C1— The Marquis’ Daughter Who Was Called the Great Mage – The World Is Dirty, so I Was Just Cleaning It Up…

Chapter 1: It Seems I’ve Reincarnated

Apparently, I’ve become someone who reincarnated.

In my previous life, I lived as a Japanese woman named Fuyou Mai.

I don’t think it was a particularly noteworthy life.

I went through school normally up through university, got a job at a local company, and while the workplace wasn’t especially toxic, it kept me moderately busy. In my free time, I enjoyed manga and games, and when I had the chance, I indulged in my one true hobby—visiting hot springs.

If I had to point out one issue, it would be that I was a bit too absorbed in my solo hobbies and didn’t have many opportunities to meet people romantically.

I had stepped into my late twenties still single, but I wasn’t especially anxious about it. I didn’t wall myself off from others to the point of being called a gloomy or hopeless woman, and with late marriages becoming more common these days, I didn’t feel any real pressure as long as I could ignore my parents’ nagging and my relatives’ meddling.

If I did die before hitting thirty, I suppose I owe my parents an apology.

That said, I have no memory at all of how I died.

Unfortunately, my memories overall are quite hazy, as though everything’s been shrouded in fog, and I can’t recall anything clearly.

But I guess that can’t be helped.

After all, I’m still just a baby.

Yup, I can’t do a thing.

It’s been a few days since I was born, and I’ve been stuck in a state somewhere between dreaming and waking. It’s only today that I’ve finally regained some semblance of coherent thought.

Of course, I panicked from the disconnect between my current situation and my memories.

Just before bursting into tears, I somehow calmed myself down by remembering the phenomenon I’d often seen in manga and novels—so-called "reincarnation."

I almost cried for real with my twenty-something-year-old mindset, so I hope that gives you an idea of just how confused I was.

I’d never thought something like this could happen to me, but there’s no room for doubt—I’m a baby now.

Once I accepted that I’d been reborn, the next step was figuring out where I was.

Easier said than done—gathering information was absurdly difficult.

There were people around, sure, but I didn’t understand a word they were saying. And it’s not like I could speak either—my baby mouth wouldn’t cooperate well enough to form words.

I tried to speak somehow, but all that came out were incoherent babbling sounds.

People around me seemed delighted when they heard that, but… that’s not what I wanted.

Still, from the words occasionally directed at me, I managed to catch that my name is apparently Scarlett, and what sounded like Northmark might be my family name.

Good—I probably won’t struggle with pronunciation.

Thankfully, I seem to have avoided a humiliating situation like having a tongue-twister of a name—something like "Arkensoa" or "Skinecthedy"—that’s impossible to pronounce even though it’s your own name. Phew.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get much more information than that from the conversations I heard.

I tried to pick out a few words, but none of them matched any language I knew. In other words—totally incomprehensible.

Well, I’ll just have to take my time and decipher the language going forward.

As for visual information, all I could see was the soft futon and the ceiling.

The wide spread of the ceiling made the room feel quite large, but considering how ridiculously small I am right now, I probably shouldn’t trust my sense of scale too much.

Also—nope, I can’t roll over yet.

Since I can’t move, I might as well recall as much of my past life as I can.

I made that decision and started to sink into thought—

—and promptly passed out.

Yeah, can’t blame myself for that.

You don’t really notice it when you're an adult, but even things like conversation (or in my case, not even that far) and thinking use up physical energy.

A baby with practically zero stamina can only stay active for a short time, naturally.

Sleeping is part of a baby’s job, after all.

So yes—I’ve reincarnated as Scarlett Northmark.

Starting life over as a baby is seriously hard mode.