After an extended period, the sensation reached was truly nothing short of cozy.
But still.
‘How nice would it have been if that happiness could have lasted a bit longer?’
It was inevitable that some regret lingered.
A single day was far too short to cover the long span of 5000 years.
The comfortable feeling sensed from the same circle’s magical pattern as the old master felt like a dream.
Perhaps, it was truly just a dream.
Was it some kind of illusion flowing from the worn-out magic core?
However, even so, I was happy.
If I was happy for even a moment, that would be enough.
It would have been nice if I could have laughed a bit more with that child.
But a dream is a dream.
In the end, I must wake up.
At that moment, a light that seemed to beckon me appeared in my darkened vision.
Could it be the afterlife?
What would happen to me, who is devoid of even a soul, once I cease to function? This has always been one of my lingering questions.
Could it be that I am about to learn that answer?
——-
As the magic surged, Liv’s consciousness was slowly returning.
Once consciousness returned, Liv began turning her head to ascertain her current state, location, and situation.
“……”
A messy interior.
A doll’s body with its seams torn.
And emerald-green eyes.
What this indicated was that this place was not a space after death but reality.
‘Could it be that all of that was truly reality?’
Liv felt her senses returning and slowly raised her body.
“I really woke up!”
“……”
Liv momentarily scanned the appearance of the girl.
The girl with blue hair who bore the same magic as her old master welcomed Liv with a bright smile.
“……”
With a hopeful expectation that perhaps this girl could explain the situation, she met the doll’s eyes with the child’s.
In response, the girl’s expression quickly turned pouty.
While she didn’t seem to have any intention of hostility like before, the reason was unknown.
This girl exhibited rapid emotional changes.
“Hmph! My big sister said you could clean, so I woke you up. It’s not because I like you or anything.”
“……”
Is that really an order?
‘Cleaning.’
Of course, basic tidying up and maintenance tasks are possible.
If I couldn’t perform at least that level of function, it would have been impossible to operate in Arinseia for such a long time.
“……”
Liv looked around again.
Although there were many broken and scattered things, this was still relatively easy compared to Arinseia.
Liv began looking around and picked up a broom that fit her hand perfectly to start cleaning up broken dishes and bottles.
“Wow! You really know how to clean! You’re more impressive than I thought!”
Pyris exclaimed while watching.
‘Wow, I didn’t know a broom could be used like that!’
———-
“……”
When Luke arrived at the playground, he simply sat on a bench, watching the children play tag without doing anything.
“Why aren’t you playing? Don’t you want to?”
Logically, it would be better to join in with those kids to buy time.
However, what good would that do?
Luke looked at Yerna and said, “To be honest, I prefer just sitting here with my sister instead of playing over there.”
He didn’t particularly want to ride on the playground equipment, nor did he want to deal with the overflowing energy of the children visiting the park.
The time he could enjoy playing with kids at that age would hardly stretch beyond 10 minutes.
After that, he would get tired.
Even if it wasn’t physically exhausting, it was quite psychologically tiring.
Moreover, nowadays, he didn’t even know how to play with kids well.
However, such matters didn’t particularly concern Yerna.
Yerna’s mood brightened at Luke’s response as she took off her gloved hand without a burn and squeezed Luke’s cheek.
“Wow! You’re so cute today! What’s up with you?”
“Ugh…?”
Luke could feel how soft his cheek was through Yerna’s hands.
Come to think of it, he shed his skin a few days ago.
Thanks to that, Luke’s cheeks felt very soft today.
“C-Come on, stop…”
“Oh, sorry.”
That touch remained on Luke’s cheek until he asked her to stop.
It also meant that Yerna’s rough handprint remained on Luke’s cheek.
‘Yerna certainly has rough hands…’
Being a Forest Keeper, it couldn’t be helped that her hands are rough, but the sensation was not particularly pleasant.
Even so, Luke didn’t show his dissatisfaction outwardly.
‘When is Py coming…?’
He had asked her to come once cleaning was done, but Py still hadn’t shown up.
No matter how much he looked around, the only blue he saw was the flowers in the flowerbed over there.
It felt draining.
As Luke rubbed his cheek after being let go from Yerna’s hands, she smiled and said,
“You know, I had no idea that you were so thrifty with your shopping.”
Usually, when Yerna bought ingredients, she would just randomly grab whatever was on top without haggling.
Since she didn’t even know how to cook well and wasn’t particularly concerned about taste as long as the food provided nutrients, it was quite a strange sight for Yerna to see Luke like just now, trying to buy ‘better ingredients at a lower price.’
