Chance, or Perhaps Fate
"Must you go so soon…?"
Dighton spoke with a touch of regret, but Yerna only shook her head.
"Our hospital appointment is almost here. We have to leave."
"The hospital? Luke unni, are you sick?"
Deana shuddered at the word hospital, her voice tight with worry.
Yerna stroked the girl's hair, trying to soothe her.
"It's nothing like that, Deana. Just a thorough checkup, that's all…"
But Yerna already had a fair idea of what the results would show.
Luke had Mana Accumulation Syndrome — a child with a Circle etched into her heart.
There was no chance the tests would come back clean. She knew that perfectly well.
Luke, too, almost certainly understood her own body — understood that a chain of pure mana was spinning inside her heart.
The truth is, it wouldn't be strange if she simply… died one day, without warning…
No one could say how much time a Circle patient had left.
If the Circle ran wild beyond what the body could endure, death could come as early as tomorrow.
With luck, the Circle might settle and allow a long, quiet life — but such cases were rare.
Those for whom surgical removal was impossible had no choice but to endure the agony of a rampaging Circle through sheer will and patience alone.
A life far too cruel for a child…
Yet for all of Yerna's dark thoughts, Luke merely nodded at Deana with a perfectly calm expression.
"Okay! Then see you next time, Luke unni!"
"Indeed. Let us meet again."
Watching them, Yerna thought,
I only hope I'm not fretting over nothing…
No official results had come back yet, after all…
As Yerna turned and started down the stairs, Luke suddenly addressed Dighton.
"Despite the abruptness of our visit, I am deeply grateful for today's most generous hospitality, Dighton. I hope you recover swiftly, that we may meet again."
"Uh—y-yeah? R-right. You take care of that checkup too."
"Bye, Luke unni!"
Dighton waved almost on reflex. Luke turned lightly and stepped out the door, vanishing from his sight.
Honestly, that kid's way of talking…
No matter how many times he heard it, he just couldn't get used to it.
The hospital they arrived at was the same one where Luke had been admitted before.
It was well equipped for emergencies, sizable enough, and conveniently close.
"Luke Irushi… Yes, we have a record. You'll need to wait about an hour."
"An hour?"
"Yes, we're a bit backed up. Seasonal transitions are always busy."
"Ah. I see."
Well, the weather had turned quite suddenly.
Yerna nodded at the nurse's explanation and took the seat beside Luke, who was already sitting.
"Lu, they say we have to wait about an hour. Can you manage?"
"It matters not. Hardly so urgent, is it?"
Luke answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Waiting an hour was no great hardship.
"There is quite a bit of reading material here."
Luke pulled a magazine at random from the rack and began to read.
Fashion, cosmetics, travel — all of it made excellent study material for absorbing the knowledge of this era.
Knowing next to nothing about the present age, Luke found every page a wonder.
Hmm. This 'airplane' — I should like the chance to experience one someday. Oho… a 'warp train,' is it? Most intriguing as well…
Drawing on the Class Magic knowledge he had acquired so far, Luke idly sketched out in his mind how technologies like airplanes and warp trains might function.
There were mana arrays and Words of Power related to flight, were there not? I do not yet know those particular formulae. But the fundamental grammar I have largely grasped. In the end, by combining and arranging them, one could produce any number of effects — so flight and warp should not be impossible…
Luke was soon absorbed in the magazine.
Watching from the side, Yerna smiled to herself. This child really does read wherever she goes.
About twenty minutes had passed when—
"Guardian of young Luke, could you come this way for a moment?"
"Ah. Just a second."
The nurse at the front desk called Yerna over with something to discuss. Yerna rose, telling Luke, "Just a moment — I'll be right back."
Luke gave a slight nod and returned to his reading.
When Luke was deep in a book, he would not leave his seat unless someone actively interrupted him. There was no need to worry about him suddenly vanishing.
Just as Yerna had expected, Luke was focused on his reading.
Up to a certain point, at least.
"…"
The mana wavelength he had been sensing for some time was not ordinary.
This feeling was almost like…
—Luke…?
Pai, a spirit sensitive to mana, had surely felt it as well.
"Yes, Pai. I am aware."
A First-Circle presence.
The identity of that unstable mana spilling out without control was the slightly violent overflow of an incomplete Circle — a First Circle that could not fully contain what it held.
"Hmm."
Luke lowered the book slightly and traced the direction of the mana.
Its source was quite nearby.
An elf, is it?
Though elves were renowned for their mana sensitivity, it was rare for one to actually become a mage.
They preferred spirits over magic, and that path was far more efficient for life in the forest.
"An elf with a Circle inscribed…"
Curiosity was inevitable.
Luke quietly rose from his seat and approached the elf who had caught his attention.
Silver-white hair, crimson eyes. An albino — rare even among elves.
He wore a casual hoodie, arms crossed and legs folded, wearing an expression of pure boredom with the world.
He was only about half a handspan taller than Luke.
Young.
An arrogant posture.
One could guess the temperament from the stance alone.
Stubborn, strong-willed — or, less charitably, a lone wolf who answered to no one.
But Luke did not dislike such obstinate types.
That very arrogance and stubbornness were, in truth, the proper temperament of a mage.
"Wh-what?"
The silver-haired, red-eyed elf boy, suddenly aware of a presence, snapped at him in flustered alarm.
"Might I sit beside you?"
Thoroughly startled, the boy glanced around once, realized the words were naturally directed at him, and scowled with a baffling flush of embarrassment.
"D-do whatever! Just sit if you want!"
"Then I shall. Pardon me."
Luke settled beside the young elf with the soft, silent grace peculiar to the nobility.
