“Oh my, this must be Luke.”
“What a pretty child… It’s quite pitiful…”
Surrounded by three female forest guardians excluding Yerina, who were either stretching her cheeks or patting her head, Luke thought the current situation was quite embarrassing.
Helping with Yerina’s room cleaning along with Dighton was just a moment ago.
And now she’s reduced to being a toy at the rest area.
The situation was like this,
Yerina had asked her colleagues to guide Luke to the rest area, using candy and books as an excuse, thinking that Luke, who is kind-hearted, might help with the “punishment” Dighton had assigned to her.
That’s how Luke, who was cleaning with Dighton, ended up in the rest area.
“Wow, her cheeks are so squishy!”
“And her ears are really soft…”
But being constantly interrupted while reading, Luke couldn’t feel happy about it.
The situation, which any man might enjoy rather than dislike, brought no pleasure to Luke.
She had a demeanor based on a life and memories of living for a hundred years.
Being treated so blatantly like a child only brought great embarrassment and self-loathing to Luke.
Despite her appearance as a child, she was not an old man who had grown old on the inside, was she?
At least for her, there was no hobby of being surrounded by young people and being treated like a child.
“Stop, stop it.”
She pushed away the hands of the woman who was stretching her cheeks and removed the hand of the woman who was patting her head.
The woman in front of Luke was busy with something on her “cell phone,” and although Luke wasn’t sure what she was doing, it didn’t seem directly harmful, so she let it be.
“Why do you all make me so embarrassed? Do you only see me as a mere plaything?”
She tried to speak with as much dignity and weight as possible, but being such a small child on the outside, she couldn’t muster any real authority.
“Haha, this kid is really funny.”
“Look at her way of speaking, so mature.”
“This kid is really cute too.”
Such responses, akin to those when looking at a child, were all she received.
“As expected, it turns out like this…”
Luke sighed deeply and rubbed her forehead.
Unfortunately.
No matter what anyone says, one cannot see through someone’s inner self at a glance.
So while Luke didn’t expect such reactions despite her appearance, it was truly disappointing.
“There’s nothing I can do about my current appearance…”
Unless she could build up circles and eventually use polymorph, it was an awkward situation for now.
Moreover, polymorph was advanced magic that required at least seven circles in the heart.
Of course, Luke considered it natural that she would engrave seven circles, even ten circles, on her heart, but even creating one circle was a struggle.
So seven circles were still a far-off story.
Since polymorph was realistically impossible, Luke judged that getting up from this uncomfortable situation was the best option.
“Huh? Luke, where are you going?”
“If you’re going to make me your plaything, wouldn’t it be more productive to go back and help Dighton clean the room?”
“We don’t need help from someone like Dighton , but Luke seems too kind.”
“That’s right, that’s right. Luke. Let’s just play with the sisters~”
“……Hmph.”
Luke was shocked once again.
No matter how much she understood it intellectually, actually hearing adults speak in a childish manner to a child was a different story altogether.
Even when it was Miriam before, hearing such a woman’s voice directed at her was very uncomfortable and gave her goosebumps.
Moreover, she had a short haircut that was neatly cut straight above her neck and looked like a female warrior with a quite solid body and shoulders.
Although her appearance didn’t have any particularly outstanding features, her charm was unbearable for Luke.
Therefore, despite Luke’s intentions, her expression stiffened, and her eyebrows furrowed, forming wrinkles between them, which she failed to notice.
Therefore, she didn’t even realize her expression stiffening and her eyebrows knitting together, forming wrinkles between them, contrary to her own will.
“Phew, Kirke, does she find you that irritating?”
As Kirke teased the woman whose silver hair reached down to her shoulders, pulling her cheeks, she retorted, pretending to be annoyed, “What’s with you, Sorby?”
“I find myself cute, don’t I?”
Objectively speaking, her appearance could indeed be considered cute.
