“Come on in, this is the house I just moved into.”
Luke smiled as he introduced his house to the children.
However, Helena couldn’t hide her confusion as she looked at Luke’s house.
This was because Luke’s house was nothing like what she had imagined.
‘Why, why is it so small?’
Contrary to Helena’s imagination, not only was Luke’s house small, but it also looked quite old and had an eerie atmosphere.
It felt as if it had been remodeled from an abandoned ruin.
The reason Helena thought this was not only because she had never experienced a life below the affluent class.
It was because Luke had always seemed to her to act in an aristocratic and elegant manner, overflowing with dignity, making it impossible for her to even imagine he could have an average income level.
So, Helena had thought that Luke’s house would certainly be a magnificent house similar to her own. Now pointing at Luke’s relatively shabby house, she asked in a trembling voice, “Is this really Luke’s house?”
“Indeed it is,” Luke nodded, as if it were the most natural thing.
“Really? It’s not a vacation home? Or maybe a second house…?”
“Haha, our family doesn’t have any vacation homes. We don’t even have a second house. I’ve heard it took quite a bit of effort just to get this one.”
“…”
Helena was left speechless by Luke’s answer.
Could it be that Luke really wasn’t…
‘The scion of a powerful family!’
On the other hand, Shirud nodded in admiration.
“Indeed, this is really Luke’s house.”
From the perspective of a mage, Luke’s house was certainly not the shabby mansion it seemed from the outside.
There were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of enchantments layered, reaching a level that could be considered a work of art, which even Shirud, who had just begun to take the form of a mage, could faintly sense.
Shirud soon shook his head and thought, ‘If Luke is saying this, then it must be true.’
“What on earth have you done to the house?”
“Looks like you’ve figured it out.”
Seeing Shirud seemed to have caught on, Luke grinned.
It was a satisfied smile.
‘As expected, he’s my disciple.’
Indeed, Shirud was an exceptionally talented child when it came to magic.
To notice even a glimpse of the magic hidden within this mansion right away!
Most mages would require quite a bit of time to realize the enchantments placed on this mansion.
“…? What are you two talking about?”
However, since Helena was not a mage, she couldn’t understand what they were discussing at all.
What could they possibly be admiring in such a strange mansion?
Before Luke could think of Helena feeling left out, he raised one hand in a gesture before flicking his fingers and said, “Alright, let’s go inside to discuss this in the warm house.”
Snap!
As he said that, the mansion’s door opened on its own.
As if by magic.
——-
“E-excuse my intrusion.”
Nervously stepping into the house, Helena muttered this phrase.
Having only known luxurious mansions, she couldn’t help but worry that her every small action was against etiquette.
Luke, noticing Helena’s tense demeanor, gently patted her shoulder.
“Haha, don’t worry too much about etiquette. Just act comfortably. Besides, most of my family is out.”
“Re-really?”
At that, Helena finally seemed to relax a bit, letting out a sigh.
As she loosened up and looked around, the interior of the house looked cleaner and more pleasant than it seemed on the outside.
Helena watched as Luke casually removed his shoes and stepped inside.
“Um, what about house slippers?”
“Ah, slippers. They’re over there, so if you want to wear them, go ahead. The floor is clean and warm enough that if it bothers you, you don’t need to wear them.”
“Is that so?”
Following Luke’s suggestion, Helena took off her shoes and lightly put her feet on the floor.
It truly felt warm, and it seemed unnecessary to wear slippers or shoes, just like in her own mansion.
It didn’t seem slippery at all; just touching the floor felt pleasant.
The floor was enchanted with temperature control magic and cleaning magic, providing perfect temperature, cleanliness, and friction no matter if one walked on it barefoot, in socks, or with slippers.
“That’s really amazing! It’s warm.”
Luke smiled contentedly at Helena’s reaction, as if she were experiencing warmth for the first time.
It reminded him of the few days he had spent getting used to this era, bewildered by the wonders of this new civilization.
Luke then spoke to Shirud, who was organizing his shoes.
“Ah, Shirud. There’s no need to organize the shoes. I’ve put a spell on them to always be neatly arranged.”
“Really?”
As Shirud stopped tidying up, the shoes stood neatly arranged just as Luke had said.
Helena’s shoes, which she had placed first, were the same.
On the other hand, Luke’s shoes were arranged and organized inside an open shoe cabinet.
As if by a ghost’s doing.
“As you can see, they’re originally supposed to be organized in the shoe cabinet, but the shoes for guests aren’t registered, so they won’t go in there.”
Helena was astonished, while Shirud’s eyes sparkled in admiration.
“W-what is this? What did you do?”
“Really, they’re being organized, right? It’s fascinating. Can you teach me how?”
Luke shook his head with a smile.
“It’s hard to explain because it’s not enchantment based on class magic.”
“What a pity, if I had that, I wouldn’t need to organize shoes….”
As Shirud licked his lips, Luke chuckled and replied.
