So That’s What Friends Are

“Huff…. Huff….”

Basic physical strength training conducted for the entire class. The training method is simple.

Running around a hu~ge field for a designated number of laps.

However, since the purpose is solely to build basic physical strength, enhancing the body with magic is prohibited.

I need to complete a total of fifty laps… how many have I done so far? My mind is getting foggy.

My throat is parched, and my breathing has become incredibly rough.

My thighs are tingling as if they’re about to burst, and I feel like I might fall if I lose focus even for a moment.

I thought I had been putting in a lot of effort… but that must have been my imagination.

I continue running while looking ahead with a half-tearful expression.

“Sion, are you all right?”

Just then, a refreshing voice was heard beside me.

It was Sheena. With her physical strength naturally far superior to mine, she had already lapped me dozens of times.

How such monstrous endurance emanates from that slender body is beyond my comprehension.

“Huff…. Huff…. I’m sorry, Miss Sheena, I’m not in a condition to talk right now…!”

“Ah, I apologize. You looked like you were struggling, so without thinking….”

Sheena looks at me with worried eyes.

After staring blankly at those beautiful eyes for a moment, I soon managed a smile and spoke with difficulty.

“I’m fine…. Please don’t worry about me and go ahead! You shouldn’t be held back by someone like me.”

“It’s just training…. There’s no need to speak so solemnly. Then, excuse me for going ahead.”

Sheena moves forward, her blue hair fluttering.

Astorius Sheena runs toward the future without hesitation, to such an extent that I don’t even think of trying to chase after her.

Just as I was smiling at that satisfying sight, suddenly a whisper arose from a corner of my mind.

• • Would I ever be able to chase after that back even if I tried my whole life?

 

• • Will anything change even if I try this hard?

 

• • If all of this is meaningless…. what am I doing it for…

Shut up, you bastard.

• • Slap!

“Ouch! It seems my mind is half gone from exhaustion.”

I slap my cheek hard and cut off the whisper.

This whisper, which has been heard since I went to save Elise, has continued to appear and tries to entangle me.

‘Have I gone crazy?’

It’s a peculiar feeling. As if someone else living inside my mind keeps talking to me.

Could it be that the black dragon that had been sleeping until now has awakened?

No, that can’t be. I definitely killed that friend when I was in 10th grade…

“….!”

Just then, a sudden, excruciating pain shot through my thigh. Pain as if the thigh muscle had snapped.

Due to that intense pain, the strength in my legs gave out, and I fell.

“…Sion? Sion!”

Perhaps hearing the sound of me falling, Sheena, who had been moving ahead, quickly turned around and ran to me.

“What happened?!”

“Kuh…. I’m not quite sure myself. It’s probably nothing significant. Miss Sheena, you don’t need to worry….”

I tried to smile and speak to avoid worrying Sheena, but her expression was stiffly frozen.

“….Please stay still for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

Sheena carefully laid me on the ground and then ran vigorously somewhere. Judging by her speed, she seems to have enhanced her body with magic.

And as if to prove that her promise to return immediately wasn’t empty words, Sheena returned to me in less than a minute.

“I received permission from the instructor. Let’s go to the infirmary.”

Sheena lifted me from the ground and supported me.

“Haha, Miss Sheena doesn’t need to exert herself for me.”

“Those words have no persuasive power when you can’t even walk properly by yourself.”

“I’m just sorry for causing you trouble.”

When I said that, Sheena silently turned her head toward me.

“……”

Facing each other at a distance close enough to hear each other’s breath, I found myself holding my breath without even realizing it.

“….What is it? Do you dislike me supporting you?”

Sheena asked with her lips slightly pouting in a sulky manner.

At that heart-stoppingly cute sight, I couldn’t say anything and just shook my head.

“Then that’s fine.”

After saying that, Sheena suddenly blushed, then looked straight ahead and continued speaking.

“We are friends, aren’t we? Friends are beings who willingly lend their shoulders to each other in times of difficulty.”

Then, looking at a distant mountain, she stutters as she speaks.

“A-and. Sion is none other than my first friend. You can rely on me a little more.”

…..How can she be so righteous and cute? I feel anew that being her friend is a stroke of luck.

I smiled softly and murmured quietly.

“….Miss Sheena is much cuter than I thought.”

“W-what are you suddenly saying!”

“Kuheok!”

Startled, Sheena pushed me away.

There was no way I could withstand that impact with my thigh in a wrecked state, and I literally, without the slightest exaggeration, rolled on the ground.

Barely holding back tears that were about to trickle out, I looked at Sheena and asked.

“Miss Sheena…. I’ve been wondering for a while, do you perhaps have a hobby of tormenting patients?”

“Ah, I, that…… S-Sion suddenly started saying strange things, so that’s why!”

Sheena grabbed me with trembling hands and helped me up.

“W-well, e-either way, it’s just a joke, right? Sion always makes these embarrassing remarks and then dismisses them as jokes. It’ll be the same this time, so I’ll generously forgive you in advance.”

“It’s not a joke though.”

“….What?”

Sheena broke down again.

“This time, at least, it’s really not a joke. Don’t you believe me?”

“Eh? Ah… it’s not that…. I mean….”

At my straightforward response, Sheena’s eyes started spinning.

At this moment, I don’t feel the pain in my thigh.

How could I feel pain while watching this amusing sight?

“Miss Sheena, shall we go? My leg is starting to hurt again.”

“Ah, yes. W-we should. L-let’s go.”

I move forward slowly toward the infirmary, matching pace with Sheena.

Some time had passed, but Sheena’s bright red face showed no signs of calming down.

