As Luke hurriedly left to prepare tea and snacks, the remaining space was filled with a suffocating silence.
“…….”
“…….”
Perhaps it was due to the awkwardness of being in the same space without knowing what to say, Helena found the silence extremely uncomfortable.
Even trying to say something as usual, she couldn’t think of any words to break the ice.
If this place had been the Academy or her own room, she would have had something to talk about, but to Helena, this space felt mostly unfamiliar.
Shirud was experiencing a similar issue.
However, unlike Helena, Shirud was not the type to just sit still and wait for Luke to return.
The behavior of a curious mage was predictably easy to anticipate.
Shirud began to inspect things in Luke’s room.
He opened the drawers of the table, opened the window, pressed down on the bed…
It looked as if he was treasure hunting.
But Helena frowned at Shirud’s actions.
No matter how much of a guest she was, she felt that what Shirud was doing was rude.
Moreover, wasn’t this a room used by a girl? It was really rude to just open any drawers like that!
Helena immediately stood up and stopped Shirud, saying, “Hey, what are you looking for?”
“No, I’m just checking if there’s really nothing.”
“Nothing? What do you mean?”
“The stuff I mentioned earlier.”
What Shirud referred to were the mummified corpse, dangerous drugs, and forbidden spellbooks.
However, Helena could not understand at all what led Shirud to think that such things would be in Luke’s room.
“Do you really think those things would be in Luke’s room?”
As Helena looked at Shirud with a bewildered expression, Shirud replied with a serious look, “Helena, has Luke ever answered that he has none of those?”
“That….”
While pondering Shirud’s words, Helena suddenly remembered that Luke had never given an actual ‘answer.’
He simply left with a calm smile as if to say it was ridiculous, to prepare snacks and tea, but he had never said there were none.
But that doesn’t answer whether it’s okay to rummage through a girl’s room.
Especially Luke’s room!
Helena grimaced and said bluntly, “So what? What does that have to do with rummaging through a girl’s room?”
Shirud shook his head at Helena’s words.
“Just because Luke didn’t deny it means there’s definitely something like that somewhere.”
“What does that even mean? Where would it be?”
“Luke can’t lie, you know.”
“He can’t lie?”
The idea that Luke couldn’t lie was incomprehensible to Helena, who thought that the sly girl could easily act in any way she wanted.
“Luke said that a mage must never lie. If they do, they will lose their ability to use magic properly. It’s not good for the Circle either.”
“What?”
The rule that a mage with a Circle must not lie was one that Luke always emphasized.
If he wanted to continue using magic, he had to keep that rule.
And Shirud knew very well that this rule applied especially strictly to Luke himself.
Luke was a kid who always kept his word.
Moreover, Shirud did not know, but the essence of Luke himself was the ‘Circle,’ so even if Luke wanted to, he could not lie.
Shirud smiled at the confused Helena and said, “So he fled just now? Luke definitely didn’t want to answer my question. If he tried to hide it, he would have to lie.”
“D-Does it work that way?”
Helena was bewildered by Shirud’s astonishing logic.
Shirud seemed to think it made perfect sense to believe that since Luke didn’t deny it, there had to be something like a dissected corpse, dangerous poison, or forbidden spellbook.
“So I was going to check it out.”
“B-but I still think opening the wardrobe is going too far…! You never know what might be in there…!”
And if he happened to open a drawer with underwear, it could lead to a pretty serious situation!
And what if, just maybe, such strange and dangerous items really showed up? What the heck would they do then?
Helena really didn’t want to see something so horrendous.
Especially a dissected frog.
“Um… Is that so?”
As Helena continued to dissuade him, Shirud had no choice but to nod.
Honestly, even if he searched further here, it didn’t seem like anything would come out.
If Luke had been hiding something, he would have hidden it in ways that Shirud could never imagine.
‘Phew…’
Finally, as Shirud stopped his rude behavior, Helena let out a sigh of relief.
Whether Shirud’s argument was right or wrong, she wouldn’t have to see something like a frog that had its belly turned inside out if he didn’t rummage through the room.
Shirud plopped down on the spot.
“By the way, it’s surprisingly normal here. There’s even a cute doll.”
“……Right.”
At Shirud’s mention of the doll, Helena looked at the two dolls placed on the bed.
One was a small teddy bear that Luke had received as a birthday gift in the past, and the other was a huge cat mage doll.
The enormous cat doll was a Magic Theme Park’s popular mascot, the Magic Kitty doll.
‘Luke likes big dolls too…’
Could it be that, like her, Luke cuddles that doll while sleeping?
Or did he just keep it as a decoration without much thought?
Whichever way, in terms of being a ‘cat-shaped mage doll,’ the Magic Kitty was so similar to Luke that it seemed fitting.
Surprisingly, Luke had a childish side.
Helena’s gaze became fixated on the large Magic Kitty doll.
As she did, Shirud, watching her from the side, asked, “Hey, Helena. Do you like dolls?”
Helena visibly blushed in surprise.
“Ah, n-no? I-I don’t really like dolls like Magic Kitty?”
Helena did not want to appear childish in front of Shirud.
She thought he liked the more mature feeling, just like Luke.
So, in the heat of the moment, she said she didn’t like them…
“Hmm? Is that Magic Kitty? Is that its name?”