Why does this girl talk like that? And the way she moves is weird too…
Still reeling from Luke's utterly peculiar entrance, the boy remained flustered.
One might have waited for the confused child to collect himself — but Luke, instead, posed a question.
Better to speak at once than wait aimlessly; that would forge a connection far more quickly.
"Is that hair dyed?"
"I was born like this."
He answered with a faintly irritated, put-upon tone — the tone of someone who had answered the same question many times before.
Had he truly been asked this often in the past?
Then he truly is an albino.
Silver hair and red eyes were fairly common among dark elves, but among fair-skinned white elves the trait was a rare genetic expression.
And such albinism was typically the recessive manifestation of High-Elf blood.
Luke spoke, half in hope.
"I am Luke Irushi. Call me Luke. What is your name?"
Startled by the sudden self-introduction, the boy widened his eyes slightly — then looked carefully at Luke's face and thought,
…This is kind of embarrassing.
Now that he considered it, a complete stranger of a girl striking up a conversation was a rather awkward situation.
And the girl herself was rather unreal-looking, too.
He averted his gaze and answered reluctantly.
"…Shirud Tripind."
"Tripind… Just as I thought."
Tripind. A surname Luke knew well.
It was a High-Elf family name.
And yet — High-Elf bloodlines had endured for five thousand years?
A wave of nostalgia for the past washed over him.
High Elves had been a ruling caste of elves, their mana sensitivity as exceptional as their affinity for spirits.
But that was for pure High Elves.
In an albino of incomplete blood, either spirit affinity or mana sensitivity would be sacrificed — and the remaining trait would grow all the stronger.
The albino elves Luke had known five thousand years ago had been spirit-users, so he had never properly spoken with one. But this boy had reached the First Circle at such a young age — a genuine prodigy.
We may well find common ground. I might even be able to offer him counsel.
In this age where Class Magic structured the world, here was a practitioner of the now-declining Circle Magic.
Perhaps he still held an interest in the magic of the past.
"Then I shall call you Shirud, shall I?"
"…Call me whatever you want."
Luke lifted the book slightly, sensing the fragments of mana flowing from Shirud, and thought,
The Circle on his heart is unstable. His sensitivity is excellent, but the Circle itself is far too shallow.
Left like this, it would inevitably run wild.
A year at most — a month at worst.
With luck he might suppress it, but a Circle this shallow could turn dangerous at the slightest emotional disturbance.
"Shirud. How long has it been since you inscribed the Circle upon your heart?"
"What— how do you—?!"
"Hold. Compose yourself. Your Circle is extremely unstable at present. Do not let emotion master you."
"Ugh—! Haa… This is your fault, you know."
Shirud drew a deep breath and slowly reined in his feelings.
"Luke, was it? You — what even are you all of a sudden?"
Feeling the pain in his heart ease as his emotions settled, Shirud scowled and snapped at Luke.
Perhaps because he had come so close to a full rampage, his expression was thick with irritation.
Even if it did run wild, I could stabilize it…
Luke was a Second Circle. He held more than enough authority to interfere with a First.
Using that principle, he could forcibly stabilize a Circle — but that was a last resort.
"Forgive me. I simply found myself personally curious about you."
"C-curious about me?"
Shirud, for his part, was utterly dumbfounded.
How had this girl known about his Circle? And why had she just walked right up to him like this?
This kid… does she… like me or something?
If it was curiosity, what else could it be?
A girl he'd never met before — but she knew about his Circle. She might even be a stalker.
What a weird girl!
Shirud's wariness spiked.
He found himself wishing his mother would hurry back from the restroom.
Some weird beastman girl was stalking me!
How? Since when? He hadn't noticed a thing!
Cold sweat began to bead on his skin.
"I have a request of you."
Shirud flicked a glance sideways.
The expressionless girl calmly reading her book.
Platinum-blonde hair falling in soft strands, eyes of an uncanny teal and gold, and those strange horns and ears of some unidentifiable beastman heritage.
Plus clothing far too mature for a child…
Huh? Looking at her like this, she's kind of cute, actually…
Her face was cute, at least.
Unreal as that was.
"W-what is it."
"Might I touch your chest for a moment?"
"W-WHAT?!"
From Luke's perspective, he had simply wished to place a hand over the Circle on the heart and examine it more carefully. To Shirud, the words carried an entirely different meaning.
This is— sexual harassment?!
His heart began to pound wildly.
A heart already kindled by shock finally detonated under shame and terror.
"Urgh…!"
He crumpled.
A pain as if his heart were being torn apart — mana running rampant.
The agony in turn spawned fresh waves of fear.
In the end, Shirud could no longer control his emotions at all.
At this rate, he would die.
"Ugh… ah…"
He couldn't even cry out.
He was half-hidden between the chairs; the adults didn't seem to have noticed him. He dimly recalled that he hadn't made much noise when he collapsed.
Am I going to die like this…?
It was so unfair.
He had only come for a Circle-removal procedure — and now he was going to die because of some girl named Luke or whatever.
Help… me…!
As he gasped and dragged in air, something settled onto his abdomen.
He was in too much pain to pay it mind, but something seemed to be touching his chest as well.
Then a warm, steady power flowed in.
It wrapped gently around his heart and, at last, loosened the thrashing ring within — as tenderly as a mother easing a thorn from her child's foot.
"Haa… haa…"
"Hmm. Have you come to your senses?"
When he opened his eyes, the sight that greeted him was that unreal girl straddling his body, her hand finally resting upon his chest.
She smiled faintly and said,
"You are far too emotional."
"Y-you…"
The words What even are you? were just about to slip out when—
"Lu?! What on earth are you doing right now?!"
An adult's voice rang out in pure horror.
"Yerna?"