“Oh, haha… Well, I don’t always do that.”
In truth, Luke didn’t really try to haggle that actively either.
Originally, the definition of ‘efficiency’ differs based on what one prioritizes.
For Luke in his usual state, the value of ‘time’ as a resource is much more valuable than any material value, so unless it’s absolutely necessary or the other party is someone with whom negotiations go well, he wouldn’t stubbornly attempt to haggle as he did today.
So, this statement wasn’t exactly a lie…
“Hah.”
Luke stopped his train of thought and sighed.
Suddenly, he felt that all of this was futile.
There’s a saying that one lie leads to another.
Once a lie begins, that chain reaction commences.
Luke started to feel regret now.
Even though in the worst-case scenario, he might end up in a facility, he was beginning to wonder if what he was doing was really right.
Though he hadn’t told a lie, that was nothing more than an excuse.
Luke had a record of having tricked even gods, but deceiving someone was indeed a tiring task.
Ideally, a mage should not deceive but negotiate instead.
A mage is a person who enforces their will.
Thus, he knows that speaking the truth and asking for forgiveness would be the more logical course of action.
However, fleeing from a wrongdoing out of mere fear of punishment is truly disgraceful!
Is this really a conclusion that arises from a great mage’s consciousness and will?
How on earth did it come to this?
Luke thought while idly tweaking his tail that he had pulled up onto his lap.
Perhaps it’s because he has been trapped in this body for too long.
This body is the vessel that contains the goddess, Levi’s flesh, and Parvati’s heart.
Although now, the personality formed within the circle of the greatest will, Luke Irusi, held the outer control, he couldn’t fathom the circumstances within the shell he was unaware of.
In the past, it might have been a trivial change that one could brush off based on that day’s feelings…
But perhaps, gradually, there has been some sort of erosion affecting him without his notice.
The mere mortal being that originated from himself could not surely accept immortality without any change.
Moreover, being someone who was merely derived from the great mage’s will all the more so.
As a result of the instinct inscribed in his body, his current way of thinking and behaviors are somewhat similar to a cat, and didn’t he even transform into a dragon during the moment he lost consciousness because of hurriedly inscribing the third circle?
But really, how ridiculous!
‘Is this all the effect of immortality?’
Well, it’s true.
Originally, immortal beings do possess somewhat juvenile aspects compared to sentient beings of the material plane.
They do not ‘grow’ as they do not change.
‘But…’
That does not justify his actions at all.
Before realizing that, he had been making all sorts of excuses, but once he was conscious of it, his actions truly seemed childish, the kind that kids would do.
‘Alright, I’ll say it.’
It seemed better to just say it and relieve himself.
If they were truly trying to cast him out, then he would have to negotiate somehow.
With that determination, Luke sent a glance at Yerna and began to speak up.
“Yerna, actually, I did something wrong.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“So…”
Yerna tilted her head in confusion as if she didn’t understand what he was talking about.
Why was he suddenly saying he did something wrong?
“The truth is, your house is in quite a state of disarray right now, and I couldn’t bear to reveal that, so I lied to you. The story about the apple pie was just an excuse I thought of right before you arrived.”
Hearing Luke’s confession, Yerna seemed a bit surprised and asked.
“What? Why on earth did you do that?”
“That’s… I thought that if I messed up, I might end up in a facility…”
At Luke’s words, Yerna looked shocked and said.
“Facility? No way! I would never send you there! Why would I send you to a place like that?”
A facility? That’s nonsense.
If she intended to do that, she wouldn’t have even thought about accepting him as family in the first place!
But Luke seemed quite struck by her words, looking at her in shock.
“…Really, you wouldn’t send me there?”
“Of course not! Do you think your sister would really do something so trivial? No matter what mistakes you make afterward, that won’t happen. We are truly family now.”
“Family…”
Luke suddenly felt how significant those words were.
Just hearing a two-syllable word, all his anxiety began to dissipate.
It truly was like magic.
“But just how much of a mess is it?”
Luke began to recount the specific state of damages to Yerna.
“The bedding, couch, and other furnishings are damaged, including seven types of dishware, such as your cherished teacup, along with damages to the wallpaper and floor covering. There are numerous foreign substances like feathers from the pillow and flour eggs…”
As Luke continued to list off the damages, Yerna’s expression gradually darkened.
‘Wait, this seems more serious than I thought…?’
But Luke’s words did not end there.
“This is the situation in the living room. Now, speaking of the bedroom’s conditions…”
“…Wait, what did you say?”
The bedroom too??