But whether it was triggering or not, she seemed ready to pounce at any moment.
Watching this scene quietly, Luke attempted to shift her position, but the woman who was tinkering with her phone called her over.
“Sorry, Luke. Are you absent-minded? Understand, you’re just too cute.”
“…I hope you refrain from using that expression. It sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it.”
“Oops, sorry. Didn’t know you disliked it. Please forgive me.”
As the woman with brown hair, wearing glasses and hair tied to the side, made an apologetic expression as if acknowledging her mistake, Luke couldn’t help but accept it.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Phew, thank you. Luke.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, she thought to herself, ‘Phew, I heard about this from Yerina.’
She had already received detailed explanations from Yerina.
After all, she was the one who took over Yerina’s duties that day.
She was the first to hear a detailed description of Luke.
‘Even though Luke lost her memory, she might have traumas from past memories…’
Quickly thinking, she, who was originally thoughtful and considerate, pondered.
The word ‘cute’ being expressed as a rejection to such an adorable child might not be a natural occurrence.
Well, if it’s a phrase heard too often, one might simply dislike it, but there’s no need to grimace as if one has just heard something they absolutely detest, like just now, right?
Perhaps the word ‘cute’ acted as a sort of trauma for Luke.
In fact, she had heard that several times, victims of sexual assault could become extremely repulsed by compliments about their appearance, such as ‘cute’ or ‘sexy’.
Maybe it was one of those cases.
As the awkward atmosphere began to linger for a few seconds, Luke pondered whether it would be better to get up and return to Yerina’s lodging.
However, her self-introduction blocked her path.
“Oh, right, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Daphne. You can just call me Daphne unnie. The one on the left is Kirke, and the one on the right is Sorby.”
“Oh, right! We didn’t even introduce ourselves.”
“Oh, did we forget? I was so distracted by seeing Luke…”
Suddenly feeling compelled to introduce herself, Luke, feeling tied down, sat back down and put the book back on her lap.
“Right. Daphne, Kirke, Sorby. Nice to meet you all. Again, I’m Luke Irushi.”
Introducing herself like that, Luke unfolded the book and said, “And I don’t like being disturbed while reading. Please refrain from unnecessary physical contact.”
Upon hearing this, Daphne smiled slightly, nodded her head, and grabbed the other two women.
“Got it, Luke. Kirke, Sorby, don’t go near Luke, she doesn’t like it. You two stay here.”
Although it seemed like they were exerting a lot of force by pulling each other with one arm, Daphne’s body had already been strengthened with the physical enhancement Dighton had used earlier.
‘Finally, some peace and quiet.’
Well, it doesn’t matter.
As long as I can read in peace.
***
The two who were being dragged away so lightly, with expressions like cattle being led to the slaughterhouse, begged as if pleading.
“That’s just too much. Daphne, you won’t let me touch that soft cheek!”
“Really, Daphne unnie, you don’t know how soft the tip of her ear is!”
Watching them from a distance, Daphne, who was listening to their complaints, pointed at Luke as if to set an example.
“Quiet down, you’re not children, you know. Endure that much! Look at her. How come Luke seems more mature than you two?”
“But, but…”
Luke, who had suddenly started reading with the book unfolded, was already engrossed in the information within the book with remarkable concentration.
Seeing this, the two astonished women, Kirke and Sorby, looked at each other and said, “I guess books are really her thing.”
“Or maybe we’re just annoying.”
Perhaps being annoying was closer to the truth.
Of course, they were aware that they had been bothering Luke.
At that moment, they didn’t pay attention and simply followed the impulse in their hearts.
“Daphne, stop bothering Luke. You’ve played with her enough, haven’t you?”
Daphne, as if seeing through their thoughts, said pointedly.
“Alright… But Daphne, weren’t you taking pictures with your phone earlier?”
Embarrassed, Daphne chuckled and scratched her cheek.
In fact, Luke didn’t even realize that Daphne was operating her phone to take ‘pictures.’
