Chapter 65: Act 1 – The Burning City
The sound of heavy raindrops splattering against the ground felt as though someone had pierced the sky, spilling blue liquid. Despite it being morning, the sky remained a gloomy gray.
However, regardless of how morning manifested, the essence of morning does not change. Behind those thick rain clouds, sunlight surely existed.
Once the rain ceased, it would surely cast a rainbow.
But the sky seemed to suggest that it intended to pour out all of the rain that had not fallen for a while.
Perhaps seeing a rainbow today would be out of the question.
‘I wonder if the flowerbed is alright.’
Originally, today was supposed to be a day off from school, a day to go to the forest with Yerna.
But with such heavy rain, what would become of the forest?
Of course, the flowerbed was protected by basic protective magic, so it wasn’t really a matter of great concern even in this gloomy weather, but still, it had been a while since he had last visited the forest, and he felt a little worried.
Luke, casting a sidelong glance at the window where the rain poured, began to rise from his place but soon grimaced at an uncomfortable sensation around his neck.
“……”
The area he felt something unusual was, coincidentally, near where he usually kept a bandage.
However, it didn’t feel like the usual pain or itchiness. It was more of a suffocating sensation, as if something was caught around his neck.
But Luke didn’t want to show any sign of pain, so he managed his expression. Just then, Yerna, waking up with a dazed expression, looked at Luke’s profile and smiled shyly as she greeted him with a morning greeting.
“Luke, did you sleep well?”
“Yerna, you too… ugh.”
As he tried to speak, a sudden prickling sensation around his neck made Luke stop talking.
Yerna quickly turned her worried expression toward him and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
‘Oh no, she caught on instantly.’
No matter how much of a grand mage he was, and even though he was well accustomed to pain and could endure it, pain was still pain, and when a sudden prickly feeling arose, instinct led him to emit a groan.
He should have prepared beforehand.
Luke had no choice but to respond with a smile that indicated it was nothing serious. “Just a bit, my neck hurts…”
“Is that so? Could it be a cold?”
“Well, I’m not sure…”
A cold… could I catch a cold with this body?
Well, there were colds in the past, and just because he was a mage didn’t mean he was immune to them.
The notion that mages do not catch colds stemmed from their rigorous self-discipline.
If it was cold, they would warm their bodies with magic. If it was hot, they would similarly use magic to lower their body temperature.
Dirty places would be cleansed, and wet bodies would be dried immediately.
In the first place, they wouldn’t throw their bodies into environments where they could catch a cold.
Of course, Luke could do the same, but he hadn’t bothered to do so.
That’s right, he wasn’t just a mage, but a living chimera.
Can immortals catch colds?
He thought it unlikely.
He had never seen Renie catch a cold.
Unless, perhaps, his notion of ‘immortal’ differed from the ‘immortality’ that Renie possessed.
That could be, indeed. The brand of immortality created through magic couldn’t be the same as that bestowed by a deity.
Or perhaps, what he had was not ‘complete’ immortality.
It could be that he simply overestimated his body’s ability to heal quickly.
Maybe, it was truly a form of immortality that allows him to ‘not die’ but isn’t resistant to illnesses.
Renie was not just an immortal; she was a saint favored by the gods.
The divine power overflowing within her would have prevented her from succumbing to something as trivial as a cold, but now he had no divine power to speak of.
Moreover, he was also susceptible to the effects of potions and elixirs.
In terms of influencing the body, potions weren’t much different from poisons; receiving potion effects meant he was also susceptible to the effects of poison.
Since poisons and illnesses have similar magical properties, perhaps he lacked resistance to sickness.
Still, it was strange.
Could dragons or beasts catch colds?
“Is it really a cold?”
Well, it probably wouldn’t matter.
He could always create some cold medicine if needed.
He could just use the leftover ingredients from when he made milk the other day.
As Luke contemplated this, Yerna spoke up.
“Then shouldn’t we go to the hospital?”
“I don’t think it’s necessary to go that far. I think resting at home will be sufficient.”
“Is that so? Then, you must tell me if you get any worse, okay?”
“Sure, don’t worry about me. Yerna, I’ll just use the bathroom for a moment, so keep resting a bit longer. You have to go to work today, after all.”
“Okay, got it…”
Yerna replied in a weak voice.
Though he always told her not to worry, it seemed she never truly stopped worrying each time.
His sincere wish was to not worry Yerna, but it truly wasn’t easy.
Luke pushed himself to rise to wash up.
One of Luke’s long-standing habits was to brush his teeth before washing his body.
For a mage, one’s body was literally a ‘property’, therefore self-management had to be thorough.
Just as he meticulously managed the hair that could serve as magical material, teeth could also become excellent magical materials, so he took care of them.
Thus, naturally, the habit of brushing his teeth developed.
Especially in this era, the act of brushing teeth has become even more appealing.
Toothbrushes and toothpaste were of very high quality and quite delightful, making Luke truly enjoy the refreshing feeling after brushing his teeth.
He squeezed an appropriate amount of toothpaste onto the toothbrush and placed it in his mouth, starting to brush his teeth.
It felt as though the act was awakening his drowsy mind in the morning.
Each stroke of the toothbrush felt like a step, bringing him closer to reason.
Luke really liked that sensation too.
– Scrub scrub scrub…
– Splash…
The sound of brushing his teeth and the raindrops pouring from outside blended together, creating a symphony in harmony.
