“Oh, have you grown taller?”
It seems that the doubts I had while wondering if ‘Eternal Flame’ might have halted my growth were unfounded, as I am evidently growing normally.
Maybe the Dragon Heart was somehow affecting my growth negatively.
To think I’ve grown 4 cm, I’m now 140 cm tall.
I’m not sure if this sudden growth is due to the increase in my Circle or the effect of my hybrid transformation, whatever it might be termed.
If I grow 4 cm with each increase in Circle, I might reach 168 cm someday. Of course, it would be nice if I could grow even taller than that.
“Right, I can’t stay small forever.”
Now that Renie is gone, the meaning of ‘Immortality’ holds little weight.
Py seemed to be asking Luke if he had grown tall while marking his height on the wall, and Luke responded with a hum.
“Yeah, I’ve grown a lot more than I thought.”
Yerna gazed at Luke humming while measuring his height against the wall and thought about getting ready to go out.
‘How could that figure be the great mage from 5,000 years ago?’
With that thought in mind, Yerna spoke to Luke before leaving.
“Luke, I’m going out for a bit, so call me if anything happens. And if you transform again, absolutely do not leave the lodging.”
“Got it. Where are you going, though?”
“I’m going to buy some underwear and pajamas. Also, I need to get your school uniform altered.”
This is one of the tasks that must be done after the hybrid children develop tails.
Hybrids have many sensations concentrated in their tails, so wrapping them can feel really uncomfortable. If their movement is hindered, there are cases where they might lose their balance; thus, a tail is as important to hybrids as eyes or ears are.
Perhaps that’s why hybrids would expose their tails in the past, even though it was a weakness. This is why the necessity for clothing designed for hybrids is emphasized.
“Oh, I see. Then I trust you will take care of it.”
Underwear without a tail hole was indeed uncomfortable.
——
In a quiet cocktail bar.
Even though it was daytime, the dark and quiet atmosphere was quite striking, yet there was only one customer.
It felt somewhat strange to think that no one would be found hanging out at a bar in the middle of the day.
After all, if business isn’t good during the daytime, isn’t closing simply the market principle?
Perhaps that’s why this bar had a different atmosphere compared to others.
Bling.
The bell hanging at the door made a noise.
Upon seeing the incoming person’s face, the bartender greeted them as if they were a regular.
“Karina, it’s been a long time. Has it been 20 years?”
“Captain, I’m no longer Karina.”
“In that case, I’m no longer your captain either, right?”
“Well, that’s true.”
“Now, let’s sit down.”
After exchanging a few words, Yerna promptly took a seat in front of the bartender, and the atmosphere quickly turned serious.
“I’d like to treat an old subordinate, but…”
“Let’s get straight to the point.”
The man deftly ignored Yerna’s sharpened gaze and shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.
“Yeah, ‘Dragon Heart’… Can you tell me why you’re looking for that?”
“It’s a secret.”
“Alright, so it’s quite an important matter, I take it? Information. Yes, Dragon Heart is exceptionally rare and expensive…”
“Don’t you have any recent transaction records or clues?”
“Well, Dragon Heart is such a rare material. Finding even a tiny clue isn’t easy.”
As the man continued to whistle with a nonchalant expression, Yerna chuckled softly.
“…So, you had quite the hard time finding it.”
“Yeah. It was a bit challenging.”
With a loud laugh, the man bowed his head and pulled out some documents he had prepared in advance.
“I dug through old data that doesn’t even show up in the confidential database search records for an entire day.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Yerna, who received the documents, arranged and organized them with a few claps.
Dragon Heart is a remnant of a dragon that no longer exists.
This extremely rare resource is a magical conduit that shows a horrifying degree of magic compression based on overwhelming mana sensitivity.
It likely signifies that Luke’s heart was made from this; thus, it also explains his unreasonable mana sensitivity.
No matter what means were used, to implant it into his chest, he must first have acquired the Dragon Heart…
Following that process may eventually lead to the beings who ‘created’ Luke.
The first thing that caught Yerna’s eye in the documents she confirmed was the name of the ‘Proyton’ family.
“That family was the last to trade for a Dragon Heart.”
“I see. Do you know who the other party is?”
“No, I have no information at all.”
“That’s quite suspicious. Thank you for your help, Darren.”
“Don’t mention it. Just call if you need anything.”
“I thought you had completely left violence behind.”
He shook his hand dismissively.
“I figured I might need a side job. These days, one bar isn’t enough to make a living. So how about it, there are many useful folks around.”
“Maybe later. My experience speaks for itself now.”
The man smiled slightly.
“Back then, you managed quite well by yourself as a rookie. Thinking back to those times, wow… how did you manage it?”
