The Role of a Childhood Friend
by Afuhfuihgs
My heart is pounding. I could feel with every sense in my body that the quantum jump was a complete success.
As if by instinct, I naturally knew in my head how to wield the spear.
I let out a long sigh and wore a happy smile, but it was short-lived. Ellie, who was holding the staff, staggered as her legs gave out, and then she vomited blood.
Snapping out of it at the sight, I went to Ellie and supported her. Ellie, with blood on her lips, was in a precarious state, as if she would lose consciousness and collapse at any moment.
“Ellie… are you okay?”
Something must have gone wrong. Since it was related to black magic, I couldn’t predict how great the price of failure would be.
Ellie, seeing me biting my lip and looking at her with anxious eyes, wiped the blood from her lips with the back of her hand and smiled.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I expected this much of a backlash.”
“What?”
I was dumbfounded by her nonchalant attitude, as if it were only natural.
“Why, were you worried about me?”
Seeing Ellie showing her teeth, stained red with blood, and smiling brightly, I sighed.
“…You told me it was safe.”
“This much is safe. The quantum jump was a success, and the magic ended safely.”
Ellie, who put the staff in her arms, looked into my eyes and said.
“And I didn’t want to lose to the me in another world.”
Watching her eyes sparkle like obsidian as she said that, I asked in a dumbfounded tone.
“Are you jealous of even the you in another world?”
“Yeah, the Ellie in another world accomplished something I couldn’t. I wanted to catch up to her, even just a little.”
It was the same tone as usual, but Ellie had suffered a backlash that made her vomit blood.
I couldn’t help but notice that her fingertips and shoulders were trembling slightly.
“Let’s go inside for now. You look exhausted.”
Without waiting for an answer, I lifted Ellie’s body with both hands.
Ellie, startled when her legs suddenly left the ground, struggled for a moment, but gave up when I tightened my grip and quietly leaned her face against my chest.
Her resistance was so weak; she must be in bad shape.
I sat Ellie down on the sofa in the living room and asked.
“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the infirmary?”
“I told you, I expected this much of a backlash. You don’t think I, who will become a great archmage in the future, would make a miscalculation, do you?”
Seeing Ellie narrowing her eyes and looking at me suspiciously, I flicked her forehead lightly and said, dumbfounded.
“Is this really the time for you to be angry?”
“Hehe, you didn’t fall for it. But I’m really okay. I just need to drink a potion and rest for a bit.”
Ellie, who had prepared a potion in advance, took out a potion bottle from her arms, removed the stopper, and gulped it down. After catching her breath for a moment, she asked me.
“So, was the quantum jump a success?”
“Perfectly.”
“That’s a relief. I’m glad it ended as planned.”
Seeing her stretch with a gentle smile as she said that, I rubbed my forehead and said.
If I didn’t say it now, it felt like Ellie would do the same thing again today without a second thought.
“You don’t need to be jealous of the you in another world. You’ve already been a great help to me.”
“…It bothers me.”
As if she had inadvertently voiced her thoughts, Ellie looked flustered.
After lowering her gaze for a moment and biting her lip, Ellie said quietly.
“I’m worried you’ll cherish the things that happened with the Ellie in another world more than me.”
Then, she slowly raised her head and met my gaze steadily.
Frowning as if she was thinking about something, she said in a low voice.
“I’m the real Ellie.”
Hearing the anxious tone, I replied without thinking.
“I know, I’ve never been confused.”
And to avoid our relationship becoming serious again, I added something different from the truth.
“That one was kinder and prettier, though.”
Ellie, who snorted and muttered, ‘How interesting,’ closed her eyes as if she couldn’t bear the exhaustion any longer. Before long, I could hear her even breathing.
I brought a blanket from Aria’s room that wasn’t being used, carefully laid the sleeping Ellie down on the sofa, and covered her with the blanket.
Suddenly, I noticed a faint trace of blood remaining on Ellie’s cheek.
Without realizing it, I reached out and carefully wiped away the stain on her cheek, muttering as if whispering.
“I think I prefer bad girls, though.”
For some reason, it seemed like the corners of the sleeping Ellie’s lips lifted slightly.
***
The next morning, Ellie woke up rubbing her eyes after a good night’s sleep.
I prepared a simple breakfast using eggs, sausage, and fruit, and even brought Kane, who was studying alchemy in the club room, to have breakfast together.
“You two were amazing at the triathlon. Top and runner-up of the freshmen class. Everyone must have been watching with interest, especially since you’re childhood friends from the same neighborhood, right?”
“Oh, really?”
Ellie, who has a knack for leading conversations, seemed to have become friendly with Kane in the meantime.
Between friends of friends, it’s common to start a conversation about the mutual friend.
That’s why the topic of the triathlon came up at breakfast.
Ellie laughed at Kane’s jokes, and I sighed repeatedly until breakfast was finally over.
After clearing Kane’s dishes, who had returned to the closet to study alchemy, I was about to take Ellie to her dormitory.
