“Sirud, it’s truly a pleasure to see you again like this.”
Luke greeted Sirud with a smile, extending her hand toward him, who stood stiffly. However, Sirud did not take her hand.
‘Why is she acting like we know each other?’
After all, it had only been one day, and it wasn’t even a pleasant encounter.
What if, like last time, the circle went out of control again?
This time there might be medicine, so maybe it won’t end up like last time, but if it does…
‘She might use that as an excuse to touch my chest again.’
Sirud thought hard, but couldn’t understand why she was so obsessed with touching his chest.
What’s so great about a man’s chest?
“If that’s the case.”
Sirud entered the playroom with great caution and settled in a corner.
Luke shrugged her shoulders as she watched him and muttered.
“It seems I’m quite disliked.”
“……”
Pie, too, met Luke’s gaze and shrugged its shoulders (though it’s not certain if it has shoulders, but it felt like it).
-Luke…
The nuance of Pie’s unknown sound waves seemed a bit self-blaming, or was it just her imagination?
But thinking back, it seemed plausible that she could be disliked by a child.
“Yes, I was too hasty then.”
Was it the excitement of seeing a circle, or was it because she was lost in nostalgia after seeing a descendant of the high elves?
Suddenly, she wondered if she had been too forward, even though it was their first meeting.
“Hmm, then I guess we should get to know each other first.”
Luke stroked her chin, deep in thought.
How should she try becoming his friends?
In the past, simply being the ‘village wizard grandpa’ was enough to be extremely popular with children, but her current appearance wasn’t sufficient to make that impression.
In an era where magic isn’t anything special, it wouldn’t be too surprising.
She could use complex illusion magic like she showed to Diana, but she doubted that would open Sirud’s heart.
‘Diana liked spirits, and it worked for her…’
As she contemplated this and was about to follow Sirud into the playroom, a staff member approached and blocked her way with her hand.
“Wait, you can’t go in there.”
“What’s the matter?”
Luke was startled by being denied entry.
Why was she refused?
Had her true age of 100 years been discovered?
No, that couldn’t be it.
No one here could see her real from her current appearance.
Unless this woman possessed a rare kind of magic sight, known as ‘soul sight’, which could see ‘souls’ directly.
If that was the case, perhaps knowing her real form, she refused her entry because an old person like her didn’t fit in a place where children were playing.
If that was true, it would be extremely embarrassing.
Being such an old person, pretending to be a little girl, what could she possibly be up to?
“But… why…?”
“Just a moment, wait here.”
While Luke was blushing with these thoughts, the staff member quickly moved to fetch something from a drawer behind the counter.
“What is this?”
Luke received what seemed to be a strange, soft yet firm cap-like object and a fabric cover that felt like a sock.
“What’s this for?”
Unable to guess the purpose of these items, Luke grew curious.
“People like you with horns must wear these on the tips if you want to enter. Don’t know how to put them on? I’ll help you.”
The staff member smiled kindly as she took the protective gear from Luke and carefully fitted it onto the horns at the side of his head.
The sensation of something covering the tips of her horns, connected to her head, felt quite odd and a bit stifling.
“Hmm, it’s suffocating.”
“But you must not take it off. If your horns scratch the kids, they could be seriously hurt. Keep it on at all times. If it falls off while playing, bring it to me. I’ll put it back on for you.”
Only after being told ‘You must keep this on, or you’ll be kicked out!’ did Luke manage to enter the playroom.
“…”
Sirud didn’t have any particular reason to be on his phone, but he couldn’t take his eyes off it.
“…”
The girl beside him was staring intently at his phone, making it hard for him to do anything else.
After watching a video for a while, feeling his privacy being invaded, he covered his phone with his body and said.
“Hey, why are you staring at my phone like that?”
Realizing her rudeness, Luke scratched her cheek and avoided Sirud’s gaze.
“Sorry. Sirud, that phone seemed quite… interesting.”
Upon briefly examining it with a magic sight, Luke found that Sirud’s device was an advanced model employing a magical formula that was much improved compared to her own.
Seeing such a device unexpectedly made it impossible for Luke to keep his mind off it.
“Don’t you have a phone?”
“I do. But I can’t use it.”
“Why?”