“Looking back now, it’s quite an embarrassing past.”
Yerna bitterly laughed and then left the bar, documents in hand.
———-
As Yerna had forewarned Luke, she returned having purchased pajamas and underwear.
The pajamas included a regular one like the ones she usually wore, and a one-piece pajama reminiscent of what she had borrowed from Mary’s lodging, along with a rather strange-looking one.
“Why on earth did you buy three types of pajamas? Two would have been enough to alternate. This feels a little wasteful.”
Since the incident on the 300,000 road, Luke had become strict with Yerna’s spending habit.
He didn’t want to put her under financial strain anymore.
With a laugh, Yerna replied to Luke.
“Well…”
She swallowed the words, ‘I thought they would all be cute.’
Since she knew he wasn’t fond of the word cute.
“Anyway, thanks.”
“First, try on the underwear. Can you put it on by yourself?”
“Of course.”
Back in the past, undergarments weren’t particularly diversified, and the first time she received some it was quite a novelty.
In the old days, there was no such thing as ‘underwear.’ Though they would wear fabric underneath, it wasn’t really clothing, just pieces of cloth that hardly qualified as such.
However, now that she is used to it, wearing underwear before getting dressed is second nature.
With that in mind, when Luke pulled out the set of underwear Yerna bought, he felt somewhat flustered by the hole in the tail part.
It seemed indecent for some reason. For those without a tail, it would just expose their backside.
However, the changes in this set of underwear brought new experiences for Luke once more.
Luke received children’s hybrid-style drawers.
The difference from the regular kind was the medium-sized hole at the tailbone.
For hybrids, tails usually symbolize secondary sexual characteristics, and Yerna bought a set consisting of a top and bottom piece at the suggestion of the staff.
As a result, it didn’t feel like the design was out of place.
“Hmm…”
In any case, I suppose I have to wear them.
In this era, it’s common sense to wear underwear before putting on clothes.
Truthfully, the top was no different from the existing clothes, so there wasn’t much thought put into that.
However, the bottom was a bit different.
Since it originated from a body part that wasn’t there before.
Putting it on felt a bit like having an extra leg when wearing pants.
Well, since tail control is now easy, there was no real issue getting dressed, but Luke felt a strange sensation trying to pull out the hairs that got trapped inside the underwear.
‘Hmm, I never imagined I’d be cleaning tail hair that got caught in underwear while alive…’
Indeed it was so.
It wasn’t a task that took long to complete, and he finished quickly, but experiencing that process made Luke feel like he was no longer entirely ‘human.’
‘A chimera… perhaps.’
Luke laughed at himself wryly.
A dragon, a beast, and still an indistinct presence that has yet to be identified. Among them, the only characteristic that proves he is Luke Illushi is the magic sight barely matching the left eye.
Even that small trace would not even suffice as evidence to the people of 5,000 years later.
Why does ‘Luke Illushi’ still retain enough ego for me to recognize him as ‘Luke Illushi’? Was it strictly necessary? Well, I still can’t figure it out even after considering it a lot.
For a chimera, there was no need to contain memories.
Even if memories were contained, it would have been far more efficient to create a new ego than to insert the ego of ‘Luke Illushi.’
‘I never cared about efficiency.’
I can understand because I am Luke Illushi. That it is far more reasonable and carries no risks.
But… yeah, it’s a problem that won’t yield an answer no matter how much I ponder over it.
How can one complete a puzzle when there are no pieces to fit?
Thinking this, as I turned my body, Yerna gently asked.
“How is it? Can you wear it by yourself?”
Luke spoke in a slightly troubled tone.
“Yeah. Huff. This is indeed a bit uncomfortable. The hairs that haven’t come out of the hole keep bothering me…”
“That’s probably because you aren’t used to it.”
Yerna then produced hybrid stockings, hybrid pants, and skirts from her bag.
Perhaps because Luke frequently wore stockings, they weren’t absent this time either.
All were costumes clearly adhering to the ergonomic design for hybrids, complete with holes for the tails.
“Okay, I’ll put these here, so wear them however you like later.”
Excluding one pajama that Luke would wear, Yerna neatly rolled and placed the other garments into his drawer.
Luke nodded while fastening the button of his pajamas in response.
“I understand. Thank you so much, Yerna.”
“By the way, I noticed you were measuring your height this morning. How tall do you think you’ve grown?”
“Hmm, about 4 cm. I can now say my height is roughly 140 cm.”
“R-Really?”
Yerna felt a bit flustered at Luke’s bright expression and excited voice.
Is 4 cm such dramatic growth? Of course, a rise of 4 cm is indeed notable.
A child who had transformed into a somewhat 3-meter dragon feels happy over a mere 4 cm increase might be a little…
‘How cute.’
