“Is Luke still without a formal identity?”
“Yes, he still has a provisional identity.”
Luke was a child who had not even been registered at birth.
It was unclear whether his parents, who were supposed to be from Iru, had simply not reported it or if his identity had been erased due to some external pressure.
Now that I think about it, the results of the identity check showed that there was no record of Luke’s supposed parents at all.
Complete erasure of records even for the parents.
There are only a few people with the surname Iru in the country.
Among them, there were no deceased individuals with the names Rion or Bina.
To be precise, they were mentioned in very old records, but they lived in different timeframes and were not even a couple.
They were probably just namesakes.
‘Could it be that everything is really just Ru’s delusion…?’
A terrible thought flashed through Yerna’s mind.
Then what on earth happened to Luke in the past?
Why did he have to create imaginary parents?
“Yerna, Yerna?”
The call from the nurse interrupted Yerna’s dark train of thought.
Coming back to her senses, Yerna replied, “Ah, yes. What is it?”
“Yes, well… For now, the examination fee for today will be waived, but the provisional identity might be an issue later when receiving medical services. It seems best to register anew.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, in our country, provisional identities are not covered by health insurance.”
“Hmm…”
Health insurance.
Now that I think about it, that is extremely important.
No one can be born and never get sick, and without health insurance, a lot of money will be drained.
However, Luke was not legally a citizen of this country.
He was receiving benefits equivalent to a citizen only because he was under Yerna’s temporary protection, but the fact remains that Luke has no identity.
“A formal identity…”
For a child who has not been registered at birth, something special is needed to obtain a formal identity.
Four guarantors.
This system was originally established to filter out illegal immigrants.
But having four people should not be a problem.
I could ask Dayton, Siena, and Daphne.
In fact, there are plenty of fellow Forest Keepers who could suffice.
“Okay, Yerna. Then can you please agree to this document for now?”
Taking the document, Yerna quickly read through the text.
From what she gathered, it was asking for her consent to use Luke’s information for government purposes and to choose a mobile phone number or email address for receiving later examination results, along with various matters regarding responsibilities and obligations.
Yerna soon filled out the document, checked it carefully, and submitted it.
“Okay, you can go back now.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
As Yerna walked back to where Luke was sitting, she pondered over his identity.
“Ru, after our examination is done, there’s somewhere else we need to go…”
Yerna abruptly stopped mid-sentence.
“Ru?! What on earth are you doing?!”
“Yerna?”
Seeing the bewildered expression on Luke’s face, Yerna immediately grabbed his arm and pulled it away.
“Are you hurt, Yerna? Please loosen your grip.”
Luke was pulled off Shirud’s body by Yerna’s grip.
Observing the scene, Shirud felt a strange sensation of calmness leaving his heart.
“Whoa…”
As the sense of calm that had been swirling in his chest dissipated, Shirud furrowed his brow at the sudden strange feeling.
“Ugh!”
Seeing this, Yerna scolded Luke.
“Ru! What did you do to him?!”
“What did I do…?”
The boy was lying there with tears welling up in his eyes, and Luke was sitting on top of him.
In that moment, what Yerna saw was undeniably the scene of Luke assaulting a boy of the same age.
‘Isn’t he also frowning right now?’
While she didn’t know what the boy had done wrong, the fact that Luke had hit him came across to Yerna as disappointment and bewilderment.
Each time she took her eyes off for a moment, something like this happened, and Yerna finally understood why raising children was so difficult.
“Hey there, are you okay? Can you get up? Ru! Hurry up and apologize!”
“I didn’t do anything to apologize for…”
“Luke!”
He flinched.
The reaction to Yerna’s shouting unexpectedly came from somewhere else.
An unexplainable mixture of guilt and embarrassment, along with a sense of relief, swirled together, igniting yet another wave of emotions.
That the feeling didn’t tighten his heart was purely because of the remnants of mana Luke had left, still stabilizing his circle.
“Uwaaaah-!”
And so Shirud cried.
—
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“……”
Yerna kept bowing her head repeatedly.
Standing next to her, Luke looked baffled.
