Luke walked while feeling the weight of a heavy bag filled with ingredients and let out a deep sigh.
It was certainly a satisfactory deal, but Luke hadn’t come outside just to shop.
‘I need to stall for time…’
It wasn’t as easy as it sounded in his head.
Whenever he deliberately chose items slowly, everyone would come up and ask him what he was looking for, which made it impossible to truly stall.
Even if he tried to fend people off and choose by himself, it was futile.
Furthermore, when he attempted to bargain, they would comply so readily that not even two words would be exchanged.
Unless they quoted an absolutely ridiculous price, they would cheerfully fill his bag with items.
Thanks to that, Luke had shopped efficiently at an unprecedented speed and price.
‘Everyone is just so kind…’
Could this really be the power of the ‘apron’?
He couldn’t understand it.
Of course, he knew it was not common for a child to go shopping wearing an apron…
Wasn’t it a bit overly kind, though?
Considering that this body was that of one who had imprisoned a goddess, it made sense that it would be easy to elicit favor from humans, the goddess’s creations.
Even though the goddess had long been forgotten by the minds and records of humanity, and not a single believer who truly believed in her existence remained, it was unavoidable.
Amid such thoughts, Luke pondered.
‘Could this be useful later…’
If he were to come out to shop again wearing an apron like today, could he take advantage of this kindness again?
If this generosity was directed towards him consistently, he could save dramatically on ingredient costs…
‘No, I shouldn’t be thinking about that right now.’
Luke shook his head, brushing the thoughts away as he rubbed his chin.
To discover such information on a day like today was unfortunate timing.
He had come out under the pretense of shopping, but at this rate, shouldn’t he be heading home now?
For now, he shouldn’t enter the house until Py came to inform him that the cleaning was completed.
But already, the excuses to be outside were running out.
He had only managed to stall for half the time he originally intended.
‘Having bought all the groceries in no time, how do I stall next…’
As Luke contemplated how to stall for time this time, Yerna, who had been following him from behind, watched him.
Was it because he had been able to buy good ingredients at a low price?
Luke’s tail fluttered happily in the breeze like a feather.
Yerna, observing that tail with delight, suddenly focused her gaze on Luke’s face.
Unlike his mood, his expression didn’t seem particularly bright.
At the same time, his ears were twitching as if he were deep in thought.
Seeing him fiddling with his mouth with one hand, it seemed Luke was seriously contemplating something.
What could Luke be so earnestly pondering?
‘Ah!’
After a moment’s thought, Yerna quickly recalled the reason.
Yerna approached Luke, placing a hand on his shoulder and spoke.
“Luke, you don’t want to go home, do you?”
Luke was taken aback, his eyes widening in surprise as he whipped his head around.
“W-What? How did you…?”
Luke’s expression reflected shock, as if he had done something terribly wrong.
‘Could it be that Yerna has noticed I’m stalling for time?’
Could she possibly have figured out the reason why he was stalling for time as well?
It was too early to conclude that she did, but it was certainly a possibility she could infer.
What variety of reasons could there be for not allowing the landlord into the house?
With just a bit of deductive reasoning, one could get close to the truth.
As Luke tensed, waiting for Yerna’s next words, she grinned and spoke.
“It’s obvious when you see it.”
“Y-You saw it…!”
Could it be that she saw the chaotic scene through the darkness?
Goodness. If that were the case, it would mean he had been putting on a performance that was all too obvious from the start.
Luke squeezed his eyes shut and, grasping Yerna’s hand, spoke in a crawling voice.
His ears drooped completely.
“I’m sorry, sister. I didn’t do it on purpose. I just… like being with you…”
“Why are you so distant? Are you afraid I’ll scold you?”
“…”
Luke nodded silently.
Isn’t that natural?
Looking at the state of that house, it surely wouldn’t be just a mild scolding.
If a mere child, not even a blood relative, caused such a mess in his house, he would have kicked them out right away.
In fact, cases where a child of slave origin was discarded for damaging a noble’s ornament were common.
