Unfortunately, despite Kirke’s efforts over several days, the elasticity of Luke’s cheeks did not return.
As a result, Luke’s face had become a testing ground for countless forest keepers.
However, since the forest keepers had been allowed to touch Luke’s cheeks to their heart’s content during the process of finding out, he had no major complaints.
Anyway, today too, Luke’s face was covered with various skincare products: masks, lotions, essences—everything claimed to be good for the skin.
Isn’t it a win-win situation? After all, they got to use cosmetics once and fondle the cute child’s cheeks to their heart’s content.
Moreover, it was amusing to see the usually averse girl tolerating the touches with a sullen expression.
Yerna thought as she observed this.
‘It’s surprising how Luke remains calm despite having his cheeks experimented on like this.’
This was because after applying the cosmetics, they “checked” by touching.
Luke, with a natural curiosity inherent to a mage, could not help but be curious about the results of the experiment. If anything, his curiosity was even stronger than others’.
In truth, she herself was curious. Were all these actions truly effective?
‘Originally, this was something only I could do…’
Yerna felt a slight pang of jealousy but sighed, acknowledging that there was nothing she could do.
Why didn’t I buy cosmetics earlier? If I had taken care of it myself, I wouldn’t have felt this way.
“Ugh.”
On the other hand, Luke groaned in discomfort.
He wasn’t used to having things applied to his face.
Moreover, he had never practiced skincare before.
In the past, though he had taken care of himself, it was only in the context of managing magical ingredients. Once a mage reached a certain level, their physical form became meaningless. Besides, Luke didn’t think his skin was particularly bad.
“Alright, that’s enough. It seems pointless to continue.”
Luke said this while raising his hand to remove the headband keeping his bangs in place.
With this definitive action, the forest keepers preparing the cosmetics reacted in shock.
“Why? Leaving it like this will cause serious problems!”
“Exactly. You should take care of your skin while you’re young. It’s more expensive and harder to do when you’re older.”
When it came to skincare, the forest keepers seemed more authoritative than Yerna herself.
Lowering his hand weakly, Luke muttered.
“But… it’s so stifling.”
The sensation of something being applied to his face was incredibly distracting, preventing him from doing anything else.
Whether reading, playing the cello, or even eating, the various cosmetics applied to his face made him feel uneasy to the point of frustration.
Luke himself couldn’t explain why the feeling was so unsettling.
In truth, Luke had never before experienced the sensation of something sticking to his skin in the past.
Most of his life had been spent with a mana barrier protecting him, so foreign substances rarely touched his skin. Moreover, the mana barrier allowed selective air permeation, unlike the substances on his face now.
Thus, the current sensation was entirely “alien” to him.
‘This… feels alien…’
Upon reflection, everything about this body was alien.
The most mysterious thing about oneself was their own body—a magical paradox.
The most important thing a mage should possess was the ability to define and understand oneself.
Of course, he was Luke Ilushi. But…
Was this body truly “Luke Ilushi”?
Gently placing his hand on the circle swirling within his chest, he felt an astonishing amount of mana, far exceeding the level of a second circle. Indeed, with this much mana, he should have mastered at least a third circle.
However, he could only maintain the two complete circles of the second circle, the third ring not even thin enough to form. Initially, he thought it was simply a lack of mana…
But reflecting on it, that couldn’t be the issue.
Luke didn’t truly know “himself”.
“…What am I?”
In the past, he had a deep certainty and confidence built from over a decade’s worth of experiences and relationships.
But now, what was he so certain about?
To define himself as “Luke Ilushi”, he needed to discover this.
Thump, thump.
The rotations of the two circles synchronized with the beats of his heart.
Closing his eyes briefly, he reflected on himself.
His last memory was ambiguous.
Apart from his death, the other three memories were unclear, and Luke had unraveled the first one, uncovering the thread.
So what about the remaining two?
Every attempt to recall was like staring into a fog, leaving Luke only feeling frustration and confusion.
“…”
Luke instinctively bowed his head and directed his gaze to the floor.
His thoughtful expression might resemble that of a noble scholar at first glance, but combined with his dislike for cosmetics, he just looked like a child who detested all this skincare.
Yerna found this sight too pathetic to ignore.
“Stop. Luke doesn’t like it.”
Luke likely had many reasons not to like cosmetics.
Reflecting on his willingness to participate in human experiments, being treated this way must have been an unpleasant experience for Luke, even if he hadn’t openly protested.
Even though Luke claimed to be content and had no trauma, requesting to be treated normally, one couldn’t be sure if it was entirely true. Perhaps Luke simply didn’t want to cause any concern.
The forest keepers, seeing Yerna’s serious expression, stepped back slightly and replied humbly.
“Alright, we’ll stop.”
“We went too far.”