Compared to what Ellie had gone through yesterday, this much was only natural. I was planning to take Ellie to her dormitory and return the book I had borrowed yesterday to the library for her.
As I was drying my hands with a towel, Ellie suddenly asked.
“Could you perhaps recreate the memories I had with the me in another world one more time?”
It was a request out of the blue, but I readily agreed.
Just as Ellie had been a great help to me, if showing her the memories of the future Ellie could help her, it was something I could do anytime.
I gathered my magic power and created a snow globe on my palm, this time focusing on putting in the memories of meeting the Ellie in another world in detail from beginning to end.
Ellie, who received the memories, closed her eyes for a while as if lost in thought.
I felt a slight dizziness and headache because I had used up almost all of my magic power, so I pressed my temples for a moment. Ellie groaned as if struggling and opened her eyes.
“Heuung.”
“What’s wrong?”
“When I first received the memories… I felt a sense of unease, as if I was missing something important.”
“Unease?”
When I looked at her as if asking what that was, Ellie replied with an uneasy expression.
“The reason why Transcendence Academy collapsed was because the security barrier was broken by a bomb that exploded inside. There must have been a spy from the cult inside.”
“I think so too. That’s why I’m going to ask Estelle to investigate whether there are any people related to the cult in the academy.”
Ellie nodded and touched her lips as she said.
“In my opinion… there’s something more important than that.”
“What is it?”
“Do you remember the strange phenomenon that occurred when the room you were in collapsed due to the aftermath of the bomb?”
At those words, something came to mind. A black area that suddenly appeared from somewhere, as if stealing the color.
Ellie brought up something that I had only stored in my memory because I didn’t know what it was.
“I do remember it. I don’t know what it is, but do you know?”
“No, I don’t know either. I’ve never heard of such a phenomenon, and I’ve never seen it in any of the books I’ve read so far.”
If even Ellie didn’t know about the phenomenon, what on earth was it?
As I stroked my chin and pondered, Ellie said.
“What’s clear is that the cult did it. So I’m going to investigate what that phenomenon is.”
It was definitely reassuring to have Ellie take the lead. I nodded with a happy smile.
As if that wasn’t the whole story, Ellie scratched her cheek with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“And apart from the memories you showed me, there’s something I want to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Are you planning to show the memories to your club friends too?”
I paused at Ellie’s question. It wasn’t something I hadn’t thought about. Like how I showed the memories to Estelle or Eunice, I was sure that if the club members also gained the memories, they would be on my side.
But I didn’t want to drag them into a dangerous path.
“No, I’m not going to pass on the memories.”
“…Not even to Luna?”
“Yeah.”
At my answer, Ellie sighed and said with a difficult expression, as if she was reluctantly speaking.
“…Don’t hide it from Luna.”
I didn’t expect to hear such advice from Ellie, so I looked at Ellie with a flustered face and said with a hollow laugh.
“I never thought you would give me love advice.”
“I know. Me neither. Actually, I was happy to hear that you weren’t going to pass on the memories to Luna.”
What is this again? No matter how much I looked at Ellie’s expression, I couldn’t figure out her intention.
“What do you mean?”
Ellie blinked a few times, then let out a long sigh and said as if confessing.
“My true feelings are that I still don’t want you and Luna to work out. So I’m acting against my feelings and giving you advice. Because that’s what friends do… to help you.”
So that’s why she had such a difficult expression. Ellie smiled bitterly and continued.
“Luna is someone you can lean on enough. And Luna probably already noticed that you have a secret.”
Is that really the case? If it’s Luna, who knows me better than anyone else in this world, maybe she really has already noticed that I have a secret. If so, why doesn’t Luna ask me anything?
As if reading my thoughts, Ellie said.
“Luna is waiting for you to tell her. More than anything, because she loves you.”
“But….”
“Are you afraid? Of how Luna will react?”
At Ellie’s question, I nodded honestly. I trust Luna, but there is anxiety hidden in one corner of my heart.
The anxiety that she might see me as a monster, and the fear that she might resent me for making her body uncomfortable, unlike in the other world.
Shining her obsidian eyes, Ellie asked with a kind gaze.
“If Luna had a secret like you, how would you have acted?”
“Well… I would accept it. Because it’s Luna.”
“Then wouldn’t Luna do the same?”
I couldn’t answer right away to that question and paused for a moment.
“…Maybe so.”
As I answered with difficulty, Ellie came closer and grabbed my shoulders.
Bringing her face close so that I couldn’t avoid her gaze, Ellie looked straight into my eyes and said with a soft smile.
“Then the answer is already out, isn’t it?”
“….”
“I’ll play the role of a childhood friend that I couldn’t play until now. Reveal everything to Luna. Everything without hiding. Because Luna will never leave your side no matter what happens.”
Then, tapping my shoulder lightly, Ellie wore a playful smile.
“Just by staying by your side despite my *gaejiral*, you already know that Luna isn’t a weak person, right?”
At those words, I couldn’t help but laugh.
0 Comments