Luke slowly began to wake up.
It seemed he had dreamed of something.
It was likely due to staring at the TV for too long with Diana.
“Umm…”
Luke opened his eyes at the tickling sensation on his head.
Right in front of him was Yerna, who had been petting his hair.
“Lu, sorry. Did I wake you?”
“No, there’s no need to worry. I slept well and was just about to get up, Yerna.”
“I see?”
Yerna always smiled so nicely.
Just looking at her made it evident that she was a very cheerful elf.
As he thought about this and yawned lazily, Yerna let out a soft laugh.
“Why are you laughing so much?”
If he said it was because she was cute, she would surely dislike it.
Yerna shook her head and said, “It’s nothing. Shall we head back now?”
“Sure, are we going to the forest now?”
“Umm, do you like the forest, Luke?”
“I feel more at ease there. There’s also plenty of mana.”
“Hmm…”
Yerna pondered for a moment.
Mana in the forest generally cannot be used personally.
But if someone were to ask about doing that now, she would have something to say.
Since Luke had received permission for ‘rehabilitation’, taking mana from the forest wasn’t illegal for him, but still, they couldn’t let him into the forest at this time.
“I can’t let you into the forest for about a week. It’s going to be the hunting week in Luke Forest.”
“Hunting week, you say?”
“According to predictions, a large invasion of monsters is expected this week.”
Large-scale monster assaults had happened occasionally in the past.
About two or three times a year, there would be a week when monsters became wildly aggressive.
In the past, this was referred to as a ‘Wave.’
Of course, the timing of such events was erratic and hard to predict, leading to many instances of severe initial damage.
Ultimately, the village’s self-defense forces or the lord’s soldiers would fend off the waves, and the monsters would quiet down for a while after that.
Many mages have tried to predict this timing, but accurately forecasting the duration has proven impossible. They could only make assumptions with a month’s margin for error based on the signs they noticed.
“Do you think one can accurately predict such occurrences?”
“Of course.”
The reason accurate predictions had been impossible in the past was due to a lack of ‘information’ necessary to grasp it. However, now, through magical satellites and real-time connections with many forest keepers, information is abundant.
As a result of gathering, organizing, and analyzing this information, waves have become predictable phenomena in modern times.
Yet, Luke, unaware of this, simply nodded with a slightly uncomfortable expression.
‘Is there a skilled prophet around? I wish I could meet that prophet.’
The prophet Luke wished to meet was currently orbiting high above, gathering mana information on Luke Forest, but Luke had no way of knowing that.
“I wish I could see who makes those predictions.”
Perhaps such a prophet would be able to answer questions about him as well.
“Hehe, really? Then let’s go see them later.”
How did she know the magical satellite’s name was ‘Oracle’?
Did she read it in a book?
Right.
She would surely love to be taken to a magical museum someday.
“Anyway, once the hunting week is over, let’s go out and explore. Is that alright?”
Luke nodded in agreement.
——–
Yerna was a bit tired from her duty yesterday.
So, to avoid dozing off while driving, she didn’t bring the car, and Luke was walking hand in hand with Yerna along the roadside.
It was only about a 30-minute walk, so it wasn’t much of a burden for Luke.
Feeling bored just walking, and curious about something delicate to ask Dayton, Luke decided to ask Yerna.
“Yerna, does Dayton live only with his little sister?”
“Ah, right. I heard their parents ran away a long time ago.”
So that was it.
There were no traces of parents in Dayton’s home.
That meant Dayton had been raising his little sister all alone.
“How long has it been?”
“Well… He hasn’t told me the details. It’s just that Dayton doesn’t like talking about his parents, so I didn’t ask.”
“I see.”
Well, if he didn’t want to share, he didn’t have to.
Luke thought, ‘Still, Diana has grown up so bravely.’
That must mean Dayton treated her well.
They seemed to have a good relationship, and just watching them made Luke feel how close they were.
It felt like they cared for each other without showing it outright.
“But why the sudden question?”
“Ah, I was just a bit curious.”
Since Yerna didn’t know how it felt to not have parents, she thought she couldn’t answer and fell silent.
Perhaps she had felt some sense of shared fate.
