I spent the winter with mother again, while father went to work each day. I didn't know what his job was but I felt that since he wasn't a farmer and he came home each night that maybe he was a guard for the village. His muscles were well-developed and he usually carried a short sword on his person when he left for work each day. Another clue was that he didn't usually leave until around lunch time which made me think he worked the afternoon shift. Village guard made the most sense.

I decided to ask him about it one day when he came home during a particularly cold day. I waited patiently as he hung up his coat and placed his sword on the mantle where he always liked to keep it. I say always but it had been only a year since I awakened in this world so for all I knew it may have been a new thing but either way it was his current habit.

"Father, are you a village guard?" I figured it was best to take a direct approach. No reason to beat around the bush.

"Ha, I could see how you might think that, son, but I am not a guard. At least not for the village." George had knelt down in front of me and was smiling as he spoke. He had a very warm and inviting smile which I appreciated. Made it easier to accept him as my new dad. "I work at the tavern to make sure people behave. Some guys can get a little rowdy when they drink too much and it's my job to make sure they don't make a mess."

"Oh, so you're a bouncer."

"Uh, what?" I realized this wasn't a term in this world when George gave me a puzzled look. Oops, hope he just thinks I am just too young to understand. Kids come up with random terms for things, right?

"I mean, you are a tavern guard."

"Yes, exactly, though I don't get why you would say 'bouncer.'" George was still a little puzzled but didn't seem troubled by it. I wasn't sure what to do or say at this point. I decided a simple explanation might work to smooth things over.

"Well, you watch out for people who might make trouble and if they do, you thump them on the head and they bounce off the floor and then they won't cause more trouble." I gave as childish an answer as I could come up with at the moment. It wasn't great but it's hard to come up with something on the spot.

"HAHA, that's great, Marcus. I like that. Maybe I will tell the guys at work that one. That will definitely get a laugh out of them." George hugged me then stood and walked away. His boisterous laugh was still echoing in my head as I processed what he said. He seemed to think my explanation for the new term was worthy of a joke, which I took as a compliment. I decided that was a win for me.

The following day when father came home from work, he picked me up right away to tell me my bouncer joke was a hit with everyone at the tavern. They all wanted to meet the funny kid who came up with it when spring came. I puffed out my chest feeling proud as George held me up and ruffled my hair. Made me feel pretty good about myself for several days after.

A few short (by short, I mean long and boring) months later spring arrived. It was finally nice enough outside for mother and I to spend time in the sun. Mother loved to garden and got right to work and getting the soil ready for planting. Last year, she grew a bunch of vegetables and herbs for her to use over the winter. I couldn't identify many of them, though some did look like ones I was familiar with on Earth. Carrots and potatoes were easily identifiable, though the carrots were more yellow than orange but they tasted the same as Earth carrots. This year, she wanted to have even more variety and was increasing the size of her garden a little to accommodate the new plants she wanted to grow.

I mostly just sat around the yard playing in the dirt, since I was still only two years old and not much use when it came to physical labor. I was hoping my mother would take me into the village at some point so I could see if that merchant I wanted to talk to was back yet. I did learn his name was Lee over the winter. Father was familiar with him since when Lee was in town he occasionally visited the tavern for a drink. I also learned that despite Lee calling Rone his home, he was rarely in town. He only came back to sell his wares before heading out again soon after. At most he would spend a week in town at a time. A small window for sure but I was determined to track him down.

Mother spent the whole day getting her garden ready and only stopped to start making dinner. It was still early in the season and was already getting cold out so I followed her inside to wait for father to arrive and ask him if Lee was back yet. He wasn't. So, I continued waiting. The next day, I asked again, and Father once again said he hadn't been into the tavern yet.

I asked him every day for a week but there was still no sign of the merchant. I figured I would keep asking each day and eventually he would show up. In the meantime, the days kept creeping forward. Each day was slightly warmer than the last as spring took over. I was getting pretty bored waiting around doing nothing and decided I should take full advantage of my otherworldly knowledge. Specifically, all the manga and anime I had seen. I had a solid 12 year head start on most kids my age and also knowledge from a far more advanced world, at least technologically speaking. I figured I might as well train my body for my future adventures. Not that I planned on being some great hero and fighting demon lords or giant dragons deep inside dungeons.

