“Hello-! I’m Lua Erast!”
“Hi, you’re Sienna’s acquaintance’s younger sibling, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Yerina Risfiend. You can call me Yerina unni.”
“Yes, Yerina unni! Then please call me Lua too!”
Lua Erast, a woman with long, flowing hair of blue color, greeted with a smile.
Though not yet an official counselor, to Yerina, who was tight on money to afford a real counselor, Lua was somewhat of a savior.
Being Sienna’s acquaintance also made her trustworthy.
“Anyway, thank you for coming, Lua. But, are you sure it’s okay since you’re young?”
“It’s okay-! I like kids! I often volunteer at orphanages, you know?”
“Is that so? Then, it’s really fortunate. Actually, about Luke…”
***
Luke, sitting at her desk, diligently working on her worksheets, dashed towards the entrance upon hearing Yerina opening the door.
“Lu, were you okay while I was gone? And where did you not go this time?”
Luke stood in front of Yerina, who was hanging her coat, and spoke.
“Of course. I spent the whole day studying at home again. I don’t want to worry you anymore.”
There was only one circle carved.
Having one circle or none made a world of difference.
Now that she had erased the anxiety of being at least a ‘non-wizard’, there was no urgent need to carve another circle.
Yerina smiled at Luke’s words and gently ruffled her hair.
Being careful not to touch her ears.
Although Luke found Yerina’s touch somewhat burdensome, seeing Yerina smiling so happily while touching her newly grown hair as a child, she decided to let it be.
But if Luke left it like that, he might never stop, so Luke found something to say.
“Oh, Yerina. By the way.”
“Yes?”
“Were you not a noble?”
To Luke’s somewhat strange question, Yerina responded with a puzzled expression.
“Well, of course not. I’m just a tenant of this apartment. Did I seem like a noble to you?”
“At first, I thought so. Because you live in a place like this.”
“…Is that so?”
“But now that I think about it, maybe you’re not a noble after all. Well, I must have misunderstood. Don’t worry about it.”
After subtly dropping her words and stopping her ruffling, Luke chuckled once and went back to her desk to pick up her pencil and resume working on her worksheet.
Watching him, Yerina thought about what ‘noble’ meant to Luke.
Perhaps Yerina, who had assumed that Luke had escaped using circle magic from being a ‘slave’ of nobles, quickly understood its meaning.
‘If she thought I was a noble, maybe she thought I was the one who kept slaves?’
Perhaps her initial worried expression upon seeing Yerina’s house wasn’t because she didn’t think she fit in but because her instincts, scarred by abuse, recoiled.
If she thought of me as a ‘noble’, maybe her going out alone was also anxiety about such constraints.
‘Maybe I was bad…’
Yerina began to blame herself.
To confine a child to the house.
If Luke were of that age, it would be a natural age to enjoy playing outside for all children.
And if she were forced into slave labor, it would be natural for such a child to yearn for the outside world.
Yerina reminisced about her conversation with Sienna as she spoke.
“Lu, a friend of mine knows someone, and they’ll come tomorrow to take care of you in various ways. Is that okay?”
Yerina talked to Luke about the ‘counselor’ introduced to her by Sienna.
“Me?”
Luke looked slightly puzzled as she glanced at Yerina.
“Yeah, especially since I have duty tomorrow and might not be able to come home, so I’ve decided to look after you all day.”
“Sounds like a hassle. Well, you don’t really need to worry about me…”
Luke, who stopped speaking midway, suddenly remembered the incident that had worried Yerina and remained silent, recalling how it had caused her concern.
At that time, there wasn’t a single pulse in her heart, so she was just a bit impatient, but ultimately, she caused her worry.
Luke will probably worry this time too.
‘Worry because you’re worried!’
Remembering Yerina’s poking words, Luke responded weakly.
“Well, if that’s what worries you…”
The next day.
Ding dong.
At the sound of the doorbell, Luke put down the study materials she was working on and spoke loudly enough for it to be heard outside.
“Who’s there?”
“Yerina called me here. Could you please open the door?”
“Alright, so you’re the person Yerina mentioned.”
Click.
“You must be Luke Irushi, right? I’m Lua Erast.”
The person who entered was a gentle woman with impressive light blue hair. The peculiar thing was that she had ears resembling those of Luke, except they were more akin to a dog’s shape than a cat’s.
“You’re a werewolf?”
“Yeah! Yerina’s a werewolf. How about that?”
As she said so, only then did Luke notice a tail lightly swaying beneath her legs.
“Hmm.”
Truthfully, Luke wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about it. During her lifetime, werewolves were classified as ‘non-human species’ and considered monsters. Werewolves had sided with the demons, and the entire race had fallen into slavery. It was truly amazing that over 5000 years, even werewolves could live peacefully alongside humans in an era where peace was possible, but the aversion towards werewolves couldn’t be erased.
