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Friend

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A few minutes after encountering a mysterious, beautiful girl.

I was walking through the forest with that girl.

I cast a sideways glance at her.

She looks like a bit of a tomboy and has cherry blossom colored hair.

She’s probably around my age, so maybe 15 years old?

Even though her face shows her youth, her eyes give me the feeling that she is reliable.

“My name’s Luluna. And you are?”

The unknown girl introduced herself as Luluna.

Her eyes are the same color as her cherry blossom hair, I feel like I’ll be sucked in if I stare into them for too long.

“You can call me Lute. Still, it’s rare for there to be people in a place like this, what are you doing here Luluna-san?”

“Me?….I wonder if it’s okay to say?”

Luluna puts her hand to her chin, and shows a quizzical look.

“Eh? Yes, can you tell me?”

I don’t know why she’d think it’d be troublesome to tell me.

After Luluna heard my approval, her lush lips opened.

“I was training in the forest, when I saw something falling. So, I decided to see what it was, that’s when…..I saw you there spitting out catchphrases.”

“…I…..I see…”

So she did hear me. I feel like I was just hit with a huge mental blow.

After I spoke, the conversation ended.

The only noise I could hear was the wind blowing through the tree canopy.

……Wow, this is incredibly awkward…..!

In the first place, I’ve never really had the opportunity to talk with anyone.

Besides my grandparents, in the past few years I’ve only talked with the chief of the village near our home, a merchant who occasionally visited the village, and a kid from the village.

……Huh, does that mean I have no friends?

Somehow I had never noticed until now, I feel a little discouraged and hang my head.

“Hey, that was amazing Lute! It’s very rare for someone to be able to control two different elements! I have confidence in my abilities, but I may lose to you!”

I think Luluna could tell how I was feeling, so she quickly tried to praise me.

What a good girl….

I can’t rely too much on Luluna’s kindness. I’ll try to pull myself together somehow.

For now I can make conversation by talking about magic.

I don’t like to boast, but I feel like I’d be able to talk forever about magic.

“Luluna-san, what kind of magic do you use?”

“It’s nullification magic. When I use my magic, any magic within a certain area will be dispelled.”

Although Luluna said this so casually, her magic seems ridiculously powerful.

“…..Isn’t that an amazing ability?”

If her magic can completely dispel any other magic, then couldn’t that be called the strongest magician killer?

“Well, I feel confident that I would be able to beat most opponents. After all, I’m a candidate to join the Adventurer’s Academy.”

Ah, I’ve heard about the Adventurer’s Academy from Grandpa.

…I see.

Those with outstanding abilities gather there to compete against one another, it’s considered to be the most distinguished academy in the world.

“…Hey, would someone be able to enter this academy even if they had yet to apply?”

“Yes, the academy would let anyone enter. The academy is a place that many people gather, so as long as it’s just entering it should be fine.”

I see.

Then…….

“Then I’ll go with you, to this Adventurer’s Academy.”

This may be a good opportunity to gauge my strength level in comparison to the rest of the world.

Well, I doubt I’d be able to pass the exam, but it will be a good experience nonetheless.

Luluna opened her eyes wide in amazement after hearing my words.

“Ar-are you serious!?”

Luluna comes closer to me.

She brought her face close to mine, it made my heart race a little.

This affected me more than I was expecting…..

“…Ah, sorry, sorry. I got excited after hearing that…..It’s embarrassing to say, but I’ve never had any friends. I’d be very happy if we could get along.”

Luluna says this with a lonely expression.

“It’s okay. I’ve never had any friends either.”

I try to comfort her a little by saying this.

Although this is true, when I said it out loud, it made me feel depressed again….

“…..Should we change the subject?”

“…..Yes, let’s do that.”

This is a sensitive subject for both of us.

Luluna brings the conversation back to the Adventurer’s Academy.

“Although, I can still become an adventurer even if I do not graduate from the academy. I can become much stronger if I train at the academy. After all the academy is truly amazing. I managed to get accepted somehow, so someday I hope to become a top adventurer — Ah!”

Luluna suddenly shouts, I jump back out of reflex.

“Uhh…Is something wrong?”

“Well, I lost track of time……The last imperial carriage to the examination venue has already left, I won’t be able to make it in time now….”

Luluna hangs her shoulders with a sullen expression on her face.

When Luluna hangs her shoulders like that she looks even smaller.

“……Haa…I guess I should just try again next year…..There’s still a chance……Yes, I can still do it.”

Luluna tries to say some reassuring words to herself, but her eyes are beginning to tear up.

— One year is a long wait.

Besides, I’m not saying this just to be nice, but it’s probably my fault that she missed the carriage.

If Luluna had not seen me falling, she probably would have already left the forest and be in the carriage now.

The droplets accumulated in Luluna’s eyes until tears started streaming down her face.

Luluna hurriedly wipes them away, and shows me a strong smile.

“Ah, sorry there’s……just something in my eye! That’s right, something got into my eyes, I’m not crying okay?”

Luluna continues to wipe her eyes.

There’s no way I can abandon this girl with cherry blossom colored hair.

Luluna is the first friend I’ve had that’s the same age as me — no, she’s my first ever friend.

“If you don’t mind, would you like me to send you to the school? Do you know the academy’s location?”

Luluna looks confused after hearing my words.

“Well, I know the location, but….”

“Good, I’ll take you there. This works out well for both of us.”

I’m glad I’ve trained so much with my trap magic.

I can’t describe how grateful I am to my grandparents for helping me train so much.

“No, it’s impossible, it’s about a six hour trip by imperial carriage from here, I’m happy that you want to help, but it would be impossible.”

“It’ll be fine, I can do it.”

I have seen the imperial carriage before when the merchant was riding in one. I am definitely faster than that. I’m exceptionally fast.

“Now, get on.”

“O-okay.”

Luluna timidly climbed onto my back. I could tell she was unsure about all of this.

“Grab on properly.”

I activate trap magic on my feet.

【Anti-wall】…..The effect is simple. It is a magic that creates movable walls.

I got on top of it and launched myself into the air, flying forward.

“Aaa~ Waaaaaa~~”

Luluna let’s out a loud scream and quickly wraps her arm around my neck pulling backward.

We quickly lose our momentum and start to fall.

However, of course I won’t let us fall.

“Let’s go!”

I activate 【Anti-wall】once more in the direction we’re falling.

While carrying Luluna my body lightly danced in the air as if I could defy gravity.

“Hyaaa~~ Amazing, this is amazing Lute! We’re really flying!”

“Alright, let’s go to the Adventurer’s Academy!”

I begin racing through the forest with Luluna on my back.

Wait for me, Adventurer’s Academy.

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