Translators note: As it is a Male-> Female Transition, We are using She/Her for Luke’s pronoun from now on but please don’t forget he is originally a male with a young girl’s body.
***
Yerina thought it would take a little time to find a facility where she could accept Luke.
That’s because victims of human trafficking like her couldn’t be sent to just any orphanage facility.
Yerina, planning to spend the day looking for such a facility, took Luke to her house.
“Isn’t a forest ranger supposed to live in the forest?”
Yerna chuckled softly at her question.
“How else would one carry out their duties every day?”
Yerina smiled as she explained that usually several people took turns managing, while she rolled up her sleeves and continued, “But today, I’ll be taking care of you alone.”
In the past, elves were a race that lived in the forest.
Elves are born in the forest and die in the forest.
Luke, who had such thoughts, was a bit confused, but she decided to go along with it.
There were too many strange things besides that.
“Your house is very tall. Could it be that you’re nobility?”
“Haha! Not likely. I’m just a tenant in this apartment.”
Luke followed her into the elevator.
Encountering an elevator for the first time, she examined the contraption with curious eyes.
“The door opens by itself. What is this?”
“It’s an elevator. Is this your first time seeing one?”
“Indeed…”
Yerina smiled at her, amused by her fascination with the elevator.
She always found it cute how children’s eyes lit up when they saw something new.
Ding!
As Luke, intrigued by the circuitry of the elevator buttons, was startled by an unexpected sound and started to be on guard, Yerina smiled and placed her hand on Luke’s shoulder.
“Luke, let’s go!”
After walking down the corridor for a while, Yerina unlocked a door with a key.
Thud.
Flash…!
“Come on in quickly.”
She pressed a button on the shoe rack, illuminating the dark room.
Luke was astonished by the sight.
Her ‘wizard sight’ read the magical enchantments of the place in an instant.
The light magic on the ceiling, the blind magic on the windows, and the large rectangular box in the kitchen were enchanted with a perfect balance of frost and water properties, forming ‘low-temperature magic.’
The sofa and carpet were made of materials that couldn’t be guessed.
There were no animals with such soft leather in her knowledge.
Either the level of the craftsman had reached the realm of conjuring spells, or…
Moreover, even the chairs seemed as comfortable as beds, a luxury furniture that even nobles couldn’t freely use in her time.
Not to mention, even the wallpaper, which had no effect, had intricate patterns and was flawless…
“Oh my, the artisan who created all this must be… I can’t even fathom the value of each of these items. Living in a place like this, Yerina must be nobility.”
Although she didn’t see anyone around, in such a facility, maybe there was no need for anyone to be present.
Luke swallowed her saliva.
She wasn’t currently Grand wizard Luke Irushi.
It was a fact she didn’t want to admit.
Right now, she was just a child.
Luke lamented her powerlessness, wearing a crestfallen expression.
“Can I… really enter a place like this?”
Looking at Luke’s eyes, which widened and then turned melancholic in an instant, Yerina felt quite sorry.
Her animal ears, which were perked up, drooped so pitifully that even she couldn’t help feeling compassion.
“Has this child never experienced such simple kindness before?”
Suppressing her emotions, she forced a smile, knelt down, and met the gaze of the melancholic girl with a sad expression.
“You can come in anytime.”
Luke nodded reluctantly as she looked at her bright smile.
It couldn’t be helped.
If her body were intact, or if even her circle, or any trace of her existence, remained intact, then accepting her favor here would have been optional.
However, she wasn’t even in a state to have her body in good condition.
With a confused mind, she took a step forward.
“Should I wash first? Can I wash alone?”
“You can wash alone.”
“Really? I can bath over there.”
“Okay.”
She pointed to the direction, and Luke removed the dirty towel.
Looking at her small body through the mirror, Luke felt awkward again.
Ivory skin, small stature, platinum hair.
What are these ears and horns?
As she curiously touched her ears, she felt something strange.
“Hmm…”
Sensations ran down her spine, indicating that it wasn’t just attached, but precisely integrated with her body.
The horns felt the same way.
He could feel the texture when she touched them.
