In fact, the logic that female children of other races, excluding dwarves, would generally not like transformation golems can be considered quite a leap.
However, there was room to try.
After all, adding just one race value for dwarves to the exploration filter doesn’t require too much effort.
And it seemed Luke’s speculation was valid.
Finally, on the computer, there was just one red dot.
Luke was filled with strong conviction about it.
He immediately moved his steps toward the red dot.
And as he walked, that conviction increasingly took shape.
With large glasses, a small stature, braided hair, and so on…
The appearance described by Third was, in fact, typical of modern dwarves.
This means that the girl with the physical characteristics that Third mentioned could be found abundantly among dwarves, not humans.
But why did only one individual appear in the results?
The festival occurring at Tigr Academy, which focuses mainly on magic-based curricula, was indeed large in scale, but there wasn’t much for dwarves to enjoy, and since there were so many underage students, alcohol wasn’t sold either.
In many ways, this festival was clearly a place that typical dwarves wouldn’t enjoy.
Even if there happened to be a dwarf who liked this festival, that dwarf girl would probably not come dressed as Third had described.
By dwarf standards, it’s likely that the only dwarf who would attend such a boring festival casually and without any special embellishment would be Umi.
Luke couldn’t tell if this assumption was subconsciously reflected as strong conviction or if it was just that strange intuition people refer to as “women’s intuition,” but for now, he decided to focus on finding Umi instead of such useless worries.
Fortunately, whether it was luck or if Umi simply had slow legs and didn’t run far, the distance was quite close.
It was a walkable distance in no time.
Considering his luck had been consistently poor lately, he could tilt the odds a bit more toward the latter.
Still, he could say he had been fortunate just now.
This speculation came from hearing the dwarves’ conversation.
Of course, there was some probability-based assistance due to the fact that dwarves’ voices were much louder due to their racial characteristics, and his ears were more sensitive than those of other races and could pick up even small sounds from afar, but it would have been impossible if their conversation hadn’t happened to take place nearby.
Thinking about that, it seemed at least all the luck that had been given to him had not completely vanished.
“Haah, I hope this luck I just experienced continues for today.”
Luke let out a sigh.
He had never particularly liked the concept of luck, but it was very tiring and troublesome since luck could come and go.
It wasn’t like he would be blessed by luck in everything as before, but isn’t a reasonable level of luck acceptable?
‘At this distance, I don’t think I need to contact Third.’
It would be much easier to simply say he found her on the way and meet at the café.
Finally, upon arriving at the red dot displayed on the computer, Luke encountered an unexpected scene.
“Hmm?”
He had found a child who looked like Umi.
However, there were also some boys surrounding her, laughing mockingly, making it seem like they were bullying her.
“Hey, you really came to play alone?”
“Uh, yeah…”
“Puhaha, seriously? You came to the festival alone? That’s hilarious!”
“I was bored, so it’s nice to meet you. We’ll play with you.”
“Uh, um… that is…”
“Why? Don’t you like us? We’re saying we’ll play with you. It won’t be fun alone at the festival, right?”
“Uh, yeah…”
Listening quietly to that conversation, Luke made a strange expression.
“Hmm.”
…Are they really bullying her?
The child’s reactions were subtle, but from just the conversation, they seemed to be kind friends.
Well, there didn’t seem to be any physical bullying at the moment…
On closer inspection, it looked more like she felt pressured rather than outright dislike.
If Umi’s voice had been just a bit louder, he could have read the emotions contained in the words and inferred more accurately, but with her voice being so soft, emotions didn’t come through clearly.
For now, it seemed certain they knew each other, and he certainly felt a sense of warmth in the feelings conveyed by those boys, so it was a rather ambiguous situation to intervene hastily.
As he quietly observed the situation, Luke decided he needed to take action and bring Umi to Third.
He could ask what the situation was directly.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation among friends. May I just borrow a moment?”
When Luke suddenly intervened among the children, the boys halted whatever that action was, unsure.
“Hmm? What’s this? A maid?”
“What is it? Is she a maid for this academy student?”
The children’s reaction to suddenly encountering a girl in a maid costume was bewilderment.
They knew that Tigr Academy was an institution attended mostly by the upper class, and that there were many maids serving the students, but they didn’t expect to see someone in a maid outfit like this in person.
On the other hand, Umi recognized Luke immediately upon seeing him.
With platinum curly hair and mismatched eye colors of a cat hybrid.
The ‘mystical aura’ Third had mentioned fit perfectly, especially with the maid outfit.
