“Was there nothing unusual at school today?”
The gentle voice of a female elf.
It was Serena.
“Yeah, nothing much.”
Upon hearing Serena’s question, Shirud gave a vague response.
Although a mother might feel a bit upset when her child responds so nonchalantly, she didn’t feel that way at all right now.
Because Shirud was actually reading a book.
And it wasn’t even a comic book; it was a magic book!
“The Fundamentals of Practical Coordinate Equations – Beginner’s Edition.”
A thick magic book with letters that seemed like something he wouldn’t even glance at under normal circumstances. It was the kind of book Shirud absolutely would not pull out by himself at home.
While he still had his usual blank expression, it was certainly better than seeing him scowl while scribbling on a worksheet in reluctance.
“But why suddenly studying?”
On the other hand, she was also a bit worried. It was said that doing something a person usually doesn’t do could be harmful, and studying at home was something Shirud had never done before.
Shirud scratched his head for a moment, let out a sigh, and said, “Well, Luke said studying like this is good.”
She was also eager to try out that amazing fire magic that Luke had shown. Breathing fire with one’s hands was a dream for many children.
Pure coolness!
Shirud briefly imagined himself breathing fire from his hands.
Isn’t that just too cool? It’s possible as long as he has a circle.
Of course, Luke didn’t teach him, claiming it was dangerous, but Shirud felt like he would understand it if he studied, so for now, studying was the way to go.
Upon hearing that, Serena’s face lit up.
“Is that so?”
She had heard that his heart had improved lately (apparently, his heart’s circle had turned into a double circle. When she asked, they said it was thanks to Luke). Could it be that he was also getting help with his studies?
“Haha, indeed…”
It was the right choice to let Luke enroll.
Recently, Shirud hadn’t caused any trouble at the academy, which was a very good change.
“But didn’t Luke say he had a self-attendance policy?”
“That’s true, but he visits often. During class time, he reads in the library… But to me, it seems like he just comes to eat the school meals.”
Shirud sighed, recalling the time he had only watched Luke eat.
It was honestly a bit frustrating to see him enjoying food that he himself couldn’t eat.
Why was he born an elf?
“Hmm… Is that so?”
Listening to Shirud’s lament, Serena rested her chin on her hand.
“Perhaps it’s because there’s a girl he likes who doesn’t pay attention to him, and he doesn’t know how to get her attention.”
Suddenly, Serena had a thought and raised the corners of her mouth slightly.
She should get in touch with Yerna.
——-
Luke managed to find only one usable book among the numerous stacks in the library.
Even that, he had to directly request from the librarian, asking for a book that covered the ecosystem and creatures of the Demon Realm.
“The Encyclopedia of Fantastical Beasts.”
From the title, it was clear that the creatures mentioned in it might be “fictitious.”
It read like a document analyzing fossils of extinct species.
Come to think of it, all the school’s books had this vibe.
Books that were easy and fun for children to read…
It was indeed hard to expect specialized literature.
“Well, I figured as much.”
Luke shrugged.
Since he had slain the Demon King, the dimensional bond between the Demon Realm and the Mid-Realm had weakened.
Several decades after the Demon King was defeated, the connection between the Mid-Realm and the Demon Realm was nearly severed.
Even so, Luke was a bit surprised that there were no records at all.
Well, if it’s unavoidable, I guess I have to accept it.
It was less that he sought to learn about the Demon Realm and more that he was curious about how it was recorded.
The Demon Realm was a dimension that the Demon King forcibly connected to this world.
The Demon King and the demons were humanity from another dimension.
Because of that, the humanity of the Mid-Realm was different from theirs, and it was impossible to interbreed with the current humanity. Due to a severe low birth rate, the demons who hadn’t returned to the Demon Realm remained in the Mid-Realm, hardly even gathering in units larger than a village.
It was a pretty miserable life, one would think.
If the Demon King had won the war, this side would have been in such a state too; there was nothing that could be done about it.
Yet, looking at the encyclopedia depicting the creatures of the Demon Realm, it was certain that the realm existed.
Reading the illustrations and descriptions began to jog his memories.
Bark, a predator with the body of a lion, lacking fur and mane but covered in scales. Its hide was exceptionally thick and sturdy, completely resistant to fire magic.
However, its flesh was quite tasty.
The ribs, in particular, were pretty good.
Aside from the part where it had to be grilled with hellfire, it could have made quite a nice ingredient.
Zephyra, resembling a hawk, but its fur was as vibrant as a parrot’s.
However, once it began hunting, it would angulate its colorful fur perfectly to change its color.
A fast and lethal beast.
Due to its small size and high resistance to magic, it was quite troublesome, but since it lived an individual life, it didn’t cause much trouble during travel.
Ah, the meat tasted bitter and fishy, so it wasn’t very good.
Juper, a bipedal turtle—was that the feeling?
Unlike an ordinary turtle, its exoskeleton covered its entire body like a full plate armor worn by a human.
Being bipedal, it could wield weapons and had quite a bit of intelligence, making them very tricky creatures.
However, regrettably, he hadn’t been able to taste it.
Every time he tried to cook it, something would interrupt him.
