Chapter 465

“I heard you stopped by a fountain pen shop earlier.”

Leo asked as we reached the edge of the forest. I looked at him, wondering what had prompted the sudden question, but he kept his eyes straight ahead. His oddly awkward manner made me laugh.

“What, are you curious who I’m giving the gift to, too?”

“Yeah.”

‘Look at him, being so honest…’

I was curious too, but not enough to actually ask about it. Seeing this side of him made me think that, at the end of the day, he really was still a kid. Maybe I wasn’t exactly in a position to say that at my age, but that was how I felt. When I just kept smiling, Leo shot me an awkward look.

“Why are you laughing?”

“No, I was just wondering if you know who it is yet.”

“…I don’t know.”

“I bought it for myself. Happy now?”

Leo didn’t seem convinced, as though he already had someone in mind. He rubbed his chin and asked, “Hmm… What did you buy at the general store earlier?”

“Oh, that? A potato brooch.”

“…?”

Leo’s brow drew together. He rolled his eyes and tilted his head.

“Is there even anyone who’d like a potato brooch…? No, wait. What does a potato brooch look like?”

“It’s a potato-shaped ornament. What else would it be? More importantly, I need to get back inside and rest. Let’s hide these quickly and go. I don’t want to waste time.”

At that, Leo’s eyes widened. He looked genuinely shocked.

“You don’t want to waste time?”

“Yeah.”

I realized about ten minutes later that I’d chosen my words poorly. No, technically, I hadn’t said anything wrong. Leo was just the one who had gotten disheartened all on his own.

Every time I tried to hide an egg, Leo would subtly distract me and drag things out. I finally caught on when he took my coordinate egg away for the second time. I cautiously asked about this new thing I’d noticed.

“Feels like you’re walking a little slower.”

“I’m tired.”

A chill ran down my spine.

This bastard would never complain, not even if he died and came back to life. He might be having a hard time because of his concussion, but he wasn’t the kind of guy who would actually say so. And yet, the cause seemed pretty obvious. Maybe he’d gotten sulky because of what I’d said earlier.

Getting to see both sides of seventeen-year-old Leonard in a single day. Quite an experience.

I chuckled and asked, “Must be. Want a piggyback ride?”

“Can you even carry me?”

“Why wouldn’t I be able to? I carry Elias around too.”

“…True. Still, I don’t want to go back early by getting a piggyback ride from someone whose leg is in that state. Besides, Luise wants us to get closer. If we go back early, how would he feel?”

“How considerate of you.”

“Actually, I think Luise has figured it out to some extent too. But he went through all this trouble to set things up for us, so we should at least live up to his expectations.”

No, Leo was seriously mistaken about this. I took a breath and said firmly, “You think ‘he’s figured it out to some extent’? That’s a misconception in itself. You have to show Luise directly.”

“Directly?”

“Yeah. We have to show him our friendship firsthand.”

“…How are we supposed to show him our friendship?”

“Act as close as possible.”

“That’s what I’m asking. How do we do that? We’re already close.”

“Exactly. We’ve already done a pretty good job of looking close, but I guess we need to show some more textbook friendliness. Put your arm around my shoulder, you know? Do some of my work for me. Lollygag together.”

“Funny coming from someone who never lollygagged, even when I beg you to.”

“…….”

Sometimes, his blunt remarks hit too close to home that I had nothing to say. But things were different now. I shook my head and said, “We have to keep playing until next week, Leo. It’s not just you who can’t return to duty. I can’t either. I might even have to do nothing but desk work for a month until my bones heal. Strictly speaking, I can’t just sit around because I still have to deal with Einsiedel, but in front of Luise, we’ll have plenty of time to play together.”

“That’s good, I guess. But how are we supposed to play any more than this? Do we just smile and talk?”

“Yeah. I’ll act it out, so you smile too.”

“Act it out…? Do you have to act just to smile?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“…….”

“Are you mad?”

“Why would I be mad at you?”

Leo replied with his eyes closed and his brows furrowed, wearing the expression of someone answering a question that didn’t even need an answer. Did that mean every time I’d seen Leo angry until now, he’d been faking it? Still…

‘Leo smiles when he’s angry.’

