Before going to bed, Luke was seated in his room with Liv, Kate, and Pyris, giving them instructions.
These instructions were in preparation for the children who would be visiting the next day.
“Tomorrow, my friends will come and we will talk. So you should avoid disturbing them as much as possible. Especially, Liv and Kate, don’t move or make noise unless it’s a really dangerous situation. Got it?”
When Luke questioned them to confirm his requests, the responses from everyone weren’t very enthusiastic.
It was clear that they all had some complaints or questions.
“If you have questions, raise your hand and ask.”
The mage golem, the armor-less living armor, and the materialized spirit gathered closely and each raised a hand.
It seemed that everyone had a question.
“Okay, let’s start with Pyris.”
Having received the floor, Pyris lowered her hand and, with an innocent expression, said, “Why can’t I play with my sister’s friends? I want to play too…”
“…I’m sorry, but they’re not just coming to play, so it’s not possible. And Helena doesn’t like kids very much.”
“Ugh…”
Pyris looked down with a sulky expression.
It was unfortunate, but it couldn’t be helped.
The purpose of Luke inviting Shirud and Helena this time was not only to show them around but also had the rational surface reason of “magic studies”, and it seemed that only child Helena felt uncomfortable around young children.
To Luke, they all appeared to be roughly the same young kids.
Moreover, Pyris was quite a handful in many ways.
Just today, for instance, one could easily recall the troubles caused by Pyris.
Like when she pulled off the mask of the person dressed as a spirit while saying, ‘This person is not a spirit!’ and brought everyone to tears.
Or when she climbed to the top of a model tree representing the World Tree of the Spirit Festival and waved around a star-shaped decoration.
And even when she tore up all the “letters to the spirits” provided as an event and read them aloud at a loud volume…
Though Pyris was an actual spirit, her actions seemed nonchalant and obvious, but it drained the energy from the innocent onlookers; her family eventually decided to leave Pyris out of their shopping trip for the Spirit Festival decorations planned for tomorrow.
Preparing for the Spirit Festival without Pyris…
It was quite ironic, but it couldn’t be helped.
It wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of chaos would ensue if they took Pyris along to buy the Spirit Festival decorations.
“…”
Thinking about it, it probably wouldn’t even be necessary for Pyris to materialize at that time.
At least in her spirit form, she wouldn’t cause any harm, so it would be better if Pyris remained in her spirit form tomorrow.
“Pyris, you shouldn’t materialize at all. Instead, you can freely enter the room in your spirit form.”
“Ugh!”
“Next, Liv.”
Ignoring Pyris’ complaints, Luke pointed at Liv with his finger.
Then, Liv flailed her arms and legs, looked confused, and shrugged her shoulders as if to say, ‘Why can’t I move?’
Luke was already prepared with an answer to that.
“This gathering is also to help Shirud and Helena, two elf children, get to know each other better and improve their relationship. If you start moving, won’t the topic of conversation completely shift towards you?”
A self-moving puppet was certainly not common.
Especially a puppet that moved as naturally, agilely, and accurately as Liv.
Luke had already meticulously crafted the subjects of conversation for the two kids to share.
Once they realized there was a puppet in Luke’s room, the conversation would naturally steer towards that puppet, and no opportunity for the two children to learn about each other and become friends would arise.
“Does that answer your question?”
– Nods.
Hearing Luke’s response, Liv nodded slightly and plopped back down onto her seat.
Seeing that Liv looked satisfied, Luke’s gaze then shifted towards the large cat puppet dressed as a mage, Kate.
“Alright then, Kate, what question do you have?”
Lowering her raised hand and adjusting her wizard’s hat, Kate began to speak in a mechanical and rigid tone.
“I understand the master’s claims. However, then I cannot comprehend the reason why variables, including this object, should be present in the master’s room.”
“Good question.”
Luke understood Kate’s argument.
If there were concerns about the interactions being seen as his actions, then why not hide the risky elements, including herself, in a spatial pocket or outside, avoiding any potential dangers?
That was indeed a sharp remark.
“But there’s an important reason for that.”
“Requesting a response.”
Luke took a deep breath and replied seriously.
“That’s to eliminate potential risk factors.”
Luke’s room might initially appear to be a typical young girl’s room, but upon closer examination, it could hardly be characterized as such.
He was a mage who transcended reality and will, exploring knowledge and studying phenomena.
Therefore, a mage’s room was always fraught with danger.
This logic held true regardless of the Circle.
Especially since the core of the massive enchantment placed on this mansion was situated in Luke’s room, and although stabilization was planned to occur overnight, the influence of linking coordinates from the vast spatial realm known as Arinseia resulted in a slight distortion of time and space, not to mention there were ‘dangerous research materials related to black magic’ that could not be placed within the sanctified space.
Thus, it was prudent to have at least one insurance in case he was absent.
“If the children were to be endangered by my magic or research, you should disregard the constraints I mentioned and ensure their safety.”
“Role of this object, understood.”
Upon hearing Luke’s response, Kate nodded.
Then Luke clapped his hands loudly and asked brightly, “So, are there any more questions?”
However, Kate raised her hand again.
Luke looked at her with a puzzled expression.
He thought they had addressed all possible questions.
“What is it? Do you have another question, Kate?”
When Luke asked while looking at her, Kate spoke again in her rigid tone.
“Regarding the object’s proposal, why is it that we do not abandon the dangerous master’s room and meet outside instead?”
“Hmm.”
Indeed, this was another sharp question.
As expected of Kate, designed as a mage golem.
It seemed her ability to identify issues effectively fulfilled her role in personality.
“That’s actually very simple.”
Luke smiled and opened his mouth.
“Because it’s more fun that way, isn’t it?”
After all, magic is most interesting and enjoyable when it’s dangerous.
So Luke thought,
‘Although I used “magic studies” as a pretext to arrange this conversational gathering, the children will certainly deal with more magic as they grow up. Therefore, wouldn’t it be alright to take on a slight risk to pique their interest?’
The ‘special’ magic class Luke imagined would surely be a significant benefit for both Shirud, who was already at the 3rd Circle, and Helena, who was still just memorizing magic.
And if he could connect common interests between the two through “magic”, perhaps in the future, their improved relationship could even lead to a marriage between Shirud and Helena, creating an elven grand mage couple!
What a perfectly envisioned future.
As Luke envisioned that scene, a satisfied smile graced his face.
It was indeed a highly desirable situation.
When time had passed and the two children had become accustomed to mage-like thinking through his teachings, just how excellent and magnificent would the magical concepts they would conjure up be?
Just thinking about it brought him such joy.
‘If only I could show them the beauty of time and space right away, but they’re too young, so I guess I can’t. I suppose I’ll have to settle with concepts from geometry or theories derived from the flow of immense elements…’
As Luke brainstormed various ways to introduce the world of magic to the children, a smile lingered at the corners of his mouth.
…However, Luke had no understanding that most people might develop “trauma” when placed in a life-threatening situation, causing them to display strong aversion to that very aspect.
For Luke himself, he would gladly incinerate his own body if it meant benefiting his magic.
After all, Luke was a grand mage, even one that had been imbued with will after being a circle greater mage; his understanding was subtly (perhaps significantly) skewed from the very root.
Seeing that smile, Kate, discreetly lowering her head beneath her hat so Luke wouldn’t see, shook her head.
“…Incomprehensible.”
That was the final reaction possible from Kate, designed as a ‘mage’ and completely unable to comprehend the concept of ‘fun’.
