Chapter 121
Luna learned that Rezé wanted to become friends with her. Contrary to my expectations of happiness, Luna was currently suffering from severe anxiety.
"Why, why would she want to be friends with me? Why on earth!"
Her teeth and body wouldn't stop trembling.
Seeing her like that, I couldn't help but feel dizzy.
'Wasn't it her that wanted to make friends...'
And now that there's someone who wants to be her friend, she shows signs of anxiety, as if it couldn't be.
"Keke, Miss Luna. Didn't you want to make friends?"
"That, that's true! But isn't it strange? Wanting to be friends with me, it's weird!"
I see. She has a point.
Rezé had seen Luna's difficult personality firsthand. Yet, she still wanted to be friends.
For Luna, it must be hard to believe.
Ah, and I felt the same way.
"Could it be, a spy! To deceive and betray me... What an acting talent! Zero, prepare the table! We must interrogate immediately! Today is the day I'll reveal her true identity!"
A sigh escaped my lips.
What exactly is Luna's algorithm?
Person not a friend → Person
Wants to be friends → Spy
Zero → Friend and dad(?)
Is that the algorithm?
Such a thing doesn't even qualify as an algorithm. They're all over the place.
"If she's not a spy, then?"
"Huh?"
"Maybe she really wants to be friends."
"That, that can't be!"
"So, it's just a hypothesis, right? What do you think about Miss Rezé? That seems important."
"What do I think? Well..."
After a moment of thought, Luna spoke up.
"A kid with a weird taste for carrots. Lives in a box, but that's just a personality difference, can't help it... A bit timid, which bothers me a bit..."
If they became friends.
"I think we could get along well."
Finally, Luna's true feelings came out.
That's good. It means Luna has another friend besides me.
However.
"Is it a friend or a companion?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Whether we can risk our lives for each other, that's what I'm asking."
It's okay to just be friends.
We can play together as long as it doesn't interfere with our schedules.
It's enjoying pleasure without responsibility.
But it's not always a good thing.
'If it really gets dangerous, I'll have to leave her behind.'
Just friends for a fun academy life. No need to save them.
And that's not all.
'Exclude from training, spend time separately during vacations.'
Training is a time when many secrets are created.
Secret techniques, strategies, gossip, etc.
I had no intention of including someone who's not a companion in the training.
I'm not stupid.
'The same goes for vacations.'
I plan to roam other regions to obtain hidden pieces.
Though it's after the final exams, I need to draw the line early.
Show hidden pieces to someone who's not a companion? That would be madness.
Of course, if Rezé becomes one of our companions, it's a different story.
'I have no intention of welcoming someone who would run away at crucial moments...'
I glanced at Luna.
She was deep in thought after hearing my question.
'I was curious about what Luna would think.'
Luna has to avenge her family.
Whether she would involve an innocent child for her own purposes, or refuse to make Rezé a companion for her safety.
I was a bit curious about what choice Luna would make.
* * *
The moment of decision came quicker than expected.
Rezé brought carrot-flavored cookies as a gift.
Luna immediately asked upon receiving them.
"Is it me you want to be friends with?"
"What...?"
"You said there was someone you wanted to be friends with. Is that me?"
Getting straight to the point right away.
It was natural for the timid Rezé to be flustered.
"Fr-friend! Such an honored position! I, I would be content being just an acquaintance, number 138 or so!"
What was that? That ambiguous yet specific number.
Is that the number she thinks is difficult to remember and a bit distant, but not exactly strangers?
Truly a timid personality.
"So, the person you were talking about yesterday is me?"
"That, that's right. But you don't have to feel pressured! Just being nearby is more than enough satisfaction for me...!"
"I'm sorry, Rezé. I can't do that."
"Yes...?"
"We can't be friends."
Rezé's mouth fell open, and so did mine.
To be honest, I was surprised. Luna pushing Rezé away.
I had advised that it was okay not to be companions, but still be friends.
Yet, she declares they can't even be friends?
"Why not?"
"It's not your fault. It's just... I'm lacking."
"No, no! Miss Luna is not lacking at all. If there's a lack, it's on my side."
Luna scratched her head.
"I can't explain in detail, but this is the best for both of us. Being friends with someone like me won't do you any good."
"Miss Luna is a good person!"
Rezé raised her voice, showing desperation.
In response, Luna gave a bitter smile and said,
"If I were a good person, I wouldn't be sending you away now, would I?"
"That, that's..."
"From now on, we're strangers. Take this and go."
Luna pushed the carrot-flavored cookies she received as a gift into Rezé's arms.
'That fool. Trying too hard...'
Though I tried to act indifferent, I could see it all.
She was forcefully pushing Rezé away.
'Because Rezé might be put in danger.'
The disgrace of a traitor's family.
