“Phew….”
After finishing his ‘studies’, Luke let out a sigh at the sight before him.
The floor was cluttered with all sorts of junk, and snack crumbs were scattered everywhere.
Once again, Luke called out to Pyris.
“Pyris!”
At that, Pyris, who had been wandering around munching on snacks, immediately ran away.
Perhaps she sensed the slight anger mixed in Luke’s voice.
Usually, raising his voice a bit when calling Pyris was quite an effective way to get her attention.
But nowadays, it seemed like she was growing more averse to being scolded, and whenever she felt like she might get in trouble, she would simply flee, looking like an unmistakable child.
“Pyris! Why is it that you can’t clean up? Didn’t I repeatedly tell you to put things back in their place?”
No matter how much he scolded her, Pyris had never developed the habit of putting things back in order.
Ultimately, she returned his question with an expression that clearly showed she had no idea why she was being scolded.
“I put them back! That’s where they belong.”
“How many times do I have to say it? The rightful place is where it originally was!”
“Uh… yeah, that is the original place, right?”
“Exactly! ‘Original’ doesn’t mean that it existed anywhere at any time! Ugh, this is really frustrating.”
As an ancient spirit, Pyris had a concept of space and time that was completely detached from human thoughts and feelings.
If you asked Pyris about ‘the rightful place’ or ‘the original location’, she would say that mana, the very substance that made up the world, was created into various forms and existed everywhere across countless times, so wherever it was placed, that spot would become the ‘original place.’
This was why spirits saw all objects as being in their rightful places.
Yet, even if one wanted to instill a concept of specific time, it was anything but easy.
Pyris hadn’t quite grasped the concept of time. She had barely learned to read the clock and express time as numbers, but she still didn’t comprehend the exact concept of an hour ago.
At least she understood roughly and broadly about time, like yesterday and today, morning and afternoon, but when it came to pinpointing an exact moment, she would just tilt her head in confusion.
So, Luke decided to give up hope that Pyris would ever clean up and started nagging her with something else.
“Well then, at least sit down and eat your snacks. Look, you’ve gotten crumbs all over your feet!”
Luke gestured to his feet, lifting them slightly and pointing with his finger.
The crunching noise of the crumbs underfoot was very distracting.
Considering that his research wasn’t progressing well and he was already on edge, the snack crumbs were only adding fuel to the fire.
However, Pyris seemed to be ignoring him completely, just staring at the floor.
“You clean up the crumbs. Just because it’s me doesn’t mean I enjoy cleaning all the time. Hey, Pyris. Are you even listening?”
“Yep!”
Pyris answered loudly and immediately lunged at Luke.
“Wha, what!?”
Luke, standing on one foot while complaining about the crumbs stuck to his feet, lost balance and toppled over as Pyris pushed him.
Fortunately, there was a sofa behind him, so he didn’t land too hard, but the sofa couldn’t absorb all the impact, and the sharp pain shot up through his tailbone.
“What on earth are you doing?!”
“I’m cleaning the crumbs off your feet!”
“Wha, what did you say?”
Pyris then lifted his foot.
Is she going to clean the crumbs off?
But Luke was caught off guard by the ticklish sensation on his foot.
Pyris had started licking the sole of his foot.
After knocking him down on the sofa, she grabbed her own ankles with both hands.
Her intent was quite simple.
She meant to lick off the crumbs stuck to his foot.
Just like one would lick their fingers after finishing a snack.
He intended to say something, but Pyris’s tongue was more ticklish than he could have imagined.
The shock from his tail was combined with the sensation, and it quickly overwhelmed Luke.
He could barely hold back laughter as he shouted, “Hah! That tickles…! Please, stop!”
But Pyris didn’t stop.
She sensed a slight trace of ‘joy’ in his voice.
And didn’t she hear laughter coming from him too?
Laughter usually signifies happiness, and if someone is happy, they wouldn’t be angry at themselves. Thus, Pyris continued to lick his feet.
Luke shouted out, “Stop! Stop! That’s a dirty place; I said to stop licking it!”
“It’s not dirty; it’s yours.”
“What do you mean…! What on earth are you saying?!”
Though he wasn’t sure exactly, it felt like she was saying something she shouldn’t.
Luke struggled extraneously, but Pyris’s strength was now adapted to his body, stable within the circle, and he couldn’t shake her off because his magic hadn’t fully recovered.
So, Luke’s feet were licked until Pyris was satisfied.
——–
Finally, after his feet were smeared with Pyris’s saliva, Luke managed to lift himself off the sofa and looked at Pyris, who was again eating snacks.
This is why he couldn’t help but lecture Pyris these days.
She was committing such irrational acts without any thought, so how could he not scold her?
In the past, when he certainly held a superior position, a few words would have sufficed to make her comply with his intentions, but these days, she seemed to have grown too big for simple commands.
“Pyris, you licked something dirty, so you need to brush your teeth right now.”
“Ew, if I brush, I can’t eat snacks. I’ll brush after I finish.”
“You hardly spend any time not eating!”