This sensation meant that these toy-like ears and horns were already fully functional body parts.
“Huh…”
She was perplexed.
However, the transformed body didn’t only bring her despair.
What could have caused this?
She felt ‘curiosity’ about it.
A wizard exists with curiosity and perishes with curiosity.
A person who lives their whole life pursuing curiosity and lives for the satisfaction of it.
For her, it was a common truth and reality.
“Why did this happen?”
As there were almost no facts she could recall, it stimulated her curiosity even more.
She vowed to uncover what had happened to her body and decided that for now, she needed to wash.
The surroundings were smooth like pottery, so it seemed fine for water to splash anywhere.
Indeed, it was an indoor bath.
Once again, she was surprised by its sophistication.
Though not comparable to a public bath in size, considering it was a small indoor space, it was quite impressive.
Nevertheless, where was the water stored?
If she didn’t judge her as a wizard, then there must be water somewhere.
She looked around and spotted a white pottery vessel.
“Could this be a well?”
Upon sniffing, it seemed relatively clean.
The material of the well was smooth pottery, not just ordinary stone, making it better hygienically compared to the wells in the village she used to care for in the past.
Examining it with her hands, it seemed fine.
Was this how she was supposed to wash?
Putting some water in a basin nearby, she splashed it onto her body.
The cold sensation wasn’t too bad, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful that it wasn’t warmed.
If she were her usual self, heating the water wouldn’t have been difficult.
This was another sense of deprivation she felt as a non-wizard.
The water in the well quickly ran out.
Luke, who was fiddling around with this and that, wondering how to fill the water, discovered a lever behind the well.
When she pushed it, it was no small wonder that the empty well was refilled with water.
“It’s really amazing……”
Gurgle……
When the water was filled, she sprinkled water on herself again.
When the water ran out, she pushed the lever to fill it again.
After repeating this several times, Yerina, who felt something strange, opened the bathroom door.
“Hey, Luke? Are you feeling okay? Why do you keep flushing the toilet…… What on earth are you doing?!”
Yes, indeed, what Luke thought was a well was actually a toilet.
***
Yerina immediately put Luke in the bathtub and showered her with warm water.
Like a wet puppy with drooping ears, Luke speaks weakly to her.
“I really feel ashamed, causing trouble to such an esteemed person…… I can only blame my ignorance. I apologize once again……”
“Stop talking while I’m washing. Water is getting in.”
“Um…… Alright……”
‘She’s not stupid at all if you listen to her speak……’
“Have you really never used a shower before?”
“Ugh, no, I haven’t-. Well…… A shower is nice. It’s comfortable and warm enough to make me sleepy……”
Indeed, Luke had never seen a shower before.
She had never seen anything similar to it either.
Therefore, it was natural that she didn’t know how to use it.
“Sigh……”
Yerina thought about how much this little child had suffered. There are too many bad people in the world.
“Ha, since I sprayed toilet water on my head, I should be thorough with rinsing it off.”
“Ugh, huh……!”
When Yerina lightly touched her ear, Luke raised her shoulders and let out a whimper mixed with pain, surprising Yerina, who quickly withdrew her hand.
“Why, what’s wrong?”
Luke coughed awkwardly as if to say she felt embarrassed.
“Um, it’s better not to touch inside the ear, it seems to be a very sensitive area……”
“Oh, I see.”
Yerina stiffened her expression, feeling more resentment towards the person who kidnapped Luke.
***
Dark night.
Luke was standing outside on the veranda, looking at the sky.
It wasn’t because she liked the night sky, but to confirm if this was the world she knew by looking at the positions of the stars.
‘The world is the same as the one I knew. The time has an error of about 5000 years.’
‘I don’t know the exact time.’
‘But I think it’s because the distance between the stars that has been used as a calendar since ancient times has deviated by about 5000 years……’
“What are you doing here, Lu?”
Yerina Risfiend, an elf who gave her the nickname ‘Lu’ because Luke wasn’t a typical girl’s name, approached with a thick blanket and gently covered Luke’s shoulders.