“I’ve exceeded today’s usage limit. I don’t have the authority to unlock it.”
“…”
‘Did she just say her phone was locked because she used it too much?’
Although he wasn’t sure, it seemed likely.
It sounded like a complicated explanation, but when he thought about it, it was rather childish.
‘Now that I think about it, a lot of my friends’ parents set time locks because they don’t want them using it too much.’
In Sirud’s mind, the mystique surrounding Luke peeled away a bit.
‘She’s also just a kid.’
A bit, no, quite a weird kid, but still just a kid.
I’ve never had my phone locked by my mom.
“How much do you use it to get it locked?”
“Before the limit was set to three hours a day, I used it every waking moment.”
As Luke spoke, embarrassed to share such information, Sirud felt a strange camaraderie with this kid-like figure.
“It deserved to be locked, well.”
“Haha, is that so?”
Sirud thought his mom would have done the same if he had spent all day on his phone.
After a dry laugh, a brief awkward silence followed.
And Luke was the one to break the silence.
“Sorry, Sirud.”
A sudden apology.
“Huh?”
“I think I was too abrupt before. I should have explained things properly to you.”
Adequate explanation, yes, that was lacking.
The conversation had progressed quite abruptly last time, and it ended with Sirud’s mana explosion being forcibly stabilized.
There hadn’t been time for a proper explanation.
“What are you talking about?”
Sirud was puzzled by Luke’s sudden apology.
Was this an apology for sexual harassment?
Luke continued.
“What do you think a circle is?”
Sirud’s expectations were once again proven wrong.
‘As expected, an incomprehensible girl.’
A circle? Obviously…
“A kind of heart disease.”
“Huh.”
It was absurd to think of a circle as a disease.
Luke had vaguely suspected this from a conversation with Dighton, but it still felt very strange.
“A heart disease…”
Currently, class magic is the mainstream, but circle magic also has its clear uses of mana and the world.
Having studied class magic for several months, Luke learned that its roots were also based in circle magic.
“A circle is not a heart disease. It’s a license to use magic.”
“Magic’s license…?”
Circle patients can control mana at will.
However, it’s always risky because it involves risking their lives, and it’s not the proper way.
But that’s a modern problem, not because circle magic is ‘inferior’.
Luke was uncomfortable with his life’s achievements being dismissed as merely a ‘heart disease’.
A circle is not just that.
‘Magic is originally a process of defining, calculating, and tuning the world through human will. A circle is a vessel that contains human will.’
If the circle is a brush, the world is a canvas.
When a person holds the brush and infuses it with their will, the world changes.
However, there are few who can hold the brush, and even fewer who want to.
Then why did Sirud end up holding the brush?
“Sirud, how did you get your circle?”
“That is…”
Sirud remembered the moment he realized a circle was engraved on his heart.
‘That kid, he relies too much on his background.’
‘Right? He’s not really good at anything.’
‘Yeah. And he’s so prideful.’
‘Isn’t his appearance weird too? White hair, like a grandpa.’
The words aimed at him when he was absent.
They were quite hurtful.
‘Hey, what did you just say?’
‘Si, Sirud? Uh, how long have you been here?’
Shameless.
They could only spit out things they wouldn’t say to his face.
That only made Sirud’s heart burn with anger even more.
‘What did you just say?!’
He couldn’t remember what happened next. Did he hit one of them?
Or was he the one who got hit?
But what’s certain is that when he woke up, he was in the infirmary.
There was a slight pain in his chest, but he didn’t know it was a circle at the time.
And the guys who had been gossiping transferred out, and he didn’t see them anymore, but after that incident, he didn’t really feel like making friends.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“That so.”
And Luke read the emotion in Sirud’s words.
Along with the discomfort, he could feel Sirud’s circle subtly stirring.
“Then we don’t have to talk. Sorry for bringing up such an unpleasant memory.”
“It’s not like it matters to you anyway.”
The emotional disturbance. The incomplete 1st circle in Sirud could dangerous just from that.
But the mana Luke had left behind was still doing its job.
Thanks to leading a rather emotionless life until now.
“Sirud, do you know how to handle a circle?”
“I don’t know. What about you? Do you have a circle?”
“I do.”
Luke said in a still subdued voice.
