Luke, who had been wandering around the souvenir shop for a while, soon stopped in front of an item.
‘Not enough…’
A tall pointed hat.
It was a pretty stylish shape symbolizing the ancient mages.
Without much thought, Luke picked up the hat.
It was made for Hyun, with pointed sections for the ears.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to try it on at least once.
When he placed it on his head for a test, it felt quite fitting.
The overall impression was quite good.
With a wide brim, it would surely be perfect for blocking the sunlight shining on his face.
If he blocked the light from his face, his skin wouldn’t burn anymore, and then he could probably take off the eye patch sooner.
With a slight sense of nostalgia, he recalled a time long ago when he too used to wear such a hat.
Thinking it was the most practical item in this place, Luke nodded.
However, looking at himself through the mirror next to it, he certainly did not look like an imposing mage.
Well, he thought it could be justified since he was a child, but it felt like he was wearing clothes that were constricting and did not fit.
It was as if something was refusing to be recognized.
Why did he feel this way, he wondered, and thought perhaps the ears sticking out from the hat were the problem.
Might it be because the shape was similar to the ones he had seen in the past but had significant differences in important aspects?
After all, there had been very few Hyun mages in the past, and therefore, there was no need to make mage hats tailored for them. Moreover, since the Hyun were in conflicts with humans, there was no need for them to dress in such a manner.
Could it be that a primal rejection occurs at the sight of a Hyun dressing this way?
But before accepting that hypothesis, there was something Luke needed to think about.
Gazing at the doll he held, Luke muttered.
“Hmm, but if that hypothesis were true, I should have felt it from the doll too, yet that wasn’t the case at all.”
With cat ears and a mage hat, he should have first felt discomfort from this.
But why hadn’t he felt that?
Was it due to some deeply-rooted emotion within him?
Or was it simply that this hat didn’t suit him?
However, he had thought it looked quite cool, so it was strange to feel rejection the moment he put it on.
Why on earth did he feel uncomfortable with a mage’s outfit?
‘It seems I can’t judge this on my own.’
Concluding that, Luke decided to ask someone about his appearance.
Looking around, he spotted a woman dressed like Yerna nearby.
A woman wearing a white lace blouse and black gloves wasn’t that common, so it must certainly be Yerna.
‘Right, so it would be good to ask Yerna.’
As he slowly walked toward her back…
“Ah, Yerna, I have something to say…”
He hesitated, stopping in his tracks.
Due to the brim of the hat blocking his view, the pair of cat ears sticking out from above his head indicated that this person was not an elf.
“I must have looked at the wrong person, sorry.”
As he said this and attempted to turn his body, she turned back and said.
“Huh? Luke, is that you?”
Hearing her voice confirmed that it was indeed Yerna.
When she removed her hands that had been covering her elf ears, a pair of ears were still clearly visible.
“Oh. Yerna, you were the one.”
It seemed Yerna was wearing a cat ear headband.
“What’s that headband? Why were you covering your ears in front of the mirror? I thought you were someone else.”
“Really? Did it look like that?”
Yerna smiled broadly and bent down to match Luke’s eye level.
When Luke averted his gaze, feeling overwhelmed by her expression, she playfully pressed down on the hat he was wearing and ruffled his hair.
The touch coming through the hat felt incredibly subtle.
Luke soon rejected that hand and looked straight into Yerna’s eyes.
Wasn’t he looking for Yerna to ask something?
“Ah, Yerna. How does this hat look? Does it seem strange?”
“No, that hat is super cute! You look completely like a mage! Just like the doll. Do you want to buy it?”
Yerna fervently rejected Luke’s question about whether it looked weird.
No, she seemed completely captivated.
She looked as if she wanted to buy it right away and hug it.
Then, it wasn’t particularly strange for him to be dressed this way.
So then, what was the source of this rejection…?
“……”
As Luke pondered silently, Yerna soon recalled her mistake and offered an immediate apology.
“Oh, sorry. I remember you said you didn’t like being called cute. I’m sorry, I said it without thinking.”
At that, Luke suddenly raised his head and replied nonchalantly.
“Um, ah? It wasn’t specifically because of that; I was just thinking for a moment.”
“Huh? Really?”
Yerna seemed a little flustered by Luke’s lukewarm reaction.
In the past, on days when she accidentally called him ‘cute,’ she had blushed deeply, avoiding his gaze and touch for quite some time, but now there was none of that.
Did she decide to accept that statement as a compliment?
If so, wouldn’t that be welcomed?
After a while, looking at the doll he was holding, Luke seemed to have made a decision and nodded once, then looked at Yerna and asked.
“Yerna, there’s something I want to buy along with this hat. Would that be okay?”
“Sure, of course! Just say the word!”
———–
A girl in a matching mage coat sat on a bench near the souvenir shop, holding a large ‘Magic Kitty’ doll.
The girl dressed exactly like her doll wasn’t an uncommon sight in this amusement park, but seeing someone holding both a doll and wearing an identical outfit like her was extremely rare.
Could she possibly love ‘Magic Kitty’ that much?
However, despite showcasing her joy more than anyone else in this space, the child’s expression was not very bright.
That appearance was rather paradoxical and also seemed amusing, offering small laughs and questions to those passing by right before entering the souvenir shop.
“……It’s strange, strange.”
Luke muttered.
‘Feeling a rejection towards traditional mage clothing? Why is that?’
Unable to comprehend his emotions, Luke’s expression was anything but bright.
Five thousand years ago, there was certainly a time when people wore such clothing, so why wouldn’t this feeling of rejection fade away?
Unable to find an answer, Luke ultimately purchased the mage’s hat along with the coat.
