“An adult who cannot purely celebrate a child’s growth is ugly.”
Luke said to Sorbi, who was sitting at the opposite table with a look of agony.
Sorbi understood that this was the rational view.
But in this case, isn’t the story different?
“But it was only a short span of less than a year. I’m still not ready to part with Luke’s cuteness!”
Being able to rejoice in a child’s growth can be seen as a blessing accumulated over time for that child.
Therefore, generally speaking, an adult who mourns a child’s growth is likely to be treated as a pervert.
It denies the time spent with the child.
Sorbi knew this well.
However, isn’t Luke’s case different?
It was not just a metaphorical expression; suddenly growing up in an instant and then transforming completely was the reality.
I mean, is it normal for a 10-year-old to have such a body?
“That body at 10 years old, it makes no sense! This is illegal!”
When Sorbi exclaimed with a sense of unfairness, Kirke nudged Sorbi’s side with her elbow and said,
“Stop talking about it like it’s illegal, please be quiet. You’ve been causing trouble since a while ago.”
Indeed, Sorbi was already receiving disapproving glances from those around her.
The sight of a fully grown lady sobbing in a restaurant was sufficient to attract the attention of onlookers.
With her loud voice in such a situation, there was no way to avoid drawing eyes.
Well, although I enchanted ‘Silence’ on the table as soon as I saw Sorbi like that, so loud sounds wouldn’t spill out.
It’s a viable choice since it’s a buffet that doesn’t necessarily require calling over staff.
Thus, the glances she received were solely based on her previous actions.
However, Luke had no way around it, so it couldn’t be helped.
By the way, Luke felt that it wasn’t necessary to be bound by the number 10.
Wasn’t it?
The age set as 10 was merely an approximation based on how Yerna perceived him when she first saw him.
In terms of mental age, he had surpassed adulthood long ago, and under the assumption that there is roughly one year of physical growth for each Circle, his physical age would be about 17. With a height of approximately 160 cm, that might be considered a bit short, but it’s not entirely out of comparison with adult women.
Amidst all this, his actual age, considering the number of years since his birth, might exceed 5000 years by now.
At this point, one could say he is administratively 10 years old, but has fully met the qualifications of an adult.
In fact, in the restaurant, he paid the adult price simply to avoid controversy.
Looking back, that was a wise choice.
If he had argued over saving a few coins and paid the children’s fare, they might have been chased out and wandering the streets by now.
Yet, the label of being 10 isn’t entirely unhelpful, so there’s no intention to alter it.
The distinction of being 10 can still be useful for enjoying occasional children’s discounts at restaurants, or for competitions and activities with age limits. Also, for those asking for phone numbers, mentioning the administrative age often suffices as an answer, making it a very useful social tool.
“Yerna, say something to your childish subordinate to help her grow up.”
Luke spoke with the hope that Yerna would help bring Sorbi back to her senses.
However, Yerna was simply admiring old photos of Luke that Sorbi had shown her.
“Wow, Sorbi, when was this picture taken? This one in the box is really cute! Seeing this makes me think maybe he’s grown too fast!”
These were photos that Sorbi had pulled out of her wallet, portraying Luke during his adorable days.
It seems Sorbi regularly carries around pictures of Luke in her wallet.
There were photos of young Luke reading a book in a box, one where he had a slightly tanned skin and was making a peace sign while cutting his hair and wearing a blindfold in a flower bed after a beach trip, and another of him preparing drinks while tying up his hair, caught in the act.
If only she had shared these beforehand, it would have been considerate!
Sorbi agreed with Yerna’s statement, while Luke felt flustered.
“Right!? Look, it’s not only me who feels nostalgic!”
“Yerna, are you really going to side with her too?”
When Luke looked at the one he trusted with betrayal in his eyes, Yerna only responded with an awkward smile.
“But really, he has grown too fast.”
“I told you!”
In less than a year, he had grown over 20 centimeters. At this rate, concerns about osteoporosis from rapid growth should be addressed!
But Luke had already grown up.