If this melody were to reach a spirit’s ears, what emotions would stir within?
Melancholy? A sense of security? It was hard to express in just one word.
He wondered how Py would have reacted if he were here.
After a while of brushing, just when Luke felt like he had enough foam in his mouth and thought it was time to spit it out…
“Eh…”
Suddenly, a tickling sensation in his nose caused his mouth to part slightly and his eyes to squint.
It was a sneeze.
“Eh… Ah-choo!”
Luke sneezing was not particularly special.
In the mana-rich forest, where he normally lived, the use of magic to protect his respiratory system kept him from sneezing in everyday life, but in Yerna’s home, where using mana came at a cost, he had been extremely conservative with his magic use.
Anyhow, after sneezing, his throat and the inside of his mouth felt extremely prickly.
“Cough, cough. Ah…”
Was it because he sneezed while his throat was painful that it felt so bothersome? Luke thought as he opened his eyes that had been squeezed shut from the sneeze.
And he witnessed it.
The scene of the synthetic toothbrush melting away, blackened.
From the toothbrush, a plume of white smoke was rising.
It was as if something strong had directly heated the toothbrush, causing it to burn.
“No, what the hell… ugh.”
Luke attempted to speak but then clamped his mouth shut at the pain he felt inside.
This sensation, this pain.
It was a burn.
He had burned the inside of his mouth.
‘What on earth?’
Luke could not comprehend what had transpired in that instant.
It was too abrupt, this change of situation.
Heat? There was no magic being used or any traces of magic present. But where could there be heat in a bathroom where nothing could ignite?
Could it be that someone had tried to assassinate him by tampering with his toothbrush?
No, that couldn’t be so.
If anything had been done to the toothbrush, Luke would have surely noticed.
Then what on earth did this mean?
An external attack? No. His magical energy had not changed, and Yerna was outside. Furthermore, no one was in the bathroom; it was just Luke himself.
Could it be that the toothpaste exploded?
Luke knew this was an absurd thought, but it seemed the most plausible.
Could the toothpaste have been the issue?
“Luke, you haven’t bathed yet? Can I use the bathroom for a moment?”
“Just wait, eh…”
‘Oh no, another sneeze?’
Cursing the timing in his head, Luke thought it was unfortunate.
If she came in now, there would be no clues to grasp regarding this inexplicable phenomenon.
Just as the bathroom door swung open, Luke sneezed involuntarily, covering his mouth.
“Eh-choo!”
And in that moment, as Yerna opened the door, what she saw was Luke spewing fire towards her hand.
——
Dragon breath, why hadn’t he thought of such a simple explanation?
He had never imagined that even in human form, he could expel fire.
The discomfort around his neck was not just an acne bump or a pimple—it appeared to be a dragon’s gland.
Dragon’s glands, they were referred to as the weak point of a dragon.
The reason was simple, that place is where the nerves controlling the apparatus for expelling fire are densely packed.
Of course, with a bit of thought, it wasn’t hard to realize that it wasn’t just a pimple or a bug bite, but he never would have believed it was a dragon’s gland.
Do you not understand? Though dragons can polymorph into human forms, they don’t enjoy transforming into human bodies, and even if they did, there would be no reason to develop their weak point, their gland.
Additionally, offspring of dragons and other races cannot expel breath, hence they would not have such glands.
Thus, unless they were a mutant chimera like himself, there would be no human-like race capable of expelling breath.
Hence, there was no way he would have any idea how it looked.
Anyway, it seemed the reason his neck hurt was that it was a sign of the breath forming.
‘Was I even supposed to have internal combustion organs…?’
Perhaps the reason he had not breathed fire till now was due to his body being underdeveloped.
Should he truly be glad that his physical form was growing?
“Well then, at least it’s not a cold.”
“I guess that means it’s not the flu.”
Yerna was wrapping medicines and bandages around the burned hand of Luke, who had ended up with burn blisters. Luke claimed it would heal quickly if left alone, but how could they leave a child with burns and blisters unattended?
“Can’t you control that fire-breathing yet?”
“I didn’t know this was my first time. Next time, I’ll manage to handle it.”
“Then, you mean you’ll be able to deal with it next time?”
“But why is your pronunciation so strange all of a sudden?”
“My mouth is too hot, so it’s hard to speak.”
Luke found this quite peculiar.
His tongue was sensitive to heat, unable to swallow anything hot, quite literally a ‘sensitive tongue.’
But to breathe fire from within his mouth? What kind of joke was that?
If he were indeed a ‘designed’ entity, there would be no reason to make such a contradictory design.
‘Perhaps, I’m not truly a ‘creature designed as a chimera.’ If I were to create myself, I would have disposed of one of either the tongue or the breath.’
Unless he had intentionally designed a flaw to trick himself.
“……Ah.”
Yerna turned her head towards Luke, covering her mouth.
It was definitely not a good thing that Luke got hurt, so why did she find it funny?
“Why are you laughing? Hey, are you crying? Don’t cry, I’ll be fine soon enough.”
“Oh, no. I’m not crying… ugh!”
As she turned her back, struggling to contain her laughter and shaking her body, Luke thought she was worrying about him because she thought he was crying.
But he was really about to cry from suppressing his laughter, so what should he do?
That tone of voice seems like it’s really unfair.
