Chapter 65: Act 1 – The Burning City
Third was quietly staring at the iron ring on her right ring finger.
The reason for this ring was that it was a reward given to her by Luke before he returned home, under the pretext of a gift for the Spirit Festival for helping him diligently search for a doll shop.
Of course, the ring wasn’t anything special; it was simply a thick iron ring purchased from a nearby toy store, devoid of any patterns.
However, this ring was no mere toy.
It was a simple magic tank that could accumulate additional magical power at any time, and it had the artifact function to immediately contact Luke in an emergency by removing the ring.
It was a means to raise the stability of Third’s circle more effectively.
To allow her to store the mana needed to raise her circle in advance, and in case any issues occurred during the process of raising the circle, to contact Luke at any time.
In a potential situation of circle runaway, it was highly unlikely she could calmly take out her phone, call her contact, and calmly explain her location and situation; thus, this emergency contact method was incredibly helpful.
Additionally, although it could be easily removed whenever she wanted, there was a lost item prevention enchantment to ensure it wouldn’t accidentally slip off her finger and get lost, along with basic protective magic to prevent any abnormal changes to her skin or finger, even if the ring wasn’t removed.
Although Luke had merely cast a suitable enchantment on the ring in a moment of inspiration, believing that Third did not appear to like toys like a child, and thought that anything impractical could not qualify as a gift, for Third, it was simply an encouragement of the respect she already had for Luke.
How could anyone reach such a shocking level?
As she continued to learn magic beneath her, would there come a day when she could stand shoulder to shoulder with her?
Third tightened her fist around the hand with the ring and thought.
No, she would definitely make it happen.
Not for herself, but for her plans.
Although she didn’t mention it to Third, the ironic truth was that Luke had drawn inspiration for that enchantment from an artifact he had received from Yerna in the past called the “Child Safety Alarm.”
—–
As their conversation continued, it became clear that when Pyris mentioned wanting a child, she actually meant she wanted a “cute little sibling.”
It was simply that she wasn’t used to human language and didn’t realize the different meaning of what she had said.
Of course, even without the ambiguous phrasing leading to misunderstanding, the statement about wanting a sibling was equally shocking, so a similar result might have occurred regardless.
In the end, due to the beverage that Luke and the others inadvertently spilled, they had to change out of their soaked clothes.
Thus, the laundry pile, excluding the one responsible for the controversial statement—Pyris—grew to four.
However, in the midst of it all, it was unclear why Diana had also contributed to the laundry pile, but ascribing meaning to children’s trivial mischief was a futile pursuit, so they decided to let it be.
Luke picked up his favorite soft pajamas and murmured.
“I really can’t understand what goes on in children’s minds.”
Even now, reading children’s thoughts was an incredibly difficult task.
Actions without reason were unpredictable, and unpredictable situations always posed challenges for control.
In that sense, to Luke, children were more terrifying than any sinister schemer.
While having such thoughts, Luke fastened the last button, whisked his hand behind his back to free the hair trapped under his clothes, and adjusted his tail carefully before shaking it a few times.
While it had shrunk a bit since it was purchased in a generously large size, the light pink, dress-like pajamas still fit Luke well.
Looking down at the small frills adorning the hem of his pajamas, Luke took a deep breath.
The fragrant floral scent of laundry detergent permeated his clean pajamas, making him feel good just by doing so; it had become a habit of his.
It felt as if he had completely wrapped up the day.
Had his sense of smell and senses improved since he was younger?
That seemed to be the case.
-Thunk.
As Luke came out fully dressed, Dayton and Yerna were also in new clothes, sending a greeting with their eyes and nods toward Luke.
Luke responded with a small nod as he glanced around the living room.
There, only the torn and scattered gift wrappers remained, and the children were already nowhere to be seen.
“Where are Diana and Pyris?”
“They went up to the room to play with dolls.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Luke accepted this unremarkable fact with understanding.
Wasn’t it nicer without the children around?
With that, Luke approached the somewhat quieter table.
He intended to enjoy the rest of the unfinished tea time.
“Phew, now the Spirit Festival has completely ended.”