Luke, trying to cover up Sirud’s emotions, spoke in a lively voice.
“Then I’ll tell you where you should goal now.”
“Where I should goal…?”
The instability of the 1st circle is usually resolved by moving to the 2nd circle.
Unlike her body, which requires an absurd amount of mana, Sirud could reach it quite quickly once he grasps the technique.
“Would you give me your hand?”
Sirud felt a bit nervous, but somehow couldn’t refuse his words.
Hesitantly.
As Sirud extended his hand, he felt a soft touch.
As expected, his hand was taken.
‘So, soft…’
Whatever Sirud was thinking, Luke thought the child’s shy appearance was quite cute as she manipulated mana.
“Do you feel the flow of mana?”
“The flow of mana?”
Sirud snapped back to his senses at Luke’s question.
Come to think of it, there seemed to be something flowing through his hand…
“I think I kind of feel it.”
“That’s good, then…”
Luke circulated the mana in Sirud’s hand into a circle.
“What shape is this?”
“A circle.”
“Now what?”
“A triangle… What? How did you do that?”
Sirud was greatly surprised by what seemed like magic performed by Luke.
‘No, this is actual magic! Managing mana without a wand, this is unbelievable!’
Shock and exhilaration.
Luke saw an opportunity to inspire ‘will’ in Sirud by showing him a bit of magic.
With no one around to watch her, Luke spoke to Sirud.
“If you have a circle, this is also possible.”
Luke lightly manipulated mana and visualized the phenomenon she wanted to create in her mind.
‘Boys… like fire.’
A circle is, after all, the authority to manifest magic outside one’s body.
And what the 2nd circle signifies is ‘authority over phenomena’.
Wind is a phenomenon created by the flow of air.
And ‘fire’ is also a ‘combustion phenomenon’, so it can be fully realized.
At the tip of Luke’s finger, a small flame formed.
It didn’t just burn.
It transformed from a caterpillar to a pupa to a butterfly, and finally, as it left Luke’s hand, it popped and disappeared.
“Wow…”
It was like a scene from a dream.
“Are you interested?”
“It’s awesome! How do you do it? Can I do it too?”
“It’s impossible for now. You’re still a 1st circle. Didn’t I say this was a goal?”
Luke smiled as he watched Sirud start to look a bit more like a magician.
“So, what can I do?”
‘A safe spell for a child would be… ‘Light.”
Luke immediately conjured a light orb in his palm, adjusting the brightness.
Seeing the soft light reflected in his palm, Sirud couldn’t hide his amazement.
‘It’s just like a wizard from comics or movies!’
“How do you do that?”
“First, you need to learn how to use a circle. Fortunately, since you can feel the flow of mana, it would be fastest to start sensing it.”
Luke pulled Sirud’s hand toward the location of her own circle.
Meanwhile, Sirud was horrified.
‘Her, my chest…!’
Touching a girl’s chest, it was extremely embarrassing.
Overwhelmed by embarrassment, Sirud struggled to pull his hand away, but he couldn’t.
‘How strong is this girl…?’
“Stop struggling and feel the flow of mana. Now, do you feel the circle moving?”
Luke circulated his circle and conjured a light in his palm.
However, Sirud had no time to pay attention to that.
“That… it’s…”
‘I don’t understand, but it feels squishy.’
-Luke! Luke!!! …
Pie, watching from the side, seemed very shocked and called out to Luke while making indescribable distorted noises.
“Why the…?”
As Luke looked at Sirud, whose face had turned bright red, she suddenly realized what she was doing.
5000 years ago, this was a common educational practice, but nowadays, with circles classified as a disease, it obviously wasn’t.
When Luke removed his hand, Sirud sprang away from her.
Now he couldn’t even make eye contact.
“Sirud, this is a misunderstanding. I…”
“Don’t come closer! Argh…!”
Sirud suddenly clutched his chest.
It was a prelude to a mana explosion.
It seemed all the mana Luke had left behind had been used up.
“Sirud, stay calm. You have to suppress that emotion.”
“It’s your, your fault!”
“…”
“Kids, It’s not good for friends to fight.”
TL Note: I am wondering if I should have a Patreon for this novel or not. If any of you are interested then please consider leaving a message.
