perfect job as always-

-Then?-

-This is for you- She said smiling at me.

-What?-

-It was Lucy's idea, she and Capricorn told me how much you liked his butler suit so they made a new design for you, and since we couldn't give you anything on your birthday because of the trip that I and Lucy had 2 weeks ago, I thought it could be a good gift-

-I ...- I said looking at the woman, the spirit, and finally the girl.

-Hehe, do you like Jean?- She asked, quite happy, and to answer her I nodded her while I stroked her head.

-I really appreciate it, I like it a lot- I told her to then look at her mother and the spirit.

-It is an incredible gift, I will make sure to take good care of it- They both nodded acknowledging my words -Would it be alright if I use it at Lucy's birthday party this Saturday?-

-Sure, I actually hoped you would, that was the reason why I wanted it delivered along with our dresses and Jude's new suit-

-I understand, once again, thanks for the gift- I thanked her as I bowed slightly.

-No problem, now we have to go, we still have to confirm a few more things- Layla answered as she took Lucy by the hand and they began to walk to the door with Capricorn behind them.

#######

-So, will you finally tell me what your intentions are with my daughter?- Said with a deadly serious look and voice a blond man with a mustache.

-Eh?- Was all I could say while I took a step back, until recently I had been in the living room along with Lucy and some workers from the mansion at her birthday party, but had left there to go to the bathroom, and when I was back the man in front of me appeared out of nowhere and said to accompany him to the balcony to talk.

Finishing processing his question, hammer my brain trying to make sense of it, his daughter? Did Lucy have an older sister that I didn't know? Wait a minute, if she had one and I didn't know her how could I have any kind of intention? That only left...

-I'm waiting for an answer- He spoke once more, looking more and more impatient and annoyed.

And this was one of the reasons why I wasn't completely comfortable coming to this house, Jude Heartfilia, Lucy's father and Layla's husband, for some reason seemed to hate my guts since we met, because I was a thug who had the intention of taking his daughter away from him, his words, not mine.

Come on man, give me a break, if I was an ordinary child, that tone and look would probably make me have nightmares for a while, what do you think I'm going to do to Lucy? She just turned 6 for the love of zen-oh-sama, besides, Lucy wouldn't be so attached to me if you let her go out a little more often to make other friends.

-I do no-

-No what?- He interrupted -You can't wait to take her away? Don't you want me to get in the way of your evil plans? No what?-

-I-I don't know what you mean by intentions- I said with a slight tremor in my voice when I noticed that Jude had a slight start and the sweat fell down his face as he looked… behind me?

Turning back slowly I swear that for just a micro-second I could see Cthulhu's silhouette, only for Layla's figure to quickly take his place, I was about to pass out at that moment, and the most impressive thing was that her intention and attention didn't even not they were directed at me.

-Dear, can we talk for a moment in private? IT'S IM-POR-TANT- She spelled it with a sweet but terrifying tone.

-B-but I don't- And we may not have the best of relationships, but heck, I'd be a complete liar if I didn't admit that this guy has the biggest balls I've ever seen, just to stand up and breathe already it was taking all my willpower, but here the man managed to give a "but" to the avatar of the Lovecraftian god in front of us.

-Jean- She said very calmly making me startle.

-Y-yes?-

-Can you go back to the living room with Lucy, please? I think it would be a good time for you to give her gift, after all, she already received all the others- She told me, and without even noticing I nodded quickly as ran back to the room.

-Jean? You have a funny face- The little blonde told me as she pointed at me.

Turning my head a little to a mirror I could see my reflection clearly, although everything seemed relatively normal I was a little pale and had a somewhat nervous expression, I quickly crushed my cheeks and prayed in my mind for the soul of Jude, he was not my favorite person in the world, but it was clear that he was going to suffer a bit.

-Don't worry about that- I answered Lucy while looking for something in the living room, a couple of seconds later I found the big box where the gifts had been placed.

-Look, my mom gave me this magic notebook, it will record everything I write from now on and it can read it to me- She said quite happily as she showed me what looked like a fairly thick book with a cover full of golden patterns.

-Wow, it's quite nice, with that you could write your own stories-

-Yes, I will also make stories as good as the ones you have told me- She said with enough enthusiasm.

-So, do you want to see my gift?-

-Yes-

-Well, it wasn't that expensive, but it really took me a while to finish it- I told her as we walked to the checkout and I took the wrapped gift -Here you go, I hope you like it-

Lucy took the package in her hands and began to tear the wrapper, at the end what was left in her hands was a moderately large painting, in which was a drawing with many figures, the eyes of the little blonde widened in surprise when she began to speak.

-This is Nemo and his dad! And this is Buzz! There are also Iron Man and Batman! Goku and Seiya!- She said while jumping repeatedly -They are all about the ones you told me about!- Her emotion was clearly growing -And who is it?- She said when she pointed to a small figure sitting on a cliff looking at all the characters.

-That's you, Lucy- I said -I have told you many stories that I know, this painting is the representation of how I hope you have imagined them-

-THANK YOU!- She screamed when she leaped towards me to hug me, and since I wasn't really expecting this she was able to knock me down, luckily the blow was received by my back and not the back of my head, so I was pretty good.

-That's what friends are for- I said while smiling, that's of course until I noticed that all the servants were looking at us, along with the 3 spirits of Layla, Capricorn, Cancer, and Aquarius, and even my mother, miss Layla and Jude herself were looking at us, the last one biting hard on a white handkerchief and looking desperate.

My face turned completely red from embarrassment -"Hey, take it easy man, I swear I'm not making a move in a loli, I'm just being a good friend"- I thought as I shivered a little.