During breakfast, Luke waited quietly.
He was curious if Irsia would come to eat.
However, she did not show up.
“Did she skip her meal?”
It is truly sad when a child goes hungry.
Meals should always be eaten on time.
“Luke, what are you thinking so deeply about?”
“There was a child I played with at night… I was just wondering if she had eaten.”
“You played? I didn’t hear that… Who was it?”
“You were sound asleep then. That girl was a student named ‘Irsia.'”
“Irsia? Is there such a person in our grade? Hmm, I don’t know.”
“Ah…”
Luke avoided the subject of age on purpose, not wanting to refer to himself as ’10 years old,’ so he couldn’t provide any details about his age.
In this era, it is common to enter the academy at age 10, so there shouldn’t be any children younger than him in the academy.
After all, he was far too shy to be treated like a child.
Then, Luke suddenly remembered that Irsia’s neck scarf had a different brooch color.
The color was turquoise.
Turquoise definitely…
“I think she is in the third grade.”
“She’s an upperclassman then. I guess it makes sense that I wouldn’t know her.”
Mary nodded.
No matter how many friends one has and how friendly they are with children, there are hardly any connections if they are in different grades.
First of all, the classrooms used by each grade are quite far apart, and the curriculum also changes, so there are very few chances to meet.
After pondering for a while, Mary declared she didn’t know for sure.
“Oh, right. Speaking of that, what was it called? Cello? I want to hear you play that, Luke!”
Since Luke was already planning to perform, he nodded happily.
“Understood. Let’s go get the cello from the room.”
“Yay!”
As the two headed towards the dormitory, a huge shadow loomed over them.
It was a woman in sportswear, standing with her back to the light, about 170 centimeters tall.
“Ah, Mary. It’s still early on the weekend.”
With strong, long legs, short ears poking out between her black hair, and a bushy tail that stuck out above her pants, along with sturdy thighs and a nimble appearance.
At a glance, she was clearly a wolf beastkin.
“Amy-unnie! Where are you going?”
“I’m just going for a light jog to warm up. What about you? Where are you headed in your school uniform?”
“I was just walking. I just finished eating.”
“Is that so? Want to run together later?”
“No! I have plans with a friend!”
“Okay. I guess there’s nothing I can do about that. Have fun.”
“Yes, goodbye, unnie!”
As Mary’s farewell seemed like a starting signal, she, called Amy, quickly widened the distance and disappeared in no time.
She was quite fast.
Luke watched her neatly braided hair fluttering behind her and turned to Mary.
Mary shrugged and said, “That’s a seventh-grade track club upperclassman. She’s a beastkin, really fast. I heard she won first place in competitions.”
“Track club?”
“Yep! I’m also in the track club, so I’m pretty fast too.”
As Mary bounced around, Luke nodded.
Track club, while he wasn’t too confident in running, with physical enhancements like Haste and Enhance Body, and using Wind to reduce air resistance, he could certainly reach that speed.
But Luke shook his head.
He didn’t particularly want to do that.
It would be a foolish thing to make pure effort and training to become like those kids.
There was no need for that, nor should it be done.
Thinking this way, he looked at Amy’s back, which was already almost a dot.
Seeing that, Mary nodded knowingly.
“You’re interested in that upperclassman’s tail, huh? Well, you are a beastkin too.”
“… That’s not it.”
“I can’t groom my tail like that, so it’s a pity.”
Mary sighed.
Tail, tail…
“By the way, Luke, you’re a mixed-blood, right? I wonder what kind of tail you would have!”
“Heh… Well, who knows?”
Luke smiled awkwardly.
Beastkin children typically don’t have tails in their childhood.
The tail is a symbol of reaching perfection as a beastkin.
The ability to transform into their true form, ‘beast transformation,’ originates from their tail.
Thus, it’s heavily sensitive and treated as a weakness.
One could say it’s similar to secondary sexual characteristics in humans.
Although after long years of mixing with various races, becoming unable to transform has made the tail merely a remnant organ.
‘But, will I even have a tail?’
Well, that’s something unknown.
How could one judge when they don’t even know their roots?
Luke touched the area of his tailbone and muttered.
“If I do have one, I hope it’s not too uncomfortable…”
“Luke, you’re worrying for nothing!”
Mary giggled.
———–
After gathering the cello from the room and returning to the music club room, Luke performed the pieces he had played in the early morning. Since it was a morning with a completely different atmosphere, the emotions from that time weren’t present, but it was sufficiently pleasant for a child to enjoy.
After finishing the performance, he looked a bit shyly at Mary.
He asked lightly, trying to be polite, “So, how was the performance, esteemed audience?”
Mary clapped and cheered as if it were a given.
“It was so good! You play really well!”
“Haha. You flatter me.”
Well, of course, Mary wouldn’t say anything harsh.
But lately, he kept hearing only compliments, so he was beginning to feel uncertain.
Since he had been a novice in music in the past, he couldn’t really discern whether he was good or not.
He just played freely as it came to him, thanks to his innate affinity for spirits.
Of course, since those were ideal harmonies, they didn’t sound bad, but while performing, questions arise.
One can’t know what emotions the audience might feel when they hear the music that sounds pleasing to them.
Each person thinks differently.
Just as what might seem fine to him might not be so for someone else, music he finds beautiful could be entirely different for another person.