“Sirud, it’s truly a pleasure to see you again like this.”
Luke greeted Sirud with a smile, extending her hand toward him, who stood stiffly. However, Sirud did not take her hand.
‘Why is she acting like we know each other?’
After all, it had only been one day, and it wasn’t even a pleasant encounter.
What if, like last time, the circle went out of control again?
This time there might be medicine, so maybe it won’t end up like last time, but if it does…
‘She might use that as an excuse to touch my chest again.’
Sirud thought hard, but couldn’t understand why she was so obsessed with touching his chest.
What’s so great about a man’s chest?
“If that’s the case.”
Sirud entered the playroom with great caution and settled in a corner.
Luke shrugged her shoulders as she watched him and muttered.
“It seems I’m quite disliked.”
“……”
Pie, too, met Luke’s gaze and shrugged its shoulders (though it’s not certain if it has shoulders, but it felt like it).
-Luke…
The nuance of Pie’s unknown sound waves seemed a bit self-blaming, or was it just her imagination?
But thinking back, it seemed plausible that she could be disliked by a child.
“Yes, I was too hasty then.”
Was it the excitement of seeing a circle, or was it because she was lost in nostalgia after seeing a descendant of the high elves?
Suddenly, she wondered if she had been too forward, even though it was their first meeting.
“Hmm, then I guess we should get to know each other first.”
Luke stroked her chin, deep in thought.
How should she try becoming his friends?
In the past, simply being the ‘village wizard grandpa’ was enough to be extremely popular with children, but her current appearance wasn’t sufficient to make that impression.
In an era where magic isn’t anything special, it wouldn’t be too surprising.
She could use complex illusion magic like she showed to Diana, but she doubted that would open Sirud’s heart.
‘Diana liked spirits, and it worked for her…’
As she contemplated this and was about to follow Sirud into the playroom, a staff member approached and blocked her way with her hand.
“Wait, you can’t go in there.”
“What’s the matter?”
Luke was startled by being denied entry.
Why was she refused?
Had her true age of 100 years been discovered?
No, that couldn’t be it.
No one here could see her real from her current appearance.
Unless this woman possessed a rare kind of magic sight, known as ‘soul sight’, which could see ‘souls’ directly.
If that was the case, perhaps knowing her real form, she refused her entry because an old person like her didn’t fit in a place where children were playing.
If that was true, it would be extremely embarrassing.
Being such an old person, pretending to be a little girl, what could she possibly be up to?
“But… why…?”
“Just a moment, wait here.”
While Luke was blushing with these thoughts, the staff member quickly moved to fetch something from a drawer behind the counter.
“What is this?”
Luke received what seemed to be a strange, soft yet firm cap-like object and a fabric cover that felt like a sock.
“What’s this for?”
Unable to guess the purpose of these items, Luke grew curious.
“People like you with horns must wear these on the tips if you want to enter. Don’t know how to put them on? I’ll help you.”
The staff member smiled kindly as she took the protective gear from Luke and carefully fitted it onto the horns at the side of his head.
The sensation of something covering the tips of her horns, connected to her head, felt quite odd and a bit stifling.
“Hmm, it’s suffocating.”
“But you must not take it off. If your horns scratch the kids, they could be seriously hurt. Keep it on at all times. If it falls off while playing, bring it to me. I’ll put it back on for you.”
Only after being told ‘You must keep this on, or you’ll be kicked out!’ did Luke manage to enter the playroom.
“…”
Sirud didn’t have any particular reason to be on his phone, but he couldn’t take his eyes off it.
“…”
The girl beside him was staring intently at his phone, making it hard for him to do anything else.
After watching a video for a while, feeling his privacy being invaded, he covered his phone with his body and said.
“Hey, why are you staring at my phone like that?”
Realizing her rudeness, Luke scratched her cheek and avoided Sirud’s gaze.
“Sorry. Sirud, that phone seemed quite… interesting.”
Upon briefly examining it with a magic sight, Luke found that Sirud’s device was an advanced model employing a magical formula that was much improved compared to her own.
Seeing such a device unexpectedly made it impossible for Luke to keep his mind off it.
“Don’t you have a phone?”
“I do. But I can’t use it.”
“Why?”