Of course, Yerna, with a moral compass rooted in modern society, wouldn’t be so merciless as to discard a child, but still, the thought of going to a “facility” couldn’t be ignored.
At first, Luke thought that going to an orphanage might not be so bad, but given how many things he wanted to learn and research now, it would be a terrible place.
Luke was a mage, a being for whom nourishment for the mind was more important than that for the body.
A mage must seek knowledge even if they go hungry.
For Luke, who could no longer satisfy his thirst for knowledge with mere common knowledge, a facility was akin to a prison.
As Yerna looked down at Luke, she smiled and ruffled his hair.
“Did you really think I’d scold you? It’s okay!”
“…Really? You won’t scold me?”
To be forgiven so easily?
Luke looked up at Yerna with noticeably brightened expression.
Unable to control her fingers that tingled at that expression, Yerna pinched Luke’s cheeks and said.
“You wanted to take a walk with me, right? Isn’t that so? You were worried because you can’t go outside. Why care about that? Just say it openly! I always welcome walks with you, Luke.”
“Ugh, um…! Is that… right?”
Did she not notice?
Luke felt deflated.
Perhaps he should have just admitted it earlier and asked for forgiveness quickly.
It seemed too late to turn back now that he had already executed this plan.
Yerna, having such thoughts while looking at Luke’s silly smile, let go of his cheeks and pointed in one direction.
“Well then, shall we go to the nearby playground for a bit? You’ve been looking over there for a while now.”
“Ah, what? The playground?”
Luke sent a slightly bewildered glance at Yerna.
He hadn’t sent his gaze intentionally; his eyes just happened to take in the bright colors in the distance.
He had no thoughts of wanting to play at the playground.
“Are you perhaps not interested? Would you rather go back?”
Yerna looked at him as if to say, ‘I can read your mind,’ and her voice teased.
‘Does she truly not know my mistakes…? Or does she actually know everything…?’
Feeling a twinge of guilt, Luke forced a smile and responded.
“Ah, no…! Let’s go to the playground!”
He couldn’t argue about it right now.
——–
At that time, while Luke was out stalling for time, Py flew to the forest gathering mana to awaken Liv.
Py recalled Luke’s orders.
‘Luke Forest has many Forest Keepers right now, so take care of things in Rienne Forest like last time. Collect as widely as possible while gathering bit by bit so you won’t be detected by the GPS. You can do it, right?’
‘I can do it!’
– Two mana crystals from the entire Rienne Forest!
Py continued murmuring that to remember as it moved onward.
When Py arrived at Rienne Forest.
As Luke had said, there weren’t many people.
– Indeed! To know this, sister is truly amazing!
It wasn’t a particularly impressive inference, but to Py, it felt almost prophetic.
For a being that could only grasp a very basic level of causality, it was indeed something quite remarkable.
At that moment, as Py was circling the entire forest and gradually gathering mana.
Rustle, rustle.
The sound of leaves rustling.
In the forest, such noise was merely a part of everyday sounds, but Py found it quite odd.
Because the source of that sound wasn’t just one entity.
Rustle, rustle.
Crack.
Splash, splash.
The sounds of grass brushing, fallen branches snapping underfoot, and sloshing through damp ground.
The sounds soon grew into a loud murmuring filling the forest.
And the sounds formed a mass heading toward an unknown direction.
-Hmm.
Suddenly, Py grew curious about what the source of that sound could be.
What could they possibly be doing in this forest?
Sister had told him there wouldn’t be many people in this forest.
– Should I go take a look?
As Py began to approach the direction of the sound, it quickly shook its head and composed itself.
Now was not the time for that.
– First, I need to heed what sister said!
For now, it was time to worry about getting scolded instead of indulging in curiosity.
Thus, Py moved away from the chaotic sounds of footsteps.
As Luke had said, gathering only enough mana for two mana crystals.
In that moment, as Py turned its back and disappeared into the darkness of Rienne Forest.
Now, with the sounds ceased and only footsteps remaining, a figure stepped out.
“…Have the spirits really begun to return?”
He muttered, grinning with great intrigue.
“I can advance the planned schedule a bit.”