He wasn’t smiling now, so I could relax.

Just then, a strange sound came from behind us.

Flap-flap—

“A bird?”

“Looks like it.”

That was an understatement. It was a bird, all right, but this was hardly the time to be so calm about it! We stared open-mouthed at the face of an eagle flying straight at us.

“…?!”

“Is that thing trying to peck us to death?!”

Leo shouted. Now that I looked, there wasn’t just one eagle. Their flapping wings filled the sky. A chill ran down my spine.

We blindly ran in the opposite direction. We hadn’t even hidden a single egg yet, and now this? When I started falling behind, Leo grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

“Lukas, you aren’t supposed to be running! Get on my back!”

“Are you kidding? Just keep your balance first.”

“…!”

Whoosh—

I ducked low, pressing down on the back of Leo’s neck. The sharp sound of something cutting through the air swept over our heads, followed by the wind from the eagle’s wings brushing against my skin. Leo dodged it easily enough without my help, too.

Honestly, worrying about Leo was a luxury I couldn’t afford. I only needed to worry about myself, and fortunately, I was confident when it came to physical activity of any kind. Even with one leg completely wrecked, I could still manage.

Leo shouted in bewilderment.

“What is this? Mana?”

“Yeah. Eagles made out of mana.”

“Why?”

I fired mana in all directions, distributing the weight pressing down on my injured leg, and asked Leo, “Leo. Don’t you get why Luise made us do this on Monday night? Easter isn’t until the weekend. Isn’t it way too early to hide eggs today?”

“It is!”

I shoved his shoulder firmly to keep him from falling and said, “Luise is making us do gymnasium-style physical training right now. Because he wants us to get closer. This isn’t really a walk in the first place.”

“What…! How is this supposed to make us closer?”

Technically, this wasn’t physical training. It was more like being chased around without a second thought, but I didn’t know how else to explain it. No, if this was what he wanted, he should’ve made ghosts in the first place. A flock of eagles chasing us through the woods was—

‘I suppose being chased by the living is scarier after all.’

I spread mana across the ground and ran as though I were sliding over it. If running through the forest was difficult, all I had to do was make the ground smooth.

Thanks to Ulrike, who was doing such a wonderful job of toughening up his friends like a proper close-combat specialist he was, my recovery would probably be delayed by another week or so.

Before I could finish speaking, Leo suddenly let out a startled gasp. When I turned my head, an eagle was flying straight toward his face. Its talons, laced with blue mana, looked downright sinister.

Bang—!

The eagle slammed into Leo’s staff and burst into particles. Its mana scattered through the air. I shuddered at the sight of the eagle turning into light after being struck by the head of his staff, then let out a hollow laugh.

“So much for startling a battle mage. You’re beating mana birds to death with sheer intimidation, so what did I expect…”

“…I was startled. Being startled is being startled. …I just didn’t react out loud.”

Leo ran beneath the trees where the canopy blocked out the sky and tried to catch his breath as he reached into his clutch for a potion. I brought my staff down and put up a dome-shaped barrier, then took the potion out for him when he fumbled around with one hand and poured it into his mouth. At that moment, Leo furrowed his brow, covered his mouth, and stepped back.

“…?!”

“What’s wrong?”

“This is alcohol. Elias must have done this.”

“…….”

I let out a dry laugh and took a sip of the potion. It was a reasonably sweet whiskey. Looks like he’d chosen it with Leo’s tastes in mind. Leo waved a hand with a fed-up look on his face and muttered, “You drink it all…”

“Mm.”

I put the bottle to my lips and tipped my head back, taking gulp after gulp. Leo didn’t seem to care whether I drank like Elias or not and simply whispered, “Sigh… Now I’m actually getting sleepy. Let’s hurry and hide the eggs and go.”

“Says the guy who kept taking them from me…”

“I’m really tired. Or do you want to sleep for exactly five minutes here before we go?”

“Is that because of your concussion? If we’re only going to rest for five minutes, we’re better off heading back.”

Regardless of what I said, Leo started making a hammock out of grass. I couldn’t help wondering why he’d even asked if he was going to do this anyway, and how on earth he knew how to make a hammock in the first place.