In the past, Luke Irushi had been a frontline soldier in the war, and therefore, Luke had to kill countless werewolves.
‘Compared to then, the world is truly peaceful now.’
Although Luke had been hailed as a hero during the great war, a truly good world wouldn’t need such heroes.
“Luke, did you also have the same thought as me?”
As Luke’s mind flew back to the past battlefield while looking at Lua’s tail, Lua seemed to smile faintly and spoke to Luke.
“Luke. By the way, what were you doing?”
Originally, counseling was not just about saying a few words and offering solutions.
No matter what a newly met person says, it doesn’t even register in the ears, and it’s impossible to peek into the depths of someone’s heart with just one conversation.
To open the door to a child’s heart, getting to know each other first is essential.
“I was studying some magic.”
As Luke pointed to the desk and spoke, Lua smiled contentedly and replied.
“Shall I help you with your studies?”
“Do you know magic too?”
Luke asked, slightly surprised by her words.
As far as Luke knew, merfolk were not generally very interested in magic or studying.
Even for such a merfolk to claim to ‘know magic’ meant that they were well-versed in class magic.
“I mean, of course!”
Since anyone in this era could become a 2nd class expert, it was sufficient for Lua to say she ‘knew’ magic.
‘How hard could studying be for a child?’
***
It was unexpected.
“These days, kids are incredibly quick with their preparations…”
Lua was struggling with the unexpectedly difficult problem.
“A 4th class? Is this kid already preparing for the Magic Academy?”
She dreamed of becoming a wizard, but isn’t this advancing too fast?
Lua’s head was spinning from the already forgotten magic formulas and equations, and what made it even more difficult was Luke’s pitiful expression.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do.”
Since Luke didn’t have much expectation to begin with, she wasn’t particularly shaken.
Though Lua felt a bit bruised by that look, there was nothing she could do.
Losing to a child who didn’t even look ten years old in studying was her own fault.
‘Even though I have my own academic achievements…’
If a child had adult-level knowledge in magic, Lua thought if it’s possible for her to be called ‘Luke’s Lua,’ she wanted to be like that too.
Lua asked with genuine curiosity.
“Luke, is studying really fun?”
“Of course. Discovering new knowledge and thinking about it always makes your heart race.”
“So?”
She heard that Luke was a ‘special’ child, but isn’t she less special than she thought?
Lua leaned against the sofa, watching Luke study beside her, wondering if she was really studying.
‘It seems like he really understands…’
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to neatly organize notes like that.
And her handwriting was elegant.
Although Lua had no idea what was written.
‘Somehow, the characters are unusually beautiful for a child… I still have no idea what’s written.’
From Lua’s perspective, Luke’s notes were like ancient characters from 5000 years ago, so it was difficult for her to understand the mixture of expressions and characters in Luke’s notes that were no longer used.
Even if she could read them, she might not be able to understand the contents.
Magic wasn’t her major.
This was the downside of class magic.
It’s easy to learn existing spells, but not many can fully understand the principles of those spells.
Therefore, just because many can use magic doesn’t mean they can all be called ‘magic users.’
The difference between ‘users’ and ‘developers.’
This was another concept that emerged with the change in magical systems.
Hence, just because many could use magic, it didn’t mean they could all be called “knowing” magic.
The difference between “user” and “developer.”
This was also a concept born from changes in the magical system.
Luke learned it today.
“Indeed, compared to circle magic, the class magic creation seems more complicated. There are many calculations to be made. But ultimately, can’t anyone produce the same effect with the completed magic?”
A new realization.
Luke, who organized that realization in her notes, closed the book with a bang.
“It would be impolite to only focus on what I have to do in front of the guest.”
As Luke’s gaze met Lua’s, she immediately smiled and said,
“Are you going to take a break now?”
“Yes. You seemed to have prepared a lot; what’s in that bag?”
“Oh! You were curious about that! Just a moment!”
“Oh, thankfully, what I prepared didn’t turn out to be completely worthless!”
Lua turned her body with a bright smile and rummaged through the bag.
She couldn’t even hide her excitement as her tail swayed beneath her dress.
Observing Lua’s tail swaying under her dress, Luke felt something akin to instinct.
“……”
It was an impulse.
-Thunk!
“Ow!”
And a scream.
“Ah, s-sorry! I just… instinctively…”
When Luke let go of Lua’s tail, startled by her scream, Lua quickly turned her hips to hide her tail from Luke.
“W-what’s… what’s with you all of a sudden…? Luke, you shouldn’t just grab a someone’s tail! You wouldn’t know because you don’t have one, but it’s connected to the spine, so grabbing it hurts a lot!”
“I, I couldn’t resist when I saw it swaying…”
Luke couldn’t understand why she did that at all.