Kayle Propston suggested that the reason might be due to the fact that it could communicate with other creatures via something akin to telepathy, which was surprisingly persuasive for Kayle.
“Among these, the one that was the hardest to deal with…”
Surely, it was ‘Trex’.
A colossal body, two or three times the size of an elephant, with a massive snout resembling that of a crocodile and its corresponding bite force.
Even Kayle Propston was astonished by its speed, and without a sword aura, even slashing wouldn’t work on its tough exterior.
It didn’t have wings, but with its incredible physical ability, it could easily leap several dozen meters and even breathe fire.
Its form and power were reminiscent of a dragon that had traded wings and intelligence for raw strength.
Adding the environment of the Demon Realm on top, it was not an exaggeration to say that it was harder to deal with than a dragon.
It was so difficult to deal with that he had managed to grasp a clue to the ninth circle while facing it.
Otherwise, Luke probably wouldn’t have survived long enough to see the Demon King.
“Yeah, I could call this creature my teacher.”
As Luke continued to look at the illustrations of the creatures of the Demon Realm, he felt strangely entertained.
With every predator he saw, a memory surfaced.
For him, this was no different from an album filled with photographs.
However, some of the creatures had incorrect illustrations. He would need to contact the publisher about this later.
If he sent along sketches of the corrections, they would likely be updated.
Luke sketched a correction of the predator in his notebook.
“This should be recognizable.”
Luke nodded contentedly.
“It seems like I can’t find information about cats, though… I honestly didn’t expect that.”
It meant that if he had to search for them himself in the forest of the Demon Realm, they were likely such rare beings that they couldn’t be found generally.
If such creatures did appear in a reference book, he might have felt a bit disappointed.
What kind of connection did cats have with immortality?
Why couldn’t he remember?
——
Yerna, without realizing she was smiling, found Luke immersed in his book.
“He seems to be having a lot of fun reading that.”
These days, every time she saw him, he was reading it; she had lost count of how many times he had done so.
Fantastical beasts, or predators, were quite popular, even being available as children’s toys.
She found it so good that he was even drawing illustrations.
The drawings…
Were so well done that they didn’t seem like they were made by a child.
They had much more vigor in them.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the illustrations were a bit brighter and cuter like a child’s?
“Luke, is that fun?”
“It’s very fun. It brings back old memories.”
“I see.”
Old memories? Come to think of it, there had been mentions of Luke Irushi battling many predators in his fairy tales.
“…If that’s the case, it’s quite a detailed role-playing.”
Yerna said this with a slightly dejected feeling.
Even the way he spoke had returned to ‘Luke Irushi’…
When she asked why he spoke that way again, it seemed he felt shy when not role-playing.
She enjoyed being called sister too.
“It’s not like I can force him if he doesn’t like it.”
Even Luke imitating an adult was quite cute in its way, so that was fine.
Maybe one day he would change his way of speaking too.
And since he promised himself not to sulk alone, he needed to shake off the bad feelings quickly.
Fortunately, she was able to get rid of those feelings quite easily.
There were reasons for that.
Yerna hummed a tune, recalling the plans for a few days later concerning her job.
“I never thought Serena would think that much of Luke…”
A few days ago, that had come up during a conversation when they met in person.
“Recently, Luke has been really into a book, and he seems quite interested in predators.”
“Is that so? Then how about the predator museum? It seems like it would be quite fun, and if we went with Shirud, they could have fun together.”
“Predator museum? That sounds like a great idea!”
Just thinking about it seemed enjoyable.
The predator museum, which already looked like so much fun even from the book, how much would Luke enjoy it when they actually went?
Imagining Luke’s reaction made her hum unconsciously.
From afar, Dayton, watching this scene, poked Kirke walking by next to him.
“Hey, is something up with Yerna today? She seems really high-spirited.”
“Oh, she said she was going to the predator museum this weekend.”
“What? With who?”
“I don’t know. I overheard she was meeting with an elf.”
Dayton’s eyes widened in surprise as he asked, “An elf? Is that a boy or a girl?”
Kirke thought for a moment and then said, “I’m not sure. I only heard bits and pieces. But if they are going together, wouldn’t it be a boy?”
After finishing that sentence, Kirke swiftly turned to leave. Dayton stood still, dumbfounded, mulling over what she had just said.
“Elf, boy, museum…”
Isn’t this definitely a date?
Had they even met?
Now that he thought about it, there had been a few occasions where she expressed worries about relationships along with the recent extension of the temporary guardianship.
He had hoped that he could have been the one in that seat…
Could he ever overcome the differences in their races? Dayton, holding his head in despair, gradually crumbled and fell on the ground.
“Since when…?”
An elf…
Might actually look good with her.
Dayton imagined a scene where an unknown boy stood beside Yerna.
There, she was gracefully smiling, looking up at a faceless elf-boy as they conversed happily.
Yes, he thought if Yerna was happy, that would be enough…
Dayton sprang up from his spot.
“I should at least confirm his face.”
Yes, he would do that, and then neatly give up.
If he wasn’t a decent guy… he needed to throw a tantrum or something.
Seeing Dayton smile ominously, Sorbi fled, trembling and muttering, “Uh-oh, has he completely lost it?”
