But God Forced Me to Reincarnate!

Lyra: School Day 2

My baby, Iris, has been acting so weird today. She wasn't as cheerful as she was when she looked at me. She seemed to be contemplating for something, but no matter what I said, she kept her mouth so tight...

I can finally understand why the male protagonists in the novels I read often complained how they couldn't understand a girl's heart. ...I also can't understand Iris' heart.

I can also understand a mother's feeling when she had to send off her daughter to marry when I saw Iris quickly ran to Harvey when we saw him with my big brother in the school dining hall... Iris seemed to talk a lot to Harvey... I wonder what are they talking about?

So, when Iris went to wash her hands after finishing her meal (she finished last...), I approached Harvey without any hesitation.

"Hey, hey, Harvey, what did Iris tell you? She has been acting weird today that I feel worried..."

"Eh? Ah, Lyra. It's nothing much. She just feels slightly out of place and inferior compared to you and her other friends... She has always been like that, so I tried to cheer her up and telling her that it was only her imagination. She also mentioned how everything seemed so unreal..."

"..."

I took Harvey's words seriously. I never thought Iris would harbor such feelings inside... I understand very well how depressing it must be, to feel pressured by your superior surroundings... I wouldn't want her to feel like that.

But, about how everything seemed unreal...

I agree!!

Even now, I still can't believe that a dragon is here among us—being one of my friends...

"Lyra?"

Harvey's words brought me back to reality.

"Oh, thanks for telling me about it, Harvey! I definitely need to talk with her about this."

"Haha, thanks! I'm glad Iris has a friend like you. ...you seem more mature than the other children your age, so I can feel assured."

"I-is that so? Hahaha..."

I can only awkwardly smile at Harvey's words.

"Eh, isn't it normal? I heard you humans have developed maturity earlier than your ancestors—the prototype humans?" Carbuncle suddenly chimed in.

"Uhm--..."

Harvey quickly shook his head, "No, Lyra's definitely a special case."

"..."

That's right. Due to the Great War and more than a hundred years of slavery that the humans suffered in the ancient times, most of the humans that survived to live another day were humans with faster development and maturity. Since I heard that it was already tiring to think about your survival at that time that you had no time to care of the others, so at that time, you only had yourself to rely on.

Obviously, the faster maturity and brain development didn't happen by itself. I heard that some doctors, magicians, and clever people back then conducted a lot of experiments that could alter someone's brain development (behind the other races' back, obviously, as it counted as a rebellion). As a result, instead of the brain fully maturing at the average age of 22*, it seemed that our brains became fully developed at the average age of 17-18.

(*In case everyone has forgotten, but a year in Sphaela, their world, consists of 420 days as opposed to our 365 days a year. In our world, a human's brain is fully developed at the average age of 25, which is almost the equal of 22 years in Sphaela time. To get the Sphaelan age converted to our standard age, you just have to multiply Sphaelan age by around 1.15—and conversely, to convert your age to Sphaelan age, just divide your age by 1.15.)