Due to witnessing a terrible scene, Yerna wanted to stay as close to Luke as possible, and thanks to this, Luke couldn’t even think about secretly cutting his wrist again.
As a result, even though he was in the forest for the first time in a while, Luke found it impossible to feel satisfied.
Absorbing magic was like breathing, but he rarely had the time to think like this.
“It’s strange, really strange.”
Luke sat on the couch, resting his chin on one hand while lightly rolling a ball of thread with the other.
Was it the “instinct” that came with this body? When his thoughts became complicated, rolling the thread like this helped him think step by step.
What Luke was pondering this time was, as always, related to magic.
“Why did it fail?”
“What failed, you might ask? That’s evident.”
It was the failure of a magic meant to confirm his own soul through a simplified application of necromancy.
He was regretful about the blood already spilled in the bathtub, and he wanted to see the results of the thought experiment he had considered.
So, Luke had secretly tried to use magic with the ample blood already in the bathtub.
If it succeeded, wouldn’t Yerna have a decent excuse?
However, the magic showed no reaction to the blood at all.
The problem was not just the lack of “reaction.”
The tingling sensation running through his heart was a clear indication that the magic had “failed.”
“Ugh…!”
A groan slipped out inadvertently.
The mana backlash caused by this magic failure was painful.
Was it because it had been too long since he experienced such pain? Or was it because the magic fell under high-level dark magic?
The pain, which felt like it shook the very foundation of his existence, transmitted through his heart to the rest of his body.
Seeing Luke’s pained groans and expressions, Yerna couldn’t help but grab him, unsure of what to do.
“D-Did you lose too much blood…? W-What should we do? Should I call an ambulance?”
“There’s no need… even if you say so…”
At that point, when Yerna began to look even more sorrowful and pitiful towards him, Luke felt like crying as well.
The mana backlash was such that he thought he might have died if he were still in his old body, signifying a terrible “failure.”
In other words, it was as if the world was declaring, “Your thinking is completely wrong.”
Having never been rejected by the world to this extent before, this failure was even harder for him to accept.
“As long as I’m not dead, that’s what matters.”
This was probably because this body was immortal.
Should he be grateful that he was given a second chance even after such a failure?
Anyway, Luke had to reevaluate his hypotheses about where he had gone wrong.
“No matter how I check, there’s no issue with the magical logic itself. If that were the problem, I would have noticed it first.”
He had dealt with and studied magical logic for a lifetime.
Even back then, and perhaps even now, there would be few capable of matching Luke’s knowledge in the writing and application parts of mana logic.
“Then, the issue must lie in aspects outside the magic, hmm.”
What remained, excluding magic, were the “specificity of the target” and the “specificity of the materials.”
The “target” referred to his own soul, while the “material” referred to his blood.
If the cause of the failure was the different “rank” of the target soul he was trying to summon…
There was really no way to handle it.
According to the magical principles Luke knew, the target for necromancy had to be a soul of a specific rank, and there was no countermeasure if the magic was rejected.
But in this case, that didn’t matter much.
If that was the reason for the failure, it would indeed prove Luke’s hypothesis.
It was precisely because of the difference in the “rank” of the soul.
“Hm, if that’s the case, my circle’s insufficient authority could be the issue.”
With only a 3rd Circle, he had no authority to interfere with a ranked soul.
If you were to ask why it was strange that he couldn’t do anything with his own soul, in this case, it indeed was strange.
In circle magic, no matter how much mana one poured into it, if one lacked the authority to use that magic, there was nothing that could be done.
The authority over will and abstraction corresponded to as high as the 5th Circle.
Currently, the magical logic Luke had concocted was sort of a trick that applied the principles of classes while excluding circles.
However, due to the nature of class magic, it required predicting and calculating for all variables, so there were areas he didn’t know.
In the first place, ordinary souls have no hierarchy.
A soul is akin to a “serial number.”
Theoretically, dragon and human souls are not vastly different.
Of course, since a dragon’s soul has been accustomed to its body for a longer time, it may remember life a bit more vividly, but essentially, what constitutes a soul is nothing but the same.
However, if it were truly the soul contained within a body that transcends biological species, then it would be a different rank…
If the specifications of the soul do not align with the logic, there wouldn’t be a valid method to approach it.
Well, then this issue will have to be postponed for now.
For now, analyzing the cause of the magic failure takes precedence, so let’s assume there’s no problem with the soul.
If the issue lies with the materials, it would be because it isn’t pure human blood.
It is neither pure dragon blood, nor pure human blood, nor pure monster blood.
Yet for some reason, that mixture is “pure.”
Such magical materials had never existed in the world.
Thus, it was only natural that Luke had never handled them before.
In the first place, magic involving blood as a sacrifice was not his area of expertise, nor did he fully grasp the characteristics of his own blood.
It was currently the most likely cause.
However, he couldn’t simply cut his wrist again to confirm that.
Having promised Yerna not to harm himself any further,
Even if Yerna went on patrol, Kirke, Sorbi, and Daphne were rotating in “taking care” of him (perhaps “keeping watch” would be more fitting).
Even now, when he slightly turned his gaze, he could see Kirke doing light exercises, quickly lifting and lowering a small dumbbell.
When their eyes met, Kirke smiled brightly at Luke and asked him,
“Why? Need anything? Are you bored? Want to play? Go for a walk? Or should we go out and play badminton?”