“Well, then I won’t brush.”
And saying that, Pyris deliberately stuffed another snack into her mouth.
Seeing that made Luke slightly annoyed.
He wanted to give her a light smack, but knowing it wouldn’t be effective, he just suppressed his feelings inwardly.
In moments like this, he could feel himself becoming more emotional.
‘Emotions… is this really a positive change…?’
While emotions can accentuate beautiful things, they also amplify unpleasant experiences negatively.
In that sense, they are like a double-edged sword.
Thus, among wizards who prefer to minimize risk, some have taken to suppressing their emotions.
He knew that the circle, which gripped his heart, would likely prevent emotional disturbances for most trivial matters.
“Keep refusing to brush, and your teeth will decay. You won’t be able to enjoy delicious things later.”
“I don’t care about later!”
“If you don’t brush properly, you might not be able to eat delicious food ever again.”
“Hmm… I’m already eating something delicious!”
Pyris disregarded Luke’s advice and continued munching on snacks.
It seemed that Pyris in her current state couldn’t grasp the concept of ‘later’.
She’d probably only realize something was wrong when her teeth started to decay and she felt pain.
To a spirit, toothache would be a quite new and fresh sensation.
Experiencing a dentist in this era wouldn’t be a bad idea…
But would she willingly go for dental treatment?
‘Well, I doubt it.’
It would be a relief if she didn’t just run away in spirit form.
Ultimately, Pyris viewed her current body merely as a toy to play with in the material plane, so the prospect of future suffering didn’t excite her in the slightest.
If it were ever unusable, she could just toss it into another dimension where it would remain until summoned again.
Like stuffing clothes you can’t wear into a closet.
It was just a shame that the form resembled him, which made him somewhat attached.
Right at that moment, as Luke was about to say something new to persuade Pyris, he heard Yerna’s voice from behind.
“Luke, are you fighting with Pyris again?”
“Oh, sister. This isn’t a fight. I was lecturing her because she refuses to brush her teeth…”
“Okay?”
Yerna nodded upon seeing the toothbrush in Luke’s hand.
It was true that Pyris hadn’t been brushing her teeth properly lately, and Luke, who liked cleanliness, couldn’t just let that slide.
Moreover, Pyris loved to rummage around and ran everywhere, while Luke preferred to explore his curiosity a bit more quietly and didn’t like running around. Their personalities were practically opposite.
And so, they often quarreled about various things.
Usually, it was Luke who nagged Pyris.
But what had once been an issue that could be resolved by straightforward words had lately become a source of worry when it turned into anger at times, and it seemed that was due to ‘puberty.’
“Hey, Luke, I was wondering…”
“Yes?”
Before asking Luke, Yerna recalled something Dyton had said.
‘It’s not a good idea to directly ask puberty-related questions to teens…’
After all, a child in puberty wouldn’t even realize they were going through it, and asking such questions could trivialize their behaviors to simple words.
So, Yerna asked a bit obliquely.
“Have you been feeling more emotionally sensitive lately?”
“Hmm? Ah… that’s…”
Luke stiffened for a moment.
Had he really accepted his emotions to the extent that Yerna was concerned about the changes within him?
He wanted to keep his strangeness from becoming apparent, yet it seemed he had crossed a line.
Was emotion really this hard to control?
He felt he shouldn’t take in any more emotions.
He was already emotional enough as a wizard.
Thus, Luke nodded in fluster, trying to play it cool.
“Yes… How did you know?”
“Ah, I see.”
Luke readily acknowledged that he was going through puberty.
Then, it would be good to make a suggestion to Luke.
“Luke, would you like to have your own room?”
“Hmm?”
Luke thought for a moment.
His own room?
But no matter how he thought about it, there was no reason to refuse such a thing.
If he had his own room, he would gain more freedom with various actions.
For instance, he could comfortably conduct his magical experiments, which he had been doing secretly in the restroom, or it would be easier to store various materials, and it would definitely help when brewing and aging potions.
Although he wasn’t sure why she was asking about a room suddenly, Luke answered right away.
“Of course!”
“I knew it.”
Yerna nodded.
“But why do you ask all of a sudden? There are no separate rooms in this house?”
“Oh, about that. I was wondering if we should move.”
“Move?”
“Yes, move.”
Moving wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
While it might have been fine when he first opened his eyes here, this house couldn’t be considered particularly good compared to those of other children.
Even considering that his comparison was against children from affluent families.
However, there was one problem.
Luke stroked his chin and looked up at Yerna.
“But did you have enough money to move, sister?”
“Um, about that…”
Yerna began to share stories about her date with Dyton that day.
“Of course, we’ll need to take a loan.”
However, the house prices she inquired about weren’t low, so it wouldn’t be enough to move just with her loan.
So, she had decided to take a loan together with Dyton. This was because, on paper, if they became ‘married,’ their assets and income would essentially double, which would increase the amount they could borrow, hence the potential to acquire a new home.
“So, Luke, what do you want to do about the name? Do you prefer the surname Risbind or Genefer?”
“What?”
