Luke was looking out the window, trying to calm his heart filled with anticipation as he gazed at the blue sky dotted with a few wispy clouds.
If he had to name what he was most familiar with in this world, it would be this sky.
Perhaps because of that, the gaze of the sky seemed so familiar that it felt unchanged from when he first set out on his journey.
Five thousand years ago, and five thousand years later, the sky existed, and it would continue to exist.
Thus, it was only natural that Luke found himself nostalgic for past memories.
Renie, she could not become the sky everyone could look up to, unchanged as she had wished, but even without her, this world was still incredibly beautiful.
‘Yes, it has all been preserved.’
The false hero who met his end in the Demon Realm, the false master of the Holy Spear, yet a true hero, Kail Propston.
Fortunately, many remember his sacrifice.
Though it has only been passed down as a fairy tale, the names of him and her will forever be immortal.
Five thousand years, isn’t that an incredibly long time?
So much so that no one could believe he really existed.
‘What if history hadn’t disappeared…’
Perhaps the names Renie and Kail, along with his name, might have been found in actual historical records, not just stories mixed with fiction.
If not, one might have to be thankful that everyone could still remember, even with the large-scale incident that made history vanish.
Thinking this, Luke suddenly felt a deep heaviness in one corner of his chest.
Faintly, what he knew in his head was indeed emotion.
Longing, yes.
Perhaps it was longing.
Moreover, longing is invariably accompanied by a sense of loss.
However, a mage never truly falls so deeply into that sensation.
As a mage, the intensity of feelings he experienced back when he merely sought magic and knowledge was not this strong.
At most, it was just the sense of missing the peaceful and cozy home while chewing on dry jerky before going to sleep.
That was the extent of the emotional highs and lows familiar to Luke.
However, it’s different now, having spent a long time conversing with Py and spirits while being honest about his own feelings.
Quite a bit.
It felt like the spectrum of his emotions had broadened.
In the past, he couldn’t have longed for someone this much.
The moment when Kail died fighting the Demon King was the time he felt the most profound sense of loss, yet he felt a desire to see everyone more than ever before.
It’s a strange thing; even though he could recall all their actions and expressions that exist vividly in his memory, and could easily materialize them into reality should he wish, the feeling that he could predict how they would respond to his words or actions left him with a memory that resonated with the term ‘familiarity,’ which to a mage sounds a lot like boredom… and yet…
He missed them.
The term ‘emotional’ might be the least suitable adjective to decorate a mage.
Perhaps this all came about because he embodied the conflicting talents of the era’s greatest spirit affinity and magic sensitivity.
So, he knows. He understands that he is contradictory.
His current self is like cold fire, or boiling water, blowing earth, and solid wind.
Feeling the Circle tremble with emotion, Luke sighed to gather his feelings.
‘It’s said that I can’t just forget at will… Being smart doesn’t always mean it’s a good thing.’
Now, he thinks he knows why Renie’s expression seemed so sad back then.
The clear memories had not yet faded the feelings.
“……”
On a good day, why should there be a need to feel uncomfortable due to longing?
What is needed now is not longing, but anticipation.
Luke eventually turned his gaze to the child sitting next to him.
It was Shirud.
Though he wanted to sit them down with Mary to get even closer, Mary had insisted on sitting with another friend and left him no choice but to sit with Shirud.
Shirud still seemed shy, having difficulty making eye contact.
Seeing that, Luke thought that no matter how emotional he became, he couldn’t be that emotional.
It was interesting to think that if someone had an extraordinary sense of mana sensitivity, they would normally be born a mage, yet could still be so emotional.
“Shirud, why are you staring only at your phone? Are you perhaps in contact with someone?”
He asked Shirud, who had been gazing at his phone for a while.
Could it be that he was communicating with his parents?
The phone’s design seemed different—perhaps he recently changed it.
Well, Luke himself had been completely absorbed in his phone when he first got it, so if it had been recently purchased, he could understand.
However, Shirud’s answer was unexpected for Luke.
“Uh, no, I’m just playing a game…?”
Luke was taken aback by Shirud’s reply.
The only game Luke knew was Super Magic League, but to think he could do something similar to it on a phone?
The core performance of phones today is incomparable to those of the past, yet it is nowhere near the quality of a real ‘computer’ used in this age.
Even though the phone Shirud had was indeed of better performance than the one Luke had, logically, it would be impossible to run an ‘absolute’ game no matter how optimized.
Luke spoke in disbelief.
“Can you really do that on a phone?”
Shirud raised the device he was holding to show Luke.
“This isn’t a phone; it’s a game console.”
Within the screen of the device that Shirud held—rather, the game console—brilliant colors burst forth.
However, it looked far removed from the games Luke knew.
“That’s strange; you say that’s a game? It seems to be just a weird screen repeating without fighting anyone?”
“Yeah. This is a rhythm game.”
