“But especially, were there no better parts?”

“Well… there were.”

After a moment of hesitation, he opened his mouth.

“Her smiling face.”

More precisely, it was the smile she showed only in front of him.

While others said Elodie was just kind like an angel, in front of Luke, she played quite a lot of wicked pranks.

She followed him, who was embarrassed, to the end and kissed him on the lips. At that time, Luke always ended up with his face wide open, helpless, but eventually, the roles were reversed unnoticed.
Elodie looked at Luke, who instantly clung to her, and gave him a smiling glance as if to say, “Why not try it once?” In that way, Bonita appeared, but… it was not a story Luke could tell Bonita about.

“It seems like that.”

Fortunately, Bonita mumbled as if convincing herself.

“I feel the same way.”

“…Do you remember?”

“Well… I’m not sure.”

As Luke cautiously asked about the following, Bonita’s words trailed off.

Bonita, who had been thinking deeply about something, raised her head. A completely unfamiliar woman met her gaze.

“Is it possible for two people to be in one body?”

It was a somewhat unexpected question.

In earnest, Luke gave a sincere answer.

“It’s probably impossible.”

“Why?”

“Becoming another person is an unreasonable thing.”

“Why?”

“There is something called the brain in a human head, and our consciousness is in there. Unless you replace the brain, becoming another person is impossible.”

This was a theory presented in the imperial academic community 40 years ago. It has now become an accepted fact.

If humans didn’t have souls, it explained why even the most powerful sorcerers couldn’t read people’s minds or control others.

It was inherently impossible.

Of course, Luke thought a little differently. To be precise, he wanted to believe so.

The existence of Elodie, whose body functions had stopped, was too painful to think that she had disappeared forever.

So, he even dabbled in dark magic.

If he mastered dark magic, which could brainwash and control others, he believed he could bring Elodie back to life…

But he failed.

Luke didn’t reveal these facts to Bonita.

The importation and reading of related books on dark magic were strictly prohibited.

If it were revealed that he had really delved into dark magic, not only he but also the survival of the Rycianthus family itself would be at risk. Naturally, Bonita would also be unable to protect herself.

“Then, can you become a different person by replacing the brain?”

“…The brain dies the moment you take it out. You can’t breathe without it.”

“Why can’t you breathe if you take out the brain? Breathing is done through the nose, right?”

“First of all, it’s not through the nose but through the connected organ that is connected to the nose. When you inhale, air goes from the airway attached to the nose into the lungs. Then oxygen from the lungs, um. I’ll explain it more specifically later. Anyway, and why can’t you breathe without the brain…”

After a moment’s pause, he continued.

“Even your unconscious breathing, telling your brain to breathe, is done in a part of the brain. So, if you take the brain out, people can’t breathe. That’s why people die if they hit their heads hard.”

While explaining to Bonita, Luke wondered if such a cruel content was suitable for a seven-year-old to hear.

However, there was no sign of Bonita’s expression being uncomfortable or showing any fear.
“Then, do souls really not exist?”

If you were to ask that question to other scholars, they would likely burst into laughter and respond like this:

“Where in the world is there anything like a soul? If such a thing existed, magicians would have discovered it long ago.”

The dead cannot be resurrected.

Not the believers, nor the demons.

Neither Heaven nor Hell.

Such things do not exist.

About 50 years ago, people might have believed in such things.

But now, what people believe in is not gods but magic and science.

In the main cities of the Empire, railways have already been laid, and steam locomotives carry people every day.

Cars using magic power and gears have begun to replace carriages. Instead of craftsmen meticulously making clothes one by one, factories emitting smoke have started mass-producing clothing.

Peasants have been liberated. Their workplaces are now factories instead of fields, and boys over ten spend eighteen hours a day in front of machines.

The high-ranking nobles of the Empire no longer use typewriters. Instead, much more advanced image reception devices have taken their place.

The genius who invented all of this said:

Bell Epoch.

A beautiful era has dawned.

The kingdom still uses the ‘old ways,’ but that won’t last much longer.

By the time Bonita becomes an adult, the kingdom will be filled with railways and factories.

Even now, in the northern and capital regions relatively close to the Empire, aren’t they gradually accepting modernization methods?

However, when faced with Bonita’s question, Luke couldn’t firmly answer, “Souls do not exist.”

“Maybe…”

It was an ambiguous answer.

It was more like a hope than a certainty. A hope that somewhere, Elodie is still alive.

Seeing Luke’s eyes filled with such thoughts, Bonita opened her mouth.