“Hello-! I’m Ru’a Eraast!”
“Hi, you’re Siena’s little sister, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Yerna Risphind. You can call me Yerna Onee-chan.”
“Yes, Yerna Onee-chan! Then please call me Ru’a!”
With her long, luscious hair of sea-blue color, Ru’a Eraast was a woman with a bright smile.
Though not a formal counselor yet, she was a kind of salvation for Yerna, who was tight on money to take her to a real counselor.
Since she was also Siena’s little sister, Yerna could trust her.
“Anyway, thanks for coming, Ru’a. But are you okay since you’re so young?”
“I’m fine-! I like kids! I even volunteer at an orphanage often!”
“Really? That’s great to hear. Actually, Luke…”
——-
Sitting at the desk and diligently working through a worksheet, Luke put down his pencil as he heard the sound of the door opening and dashed to the entrance.
“Did you do well while I was gone? Did you go out anywhere this time?”
Luke stood in front of Yerna, who was hanging her coat on the rack.
“Of course. I spent all day studying at home. I don’t want to worry you anymore.”
Even though he had only one circle, he had engraved it.
Having at least a first circle made a world of difference.
For now, he had erased the anxiety of being a “non-mage,” so there was no need to hastily move to engrave more circles.
Yerna smiled at Luke and gently ruffled his hair, being careful not to touch the insides of his ears.
Although Luke found her touch quite burdensome, he decided to leave it be as he watched Yerna’s expression soften at the feel of his hair.
However, knowing she wouldn’t stop if he left it alone, Luke found his words.
“Ah, Yerna. By the way.”
“Yes?”
“Weren’t you a noble?”
In response to Luke’s somewhat outlandish question, Yerna answered with a puzzled look.
“Of course not. I’m just an apartment tenant. Did I look like a noble?”
“I thought so at first since you live in a place like this.”
“…Really?”
“But now I think you might not be a noble after all. Well, I just misunderstood. Don’t mind it.”
Noticing that Luke had paused his petting, he smiled slightly and walked back to his desk, bringing his pencil to the worksheet he had been working on.
Watching him, Yerna pondered what “noble” meant to Luke.
Having assumed that Luke had escaped from being a noble’s slave using circle magic, she quickly recalled what that meant.
‘For Luke, a noble might mean someone who commands slaves, right?’
Perhaps the worried expression he had when he first saw her house was not due to feeling he didn’t fit in but rather a natural instinct rejecting memories of being abused.
If he thought of her as a “noble,” then perhaps the reason he left home by himself was also related to anxiety over that kind of bondage.
‘Maybe I was wrong…’
Yerna began to feel guilty.
Keeping a child cooped up inside the house was not good.
At such an age as Luke’s, children usually loved playing outside.
Especially if they had been forced into slavery, it would be entirely natural for such a child to long for the outside world.
Yerna recalled her conversation with Siena and spoke.
“Luke, there’s a person my friend is sending who will come to take care of you in various ways tomorrow. Is that okay?”
Yerna told Luke about the “counselor” Siena had introduced.
“Me?”
Luke looked up at Yerna with a somewhat puzzled expression.
“Yes, especially since I’ll be on duty tomorrow and can’t come home, she’s going to watch you all day.”
“That’s going to be a hassle for her. Well, you don’t have to worry about me…”
Stopping mid-sentence, Luke suddenly recalled the time he had left home silently and worried Yerna, so he kept his mouth shut.
Back then, he had no circles thrumming in his heart, so he had only felt a little anxious, but ultimately, it had caused her worry.
Perhaps she would worry again this time.
‘Because I worry, I mustn’t worry!’
Thinking of Yerna’s insistence, Luke replied weakly.
“Well, if that would ease your concern…”
———–
The next day.
Ding-dong—.
Hearing the sound of the bell, Luke set down his worksheets and called out loudly enough for it to be heard outside.
“Who is it?”
“I’m here because Yerna called-. Can you open the door?”
“I see, so you must be the person Yerna was talking about.”
Click.
“So, you’re that Luke Ilushi—? I’m Ru’a Eraast.”
The person who entered was a gentle woman with striking light blue hair.
What stood out was that she had animal ears similar to Luke’s atop her head, though they looked more like a dog’s than a cat’s.
“Are you a Hyun?”
“Yes—! My sister is a Hyun. How about that?”
Upon hearing her, Luke finally noticed the tail that gently swayed beneath her legs.
“Hmm.”
Luke felt no particular excitement about her.
In the time he lived, Hyuns were classified as “monsters” and “non-human races.”
Hyun.
Because they had allied with the demon race, their entire race had fallen into slavery.
It was quite miraculous that after 5000 years, Hyuns could live peacefully alongside humans. However, he could not erase his discomfort toward them.
In the past, Luke Ilushi had been at the forefront of the wars and had to kill countless Hyuns.
‘Compared to then, the world has truly become peaceful.’
It was indeed a good era compared to the great wars where one could only live by killing others.