Initially, Luke didn’t even know what a ‘picture’ was.
“…But still, it’s cute…”
“Even this sister seems to like such things.”
“…”
As Sorby narrowed her eyes and jabbed Daphne’s side, Daphne blushed and suddenly blurted out,
“Oh, but because of you guys, there are no proper pictures! They’re all with weird expressions.”
Kirke, looking at Daphne’s phone screen with the pictures, pointed at a photo of Luke, whose cheeks were expanding.
“But isn’t this cute too?”
“She’s in the middle of making an expression she doesn’t like. That’s not cute.”
“Daphne has always had a different definition of cuteness…”
“…”
Daphne couldn’t say anything.
“Then let’s take one now. Over there.”
“You should look this way for the picture.”
“Just call out if you need me.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to bother me again?”
“You already bothered me once, so bothering me again won’t make a difference!”
“Huh? Hey, Sorby! Wait a moment!”
With those words, Sorby rushed to Luke without giving her a chance to object.
“Luke, just take a picture with me once, and I won’t bother you like this anymore!”
Though feeling annoyed again at being interrupted, Luke found interest in the new word contained in her words, and decided to momentarily put down her book.
“What does that mean? ‘Picture’? Taking a shot? How do you take a picture?”
Upon hearing the unfamiliar concepts of ‘picture’ and ‘taking,’ Luke tilted her head in confusion.
What is a picture, and what does it mean to take a shot?
From the way she saw it, Sorby realized that Luke’s pondering was already a photographic moment, but unfortunately, she couldn’t capture that scene.
Her gaze fixed on her phone as she took it out, leaving Luke’s attention glued to it.
Unable to resist, Sorby sighed and explained while raising her index and middle fingers.
“It’s simple. Here, want to try making a ‘V’ with your fingers?”
“Like this?”
Imitating Sorby’s action and forming a ‘V’ with her hand, Luke was captured by Sorby’s camera with a click, and Sorby giggled, saying,
“Got it. Thanks! Do you want to see?”
“Seeing it means showing something, right? Is there anything special about it?”
“Look at this. What do you think?”
The phone Sorby showed contained a scene that astonished Luke.
‘Unbelievable, is this what they call a picture?’
It showed an exact replica of her earlier self, captured precisely.
Such magic had existed in the past, but its casting time was quite long, and only a minimum of four circles of users could capture reality, making it expensive.
Moreover, the reality captured in such a way would vanish like a mirage if left alone.
Therefore, ultimately, that magic only fixed a fleeting moment, making it easier for painters to transfer to canvas.
But this ‘picture’ was so fleeting, so accurate, and so stable.
Luke understood why it was called ‘printing’ it.
It’s as if reality is being stamped like a seal.
Luke shouted in excitement.
“Wow! This is amazing! How do I get this out of my phone? I want this picture too!”
Sorby was surprised by her reaction.
“Really? Well, of course, I can send it to you! Oh, Luke, do you have a phone by any chance?”
Luke shook her head.
“I don’t. But Yerina probably does. Can you transfer it over there?”
“Sure, I’ll transfer it. Anyway, thanks, Luke!”
“No, I should be the one thanking you.”
‘That artifact hides such functions…’
At first, Luke thought it was just a simple communication tool, but the more she saw, the more it seemed like a fantastic magical device.
The hidden functions pour out like layers of an onion.
So it’s inevitable for Luke to have a desire to have one.
But it’s somewhat shameful to ask Yerina for something so valuable without offering anything in return.
Playing with Yerina’s things sometimes doesn’t fully satisfy her curiosity.
She feels the urge to satisfy that curiosity with precise disassembly…
But it’s not right to disassemble someone else’s belongings as she pleases.
For now, she had to suppress that curiosity and put it off.
On the other hand, Sorby simply thought of Luke’s reaction.
“I must be really good at taking pictures!”
