Third thought.
Luke Ilushi, what kind of being is she?
She was not only his mentor but also a woman of ambition and execution, a noble being with sufficient capability to warrant such status.
She had even single-handedly defeated that Dylan, with the aid of just one Forest Keeper, and obliterated the organization itself—was she not that kind of existence?
But what was this appearance she now had?
The neatly tied hair and frilly headband.
And the combination of a black-base one-piece outfit and a white frilly apron.
That look was unmistakable.
“A maid outfit?”
A maid outfit, a type of clothing typically worn by ‘servants’ when doing housework.
Having only seen Luke’s strong and powerful side until now, Third couldn’t possibly relate this to housework, so the shock he experienced was beyond words.
“M-Master? What on earth is that…?”
“What do you mean, how do I look? Is it that strange?”
On the other hand, Luke had no particular thoughts on the maid outfit itself.
Having already walked around the academy multiple times in this attire, putting up flyers, there was no reason to feel embarrassed now.
Well, although it still might be a somewhat embarrassing sight to others, that was just a minor issue due to unfamiliarity.
Besides, except for the aspect that the outfit seemed a bit lower in status, it didn’t differ much from what he usually wore.
Isn’t that so?
He had worn stockings regularly, and he wore the apron when cooking or cleaning, as needed.
Also, from what Luke usually enjoyed wearing, he didn’t dislike clothing in black and white tones.
White gives a clean impression, and black gives a neat one.
Thus, there is no better color combination to create a more mature atmosphere.
It might have been natural for Luke, who dislikes being treated like a child, to get accustomed to such colors.
Therefore, Luke had a slightly different understanding of where Third was feeling shocked.
He thought Third’s reaction was because his maid outfit didn’t suit him.
And in Luke’s perspective, that was indeed a problem.
This was just like the uniforms usually found in franchise cafés, so saying “the outfit is strange” would imply that he couldn’t even wear the uniform for the place he was working.
For someone like Luke, who strives for perfection in everything, that would rather be an embarrassing situation.
“I thought I put some effort into this outfit… Does it not suit me?”
Seeing Luke check his attire with a troubled expression, Third awkwardly replied.
“No, that’s not it, but…”
If we were to decide whether it suited him, it was indeed somewhat fitting.
Luke’s dignified and neat atmosphere matched quite well with the role of a maid, and when the cat ears hidden behind the frilly headband perked up at the touch of the white fabric, it even struck Third as unexpectedly cute.
However, that wasn’t the issue Third was pointing out.
The real question was, why on earth was Luke wearing such clothes?
Third pondered over why his mentor had to wear such attire.
Surely there must be some noble reason or purpose that was beyond his understanding for what his mentor did.
But what could possibly be the reason to wear a maid outfit?
As he thought about several possibilities, Third eventually deduced one.
“Ah! Perhaps, is Master intending to infiltrate as a daughter of a certain house?”
“Hmm? No, not at all. It’s just a uniform. I’m running a café for this festival.”
“Excuse me?”
However, Third’s deduction proved useless.
Regrettably.
—–
Since they ran into each other by chance, Luke thought of treating Third and led him to the café.
But maybe because he entered an unfamiliar space?
Even inside the café, Third still looked flustered.
With a smile directed toward the bewildered Third, Luke said, “Well then, just sit wherever you want. Haha, there are plenty of seats since there aren’t many customers.”
“Y-yes? Ah, yes…”
Caught by surprise and brought into a new environment by his mentor’s hand, Third finally realized he should find a seat at the nearest table.
As Third hesitated and took a seat, Luke headed inward to prepare a cup of tea for his disciple.
At that moment, the children who had been watching from earlier began whispering to Luke.
“Hey, Luke? Who’s that person?”
“Are you being threatened? Should we call security?”
It seemed the children were startled by Third’s appearance.
Even though Third’s skin had improved significantly from the recipe he had created, his face still looked quite intimidating.
From the perspective of the girls present, it would have been hard not to be on guard.
Luke smiled at the children to reassure them. “Haha, that’s my friend. So don’t judge too harshly based on appearances. Even if he looks like that, he’s not a bad guy.”
Only then did the children slightly lower their guard.
Luke had already gained quite a bit of trust from the kids.
“Well, if Luke says so…”
“Then, we don’t need to call security…?”
A moment later, the timid Amy, perhaps feeling a bit worried, sighed as she placed a hand on her chest.
“Phew… I’m glad to hear that. But why does Luke seem to have such an intimidating circle around him? Even his dad is like that, and that brother too.”
