On a sunny day, Luke, dressed lightly, was sweating amidst the lush greenery.
It was truly a strange sight.
This was because it wasn’t summer, but midwinter, and it was rare for Luke, who normally regulated his body temperature perfectly with magic, to be sweating.
However, upon closer inspection, it wasn’t too strange.
This place was Arinseia, where the weather was always perfectly suitable for plant growth, and warm, humid weather, which was delightful for plants, was quite hot and humid for humans. Currently, Luke was working with his magic sealed, as it could influence the plants.
This was the aerial garden built atop the castle, a place that could be considered the core of Arinseia.
Only he could tend to it.
Even if he had dolls to do his work, there were things that could only be accomplished by his own hands.
Previously, Luke had experienced the sweltering heat of summer when he returned Sigarmata, but even then, this level of heat and humidity was something he had never encountered before.
It was weather that couldn’t even be compared to Aires’s summer, nearly equivalent to a tropical rainforest.
Thanks to the heat, plants were thriving, but currently, Luke was practically enduring that horrendous heat and humidity with his bare body.
Luke plunged a shovel into the ground to steady himself, wiping the sweat from his brow with a towel around his neck as he muttered.
“Phew, what a hot day.”
Not all plants thrive in such tropical temperatures, but the plants in this aerial garden, which needed to perform a core role, required that level of heat, so there was no helping it.
By the way, he deliberately injected that magic suppressor to be sure, but didn’t its effect turn out to be too good?
At this rate, using it before boarding a commercial flight would definitely keep him off magic detectors.
Existing magic detectors detect the flow of mana, measuring its quantity and danger level, issuing warnings in response. So if one limits and stabilizes that flow with this drug, even using artifacts wouldn’t be detectable by others.
“Hmm, if used correctly, it might even be quite useful for infiltration.”
The greatest weakness of a grand mage was that it was hard to hide their presence. Of course, it wouldn’t be difficult if Luke were a proper mage, but currently, he had an abnormally high amount of mana, making even simply hiding his presence quite a demanding feat.
However, if he were to use this drug…
“No, this isn’t the time to be pondering such things.”
Luke shook his head, slapping his cheeks a few times to gather his focus.
Now was the time to move his body.
Because time in Arinseia flowed in accordance with reality.
Even if there existed the mythical artifact, the Hourglass of Fate, it only allowed for the reversal and acceleration of a set range of time.
Moreover, a flawed hourglass that wasn’t in perfect condition could only serve to hold time in place.
Much like the dwarven antique known as the “Cassette Tape” created in the not-so-distant past.
Therefore, Luke was tending to the garden while holding time back as much as possible, aiming to stop the hourglass.
If he were to rewind time after having maintained the garden, it would revert to its unkept state, making it impossible to receive any assistance from that artifact when creating something new, just like now.
Perhaps due to the heat, it was hard to concentrate on his work.
But stopping was not an option.
Otherwise…
Knock, knock, knock.
“Luke, it’s time for dinner.”
“Ah, no!”
With that, his train of thought was broken once more.
—–
“Did you exercise today as well?”
“Phew, yes.”
As Luke stepped out of the room, he looked as soaked in sweat as if he had just come from a sauna.
These days, whatever exercise he was doing in his room, he always came out drenched in sweat.
No matter how warm the house was, it was still midwinter, and would he not catch a cold from sweating that much?
It was just at that moment that Yerna had such concerns.
“Ah, Mom, I won’t eat dinner again today.”
“Not again?”
Yerna raised her voice slightly, full of worry.
In fact, it had become rather common for Luke to skip meals recently.
“Why today? Is your appetite low?”
“No, I ate a lot for lunch.”
Luke said he ate a lot, but that amounted to only about two servings.
Considering he could normally eat up to twenty servings, that was hardly a significant amount.
Moreover, after rigorous exercise, he should have been even hungrier…
“Still, if you’ve exercised, you should be hungry.”
“It’s fine. I’m just tired, so I’ll wash up and go to bed.”
“…Okay, do as you wish.”