I knew I would have to search for my future beloved kitsune wife someday and probably need to travel around to find her. Since traveling in this world was mostly on foot, I would need to be in sufficient physical shape to be able to handle the journey. Thus, I decided to start exercising. I figured cardio was my best option for now until I got a little bigger and could incorporate other things like some light weights. Our yard wasn't huge but was pretty big for a kid as young as me and I started jogging along the perimeter. As I passed my mother's garden, mother looked up at me and smiled a little so I gave her a little wave.

"Be careful, honey. Don't tire yourself out too much." She seemed very supportive but gave the usual motherly warnings.

"Ok, Mother." I gave a standard reply and kept going. I was feeling great. My legs were kinda short but I was moving well enough. I felt I could keep running for a long time. I was young and young kids have tons of energy. I decided immediately to do at least 5 laps of the yard and then some minor stretching to stay limber.

The first lap felt super easy and I rolled right into the second lap without slowing down. I actually felt like I could go faster but didn't feel the need since I had more laps to do. It wasn't until I was halfway through the second lap that I began to realize my mistake. I rapidly began to lose steam and my legs felt heavy as I tried to keep them moving. Soon I was barely moving at all. After another couple steps, I couldn't make my body go any further and fell to my knees. The grass felt so soft on my skin and my eyes were heavy. Suddenly the grass was right in front of my face and I drifted into unconsciousness.

I woke up a while later, laying in the yard. I groggily rose up and looked around trying to remember what happened. My mother was still working in her garden nearby. She noticed me looking at her and smiled in my direction before returning to what she was doing. I stood and walked over to her.

"Have a nice nap?" My mother didn't look up from her work as she spoke to me.

"What happened?"

"Well, you were running around and then got tired and fell asleep in the grass, though you tried your hardest to keep going. It was super cute." Sarah seemed very amused as she explained to me how I came to be laying in the grass. While kids do have lots of energy, I failed to take into account that I am still only two years old. The energy comes in bursts and when it runs out, we crash. I failed to account for naptime. "Why were you running around the yard, anyway?"

I had a good reason for my new training regimen but explaining it would probably get me some weird looks. I decided to dumb it down a little so I didn't appear overly knowledgeable. There were plenty of stories in anime and such where the reincarnated person comes across as strange when they are wise beyond their years and have knowledge of things beyond what is considered common or normal. "I want to have muscles like father's so I thought I should exercise." I went with the classic 'I want to be like dad' explanation.

"Oh, ok, honey. Next time, be more careful. You don't want to fall asleep and hit your head on a rock." Mother seemed to buy my explanation and came back with more motherly warnings. I agreed to be more careful in the future and wandered away from the garden.

I decided to do only one lap a day for now. I could always add more if it was too easy or I felt I was improving. That lasted me for another week before I felt I should do two laps a day but separate them between morning and afternoon. This seemed like the most efficient way to do it and also meant I could take my nap right after lunch and not worry about passing out in the yard again. I also was really enjoying napping. I never liked it when I was on Earth but it was truly a refreshing break.

Another week went by and still no sign of the merchant. I did learn other information, though. The village on the other side of the forest was named Tack and was our village's biggest trading partner. They had some artisans that our village didn't have, and vice versa, so we bartered or traded with them for things we couldn't make ourselves. Tack had a blacksmith, for one thing. We didn't have that here and as you can imagine, it's important for a fantasy world such as this to have a blacksmith. People need tools for things like farming and weapons to defend themselves. Without a blacksmith nearby, a village would eventually fall to ruin.

Another week went by and still no merchant. This wasn't unusual for Lee, so it wasn't like anyone should be worried. Depending on where he was when winter began, it could take him weeks or months to finish the journey home. I continued training as I waited. As spring came to an end, I had worked up to doing two laps in the morning and two in the afternoon with my usual nap after lunch. It wasn't much but I felt I was at least progressing.

The next week, there was finally news from my father, though it wasn't what I was hoping for. George had decided to ask some of the other tavern patrons who knew Lee if they had seen him. Turns out, he had been in town a couple weeks ago but had left less than a day after arriving. He had caught wind of some great opportunity and set out right away. It was disappointing but there was nothing to be done. Lee would return again at some point. He was the main supplier for basically everything the town needed it couldn't make, grow or trade with Tack for. The next day, I tried taking out my frustrations by increasing my morning laps but ended up passing out in the grass again, earning me another lecture from Sarah.