“Hello-! I’m Lua Erast!”
“Hi, you’re Sienna’s acquaintance’s younger sibling, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Yerina Risfiend. You can call me Yerina unni.”
“Yes, Yerina unni! Then please call me Lua too!”
Lua Erast, a woman with long, flowing hair of blue color, greeted with a smile.
Though not yet an official counselor, to Yerina, who was tight on money to afford a real counselor, Lua was somewhat of a savior.
Being Sienna’s acquaintance also made her trustworthy.
“Anyway, thank you for coming, Lua. But, are you sure it’s okay since you’re young?”
“It’s okay-! I like kids! I often volunteer at orphanages, you know?”
“Is that so? Then, it’s really fortunate. Actually, about Luke…”
***
Luke, sitting at her desk, diligently working on her worksheets, dashed towards the entrance upon hearing Yerina opening the door.
“Lu, were you okay while I was gone? And where did you not go this time?”
Luke stood in front of Yerina, who was hanging her coat, and spoke.
“Of course. I spent the whole day studying at home again. I don’t want to worry you anymore.”
There was only one circle carved.
Having one circle or none made a world of difference.
Now that she had erased the anxiety of being at least a ‘non-wizard’, there was no urgent need to carve another circle.
Yerina smiled at Luke’s words and gently ruffled her hair.
Being careful not to touch her ears.
Although Luke found Yerina’s touch somewhat burdensome, seeing Yerina smiling so happily while touching her newly grown hair as a child, she decided to let it be.
But if Luke left it like that, he might never stop, so Luke found something to say.
“Oh, Yerina. By the way.”
“Yes?”
“Were you not a noble?”
To Luke’s somewhat strange question, Yerina responded with a puzzled expression.
“Well, of course not. I’m just a tenant of this apartment. Did I seem like a noble to you?”
“At first, I thought so. Because you live in a place like this.”
“…Is that so?”
“But now that I think about it, maybe you’re not a noble after all. Well, I must have misunderstood. Don’t worry about it.”
After subtly dropping her words and stopping her ruffling, Luke chuckled once and went back to her desk to pick up her pencil and resume working on her worksheet.
Watching him, Yerina thought about what ‘noble’ meant to Luke.
Perhaps Yerina, who had assumed that Luke had escaped using circle magic from being a ‘slave’ of nobles, quickly understood its meaning.
‘If she thought I was a noble, maybe she thought I was the one who kept slaves?’
Perhaps her initial worried expression upon seeing Yerina’s house wasn’t because she didn’t think she fit in but because her instincts, scarred by abuse, recoiled.
If she thought of me as a ‘noble’, maybe her going out alone was also anxiety about such constraints.
‘Maybe I was bad…’
Yerina began to blame herself.
To confine a child to the house.
If Luke were of that age, it would be a natural age to enjoy playing outside for all children.
And if she were forced into slave labor, it would be natural for such a child to yearn for the outside world.
Yerina reminisced about her conversation with Sienna as she spoke.
“Lu, a friend of mine knows someone, and they’ll come tomorrow to take care of you in various ways. Is that okay?”
Yerina talked to Luke about the ‘counselor’ introduced to her by Sienna.
“Me?”
Luke looked slightly puzzled as she glanced at Yerina.
“Yeah, especially since I have duty tomorrow and might not be able to come home, so I’ve decided to look after you all day.”
“Sounds like a hassle. Well, you don’t really need to worry about me…”
Luke, who stopped speaking midway, suddenly remembered the incident that had worried Yerina and remained silent, recalling how it had caused her concern.
At that time, there wasn’t a single pulse in her heart, so she was just a bit impatient, but ultimately, she caused her worry.
Luke will probably worry this time too.
‘Worry because you’re worried!’
Remembering Yerina’s poking words, Luke responded weakly.
“Well, if that’s what worries you…”
The next day.
Ding dong.
At the sound of the doorbell, Luke put down the study materials she was working on and spoke loudly enough for it to be heard outside.
“Who’s there?”
“Yerina called me here. Could you please open the door?”
“Alright, so you’re the person Yerina mentioned.”
Click.
“You must be Luke Irushi, right? I’m Lua Erast.”
The person who entered was a gentle woman with impressive light blue hair. The peculiar thing was that she had ears resembling those of Luke, except they were more akin to a dog’s shape than a cat’s.
“You’re a werewolf?”
“Yeah! Yerina’s a werewolf. How about that?”
As she said so, only then did Luke notice a tail lightly swaying beneath her legs.
“Hmm.”
Truthfully, Luke wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about it. During her lifetime, werewolves were classified as ‘non-human species’ and considered monsters. Werewolves had sided with the demons, and the entire race had fallen into slavery. It was truly amazing that over 5000 years, even werewolves could live peacefully alongside humans in an era where peace was possible, but the aversion towards werewolves couldn’t be erased.
