Chapter 57
With Childhood
Friend
Translator : PolterGlast
"It's the
truth."
Even though I, the
person involved, was the most flustered, Lotus spoke with deliberate calmness.
We were in the middle of a tearful, lighthearted squabble with Socius. With our
mental ages both dropping to the level of "It's not El!" "Yes,
it is El!" "I've just developed in certain areas!", Lotus threw
in a curveball. In short, he got his act together.
This meant that the
best solution was to present evidence of the current situation. With a "eiya!",
I canceled my illusion skill and returned to my original, The-flat-as-a-board
form. Socius's time stopped. He looked at me with eyes that saw the
unbelievable, then gripped his face with one hand, groaned, and after
overcoming much inner turmoil, accepted the truth. Victory dance.
Ichi and the others
and I danced for a while.
"I get that you
have a unique demon skill. But why did you come all the way to a place like
this?"
Socius had spoken in a
slightly mature tone since he was a child. Looking back, he might have been
eager to get ahead of me. He wanted to be the older brother figure.
"Why, you ask...
well..."
Sitting face to face
like this, I knew that Socius wouldn't hand me over to the lord of the Magic
Tower, the administrator of this city, just because I was a demon. But I
hesitated to say more. Lotus didn't stop me. He was waiting for my decision. I
wavered. But, being as indecisive as I was, I couldn't reach a conclusion and
raised my voice a little, saying, "B-but more importantly!" trying to
gloss over the topic. After I said it, I was momentarily worried that it might
have been heard outside, but it seemed okay. I continued with relief.
"Socius, why are
you here? Did you want to become a mage? I never heard anything about
that!"
This country welcomed
people from other leaves, and conversely, so did Cloudy Country. They sought to
incorporate technology and acquire talent. The three years since Socius and I
parted felt short in some ways, but very long in others. Especially for
children like us. Because I had tried to dodge the question, I might have given
him a slightly harsh look. Socius flinched. It was something that bothered him
because he felt lonely about a side of his childhood friend that he didn't
know.
"Wh-why, you
ask..."
He hesitated, avoiding
my gaze. "I-it's fine, my business. Who cares about that kind of village?
It doesn't matter." There was something unsettling about the boy who spat
out those words. Even though his country was always filled with clouds without
a single patch of clear sky, it didn't match the boy in my memory who would
hold a specialty orange and smile, saying how delicious it was. The necklace
still swayed at his neck. Even though he knew I had become a demon, he hadn't
thrown it away. When we last parted, he had apologized to me.
"...D-don't tell
me..."
A bad feeling crept up
on me. "Socius! Did something happen to you with the villagers!?" Had
he been pointed out for his connection to me because he hadn't thrown away the
necklace he wore around his neck? The back of my head felt hot with anger. It
was the village where I was born and raised. There were both good and bad
people. But there were still emotions I couldn't swallow. "No, it's not
like that," Socius said, clutching his necklace with a frustrated tone.
"Even though El
helped them..."
He was probably
talking about when the monsters attacked the village. In reality, it was Lotus
who had defeated them, but let's put that aside. "Y-you told them...!? The
villagers!?" There was no reply, but his tightly bitten lip was the
answer. Even if the monsters died, their corpses didn't remain. They
disappeared over time. There was no evidence, and even if someone had seen,
some might have thought that I, a demon, had incited them.
I imagined it.
Amidst people who
didn't believe him, Socius had shouted. El had returned. She had helped us. How
much courage must it have taken for him to clutch the necklace tightly in his
small hand and shout that?
Everyone in the
village knew that Socius and I were close. Perhaps they thought it was just
childish talk. But he didn't stop insisting. The necklace still swaying at his
neck was proof of that. Surely, before he knew it, he was alone. That's why
some people might say that he had run away when he came to this country. But
Socius had made a clean break. Since Soleil welcomed residents from other
leaves, it must have been a godsend for him.
"W-what an
idiot..."
The words that spilled
out were those of utter exasperation. But thinking about his small body
desperately shouting, a strange warmth welled up in the back of my throat. I
slowly placed my palm on Socius's clenched fist. "What an idiot..."
It felt like it was slowly seeping in. Gradually, inside my heart, as if
someone had quietly given me water.
"I'm not an idiot,"
Socius retorted, his voice trembling slightly, and when I looked, tears were
welling up in his large eyes. Socius, who tried to act grown-up but was a
crybaby. Seeing his changed yet unchanged self made me happy. Socius
immediately pulled his hand away from mine and roughly wiped his eyes with the
back of his hand. He probably thought I hadn't noticed he was a crybaby.
"I answered your
question! You haven't answered mine! And anyway, I've been wondering all along,
who in the world is that guy!?"
It was Lotus, who had
been quietly observing the situation, leaning against the wall with his arms
crossed. Suddenly spoken to, he opened his eyes slightly with a
"Huh?"
"Ah... well,
Lotus and I met in the city of Velvect, and now we're traveling together, or
rather..."
"T-traveling
together...?"
He had probably
expected it, but being told again made him even more suspicious. Well, of
course. His childhood friend who had disappeared was with a mysterious man.
"...With this old man?" Hey, you little brat.
"I can't let that
slide," I said, putting Socius in an iron claw while saying, "Lotus
is only twenty-one... don't mess with me..." "Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch,
ouch! And what's with that outfit!?" In my eagerness for attack power, I
had shifted into my slutty mode. Socius's red face darted around, unsure where
to look. Meanwhile, Lotus was just vaguely saying, "Don't go
overboard." He didn't seem to care at all. Please get a little angry.
"Lotus has been
helping me all along... he's helped me so many times, if you mess with him,
I'll pluck you bald!?"
"O-okay, okay,
old m..."
"Big brother, got
it!?"
For a boy nearing his
mid-teens, he might want to say that to Lotus, who was over twenty and had an
overly calm demeanor, but as long as my eyes were black, I wouldn't allow it.
Ichi and the others were still doing shadow boxing. Shun-shun-shun. I was a
little scared by their faster-than-imagined fists.
"Okay, big
brother, big brother!"
Socius acknowledged
it, so I let it go, but he still had a puzzled look on his face and furrowed
his brow. "...But why is that big brother with El? It's been three years
since then, right?" His expression implied that he suspected Lotus was
plotting something. "Listen here!" I stood up, clenching my fists.
Getting worked up when it came to Lotus was a bad habit of mine.
"Lotus isn't with
me! I'm sticking with Lotus!"
His one eye had
changed from blackish-purple to red, but it was only one eye, and Lotus could
probably live perfectly well on his own without even using my illusion skill.
But I wasn't like that, so he was staying with me. That's why I thought the
phrase "I'm sticking with Lotus" was correct.
"I!!! Just wanted
to become Lotus's wife! That's why we're togetherーーーー!!!"
After shouting that, I
looked at Socius's frozen face and blushed myself, as expected. As for Lotus,
he was still leaning against the wall, hiding his face with one hand.
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