“I’ve exceeded today’s usage limit. I don’t have the authority to unlock it.”
“…”
‘Did she just say her phone was locked because she used it too much?’
Although he wasn’t sure, it seemed likely.
It sounded like a complicated explanation, but when he thought about it, it was rather childish.
‘Now that I think about it, a lot of my friends’ parents set time locks because they don’t want them using it too much.’
In Sirud’s mind, the mystique surrounding Luke peeled away a bit.
‘She’s also just a kid.’
A bit, no, quite a weird kid, but still just a kid.
I’ve never had my phone locked by my mom.
“How much do you use it to get it locked?”
“Before the limit was set to three hours a day, I used it every waking moment.”
As Luke spoke, embarrassed to share such information, Sirud felt a strange camaraderie with this kid-like figure.
“It deserved to be locked, well.”
“Haha, is that so?”
Sirud thought his mom would have done the same if he had spent all day on his phone.
After a dry laugh, a brief awkward silence followed.
And Luke was the one to break the silence.
“Sorry, Sirud.”
A sudden apology.
“Huh?”
“I think I was too abrupt before. I should have explained things properly to you.”
Adequate explanation, yes, that was lacking.
The conversation had progressed quite abruptly last time, and it ended with Sirud’s mana explosion being forcibly stabilized.
There hadn’t been time for a proper explanation.
“What are you talking about?”
Sirud was puzzled by Luke’s sudden apology.
Was this an apology for sexual harassment?
Luke continued.
“What do you think a circle is?”
Sirud’s expectations were once again proven wrong.
‘As expected, an incomprehensible girl.’
A circle? Obviously…
“A kind of heart disease.”
“Huh.”
It was absurd to think of a circle as a disease.
Luke had vaguely suspected this from a conversation with Dighton, but it still felt very strange.
“A heart disease…”
Currently, class magic is the mainstream, but circle magic also has its clear uses of mana and the world.
Having studied class magic for several months, Luke learned that its roots were also based in circle magic.
“A circle is not a heart disease. It’s a license to use magic.”
“Magic’s license…?”
Circle patients can control mana at will.
However, it’s always risky because it involves risking their lives, and it’s not the proper way.
But that’s a modern problem, not because circle magic is ‘inferior’.
Luke was uncomfortable with his life’s achievements being dismissed as merely a ‘heart disease’.
A circle is not just that.
‘Magic is originally a process of defining, calculating, and tuning the world through human will. A circle is a vessel that contains human will.’
If the circle is a brush, the world is a canvas.
When a person holds the brush and infuses it with their will, the world changes.
However, there are few who can hold the brush, and even fewer who want to.
Then why did Sirud end up holding the brush?
“Sirud, how did you get your circle?”
“That is…”
Sirud remembered the moment he realized a circle was engraved on his heart.
‘That kid, he relies too much on his background.’
‘Right? He’s not really good at anything.’
‘Yeah. And he’s so prideful.’
‘Isn’t his appearance weird too? White hair, like a grandpa.’
The words aimed at him when he was absent.
They were quite hurtful.
‘Hey, what did you just say?’
‘Si, Sirud? Uh, how long have you been here?’
Shameless.
They could only spit out things they wouldn’t say to his face.
That only made Sirud’s heart burn with anger even more.
‘What did you just say?!’
He couldn’t remember what happened next. Did he hit one of them?
Or was he the one who got hit?
But what’s certain is that when he woke up, he was in the infirmary.
There was a slight pain in his chest, but he didn’t know it was a circle at the time.
And the guys who had been gossiping transferred out, and he didn’t see them anymore, but after that incident, he didn’t really feel like making friends.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“That so.”
And Luke read the emotion in Sirud’s words.
Along with the discomfort, he could feel Sirud’s circle subtly stirring.
“Then we don’t have to talk. Sorry for bringing up such an unpleasant memory.”
“It’s not like it matters to you anyway.”
The emotional disturbance. The incomplete 1st circle in Sirud could dangerous just from that.
But the mana Luke had left behind was still doing its job.
Thanks to leading a rather emotionless life until now.
“Sirud, do you know how to handle a circle?”
“I don’t know. What about you? Do you have a circle?”
“I do.”
Luke said in a still subdued voice.