The quality was better than expected for a souvenir, but that was of little importance.
Yet still, he felt a lingering sense of rejection somewhere.
When he wore these clothes, he didn’t feel that emotion reflected in the reactions of other people around him.
Even while sitting there, strangers who glanced at him didn’t seem to convey that feeling at all.
‘So there is none.’
Because of this, he deliberately intended to reveal this outfit openly to see if anyone felt the same sensation as him, but no one seemed to.
What could this feeling be?
It was a question that yielded no answers no matter how much he thought about it.
As Luke’s confusion grew, his group finally finished their purchase at the souvenir shop and walked out.
“Did you wait well? Let’s go now!”
“Ah, right.”
Luke picked up the doll he had set beside him and stood up.
Then Yerna asked with a smile.
“Did you show off your new clothes to the others?”
Luke nodded silently.
He hadn’t observed the feelings he expected.
To think that so many people passed by and not one of them felt a similar emotion, Luke let out a deep sigh.
Turning to Dayton, Luke asked.
“So then, where are we going now?”
“How about over there? It’s about time it’ll get dark soon.”
As Luke followed Dayton’s finger with his gaze, he saw a sign that read ‘House of Horrors.’
Considering the name contained ‘horror,’ it could be guessed that it was a facility aimed at frightening visitors, right?
Perhaps it would feel similar to the ‘horror movies’ he had watched with Mary in the past.
He couldn’t understand why people would want to watch such things.
Nevertheless, the decorations made of skulls and flesh for that role were quite impressive.
But still.
“Why would anyone go to a place like that? I just don’t get it.”
“Why? You don’t like scary things?”
“It’s not that I dislike them; it’s just silly. It’s not scary at all.”
Dayton teased Luke with that response.
“Oh come on. Don’t tell me you’re really afraid? They say real monsters come out!”
“Monsters? Ha!”
Luke scoffed at the skull-adorned sign and the blood-smeared building surface.
“The quality is so subpar that I have no words. The shapes of the bones are artificial, and the decorations are awkward. Compared to real human bones or corpses, it looks far too much like a toy.”
“…Huh?”
Dayton fell silent at Luke’s remark.
Indeed, Luke was a child who could directly compare to ‘real human bones or corpses.’
“Pyris, how does the ‘House of Horror’ look to you?”
“Yeah, just like my sister said, it’s all fake. It isn’t scary at all! It’s not real, so…”
Pyris nodded in agreement.
Dayton nearly lost his train of thought listening to those two sisters’ exchange.
Sure, those two wouldn’t be scared of such things; no, it would be fortunate if they weren’t triggered by any traumas…
Moreover, Yerna was definitely not the type to be frightened by such things either.
So, there wouldn’t be any chance of cliché interactions like “Eek, it’s too scary. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
In fact, wouldn’t Yerna react instinctively to subdue any monsters that appeared?
It was the monster staff member that should be worried, not Yerna.
What on earth was up with that?
Caught off guard by the wrong suggestion, he felt a little piercing gaze from behind.
He was even afraid to turn around to see what kind of expression Yerna had while looking at him.
“—Aaaah!!”
In that moment, a sharp scream escaped the house of horror.
“Eek!”
Pyris flinched and hid behind Luke.
Not from the high-pitched sound, but rather from the ‘fear’ contained within that scream.
However, Luke couldn’t help but respond to that scream either.
Because the emotion conveyed in that scream was…
‘Isn’t that the emotion I’ve been searching for? Could it be that the feeling I’ve been experiencing is actually ‘fear’?’
How could this be? A mage like him feeling fear at the sight of a mage’s outfit?
It didn’t make sense; he was that very mage, and there was no reason for him to feel fear at the sight of mage clothing.
Thus, it couldn’t possibly belong to him.
However, his body definitely clued him in that it was fear.
Instinctively, he extended his arms to shield the child who had hidden behind him from the direction of that scream.
It was his instinct to protect the weak from threats, a behavior ingrained into him as the ‘Great Hero Luke Ilushi’ five thousand years ago.
And Pyris peeked out from behind Luke’s arm, cautiously glancing toward the house of horror.
She was on guard in case ‘fear’ would strike again.
“……”
“……”
Yerna and Dayton could not hide their feelings of despair at the scene of the sisters.
While they didn’t find the skulls or corpses in the house of horrors scary, they were startled by just the scream.
Moreover, Luke’s natural reaction of abandoning his doll to protect his sister was so effortless and natural that it could bring tears to one’s eyes.
Just how long had they lived that way for Luke to cover up his sister so quickly and instinctively?
“How scary that was…”
Yerna approached Luke and hugged him tightly, patting his back.
Luke was taken aback by her show of affection.
“No, this is a misunderstanding, Yerna…”
“Yeah, I know. It’s okay, there’s nothing to worry about now. You don’t need to be scared at all.”
No, that was wrong.
He had thought it was quiet for a while, but was this reaction back after such a long time?
Luke opened his mouth to clarify.
“…No, I mean, I wasn’t scared of that scream…”
As he tried to deny it, Luke suddenly stopped speaking.
Wasn’t this a ‘lie’?
The truth was he did feel ‘fear’ from that scream, and saying he wasn’t scared made it a lie.
He simply hadn’t realized that his emotion was fear.
Thus, resolving this misunderstanding could not be that simple.
So how could he explain to Yerna without lying?
While he pondered that, Pyris, nestled close to Yerna, interjected quite earnestly in response to Yerna’s words.
“The scream was real. It was so scary… right, sister?”
“About that…”
“Just as I thought? I’m sorry, so let’s hurry and go somewhere else.”
“……”