“Yerina……”
Although she was originally called ‘Look’ by her nickname, she couldn’t reveal her clumsiness to Yerina.
Hasn’t she already received too much kindness?
“Aren’t you cold? You’ll catch a cold. Come inside. Shall I make you some cocoa?”
“I’m fine. Thank you for caring.”
Luke politely refused her proposal and looked up to the sky again.
“Luke, true courtesy is in good manners……”
Having heard her response, Yerina lightly laughed and stood up from her seat.
“Do you like stars?”
“Of course.”
To a wizard, stars were like a source of magic.
The songs of the stars, the whispers of dawn, the moon’s performance, all became ingredients of magic.
There couldn’t be a wizard who disliked such stars.
Even though she couldn’t even call herself a wizard without a circle now.
Well, filling the lost circle again was just a matter of time.
Having climbed up to the 10th circle before, she thought she could quickly build the circle again.
Even if the world had changed, she believed her knowledge would still be valid.
The laws of mana ultimately did not change.
The city outside the window was beautiful.
The windows of the many buildings rising like towers were lit with a golden light, and a giant tree in the distance was supplying mana to the entire city.
Truly, it was a magnificent city of magical power.
“Is that tree the World Tree?”
“Yes, it is, but an artificial World Tree. The real World Tree is far away in Beritn Eman in our country.”
“Is that so.”
An ‘artificial’ World Tree. Has the passage of 5000 years reduced even the once sacred World Tree to the realm of ‘tool’?
‘But I seem to have regressed.’
In the newly awakened world, everything was filled with unknowns.
As a former wizard, she was engulfed in a desire to interpret and adjust even the changed world.
Whoosh-!
Luke shivered slightly as the wind blew in.
Seeing her reaction, Yerina pulled Luke inside, closed the window, and kindly said,
“You’ll catch a cold. Watch the stars from inside.”
“Alright.”
As she gently stroked Luke’s head, who obediently nodded, she asked,
“Shall I bring you some cocoa now?”
“……Yerina.”
“Yes?”
“But, what is cocoa?”
Translators note: As it is a Male-> Female Transition, We are using She/Her for Luke’s pronoun from now on but please don’t forget he is originally a male with a young girl’s body.
***
Yerina thought it would take a little time to find a facility where she could accept Luke.
That’s because victims of human trafficking like her couldn’t be sent to just any orphanage facility.
Yerina, planning to spend the day looking for such a facility, took Luke to her house.
“Isn’t a forest ranger supposed to live in the forest?”
Yerna chuckled softly at her question.
“How else would one carry out their duties every day?”
Yerina smiled as she explained that usually several people took turns managing, while she rolled up her sleeves and continued, “But today, I’ll be taking care of you alone.”
In the past, elves were a race that lived in the forest.
Elves are born in the forest and die in the forest.
Luke, who had such thoughts, was a bit confused, but she decided to go along with it.
There were too many strange things besides that.
“Your house is very tall. Could it be that you’re nobility?”
“Haha! Not likely. I’m just a tenant in this apartment.”
Luke followed her into the elevator.
Encountering an elevator for the first time, she examined the contraption with curious eyes.
“The door opens by itself. What is this?”
“It’s an elevator. Is this your first time seeing one?”
“Indeed…”
Yerina smiled at her, amused by her fascination with the elevator.
She always found it cute how children’s eyes lit up when they saw something new.
Ding!
As Luke, intrigued by the circuitry of the elevator buttons, was startled by an unexpected sound and started to be on guard, Yerina smiled and placed her hand on Luke’s shoulder.
“Luke, let’s go!”
After walking down the corridor for a while, Yerina unlocked a door with a key.
Thud.
Flash…!
“Come on in quickly.”
She pressed a button on the shoe rack, illuminating the dark room.
Luke was astonished by the sight.
Her ‘wizard sight’ read the magical enchantments of the place in an instant.
The light magic on the ceiling, the blind magic on the windows, and the large rectangular box in the kitchen were enchanted with a perfect balance of frost and water properties, forming ‘low-temperature magic.’
