Chapter 65: Act 1 – The Burning City
In the hotel lobby, Luke and Shirud had just finished their short night walk and conversation, and it was time to part ways.
Since Luke had already checked out while being hospitalized, he planned to spend the night separately from Yerna in a different lodging.
“Go ahead in first, Shirud.”
“Got it, I’ll head in now.”
As Shirud walked back to his room, Luke waved at him. Shirud responded with an enthusiastic wave, and Luke felt relieved to see the child in good spirits as he turned away.
Thinking about it, tomorrow was the day to return to Aires.
Although he hadn’t been able to see the magic tower, he managed to obtain the sap from the World Tree. While there was some regret, it could be deemed a satisfactory trip overall.
Just as he was considering this, he stepped out into the hotel lobby.
A familiar-faced child caught his eye.
“Ah, Helena? You haven’t left yet?”
“Uh, um, I just wanted to stay a little longer. By the way, you were hospitalized, right? How foolish, going on a trip and ending up in the hospital…”
“Haha, did you hear? If I worried you, I’m sorry.”
“Ugh, it’s not like I was particularly worried or anything…”
“Is that so?”
“…”
“…”
A brief silence passed; was there nothing more to say?
Suddenly, it became quiet. Was this child usually so docile?
Luke made a puzzled expression before shrugging and passing by the child.
“Anyway, have fun. Well then, I’ll be off.”
At that moment, hearing a voice calling him from behind, Luke stopped in his tracks.
“Oh, um….”
Helena approached, widening her steps as if to chase after him, meeting his gaze before lowering her head and turning away.
Luke looked at Helena, feigning surprise at her behavior.
What on earth did she want to say to act like this?
Children were unpredictable beings, and Luke could not guess the answer at all.
In that moment, Helena mumbled quietly, almost inaudibly.
“D-… um?”
“Could you say that a bit louder? I can’t hear you well.”
Helena flinched for a moment, then spoke in a slightly louder voice.
“Are you dating that boy…?!”
“Ah, are you referring to Shirud? Haha, no way. We’re just friends.”
“That’s a lie…”
“I don’t tell lies.”
“…”
Then suddenly, Helena lifted her head and pointed an accusing finger, shouting.
“Then if you’re not dating, why are you hanging out so much! You fool!”
“Eh?”
Having said that, the child seemed embarrassed and quickly turned away, walking off in a hurry.
“…?”
Why was she acting like that?
Luke watched her retreating figure and then gasped in realization.
‘Oh right, I see. It seems Helena has some romantic interest in Shirud. This looks like jealousy.’
Jealousy, that must be it.
He clearly sensed that tone in the child’s outburst.
Luke chuckled, nodding to himself.
‘Hmm, if she’s interested, she should just tell Shirud directly.’
She must have been quite a shy child after all.
‘It seems I need to pay a little more attention to this.’
———
The next morning.
Helena still wore a sulky expression on her face.
Next to her, a woman in a suit walked with her and spoke up.
“Miss, haven’t you had enough fun? Why do you look like that?”
‘Enough fun,’ indeed.
It probably seemed that way.
A lengthy trip of four nights and five days.
Under normal circumstances, she would have mountains of home study and homework, yet she had put everything aside to come here for fun.
Getting permission from her dad had been quite a struggle.
If she hadn’t placed first, he might not have allowed it at all.
“Yeah.”
But now, she had to return to Aires.
Yet, she couldn’t shake off the feeling of disappointment.
In truth, it was not just the feeling of an end to relaxation.
What disappointed her the most was that she hadn’t had much chance to talk to Luke.
In fact, Helena had been hoping for an opportunity to strike up a conversation with him for a while, but they had been in different groups due to differing class teachers and observation sites, and because of the boy who was always with her, a proper chance to talk never came. To top it off, when she thought she might have a chance to speak with him at their lodging, Luke suddenly fainted, taking away that opportunity entirely.
‘W-Well, it’s not like I particularly wanted to be friends with him.’
Now he wasn’t even first!
No need to get close to learn his study methods!
Besides, he didn’t come from a family of power!
He looked completely mixed-breed!
Even if they became friends, he would be of no use at all!
“……”
Still, he wasn’t entirely useless.
At least she was able to prolong her stay by using his hospital visit as an excuse…
She was actually a bit worried too.
“Haah…”
“Why do you sigh? Don’t you want to go back?”
“…No.”
Really, she didn’t want to go back.
Helena gazed up at the clear, sunny sky, thinking.
If only it would rain.
So much that the plane couldn’t take off.
‘Then I could be with Luke a little longer…’
——–
On the way to the airport.
Luke, Diana, and Pyris all climbed into the back seat.
Pyris remained in her prescribed form to play with Diana.
It seemed that she had quite enjoyed playing with the child.
It looked like she would keep this form for a while.
