As the sun began to be consumed by darkness, a black hole appeared in the red-burning black sky.
Finally, the black sun rose.
Having witnessed the cause of coming to the sea, Luke continued to gaze at the sky, determined to remember the sight.
At the same time, he did not forget to continuously compare the sky with the past and correct any discrepancies.
It was a sky that had changed by as much as 5000 years.
Luke did not think he could adjust the changes of 5000 years with simple calculations, but at least he could modify the units that had changed compared to the past.
‘Considering the constellations and the sun’s position, along with time and place…’
Luke continued his magical calculations in his head while also thinking.
How long has it been since he had seen a solar eclipse in such detail?
Every time there was a solar eclipse, he hadn’t bothered to look closely, and days when a solar eclipse occurred were typically times of poor public safety, so there were always many things to take care of.
Therefore, this was the first time Luke experienced such a bright and lively solar eclipse.
He thought it was a pretty good change.
After all, it was quite enjoyable.
‘It feels like I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.’
If only Kail and Renie were there with him, would it have been even more enjoyable?
‘If I could return to the past like this, I could have done even better.’
Thinking so, Luke closed his eyes for a moment and felt the sea breeze against him.
The breeze felt so cool that he wondered if the weather had really been that hot.
And watching this, Shirud thought there was something wistful about Luke’s profile.
What was Luke thinking right now?
Was he enjoying today’s solar eclipse?
It felt difficult to strike up a conversation, so Shirud also looked up at the sky, enjoying the eclipse.
The sky, with a black hole piercing through the red sunset, was quite magnificent.
The thought of seeing someone he missed seemed to belong to the past, though.
‘…No, is it not?’
Since he met Luke, the idea of seeing someone he missed on the day of the solar eclipse might not be a 100% lie…!
Thinking that way made him a bit embarrassed, feeling his face flush as he remembered missing a classmate more than his dad.
Just then, when Luke suddenly raised his camera, Shirud was startled, wondering if he intended to take a picture with him.
Shirud raised his hand to cover his face, but Luke, without a word, simply took pictures of the sky.
Seeing that, Shirud suddenly felt all the warmth leave him, and a wave of overwhelming embarrassment washed over him.
Wondering if Luke had seen him, he slightly lifted the brim of his fishing hat to cover his face and glanced sideways at Luke, but Luke didn’t seem to care about what Shirud was thinking.
Should he consider this a relief?
-Click, click.
Luke held up the camera to perfectly record the shape of the sky, taking several shots of the solar eclipse.
Well, it was something to remember, but realistically, capturing every part of that sky in his vision was impossible, so taking visual materials like this was necessary.
After checking the photos, Luke nodded at the pretty decent pictures of the sky.
“Hm, well taken.”
Shirud, feeling a sudden awkwardness from Luke’s mutter, opened his mouth to say something.
“That, that camera looks nice. Is it new?”
“No, I just borrowed it from someone I know. But is this camera really that good?”
“I’m not so sure…”
Shirud scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
He had only said that because it didn’t look bad at first glance.
Yet seeing Luke fiddling with the camera and smiling made him wonder if it really mattered whether the camera was good or bad.
“Well, do you like taking photos?”
“No, I don’t particularly enjoy it.”
Taking photos wasn’t really a hobby of his.
Luke, who easily remembered sights he had seen once, had a faint inclination that there was no need to capture situations in material form through photographs, and he didn’t even know how to take photos aesthetically.
So naturally, he didn’t enjoy it either.
“Oh, I see.”
But Shirud felt a bit embarrassed by Luke’s firm answer and turned his gaze away from him.
Noticing this, Luke wondered if Shirud wanted to take photos, so he asked.
“If you want to take photos, I can lend it to you. What do you want to capture?”
“Ah, no. It’s okay.”
Shirud didn’t really want to take photos either, so he refused.
While he didn’t intend to refuse taking a picture with Luke, Shirud couldn’t say it, thinking it might sound odd if it came from him.
———
“Oh, right. Don’t worry about me. I met Shirud nearby and we’re together now. Yes, take your time. Haha, what? With this? Oh, do that. You should take a walk along the beach alone together. Okay.”