Leo sat down in the hammock sideways, leaning back against it, and patted the spot beside him. I shook my head, sat down on a fallen log, and asked, “Do you play around like this by yourself?”

“When I was little.”

Well, at least he hadn’t done this when he was seventy months old. So it must have been sometime after that.

‘Good to know.’

He’d be great to take camping. I guess if you put in enough effort, you really could do all sorts of things with an ability suited for horticulture and agriculture. Most people with an ability like this would probably go into crop farming, run a flower shop, or become a pharmacist in the traditional sense, or a life sciences researcher. But Leo didn’t just use his ability to restrain enemies. He was making all sorts of things with it.

Leo started weaving grass together and hanging it between the tree trunks to make a screen, keeping the eagles from flying in again. It was so ridiculous that I almost wanted to applaud, but it was comfortable, so I didn’t stop him.

Once the grass screen covered us from all sides, it somehow felt like we were inside a ger¹, and it was surprisingly cozy. Building a place like this and turning it into a hideout must be every child’s dream.

I sat blankly on the log, looking around, then clapped my hands.

“Ah. We should bring the others here. What do you think?”

“Sounds good.”

“Luise―!”

My voice rang through the forest. At this point, it had probably reached the mansion too. It was a little awkward thinking about his mother and the retainers seeing this, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

‘I called them over, so they’ll come if they want to.’

Sitting there was pretty cozy, but there wasn’t really anything to do. So I decided to take this opportunity to dredge up memories from when I was around four and play house. I pulled up a handful of grass from around me, arranged it neatly on a flat rock, and kept pounding it with another stone. After a while, I started getting bored, so I moved on to making a chipped stone tool.

Leo watched intently as I struck a large stone with a pebble. Only then did I finally understand how the cotton-candy seller in front of a school must feel—though, whether it was because of the generation gap or something else, I’d never actually seen anyone selling food in front of a school. I’d only heard about it from my parents. Feeling generous toward the high schooler watching me from up close, I asked, “What kind of stone tool should I make?”

“A hand axe.”

I knew it. I’d had a feeling from the moment this guy didn’t try to stop me. He really did want one. I nodded and went to pick up another stone. After pounding away at it with all my strength, channeling mana into every strike for about twenty minutes, I finally had a decent hand axe.

‘Good.’

I was quite satisfied with it. The top was pointed enough that stabbing flesh with it would probably draw blood. For the part meant to be held, I carved shallow grooves in the shape of fingers so it would be easier to grip. I didn’t know whether actual hand axes had anything like that, but I modified it to suit my own preferences. My ancestors would probably look at it and ask what the hell kind of hand axe it was, but I wasn’t planning to actually use it, and it looked good enough to me.

I placed it in Leo’s hand, then went back to pounding away at the stone meant for me. Leo turned the hand axe over in his hands, admiring it.

“Weren’t you bad with your hands?”

“Did you have to say it like that?”

“Sorry… But this actually looks pretty good. You’re really strong.”

“You don’t make stone tools with brute strength. You make them with science.”

“Really?”

“I don’t know. But they split in weird ways, so you have to think carefully about where to hit.”

“No wonder Homo sapiens made it this far.”

He was probably talking about our ancestors, but since I was the one who had just made the stone tool, I felt strangely conflicted. It felt even stranger considering that stone tools had been used even before Homo sapiens.

Whatever.

I gathered up the sap oozing from the grass, smeared it onto a leaf, and held it up. Leo narrowed his eyes as he examined what I was holding.

“Want some?”

“What is it?”

“Green juice.”

“…You’re calling that green juice…”

I returned the rejected green juice to nature and sat back down on the log. Then, seeing Leo yawning with his eyes constantly drooping shut, I said, “Leo. If you’re hungry, just crack open one of the Easter eggs and eat it with the alcohol.”

“Should I…?”

That was probably for the best. They’d get sleepy after eating, so once Leo fell asleep, I’d just have to carry him back with magic. With that in mind, I decided to make a ground stone tool while I was at it. Just as I downed the alcohol-potion Leo had given me and brushed my hands together in preparation, a familiar voice rang out.

“Hey! What’s that?!”

