The Forest Keepers’ Summer Vacation
Thanks to that, there were quite a few people heading to the sea now.
Not just himself and Yerna, but also Pyris and Diana, in addition to Dayton, Sorbi, Kirke, and even Daphne.
Luke looked out the window at the rapidly passing scenery and said with a hint of regret,
“Such a shame. I wish the Third could have come along to see the eclipse.”
“There’s nothing you can do about it; if they don’t want to,” Yerna replied.
“That’s true.”
There was no reason to drag someone who didn’t want to join, so it couldn’t be helped.
Even without the Third, their group was already large enough.
Luke suddenly recalled the time when Pyris had scribbled in his notebook.
A black sun? It was really just perfect timing.
If that spirit hadn’t reminded him about the eclipse, he would have missed it this year, and that would have meant wasting quite a bit of time for no reason.
In that sense, Luke was grateful to Pyris.
In a way, you could say Pyris was the key player in making this trip possible.
With that thought, Luke gently brushed the hair of Pyris, who was lying on his lap and sleeping, making sure not to disturb her, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.
“You’ve been looking forward to this since yesterday, yet you’ve fallen asleep faster than anyone else in the car.”
Thinking back to how excited she had been last night, it made him feel a little dizzy even now.
Especially since, after he and Dayton had worked hard on making the lunch boxes, Pyris had devoured everything without leaving a trace, which meant they had to go buy more ingredients.
The amount she ate was enough for both Luke and Dayton to be speechless.
It was utterly puzzling where all that food went in her small body.
Luke pondered whether it was some sort of magical phenomenon.
Perhaps she was disassembling the meal into magic and reconstructing it into her own body.
When he mentioned that, Dayton shook his head, saying that the mystery of her abnormal appetite also applied to him, but he explained that the digestive process of his body, being entirely material, happened in a very normal and physical way, so that couldn’t be the case.
Well, he didn’t entirely believe that his internal organs were completely identical to those of an ordinary person.
Furthermore, since Pyris loved to play pranks, teaching her the safety rules was quite a challenge.
“Don’t go too deep into the water.”
“Don’t stay underwater for too long.”
“Don’t play pranks on others.”
“Don’t transform into a spirit in front of everyone.”
“Don’t wander too far from the others.”
“Don’t eat anything you find on the beach.”
And so on.
Dayton and Luke took turns drafting the rules that a typical child should follow while swimming, as well as the rules that the spirit Pyris needed to know.
They warned her that if she broke any of these rules, they wouldn’t talk to her for a while, so Pyris would likely do her best to follow them.
Though Pyris, as a spirit, had relative freedom from death due to not belonging to the material plane, it was not entirely true that Pyris’s physical avatar, Pyris, was completely free from death.
Now, it may as well be revealed that the precise examination showed that Pyris’s body was identical to a human’s.
That means that if she got pierced by something sharp, she would bleed, and if she didn’t breathe, she would die, just like a human.
Even if she could avoid all dangers through spiritification, it was better to be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.
If a child’s corpse were to suddenly wash up on the beach, it would undoubtedly cause a huge uproar.
If Pyris were inexperienced in the material plane, she might not even realize that her body was dead when she passed away.
Pyris, who perceives bitter tastes, pain, and foul odors merely as simple stimuli, couldn’t accurately judge whether harm was indeed harmful to her.
When Luke had scolded Pyris before, the remorse she exhibited was merely because he had mixed his anger with his emotions, not because her sore bottom hurt from being hit, which Luke was aware of.
So, it wasn’t easy to be overly optimistic about Pyris’s safety just because she was a spirit.
Of course, Pyris’s death wouldn’t directly lead to the death of the spirit Py.
However, others would be greatly shocked.
That said, he couldn’t just leave her behind.
Even if he told her not to follow, she surely would have found a way to come along, which could have led to even more unexpected results.
Some things might be better permitted with established rules from the start than outright banned.
While Luke was thinking along those lines, he suddenly realized something.
“How boring.”
With no magic sight, he could only see the simple material forms around him, making him feel a bit bitter, wondering if the world had always been this dull.
It felt as if a color had vanished from the world.
Not being able to see was, surprisingly, a terrible matter.
“I should probably think of a way to supplement my magic sight…”
Once the research on black flames was finished, Luke thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to set the goal of implementing a magical magic sight as the next research project.
——-
“Lu, we’ve arrived. It’s time to wake up.”
“Mm…”
Suddenly unable to bear the boredom, Luke opened his eyes at Yerna’s gentle touch waking him.
Looking around, it seemed they were in a parking lot… or was it a stable?
“Ha ha, a stable? Am I still half asleep?”
There were no horses pulling carriages in this era, so how could there be a stable?
He thought he had sufficiently adapted, but occasionally such thoughts came to mind reflexively.
Would time resolve this?
