He caressed his wrist, still tinged with a subtle sensation.
The feeling of being cut, sensed without any forewarning.
It felt just like a breeze passing through.
It hardly felt like the same magic had been used.
It seemed incredibly skilled.
Her statement about having countless experiences must not be a lie, as her skill was clean and precise.
To think she could slice to a depth that removes exactly ‘one cup’ worth?
He looked down at his cut wrist, recalling the sensation from that moment.
As far as he knew, he had never witnessed magic being used so cleanly.
He had seen a level of mastery where magic was invoked solely through a glance, without any gestures.
‘……’
He operated the circle as per Luke’s advice and looked down at his palm.
Click, tap, tap—!
A small lightning bolt jumped from his palm.
The sensation he thought he had lost…
No, in fact, upon further examination, that sensation at that time was different.
There was no unsettling wavering, nor a forced twisting.
The sensation of magic manifesting, aligning perfectly with him, was almost euphoric.
‘There’s truly no backlash at all? How could something like this happen…?’
Though it operated completely differently from the usual circles, the perfect alignment made him almost feel like he had become a part of the laws that make up this world.
Following her words, mana moved.
When mana moved, it manifested as magic.
In that process, there was not a single minor failure, nor did he struggle with mana control.
Of course, that’s right; the method Luke had shared was a mana operation method designed to stabilize the circle the moment it was used.
It focused on stability rather than power or control.
Even so, the synergy between Luke’s method, which excelled in circle operation, and his ‘Dragon Heart’ was astonishingly remarkable, even while pursuing only ‘stability’.
In this era, if one could handle a circle, merely moving mana was about the extent of it; the number of people who could actually manage circle magic was minuscule, and most of those deliberately didn’t refine the method further risking their lives.
Thus, circle operation methods were deemed ‘primitive magic’ and naturally faded away into obscurity.
However, such circle magic still had its ‘uses’.
Circle magic, which was difficult to trace without the aid of a cane, was perfect for using in ‘illegal’ activities in the shadows.
But the methods developed in the underbelly had no regard for the user’s considerations.
It was a different environment from when countless intellectuals gathered and sought to foster the advancement of magic in the past.
The world of darkness wasn’t a society that kindly cared about such things, and the truly ‘wise’ people mostly received circle removal treatments.
Moreover, even the circle mages of this era, even within the same group, wouldn’t want to reveal something that could become their weakness.
With the sharing of knowledge being so closed off, it is only natural that advancement would be slow.
Amidst all this, the ‘circle operation method’ that Luke casually had unraveled was indeed revolutionary compared to existing techniques.
He chuckled lightly.
‘To demand blood in exchange for power, is she some kind of Demon King?’
Though the name Luke Irushi belonged to a hero who slain demons, not a demon itself.
——
“Um……”
Luke was resting his chin on his hand.
He had tried teaching the Third as he did with Shirud, but something felt off.
No matter how much Shirud’s mutation as a high elf provided him with tremendous mana sensitivity, the Third was, after all, the bearer of the Dragon Heart.
In terms of sensitivity, one would naturally expect an insurmountable disparity between them.
Yet, an incomprehensible phenomenon persisted.
‘Why is the Third weaker than Shirud?’
Of course, there was a difference in their circle levels, with Shirud being at the 2nd circle and the Third just at the 1st circle, but even with that in mind, it didn’t add up.
After all, it was the heart of a dragon!
He’d shaped the form of the circle from the beginning, so there shouldn’t be any issues.
It felt like something was obstructing his growth.
“Um? What’s wrong? You’re staring at me intently.”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“What is it?”
Shirud shrugged his shoulders.
Though Luke always tended to come to school at his own whims, today felt particularly out of the blue.
Generally, if nothing was going on, he wouldn’t come to school at all, yet today was a day of utter normalcy.
Having Luke here on such a day was already surprising, but he was continuously casting furtive glances at Shirud, which was starting to bother him.
‘Something about the atmosphere seems to have changed while I wasn’t looking…’
Every time Luke looked over, his heart would flutter, leaving him feeling strange.
“Shirud, your face is red today!”
“W-who cares?!”
As Shirud stammered in response, Mary giggled.
‘Shirud really is quite shy.’