Luke, trying to cover up Sirud’s emotions, spoke in a lively voice.
“Then I’ll tell you where you should goal now.”
“Where I should goal…?”
The instability of the 1st circle is usually resolved by moving to the 2nd circle.
Unlike her body, which requires an absurd amount of mana, Sirud could reach it quite quickly once he grasps the technique.
“Would you give me your hand?”
Sirud felt a bit nervous, but somehow couldn’t refuse his words.
Hesitantly.
As Sirud extended his hand, he felt a soft touch.
As expected, his hand was taken.
‘So, soft…’
Whatever Sirud was thinking, Luke thought the child’s shy appearance was quite cute as she manipulated mana.
“Do you feel the flow of mana?”
“The flow of mana?”
Sirud snapped back to his senses at Luke’s question.
Come to think of it, there seemed to be something flowing through his hand…
“I think I kind of feel it.”
“That’s good, then…”
Luke circulated the mana in Sirud’s hand into a circle.
“What shape is this?”
“A circle.”
“Now what?”
“A triangle… What? How did you do that?”
Sirud was greatly surprised by what seemed like magic performed by Luke.
‘No, this is actual magic! Managing mana without a wand, this is unbelievable!’
Shock and exhilaration.
Luke saw an opportunity to inspire ‘will’ in Sirud by showing him a bit of magic.
With no one around to watch her, Luke spoke to Sirud.
“If you have a circle, this is also possible.”
Luke lightly manipulated mana and visualized the phenomenon she wanted to create in her mind.
‘Boys… like fire.’
A circle is, after all, the authority to manifest magic outside one’s body.
And what the 2nd circle signifies is ‘authority over phenomena’.
Wind is a phenomenon created by the flow of air.
And ‘fire’ is also a ‘combustion phenomenon’, so it can be fully realized.
At the tip of Luke’s finger, a small flame formed.
It didn’t just burn.
It transformed from a caterpillar to a pupa to a butterfly, and finally, as it left Luke’s hand, it popped and disappeared.
“Wow…”
It was like a scene from a dream.
“Are you interested?”
“It’s awesome! How do you do it? Can I do it too?”
“It’s impossible for now. You’re still a 1st circle. Didn’t I say this was a goal?”
Luke smiled as he watched Sirud start to look a bit more like a magician.
“So, what can I do?”
‘A safe spell for a child would be… ‘Light.”
Luke immediately conjured a light orb in his palm, adjusting the brightness.
Seeing the soft light reflected in his palm, Sirud couldn’t hide his amazement.
‘It’s just like a wizard from comics or movies!’
“How do you do that?”
“First, you need to learn how to use a circle. Fortunately, since you can feel the flow of mana, it would be fastest to start sensing it.”
Luke pulled Sirud’s hand toward the location of her own circle.
Meanwhile, Sirud was horrified.
‘Her, my chest…!’
Touching a girl’s chest, it was extremely embarrassing.
Overwhelmed by embarrassment, Sirud struggled to pull his hand away, but he couldn’t.
‘How strong is this girl…?’
“Stop struggling and feel the flow of mana. Now, do you feel the circle moving?”
Luke circulated his circle and conjured a light in his palm.
However, Sirud had no time to pay attention to that.
“That… it’s…”
‘I don’t understand, but it feels squishy.’
-Luke! Luke!!! …
Pie, watching from the side, seemed very shocked and called out to Luke while making indescribable distorted noises.
“Why the…?”
As Luke looked at Sirud, whose face had turned bright red, she suddenly realized what she was doing.
5000 years ago, this was a common educational practice, but nowadays, with circles classified as a disease, it obviously wasn’t.
When Luke removed his hand, Sirud sprang away from her.
Now he couldn’t even make eye contact.
“Sirud, this is a misunderstanding. I…”
“Don’t come closer! Argh…!”
Sirud suddenly clutched his chest.
It was a prelude to a mana explosion.
It seemed all the mana Luke had left behind had been used up.
“Sirud, stay calm. You have to suppress that emotion.”
“It’s your, your fault!”
“…”
“Kids, It’s not good for friends to fight.”
TL Note: I am wondering if I should have a Patreon for this novel or not. If any of you are interested then please consider leaving a message.