“Pyris, it’s time to wake up.”
“Umm…”
As Luke woke Pyris who was sleeping on his lap, rubbing her eyes, he spotted a sign that read “Omerun Beach.”
Calculating the height and angle of the sun, it appeared to be around noon.
It seemed they had spent longer on the road than expected.
The party that had set off at dawn had only just managed to reach the beach by lunchtime.
Luke asked Yerna to confirm.
“Yerna, when is the eclipse?”
“The eclipse will happen just before sunset.”
“Then we still have quite a bit of time.”
“We have plenty of time. Don’t worry.”
It seems the operation of the sky created 5000 years ago hadn’t changed after all.
Sorbi, who got out of the car, stretched widely and said,
“Ugh, the traffic was pretty bad.”
Kirke then stepped out of the driver’s seat, letting out a tired sigh.
She was tired from the long drive.
“Well, it is an eclipse. There must be quite a few people coming to the beach.”
“That’s true. Anyway, thanks for the drive!”
“Cheh…”
“Ha ha, don’t be like that. I’ll help you on the way back too.”
Daphne said, massaging Kirke’s shoulder.
Honestly, having a driver’s license doesn’t pay off when going out to have fun.
As Sorbi continued to tease Kirke, she suddenly recalled and said to Daphne,
“By the way, it’s been a really long time since we got to hang out together outside.”
“That’s true.”
Daphne replied, lifting her shoulders slightly.
“How could you pass up this opportunity?”
“That’s right?”
Sorbi and Daphne exchanged grins while looking at Luke, who was gazing up at the sign.
Even with shorter hair and missing horns, and with one eye covered, Luke was still an adorable kid.
At that moment, they heard a voice calling for Sorbi from a corner of the parking lot.
“Hey, Sorbi! Come help me out over here!”
It was Dayton, who had brought beach umbrellas, mats, and coolers filled with food and drinks.
Sorbi retorted in an annoying tone.
“Oh come on, that’s supposed to be a guy’s job.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. If you don’t help, there’ll be nothing left for you!”
Dayton absolutely could not agree with that. He was the only man in the group after all.
The moment he agreed with that statement, he would literally become a fool.
“Just help with that.”
“Ugh.”
Kirke pushed Sorbi’s back.
———-
“Hmm…”
As they got closer to the beach, Luke was staring only at his toes.
He had nowhere to look.
His uncomfortable feeling was making his face turn red, and cold sweat was rolling down.
Yerna, worried about Luke’s unusual demeanor, asked him,
“Lu, what’s wrong? Are you feeling ill? Do you want to use the restroom?”
“No, it’s not that…”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Well…”
Luke slowly lifted his head to look at the throngs of people at the beach.
Everyone was practically “exposed,” with their skin on display, even their navels openly visible, strutting around nonchalantly, which struck Luke as exceptionally obscene.
“How can they expose themselves so much under the sun…?”
The lies Sorbi and Yerna had told at the swimsuit store weren’t… Well, they weren’t lies, so he had to correct himself.
In other words, it was a fact that everyone was walking around half-naked without a care!
“I… I’m sorry. Yerna, it wasn’t a lie after all.”
“Oh. So that’s what you were worried about? It’s fine; it’s nothing. Let’s hurry and change clothes since we’re at the beach!”
“Uh…”
Luke lightly brushed back the hair that fell beside his face.
It was a habit he often did when nervous as a child, and he never expected to find himself doing that again.
He’d never felt so bewildered throughout this time, nor had he experienced this level of emotional turmoil before.
As he fidgeted with his hair, hesitating, he looked up at Yerna and said,
“Um, do we really have to change?”
“What are you talking about, Lu? You already have your swimsuit on under that outfit, don’t you?”
In fact, Luke had been wearing his swimsuit under his one-piece from the very beginning since they were going to the beach.
“…Then is it okay to swim like this?”
“That outfit is delicate, and it won’t fare well if it gets wet. Plus, it’ll be uncomfortable to swim in that, you know?”
Well then, there was no choice.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t not swim…”
“Lu, you said you wanted to learn how to swim from me… Did you change your mind?”
“Ugh.”
Luke clamped his mouth shut.
He had initially suggested to Yerna that he wanted her to teach him how to swim, believing that having more options would undoubtedly be beneficial in the future.
And it was a promise to himself.
“The promise to learn how to swim from Yerna this time.”
A mage cannot unilaterally break a promise.
Doing so means he would have told a “lie.”
Unless Yerna declared that she wouldn’t teach him how to swim, he would become a liar otherwise.
It seemed Yerna was very much looking forward to it.
Her face showed such a disappointed expression…
“Please don’t say that! I’ll… I’ll swim, alright?!”
“Really?”
“Y-yeah…”
Seeing Yerna’s face brighten, Luke forced a smile.
Well, it couldn’t be helped…
