“……”
Luke was unable to contain his excitement inside.
It was understandable, for he believed he was not someone capable of taming a unicorn. Born male, he had appeared to be quite far from purity since he had taken on this form.
But now, the unicorn was bowing its head to him, allowing him to pet it without resistance. How could that not excite him? It was an experience he had never had in all his long years.
As a mage, new experiences were always precious.
‘So this is the touch of a living unicorn! I have touched countless deceased and stripped hides, but the form of the living one, with its friendly magical aura, possesses an exceedingly rare quality!’
While he was caught in the moment, feeling the texture and magic of the unicorn, he began to grow accustomed to the sensation, and his curiosity-fueled mind began to cool down.
This led him to ponder why the unicorn was being so docile with him.
Why was the unicorn being so gentle?
‘…Hmm, from the unicorn’s perspective, I must appear to be ‘pure.’ Is that so?’
Was the chimera he had created—pure in its very essence—truly seen as clean through the unicorn’s spiritual sight?
Yes, the unicorn was among the few species that could see souls.
However, a race that used spiritual sight so scrupulously was rare. In fact, it was practically unique.
To a unicorn, regardless of virginity, a man was ‘impure.’
Thus, the souls of women who had united with such men also became ‘impure.’
To the unicorn, that ‘purity’ was of utmost importance.
Unicorns displayed an obsessive level of cleanliness towards the traces of souls and would never overlook even the slightest traces of a man’s essence. To them, it was a value greater than anything else, and regardless of how powerful the opponent might be, the unicorn would stop at nothing to judge the purity of the soul reflected in its eyes, becoming aggressive.
To illustrate just how severe this obsession was, one could mention that unicorns often displayed hostility even towards dragons if they were ‘not virgins.’
So many unicorns lost their lives in that manner long ago…
Yet to be acknowledged for his soul’s purity by a unicorn?
His soul was undeniably male, which meant, by the unicorn’s standards, it was impure.
‘Does this mean my soul can no longer be regarded as ‘Luke Irushi’?’
“……”
Well, it might be so, he vaguely thought.
A mortal’s soul could never endure five thousand years.
Therefore, a human soul would not be suitable for an immortal body.
A soul is a type of resource. If needed, it must be exchanged, just like the body.
Then that means you haven’t turned yourself into a lich, have you? Right?
Luke Irushi.
However, the troubling part was how such vivid memories were retained.
Even now, he could easily recall.
Luke Irushi’s life, memories, knowledge, habits, values, and feelings.
Everything was so vivid, how could he not define himself as Luke Irushi?
He had already settled that question.
Wasn’t it true that the only thing remaining for him was memory?
Even when only the faintest, weakest memories existed, he had defined himself as Luke Irushi.
‘Do not question yourself.’
Yes, I am Luke Irushi.
What else could I become?
After all, such questions about oneself were something he had always contemplated.
I am Luke Irushi. No matter how many times you shake my identity, I will not yield.
But, if it were the case…
What if Luke Irushi truly found another way to break the mortal cycle and reached immortality…?
I would willingly relinquish that name.
However, if that moment comes, I hope you will tell me how you did it.
Do you understand? I will not accept a refusal.
Since you have fully passed that curiosity onto me, this is your karma.
So, until then, I shall hold onto that name.
Along with the title of the great mage.
‘I am not yet a great mage.’
——-
“Yerna, I heard earlier that you said touching a unicorn ‘means nothing.'”
“……Uh, yeah.”
“Then you must also be a virgin. How about trying to pet this one? I think such an opportunity is rare.”
“W-well…!”
Yerna’s face turned as red as a tomato as she fixed her gaze on the ground at Luke’s innocent suggestion. She looked as if she might explode from embarrassment.
Luke tilted his head in confusion at Yerna’s reaction, but there was no way she could refuse his genuine expression.
However, Diana seemed still scared of the unicorn, hiding behind Dayton and not wanting to approach, so only Luke and Yerna were petting the unicorn.
“I-it’s so soft… It’s not like the robe made of unicorn leather was like this.”
“Right? Just touching it makes you feel like you’re getting addicted to its texture.”
The mention of unicorn leather made the unicorn flinch slightly, but no one here seemed to care.
While Luke and Yerna were petting the unicorn, a woman dressed like a zookeeper for exotic animals rushed over.
She seemed to be the unicorn’s caretaker.
As soon as Yerna spotted the caretaker from a distance, she quickly removed her hand from the unicorn and took a few steps back.
It seemed she didn’t want to be found out that she was a virgin.
In this day and age, having no experience with men for over fifty years could indeed be a source of shame, a thought that simply didn’t cross Luke’s mind as he tilted his head.
Anyway, the caretaker finally arrived, panting heavily as she managed to speak.
“Huff, huff. Y-you’re keeping the unicorn calm.”
“I guess so.”
Seeing Luke petting the unicorn, the caretaker looked relieved.
“Phew, I guess it was able to stay calm because you were there. But it’s not usually this docile…”
“Is that so…?”
“Well, unicorns are safe beasts for girls… It’s a relief.”
The caretaker sighed repeatedly, as if genuinely thankful.
“Even so, I’ve never seen it sit this calmly. I, nor any of the other caretakers, haven’t been able to do that…”
“Is that so?”
Luke briefly pondered the reason.
‘Hmm, perhaps the caliber of souls might differ.’
