Chapter 65: Act 1 – The Burning City
A swimming tube, a simple tool that helps even those who cannot swim to float easily.
With the tube around his waist covering his belly button, Luke finally felt a bit relieved and was able to stroll along the beach.
“Phew…”
Although it felt slightly small since it was designed for children, what does it matter?
It was far better than openly exposing his belly button.
At least he could bear the embarrassment enough to move his feet outside.
As Luke stepped outside, Diana waved and shouted.
“Luke! Over here, over here! Let’s hurry!”
How can that little girl show off her belly button so boldly!
It was lamentable, but it seemed that among all the people here, he was the only one attributing a different meaning to the belly button.
Thus, he inevitably turned his gaze away.
“Y-yeah. You go ahead and play first.”
“Okay!”
Hearing Luke’s words, Diana shouted as if she had been waiting for that and began to dash toward the sea.
“It’s the sea! The sea!”
Seeing Diana run like that, Pyris tried to follow but suddenly looked back.
With a reflexive concern for his own belly button, Luke’s eyes drifted toward where Pyris’s belly button would be.
But fortunately, her swimsuit did not expose her belly button.
Instead, a character drawn on her swimsuit was reflected.
Magical Girl Meruru…
Pyris had always liked one-piece swimsuits, and being a ‘spirit’, a ‘Spirit Girl’ one-piece swimsuit was the perfect choice.
It is indeed an amusing joke that a spirit is wearing clothes with a Spirit Girl character on them…
But Luke had no mental space to laugh at such things right now.
Watching Luke still with his head down, Pyris worriedly asked.
“Are you alright, sis? Do you not like the sea?”
“…No, not at all.”
“Really?”
Honestly, it’s not that he disliked the sea.
The sea is truly the source of life.
That’s why some call the sea a forest made of water.
The vast blue that nurtures life and flows constantly inspires those who look at it, even humans, who may not belong in the sea’s mana, often providing a fresh perspective to mages.
Moreover, this was the first time he was encountering the sea since gaining awareness in this age, so from a mage’s perspective, it should be welcomed.
He should indeed feel happy about it.
However, Luke currently had no magic sight to feel the beauty of the mana flowing from the sea, making it difficult to maintain a magical mindset.
Simply looking at the material left him feeling bound and trapped in the material plane.
No, perhaps the one binding him was none other than himself.
Luke looked at the simple tool wrapped around his waist.
He became conscious of his hands fidgeting, desperately gripping it as if it were a national treasure to cover his belly button.
Why is he so embarrassed?
Is it because he is showing his belly button?
That was merely culture and a rule.
The rules are what separate a person from the beast, but is it right to lose oneself by being overly absorbed in those rules?
It is true that he is currently weak, but if he lets his mind weaken alongside his body, can he truly be called a great mage?
Humans cannot escape the supremacy of the flesh.
However, breaking that limit is what makes a hero.
A hero must not succumb to that.
Luke took a deep breath and focused his gaze.
Finally, Luke began to look out at the vast ocean, not in shame.
Though he could not see the mana unique to the sea, the visible colors were still vibrant and adequately blue.
Even without magic sight, even without being able to circulate mana, even in this body…
What he sought was beyond that, the horizon that meets the sky.
To achieve that, Luke decided to first do what he could do now.
In a more serious tone, he looked at Yerna and said.
“Yerna, teach me how to swim.”
“Okay! Just wait a moment.”
——–
Yerna thought when she saw Luke finally stepping out after getting the tube.
Could it be that he was really afraid of the water?
Despite having the tube, Luke’s steps were still not very light.
It didn’t seem that it was because of his body being uncomfortable.
With tense shoulders and a wary look, he appeared to be greatly afraid of something.
Perhaps it was the sea.
It’s natural for Luke, who cannot swim, to fear the ocean.
After all, I’ve heard that it’s generally difficult to even bathe regular cat-human hybrids.
Even though Luke isn’t really a cat, he often behaves cat-like, so she thought there shouldn’t be much difference in traits or instincts from typical cat-human hybrids.
Thinking that way, it made sense that Luke would shy away from the sea and swimming.
However, Luke did not run away.
Fighting against that instinctual fear did indeed make him seem admirable.