• • Slide.

“Excuse us…? Oh.”

We entered the infirmary, but there was no sign of anyone.

“It seems like no one’s here. It appears the school nurse is away. Still, for now….”

Sheena approached the bed and gently lifted me onto it.

The experience of being easily lifted by a girl smaller than me was, well, strangely difficult to express in words.

“First, try to straighten your leg comfortably. I’ve had several experiences with injuries during training when I was young, so I might be able to help you a little.”

As Sheena requested, I straightened my leg as flat as possible.

A throbbing pain spreads tinglingly from my thigh.

“Sion, does it hurt?”

She asked with a concerned voice.

“It hurts a little… but seeing Miss Sheena’s beautiful face makes it much better than before.”

“D-don’t joke around. This is an emergency situation. Can you describe the pain you felt when you were injured?”

“Well… how should I put it. It might be a slightly exaggerated expression, but I felt like my muscle snapped with a ‘pop!’ Gasp, could I become paralyzed from the waist down?”

“Don’t say such ominous things!”

Sheena scolded me with a rare stern expression.

Then, after maintaining silence for a while and fidgeting with her fingers, she finally opened her mouth.

“In my opinion… it seems like Sion’s thigh muscle has ruptured.”

“….Am I going to die?”

“Would you die from that? People don’t usually die from muscle ruptures. You should be able to recover within a week after receiving treatment from the school nurse.”

After saying that, Sheena pulled over a chair from the side and sat on it.

Then, after letting out a deep sigh, she looked into my eyes and spoke.

Clear sky-blue eyes.

“By the way, Sion, do you have any concerns these days?”

“Concerns? Well, of course I have concerns.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Like what position I should lie in during class to avoid being caught….”

• • Thwack!

Sheena flicked my forehead.

“Ouch, I’m against violence.”

“Really, I’m asking seriously. Please answer a bit more genuinely.”

“Hmm….. I don’t particularly have anything I’d call a concern. Why do you suddenly ask that?”

At my question, Sheena answered while fidgeting with her hands.

“Um…. It’s because Sion seems to be focusing on training too excessively these days. Unlike usual, as if you’re someone being chased by something. And now you’ve even gotten injured…. I was worried that maybe you have some concern that’s causing this….”

Concern, I do have one.

The big middle finger Pascal left for me, namely, having to defend a territory alone in the mock occupation war.

It still seems really shitty when I think about it again.

But despite Pascal’s tyranny, I couldn’t miss that opportunity to earn a large amount of points, so I have been increasing the intensity of my training more than usual recently.

And the accumulated fatigue has probably resulted in this current state.

It seems I’ve overexerted myself in a way that doesn’t suit my position.

But should I tell Sheena about this?

Unlike Sion, who is an extra, Sheena is a protagonist who influences the entire world view.

Am I not stealing her time by unnecessarily troubling her?

Almost a month has passed since I possessed this world, but anxiety still surges in a corner of my heart.

Is it right for me to become close to the characters?

I’m afraid I might be doing something unnecessary.

I fear that I might be ruining those around me with needless greed.

‘Even just Jeremy…’

I have the experience of making the protagonist drop out of Luin Academy with just one mouse click.

This alone is a major incident, but if it doesn’t end here…

What if Sheena lacks time to train because of me?

What if Charlotte can’t make plans to prepare for the future in time because of me?

What if Chloe can’t properly communicate with spirits because of me?

If, as a result, they can’t stand against the various villains who appear later?

If, ultimately, the world ends with a bad ending?

And above all, if everyone’s future goes wrong because of me.

Would I… be able to find the courage to live?

“…You definitely have some concern. Otherwise, your expression wouldn’t harden like that.”

“Ahaha, it’s really nothing, Miss Sheena. So… I don’t want to steal Miss Sheena’s precious time.”

I tried to wrap it up like that.

I didn’t want Sheena to detect my troubled heart.

At that moment, Sheena grabbed the bed and spoke while fidgeting.

“Indeed, I am living a life without leisure to train myself as a child of the Astorius family, as Megan Astorius’s younger sister, and as an exchange student from Mikael Academy.”

Then, biting her lip slightly and closing her eyes tightly, she suddenly grabbed my hand and said.

“…But. Sion is my precious friend. And that, my first friend. I enjoy the time I spend with Sion. It’s more enjoyable than any other time. No matter how busy I am, I can always make time to listen to the concerns of such a precious person hundreds of times. So…..”

After trailing off for a moment, Sheena continued.

“Please don’t say hurtful things like you’re wasting my time.”

…..Sheena’s hand is warm.

“Sion has… the right to take my time.”

“……”

At Sheena’s principle, I couldn’t retort a single word.

And at the same time, I realized a truth that simply and clearly pierced through my concerns.

I am Sion.

Not the Sion who ends his life as an early villain in the game, but Sion by myself, who changes destiny with my will and forms connections.

From the moment I possessed this world, the world was already changing.

There’s no need for me to worry about whether I’ll change the world in a bad direction now.

After all, this world is destined to change even without my intervention.

So…..

‘I might as well change it for the better.’

There’s no reason for me not to intervene in this world.

“It seems I’m always receiving from Miss Sheena. Today, I learn one important fact from you.”

“Yes. So you can rely on me a little more.”

My heart felt refreshed.

A sense of satisfaction, as if old dirt was being pushed out, swept through my entire body.

“Then today, I’ll comfortably rely on Miss Sheena. You must listen to the end, even if it gets boring, okay?”

“Of course. Unlike someone else, I don’t lie.”

That day, we didn’t return to the field until classes were over.