Sitting down, Luke picked up his cup again, closed his eyes, and savored the remaining fragrance of the tea leaves as he murmured softly.
To this, Yerna lightly laughed and chimed in.
“Hehe, true.”
However, Yerna’s laughter seemed somehow off.
As if she were hiding something behind it.
“…?”
Now, while he might not be able to discern anything else, Luke had definitely grown in his ability to read such hidden motives from expressions.
He immediately turned a suspicious look toward Yerna and asked with an inquiry in his tone.
“What’s going on? Sister, do you happen to be hiding something from me?”
Yerna glanced at the slightly tilted ear that expressed Luke’s suspicion and then looked at Dayton as if there was nothing she could do.
“Can you go get it?”
“Just a moment.”
Then Dayton stood up from the table and headed somewhere.
As Luke blankly stared at Dayton’s sturdy back, he watched as Dayton pulled out a gift box that had been hidden behind the decoration tree for the Spirit Festival.
Why had that gift been hidden like that?
Luke’s ears began to twitch, as if they did not understand the meaning.
“Why did you hide that?”
At that, Dayton ruffled Luke’s hair roughly, disheveling it, and said.
“Of course, it was to keep the other kids from seeing it.”
“Ah! Don’t mess up my hair like that!”
Given that he was already fluffier than usual due to winter molting, it was easy for his hair to tangle, and it certainly wasn’t easy to untangle it when it got ruffled so carelessly.
With a slightly angry expression, Luke quickly pushed away Dayton’s rough hands and shot a glare at the oblivious, careless Dayton, who had no idea how much effort it took to maintain such hair.
However, Dayton was blissfully unaware of his mistakes and handed over the gift with a cheerful smile.
“Here, it’s your gift.”
“My gift? I had a gift too?”
“Of course, you’re of an age to receive gifts.”
“But… I already received money from Dayton. Is it okay to receive another gift?”
Of course, that money was used to buy Third’s ring, not his own gift, but it wasn’t a lie that he had received money.
In a daze, receiving the gift in his hands, Luke stole a glance at Yerna.
Then Yerna gently patted Luke’s head while smiling and said.
“Of course, that’s separate from this. That was given by Dayton, not by the spirits, right?”
“There are no spirits that give gifts on the Spirit Festival…”
Just as Luke was about to say that ‘no such spirits exist,’ Yerna placed her finger on his mouth to cut him off.
“And, you’re nice enough to deserve a spirit’s gift.”
“…”
‘Nice’…
Am I truly a good person?
Luke wasn’t very positive about that assertion.
He felt like a trail of numerous past mistakes followed him like a tail throughout his life.
However, paradoxically, it was said that someone who is truly ‘good’ thinks they are not.
Believing oneself to be absolutely good is the greatest sin of all.
Thus, it could mean that someone who believes they are not good could potentially be good, whereas someone who believes they are good must be evil.
“Then, would it be more likely for someone who thinks they are not good to actually be good?”
It was something Renie had brought up after hearing the confession of a sinner who blamed themselves as an evil person.
“So you might be good.”
It was as if the voice from that time echoed from the gift.
Perhaps, in this moment, I am indeed a good child to them.
Despite having caused various accidents, inconvenience, and embarrassment.
Luke quietly stared at the gift and carefully began to unwrap it.
And the gift was…
“Computer…?”
It was a portable computer similar to the one Luke already had.
Surprised by the unexpected contents, Luke looked at Yerna, and she smiled brightly as she spoke.
“I thought one computer wouldn’t be enough. How is it? Surprised, right?”
“…”
Luke briefly closed his mouth.
He understood the intention of wanting to surprise him, but he had already been diligently calculating to save up for a better computer once the prize money came in, and then suddenly receiving a computer as a gift.
He honestly thought about asking if he could just refund it and take the money instead, but imagining Yerna’s happy face turning into disappointment made it difficult to say such a thing.
So, Luke reluctantly raised the corners of his mouth to form a smile and said.
“Th-thank you…”
It was true that he was thankful for the gift.
So now, what should he do with this computer…