He probably felt embarrassed about splashing Luke earlier, which prompted him to act that way on a whim.
If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t be showing such an atmosphere.
In that moment, a question brushed across Mary’s forehead.
“By the way, Luke. Why are you here today? It’s not even a day with your favorite lunch, and you didn’t borrow any books or anything, and there aren’t any events today?”
At Mary’s question, Shirud didn’t want to miss this opportunity and opened his mouth as well.
“Yeah, I was wondering about that too.”
Luke awkwardly chuckled.
“Ahaha… I just felt like it.”
It was a matter from a few days ago.
——
Yerna watched Luke humming while sitting on the couch, pondering.
‘Luke seems to be in a really good mood after meeting his ‘friend’.’
It was at a level that anyone could tell he was trying very hard to show ‘I’m in a good mood’ intentionally.
He seemed that happy.
Always humming, always with a smile on his face.
He’d appear to be lost in thought, only to suddenly exclaim “Ah!” and chuckle lightly while jotting something down in his notebook.
Perhaps he was drawing something, she thought, but upon sneaking a glance, it seemed more related to magic.
She thought he was finished studying magic but it seemed he was still at it; there must have been a trigger for it.
Now that she thought about it, most of his conversation with that man had been about magic.
Could it be that he was reviewing in order to discuss that?
“Lu, what was your relationship with the Third back in the day?”
“Um, relationship? That’s hard to say. We were just acquaintances.”
“I see….”
That past bond existed, but Luke had lost his memories, and that man had lost his old memories too.
It seemed like quite a tragic reunion, but Luke cheerfully chattered in front of that man as if such things didn’t matter at all.
Yerna could only make a strange face at this subtly uninteresting dialogue, yet she listened intently to Luke’s ‘magic stories’.
Was it because they shared a mutual understanding?
It was like that moment of sending him off too.
“Thank you, I should start my journey soon. After all, I can’t stay in the city for too long.”
“Right. Time has already passed, safe travels. Do you need to be seen off?”
“No, there’s no need for that. Please, just relax.”
He then bowed his head towards Yerna too, greeting her.
“See you.”
“Uh? Ah, yes….”
Yerna watched that scene, wondering.
‘Was he always like that?’
“Oh, by the way, once you get there, could you give me a contact method that I could reach you?”
“Ah, I’ll definitely do that. You can’t always come looking for me.”
“Yeah, it’s best to make it convenient for meeting next time.”
Luke, seeing him off, seemed perfectly fine.
There was no way this child had ever resorted to self-harm….
Such a sight.
‘Perhaps what Luke needs is a friend.’
Daphne also agreed that trying to protect Luke too much, just because he self-harmed, wouldn’t do him any good.
The bad experiences he mentioned previously might’ve been such that he ‘became accustomed to pain,’ manifesting into actions and traumas.
What Luke needed now might be something akin to a friend with whom he could share his heart.
If that were the case, wouldn’t it be better for her to let Luke go to school at this point?
According to the teacher, it didn’t seem there were any significant problems with his social relationships. It was just that Luke found it quite difficult interacting with the other kids.
‘Yeah, Luke can’t avoid making friends forever.’
There’s no space better than school to make friends with peers.
——-
Yerna suggested to Luke that it might be a good idea for him to go to school. She hoped he could make friends with his peers since it wouldn’t be too bad.
And Luke could not refuse Yerna’s request.
‘Of all times, for her to see me like this… With that expression asking me, how could I possibly refuse?’
A woman’s tears in an appropriate situation are a splendid weapon in any era.
In any case, as lunch approached, Luke sighed.
“Ah.”
While the relaxed atmosphere of ordinary everyday life was nice, it was also terribly boring.
The being that made it tolerable was the spirit, who was beside him, making a disgruntled face.
Py, who had been away for a while, approached and complained while looking at the thermos in Luke’s bag.
-……Luke, I don’t like you.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
-That blood, it smells. Throw it away!
‘I told you multiple times that it contains the mana of a dragon. Why would I throw this precious thing away?’
Luke calmed the spirit again while humming.
Soothing a complaining spirit isn’t much different from calming a baby, making it funny.
‘Besides, blood is naturally going to smell.’
-Still!
