Six months had passed since I was born as Hachiro.

Naturally, there wasn’t much I could do.

I couldn’t walk.

I couldn’t talk.

I couldn’t even feed myself.

Even though I retained the memories of living forty-two years in the Reiwa era, I was nothing more than a baby now.

Cry, drink, sleep.

That was my daily routine.

But that didn’t mean I had done nothing.

I could hear.

Little by little, my eyesight was improving as well.

I continued gathering information about this world by listening to the conversations around me.

‘I’ve got a rough idea now.’

First of all, this was Japan.

There was no doubt about that.

As for the era…

It was apparently far older than the one I knew.

It seemed to be the Warring States period.

The location was Satsuma.

More specifically, a place called Sendai.

In the Reiwa era, that would be somewhere in the northwestern part of Kagoshima Prefecture.

‘To think I’d end up in Kyushu during the Warring States period.’

I had enjoyed history in my previous life.

Because of that, I understood the significance of this place.

The Shimazu clan.

Tanegashima.

Matchlock guns.

Trade with the Portuguese.

This was a land that would soon become the stage for major historical change.

And it seemed that this was where I had been born.

As for my family…

We were the village headman’s household.

That said, we weren’t exactly wealthy.

It wasn’t as though we lived in a grand mansion and ate our fill of white rice every day.

Our family simply held a position of leadership within the village.

We owned a bit more land than the average farmer.

We were better off than most.

But only by a little.

There were eight children.

I was the eighth son.

My name was Hachiro.

The eldest son would inherit the family.

That much was already decided.

The second and third sons depended on circumstances.

If war broke out, they would take up weapons and fight.

If there were skirmishes, they would be called into service.

Otherwise, they worked in the fields.

My older brothers labored every single day.

They could read and write, though only to a limited extent.

They learned their letters at the temple.

They memorized basic arithmetic.

Addition.

Subtraction.

That was considered more than enough in this world.

‘I see…’

I quietly observed the household as I thought things over.

Honestly, there were improvements to be made everywhere.

Farming.

Tools.

Food preservation.

Meals.

Everything required an incredible amount of labor.

Of course, it wasn’t because people in this era were lazy.

Quite the opposite.

They worked from sunrise to sunset.

Everyone was doing everything they could just to survive.

They simply didn’t know.

They didn’t know more efficient methods.

They didn’t know the little innovations that could make life easier.

‘But trying to change everything all at once is impossible.’

There was nearly a five-hundred-year gap between my knowledge and this era.

If a baby suddenly started saying strange things, people would only think he was creepy.

There was no need to rush.

Little by little.

Starting with what I could do.

That was the only way.

Still…

‘Food is scarce.’

That was what concerned me the most.

It wasn’t that we had nothing to eat.

But we certainly weren’t well-off.

Days when everyone could eat until they were full were few and far between.

With eight children, that was only natural.

Until we became productive workers, raising us was a burden.

My father, my mother, and my older brothers all worked incredibly hard.

But there was no room to spare.

‘This is where I need to start.’

That was my conclusion.

In my previous life…

I had worried about countless things.

Money.

Work.

Relationships.

But in the end, the fundamentals of being human never changed.

Having enough to eat.

Sleeping with peace of mind.

Believing you’ll still be alive tomorrow.

‘Food comes first.’

I wanted everyone around me to be able to eat their fill.

Then I wanted them to earn a better living.

Improve food, clothing, and shelter.

That was where everything would begin.

There was no need for grand ambitions right now.

Conquering the nation.

Changing history.

There was no point in a baby dreaming about things like that.

First came what was right in front of me.

My family.

The village.

The people around us.

I wanted to make their lives better.

But…

‘We’ll need the strength to protect it all.’

This was the Warring States period.

No matter how much food we produced…

No matter how much wealth we accumulated…

Without strength, someone would simply take it away.

This wasn’t the Reiwa era.

There were no police.

The law wouldn’t protect us.

In the end, everything came down to strength.

Military power.

There was no escaping that reality.

‘I’ll have to train myself too.’

In my previous life, I wasn’t someone who could fight.

But this time was different.

I could build my body from childhood.

Self-defense.

Weapons.

At the very least, I needed the strength to protect myself and the people I cared about.

Even so, that alone wouldn’t be enough.

Defeating every enemy was impossible.

So I’d negotiate.

I’d make more allies.

I’d build connections through business.

I’d build connections through food.

Little by little, I’d reduce the number of enemies around me.

‘In the end, it all comes down to people.’

That was the conclusion I had reached after living for forty-two years.

No one can accomplish everything alone.

No matter how much knowledge you possess, it’s people who put it into action.

So I’d treasure people.

I’d create places where people naturally gathered.

That was what I wanted to do.

I was only six months old.

Even rolling over was still a struggle.

But…

At least I knew which direction I wanted to head.

Produce food.

Create work.

Protect people.

Live once more in this era.

‘Well… first, I need to learn how to stand.’

The thought made me smile a little.

Hiroyuki, the forty-two-year-old man, was gone.

But…

The life of Hachiro, the eighth son of the village headman in Satsuma Sendai, had only just begun.