The sofa and carpet were made of materials that couldn’t be guessed.
There were no animals with such soft leather in her knowledge.
Either the level of the craftsman had reached the realm of conjuring spells, or…
Moreover, even the chairs seemed as comfortable as beds, a luxury furniture that even nobles couldn’t freely use in her time.
Not to mention, even the wallpaper, which had no effect, had intricate patterns and was flawless…
“Oh my, the artisan who created all this must be… I can’t even fathom the value of each of these items. Living in a place like this, Yerina must be nobility.”
Although she didn’t see anyone around, in such a facility, maybe there was no need for anyone to be present.
Luke swallowed her saliva.
She wasn’t currently Grand wizard Luke Irushi.
It was a fact she didn’t want to admit.
Right now, she was just a child.
Luke lamented her powerlessness, wearing a crestfallen expression.
“Can I… really enter a place like this?”
Looking at Luke’s eyes, which widened and then turned melancholic in an instant, Yerina felt quite sorry.
Her animal ears, which were perked up, drooped so pitifully that even she couldn’t help feeling compassion.
“Has this child never experienced such simple kindness before?”
Suppressing her emotions, she forced a smile, knelt down, and met the gaze of the melancholic girl with a sad expression.
“You can come in anytime.”
Luke nodded reluctantly as she looked at her bright smile.
It couldn’t be helped.
If her body were intact, or if even her circle, or any trace of her existence, remained intact, then accepting her favor here would have been optional.
However, she wasn’t even in a state to have her body in good condition.
With a confused mind, she took a step forward.
“Should I wash first? Can I wash alone?”
“You can wash alone.”
“Really? I can bath over there.”
“Okay.”
She pointed to the direction, and Luke removed the dirty towel.
Looking at her small body through the mirror, Luke felt awkward again.
Ivory skin, small stature, platinum hair.
What are these ears and horns?
As she curiously touched her ears, she felt something strange.
“Hmm…”
Sensations ran down her spine, indicating that it wasn’t just attached, but precisely integrated with her body.
The horns felt the same way.
He could feel the texture when she touched them.
This sensation meant that these toy-like ears and horns were already fully functional body parts.
“Huh…”
She was perplexed.
However, the transformed body didn’t only bring her despair.
What could have caused this?
She felt ‘curiosity’ about it.
A wizard exists with curiosity and perishes with curiosity.
A person who lives their whole life pursuing curiosity and lives for the satisfaction of it.
For her, it was a common truth and reality.
“Why did this happen?”
As there were almost no facts she could recall, it stimulated her curiosity even more.
She vowed to uncover what had happened to her body and decided that for now, she needed to wash.
The surroundings were smooth like pottery, so it seemed fine for water to splash anywhere.
Indeed, it was an indoor bath.
Once again, she was surprised by its sophistication.
Though not comparable to a public bath in size, considering it was a small indoor space, it was quite impressive.
Nevertheless, where was the water stored?
If she didn’t judge her as a wizard, then there must be water somewhere.
She looked around and spotted a white pottery vessel.
“Could this be a well?”
Upon sniffing, it seemed relatively clean.
The material of the well was smooth pottery, not just ordinary stone, making it better hygienically compared to the wells in the village she used to care for in the past.
Examining it with her hands, it seemed fine.
Was this how she was supposed to wash?
Putting some water in a basin nearby, she splashed it onto her body.
The cold sensation wasn’t too bad, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful that it wasn’t warmed.
If she were her usual self, heating the water wouldn’t have been difficult.
This was another sense of deprivation she felt as a non-wizard.
The water in the well quickly ran out.
Luke, who was fiddling around with this and that, wondering how to fill the water, discovered a lever behind the well.
When she pushed it, it was no small wonder that the empty well was refilled with water.
“It’s really amazing……”
Gurgle……
When the water was filled, she sprinkled water on herself again.
When the water ran out, she pushed the lever to fill it again.
After repeating this several times, Yerina, who felt something strange, opened the bathroom door.
“Hey, Luke? Are you feeling okay? Why do you keep flushing the toilet…… What on earth are you doing?!”
