A few hours later, Yerna returned home after her shift.
“I’m back.”
Today was a day off for Dayton, who came over to greet her.
“Good job. Was there anything unusual in the forest today?”
Yerna nodded at Dayton’s question.
The situation in the forest was the same as ever.
Chilly weather, a few monsters, and occasional bursts of magic.
It was just another day.
Recently, Luke’s visits to the forest had significantly decreased due to various reasons, including the Academy.
With that, Luke Forest seemed to have quickly become just a dull and ominous place again.
Well, it was originally strange for a child to be in such a forest.
If Luke hadn’t been a child with a Circle, there would have been no reason for him to stay in the forest.
No matter what anyone said, Luke Forest was, after all, a very dangerous place.
“Nothing particularly happened. By the way…”
As Yerna looked at him as if to ask something, Dayton immediately realized what she was trying to say and spoke up first.
“I know, it’s about the broadcast, right?”
“Yeah, about the broadcast. What happened?”
At the last moment of the broadcast, it seemed that Luke had hastily ended it upon realizing that Dayton was there.
From what Yerna remembered, Dayton had said while posting the broadcast link to the Forest Keepers, “Luke started the broadcast but is feeling really down due to a lack of viewers. So let’s go join in and cheer him up.”
At first, it seemed like the broadcast was indeed going that way.
Luke, who was broadcasting, appeared to be in a good mood, and the Forest Keepers watching him were feeling good as well.
In fact, the response to the broadcast was nothing short of explosive.
Excluding those on-site who couldn’t use their phones, everyone was watching Luke’s broadcast.
Just seeing Luke talking and moving on screen made everyone involuntarily smile like a mother.
Of course, Yerna was actually a mother too.
“Hehe, he looks really happy.”
Yerna was watching the broadcast for the first time, and she found it more enjoyable than she expected.
The fact that she could communicate with Luke, who was broadcasting live, made Yerna particularly engrossed.
It felt different from a conversation.
When she saw Luke crying, as if he was touched, she wanted nothing more than to go comfort him, and when he brought pancakes to show off on screen, she felt an impulse to press her cheek against his.
It was a really joyful time.
Until Luke, who had been searching for something, suddenly murmured with a blank expression, “Was I broadcasting privately?”
Recalling that moment, Yerna asked Dayton.
“What do you mean he was broadcasting privately?”
Dayton shrugged in response.
“I don’t know, it seems he set it to private, and that’s why nobody joined.”
He was feeling down because nobody showed up while he had set the room to private.
It’s hard to tell whether Luke is a genius or a fool.
He clearly became very good at handling computers, but still, he couldn’t properly manage the broadcast settings.
Nodding at Dayton’s explanation, Yerna said,
“I see, but how did you get into the broadcast then?”
“Oh, that?”
He mixed in a little lie about this part.
How could he tell his wife that he sneakily entered the room to play a prank on his daughter and invited himself?
“Well, actually, I saw that Luke was feeling down, so I sneaked in as a viewer to cheer him up. But when I searched, I couldn’t find his broadcast. So I used Luke’s computer for a moment.”
The problem was that he unknowingly created an invitation code with Luke’s account and sent it to himself.
“Ah, I see.”
Yerna nodded at Dayton’s explanation.
Still, the intent was good; Dayton really is a caring dad.
However, there remained questions.
“But why did Luke suddenly turn off the broadcast and come find you?”
Yerna clearly expressed her disappointment in her voice.
“Well… before that, I played a little prank. He probably got upset because of that.”
“A prank?”
“You know, since Luke doesn’t know it’s me, I asked him to do various things.”
“What did you ask him to do?”
“Um, things like imitating a cat or showing some cute charm…”
At that moment, Yerna interrupted Dayton’s words with a sharp tone.
“Dayton!”
“W-What?”
Dayton was taken aback by Yerna’s annoyed expression.
Why was she suddenly acting like this?
