Beriton had to prepare much more paperwork to leave for a foreign country than traveling within his own nation.
Fortunately, the complex paperwork would be handled by his guardian, Yerna, on behalf of the underage Luke.
So, Luke only needed to pack his belongings for the trip.
He had not yet forgotten the thrill that the word “travel” gave him.
The reason Luke had settled down instead of continuing to travel was not because he had grown tired of it, but because he had already visited every place on the continent.
Isn’t it the life direction that a mage should pursue to explore completely different things in a new place and look at the world from a fresh perspective?
Staying cooped up in a tower studying research materials wouldn’t easily inspire new ideas.
If one always looks at things from the same angle, how can they expect fresh thoughts to emerge?
In that regard, Luke thought that the opportunity he gained while attending the Academy was not all that bad.
He checked his phone for the items Mary had sent him via text that he needed to prepare.
These are the items Luke needed to pack.
Five days’ worth of outerwear, sleepwear, and underwear.
Basic necessities and cosmetics like toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, and sunscreen.
Snacks and drinks to eat on the bus before boarding the plane.
Medical supplies like potions, just in case of any accidents…
This kind of preparation is something universally required no matter when or where one travels.
He had done such travel preparations many times in the past.
Well, back then, he had compressed all his travel gear into a spatial dimension and pulled them out only when needed.
As Luke stuffed his belongings into a large suitcase, he pondered.
By the way, I wonder if all the countless artifacts and treasures I had tucked away in that dimension are still there?
If it’s a dimension that hasn’t been managed for 5,000 years, it wouldn’t be strange at all if my personal dimension had fused with another and my belongings were now aimlessly wandering about in this space.
Luke briefly rubbed his chin.
Come to think of it, there should have been some dangerous artifacts left behind that I made for research but left unattended.
For example, grimoires that had distorted during writing and were destroyed, a kaleidoscope that mixes the structure of matter, a knife for carving out ‘’, gloves that manipulate parallel worlds, an abacus that calculates and manipulates dimensions and time, and swords/keys/shadows honed from dimension fragments.
There are many other things that come to mind, but I can’t quite remember what happened to them in the end.
After 5,000 years, it wouldn’t be surprising if a few items manifested in reality due to the fusion of dimensions…
“…”
As Luke stood frozen like a suddenly stiffened gargoyle, Py, worried, asked.
– What’s wrong?
“…No, it’s nothing.”
Of course, ‘the great Luke Ilrushi’ must have organized everything before passing away, judging by how the world is still intact.
‘The not-so-great Luke Ilrushi’ wouldn’t come up with any answers no matter how hard he thought.
It’s not a problem a mere 3-circle mage like himself should worry about.
——-
“Alright, this should be enough.”
Luke proudly looked at his quite bulky suitcase and nodded.
In contrast, Py muttered uncomfortably at the sight.
– It looks like it’s going to burst.
“Haha, it won’t burst.”
– It won’t?
“Of course not.”
He had thoroughly considered the bag’s durability and capacity.
So, this amount should be easily manageable.
– But isn’t this too much?
“Py, it seems like you don’t understand as a spirit, but it’s always best to be well-prepared.”
Spirits probably didn’t need to carry things anywhere, so they clearly wouldn’t comprehend this preparation process.
But that only applied to spirits without any constraints on location.
He only held sway over the elements in the material plane, and thus had substantial limitations on space.
It’s not like he could exist wherever and whenever he wanted.
So how could he get away with packing loosely for uncertain situations abroad?
He no longer had the omnipotence he once did, so it was indeed better to prepare thoroughly.
Luke lifted the luggage for a moment and smiled at its solid heft.
“I need to be ready for any situation.”
Anyhow, he had finished packing.
Luke turned to Py and asked.
“Py, what time is it?”
Py looked at his watch in response to Luke’s question and stared at it for a long moment before replying.
– It’s… 12 o’clock…?
He didn’t seem fully confident, trailing off at the end, but the clock definitely pointed to 12.
Luke clapped his hands and praised Py.
Clap, clap, clap.
“Well done. Very impressive.”
– Really…?
“Yes. Finally, you can tell time. What a momentous occasion.”
Indeed it was.
This immature spirit had finally learned to tell time.
– Wow!
“Py, it seems your adventures weren’t pointless.”
– Yes, it was great!
“Sure, sure. I can’t explain it well, though.”
– The blue and …, … was the best! But all of a sudden, it floated…? And … is white, so …! And …, ………!
‘What on earth…’
He really couldn’t understand what Py was trying to say.