“To be honest, if it’s just for organizing shoes, it would be better to hire a servant. Most houses can’t even enchant.”
In fact, the magic in question was a combination of multiple active defense spells and a phenomenon arrangement that excludes unstable conditions, along with a forced expulsion function resulting in the additional effect of organizing shoes.
Thus, while this seemingly simple shoe organization function took an unreasonable amount of effort to maintain.
For an ordinary mage, it could take more than half a day just to manage the enchantments in the foyer.
In contrast, Luke could manage the entire functional capabilities of this mansion in just one night.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the excuse of disenchanted evil spirits, Luke wouldn’t have bothered to add such a redundant function.
After placing all the useful enchantments, it was due to a lack of space that he decided to get creative.
Furthermore, it served as a significant magical vessel, given the mansion’s size.
At Luke’s words, Helena nodded.
“…That’s true.”
Although it was a bit amazing, it was resolved anyway by getting a servant; there was no need to use magic.
Thinking that way, while Luke’s ability to create such a function was impressive, the function itself didn’t seem that remarkable.
“…Yeah.”
However, Shirud’s gaze was still fixated on his shoes that had been magically organized.
Perhaps because he was a mage who handled magic.
It seemed he couldn’t help but be captivated by such a fascinating phenomenon.
“…”
Helena was somewhat put off by Shirud’s entranced expression.
Why was that?
Could it be because it was something she couldn’t do?
Perhaps it was an inferiority complex towards Luke, who had created such amazing magic.
“Hey, Luke. Can you show me to your room now? I think I’ve seen enough of the shoe cabinet.”
With a pout, Helena prompted Luke, who smiled and nodded.
“Hehe, okay. Let’s go then.”
Could it be that she was envious of the shoe cabinet?
What a cute child, indeed.
———–
Luke introduced the children to his room.
“Alright, come on in. This is my room.”
“Whoa… this is…”
Luke’s room was much more ordinary than Shirud had thought.
Shirud had been prepared for something like animal skins halfway through dissection, or various colored solutions in reagent bottles, or an abundance of unidentifiable plants, so he was surprised to find Luke’s room felt more like an average girl’s room.
Truth be told, the dangerous or unstable items he had expected were currently within Luke’s experimental space, which included Arinseia and the ‘subspace’.
However, what immediately captured his eye was just an ordinary bed, an ordinary desk, and furniture like a neatly arranged bookshelf and wardrobe; on the bed was a large stuffed cat wearing a mage’s outfit and a small teddy bear he had received last time during a birthday party.
Helena nodded and said, “It’s more ordinary than I expected.”
“Right?”
Shirud pulled out a book from the bookshelf and scrutinized it, then returned it with a somewhat disappointed expression.
“All the books are just ordinary reference books, fairy tales, or history books.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
The dangerous and unstable things had already been taken out yesterday and stored elsewhere.
Nodding as if it were the most obvious thing, Luke noticed Helena looking at Shirud with a somewhat perplexed expression.
“What did you expect to find in a girl’s room?”
Helena couldn’t understand, but Shirud’s expectations of what he might discover in Luke’s room were admittedly not this kind of ordinariness.
With a disappointed frown, Shirud muttered.
“Something dissected or stuffed, even a frog would do.”
Luke momentarily appeared taken aback.
Not that it didn’t exist.
In fact, there were indeed some things he had dissected or stuffed, as he had a Lich in the subspace.
However, there was no way he could share this information with the children.
“Or maybe dangerous substances I’m currently making.”
“…”
As for those kinds of potions he was making, there actually were a few.
After all, the kinds of teas Luke was crafting were essentially potions, and he had also gathered materials stored in the subspace that were undergoing processing.
Among them were certainly some substances that would act as deadly poisons if consumed.
“Or forbidden tomes of magic.”
“…”
In fact, forbidden tomes were indeed piled in Arinseia’s library.
However, Helena looked at Shirud with an expression as though he were saying something strange and laughed.
“Are you stupid? There’s no way something like that would be in a girl’s room!”
“Is that so…? Have I been seeing Luke too strangely?”
“Yeah, no matter how odd Luke is, he wouldn’t be that strange, right? Right?”
“Ah, hahaha…”
Luke’s expression seemed to be smiling outwardly without any issues, but inside he felt a cold sweat trickling down his back.
He couldn’t respond.
Agreeing with Helena would mean he would have to lie.
Contrary to Helena’s denials, Shirud’s gaze was still sharp.
‘As expected of Shirud, my first disciple…’
He understood too well what kind of tendencies his master had.
Although Luke had decided to show the children the ‘coolness of magic’ despite some risks involved, the ‘danger’ he intended to express only involved showing them some ‘interesting’ theories and elemental experiments, but certainly nothing like this.
What Luke ultimately chose was not an answer either.
“Aha! Are you hungry? I’ll get some snacks and tea ready right away, so please sit here comfortably and wait!”
This was classic topic-switching.
A strategy that always worked as a means of escape.
