“Today has been quite busy.”
Luke sighed as he mumbled. Py jumped in response, as if protesting Luke’s words, unable to accept that statement.
He hadn’t even taken the cello out of its case today.
If he were to elaborate on the reasons, he would have a lot to say.
First of all, he had been very busy preparing for the sports meet.
Not just busy, but truly overwhelmingly so.
He had to practice for one event and immediately move on to the next.
He regretted having signed up for so many events, but more entries meant more opportunities for awards, making it hard to give them up.
Moreover, while practicing for the sports meet, he also reviewed past exam types from the magic competition, learning about how questions were posed and what answers to write. That too would contribute to his accolades.
Luke pushed himself as if he had two bodies, dividing his time and overworking himself.
In fact, for Luke, this level of effort wasn’t much at all.
He had experience in the past balancing swordsmanship and physical training alongside magic training and research.
If he were to compare hardships, that time was far more challenging than this.
It had always been like that in the past, so there was no reason he couldn’t do the same this time.
However, to be honest, Luke was mentally exhausted as well.
Because of that, he couldn’t even play music to earn money, let alone go to an internet cafe.
Well, he could technically play now, but it would be too late after finishing.
It was an awkward time when he couldn’t go to the internet cafe.
“Ha.”
Luke sighed with disappointment.
Seeing that, Py blocked Luke’s path with a sulky expression.
– What does that sigh mean?
Oh no, had he read the emotions contained in that sigh? Luke made a somewhat awkward face and whistled lightly, signaling it was nothing.
– …?
It happened then.
Py, a spirit sensitive to unnatural flows of mana, suddenly looked in an unexpected direction.
Turning his head in the direction Py was looking, someone appeared in sight.
“Um?”
It was a man in dirty clothes.
He seemed to be injured, walking with an unusual gait, and a few band-aids visible under his drooping hood caught Luke’s attention.
However, there was something about him that could even more assuredly capture Luke’s gaze.
The flow of mana read through magic sight and the arrangement of unnatural mana told him.
He was currently casting a series of spells on his own body. Moreover, the nature of those spells was distinctly different from traditional magic of this era.
Despite the city being built with countless spells, people using ‘circle magic’ were not commonly seen aside from himself.
‘It’s circle magic. It looks quite strong too.’
However, the way he operated the circle was a complete mess. Even from a rough read with magic sight, Luke could tell it was an extremely unrefined method.
Why didn’t he use a cane if he was going to use the circle like that?
“Hmm.”
Luke felt curiosity rising.
“Py, let’s follow him.”
-…!?
Py, lacking hands, waved its magical fragments around, mimicking arms, and shook its head.
It seemed to be shouting, “Why!?”.
“Don’t you want to know who he is?”
They say curiosity killed the cat, don’t they?
Well then, let’s see if a cat mixed with a chimera can be killed.
——
Step by step, as he walked down the street, something felt off.
Why was that?
The man briefly paused and looked back.
Well, he didn’t see anyone following him.
But what was this sensation?
A fear as if he were facing a predator…
The man fully trusted his instincts.
Because the information conveyed by his senses had always opened a path for him to survive.
It was the survival signal sent from his heart, and amidst countless betrayals, the heartbeat alone was wholly on his side.
The man looked straight ahead and focused on his heartbeat.
An odd resonance. His heart clearly warned of danger, yet for some reason, there was nothing alarming about the rest of his senses.
Something was strange.
Could it be a tailing?
No, that couldn’t be.
What he had cast over his body was a magic that distorted perception, dimming his presence.
The magic he created by operating his circle didn’t require the mediation of a cane, making it impossible to catch him, and since it didn’t manipulate physical laws, the amount of magical traces left was minimal.
Thus, until now, no one had ever pierced through this magic, and no one ever would.
But what about this dangerous sensation…?
‘Shall I try to distance myself from the street?’
If someone was tailing him, he needed to get rid of them.
Perhaps the crowd on the street was disturbing his senses.
He turned into a corner of an alley.
———-
As the man entered the back alley, Luke wore a slightly troubled expression.
Was he really some underdog living in the backstreets?
Perhaps he couldn’t even get a circle removal treatment, hence the messy magic he was using.
He heard that circle magic had been abandoned in this era due to its ‘hazard’ status.
Consequently, unless it was a special situation where it had blended too deeply into the heart to be removed, it was common sense for all to be eliminated.
However, Luke felt that the man’s circle was exceedingly unstable.
It seemed to be a result of enduring wrong circle training for a very long time.
In the past, he had seen countless wizards who met unwarranted masters end up like that, being unable to build more circles and dying or becoming ruins after being at the mercy of their circles.
There’s no reason to believe that such cases wouldn’t exist in this era as well.
‘Tsk tsk, what a pitiful individual.’
Thinking so, Luke followed the man again.
‘Hmm, seems like he’s going quite deep.’