‘Mary probably thinks it’s actually good.’
This child is, after all, already fond of him.
Even if he played a mess, she would probably smile brightly and think, “Well, it might happen.”
Feelings once gained don’t easily fade.
That’s why first impressions are so important and why first loves are held dear.
That’s why Luke thought of the competition Irsia had mentioned.
He was curious how the judges, who would see him for the first time, would perceive this music.
“What are you thinking so seriously about?”
“Oh, I was thinking about the competition. If I could win there.”
“I’m sure you can! It was really pleasant to listen to!”
“Is that so?”
Well, it wasn’t something he was overly worried about, but receiving comfort didn’t feel bad.
With a slightly lighter mood, Luke set down the cello.
“Are you going to rest now?”
“I guess I should. I’m starting to feel tired.”
Luke felt the effects of having stayed up all night finally catching up to him.
After all, people should sleep at night and live during the day.
While children’s stamina appears infinite at first glance, it truly isn’t.
The secret of that stamina is mainly that they can maintain a steady level of energy until nearly the end.
He pressed his eyes as fatigue washed over him and gathered his thoughts. Perhaps a short nap would be good.
“Mary, I’m sorry… I’d like to return to the dorm and rest. Can you let me sleep for a bit?”
“You must be sleepy. Oh right, you stayed up all night, didn’t you? I’m sorry for falling asleep before you…”
“It’s fine. Yawn… Now, let’s head back and rest.”
“Alright! Let’s go back and rest!”
Luke, hoisting the cello, thought.
‘Irsia is nowhere to be seen. Was she tired from practicing all night?’
——–
‘Mary must be exercising with that upperclassman from the track club.’
Luke asked to be woken up when lunch break came, then closed his eyes in Mary’s room.
The excessively cozy bed felt like it was forcefully pulling his eyelids down.
The occasional sound of birds and the chatter of children would usually be annoying interruptions, but with a suitable level of fatigue, they were no different from other lullabies.
It wasn’t long before Luke fell asleep.
In the quiet room, only Luke’s rhythmic breathing could be heard.
Leisurely.
The atmosphere reminiscent of a calm lakeside suddenly became tumultuous like a large ripple occurring from a stone thrown in.
Bam bam bam!
“Luke, wake up! Urgent news, urgent news!!”
Shaking him, Mary stirred Luke awake.
It was meant to wake him up immediately.
Of course, Luke opened his eyes.
“Oh, Mary. What on earth is happening?”
‘This feels like I’m on watch duty…’
As he yawned, the expression on Mary’s face, which had turned pale, caught his attention.
It was as if she had seen something shocking.
“There’s a ghost in the music club room, it’s real!”
“A ghost? What do you mean by that?”
“Hurry and come see!”
“Suddenly saying that…”
While Luke was taken aback and led along, he felt his reasoning diminishing under the fatigue, but it was alright. He could still think in such a condition based on past experiences.
‘A ghost? Is she talking about an ethereal monster? Like a banshee or a wraith? I doubt there would be such hostile ethereal monsters in the middle of a city like this in this era…’
But if that were the case, it would be a serious matter. Luke began to gently rotate the circle in his chest, preparing to cast magic at a moment’s notice.
Whatever it was, if it was dangerous, it must be eliminated.
As they approached the vicinity of the music club room, they saw many children gathered together, chattering excitedly.
Inside the club room, upbeat music was being played on the piano.
Was someone playing?
However, as Luke and Mary squeezed through the crowd and entered, the scene revealed was different from what they had expected.
“See, that piano is playing by itself! That’s definitely a ghost in the music room…!”
“Oh. That’s….”
Luke approached the piano as if bewitched.
“Luke, what are you doing? That’s dangerous! It’s a ghost! You could be cursed…! Someone has gone to call the security officer, so if you get close…!”
Mary shouted in a hushed voice.
But Luke didn’t heed her and whispered to the piano.
“Py, why are you doing this…!”
– Luke, …!
“This is not fun at all…! Stop it! Other kids are getting scared!”
– ….
Mimicking a sorrowful violin sound, Py drifted over to Luke, swaying sadly.
It must mean he would stop.
Luke sighed and turned around.
“…?”
However, as he turned his body, countless gazes were directed towards him…
Suddenly, Luke felt he had made a mistake.
“Hey, this is not a ghost; it’s a spirit.”
As Luke spoke to break the silence, Mary muttered, bewildered.
“You just banished a ghost…?”
“No, no, this is a spirit….”
Luke tried to clarify, but none of the listeners paid attention to him.
“Where’s the spirit in this world?!”
“What?”
Luke was engulfed by shock as if he had been hit on the head.
“What do you mean ‘where’s the spirit’? That is…”
Luke looked at Py.
Py looked back at Luke.
– …?
Py seemed to shrug like he didn’t understand and then hovered slightly upward before settling again.
‘Could it be that spirits are not only visible to me, but their existence itself is unknown…?’
Yerna must have lied to me.
“What did I just say to chase it away? Tell me too.”
“You have talent in exorcising ghosts!”
“A piano that plays by itself, ugh. That’s so creepy.”
“Pfft. Then you must find a magical piano scary too.”
“Do you want to die?”
In the noisy atmosphere, Luke truly felt like an outsider.
He felt tired, and his head started to ache.
