“Where did you get this?”
Yerna, who was quietly looking into Luke’s eyes, shook her head.
“I can’t tell you that.”
A firm refusal.
Luke, unable to comprehend it, immediately countered.
“Why? Are you saying it’s dangerous? That can’t be true. I’m strong; I’m not weak enough to worry Yerna.”
Indeed, Luke had often shown his own strength.
Nowadays, he didn’t particularly hide it either.
Not only had he stood firm against Dylan, who wielded the power of artifacts to protect her, but he also demonstrated his mastery of various spells using the Circle.
In fact, Dayton had already experienced Luke’s strength directly several times.
Therefore, the notion of ‘danger’ couldn’t be a reason to hold him back.
Within this house, no, in this era, it wouldn’t be easy to find someone more powerful than Luke.
Yet Yerna’s resolve remained steadfast.
“Luke, when we went there, that was all the information we had. Even if we go back now, there won’t be any clues left. But if I tell you the location, what do you plan to do?”
“Well…”
Of course, he intended to head there.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t believe that the material Yerna brought was all there was, but he wondered if they had missed some clue in their haste.
However, given that Gordon returned with such severe injuries, it clearly wasn’t a benevolent place.
Having been invaded once, they would surely be on high alert now.
But even so, it would simply come down to using his strength.
Honestly speaking, he didn’t think there would be any obstacles he couldn’t overcome there.
However, that was precisely what Yerna was worried about.
“You’re planning to dirty your hands, aren’t you? No.”
“…Yerna!”
Luke’s voice was tinged with pleading.
But Yerna still had no intention of discussing it.
“I understand how you feel about that material; you want to take revenge on those who made you that way. But because of that, I can’t allow it.”
“Revenge? Yerna. That’s not it!”
“If it’s not revenge, then what is it?”
“….”
Luke remained silent.
He knew that trying to explain that he had no interest in revenge, but rather simple curiosity, wouldn’t sway Yerna’s heart.
Yerna embraced Luke, who seemed greatly saddened, and stroked his hair.
“Please, Lu. Just stay a good boy.”
The words that went unspoken were likely, ‘I’ll take care of that myself, so just stay as you are.’
“….”
Luke continued to be silent.
Contrary to Yerna’s wishes, Luke’s hands had already been dirtied long ago.
Five thousand years ago, he had plucked flowers of life that were beyond counting.
So now, killing a person or seeing a corpse did not shock him in the slightest.
He had harbored murder in his heart, knew how to efficiently take lives, and had killed an uncountable number of people.
Therefore, pretending to be a pure child now seemed like a ridiculous act.
Still, Luke could no longer resist Yerna’s words.
“Stay a good child,” was something Luke deeply resonated with.
It was the wish that Renie held for the children after the war, and thus it was something he wished for as well.
Knowing that sentiment, he also couldn’t refuse her request.
“Lu, you’ll do that, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Good, that’s sweet.”
As Yerna stroked his hair, Dayton patted him on the back.
“Good thinking. There’s nothing to gain from going there anyway. But if you really want it, I’ll give you the material. We already made a copy of it…”
“….”
Luke didn’t respond.
Could it be that he’s angry?
It wouldn’t be unreasonable; the ones who conducted merciless experiments on him were right in front of him, and now that he had gained strength, he was powerless to do anything.
But still, this was unavoidable.
Dayton spoke to Yerna in a slightly playful tone to lighten the atmosphere.
“By the way, Yerna, aren’t you tired? Oh right, Luke prepared a herbal bath for you with herbs good for relieving fatigue. You should go soak in it! I tried it once, and it really made all the fatigue go away.”
Then Yerna, catching the height of Dayton’s tone, asked Luke in an even more elevated voice.
“Oh really? Is that true, Lu?”
It was clearly an effort to change the subject.
So, Luke decided to go along with it for the time being.
“Yes, that’s right. I think Mom will be satisfied.”
“I’m really looking forward to it. Thank you, I was really tired.”