In the past, Luke Irushi had been a frontline soldier in the war, and therefore, Luke had to kill countless werewolves.
‘Compared to then, the world is truly peaceful now.’
Although Luke had been hailed as a hero during the great war, a truly good world wouldn’t need such heroes.
“Luke, did you also have the same thought as me?”
As Luke’s mind flew back to the past battlefield while looking at Lua’s tail, Lua seemed to smile faintly and spoke to Luke.
“Luke. By the way, what were you doing?”
Originally, counseling was not just about saying a few words and offering solutions.
No matter what a newly met person says, it doesn’t even register in the ears, and it’s impossible to peek into the depths of someone’s heart with just one conversation.
To open the door to a child’s heart, getting to know each other first is essential.
“I was studying some magic.”
As Luke pointed to the desk and spoke, Lua smiled contentedly and replied.
“Shall I help you with your studies?”
“Do you know magic too?”
Luke asked, slightly surprised by her words.
As far as Luke knew, merfolk were not generally very interested in magic or studying.
Even for such a merfolk to claim to ‘know magic’ meant that they were well-versed in class magic.
“I mean, of course!”
Since anyone in this era could become a 2nd class expert, it was sufficient for Lua to say she ‘knew’ magic.
‘How hard could studying be for a child?’
***
It was unexpected.
“These days, kids are incredibly quick with their preparations…”
Lua was struggling with the unexpectedly difficult problem.
“A 4th class? Is this kid already preparing for the Magic Academy?”
She dreamed of becoming a wizard, but isn’t this advancing too fast?
Lua’s head was spinning from the already forgotten magic formulas and equations, and what made it even more difficult was Luke’s pitiful expression.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do.”
Since Luke didn’t have much expectation to begin with, she wasn’t particularly shaken.
Though Lua felt a bit bruised by that look, there was nothing she could do.
Losing to a child who didn’t even look ten years old in studying was her own fault.
‘Even though I have my own academic achievements…’
If a child had adult-level knowledge in magic, Lua thought if it’s possible for her to be called ‘Luke’s Lua,’ she wanted to be like that too.
Lua asked with genuine curiosity.
“Luke, is studying really fun?”
“Of course. Discovering new knowledge and thinking about it always makes your heart race.”
“So?”
She heard that Luke was a ‘special’ child, but isn’t she less special than she thought?
Lua leaned against the sofa, watching Luke study beside her, wondering if she was really studying.
‘It seems like he really understands…’
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to neatly organize notes like that.
And her handwriting was elegant.
Although Lua had no idea what was written.
‘Somehow, the characters are unusually beautiful for a child… I still have no idea what’s written.’
From Lua’s perspective, Luke’s notes were like ancient characters from 5000 years ago, so it was difficult for her to understand the mixture of expressions and characters in Luke’s notes that were no longer used.
Even if she could read them, she might not be able to understand the contents.
Magic wasn’t her major.
This was the downside of class magic.
It’s easy to learn existing spells, but not many can fully understand the principles of those spells.
Therefore, just because many can use magic doesn’t mean they can all be called ‘magic users.’
The difference between ‘users’ and ‘developers.’
This was another concept that emerged with the change in magical systems.
Hence, just because many could use magic, it didn’t mean they could all be called “knowing” magic.
The difference between “user” and “developer.”
This was also a concept born from changes in the magical system.
Luke learned it today.
“Indeed, compared to circle magic, the class magic creation seems more complicated. There are many calculations to be made. But ultimately, can’t anyone produce the same effect with the completed magic?”
A new realization.
Luke, who organized that realization in her notes, closed the book with a bang.
“It would be impolite to only focus on what I have to do in front of the guest.”
As Luke’s gaze met Lua’s, she immediately smiled and said,
“Are you going to take a break now?”
“Yes. You seemed to have prepared a lot; what’s in that bag?”
“Oh! You were curious about that! Just a moment!”
“Oh, thankfully, what I prepared didn’t turn out to be completely worthless!”
Lua turned her body with a bright smile and rummaged through the bag.
She couldn’t even hide her excitement as her tail swayed beneath her dress.
Observing Lua’s tail swaying under her dress, Luke felt something akin to instinct.
“……”
It was an impulse.
-Thunk!
“Ow!”
And a scream.
“Ah, s-sorry! I just… instinctively…”
When Luke let go of Lua’s tail, startled by her scream, Lua quickly turned her hips to hide her tail from Luke.
“W-what’s… what’s with you all of a sudden…? Luke, you shouldn’t just grab a someone’s tail! You wouldn’t know because you don’t have one, but it’s connected to the spine, so grabbing it hurts a lot!”
“I, I couldn’t resist when I saw it swaying…”
Luke couldn’t understand why she did that at all.