Was she already tipped off by Yerna? Her reaction was a bit excessive.
Luke lightly shook his head and said.
“No, I’m fine. Just let me finish what I was doing.”
“Okay. Don’t hesitate to tell me if you need anything. You’re really important to us.”
Embarrassed by Kirke’s bright smile, Luke averted his gaze.
“Thank you…”
Luke began to think again.
In that case, the information he could experiment with right away was to swap blood and souls.
If the magic truly works, then other people’s blood should connect with another soul.
By the way, it seemed Luke had not gone through the process of confirming the logic of small-scale experiments.
Having perfected the thought experiment, he often skipped practical experiments, which was one of Luke’s bad habits.
So, where could he find samples for those practical experiments?
“Ah.”
By thinking of it, wasn’t there a sample very similar to him?
A holder of the “Dragon Heart,” just like him.
“Now that I think about it, they were quite close?”
—–
Two days had passed since Luke had injured himself.
At a glance, it seemed he had no intention of cutting his wrist again, but it was still hard to feel at ease.
Did Yerna think Luke would actually cut his wrist again?
Yerna took off her coat and gear and hung them on a hanger while asking.
“Did anything happen today? Did Kirke bother you?”
“Of course not. How could she make me uncomfortable?”
“Really?”
Yerna gently stroked Luke’s head as he replied.
In the past, he would have shown at least a little sign of rejection, but since that day, he had been incredibly obedient.
Perhaps he liked the touch? His face had turned slightly red, clearly showing he felt good about it.
Yerna breathed a sigh of relief internally.
“I’m glad you seem to be in a better mood.”
Luke surely must have missed her touch.
Just then, while contemplating that she should never leave Luke for a long time again, Luke suddenly spoke up.
“Um, Yerna.”
“Yes, why?”
“I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it? Just say it.”
“That… the man I healed the other day. Do you have his contact information? I can’t reach him on my phone at all.”
“You mean the Third?”
“Right, that guy.”
He wants to see the Third.
Could it be that it was because the Third was someone who had been in a similar situation?
Yerna recalled the devotion Luke had shown towards that man during their time together.
He had defended the man against her in any way possible, treated him without expecting anything in return, contacted him secretly, and even arranged to meet him alone.
“Maybe that man is someone precious to Luke…”
If that were the case, she wouldn’t be able to stop him.
Yerna asked in a slightly stiff voice.
“Do you really want to see him?”
“Yeah. I want to see that man again.”
At Luke’s earnest voice, Yerna shuddered slightly.
Is it that strong of a desire? Really? For that daunting man?
Of course, it wasn’t the man’s fault that he looked that way…
“…Luke, what on earth did that man do?”
—–
The Third had secluded himself in a quiet village deep within a forest, away from the city.
He no longer had to engage in dangerous work to earn money for medicine, and it had become crucial to have a steady supply of mana, additionally to evade the nobility’s pursuit.
In fact, since doing so, no one had been able to find him.
At least, that was true until this morning.
“…How on earth did you find this place?”
“It’s thanks to tracking magic. I had secretly cast it before. I couldn’t let you get harmed by the nobles.”
She spoke so confidently about having secretly cast tracking magic.
Isn’t that illegal?
“Well, I probably don’t have the right to complain about the legality of things.”
“By the way, what brings you here again? I already told you everything I remember about the Proyton family.”
“That’s been put on hold for now. I came to see someone who wants to see you.”
“Someone who wants to see me?”
He became slightly more guarded.
“Did she uncover my past? Is she trying to capture me afterward?”
This was precisely why he didn’t want to get involved with the Forest Keeper.
In reality, mixed in with his willingness to divulge information about Proyton, there was also a wish that it would backfire on them and they would perish.
However, what came out of Yerna’s mouth was entirely different.
“Luke wants to see you.”
“That kid?”
“Surely, there’s no kindness in this world without a reason. What does he intend to get from me by expressing such goodwill?”
His mind was filled with suspicion.
Using the Forest Keeper as a messenger—what on earth was that kid?
Was she truly a creation of the “Facility”?
No, that couldn’t be.
“The Facility” doesn’t have that kind of capability.
Because the most successful specimen there was…
“…”
Indeed, there must be something hidden.
That was only natural; with such power, it made sense to have some grand ambition.
Was she aiming for assassinations of grand nobles?
Or perhaps the conquest of the underworld?
Yes, she had more than enough capabilities for that.
The sensation he felt in that fleeting moment was this—should she truly become reckless, no one would be able to stop her.
He must never be deceived by her appearance.
And if she were to propose something to him, perhaps he might willingly obey.
He had thought that.
“…I had wanted to talk to her someday, but this is certainly not how I imagined I would be called.”
He grasped his heart and frowned.
However, now he had no way to respond to her ambitions.
His connections to the underworld had mostly been severed, and practically all the information he had known was now forgotten.
He had even lost the ability to conjure lightning due to the change in structure of circles.
A “Circleer” who could not handle circles—that was a joke no one would find funny.
He was nothing but an ordinary person with a bit of intuition, and that was his current state.
“I have no power now; I’m just an ordinary person.”
As he hesitated, Yerna spoke again, pressing him.
“That doesn’t matter at all. Let’s go now; I don’t want to keep that child waiting too long.”
“…Is that so.”
Does even I have a role needing to be fulfilled in your plans?
