Chapter 5: Unknown Fear
Philiana, after exiting the library, was stroking her chin for a while.
It was because she had too many things to think about due to the Tyrant’s unexpectedly gentle personality.
‘What is he really?’
She had committed several times of rudeness that went beyond the line.
It was a rudeness that would cause even the current emperor, called the sage emperor, to issue a death sentence.
But what about the Tyrant?
He frowned with his cute eyebrows, but he didn’t get angry.
Even though the tone was harsh, he maintained his composure.
It didn’t feel like he was enduring with a pretense.
She had seen the image of those who endure their anger to the point of nausea.
Perhaps it could only be seen as his original personality being gentle.
‘There’s something here.’
The Tyrant’s appearance was so different from the recorded history.
Philiana felt her heart pounding as a researcher.
‘I’m not at the stage to be sure yet.’
First, she needed to know more about the Tyrant.
After finishing her thoughts, Philiana knocked on the library door.
Knock-Knock-
“May I come in?”
“Come in.”
It was a soft voice that contrasted with the stern tone.
Philiana, who knew the Tyrant’s original voice, couldn’t help but smile and opened the library door.
“What is so enjoyable?”
“Ah, … I’m happy to teach you magic, Luna.”
Philiana, who made a roundabout excuse, looked at the Tyrant’s feet floating in the air.
‘The chair is too big?’
Since Luna was small in height, her feet didn’t touch the ground when she sat on the chair.
It was because the chairs in the mansion were larger than average.
There was a strange custom in the empire that the higher the status, the bigger the chair.
The Archmage was the second-highest status below the emperor.
Philiana didn’t like power and authoritarianism, but she kept the customs.
It was because she was tired of the nobles from the hostile forces who liked to find fault and keep them in check.
‘Does the Tyrant also not consider power important?’
Originally, a person of power had to sit in a huge chair, arrogantly stretching their legs.
But the Tyrant didn’t express any dissatisfaction even though his legs were floating.
“Hoho.”
Her favor had increased just by looking at his sitting posture.
Philiana, not hiding her smile, snapped her fingers.
Thwack!
With a clear frictional sound, a book appeared in the air.
It was the first volume of basic magic studies written by Philiana herself.
“Do you know anything about magic, Tyrant?”
“···I know that it deals with fire and water, earth and wind.”
Elemental magic.
As expected, all the knowledge was from a hundred years ago.
It seemed that she had to teach the magic of this era.
Philiana pulled the chair and sat next to the Tyrant.
“The magic now is very different from a hundred years ago. It has moved away from elemental magic.”
“Do you mean that you’re using magic that isn’t elemental?”
“Yes. Actually, it was a magic that existed a hundred years ago, but it started to be commercialized seventy years ago.”
“I see. What kind of magic is there?”
Is he curious about the lineage of magic?
She was admirable for having a high learning desire.
Philiana couldn’t help but stroke the Tyrant’s head.
She had been deceived by this appearance.
“What are you doing···?”
“Ah, um, it’s practice to get along.”
“···Do friends stroke each other’s heads in this era?”
“Yes. Of course.”
It was an excuse, but it wasn’t a lie in a way.
There was nothing particularly strange about an adult stroking a child’s head.
The problem was that the other person’s appearance was only that of a child.
“In my era, stroking the head was quite a rude thing to do, but··· if that’s the common sense of this era, then so be it.”
Actually, it still is.
Philiana only said it in her heart.
“Hmm hmm. Shall we continue the lesson?”
“Do it.”
The Tyrant nodded.
Philiana continued to stroke the Tyrant’s head and continued to speak.
“There are many types of magic, like gravity magic or magic that deals with plants…”
“Plant magic? Did you just say plant magic?”
“Yes. Plant magic.”
Is he interested in magic that deals with plants?
If so, she had to demonstrate.
Philiana was about to manifest magic on her hand.
The Tyrant made a fist with a sorrowful gaze.
“Is plant magic popular in this era, too?”
“Popular? Was plant magic popular a hundred years ago?”
It hadn’t even been fifty years since humans had been using plant magic.
The words that it was popular a hundred years ago didn’t make sense.
“It was a fist, not magic, back then.”
“A fist···?”
