Chapter 15 - I Will Stay With Senephin

Chapter 15: I Will Stay With Senephin

“I see. So why don’t we just let Senephin raised him?”

Velkina’s cheerful reply made me want to cradle my head with frustration.

“Urgh… No, Velkina. It might be possible to do that, but Jean is a man.”

“We can’t reveal to the public that a shapeshifter would like to join the magic research institute. Wouldn’t it be better to shift into an animal since it would be hard if he is in human form?”

The idea must have come about after getting to know the full story, and it wasn’t a thoughtless one either.

But, err… I’m glad that Jean wouldn’t be staying in Velkina’s room. But, if I’m with Jean all the time later, then I won’t have time to fangirl, right? I tried to control my facial expression through my flurry of thoughts.

Velkina continued, turning to face Jean.

“Is that alright with you?” 

“That’s what I wanted.” 

Jean answered as his ears twitched slightly in response. How cute…it makes me not want to let him leave.

At that point, Lumins, who had been listening to the conversation quietly, interjected with his opinion.

“Even though Senephin offered to give you mana, I’m against you staying here.” 

“Hmm? You mean Jean shouldn’t stay in Senephin’s room?” 

Velkina prodded Lumins. Being an already very sociable girl and now informed about Jean’s background, she’d been talking casually with Jean since earlier.

“He might be in the form of a baby wolf now, but he is originally a male adult.”

He is indeed a boy now but he could go back to his original form by just consuming Mana? As expected, our genius sorcerer Lumins is indeed in a different league!

“Oh, is that so? I thought he would be a small little boy because he was a puppy. I’m sorry, Jean.”

“It’s alright.”

I’d also already done my best to break the flag of Jean and Velkina’s first meeting. Now that they already know each other and even about Jean’s background, will this be okay…

“Anyway, now that we have come to this. I’ll let you stay in my room.”

Jean shook his head when he heard Lumins’ offer.

“I will stay with Senephin, who I offered my back to, and protect her.”

“You can still do that even if you’re not in Senephin’s room. You would be more comfortable that way, right, Senephin?”

“Ye, Yes. I’m not comfortable staying in the same room with a man. Ohoho…”

Of course if whitey was living in Velkina’s room, I would have stopped him at all costs. Compared to that, letting him sleep in my room would sound a hundred times better, but now, it doesn’t matter at all if he stays with Lumins.

Whitey become sullen and buried his face under the quilt for some time, before his ears perked up again.

“If Senephin says so…”

You shouldn’t try to buy people’s sympathy with your cute looks!

I approached the bed and sat next to the whitey and held out my hand to him.

“Now that we are done with this. Take my mana. You’re struggling and troubled because of this, right?”

Whitey has been looking sullen for a while now and that could be a problem. But the biggest problem here is that he keeps leaning on the headboard because he is having a hard time keeping his body together.

Jean looked up at me with his deep blue eyes that seemed to shimmer between a hint of light green and deep emerald then licked the back of my hand a few times.

At the same time, the hair that was looking a little ragged and close to gray turned into soft-looking silvery fur. I stroked it with my hand after getting permission from Jean. I sighed in relief as I saw that his skinny body had gained some weight.

“What a relief…”

“It is! Woah, it’s just like a fairy. I can’t believe you can change appearance as soon as you absorb mana. Can I touch it too?”

Velkina asked with sparkling eyes as whitey, who was being patted with my hands, gently climbed up to my arm and sat on my shoulder.

“My back is dedicated to Senephin. If she says okay, then I’m fine with it as well.”

Do I have to decide regarding what other people want to do to you once you’ve dedicated yourself to me? Of course, it’s alright. Oh, wait, what if when she touches him and feels his soft fur, Velkina falls in love with Jean? His fur is soft enough to make me fall in love and want to keep touching again and again.

Oh, of course, I don’t have fur like Jean, but I can confidently say that you’re the only one for big sis, Lumins.

“Ho, ho, ho…It’s alright. Unless, Jean doesn’t want to.”

But there was no reason to say no, so I just grit my teeth and replied to her.

Velkina was delighted and touched whitey’s fur and chimed excitedly, “Wow, it’s so soft!”. On the other hand, my mind was quickly dissolving into a mess. Jean and Velkina seemed to feel comfortable with each other.

Velkina, you can’t fall in love with Jean, okay? You have to be with Lumins in the future, okay? You already promised big sister, right…?

While the three of us were playing with each other, Lumins approached me.

Does Lumins want to touch whitey too? If so, you can touch him as much as you like, is what I wanted to say. But instead, he spoke about other stuff in a calm manner like usual.

“The other sorcerers might notice him too by reading his mana flows so I’ll take care of that matter.”

He proceeded to touch whitey’s forehead, back, and legs while reciting some spells. After he was finished, he pulled his hand away.

Do you not like animals? Your response to this cute and soft-haired whitey is so cold. But of course, if Lumins hates it, I would respect it.

◇◇◇

“Oh, since we couldn’t have a picnic and all of us are here, how about having lunch together now? Senephin prepared a lot for us beforehand. It would be a waste to not eat it.”

Velkina suggested cheerfully as she retreated her hands from Jean after she was satisfied with petting him plenty. She prepared the dishes while Lumins agreed and started helping her out.

“You’re right. No one has eaten anyway.”

So the lunchbox that I’ve prepared since dawn was saved? Thank God…

“I’ll have it too…”

Jean spoke up as he slowly shifted his position while swatting away Velkina’s and my hand by wagging his tail about as though trying to say he didn’t want to be pet anymore. I raised a brow in response, knowing that he had no need to eat the food she’d prepared considering he consumed mana.

“Isn’t it okay for you to not eat because you’re consuming mana?” 

“It won’t have any benefit to me, but I can still taste it.”

I’m so glad you haven’t lost the will to live. I smiled at the thought as whitey called out to Lumins.

“You over there.” 

“It’s Lumins Hardelf.”

“Lumins. Give me your clothes. I’ll eat in human form.”

“……I’ll think about it if you let me take three strands of hair for research.”

They’ve just met and now they’re already on bad terms?

The late lunchtime went pleasantly with Jean who ended up being forced to give three strands of his hair so he could borrow Lumins clothes. The angelic Lumins was smiling as usual, and the cute Velkina kept praising the sandwich while eating it.

It’s a pity that Lumin and Velkina didn’t have a single date as intended, but there will be other great opportunities in the future.

Until then, this big sister will keep an eye out so Velkina won’t fall to whitey’s charm and plan to destroy all other character flags!

If all events continue to go in order…the next battle should be the crown prince who is likely to be a strong opponent for Lumins.

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