The continued words provided the answer.
“You did all that without me knowing!”
“No, I recorded it…”
“Good job!”
Suddenly, Yerna’s expression softened.
Her expression soon changed to one of peculiar anticipation.
“Let’s watch it together later.”
“Uh, sure.”
Yerna was quite something herself.
“Oh, right, what happened at the end? What did Luke do to you?”
People were saying things like, “Dayton is probably dead now,” or “RIP,” but didn’t that sound strange?
He made an effort to bring people together for his daughter.
It didn’t seem like Luke would have been very angry about that.
In fact, it didn’t seem like Luke had a face that showed he particularly hated it either.
Moreover, Dayton himself looked perfectly fine without any signs of discomfort.
If Luke had seriously scolded him, Dayton would surely be holding onto some part of himself.
That kid was much tougher than he seemed.
“Well, about that.”
Dayton recalled that moment.
—
After the broadcast ended, Dayton awkwardly offered a plate of pancakes as Luke appeared before him with a bright smile.
“Ah, haha… um, do you want more pancakes?”
However, Dayton knew all too well that Luke didn’t rush out of the room just for pancakes.
Luke approached Dayton slowly without casting another glance at the pancakes and spoke.
“Dayton. It was you.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“You were the one who forced me to use cat language and silly baby sounds, and made me call you ‘dad’ before bringing in 124 Forest Keepers.”
“….”
Dayton had no words in response to that.
It was all true.
“B-But! That was for you! I thought you were having a hard time with the broadcast…!”
“I know. I’m really thankful about that part. So, I have no intention of harming you.”
“Then why are you coming over with that expression?”
Luke’s expression had not changed even a bit from its sweet smile.
That was scary.
The sweet yet mechanical smile Luke was wearing had a corner that made the viewer feel uneasy.
“Of course, I’m doing this as a favor for you. Dayton, your shoulders must be stiff from making pancakes, right? I’ll help you loosen them.”
Just hearing that sounded like a really good offer to Dayton.
– Crack, snap.
If Luke was approaching while cracking his knuckles, it wouldn’t be for nothing.
“Stop! Don’t come over cracking your knuckles!”
Luke calmly replied to that.
“Don’t worry, I’m just loosening my hands before the massage.”
“R-Really? Are you really going to give me a massage?”
That was a lie.
Luke immediately grabbed both of Dayton’s arms, made him lie down, and then pressed his knee into the back of his neck.
-Crack! Snap!
This time, it was the sound from Dayton’s bones.
“Gaaah!?”
“Come on now, stop whining! You can endure that much! It may hurt a bit, but it’s definitely effective!!”
“It hurts! This isn’t a massage! You’re lying, lying…!”
Luke shouted as if it was absurd.
“Not a lie! It’s a wonderful massage that aligns misaligned bones and opens blocked energy pathways!! So don’t struggle, and relax! If something goes wrong, it could be serious!”
“What? What could go wrong?”
“If not, a slipped disk, or worse, a stroke.”
“What? Stop! What kind of dangerous massage is that supposed to be—?!”
At that moment,
-BAM!
It was such a loud noise that one could doubt it was coming from his own body, and Dayton screamed.
“Ahhhh!?”
—–
And Luke’s massage truly worked.
It was a feeling like shedding a skin and being reborn…
“Thanks to that, I feel so refreshed right now.”
“… Um, that’s good, right?”
“Yerna, I think I wouldn’t mind you trying it out too, if you can endure the pain.”
“Yeah…”
But Yerna could see that Luke seemed to be putting some emotion into it.
If it really was that effective, wouldn’t he have done it for her a long time ago?
How many times had Luke given her massages so far?
Well, although she was curious if it really worked or not, there was a more important issue remaining.
“By the way, what is Luke going to do with the broadcast now? Is he going to go public with it or continue keeping it private?”
Dayton mumbled as he looked toward Luke’s room.