In the end, Yerna could only let Luke head to the bathroom instead of the dining table.
It wasn’t good to force him to eat.
Besides, given how exhausted he looked, he usually concealed his horns with magic, but now he wouldn’t even hide them.
Ultimately, Yerna had to come down alone once more.
Seeing this, Dayton asked.
“Is he not eating again?”
“Yeah, he says he had a lot for lunch.”
Yerna responded weakly to Dayton’s question.
“What did Luke eat for lunch besides rice?”
“Hmm… I don’t know. I have no idea how much candy he’s stashed away. Anyway, so he’s not eating?”
“Yep. He plans to wash up and go straight to sleep.”
“That’s that.”
Dayton turned to Pyris, who was eagerly looking at the table.
“Eat up, your sister isn’t eating again today.”
“I will eat well!”
As soon as she received permission to eat, Pyris began devouring her food with remarkable eagerness, leaving Yerna no choice but to sigh even more as she compared her with Luke.
Why had that child, who used to eat so well, suddenly changed like this?
“Why the expression, Yerna? Got some worries?”
“I’m worried because Luke keeps skipping meals.”
Dayton laughed nonchalantly at Yerna’s worries.
“Don’t mind it; he’s on a diet.”
At Dayton’s words, Yerna suddenly recalled how frequently Luke had been stepping on the scale lately.
And how each time he weighed himself, his expression grew more serious, even completely cutting out his usual snacks and only drinking tea now instead of having it with snacks.
Yeah, at this point, Yerna couldn’t deny that Luke was indeed on a “diet.”
“A diet? But what fat does he even have to lose…?”
No matter how she thought about it, wasn’t this the perfect physique to see?
In the past, they worried he was too skinny, but now he was so attractive that even Sorbi, whom she hadn’t seen in ages, was envious of him.
But for Luke, who looked like this, to suddenly be on a diet—was there some serious problem she was noticing?
Yerna briefly pondered the question, “Why is Luke on a diet?” but ultimately couldn’t figure it out.
After all, Yerna was an elf who neither gained weight from a vegetarian diet nor had ever felt the need to diet after decades of living as a forest keeper, undergoing rigorous training.
Understanding the psyche of someone on a diet was simply beyond her.
Then it suddenly hit her.
“Could it be that he has someone he likes?”
Recently, he would lock himself in his room for long periods, chatting and laughing as if talking on the phone, immersing himself in dramas with romantic plots, and increasing his time fiddling with his phone; he even stopped showing her the contents of his phone, which he used to share without hesitation, making it a plausible assumption.
Goodness, could it be that he’s trying to impress someone he really likes…?
If that were the case, who was that boy who made Luke change so much?
Although many thoughts ran through her mind, ultimately, Yerna’s concern circled back to Luke.
“But skipping meals as part of a diet doesn’t seem good for him…”
Yerna thought there must be a better way for Luke to diet.
With that thought, she sat down at the table and naturally turned on the TV.
After all, it was quite enjoyable to have discussions with family about the topics presented on TV during mealtime.
So she kept the TV on at all times since it could be watched.
-Ding.
The TV was currently in the midst of discussing a topic.
“… With the winter break approaching, families looking for places to go have noticeably increased! How about heading to a hot spring this winter? Hot springs have been magically proven to be excellent for skincare and dieting!”
As soon as the phrase “dieting” came through the TV to Yerna’s ears, it struck her so clearly today.
“Hot springs are good for dieting…”
As Yerna muttered to herself, Dayton set down his bowl and spoke.
“Speaking of which, didn’t Luke mention he had travel tickets from before?”
“Oh, you’re right. It might be a good opportunity to go once-.”
At that moment, someone slammed the table.
It was Pyris, who had been looking forward to the hot springs for a long time.
-Bang!!
“Hot springs?! Let’s go! I want to go!!”
“Yikes, Pyris! What are you doing?! It’s all spilling!”
Diana shouted with a hint of resentment, but Pyris’s eyes were already sparkling with excitement about the hot springs, oblivious to the discontent being directed at her by the 8-year-old girl.