‘Oops!’
For Helena, who liked dolls, it was only natural to refer to the doll as ‘Magic Kitty,’ but from an average boy’s perspective, that doll was just a big doll, and he wouldn’t know that its character’s name was ‘Magic Kitty.’
Therefore, saying she didn’t like it but seemed to know a lot was a strange contradiction that Shirud couldn’t help but point out.
“Really don’t like it?”
“……Well, actually, I do like dolls…”
“Hahaha! Is that so?”
Shirud found a human side in Helena’s newfound revelation.
Until now, Shirud had only been on the receiving end of conversations with Helena, and he knew little about her personal life or hobbies.
Helena lowered her head, covering her reddened face with her hands.
When would Luke come?
-…
At that moment, a strange singing voice began to pierce Helena’s ears.
Thinking it was Shirud teasing her, she shot back, “Hey, Shirud, don’t tease me!”
“Hmm? What? I didn’t say anything!”
“Wasn’t that you just now singing about how I like dolls?”
“It wasn’t me! I didn’t say anything.”
“……Really?”
‘Did I mishear?’
Feeling something was odd, Helena raised her head to look at the bed.
It was strangely positioned, and the dolls seemed slightly off.
Shirud and Helena both felt a shiver run down their spines.
Helena cautiously asked, “…Hey, Shirud. Did you touch the dolls?”
Shirud also cautiously replied, “…No, I didn’t touch them.”
“…Then you didn’t sing earlier?”
“…I told you, I didn’t sing.”
“Then…”
Helena’s body stiffened at the one thought that came to mind.
“C-could it be… a ghost?”
At Helena’s concern mingled with fear, Shirud quietly nodded, saying, “Honestly, there is a possibility…”
Normally, ghosts don’t enter buildings where humans live, but he heard that Luke had just moved into this house.
Generally, a ghost that would harm humans with illnesses, fatigue, nightmares, etc., would not be left alone by Luke.
However, considering the opposite, it was entirely possible that he had captured and kept a ghost for research.
“Eek!”
Helena flinched and shrank her shoulders.
For various reasons, not many people like ghosts.
Especially, it’s hard to find a girl who won’t freak out at the thought of a ghost.
That vague feeling of aversion was similar to how people dislike bugs.
“What do we do? I really hate ghosts!”
Helena exclaimed, expressing her disgust with her whole body.
“Don’t worry too much, I have a way.”
Shirud’s words made Helena’s face brighten as if she had found salvation.
“Really? Do you have a cane or ghost-repelling spray or something?”
“No.”
“What!”
As Helena shouted in excitement, Shirud lightly covered his ears.
“How can you? You can’t catch a ghost without magic!”
“Well, I’m a Circle mage, you know…”
“Ah…?”
Shirud handling the Circle was something she had heard about here and there.
Helena nodded and straightened herself out, clearing her voice.
“Then it’s no problem.”
“Right.”
But at that moment.
-Thud.
“Ahhh!”
“Did the light just go out…?”
Both Shirud and Helena were shocked and panicked as darkness suddenly engulfed the room.
It was still daytime outside, so the light streaming through the curtains wasn’t all that dark. However, they were not prepared for the sudden disappearance of light.
“What’s going on? What’s going on? What’s going on!!”
“C-calm down! It’s probably not the ghost… probably…”
Helena began to cling to Shirud, almost in tears, and Shirud struggled to maintain his composure while soothing her.
It didn’t feel like the actions of a ghost, as Shirud himself could not sense anything magical.
-Drrr…
Then, Shirud’s phone began to ring.
“A call…? At a time like this?”
“Could it be a restricted number? What do we do…!”
Helena was stomping her feet anxiously, almost in tears.
In areas where a ghost is suspected, caution must be exercised with calls from restricted numbers.
There have been instances where curses are laid through calls received from evil spirits.
‘This might be a bigger evil spirit than I thought…’
Shirud reached into his pocket to take out his phone in a state of tension.
But when he carefully pulled it out, it was a call from Luke.
“It’s a call from Luke.”
“Phew, it’s not a ghost after all.”
Behind the relieved sigh of Helena, Shirud answered the call.
“Ah, Shirud. Sorry, it seems the mana just temporarily cut off. Were you very surprised?”
“I was seriously startled. Hah… what’s going on?”
“Hahaha. You see, there’s mana drawn from the forest and mana from the power plant, but the mana from the power plant has been temporarily blocked due to excessive use. A long time ago, I overused mana and had too much pressure on it, so Yerna installed a mana blocker. But don’t worry too much, I’ll restore it soon…”
“Is that so? Got it. Hurry back.”
“Yeah, just a little longer.”
“Okay.”
-Thud.
After finishing the call with Luke, Shirud turned to Helena with a slightly relieved expression and said, “Did you hear that? It’s nothing serious.”
“Phew… that’s a relief…”
However, just for a moment of relief, Helena pointed at something with a paler expression than before.
“Sh-Shirud… over there…”
“Huh?”
Shirud’s complexion turned as pale as Helena’s.
Because it was…
Luke’s phone was there.
“Luke’s phone is here, and if he got a call… then what was that call I just received?”
“……”
“……”
Helena and Shirud stared at each other, falling into a silence.
A silence that felt entirely different from the earlier one.