“Go quickly; it’s like a real hot spring.”
At the mention of ‘hot spring,’ Luke suddenly seemed to recall something and pulled away from Yerna.
“Oh, right. I forgot to mention something.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“Actually, I won a family trip to the hot spring in the lottery yesterday. We should go when we have some time later.”
“Really? That’s amazing! Lu, you’re so lucky.”
“Hehe….”
Luke smiled absentmindedly.
‘Lucky,’ he said….
Well, whatever.
“What’s up? You’re forgetting a lot today. You forgot to mention the Third, and you forgot that too?”
With Dayton’s sharp words, Luke cleared his throat and made his excuse.
“Ahem, cough. This is a side effect of using that power. It can’t be helped.”
“Mm.”
Dayton nodded, recalling how Luke had changed so much after his body grew bigger from before.
That really was a tremendous side effect…
Yerna asked with concern.
“Is there anything else unusual?”
“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just temporary.”
Yerna seemed relieved by Luke’s answer and smiled widely.
“Thank goodness. I’m glad you didn’t overexert yourself. By the way, Dayton, what were you talking about earlier? Why the Third?”
“Oh, that? Well, you see, something happened today…”
Thus, the heavy atmosphere gradually faded, and Yerna, Dayton, and Luke began to talk about the events at the Academy today, and the story of Diana and Pyris playing in the rain, splashing water, and sharing stories about various events that happened today began to flourish.
It truly was the picture of a harmonious family.
——
– Thud.
A dull sound of something falling to the ground.
It was the sound of a man who had lost strength in his body collapsing to the floor.
After that, the small tapping of shoe soles slowly grew louder as it approached.
– Clip, clip.
Then, in the dark space, a girl’s voice echoed softly; it was Luke.
“Just as I expected, the vigilance is intense.”
In the end, Luke could not remain still.
After all, to tell him to do nothing after seeing that material?
The more he read that material, the more he felt that something dangerous was entangled within it.
He had a strong urge to confirm it with his own eyes.
So, Luke found out the location.
It wasn’t very difficult.
There was no need to hack the ‘Prophet’; after all, Yerna’s phone and Luke’s phone had their location information set to be shared.
Back when Luke had disobeyed Yerna and wandered around freely, that was what Yerna had set on his phone.
Perhaps because Yerna had no knowledge of handling magical devices like phones, or perhaps she hadn’t thought that Luke would trace her back with it, if he looked for her old records, her path was laid bare.
‘If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have even asked for you to tell me.’
That was already a thing of the past.
What could be done about it now?
Anyway, like that, Luke learned where Yerna had gone at that time.
However, that didn’t mean he could break the promise he made to Yerna about not ‘dirtying his hands.’
So, Luke brought Liv.
Liv looked like a cute and soft teddy bear on the outside, but in reality, was a swordmaster capable of wielding a sword’s magic.
As long as she was given a suitable weapon, killing people was all too easy for her.
By doing this, he could achieve his goals while keeping his hands clean.
“Good, Liv. Well done. Just keep doing this.”
– Nodding.
The small teddy bear, Liv, nodded and waved her combat knife to wipe off the blood.
That neat motion could not erase the eeriness, even though it was executed by such a small doll.
In fact, while Kate also had sufficient killing abilities, that girl was a mage.
Thus, the likelihood of being traced through magic residue was high, making her unsuitable for this task.
In this case, Liv, who left no traces other than the mark of a sword, was what Luke needed.
“Ha….”
The problem was that she was currently feeling resentment toward him.
In the end, Luke even had to write a note promising to properly hug her from now on to ease her anger.
He had to meticulously prepare a timetable; if he left it to his own devices like before, he might really have a big problem.
‘Did I make her a teddy bear for no reason…’
It seemed that it had become an issue that he carried her on him during the enchanting process to increase success rates.
Although thanks to that, the enchantment had worked out well…
– Clip, clip.
Thus, Luke walked down the corridor slowly with his hands behind his back.