‘Even so, half of its components match my blood, don’t they? Then, Py, would that mean you’re implying I smell as well? I’m truly sorry for making you uncomfortable.’
-Uh? N-no, you don’t smell!
Luke couldn’t help but chuckle at the spirit’s oblivious response.
The naive Py was fun to tease multiple times.
He thought he had left all his playful side back in childhood, but perhaps due to being in a younger body, he now often found these kinds of pranks to be enjoyable.
“Luke, is there something good going on?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Luke tucked the thermos under his arm and stood up, heading out into the hallway.
Mary, who was following Luke, was surprised to notice that he was heading in the opposite direction of the restaurant.
“Uh? It’s lunch time, where are you going? Aren’t you eating?”
“I don’t feel like it today. I’m sorry.”
“Are you heading to the restroom again? You’ve been going a lot today.”
“Haha, well… there are days like that.”
Luke smiled awkwardly.
To Luke, the restroom was the most secluded place, making it a perfectly suitable environment for conducting his ‘research’.
After all, it was quiet without any disturbances—a pretty good environment, don’t you think?
Thus, Luke had spent the whole day using the excuse of needing the restroom to study the dragon’s blood.
For a mage with something to investigate, research always took precedence over any desire, and Luke was no exception to that characteristic.
“Eh? Is that so? Quite a situation…”
On the other hand, Mary grew concerned about Luke.
He had been in the restroom all day, and his mood seemed to fluctuate. It was also odd that he, who loved to eat, was skipping meals today.
If she wasn’t worried, she wouldn’t be a friend.
“Luke, is everything really okay?”
“Of course, Mary. There’s no need for you to worry.”
“Okay… I understand. If you need any help, just let me know!”
“I will, don’t worry.”
——-
Then, a little while later, as he finished his meal and was organizing his desk, Luke entered through the back door.
“Hey, Luke. You don’t look so good, did something happen?”
“No, nothing’s wrong.”
“Come on, what’s going on?”
“Um….”
With repeated inquiries, Luke averted his gaze.
That’s because Mary’s genuine concern was becoming burdensome.
As Mary watched Luke, she noticed something different from before he had gone to the restroom.
“Um? Now that I look, you’re barefoot. What happened to your socks?”
“Um, they got a bit wet.”
“Is that so? Then if you put them by the window, they should dry quickly. Where are they?”
“Well, uh, they’ve dried already. No need for that.”
“Then why aren’t you wearing them now?”
“……Um.”
Luke didn’t want to mention that he accidentally spilled blood on his socks while analyzing the blood of the dragon in the restroom.
In a narrow space, moving his body caused him to accidentally knock over the thermos full of blood.
It was a mistake that happened because he wasn’t used to maneuvering his tail.
‘What a waste.’
Even now, he felt it was such a pity.
Well, some things are invaluable.
The reason he couldn’t wear socks was another matter too.
Though he did wash it off with water and cleaning magic, a peculiar dark red stain was left.
Perhaps because it was dragon blood that had splattered, there was substantial magical resistance, making it impossible to completely erase with magic.
Yet, since he couldn’t get angry at Mary’s persistent questioning, he decided to just make some excuses.
Luke whispered just barely loud enough for Mary to hear.
“How could I wear socks stained with blood?”
“Huh? Blood? Did you get hurt? Should we go to the infirmary?”
“No, I’m not hurt, so don’t worry. It’s not as serious as you think.”
“Then why is there blood….”
Mary momentarily wore a blank expression before her face turned bright red.
“……Ah, I see! I’m sorry!”
As today’s response of Luke’s flashed through Mary’s mind, pieces of the puzzle began to fit together.
So that’s why Luke’s condition seemed different today…
It was that, huh? The thing she had only heard about?
‘Luke is way too mature for this…!’
Even though he is only ten years old?
“I-I’m sorry! I was inconsiderate!”
“……? It’s okay, so don’t worry about it.”
“No, no! I wasn’t paying attention! I’ll tell the teacher about your lack of socks! There might be an extra pair somewhere!”
“Well… If you do that, I would appreciate it.”
“Yeah, yeah! I’ll be right back!”
A moment later, after receiving the fresh, dry new pair of socks that Mary brought back, Luke slipped them on without any issues, resolving the commotion.