“Rhythm…? I have no idea what that game is.”
“You really don’t know….”
There it was, that expression of Luke’s.
The expression that anyone would want to earnestly explain something when they saw such a look of complete ignorance.
Shirud couldn’t help but be drawn into it as well.
“This is a game where you press buttons in time with the music.”
A simple but essential explanation.
“Um, is that simple?”
“It is.”
“Sounds simple? Then, can you show me how it’s done?”
“Sure. Watch me do it.”
“Got it.”
Luke moved a bit closer to Shirud and looked at the screen.
It was merely an action to observe the screen more closely, but Shirud was greatly flustered.
‘…So close!’
If he was merely going to watch, he didn’t need to be this close, did he?
Luke’s soft, fluffy hair brushed against Shirud’s pointed elf ears, along with his shoulder and thigh.
He could even feel Luke’s breath if he concentrated on it.
Thank goodness, Luke didn’t rest his head on his shoulder out of consideration for his horns.
And Shirud’s unfiltered response made it clear to even the most oblivious fool what kind of situation this high elf child was in.
Luke asked.
“By the way, am I bothering you?”
“No, it’s not that….”
“Then that’s a relief, let’s give it a try.”
Luke smiled slightly at Shirud and turned his gaze back to the screen.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like it; he just found it somewhat distracting—really distracting, to an excessive degree.
“……”
Shirud took a deep breath before starting the game.
Normally, Shirud enjoyed playing a variety of songs, but for some reason, he felt he couldn’t do so at this moment.
He deliberately chose the song he was most confident playing.
A piece that was flashy and required some skill but wasn’t too difficult, allowing both the watcher and the player to enjoy.
The screen shifted, and music began playing from the earphones stuck in Shirud’s ears.
The bars descending in time with the music and the game of pressing them at the right moment was already something special, making it fun to operate the magic device rhythmically.
In particular, the feeling of definite interaction and the lack of need for deep thinking made it an appealing genre.
However, Luke had a subtle expression.
“I don’t really get it. What’s fun about this?”
“If you’re curious, want to give it a try?”
“Uh….”
He was curious.
And Luke couldn’t possibly contain his curiosity.
——–
Mary had always been the type to immediately fall asleep as soon as she took a bus.
That tendency still held true, as soon as the bus departed, she chatted briefly with the child next to her and then dozed off, only to wake up momentarily.
Feeling slightly thirsty, she leaned forward to take a water bottle from her bag and heard Luke and Shirud talking.
It seems like they’re having fun after she offered them her seat.
Mary felt a bit proud and decided to eavesdrop on their conversation again.
However…
“Luke, how long do I have to keep doing this?”
“One more time… It’s still not good enough.”
The weary tone of Shirud’s voice mixed with Luke’s strange, breathy replies made Mary’s sleep vanish.
‘What happened while I was asleep?’
Mary focused more on what she could hear.
She even tucked away the hair covering her ears a bit to listen.
The conversation became crystal clear in her ears.
“But it’s getting tough now.”
“Haah… then can we do just one last time?”
“Okay, just one more time…”
What? What are they asking for?
Mary’s face began to flush.
And after a while, she was utterly shocked.
“Ugh, ugh.”
“…!”
Suddenly, Luke’s stifled moan came from the front seat.
It was incredibly small, but it was definitely heard.
Why? Why is Luke making that sound? What could he possibly be doing with Shirud?
“Ugh, stop. That tickles.”
“Ah, sorry…”
“It’s okay, I’m the one who’s sorry.”
A tremendous shock, and for a moment, her mind froze.
‘What on earth are those two doing on the bus—!’
——–
At that moment, in the front seat, Shirud had put his spirit earphones into his carrier’s cargo compartment and had no choice but to each grip one of his own earphones in his hands, holding them up to Luke’s ears.
Shirud felt embarrassed about being glued to a girl, but he had been holding his arms up for over 30 minutes, and his arms hurt.
Due to that, he accidentally touched the inside of Luke’s ear, but each time, Luke giggled excessively.
The inside of the ears is sensitive, it seems…
Still, Shirud felt some satisfaction seeing Luke having fun.
Sharing hobbies with others truly is fun.
‘…But I have no idea how to break Luke’s record he set.’
With the overwhelming rhythm sense born from the era’s highest spirit affinity and the peak of magic sensitivity and training, combined with the physical ability and reflexes to replicate all movements from his imagination,
Luke, who possessed all of these, was dominant even in rhythmic games.
And as a mage, he always had an obsession with perfection in ‘results’.
“Phew, I’m finally satisfied.”
An SSS appeared boldly on the screen. The highest ranking.
He had achieved an all combo, all perfect score on the most difficult song.
Indeed, he had done it.
In truth, it wasn’t that surprising.
Somehow, it felt like he would.
“Can I lower my hands now?”
“Yeah, that was quite fun.”
“Phew……”