Yes, indeed, what Luke thought was a well was actually a toilet.
***
Yerina immediately put Luke in the bathtub and showered her with warm water.
Like a wet puppy with drooping ears, Luke speaks weakly to her.
“I really feel ashamed, causing trouble to such an esteemed person…… I can only blame my ignorance. I apologize once again……”
“Stop talking while I’m washing. Water is getting in.”
“Um…… Alright……”
‘She’s not stupid at all if you listen to her speak……’
“Have you really never used a shower before?”
“Ugh, no, I haven’t-. Well…… A shower is nice. It’s comfortable and warm enough to make me sleepy……”
Indeed, Luke had never seen a shower before.
She had never seen anything similar to it either.
Therefore, it was natural that she didn’t know how to use it.
“Sigh……”
Yerina thought about how much this little child had suffered. There are too many bad people in the world.
“Ha, since I sprayed toilet water on my head, I should be thorough with rinsing it off.”
“Ugh, huh……!”
When Yerina lightly touched her ear, Luke raised her shoulders and let out a whimper mixed with pain, surprising Yerina, who quickly withdrew her hand.
“Why, what’s wrong?”
Luke coughed awkwardly as if to say she felt embarrassed.
“Um, it’s better not to touch inside the ear, it seems to be a very sensitive area……”
“Oh, I see.”
Yerina stiffened her expression, feeling more resentment towards the person who kidnapped Luke.
***
Dark night.
Luke was standing outside on the veranda, looking at the sky.
It wasn’t because she liked the night sky, but to confirm if this was the world she knew by looking at the positions of the stars.
‘The world is the same as the one I knew. The time has an error of about 5000 years.’
‘I don’t know the exact time.’
‘But I think it’s because the distance between the stars that has been used as a calendar since ancient times has deviated by about 5000 years……’
“What are you doing here, Lu?”
Yerina Risfiend, an elf who gave her the nickname ‘Lu’ because Luke wasn’t a typical girl’s name, approached with a thick blanket and gently covered Luke’s shoulders.
“Yerina……”
Although she was originally called ‘Look’ by her nickname, she couldn’t reveal her clumsiness to Yerina.
Hasn’t she already received too much kindness?
“Aren’t you cold? You’ll catch a cold. Come inside. Shall I make you some cocoa?”
“I’m fine. Thank you for caring.”
Luke politely refused her proposal and looked up to the sky again.
“Luke, true courtesy is in good manners……”
Having heard her response, Yerina lightly laughed and stood up from her seat.
“Do you like stars?”
“Of course.”
To a wizard, stars were like a source of magic.
The songs of the stars, the whispers of dawn, the moon’s performance, all became ingredients of magic.
There couldn’t be a wizard who disliked such stars.
Even though she couldn’t even call herself a wizard without a circle now.
Well, filling the lost circle again was just a matter of time.
Having climbed up to the 10th circle before, she thought she could quickly build the circle again.
Even if the world had changed, she believed her knowledge would still be valid.
The laws of mana ultimately did not change.
The city outside the window was beautiful.
The windows of the many buildings rising like towers were lit with a golden light, and a giant tree in the distance was supplying mana to the entire city.
Truly, it was a magnificent city of magical power.
“Is that tree the World Tree?”
“Yes, it is, but an artificial World Tree. The real World Tree is far away in Beritn Eman in our country.”
“Is that so.”
An ‘artificial’ World Tree. Has the passage of 5000 years reduced even the once sacred World Tree to the realm of ‘tool’?
‘But I seem to have regressed.’
In the newly awakened world, everything was filled with unknowns.
As a former wizard, she was engulfed in a desire to interpret and adjust even the changed world.
Whoosh-!
Luke shivered slightly as the wind blew in.
Seeing her reaction, Yerina pulled Luke inside, closed the window, and kindly said,
“You’ll catch a cold. Watch the stars from inside.”
“Alright.”
As she gently stroked Luke’s head, who obediently nodded, she asked,
“Shall I bring you some cocoa now?”
“……Yerina.”
“Yes?”
“But, what is cocoa?”