A soul suitable for an immortal body.
It would certainly be superior to that of a mortal.
Well, whether it truly is immortal requires several experiments to be confirmed…
‘I should conduct some simple experiments when I return this time.’
With that, the caretaker began to place a bit into the unicorn’s mouth, preparing to lead it away.
As he watched her retreating figure, Py came rushing over and murmured shyly.
-Luke, I’m sorry…
‘You have nothing to apologize for, but promise me you won’t ever do that again, okay? You can consider yourself forgiven since no one was hurt.’
-Yeah…
He thought he should directly apologize.
But what could he do? The being, who was merely a spirit, would never have the opportunity to hear the apology.
Furthermore, even if he said his friend, the spirit, caused trouble and apologized, who would believe that?
As he stood there, another caretaker approached the unicorn and said,
“Phew, Uni. If you wanted to go out that badly, you should have said something. Thank you, little one. I owe you my life.”
“……Not at all.”
The other unicorn caretaker was also a woman.
After all, if not a female caretaker, who could handle a unicorn?
Then did that mean he was currently ‘female’?
‘At least magically speaking, that is true.’
Well, being magically female doesn’t mean he’s no longer Luke Irushi.
Even if, in the spiritual sight, he appeared as a pure female.
Rather, he found it quite nice at the moment.
He was experiencing something he had never experienced in his life before, and as a mage, there couldn’t be greater joy than that.
As he thought about it, Py began to emit a subtle resonance.
Perhaps it referred to a promise made at the playground earlier.
‘Yeah, I understand. I get it.’
Luke approached the caretaker taking the unicorn away and made a request.
“By any chance, could you let me ride it?”
Even while asking this, Luke was very excited.
Although he had ridden many horses in the past, he had never ridden a unicorn that was not resisting.
Hearing Luke’s request, the caretaker looked startled and said,
“W-what? Uni has never had a person on its back…”
Brrr-!
The unicorn let out a sound and then lowered its body so Luke could mount.
“……hasn’t it?”
‘Uni, if you do that, what will I become?’
The caretakers’ faces turned red.
——
The caretakers said they couldn’t let him ride because of the risk of falling, but Luke asserted that he had experience, claiming there was absolutely no danger.
However, since the adults viewed it as a child’s stubbornness, the caretakers could not easily accept this.
Nonetheless, Dayton didn’t think even the smallest chance of Luke getting hurt existed, so he supported Luke’s assertion by suggesting it would be easier to let him ride just once to break his stubbornness. Ultimately, Yerna whispered to them.
“If it gets a little out of hand, I’ll catch him. I’m also a v-virgin… I think if I hold on, the unicorn won’t go wild. So how about just letting him ride on the way back…?”
“Ah, really…?”
“……Um.”
The caretakers’ expressions became slightly complicated.
It seemed they were guessing what kind of relationship these guests had.
Yerna had to sweat a bit more to provide that explanation.
———
“This is the back of a unicorn! Amazing!”
The unicorn’s back was distinctly different from that of an ordinary horse.
No matter how excellent a steed one might bring, it could not replicate the ride comfort.
Luke could not help but marvel at the level of enjoyment that was undoubtedly beyond any horse he had ever ridden.
The bystanders looking at him were wearing expressions that suggested they found it quite heartwarming, but Luke was too exhilarated to care about such trivial things.
After all, wasn’t it true?
Riding a unicorn that was not resisting was indeed a first for him.
The caretakers no longer harbored any doubts now that Luke had mentioned he had riding experience.
In fact, it seemed clear in their eyes that Luke’s riding posture exuded the look typical of an experienced rider.
Seeing Luke sitting on the unicorn with a smile all over his face, perhaps touched by his enthusiasm, Diana shuffled forward, murmuring,
“Big sister, I-I want to ride too.”
Still appearing scared of the unicorn, Diana tightly gripped her pants as she looked up at Luke.
Luke responded cheerfully to Diana’s request.
“Of course, come on up! I’ll teach you how to ride.”
Though, in reality, there was nothing to teach.
Anyway, the unicorn would not dislike Diana, and the unicorn was at an easy level for girls to ride, so there was hardly any chance of falling off.
Nonetheless, Luke’s words seemed enough to reassure Diana, who relaxed her face and nodded as Yerna smiled and helped her onto the unicorn’s back.
During that process, Yerna accidentally brushed against Luke, but once again, the unicorn did not act up.
So, with Diana sitting on the unicorn, Luke pulled her in for a comforting embrace.
Diana, perhaps feeling nervous, mumbled in a small voice.
“I-it’s so high…”
As if feeling something pleasant, the unicorn trotted and turned its head.
The unicorn made eye contact with Diana, as if smiling with crescent-shaped eyes.
Py let out a sigh, seemingly relieved while looking at the unicorn’s expression.
It appeared that there had been some exchange of gestures of reconciliation between them.
Luke chuckled as he thought of reassuring words he could say to both Diana and Py.
“Haha, it’s fine, you can relax.”
“Uh, okay…”
After that, Luke began explaining to Diana how not to fall off the horse.
“Now, it’s important to keep your legs like this and hold onto the back. Got it? And, loosen your waist according to the horse’s movements…”
“Yes, sister.”
“Good, you’re learning quickly. Diana, you have a talent for riding.”
“R-really? Hehe…”