Suddenly, Luke recalled his promise with Dayton.
‘Speaking of which, I promised to tell him more about Dayton.’
Dayton liked Yerna, and Yerna was looking for a husband.
It felt a bit problematic that he found himself caught in the middle…
However, when it comes to guiding a man’s sincerity, his position shouldn’t matter much.
Luke spoke naturally to Yerna.
“Yerna, now that I think about it, isn’t Dayton a pretty good man as a potential husband?”
Yerna was taken aback.
“Uh?”
She recalled thinking that Luke liked Dayton.
Yerna’s trembling eyes seemed to be a reaction of mere surprise, and Luke continued speaking.
“He pretends to be strong on the outside, but he’s quite caring on the inside. He covers Diana with a blanket when she falls asleep.”
“Don’t you think his physique is quite masculine? He has a healthy appearance. A healthy body harbors a healthy spirit, so I’m sure he has a proper spirit.”
“He’s skilled in cooking, and I’ve heard he can even make elven dishes. It was quite impressive by the way. You remember the breakfast he made, right? He made sandwiches like this!”
As Luke said the last part, he smiled slightly, lifting the bag in his free hand, which was now holding a sandwich.
“So, what I wanted to ask was, what do you think about Dayton as a candidate for marriage?”
‘So direct!’
Yerna flushed and looked away, exclaiming.
“T-That’s too early! What’s the age difference between us…!”
“Age difference… Hmm, that’s true…”
The age difference between Dayton and Yerna was roughly double.
Well, there wasn’t a significant difference in their appearances, but…
“Indeed, age is something to think about.”
“Of course!!”
‘If Dayton marries Lu, I’ll definitely capture him.’
As she thought this while looking away, she suddenly heard music from somewhere.
Luke wondered if it was Py getting excited again and turned his gaze toward the sound of the music.
“Hmm?”
However, in the direction Luke looked, there was actually a performance going on.
Three men were playing: one on the keyboard, one on the guitar, and another on the violin.
It seemed that in this era, bards still existed.
-……!,……!
Hearing that, Py excitedly dashed around the musicians, adding chords that only Luke could hear.
Their performance was already quite rich, but the chords added by Py blended perfectly, making the calm atmosphere even calmer and more emotional, while tightening the urgent and tense atmosphere even more.
People couldn’t hear the spirit’s speech, but since the spirit’s mana was real, they realized something about the music had changed.
“Oh, doesn’t it feel like it’s gotten better?”
“It wasn’t bad before, but now it’s even better.”
As the amount of money piling up in the guitar case in front of them grew, the expressions of the men playing became brighter.
‘It feels like the performance is going really well today! The money is coming in more than usual!’
Finally, as the performance ended, the crowd erupted in applause.
Though they were strangers who had just met today, at that moment, they cheered and clapped passionately for the three performers, resembling enthusiastic fans at a concert.
Luke joined in and added his own applause.
They had given him quite a joyful time.
Seeing Luke enjoy the moment, Yerna put 10,000 gil in the guitar case, lost in the aftertaste of the wonderful performance, and they continued on their way home.
No, in reality, Luke was still listening to that music.
Py kept muttering the melodies of that performance.
‘Was the performance really that good?’
Luke smiled at Py, thinking that, and Yerna, seeing Luke smile, thought the same.
While their ways of looking differed, their thoughts were aligned.
Suddenly, Luke wondered what it would be like if he could play an instrument.
He might even be able to grasp a clue about the language of spirits.
“Yerna, what do you think if I played an instrument?”
“Well, if you do, I would definitely support you! Should I look for places where you can learn?”
“Would you really do that? Thank you always, Yerna.”
Seeing Luke’s face as he looked up with a gentle smile, Yerna suddenly felt playful and said,
“Hey, are you trying to make me feel a bit upset? Where did the ‘big sister’ go?”
“…Yerna, big sister… thank you, no… thank you…”
Why was saying ‘big sister’ so embarrassing?
He didn’t know, but Luke blushing was way too cute!
But receiving the love of such a child, what exactly had Dayton done right?
Food? Perhaps it was only food.
“Lu, if someone offers to buy you something delicious, you must never follow them.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden? I wouldn’t ever do that.”