“Yerna, why are you doing this…?”
Luke hadn’t done anything wrong in the first place.
Shirud surely knew his own innocence.
After all, it was he himself who saved him from the mana rampage.
Shouldn’t he be getting compliments instead?
Of course, Luke hadn’t done it expecting praise.
“Luke, what are you doing! You should apologize too!”
But Yerna continued to bow her head.
“I was only providing first aid…”
Luke felt wronged, but given that it was that moment that was shown, he had little room to explain.
“Yerna, please listen to me. We didn’t fight or anything, right, Shirud?”
Looking at Shirud for a response, who seemed to be seeking help, he reluctantly said it was okay.
“…That’s right, we didn’t fight.”
“Shirud, really?”
Shirud’s mother, Serena Trisphind, asked as if confirming.
“Really, Mom. I don’t cry when I’m fighting. I know that means I’ve lost.”
“Is that something to brag about? Ugh.”
Serena placed her hand on Yerna’s shoulder.
“I said it wasn’t a fight, so please stop now. By the way, what’s your name?”
“I’m, Yerna Risphind.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Serena Trisphind.”
As Yerna stiffly straightened her body, Serena continued, seemingly amused.
“Yerna, I was honestly more surprised when you came out.”
“Is that so?”
“Well, I didn’t expect to see an elf here.”
“That’s true…”
It’s only natural to assume the child, with horns and animal ears, had beast-like parents, so it would be a surprise to find that the guardian is of the same elf race as herself.
Yerna too was genuinely surprised to see a high elf.
“Then it’s alright now, right? Shirud, you’re making up with him, aren’t you?”
“…Yeah.”
“Phew, thanks for clearing that up, Shirud.”
Shirud, feeling burdened by Luke’s relieved gaze onto him, slightly hid behind Serena’s back.
‘Oh dear, he feels embarrassed about everything.’
Serena was simply fascinated by this new side of her child, and that strange reaction of her child sparked her curiosity about Luke.
“Yerna, this is fate. Let’s exchange contact information. Perhaps we can have coffee later and have a good chat.”
“Yes, please do contact me if any problems arise, Serena.”
Having exchanged contact information, Serena remarked, “Oh dear, it’s already our turn,” as she headed into the hospital.
Shirud glanced back repeatedly at Luke, but Luke was completely unaware of the complex emotions behind Shirud’s gaze regarding his actions.
“Ru, you should be careful from now on too.”
“I understand, Yerna. I’m sorry for causing you worry.”
—
The thorough examination took quite a long time.
The focus was primarily on the stabilization of the heart’s circle and on Luke’s current physical age, as well as possible side effects from the transformation into a beast.
Approaching Yerna was a man, Dr. Hans Jerdam, whom she had seen before.
“Good to see you again, Yerna.”
“Yes, good to see you too, Dr. Jerdam.”
After a brief exchange, they shook hands and took their respective seats.
Dr. Jerdam pointed out that Yerna was sitting stiffly due to her anxiety.
Once reassured to relax, Yerna was finally able to ease up her body.
Judging that she was ready to hear, Dr. Jerdam began to talk about the examination results.
“Initially, I can give you a rough idea, but the detailed results will come out in about two weeks.”
“I see.”
Then followed an explanation about Luke’s current condition from Hans.
“At the moment, he is maintaining a very… stable circle. This case is quite unique. It’s also rare.”
“Rare?”
The doctor laid down a scan of Luke’s heart and pointed to the surrounding ring.
“See? It’s clearly visible to the naked eye. Usually, it shows as a very tiny line that doesn’t appear this vividly. The fact that a child is capable of handling this amount of mana is nearly miraculous.”
Yerna’s expression hardened upon hearing those words.
“So, it’s serious?”
“Well, it’s not the amount of mana that’s unusual. Look here.”
The doctor pointed to the inside of the ring surrounding the area with his finger.
“This isn’t a single circle. It’s a double circle. A double circle is one of the traits that occurs very rarely. Luke is quite fortunate.”
At the mention of good fortune, Yerna tilted her head slightly.
“What’s good about having a double circle?”