‘That… that person is Third’s girlfriend…!’
Umi was taken aback by the shock of seeing Luke.
Surely, with such a cute and pretty girlfriend, would Third even have time to notice her?
Although she had no expectations from Third, she felt as if even a bit of hope was being crushed.
If Luke had heard this, he would be horrified and deny it outright, but unfortunately, while he could read emotions from words, he could not read thoughts.
“Can I take that child with me now?”
Luke pointed to Umi, who was standing stiffly behind them.
“Hmm? Why? We were about to play together.”
“Well, there is someone looking for that child.”
“Ah, really? Then I guess it can’t be helped. Umi, what? You’re not alone, right? Go over to your friend.”
“Uh, yeah?”
Hearing Luke’s words, the boy easily pushed Umi in her back.
In response, Umi looked confused.
This was because she had never seen this side of Jack before.
‘What’s with this? These kids aren’t the type to back down easily…’
“Hey, why are you frozen like that?”
“Huh?”
“Am I that scary? What did I do? I didn’t do anything, right?”
“Uh, yeah? Th-that’s right…”
Umi hesitated and slowly walked over to Luke, who was smiling and reaching out his hand.
‘The tension is still there. Is this just how she is?’
Luke thought that if those kids were really bullying, Umi should at least relax a little bit by now, but seeing her even more stiff made him think that perhaps this was just her natural temperament.
Luke gently took Umi’s hand as if to reassure her and tried to move toward the café.
At that moment, Jack, who hadn’t stopped Luke, did.
“Wait a minute.”
Jack held Luke’s hand to stop him.
“What? Do you have something to say?”
“What’s your name? Whose maid are you?”
Caught off guard by this sudden approach, Luke became a bit flustered but soon replied with a normal expression.
“Hmm? I’m Luke Iru, and this is just a regular uniform, not specifically a maid for anyone.”
“Hahaha! What? Are you using a fake name because you don’t want to tell me? That’s harsh. Hmm, is the way you speak always like this?”
“Did my way of speaking offend you? Hmm, if it did, I’m sorry. It just came out naturally…”
“No, no. It’s not that. Haha, it’s just a weird feeling that you’re apologizing for something like that.”
“Well, if you say I upset you because of me, I should apologize. It’s not like it costs me anything to say it.”
“Wow, you’ve got a really nice personality, huh? I thought you were just cute.”
“Um… thanks?”
Luke made a subtle expression, wondering why they were wasting time on such pointless banter.
‘Something feels off…’
Feeling an odd discomfort blending with a familiar atmosphere, Luke felt the need to cut short the conversation.
“Anyway, I’m busy so I’ll be…”
At that, Jack scratched the back of his head for a moment, then held onto Luke’s hand and said.
“My name is Jack, Jack Russelka. Do you happen to have a contact number?”
Contact number.
Surely that word had finally come up.
Luke frowned slightly and looked up at Jack.
“Jack.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you, by any chance, trying to ‘hit on’ me?”
“Hahaha, are you always this straightforward? I don’t mind.”
“……”
——-
At that moment, Third, who was waiting for his master to return at the café, thought.
‘Why isn’t my master coming?’
He checked the ring’s location and saw that it had seemed to approach him until just a while ago but then stopped moving at some point.
Of course, he wasn’t worried.
He knew that worrying about that person was exceedingly presumptuous.
But…
What if there was something that could potentially put that person in trouble?
If there was something pressing enough that they couldn’t even send a message saying they were “running a bit late”?
Imagining what that could be was difficult, but he couldn’t just sit foolishly waiting here.
Third immediately stood up from the table and moved towards Luke’s location.
And then, unexpectedly, he encountered a familiar figure.
“Umi? What are you doing here?”
“Third! You came at the right time! Uh, hurry and help out with that!”
“What’s going on…?”
Third arrived where Umi was pulling him along by the hand, and he witnessed an even more unbelievable scene.
“Wasn’t it you who said you wouldn’t let go of my hand until I told you my contact information? I’ve given you chances so many times. Now, do you dare to let go?”
“Ahhh! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!”
The person who was holding his master’s hand was none other than Jack!
For heaven’s sake, what on earth had that foolish kid done to provoke him to such an extent…
“Gaaah! Aah! Ack!”
“Didn’t I tell you several times not to do that? Why don’t you listen at all? And to try and touch my head with your dirty hands, how presumptuous.”
‘Ah.’
Third facepalmed.
That kid had completely lost his mind.
He wanted to express his condolences.