“Yeah, I didn’t realize Luke disliked it so much.”
Apologizing with bowed heads, the forest keepers spontaneously acknowledged their mistake.
Luke paused his thoughts, taken aback by the sudden turn of events.
“Hmm.”
With the headband removed, he idly scratched his sideburns that had been flattened by it.
“Thank you for speaking up, Yerna.”
“Luke, were you suffocating? I’m sorry for not noticing sooner…”
Yerna looked melancholic once again.
Luke understood the meaning of this expression now. So, grasping her hand firmly, he spoke.
“It’s fine. Didn’t I clearly say I don’t want you to feel sorry for me?”
“Uh-huh…”
Yerna couldn’t feel the softness of Luke’s hand anymore.
It wasn’t as smooth as it once was.
“Luke, your hands are quite rough now…”
“…”
Luke immediately withdrew his hand.
He didn’t understand why everyone kept saying his skin was deteriorating.
But what worried him was that if Yerna also started using cosmetics…
“If Yerna also resorts to cosmetics, then what happens to me…?”
“Maybe it’s just perception.”
“So?”
“Or maybe it’s due to not washing your hands. Anyway, I should probably take a shower.”
With that, Luke entered the shower, his demeanor seemingly hurried.
—
Adjusting the temperature of the shower water was something Luke had now gotten quite adept at.
Initially, it had been difficult to find the right balance—neither too hot nor too cold.
Why did they design these tools this way?
At first, Luke had also requested Yerna’s help to adjust the water temperature. Her precise control was truly an art, and reaching that perfect warmth became one of Luke’s early goals.
Since learning to adjust the water temperature himself, he no longer required Yerna to bathe with him.
Recalling this, Luke realized it caused quite the inconvenience.
Shower…
With water cascading down like monsoon rain, Luke observed his body as the water flowed over it.
This body was truly strange.
Looking at a girl’s body through his own eyes always felt peculiar, but even that sensation was less bizarre compared to what he felt now.
Cat ears, mysterious horns, and even a remnant of the magical third eye.
What was most unusual, however, was the “spirit affinity.”
For someone with such monstrous mana affinity, it felt unnatural to possess spirit affinity.
The two talents were contradictory by nature.
And in this era, anyone claiming to see spirits would be dismissed as oddities and laughed at.
‘If I can see spirits in this uncommon era for spirit mages, then…’
Perhaps my spirit affinity is unprecedented, he thought. He had mistakenly assumed his affinity was ordinary because Py’s form seemed simple.
Making eye contact with Py, who was bathing beside him, Luke hummed softly, conveying his emotions.
“Who exactly are you?”
“Py…”
Mulling over the sound Py made, Luke used his emotions to decipher its meaning.
Translated into words, it meant…
“I don’t know/I can’t remember.”
That makes sense, Luke thought and hummed again.
“Then, what does ‘Ere’ mean?”
“Ere is Ere.”
“What…?”
“…Ere is Ere.”
“It means exactly that/No matter what/Ere is Ere.”
“…”
Exasperated by this unhelpful conversation, Luke sighed deeply.
“Really, there’s nothing I can easily understand.”
While pondering this, Luke rubbed his body with a soapy shower towel when something felt off.
“Hmm?”
Realizing something was amiss with his skin, Luke was confused.
“What’s this…?”
—
Yerna sat relaxed, listening to the sound of water Luke produced in the shower while glancing towards the shower area.
“Hmm… Hmm.”
“Ho ho.”
Surprisingly, he was humming a tune while showering after complaining about the cosmetics.
His humming was quite pleasant.
Even during performances, he would occasionally hum, which harmonized beautifully with his cello, sometimes startling her.
Later, during one of the many well-received performances, she learned how beautiful a child’s voice could be.
‘His voice was always quite lovely.’
He just used a stiff tone due to his insistence on calling himself “Luke Ilushi.”
After the bath, should I ask him to play again? This time with a song?
Just imagining it made her smile.
Hmm, maybe my expression looks a bit inappropriate.
While Yerna was distractedly managing her expressions, the shower door abruptly opened. Luke rushed out with water still dripping from his hair.
“Yerna!”
“Luke? What’s wrong? You didn’t dry yourself properly.”
“Look at this! My skin…”
“Huh? What’s wrong with your skin?”
—
Luke pinched his arm with his index finger and pulled, causing the skin to peel off like a peeled shell.
Yerna jumped to her feet and stopped him.
“Stop tearing it! That might make it worse!”
“Alright, got it.”
Luke immediately stopped his action. Clearly, he didn’t know what this indicated, and it would be unwise to act hastily.
“Could this be some sort of skin disease?”
“Hmm, I’m not too sure.”
Then, a concerning thought struck Yerna.
“Could this be the effect of those human experiments?”
We should see a dermatologist immediately.