“First of all, it’s more stable. If one circle goes out of control, the other one can stabilize it. Perhaps, thanks to that, Luke is still alive.”
“I see…”
That meant it really was a stroke of luck.
Since Luke couldn’t have his circles removed.
So, it could be said that there was no need to worry about the circles for now. Yerna let out a deep sigh.
“I’ll provide more details regarding the double circle in two weeks after results come out. Ah, and shall we talk about Luke’s body now?”
“Yes, Dr. Jerdam.”
This time, Dr. Jerdam spoke with a somewhat perplexed tone.
“To speak about the transformation into a beast… The bones and nerves have already transformed and merged, making surgical operations difficult. Even if we attempt it, there will definitely be aftereffects.”
“As expected…”
Yerna had vaguely known that this would be the situation, but it still felt harsh.
“When did this start? Is it possible to know?”
“To merge this completely into the body, we should consider it to have taken at least five years. Children do have a faster merging process, but even so, to have merged perfectly like this, at least that much time should be assumed.”
“My goodness…”
That meant he had lived like this for at least five years?
“How terrible.”
“Indeed. The reality is far too harsh for such a small child.”
Seemingly trying to lighten the mood, Dr. Jerdam raised his tone.
“As for detailed information, that will be available in two weeks! If anything unusual comes up, I’ll reach out immediately!”
—
The nurse found it remarkable how Luke showed no change in expression when receiving the injection.
Most children his age tended to dislike needles, so it was common to see them frowning or on the verge of tears.
However, Luke had already lived for over a hundred years.
During that time, he had definitely experienced life-threatening injuries, so it seemed unlikely that he would suddenly find a mere injection painful.
The current Luke had the willpower and mental strength to endure most stimuli without flinching.
A simple injection was nothing to him.
“Luke is really so brave! Alright, you took the shot well, so here’s some candy.”
“Haha… Thanks, I will enjoy it.”
Hearing that he was brave only left him feeling awkward.
Well, he did receive the candy.
-Luke…
“Why are you worrying even more than me, Py?”
However, it seemed Py was quite concerned about the blood that had come from Luke’s body, making worrying sounds while glancing at the wound, which struck Luke as excessive concern.
Anyway, after Luke had a peppermint candy in his mouth and was rubbing his arm with a disinfecting swab as he exited the blood collection room, Yerna welcomed him.
“When do you take that swab off?”
“They said to hold it for 30 seconds. I can start to remove it now.”
“Is that so?”
When Luke threw the swab into the medical waste bin and returned, Yerna suddenly asked him.
“Ru, about that little boy from earlier.”
“Shirud, you mean?”
“So his name is Shirud. You really didn’t fight, right?”
“Of course not. Didn’t he say so himself?”
Reassured by Luke’s confirmation, Yerna felt slightly relieved.
If he hadn’t hit anyone, then there shouldn’t be any problem.
“Then how did that happen?”
“How did it happen…?”
Sensitive to the surrounding mana, Luke and Py had approached due to the traces of a first circle that they felt in the area, which triggered the incident.
As they interacted more, Shirud’s emotions had inexplicably exploded, resulting in that situation.
So to sum it up in one word, it was ‘curiosity.’
“Well, for him, I guess it could be said that curiosity got the better of him.”
“Curiosity?”
It was only natural for a child to develop interest in the opposite sex.
Opposite sex?
Wait, how had Luke thought about the opposite sex until now? As Yerna knew, Luke had not gone through a normal developmental process.
‘No way…’
Had Luke ever received proper sex education?
Perhaps, for Luke, the concept of ‘overpowering’ might have seemed natural to gain the attention of the opposite sex…
It might be a more serious situation than hitting someone.
“Ru, you absolutely must never, never get on top of another boy, understood?!”
“…? I understand. I will make sure to be careful from now on.”
“It’s a promise!”
“Alright, I promise.”
Perhaps sex education was also necessary. Yerna felt her vision darken, but Luke, seeing her, thought to himself.
‘Well, I don’t have any intention of resorting to violence against anyone… Yerna really worries a lot.’