Dreaming of revenge, staying by my side, and even fighting demons.
Another attack by a demon like last time could happen.
"Sniff, sob..."
But Rezé, unaware of these facts, couldn't help but shed tears.
Luna turned her back.
She was being harsher than expected, even to my surprise. Rezé cried inside the box.
Luna waited for her to close off her heart.
A somewhat lengthy battle had begun.
* * *
"Rezé, go to the academy. There, you'll find true friends."
One day, hiding from people inside a box, that's what her mother told her.
At the academy, there would be good friends who understood her.
'Would there be someone who would want to be friends with someone like me?'
It was hard to believe, but Rezé decided to take the entrance exam.
Friends who only existed in fantasies.
She wanted to meet them in reality, not just in her dreams.
'To talk together, to go out together, to share carrots.'
If she was lucky, she might even make two friends.
Yes, Rezé had set her sights on making up to two friends.
Feeling as if she owned the world just by making one or two friends.
She didn't even dream of making three.
To Rezé, that's what friends were.
With such a humble dream, she started the entrance exam.
Creating a bush-shaped box, she followed a smart-looking child and passed the first test, the maze.
In the second test, she fainted due to Elester's illusion magic, but since she was in the box, the instructors didn't notice her and passed by.
After regaining consciousness, she followed an instructor and passed the second test.
The third test, a duel hosted by Caron.
During the waiting time, she created a marble-shaped box and hid as soon as the match started.
The other children fought among themselves and were eliminated, and she won by hitting the last remaining child in the stomach with a blunt arrow.
Thus, she passed the third test, and in the fourth written test, she scored 85% and was admitted to the academy.
Due to her lowest score in the second illusion magic test, she was placed in the regular class, but that didn't matter to Rezé.
What mattered to her was making friends.
Dreaming of life at the academy with friends, she attended her first class. But.
"What's with her?"
"Don't know. She always disappears and then shows up."
"She's incredibly timid. That kind of style is tiring."
"She looks gloomy."
Contrary to her mother's words, she didn't make a single friend.
Everyone just spoke behind her back, calling her weird.
Eventually, Rezé returned to her box.
This was Rezé's world, her own world.
'Making friends was too much to ask for someone like me.'
But that doesn't mean Rezé just stayed still.
She toured the academy, creating new boxes and observing the children she occasionally met.
She recorded what friends do together and how they play.
It would be a great help when shaping the friends in her imagination.
In the box where a little light shone through a small hole.
Rezé made a resolution.
If the final exams end and summer vacation begins.
'I'll drop out.'
She would return to her hometown.
It wasn't a wasted journey since she had made enough friends in her fantasies.
She had faced a significant obstacle in Rodelin but managed to survive and wander around the academy.
It was around that time when she met Luna.
The child who saved her from being assaulted by Godner.
Always bold, spirited, and good at swearing.
And there was Zero, a reliable friend.
"Rodelin asked me to take care of you. I'll help you find friends."
Such was Luna, extending her hand to her. It was an incredible stroke of luck.
It was a short time, less than a week, but she had fun at the academy.
She forgot about the hardships of the past month and even reconsidered her plans to drop out.
It was enjoyable.
'But I...'
She ran away, leaving Luna behind.
After shooting an arrow at the demon, she threw her box aside and ran towards the academy.
Falling, rolling, even out of breath, she didn't stop for a moment.
'I have to call a teacher...'
On her way back to school, she informed someone she encountered about the appearance of the demon and sent for help.
She later found out that person was Lucia.
Running away was still running away.
She had abandoned Luna, who had been kind to her.
Even animals wouldn't do that.
...And that's how the current situation came about.
Luna's words that they couldn't be friends.
Rezé knew why Luna was pushing her away.
'To protect me.'
Luna led a fierce life.
She trained every day without rest.
It was visible that she struggled, but Luna always met her daily training goals.
Instinctively, Rezé knew Luna was aiming for something.
And that goal must be terrifying.
'She judged that she couldn't involve me in such matters.'
In the end, it was the same this time.
It was her passivity that was the problem.
Instead of just voicing her own troubles, she should have listened to Luna's.
She should have communicated her feelings and found a way to be together.
It would have been good to share Luna's pain and reduce it by half.
The thought was long, but the conclusion was singular.
'I need to change.'
There's a saying.
A bird struggles to break out of its egg.
The egg is the bird's world.
Anyone who wants to be born must destroy a world.
It's useless if you don't change yourself.
You have to believe in your possibilities and carve out your destiny.
Rezé stepped out of the box with a wide stride.
Crackle-.
In the process, her precious box was torn, but Rezé didn't mind at all.
All she could see was Luna.
As Rezé broke out of her box, the egg.
She bit into Luna's arm.
--TL Notes--
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