“Hyah-hahaha…”

That was Narke laughing. The others had apparently found it strange that we hadn’t come back and had come looking for us. Elias parted the grass with both hands, stuck his face through the gap, and shouted with an utterly betrayed expression, “What are you two doing?!”

“Leo said he was tired, so we’re taking a break.”

“This is so much fun…!”

Elias smacked the grass stalks down, widened the opening, and crawled inside before sitting down beside me. He recognized my chipped stone tools—which was gratifying in itself, since he could tell they weren’t just ordinary rocks—and immediately started rambling excitedly about things only he could understand.

Narke followed him in, his entire body wrapped in divine power, apparently still using it to purify the forest. Ulrike and Zähringen came in and settled down as well. Ulrike shouted as though he’d stumbled into another world, while Zähringen seemed familiar with this sort of thing and wasn’t particularly impressed.

I spread my arms to indicate our surroundings and said to Ulrike, “See, Luise? We’re close enough to build a fort and play together like this.”

“Why…”

“Hm?”

“Why are you making such a direct appeal?”

Ulrike asked, stroking his chin.

‘Sharp.’

Ulrike was really sharp. If he was perceptive enough to catch something like that, then why wouldn’t he believe me when I said Leo and I were close…? I was starting to feel a little wronged.

‘As expected, everyday conduct is the answer.’

Still, today’s data had been added to Ulrike’s internal records, so surely there would be some positive changes later. Ulrike gathered some leaves from somewhere, made himself a cushion, and plopped down on it. Then he spotted the set of chipped stone tools I’d made and his mouth fell open.

“Guys, what’s this? Stone tools?”

“Yep.”

“Whoa. A Paleolithic experience.”

Ulrike thought for a moment, then went off and brought back a thick branch. He clapped his hands.

“Let’s try making a fire!”

We failed.

Even though Elias pushed his mana to try and generate heat through friction, we couldn’t get a fire going. Probably for the best. Who in their right mind tries to start a fire in a forest? Even if I’d fired the starting gun for our caveman experience, that was taking things a little too far.

Anyway, we had our fill of playing around in the dirt and soon returned, completely exhausted.

Having apparently planned something like a pajama party, the room was an absolute mess. They’d moved several beds into a large room that wasn’t originally a bedroom and turned it into one, which only made things more chaotic. Everyone had been so exhausted from playing outside for so long that they fell asleep the moment their faces hit the beds.

I came out of the bathroom and asked my friends, who were sprawled across the beds, “Who here went to bed without taking a bath?”

“…….”

Everyone seemed to be asleep, since no one answered. I rubbed my hair dry with a towel and muttered, “I can’t sleep in the same room as people this filthy.”

“That’s mean!”

Elias’s protest came from somewhere in the room. Laughter broke out here and there. Realizing he might have overreacted, Elias quickly added, “I washed, though.”

“Sure, sure.”

“I really did. You believe me, right?!”

“No.”

“Why?!”

Elias stomped down from his bed and came over to me, lifting his hair to show me. It smelled of soap. And yes, it was still damp because it hadn’t dried completely. I nodded and pushed him back toward his bed. When I tried to leave the room without lying down, Elias shouted, “Where are you going, Luka?!”

“I’m really going to sleep somewhere else. Don’t try to stop me. I have to go get my leg bandaged again anyway.”

“Huh?! You can’t do that!”

Why can’t I do that? I slammed the door shut behind me and went off alone to get the box containing the things I’d bought earlier.

It was two in the morning. We were supposed to get up at nine tomorrow. Normally, we had to wake up at six, but we’d decided to sleep in for Leo’s recovery.

‘Seven hours from now.’

I swallowed. It might be a little short. Still, I had about four hours before dinner and decorating the Easter eggs, and I’d already prepared for this then, too. From now on, I just had to pull myself together and finish it as quickly as possible.

‘Finish what?’

The Wichteln gift.

The real gift I was going to give him still had to be made.

8:30 AM.