It couldn’t be helped that Sorbi had to turn her gaze to Luke’s younger sister, Pyris, and spoke.
“Pyris. So, don’t grow up too quickly like your sister. Please, grow slowly so you can take pride in the process.”
“Hmm?”
At those words, Pyris, who had been continuously eating, paused for a moment and tilted her head.
She couldn’t understand why such feelings were directed toward her from Sorbi’s voice.
Growth? What concept does that hold for her to express such complex feelings of sadness and joy?
Luke pondered on behalf of Pyr instead.
Can a spirit’s avatar experience growth?
Though it eats, gets sick, and sleeps, its essence is ultimately the flesh for the spirit’s amusement.
Thus, the physical growth relates entirely to Pyris’s essence.
But can Pyr, who doesn’t even know how to summon her physical body from another dimension, grow without contemplating her existence?
Moreover, being a spirit born entirely complete, she likely doesn’t even know the concept of ‘growth.’ Is she truly capable of self-awareness to understand and apply that concept?
Or, does Pyr even possess such a will to begin with?
While there were many questions, there seemed to be no prospects for solutions at the moment, so he decided to bury them in his heart for now.
At that moment, Kirke, who had been gently petting Pyris’s head, sighed and spoke to Sorbi.
“Ugh, enough of this. Go fetch some more food.”
“What do you mean? I brought food here… Oh? Where did it go?”
“That got eaten by Pyris earlier.”
“…When?”
No wonder the food on her plate looked just like what she had brought!
However, seeing the adorable sight of Pyris with her mouth full, there was nothing more to say.
Ultimately, Sorbi, after taking several pictures of Pyris eating, had no choice but to go fetch more food.
Of course, Pyris, who had emptied her plate, followed suit.
As the moment of silence lingered, Kirke spoke to Luke.
“By the way, that outfit suits you well, Luke. Is that the new one you bought?”
At Kirke’s words, Luke smiled quietly and nodded.
“Ah, yes. What do you think? Is it strange?”
“No, it looks good. It suits you well.”
“Phew, I’m glad.”
Luke had lost confidence in his fashion sense following the failure of the hooded long cape, so receiving recognition from others was reassuring.
He looked down at his clothes with a pleasant smile.
To others, it just appeared as a girl happy that her outfit suited her.
Yet, perhaps Luke’s feelings were not entirely different from that sentiment.
Seeing such a reaction, Kirke continued with a question.
“By the way, why sky blue? Is it your favorite color?”
Luke nodded again.
“That’s right. I love that color.”
Luke liked white and sky blue.
White symbolizes cleanliness, purity, and innocence, while sky blue is the color that should reflect a mage’s gaze toward the stars in search of knowledge, for it is what the canvas of their lifetime should be.
So, what mage could possibly dislike it?
Additionally, it also symbolizes freedom, peace, and liberation.
Freedom, peace, liberation—aren’t those words akin to Renie’s life?
That’s why whenever Luke sees sky blue, he thinks of Renie.
She was a woman who looked great in sky blue.
With a smile and a nod, Kirke inquired.
“Ah, I see. I didn’t know you liked sky blue that much. Do you have a color that you dislike?”
“A color I dislike?”
At that, Luke began to think about what colors he disliked.
He wondered about the answer to a question he had never before contemplated.
Although as a mage, he had never possessed emotional preferences for colors or anything else until now, with his emotions having developed, he thought perhaps he might find at least one color he wasn’t fond of.
“A color I dislike….”
Luke looked around, scanning for colors.
However, seeing any color reminded him of Renie.
Red evoked her hair, green recalled her eyes, blue reminded him of his feelings for her.
Orange brought back memories of sunsets they had watched together, yellow her sickly pale face when she had seasickness, purple her lilacs blooming in the pot by the window…
No matter what object or color he saw, it ultimately reminded him of his memories with her.
Perhaps it was because he had so many colors built up over time together; he found that he couldn’t dislike any color.
Realizing this, Luke soon shook his head.
“Hmm, not at the moment.”
Right now, he simply loved the world she wanted to protect and attain.