Luke’s father had been stopped by security on the way here, partly due to his appearance (the complications included being named Luke, which wouldn’t typically be a girl’s name), and that frightening-looking Third was also similarly intimidating. It seemed anyone Luke brought around had a somewhat unapproachable appearance.
To that, Luke simply shrugged and smiled. “Haha, I guess it just turned out that way.”
He hadn’t really thought about such things until now, but it could indeed seem odd to others.
For a girl like him to be walking around with someone like Third would understandably raise concern for those who weren’t in on the details.
However, receiving such worries wasn’t a bad feeling, but if those concerns became excessive, it could become quite annoying.
To show the kids who still held onto their guard that Third was not a dangerous person, Luke prepared tea with greater care and set it down in front of Third.
“Here you go, enjoy. This is the signature item from our café.”
Originally, the dessert was meant to be the signature item, but the tea had turned out to be so good, and matched the concept of having maids that it inadvertently became the signature item—’Tea Time.’
Luke had a sort of pride in that.
However, that pride had led to him only being able to showcase it after several hours without customers…
“Th-Thank you…”
Third accepted the tea Luke served, fidgeting more than usual.
Holding the teacup, watching the steam waft lazily from the liquid, Third thought.
“Why do I feel so strange?”
Why did receiving a cup of tea personally brewed by his mentor evoke such a bizarre feeling?
“Go on and drink, then let’s talk slowly.”
“Ah, yes.”
-Slop.
“…”
The scent of the tea he drank without much thought was superb.
It was such a wonderful aroma that nothing else came to mind.
To clarify, it meant that even the confusing sight of his mentor serving tea in a maid outfit didn’t come to mind.
Noticing Third’s expression easing somewhat, Luke smiled and asked, “How does it taste?”
“It, it’s really good. As expected of you, Master.”
“Isn’t it?”
Luke internally cheered at Third’s reaction.
Even someone like Third, who usually didn’t enjoy tea, had such a response; how would someone who genuinely appreciated tea react?
Surely, the reaction would be far better than with simple milk tea.
If many customers were to come, Luke was confident he would definitely win his bet against Kaila if this situation persisted.
Moreover, apart from this fact, Kaila was at a disadvantage in this bet in many ways.
As ‘milk tea’ literally contains ‘milk,’ elves cannot enjoy it.
That meant the number of consumers was limited!
“Well, it was Kaila who proposed the bet, after all.”
Though it seemed a bit cowardly to think of it, it was an evident truth with only a bit of thought.
If Kaila had been more considerate, perhaps she would’ve made regulations regarding that point in their wager. However, as mentioned in the earlier monologue, it was Kaila who proposed the bet, not Luke.
So there was nothing cowardly about it.
As Luke watched Third continuously sip tea with a satisfied expression, he finally spoke up.
“By the way, I saw you seemed to be in a hurry earlier. What was going on?”
“Ah. Actually, I was looking for you regarding that matter…”
When Luke asked, Third remembered that he completely forgot about the situation due to the chaotic circumstances.
Third immediately put down the tea and sprang up from the table, shouting, “I-I lost track of my friend! I need to find them quickly…!”
“What? You lost track of your friend?”
——
Luke listened as Third explained the situation.
He had gotten involved in a scuffle to save a child being bullied, and somehow it had turned into a situation where he needed to bring a guardian due to the issue of violence on campus, and with the victim being Umi, he thought that showing her would add credibility to his claims, hence he came to the academy. Now it seemed he lost hold of her, and she ended up as a missing person, or so to summarize the story.
“I see.”
After hearing that, Luke felt relieved that Third had a close female friend worthy of being brought to the festival since that meant he was managing to attend the academy properly.
“Yes, unfortunately, that kid has no cell phone, so I can’t contact her. What should I do?”
“Hmm.”
It’s not easy to find a child in a crowded place like this.
Moreover, without a cell phone to contact, it becomes even more challenging.
Typically, situations like this would be solved by heading to the announcement office and requesting a public announcement to look for the missing child, but in the end, it’s only a method where the missing person must either come forward after hearing the announcement or ask for help nearby.
At present, using the method of broadcasting to search for a missing child didn’t seem too effective.
And running around individually to search was impractical; Tigr Academy was too vast and crowded.
If luck were to fail, they might search all day long without finding her.
Moreover, with Luke’s current “bad luck,” even running about wouldn’t increase the probability of discovering her.
Ultimately, that would also require a ‘stroke of luck’ that they wouldn’t inadvertently miss each other in terms of directions.
At the same time, using ‘search’ magic in such a public place would entail significant issues.