“Oh my, this must be Luke.”
“What a pretty child… It’s quite pitiful…”
Surrounded by three female forest guardians excluding Yerina, who were either stretching her cheeks or patting her head, Luke thought the current situation was quite embarrassing.
Helping with Yerina’s room cleaning along with Dighton was just a moment ago.
And now she’s reduced to being a toy at the rest area.
The situation was like this,
Yerina had asked her colleagues to guide Luke to the rest area, using candy and books as an excuse, thinking that Luke, who is kind-hearted, might help with the “punishment” Dighton had assigned to her.
That’s how Luke, who was cleaning with Dighton, ended up in the rest area.
“Wow, her cheeks are so squishy!”
“And her ears are really soft…”
But being constantly interrupted while reading, Luke couldn’t feel happy about it.
The situation, which any man might enjoy rather than dislike, brought no pleasure to Luke.
She had a demeanor based on a life and memories of living for a hundred years.
Being treated so blatantly like a child only brought great embarrassment and self-loathing to Luke.
Despite her appearance as a child, she was not an old man who had grown old on the inside, was she?
At least for her, there was no hobby of being surrounded by young people and being treated like a child.
“Stop, stop it.”
She pushed away the hands of the woman who was stretching her cheeks and removed the hand of the woman who was patting her head.
The woman in front of Luke was busy with something on her “cell phone,” and although Luke wasn’t sure what she was doing, it didn’t seem directly harmful, so she let it be.
“Why do you all make me so embarrassed? Do you only see me as a mere plaything?”
She tried to speak with as much dignity and weight as possible, but being such a small child on the outside, she couldn’t muster any real authority.
“Haha, this kid is really funny.”
“Look at her way of speaking, so mature.”
“This kid is really cute too.”
Such responses, akin to those when looking at a child, were all she received.
“As expected, it turns out like this…”
Luke sighed deeply and rubbed her forehead.
Unfortunately.
No matter what anyone says, one cannot see through someone’s inner self at a glance.
So while Luke didn’t expect such reactions despite her appearance, it was truly disappointing.
“There’s nothing I can do about my current appearance…”
Unless she could build up circles and eventually use polymorph, it was an awkward situation for now.
Moreover, polymorph was advanced magic that required at least seven circles in the heart.
Of course, Luke considered it natural that she would engrave seven circles, even ten circles, on her heart, but even creating one circle was a struggle.
So seven circles were still a far-off story.
Since polymorph was realistically impossible, Luke judged that getting up from this uncomfortable situation was the best option.
“Huh? Luke, where are you going?”
“If you’re going to make me your plaything, wouldn’t it be more productive to go back and help Dighton clean the room?”
“We don’t need help from someone like Dighton , but Luke seems too kind.”
“That’s right, that’s right. Luke. Let’s just play with the sisters~”
“……Hmph.”
Luke was shocked once again.
No matter how much she understood it intellectually, actually hearing adults speak in a childish manner to a child was a different story altogether.
Even when it was Miriam before, hearing such a woman’s voice directed at her was very uncomfortable and gave her goosebumps.
Moreover, she had a short haircut that was neatly cut straight above her neck and looked like a female warrior with a quite solid body and shoulders.
Although her appearance didn’t have any particularly outstanding features, her charm was unbearable for Luke.
Therefore, despite Luke’s intentions, her expression stiffened, and her eyebrows furrowed, forming wrinkles between them, which she failed to notice.
Therefore, she didn’t even realize her expression stiffening and her eyebrows knitting together, forming wrinkles between them, contrary to her own will.
“Phew, Kirke, does she find you that irritating?”
As Kirke teased the woman whose silver hair reached down to her shoulders, pulling her cheeks, she retorted, pretending to be annoyed, “What’s with you, Sorby?”
“I find myself cute, don’t I?”
Objectively speaking, her appearance could indeed be considered cute.