“Yes, the technique of turning a person into a plant was difficult even for me. I had to control my power so they wouldn’t die.”
“Ah, um.”
That was that plant.
Philiana rolled her eyes in confusion.
“The mages of this era are truly capable. They can turn people into plant-humans with magic.”
The Tyrant’s frail fist cut through the air.
It looked like she was patting it, but the Tyrant nodded as if satisfied.
He was clearly lost in the memories of the past.
“Um··· Luna?”
“What is it?”
“Plant magic is magic that controls plants. Not turning people into plant-humans, but…”
“What···!”
The Tyrant’s eyes widened.
Then, as if disappointed, his shoulders drooped.
She was not at ease with the image of a girl who fell into despondency.
Although the reality was that the absolute being was disappointed that there was no plant-human magic, that was his appearance.
Philiana couldn’t help but say words of comfort to the Tyrant.
“Don’t be too disappointed. Magic is the manifestation of the self. If you work hard, Luna, you can create plant, plant-human magic.”
“Th, that’s right. If there isn’t one, you can create one yourself.”
The Tyrant’s feet, which were floating, shook back and forth.
He was happy about the ‘possibility’.
In fact, creating magic wasn’t easy even for the Archmage, but Philiana didn’t tell him.
She just decided to stroke the girl’s head.
The next day.
I was lying in bed for a long time after waking up.
It was because of the sleepiness that weighed down my entire body.
‘It’s always hard in the morning.’
My body was heavy, but my willpower was that of the Tyrant.
I ignored the sleepiness and forced myself to sit up.
It was then that someone opened the door and came running.
“Eve! You’re awake!”
A girl with silver hair and a small body ran toward me.
I reached out my hand to stop her, but there was one thing I had overlooked.
Squeeze!
My face was buried in the arms of a girl of an unknown identity.
I tried to take her away in a hurry, but her body, which was like a stone statue, didn’t seem to want to move.
“Ugh! Ugh···!”
To have my face buried in the arms of a girl who wasn’t even of age yet.
It was a situation where I had nothing to say, even if I was treated as a libertine.
It was an emergency.
Just as I was about to use my original power to push the girl away, she let go of my body first.
“Eve, did you sleep well?”
Luna Eve Chambers.
She was calling my middle name.
“···Who are you?”
I didn’t like the sudden visitor, so I looked up at her with a threatening gaze.
As much as I had been suffocating, I exhaled my breath with all my might.
“Me? I’m Luna’s mom, don’t you remember?”
“Mother···?”
I released my gaze and looked at her up and down.
She looked to be fourteen or fifteen years old.
It was a long way to give birth to this ten-year-old body.
‘She wouldn’t have given birth, but she made it, huh?’
The homunculus was said to be difficult to make even for the Archmage.
It wasn’t strange even if there were many assistants.
‘Is she not a suspicious person?’
If an artificial life form made by a human came alive, anyone would be excited.
Her behavior was fully understandable.
“Are you the creator of this body?”
“Yep. Philiana told me to help Luna adapt to her body.”
“I see.”
She was my person.
I put down the wariness that had been built up.
“Luna, do you want to go out for a walk?”
Philiana’s assistant pulled my hand.
I wanted to follow her, but there was something I had to do.
“Wait. This body has to stretch.”
“U, uh.”
I looked at the girl and raised both hands.
As I learned from Philiana, I stretched my body to the point where my chest tightened.
“Nuuu-gh!”
This pathetic sound was coming out even though I didn’t want it.
It was a little embarrassing, but I kept my hands up until the fatigue was gone.
“It’s hard to get up in the morning, Luna, right?”
“It’s hard, but it’s okay. Because everyone experiences it.”
“No, it’s just hard for Luna, right? I designed you to be hard to get up in the morning.”
“What···?”
Did I hear a hallucination?
I froze in place and looked up at her.
“It’s cute that you can’t wake up in the morning. That’s why I made it that way.”
She began to look like a devil in a single word.
After swallowing my saliva, I opened my mouth towards her.
“···Then, did you also design this weak body?”
“Yep. I wanted to hold you in my arms.”
“In my arms, what···?”
Before I could finish speaking, she reached out her hand toward my body.
Small and delicate, but a hand that could handle me with ease.