In the midst of the grass, Luke suddenly had a thought.
Was there really a need for this?
If he had properly explained his situation to an adult close to him, like Yerna or Dayton, he might have even received protection.
If that were the case, he wouldn’t have to evade others’ gazes, conceal the Circle’s magic, and erase his traces while making his way through the forest path.
‘But there’s no point in worrying about it…’
Even so, there was a justification for Luke giving up that option.
Originally, mages valued their personal space highly.
It could be due to secretive research that they didn’t want to share, or because of valuable items they wished to keep untouched by others.
If not, it might be a memory they didn’t want anyone to know about…
However, Luke had been using that pocket space for such personal purposes for a long time.
He wasn’t trying to talk about Rienne’s drawing, which he had secretly managed to stash away in a corner of that space.
Even without that, there were many things he didn’t want to show.
In particular, there were those that contained the remains of criminals who had been executed, or the preserved organs of various monsters or beasts…
In terms of the emotions of that time, it wasn’t particularly unusual, but it would be hard to comprehend with today’s sensibilities.
‘Perhaps if Yerna or Dayton saw it, they would be horrified…’
Well, even if it wasn’t specifically that, there are artifacts that can influence the mind just by being touched, seen, or even simply known about.
For someone unaware, it can indeed be very dangerous.
So, it was inevitable.
The sound of leaves rustling in the wind, the distant chirping of birds just enough to gauge direction, and the somewhat bitter scent of grass.
Walking through such a forest while dressed as a mage, evading pursuit, seemed to evoke past memories.
‘But it seems like the patrols are more frequent than expected…’
Have the patrols been reinforced?
If not…
For a moment, as Luke gauged direction, he quickly hid behind a tree at the sound of approaching footsteps and pulled his hat down lower.
“Looks like they came this way, right?”
“From the traces, yes, it seems so.”
“How’s the scent?”
“Yes, it matches. They were here until recently.”
They were not an ordinary patrol team but a hunting-specialized beastkin forest keeper pair.
Moreover, judging by their unfamiliar faces, they seemed to belong to the Rienne Forest…
Furthermore, the content of their conversation was troubling.
Had he already been discovered?
‘Then what about Py…?’
It was decided that if anything unusual happened, Py would come and inform him…
As expected, Luke soon spotted the blue spirit, Py, who had approached him.
“Luke! Kate, we’ve been found out!”
So it turned out like this?
Luke nodded.
However, this was quicker than he had anticipated.
“Py, what on earth happened?”
“Well…”
Py quickly explained the situation.
——–
After Luke had set up the scarecrow, several minutes passed.
Kate was diligently tending to the flowerbed as per Luke’s orders.
“Hey, Luke. Isn’t Sanson bothering you?”
Dayton laughed with his arms resting on the fence of the flowerbed.
Upon receiving a glance from Dayton, Kate soon produced a response according to the logical circuits implanted within her.
“Um, yeah.”
With Luke’s somewhat lackluster reply, Dayton thought that Sanson must have been quite bothersome.
“You understand that guy, right? He’s just showing affection toward you.”
“I know.”
“Really? Then that’s a relief.”
Well, Luke wasn’t the type to complain about such things.
Still, it seemed he had been bothered enough that Dayton couldn’t help but notice his unusual reaction.
“Your voice seems oddly devoid of energy. Haven’t you been able to take walks alone lately?”
“Who knows.”
“Hmmm.”
As Dayton observed Luke’s reaction, he suddenly suggested.
“Luke, if you’re not feeling well, how about I make some of those skewers you like later? What do you think?”
“No, thanks.”
My goodness, Luke outright rejected the skewers?
That was quite something.
“Why? Is it because you’re busy managing the flowerbed? When will that be finished?”
“I don’t know.”
“Hmmm… okay?”
Dayton felt something strange about the repeated short replies from Luke.
Moreover, having observed for a while, he felt that the order of watering the flowerbed was repetitive.