But whether it was triggering or not, she seemed ready to pounce at any moment.
Watching this scene quietly, Luke attempted to shift her position, but the woman who was tinkering with her phone called her over.
“Sorry, Luke. Are you absent-minded? Understand, you’re just too cute.”
“…I hope you refrain from using that expression. It sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it.”
“Oops, sorry. Didn’t know you disliked it. Please forgive me.”
As the woman with brown hair, wearing glasses and hair tied to the side, made an apologetic expression as if acknowledging her mistake, Luke couldn’t help but accept it.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Phew, thank you. Luke.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, she thought to herself, ‘Phew, I heard about this from Yerina.’
She had already received detailed explanations from Yerina.
After all, she was the one who took over Yerina’s duties that day.
She was the first to hear a detailed description of Luke.
‘Even though Luke lost her memory, she might have traumas from past memories…’
Quickly thinking, she, who was originally thoughtful and considerate, pondered.
The word ‘cute’ being expressed as a rejection to such an adorable child might not be a natural occurrence.
Well, if it’s a phrase heard too often, one might simply dislike it, but there’s no need to grimace as if one has just heard something they absolutely detest, like just now, right?
Perhaps the word ‘cute’ acted as a sort of trauma for Luke.
In fact, she had heard that several times, victims of sexual assault could become extremely repulsed by compliments about their appearance, such as ‘cute’ or ‘sexy’.
Maybe it was one of those cases.
As the awkward atmosphere began to linger for a few seconds, Luke pondered whether it would be better to get up and return to Yerina’s lodging.
However, her self-introduction blocked her path.
“Oh, right, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Daphne. You can just call me Daphne unnie. The one on the left is Kirke, and the one on the right is Sorby.”
“Oh, right! We didn’t even introduce ourselves.”
“Oh, did we forget? I was so distracted by seeing Luke…”
Suddenly feeling compelled to introduce herself, Luke, feeling tied down, sat back down and put the book back on her lap.
“Right. Daphne, Kirke, Sorby. Nice to meet you all. Again, I’m Luke Irushi.”
Introducing herself like that, Luke unfolded the book and said, “And I don’t like being disturbed while reading. Please refrain from unnecessary physical contact.”
Upon hearing this, Daphne smiled slightly, nodded her head, and grabbed the other two women.
“Got it, Luke. Kirke, Sorby, don’t go near Luke, she doesn’t like it. You two stay here.”
Although it seemed like they were exerting a lot of force by pulling each other with one arm, Daphne’s body had already been strengthened with the physical enhancement Dighton had used earlier.
‘Finally, some peace and quiet.’
Well, it doesn’t matter.
As long as I can read in peace.
***
The two who were being dragged away so lightly, with expressions like cattle being led to the slaughterhouse, begged as if pleading.
“That’s just too much. Daphne, you won’t let me touch that soft cheek!”
“Really, Daphne unnie, you don’t know how soft the tip of her ear is!”
Watching them from a distance, Daphne, who was listening to their complaints, pointed at Luke as if to set an example.
“Quiet down, you’re not children, you know. Endure that much! Look at her. How come Luke seems more mature than you two?”
“But, but…”
Luke, who had suddenly started reading with the book unfolded, was already engrossed in the information within the book with remarkable concentration.
Seeing this, the two astonished women, Kirke and Sorby, looked at each other and said, “I guess books are really her thing.”
“Or maybe we’re just annoying.”
Perhaps being annoying was closer to the truth.
Of course, they were aware that they had been bothering Luke.
At that moment, they didn’t pay attention and simply followed the impulse in their hearts.
“Daphne, stop bothering Luke. You’ve played with her enough, haven’t you?”
Daphne, as if seeing through their thoughts, said pointedly.
“Alright… But Daphne, weren’t you taking pictures with your phone earlier?”
Embarrassed, Daphne chuckled and scratched her cheek.
In fact, Luke didn’t even realize that Daphne was operating her phone to take ‘pictures.’