“Well, I wonder.”
“What else happened?”
—–
Unfortunately, Luke discovered too late that donations could not be transferred into his bank account until he turned an adult.
The terms stated on the account creation page couldn’t be read until he reached the stage of currency conversion certification, so he could not check it.
Haha, it’s possible to receive donations but not convert them.
What an amusing situation it was.
With that, Luke lost the reason to continue broadcasting.
Still, he decided to keep doing private broadcasts for the Forest Keepers for the time being.
He didn’t know how much longer he could keep it up.
For one, disposing of the broadcasting equipment he had bought was also a time-consuming task, and he felt that he needed a bit of experience if he wanted to achieve something meaningful through broadcasting later on.
To do that, private broadcasts with the Forest Keepers were optimal.
If the viewers were just his friendly Forest Keepers, then even if he made mistakes, the consequences would be relatively minimal or nonexistent, and he could analyze which types of content would receive positive responses from the diverse age groups and personalities of the people present.
Additionally, Luke himself didn’t want to host a game broadcast where it was likely that types of people he had seen in the broadcaster’s chat would swarm in.
Yerna and the other Forest Keepers were generally supportive of Luke’s thoughts.
Even though it had been quite a while since they last went to Luke Forest, Luke was still regarded as the mascot of Luke Forest, or perhaps no different from an idol.
The news of him continuing to broadcast brought joy among the Forest Keepers.
Well, if he decided to broadcast, although the Forest Keepers wouldn’t be able to see Luke directly, they could at least see how he was doing, and it would be convenient for Luke as well, so it was a mutually beneficial situation.
“Now, today, I’m thinking of showing you a dance.”
[solsolsol-Waaaah!!!]
[aaaaaaaa2332-I’m looking forward to it]
[Kiley1217-What kind of dance is it?]
It was later discovered that solsolsol was Sorbi.
And aaaaaaaa2332 was Daphne, Yerna’s guide, while Kiley1217 was Kirke.
Knowing that, it felt like their images popped into her head just by looking at the chat.
“What kind of dance…”
By the way, it would be a bit tricky to explain if they asked what kind of dance it was.
The dance he was about to perform was one that was danced at the social parties of the old nobility, and in the modern age of 5000 years past, he didn’t know what people were calling it.
An unclear explanation was worse than not explaining at all.
In the end, Luke decided not to explain the dance.
“Well, you’ll understand once you see it. It’s a dance I’ll be doing with Kate.”
[muscleman123-So it’s going to be improvisational dance]
“No, it’s not. Be quiet.”
Luke operated the computer to put Dayton on a 10-minute silence.
[zzSWORDMASTERzz-Luke, did you call Pyris for that reason?]
To which Luke nodded and replied.
“Yeah, Yerna. After all, you can’t have dance without music. Now, Pyris, say hello.”
Pyris appeared on screen with her cello, her innocent face leaning in as she asked.
“Do I just say hi to this?”
“Yeah, just greet like that.”
“Hello!”
After the greetings wrapped up, Luke stepped away a few paces to ensure he was well in view of the screen, and then he took Kate into his arms.
The dance Luke was about to perform was originally one that required two people to dance together; it wasn’t something that could be done alone.
So this time, he had decided to use Kate as his partner.
—
With that, Pyris’ performance began, and Luke began to move his body elegantly in time with the melody.
Pyris’s playing was flawless.
No matter how you put it, she was also an overwhelmingly talented spirit in terms of musical sense.
Even with just the level of skill Luke learned peering over her shoulder, she could easily surpass even seasoned cellists.
To the nearly perfect performance, Luke twirled with Kate in his arms, extending his hands to spin her around lightly, smoothly, and occasionally flamboyantly.
The sight resembled that of a beautiful swan.
The chatroom should have been captivated by Luke’s elegant appearance, forgetting even to type in the chat…
However, only Pyris’s blue head was being broadcast on screen.