It would certainly not be easy.
So she thought about telling him that if he really hated it, he didn’t have to swim.
Yerna merely hoped that when they returned home, Luke wouldn’t regret not having gone into the water.
If Luke returned home without ever stepping into the sea, having put on a swimsuit underneath his clothes, wouldn’t he truly feel regretful?
Yet, here he was, mustering such courage.
Yerna thought that sight was truly something to admire.
Still, perhaps the tube provided him a great psychological comfort, as he walked awkwardly with it secured around his waist as if it were a treasure, which looked undeniably cute to Yerna.
Click, click.
“What are you doing?”
“Uh, um! This is cute! I wish you’d look this way just once!”
“Why don’t you just go ask? You’re the one taking pictures, and yet you’re so calm right now.”
“No, right now Luke doesn’t know this is a camera! So it’s important to capture her very natural sight now!”
“Is that really true? That’s quite odd…”
“Ah, thinking back, Luke used to do peace signs when taking pictures back in the day. We should have taken more then.”
“Yeah, these days, if you just take out your phone, she’d hide somewhere if she thinks you’re going to take a picture, which makes it quite difficult.”
“Still, maybe someday she’ll do peace signs again?”
“I hope so! She’s so cute.”
Look, Luke’s adorable appearance is certainly not just a subjective opinion, it’s an objective fact.
Yerna thought that and lightly rested her hand on her cheek, letting out a sigh.
“Ah, Dayton. Isn’t she really cute?”
“Uh? Uh… really…”
Dayton, surprised by Yerna’s sudden question, shrank a bit.
He felt nervous as if he had been caught staring, but when he followed Yerna’s gaze, it seemed that wasn’t the case, and he let out a small sigh of relief.
Yerna was simply looking at Luke.
‘Haha… Well, everyone is probably paying the most attention to Luke right now.’
After all, the one they were most concerned about among them was indeed Luke.
Although Diana could swim a little, and Pyris wasn’t human to begin with, so she worried less, Luke was different.
Diana was already running toward the sea and wetting her feet, but Luke did not dash out to the beach immediately.
He seems to still be preparing himself mentally.
Soon after, when Pyris ran to the beach and began splashing water, Dayton handed the tent and blankets to Yerna and called out to her, “Let’s do some warm-ups first before we play!”
Yerna found that sight quite amusing.
It was funny to see a burly man bustling about, attending to little kids who barely make up a fraction of his size.
Dayton, despite looking very masculine, had a genuinely gentle and cute side.
He would surely make a good husband someday.
He seems like he would also take good care of Luke…
‘Haha, what am I thinking?’
Yerna shook her head with a smile, as if she couldn’t help it.
Dayton would be unfortunate to live with a woman like me.
The only skill she had was monster-slaying.
She had never even thought of trying to capture the heart of a promising young human with various talents.
Well, elves usually meet other elves anyway.
Yerna, placing down the things Dayton had handed her, called out to Kirke and Sorbi.
“Hey guys, come help me set up the tent.”
“Ah, just a moment, sis!”
“Daphne, snap a picture of Luke for me!”
As Kirke and Sorbi hurriedly came to take over the tent, Yerna took a moment to glance at Luke while Kirke and Sorbi busied themselves with the tent.
Luke seemed to be deep in thought, standing still as if sculpted, gazing far beyond the sea.
How many waves had washed over the grains of sand on the shore?
After pondering the sea for a while, Luke finally seemed to make a decision, turning back with a serious expression and earnestly speaking.
“Yerna, teach me how to swim.”
Realizing that Luke had finally prepared herself mentally, Yerna beamed broadly and replied.
“Okay! Just wait a moment.”
——
“Look, how is it? With this, you should float better in the water!”
What Yerna brought was a life jacket.
Given that Luke seemed to be afraid of drowning, such a safety device was essential.
Well, it was something she initially intended for all of the kids anyway.
The sea is dangerous.
“How does it feel? Not too tight, is it?”
Luke nodded.
Finally being able to securely cover his belly button might be good news for him, but Luke’s expression wasn’t very bright.
“Why didn’t you let me know earlier that you had this…”
Luke suddenly felt everything he realized while looking at the sea was futile.