After ensuring all the children were on board, Yerna took the wheel and said,
“Alright, we’re about to take off, so everyone buckle up.”
“Yes!”
Diana and Pyris shouted in unison.
“Ugh…”
However, even though Pyris shouted cheerfully, she couldn’t manage to fasten her seatbelt, prompting Luke to step in.
“Wait a moment. I’ll do it for you.”
“Thanks!”
Luke raised himself slightly to fasten Pyris’s seatbelt.
No matter how much of a spirit she was, she was still in material form, so she couldn’t escape from physical impacts.
However, it seemed that maintaining her material form wore her out significantly, and Pyris soon fell asleep.
Diana, holding a teddy bear, hugged it close while buckling her seatbelt and smiled as she rubbed the stuffed animal’s head.
“Look, big brother! Nina is wearing a seatbelt too!”
“Yeah, good job. Safety first, Nina.”
“Hahaha.”
After casually bantering with Dayton, Luke chuckled and pulled the seatbelt tight as he gazed up at the sky.
It looked bright, but somehow the movement of the clouds felt off.
‘Is it going to rain?’
——–
Suddenly, the rain began.
The moment they arrived at the airport, a shower began pouring down that didn’t seem like it would stop anytime soon.
However, Luke couldn’t be entirely happy that his prediction was correct.
“Huh, I heard the chance of rain today was less than 1 in 20….”
“But if it rains this much, flights are likely to be canceled.”
Voices of people talking could be heard from a corner of the airport.
“…”
After listening to all the conversations, it seemed that if it rained heavily, flights couldn’t take off.
Faced with an unexpected problem, Luke rubbed his chin and sighed.
While it wasn’t impossible to employ magic to stop the rain, doing so would definitely come with a hefty price.
One could disrupt the natural balance, and too much disruption could prevent rain from falling when it was most needed or turn a simple shower into a calamitous storm.
Moreover, manipulating the weather was quite difficult with just the authority of the 3rd Circle.
However, for a spirit, resolving the situation would likely be possible without major side effects.
Luke turned his head towards Pyris, but Pyris tilted her head instead.
“Why me? I want to go back! It’s fun here!”
“…”
True, if she were a spirit, she wouldn’t have any strong reason to want to leave this place where the World Tree truly existed.
Especially not when she wouldn’t want to leave while impacting the natural environment.
With that thought, it felt a bit inappropriate to ask her for help.
In such weather, all he could do was hope the plane could take off.
———
But as expected, the flight couldn’t take off.
“This is a problem.”
Shirud also looked out at the pouring rain and spoke in a troubled voice.
“Hm, it doesn’t look like it will stop soon; this rain might continue until tomorrow.”
“That’s true…”
If that were the case, accommodation would indeed become an issue.
They hadn’t expected such sudden rain today and had all checked out of their lodging, taken their belongings, and left.
However, after contacting them, it turned out that most lodgings were already fully booked.
It seemed all the people stranded by the sudden downpour had flocked there.
“Hm.”
What a predicament.
As Luke observed his distressed expression, Shirud suddenly remembered something and asked the man in a black suit beside him.
“Oh, by the way, didn’t our family have a villa in Beriton?”
“Hmm, most villas were disposed of when the previous chairman passed away. The Beriton villa was probably….”
“…”
Right, that was true.
“Well, that’s a big problem.”
If this continued, they might have to spend the night at some inconvenient place in a corner.
Shirud lowered his head, wearing a gloomy expression.
At that moment.
“What? Trifind, does that mean the Beriton villa is gone too?”
“Helena?”
The pink twin-tailed little elf girl, Helena Roustfind, approached, wearing a smug expression.
“How unfortunate! Hehe. Well, if you have no place to stay, our Roustfind family can specially let you stay at our villa.”
“Really?”
“Well, that would be a great help, but….”
Luke trailed off.
And shortly after, Yerna, who had finished her call, shouted to Luke.
“Done! Luke, we can stay at my sister’s mom’s house.”
“Oh, is that really the case? That’s a relief. So, should we leave right now?”
“Yeah, once you’re done talking with your friends, come to the parking lot?”
“Got it. I’ll be there shortly.”
As Luke turned back to look at Helena and Shirud, he saw Helena with a stunned expression and Shirud demonstrating a slight smile without any other change in his expression.
Shirud remarked in a congratulatory tone.
“You’re in luck, Luke. You found a place to stay.”
“What? Wasn’t there no place to stay?”
Helena seemed to have broken free from her petrified state at Shirud’s words.
Luke looked at her, smiling with satisfaction.
“Well then, since I have found a place to stay, Shirud can use the villa since he couldn’t find lodging.”
“Oh, that could work! Thank you, Helena. I’ll make sure to repay this favor.”
“…Huh?”
Luke stood up from his seat and patted Helena’s shoulder, leaving with a mysteriously pleasant smile as he disappeared.
‘This isn’t how it should be….’