Although Luke had been called a hero in those wars, the truly good world would be one that did not need heroes like him.
‘Reine, did you think the same way as me?’
As Luke’s thoughts drifted back to the battlefields of the past upon seeing Ru’a’s tail, she smiled gently and spoke to him.
“Luke. So, what were you up to?”
Counseling, by nature, is not just a matter of a few words exchanged and suggesting a solution.
Whatever the person just met might say wouldn’t even reach one’s ears, and it’s impossible to delve into someone’s deeper heart with just one conversation.
To open the door to a child’s heart, first and foremost, it would be essential to become friends.
“I was studying some magic.”
When Luke pointed to his desk to indicate where he had been studying, Ru’a smiled warmly in response.
“Should I help you with your studies?”
“You know magic?”
Luke asked with a slightly surprised expression.
As far as Luke knew, Hyuns generally didn’t have a high affinity for magic or an interest in studying.
If even a Hyun could say they knew “magic,” that meant their class magic was well developed.
‘I don’t know who praised it, but it’s an impressive magic system.’
Seeing Luke’s surprised expression, Ru’a confidently stated.
“Of course—! Naturally—!”
Anyone from this era would be at least a 2nd class expert, so Ru’a found it sufficient to say she “knew” magic.
‘How difficult can a child’s studies be?’
———
She was mistaken.
“Kids these days study ahead at an unbelievable pace…”
Ru’a was grimacing at the unexpectedly difficult problems.
‘4th class? Is she already preparing for Magic Academy?’
Though she heard Luke dreamed of becoming a mage, wasn’t that a bit ahead of her time?
Ru’a felt her head spinning with the magic formulas and concepts she had long since forgotten. What was even harder to bear was Luke’s sympathetic expression.
“Well, it can’t be helped.”
Luke didn’t feel particularly shaken as he hadn’t had any expectations to begin with.
Ru’a felt somewhat hurt by that look, but it couldn’t be helped.
It was she who had been beaten in studying by a child who seemed to be under ten years old.
‘I am somewhat well-educated, though…’
The fact that a kid had adult-level knowledge in magic studies made Ru’a think that if that allowed someone to be “Luke Ilushi,” she also wanted to become that.
With genuine curiosity, Ru’a asked.
“Luke, is studying really fun?”
“Of course. Learning new knowledge and thinking about it always makes my heart race.”
“Really?”
She heard that he was a truly ‘special’ child, but wasn’t he surprisingly so special?
Leaning back on the sofa, Ru’a watched Luke from the side as he studied, wondering if he really was studying.
‘Looks like he really understands…’
Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to organize his notes so neatly.
Somehow, his handwriting also had an old-fashioned elegance.
She had no clue what he had written, though.
‘Something, the letters are exceptionally beautiful for a child… I still have no idea what it says, though.’
From Ru’a’s perspective, the characters written in Luke’s notes mixed with expressions and letters that were no longer in use were akin to ancient script from 5000 years ago, so it was challenging to understand them.
Even if she could read them, she might not understand the content anyway.
Magic was not her specialty.
This was a drawback of class magic.
Learning pre-created spells is easy, but only a few people can fully comprehend the principles behind those spells.
Thus, even if many can use magic, it doesn’t mean they can all claim to “know” it.
The difference between a ‘user’ and a ‘developer.’
This was also a concept born from the changes in the magic system.
To use magic, understanding of that magic and phenomenon is absolutely necessary for circle magic. However, class magic can be “used” without “understanding.”
Today, Luke learned that.
‘Indeed, compared to circle magic, class magic is more complex for creating spells. There is so much more to calculate, but in the end, the completed magic produces the same effect regardless of who uses it.’
A new realization.
Organizing that realization in his notes, Luke snapped the book shut with a thud.
‘It’s impolite to only do my own thing with a guest present.’
As Luke met Ru’a’s gaze, she immediately smiled and said.
“Are you going to take a break now—?”
“Yes. You seemed to have prepared a lot, so what’s in that bag of yours?”
“Oh! You were curious about that—! Just a moment!”
‘Oh! Thank goodness, at least what I prepared isn’t completely wasted!’
Ru’a turned with a bright smile and rummaged through her bag.
She was so pleased that she couldn’t help but let her tail sway.
While observing Ru’a’s tail sweeping the floor below her dress, Luke felt something instinctual.
“…….”
It was an impulse.
-Thud!
“Kiyaa!”
And then there was a scream.
“Oh, I-I’m sorry! I instinctively….”
When Luke, startled by Ru’a’s voice, released her tail, Ru’a hurriedly turned her backside, hiding her tail from Luke.
“W-What was that all of a sudden…? Luke, you can’t just grab a Hyun’s tail like that! You don’t understand because you don’t have one, but it’s connected to the spine, so it hurts a lot if you grab it hard!”
“The, it was swaying so I couldn’t help myself….”
Luke had no idea why he had done that.