After finishing the call, Luke approached and sat down with a relieved expression.
Shirud watched and asked.
“What was the call about?”
“Oh, it was from my Guardian. It seems I need to stay here a little longer. Would that be okay?”
“Of course. Stay as long as you like.”
Shirud suddenly turned his gaze towards the mobile phone in Luke’s hand.
“By the way, did you get a new phone?”
“Oh, didn’t I mention? It broke, so I got a new one.”
Luke replied while lifting his new phone.
It was a budget phone with less performance than the one he originally used.
He had released magic while keeping the phone in his pocket in the Rienne Forest, so that delicate magical tool couldn’t remain unaffected.
With his phone broken, he needed to purchase a new one, but due to Yerna’s somewhat tight wallet situation, he couldn’t afford to buy anything expensive, so he ended up with this one.
Yerna also needed to buy a new phone.
“Did your number change as well?”
“Um… I’m not sure. I guess it might have changed.”
Shirud, just in case, called to check, and indeed,
Luke’s number had changed.
No wonder he hadn’t been able to reach him.
“When you change devices, the number usually changes.”
“Oh, is that so? I didn’t know.”
Luke shrugged his shoulders.
Without magic sight and having mostly finished his research on mobile phones, he hadn’t shown much interest in them, so this was the first time he realized he had a new number.
Yerna had already taken care of saving his new number.
“By the way, what were you doing out here?”
Luke looked at the fishing rod in Shirud’s hand.
Surely, it wasn’t fishing, was it?
“As you see, I’m fishing.”
No, it turned out he was indeed fishing.
“An Elf fishing? In the sea, too?”
It was quite rare for forest fairies like Elves to be by the seaside, as the mana of the sea and the forest was dramatically different.
Just as trees would die if immersed in seawater, the sea was not a pleasant space for Elves.
Although these days, Elves do swim in the ocean, fishing is another story.
As you know, Elves cannot eat meat.
So the idea of an Elf fishing for “fish” in the sea was an emotion that was difficult to comprehend.
Yet here was Shirud doing just that.
Mages love contradictions and wordplay.
That is the essence and foundation of magic.
So Luke could not hold back the laughter that bubbled up.
“Hahaha! This is just too funny! Hahahaha!”
“What’s wrong… Is it that strange that I’m fishing?”
Shirud, startled by Luke’s sudden laughter, frowned in confusion and glared at him.
He was so excited that his tail was flailing around, hitting the ground.
All of that seemed to mock him.
Trying to calm his laughter, Luke looked at Shirud’s sulky expression and said,
“Then. Is that thing you’re holding a fishing rod?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“No, it’s quite unique. I’ve never seen one like that. It looks like an expensive fishing rod. I’ve only used a stick with a line roughly tied to it.”
“Well, did you live on a deserted island or something…?”
The way Shirud grumbled seemed very typical for a child his age, causing Luke to chuckle and ask.
“So, what have you caught so far?”
“Two little Fitzbes.”
“Oh, Fitzbes. Aren’t they quite cute? Show me. Where’s your bucket?”
Luke asked as if he wanted to see, but unfortunately, Shirud had no fish to show him.
“Uh… I don’t have a bucket.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not fishing to eat. It’s useless even if I catch some.”
Well, that’s true.
Even if an Elf fishes, they cannot eat the catch, so there is no point in having fish.
So does that mean he is fishing without a bucket to hold whatever he catches?
“Then what do you do after you catch one?”
“I just heal it and release it again.”
“That’s quite a remarkable type of fishing.”
So this fishing was purely a form of amusement without any intention mixed in.
It sounds quite interesting.
“Then, do you catch them often?”
“Well, somewhat.”
“Hmm.”
Luke looked at the fishing rod Shirud was holding for a moment before speaking.
“Well then, while waiting for Dayton and Yerna, I’ll try fishing as well.”
“Did you bring a fishing rod? Want to borrow mine?”
“No, even without any fancy equipment, a stick and a line are sufficient for fishing. So I’ll just borrow some line.”