Leonard was dragged out by Elias and Narke, rubbing his eyes. They were about to have the Wichteln gift-opening, so he had only had time to wash his face before coming straight out into the hall. While everyone else had come out in their pajamas, Lukas was dressed as neatly as usual in a dark navy jacket and ivory slacks, dressed appropriately for the occasion—for a casual party, at least. Leonard had no idea what time Lukas had gotten up to be waiting for this event with enough energy to even dress properly.

It was almost ridiculous that even Lukas seemed to be looking forward to Wichteln, but Leonard was glad, at least, that the event seemed to have lifted his friend’s spirits.

“All right! Let’s open them!”

The head butler had gathered everyone’s gift boxes and placed them on the table. There were about fifteen large gift boxes in front of them. The moment Ulrike finished speaking, the friends quickly checked the cards and brought their respective gifts over in front of themselves.

Leonard stood there blankly for a moment before asking Lukas, who was standing across the table. He, too, was simply standing there staring blankly.

“What about you, Lukas?”

“I’m going to check mine a little later.”

“Oh, okay…”

Leonard nodded without thinking much of it. He was curious about what his gift might be, but right now, all he wanted was to get a little more sleep. He slowly looked over the gift boxes on the table before pulling the one with no owner written on it toward himself. Then he checked the card. His name was written in gold ink on a navy-blue card.

[To Leonard Wittelsbach]

‘Oh.’

No way. That handwriting…

Leonard bit his lip and quickly turned the card over.

[Hi, Leo.]

[Hope you’re doing well? Always keep your chin up. You’re a really great friend.]

[From your friend.]

Leonard found himself pressing a hand to his forehead and groaning.

“What is this?! You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Leonard himself had filled five neat lines in tiny writing on the cards for his friends, so what was this? He didn’t even need to ask who his Wichteln was. He already knew. Elias set down his own box and looked at Leo’s card before letting out a sigh.

“The effort is insane…”

“Thanks. I know.”

Lukas said it from farther away, smiling with one hand covering his mouth. Elias had clearly meant his sigh negatively, yet he now gave Lukas a thumbs-up, and Lukas returned the gesture. Leonard slowly lowered the hand covering his forehead to his eyes.

“…….”

Suddenly, he wasn’t looking forward to this at all. Leonard let out a long sigh and laughed. Lukas had told him just last night that he’d bought a potato brooch. Surely this box was filled with things he’d picked up from that general store… There was no way he’d put only a potato brooch in there.

‘I’m really going to have to wear a potato brooch.’

Until last night, Leonard had thought whoever ended up receiving the potato brooch had his sympathies, only for it to turn out to be himself. He couldn’t believe it, and although he let out a hollow laugh at the thought, he was still curious.

‘Still, I do wonder what he bought for me.’

Maybe Lukas had simply grabbed whatever caught his eye, but still.

Leonard touched the sky-blue satin cord wrapped around the navy-blue box inside, along with the matching lace ribbon brooch resting on top. A thought he must never, ever say to Lukas crossed his mind: So he bought a pre-made ribbon to make up for his lack of handiwork. He smiled. Leonard tugged at the small satin ribbon clumsily tied beneath the pin and undid it. Then he slowly lifted the lid.

‘Oh.’

Wait. Leonard’s gaze quickly swept over all four sides of the gift. He hurriedly ran his hands over the package. Ulrike, who had been peeking over Leonard’s shoulder in particular, saw what was inside and stared with his mouth hanging open.

“What? This is—!”

“No.”

Leonard turned pale and instinctively snapped the lid shut.

“Huh?”

“Sorry, Luise. This is just… something I need to look at by myself.”

Uncharacteristically flustered, Leonard stumbled over his words as he grabbed the box and backed away. Then his eyes met Lukas’s. Lukas had his hands tucked into his pockets and had taken a step back to watch everyone open their gifts.

Reading Leonard’s expression, Lukas lightly squinted one eye and tilted his head sideways. Then he broke into a cheerful smile, his eyes curving into crescents.

Ulrike looked back and forth between Leonard and Lukas, slowly putting the pieces together. Leonard still wondered if he had somehow misjudged what was inside the box, but he suppressed his breathless anticipation and muttered, “…I need to look at this alone.”

Translator Note

1. A ger is a traditional, round, portable tent used for centuries by nomadic herders in Mongolia. ↩︎