Initially, Luke didn’t even know what a ‘picture’ was.
“…But still, it’s cute…”
“Even this sister seems to like such things.”
“…”
As Sorby narrowed her eyes and jabbed Daphne’s side, Daphne blushed and suddenly blurted out,
“Oh, but because of you guys, there are no proper pictures! They’re all with weird expressions.”
Kirke, looking at Daphne’s phone screen with the pictures, pointed at a photo of Luke, whose cheeks were expanding.
“But isn’t this cute too?”
“She’s in the middle of making an expression she doesn’t like. That’s not cute.”
“Daphne has always had a different definition of cuteness…”
“…”
Daphne couldn’t say anything.
“Then let’s take one now. Over there.”
“You should look this way for the picture.”
“Just call out if you need me.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to bother me again?”
“You already bothered me once, so bothering me again won’t make a difference!”
“Huh? Hey, Sorby! Wait a moment!”
With those words, Sorby rushed to Luke without giving her a chance to object.
“Luke, just take a picture with me once, and I won’t bother you like this anymore!”
Though feeling annoyed again at being interrupted, Luke found interest in the new word contained in her words, and decided to momentarily put down her book.
“What does that mean? ‘Picture’? Taking a shot? How do you take a picture?”
Upon hearing the unfamiliar concepts of ‘picture’ and ‘taking,’ Luke tilted her head in confusion.
What is a picture, and what does it mean to take a shot?
From the way she saw it, Sorby realized that Luke’s pondering was already a photographic moment, but unfortunately, she couldn’t capture that scene.
Her gaze fixed on her phone as she took it out, leaving Luke’s attention glued to it.
Unable to resist, Sorby sighed and explained while raising her index and middle fingers.
“It’s simple. Here, want to try making a ‘V’ with your fingers?”
“Like this?”
Imitating Sorby’s action and forming a ‘V’ with her hand, Luke was captured by Sorby’s camera with a click, and Sorby giggled, saying,
“Got it. Thanks! Do you want to see?”
“Seeing it means showing something, right? Is there anything special about it?”
“Look at this. What do you think?”
The phone Sorby showed contained a scene that astonished Luke.
‘Unbelievable, is this what they call a picture?’
It showed an exact replica of her earlier self, captured precisely.
Such magic had existed in the past, but its casting time was quite long, and only a minimum of four circles of users could capture reality, making it expensive.
Moreover, the reality captured in such a way would vanish like a mirage if left alone.
Therefore, ultimately, that magic only fixed a fleeting moment, making it easier for painters to transfer to canvas.
But this ‘picture’ was so fleeting, so accurate, and so stable.
Luke understood why it was called ‘printing’ it.
It’s as if reality is being stamped like a seal.
Luke shouted in excitement.
“Wow! This is amazing! How do I get this out of my phone? I want this picture too!”
Sorby was surprised by her reaction.
“Really? Well, of course, I can send it to you! Oh, Luke, do you have a phone by any chance?”
Luke shook her head.
“I don’t. But Yerina probably does. Can you transfer it over there?”
“Sure, I’ll transfer it. Anyway, thanks, Luke!”
“No, I should be the one thanking you.”
‘That artifact hides such functions…’
At first, Luke thought it was just a simple communication tool, but the more she saw, the more it seemed like a fantastic magical device.
The hidden functions pour out like layers of an onion.
So it’s inevitable for Luke to have a desire to have one.
But it’s somewhat shameful to ask Yerina for something so valuable without offering anything in return.
Playing with Yerina’s things sometimes doesn’t fully satisfy her curiosity.
She feels the urge to satisfy that curiosity with precise disassembly…
But it’s not right to disassemble someone else’s belongings as she pleases.
For now, she had to suppress that curiosity and put it off.
On the other hand, Sorby simply thought of Luke’s reaction.
“I must be really good at taking pictures!”