Due to the nature of search magic using mana to scan the surroundings, a strong mana trace would surely remain, and would inevitably lead to punishment by the authorities.
Additionally, given the nature of a festival with many transient populations, many innocent bystanders would likely be unintentionally affected during the investigative process.
Luke had no desire to create such an immense nuisance.
For various reasons, this was quite a troublesome situation.
However, there was no need to worry.
“Master, why did you suddenly take out the computer?”
Luke smiled, placing the portable computer he had received as a gift from Yerna during the Spirit Festival onto his lap.
“Third, we live in an information age now. If one puts their mind to it, they can find any information they need.”
In this era, information existed for everything.
Just as mana constituted the unit of all things, it could be said that everything possessed information.
And the most convenient way to access that information was by using this ‘computer.’
‘Searching’ was a far superior method in certain situations compared to ‘scanning.’
“I’m not sure I understand.”
However, Third seemed to have missed the point.
“Third, do you know what GPS is?”
“Well, roughly. It’s some kind of magic that uses satellites to determine location, right?”
“Exactly, I’m thinking of using that now.”
Generally, speaking about GPS typically implies the need for a receiver that can send signals.
However, don’t Forest Keepers find monster locations even without a receiver?
The reason is that the satellites used by Forest Keepers, the ‘Prophet,’ operate in a manner that identifies positions by comparing and analyzing the mana patterns of the target instead of relying on signals from a receiver.
So if one slightly alters the signal analysis pattern of that ‘Prophet’, it would be possible to ascertain the location of the target without needing a receiver.
Well, while it’s difficult to penetrate the random pattern shield of the ‘Prophet’ with the computational power of an ordinary household computer, it should be straightforward with the capabilities of ‘Arinseia’ that Luke currently possessed.
Of course, since it primarily seeks the mana patterns of monsters, applying it to humans would not be easy.
He would likely need a fairly intricate filter on the information.
As Luke busied himself with the computer, he asked, “Hmm, what about a little girl… Is she of the human race?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Hmm, what does she look like exactly?”
Third lamented inwardly that he seemed to be describing people’s appearances quite a lot today as he recounted Umi’s features.
Luke then furrowed his brows suspiciously, asking, “I see. She’s about this height, has glasses, and brown hair braided in two…?”
“That’s right.”
“Got it, is that all?”
‘Alright, if she wears glasses, then she likely has poor eyesight, and I should probably input her hair color gene information to reduce the sample size. And if she’s that height, then her age range must be…’
Luke’s fingers paused while he worked on the computer.
“Wait, doesn’t she seem rather small?”
“Well, since she’s in my class, she is a classmate, but she is quite small and young. I think she probably skipped a grade.”
“Third, you aren’t having any weird thoughts about that girl, right? You’re sure it’s really just a ‘friend’ relationship?”
Going on a date with a girl that small…
Luke didn’t want to think that Third, despite being his beloved student, had romantic feelings for someone that petite.
People used to marry at 10 years age, but in reality, it was almost always a political arrangement…
“Excuse me? What do you take me for, Master? Of course, she’s just a friend!”
Seeing Third raise his voice, flustered by his mentor’s suspicious gaze, Luke finally nodded, letting go of his incredulous expression.
“Hmm… Then, that settles it.”
They could discuss the details once they found her.
-Snap!
As Luke input the last piece of information, he removed his hands from the computer’s makeshift interface.
Immediately, several red dots appeared on the screen.
Those dots gradually decreased in number and eventually converged on four.
Most likely, those were the targets that matched the filters Luke had set.
Third asked, “Why are there four signals? Did something go wrong…?”
“It seems that since we didn’t input the precise mana pattern, several similar targets have been captured together.”
“Ah, I see.”
So what that meant was that there were at least four children with similar height, vision state, and hair color to Umi.
In other words, it meant there were at least four children in the academy resembling Umi.
While disappointing that the accuracy was lower, this significantly alleviated the effort that would have been required to search directly.
Instead of running throughout the entire academy, they only needed to check four locations.
“Still, it’s unfortunate that we can’t find them all at once.”
Luke licked his lips, seemingly disappointed, but Third was greatly impressed.
“Wow, that’s amazing. Indeed, you are my Master!”
With something like this, if he knew who his enemy was, wouldn’t he be able to find them right away, wherever they were hiding?
That was truly remarkable.
“Yes, overcome misfortune by managing it this way.”
If luck wasn’t on their side, it was straightforward to manipulate the situation so that luck wouldn’t factor in.
That was Luke’s way.
Luke smiled and pointed outside, saying, “Alright, let’s get moving. We’ll leave right away.”