As he ventured deeper, the beautiful and clean sight of the city faded, transforming into a scene of poverty and gloom, shocking Luke a bit.
From the outside, it seemed everyone was living happily and abundantly, yet it seemed that the issue of wealth disparity remained unsolved even in this era.
‘Is he living in a place like this?’
Just as he contemplated this, the man halted his steps.
And…
Zzap-!
Lightning struck.
At literally lightning speed, an attack that was impossible for human reflexes to respond to.
However, since Luke had already read everything about the mana being generated, it posed no threat to him at all.
Luke gestured towards the lightning, easily interpreting and diminishing the magic he had calculated in advance.
Sizzle-! The power that could have incapacitated or harmed a person was reduced to the level of static electricity occurring in a winter sweater.
A slight sting of an attack, which was blocked by Luke’s ‘shield’ without leaving even that sting.
Luke felt pity.
How had he developed such a sharp reaction, what kind of tension had he lived under in this back alley for so long?
“The greeting is a bit rough. I hope you don’t act this way with others as well. Furthermore, isn’t unauthorized magic use illegal?”
‘Well, since I used it too, let’s keep this as our little secret,’ he thought as a smirk appeared on his face, causing the man to gasp.
The fact that he was being followed by a fearless little girl and that his sudden lightning magic had done no damage at all felt absurd to him.
In extreme tension, the man found himself speechless, breaking into a cold sweat.
She adjusted the large cello case that had slipped slightly during her previous movement.
“Let’s have a chat. First, take off that hat.”
“Why should I?”
Luke snapped his fingers as if to say it couldn’t be helped, and the wind swept off the man’s hood.
“Because I want to see your face, and it’s courteous to make eye contact when talking.”
Unexpectedly powerful magic…!
He felt no indications or premonitions whatsoever.
The magic was natural, as though it were a natural phenomenon.
The man understood.
That finger snap was merely a facade.
If Luke wanted to, he could have taken his head without any motion.
However, the fact that he snapped his fingers was an act of ‘consideration’.
It meant, “I used magic, so don’t be startled.”
With a grinding sound, he gritted his teeth.
He was angry that he had momentarily felt fear towards such a bizarre little girl and that he had become weak enough to require ‘consideration’ from her.
The man conjured a sphere of lightning in his hand, contorting his face angrily.
Crackle-!
The sound of threatening sparks, yes.
This was a threat.
“You’re younger than I expected.”
“What the hell are you?”
Luke shrugged and replied.
“Just a passing mage.”
“What business do you have with me?”
“I was just curious about you.”
“Me? Why?”
“Don’t you want to fix your circle?”
Plop.
The sphere of lightning flickering in the man’s hand disappeared in an instant.
Thus, the forcibly held circle of his heart regained stability.
“…What do you mean by that?”
Seeing the man react, Luke was about to say something more but stopped.
His phone started ringing with a beeping sound.
“Oh, my apologies.”
“What…?”
She fished her phone out of her uniform pocket and brought it to her ear.
“Speak. Huh? Daniel? Got it, I’ll head there right away. Of course, I’ll take responsibility and look after Daniel. Of course, I’ll handle it neatly.”
Click.
“Oops, it seems I have an urgent matter, so I can’t continue our conversation.”
After a somewhat embarrassed smile, the girl remarked helplessly.
“Hmm. Here, I’ll give you my contact info, so if you feel compelled, contact me here.”
As Luke raised his hand slightly, several pieces of paper flew from somewhere, landing in his hand.
Then, with a whoosh, he lit it on fire lightly, etching the contact information into the charred remains before handing it over.
The man accepted it in a daze.
As if it were a significant person’s business card.
Watching the platinum tail of the girl swaying as she disappeared into the back alley, burdened with an oversized instrument case, he wore a bewildered expression.
“I see, that girl is…”
Was she also from this world?
Now that he thought about it, instrument cases were often disguises for weapon cases.
Moreover, if it was that large, it could indeed have been a powerful weapon.
If that was the case, was her school uniform also a disguise?
The man sighed softly as he contemplated.
Indeed, this world is vast.
——-
As expected, where Luke arrived was an internet cafe.
Shirud had called him because they were one player short for a 5 vs 5 match.
Cling-.
“I’m here.”
“Luke! You’re here! You can sit here. We already topped up your time.”
“What? Who’s this girl? Do girls play games too?”
“Luke has just started.”
“Really? Hah, but you’re putting her in my line? Do you think I’ll go easy on a girl? I don’t go easy on girls.”
“Hahaha.”
Luke simply laughed.
A few minutes later, Daniel screamed.
“No way, this game is really dirty!”
“Dirty? Daniel, from my experience, there’s never been a ‘fair’ war like in shamari. How about working on your skills?”
“I hate that tone!”
Shirud thought to himself.
‘Luke is really good at games.’
In every sense, he was thoroughly dismantling his opponent’s mentality.