Py’s vocabulary had deepened into a complexity that was not limited to human language, making it almost unintelligible even in spirit language.
Nevertheless, as spirit language conveys a rough idea of feelings or meanings, most of it was incomprehensible noise that became frustrating to Luke.
As he sat there, listening to what seemed like Py’s tales of adventure, he suddenly felt a bit hungry.
‘By the way, it’s almost time for Yerna to come back.’
Thinking it was better to do something rather than just sit while trying to understand Py’s garbled talk, Luke got up and rummaged through the drawer for a hair tie.
He pulled his hair back comfortably and tied it in place, though he couldn’t tie it from the roots because of his horns; gathering it was enough.
A rather satisfying tie.
Having confirmed it was secured properly, Luke opened the door and walked towards the garden.
At that, Py stopped her words and followed him, observing curiously with a tilted head.
– Luke, what are you doing?
“I’m thinking of preparing some snacks before Yerna gets back.”
If he gathered some magical herbs from the garden to brew tea and used the rest for cookies, that would be good.
Or perhaps he could try making the plant-based milk he experienced earlier.
Luke’s take on elven-style milk, recreated with magical herbs.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t tasted it.
He was quite curious whether it was a success or a failure.
However, the recipe was safely tucked away in Luke’s mind, so remaking it wouldn’t be a problem.
Provided, he had the ingredients.
“Um, geranium, dirix, zircos… Ah, great.”
Fortunately, the magical herbs in the garden, even after being transplanted, were in good condition.
With that state, making an elixir—no, milk—should pose no problem.
He would grind the herbs, mash them, extract the essence, and distill them.
After mixing the finished thick liquid with water in an appropriate amount, he would enchant it by stirring in magic, and it would be complete.
– Are you making that again?
Recognizing what Luke was about to make, Py’s voice rose slightly in excitement.
“Yes, because I didn’t get to try it last time.”
Having made it once already, Luke moved smoothly through the process.
Even Py was left tongue-tied watching the speed at which he worked, which was far quicker than before.
– Wow……! That’s amazing!
Luke placed the finished dough on a tray and prepared to brew tea.
He needed to let the dough rest for a while, so he had to use that time effectively.
– Wow……. That’s impressive……. It looks delicious…….
“Haha, is that so?”
It was still unbaked dough, yet Py was already declaring it looked delicious.
Such a cute reaction made Luke chuckle as he mashed the magical herbs in the mortar and set a kettle of water to boil.
Now, this was quite a familiar task—diluting the fatigue recovery elixir.
But Luke was not stopping there; he also wanted to add a calming effect.
Previously, the excessive ‘fatigue recovery’ effect had caused Shirud to overexert himself.
It was probably that the overly dynamic effect of the original elixir was the problem.
That original brew was intended for warriors charging into battle.
While very diluted, it couldn’t provide that level of effect, yet the actual effect of that fatigue recovery was aimed at combat potential.
Thus, this time, he wanted to give it a mild effect focused solely on recovery.
In other words, he wanted it to provide a pleasant feeling of relieving fatigue when ending a typical day or during a light rest.
As he considered this and recalled the recipe while scraping the magical herbs, he heard the kettle whistle—piiish.
Hearing that sound, Luke suddenly thought it might be nice to try practicing a wind instrument instead of the cello.
The cello was honestly too big and cumbersome.
With such bulk, he couldn’t possibly take it along on this trip.
Then, a thought struck him: perhaps he could practice a smaller flute-like instrument.
He opened his mouth to speak.
“Py. How about I try playing another instrument instead of the cello? What do you think about wind instruments? You don’t dislike the sound, do you?”
At that moment, the sound Luke heard behind him wasn’t Py answering.
– Rustle.
That sound felt too much like a presence to have come from Py.
However, since there was no one behind him except Py, Luke turned around, thinking it might be some peculiar spirit language.
“Py, what does that mean….”
And Luke froze in that position as he turned.
Whose small back could that be, with hair as blue as clear water?
Had there been another child in this lodging besides himself?
Could it be an intruder? No, if that were the case, he would have sensed their presence.
As Luke sank into confusion, the child opened their mouth.
In an innocent voice, almost humming.
“Hey, can I try this?”
‘…Hey? Wasn’t that the name Py used to call me?’
Suddenly, Luke snapped to attention as though he had gained enlightenment.
“Are you… Py?”
In response to that question, the child slowly turned to face Luke, locking eyes with him.
The child’s emerald-green eyes sparkled.
And in a pure voice, the child replied.
“No? I’m not Py. I’m Pyris!”
“…Are the two different?”