It was almost mechanical…
Watching this, Dayton had a thought.
‘Could it be that he’s also feeling annoyed right now?’
After all, when a person becomes dissatisfied with one thing, everything in the world seems bothersome.
Luke was probably the same.
Then how should he lift Luke’s spirits? Even the skewers he usually enjoyed were now a hassle.
‘Ah.’
Thinking back, Luke sometimes felt better when his neck or shoulders were massaged.
From observing Luke’s grandfather’s reaction, it seemed that it wasn’t just because he enjoyed it.
Diana, on the other hand, would panic and say it hurt with just a small massage of the shoulders, but the fact that Luke already liked massages was somewhat cute.
With that thought, Dayton quietly approached Luke from behind and, using one hand, began to knead his neck while speaking.
“Hey, don’t act so stiff, let’s go eat some skewers…”
In that moment.
-Bang!
With Dayton’s sudden massage, the magical barrier that had been placed on Kate’s nape was erased, causing the enchantment on the scarecrow Luke had set up to unravel.
“What?!”
As a result, Dayton, who was left alone with Luke’s puppet, was taken aback, but soon after grasping the situation, he sighed.
“What the… is this a prank by Luke?”
That guy kept using magic for these kinds of things.
Had he dressed the scarecrow in his own clothes?
Dayton looked at Luke’s puppet, ‘Kate,’ and chuckled.
“Hah.”
Thinking back, there was a time when he had played such pranks secretly with a cane long ago…
‘That’s a memory.’
The difference being, he couldn’t create magic as elaborate as this.
Watching it speak, he truly had been fooled.
Although he did feel a slight sense of unease.
“Upon closer inspection, he’s still just a kid.”
But if he had dressed a puppet in his own clothes, what was he wearing?
Could it be that he was wearing the same mage outfit that the puppet was dressed in?
Thinking about that made Dayton stifle a laugh.
‘This kid, now that he can’t walk through the forest alone, is resorting to such tricks.’
“Hey! Luke! Where are you! You startled me! Come out now!”
While shouting as he looked around, Dayton noticed a piece of paper that had fallen at his feet.
It seemed to have been hidden in the puppet’s possession.
Reading the letter, it roughly stated that he had gone for a walk and not to worry because he would return on his own in a bit.
‘Sounds rather calculating…’
It seemed he was quite displeased about not being able to take walks alone.
‘Well, in fact, Luke had always moved around well alone… Now that his body has fully healed, he should be fine.’ Just as he thought and turned his head, he happened to make eye contact with a somewhat pale-faced Sanson.
—–
“So that’s how it is…”
Luke, having heard the entire story from Py, rubbed his forehead.
He had even taken the trouble to write a letter, worried that they might come looking for him… and once again, that man Sanson was the problem.
It seemed that due to his unnecessary rank in the Rienne Forest and the known circumstances, this sort of search was being mobilized.
‘If I had known this would happen, I should have taught Pyreis to take on different appearances…’
But then, later on, he would have to worry about Pyreis causing mischief by impersonating him.
Luke couldn’t even gauge what Pyreis would do if he knew how to take on different appearances, so he couldn’t dare to do that.
Noticing Luke’s moment of hesitation, Py asked with concern.
-What are you going to do? Are you going back?
“Forget it, I’m almost at my destination anyway.”
Still, he had bought enough time.
Whether walking purely by physical ability for fear of being detected using magic, he had moved directly without encountering any monsters and was nearly at his coordinates.
Although now, it seemed he would not be able to return as if nothing had happened, as long as he could just open the ‘door,’ that would suffice.
“Py, can you mimic some magic at a slightly distant point? To draw people over that way.”
-Okay, I understand.
“Thanks a lot.”
-But you have to give me cookies!
“Yeah, yeah. I get it. Make sure to put a lot of magic into it.”
Seemingly satisfied with Luke’s response, Py bounced up and down, making chirpy sounds.
As Luke watched the swiftly disappearing spirit, he resumed his steps.
