I Couldn’t Stop my Childhood Friend from Turning Into a Villain

The longer Liel smiled, the more embarrassed I felt.

Did I look like I was bluffing……?

“Forget it. But I appreciate the thought.”

He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes from laughing. As expected, Liel rejected my offer.

“I already collected almost everything and also checked the house, so it’s okay,”

Well, if that’s okay with you, I can’t help it…….

I didn’t want to force him to take it. I obediently backed away, as I’d promised myself earlier.

I sagged back into my chair.

I knew he was going to say no, but I was disappointed that I couldn’t do anything about it.

“Are you sad?”

He asked as he pushed the signed papers toward me. I pouted my lips with a knowing look.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever really gotten you anything, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to do something for you.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten you anything either.”

“It’s okay, you give me strength just by being here.”

I answered, my eyes scanning the papers Liel had handed me, expecting an immediate response, but the room was eerily quiet.

I lifted my head, puzzled, to look at Liel, whose gaze was on me.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m just curious, you’re not doing this on purpose, are you?”

When he said that, an uncharacteristically bitter smile appeared on his face. I blinked quickly, not sure what he meant, and he shook his head.

“Do you want to do something for me?”

Instead, he gave me the answer I’d been waiting for. Although the answer came back as a question.

“Well, come over to my house sometime.”

I’m sure he meant the house he’ll be living in after graduation, not the Duke of Marsen’s.

But even if he didn’t say so, I was definitely going to come over.

It’s my friend’s house, and he’s starting to live on his own, so how could I not?

“I was going to go over anyway…….”

That’s not all I’m doing for him, is it? Liel’s eyes curved into a crescent when I asked if there was anything else.

Then, sitting cross-legged, Liel spoke up.

“I think that’s enough for now.”

“Really……?”

The way he said ‘for now’ implies that he’ll tell me if he wants something else later.

⁂

It had been about half a day since Kamil’s call for reinforcements had brought them to the outer walls of the Empire.

“Man, hasn’t it been a long time?”

Dailor, who had also been assigned to guard the outer wall, spotted Liel and ran over with a happy face.

At the same time, Kamil’s face crumpled into a grimace of annoyance.

“Yes, it’s been a while.”

For a moment, he wondered if he should pretend he didn’t know him, but then he returned his greeting. He was afraid that if he did, the conversation would drag on like it had last time.

“It’s been almost a year, hasn’t it? It’s hard for people who do similar work to not run into each other.”

As he said this, he held out the water bottle he was carrying.

“Oh, and if you’re thirsty, would you like a glass of water?”

Even today, Dailor was sociable and talkative.

Liel gently pushed the water bottle away from him with his hand.

“No, thank you, it’s almost time to go back.”

“Yeah, well, I’m here to switch with you guys.”

Dailor cleared his throat, as if he was disappointed they hadn’t been able to talk longer, but soon he shaded his face with his hands and scanned the area around them.

“By the way, it’s not like the outskirts are infested today.”

Kamil shook her head in agreement, though the birds in the trees, or more accurately, the demons in the form of birds, were giving her a headache.

“They’re not even attacking.”

Kamil muttered irritably.

Liel deliberately kept his mouth shut and listened to Kamil and Dailor.

If he wasn’t careful, he would miss their conversation over the sound of the demons’ voices.

It was like they were chirping was gnawing at his brain.

Still, Liel’s expression didn’t change.

At that moment, Dailor spoke up.

“Shouldn’t we attack first?”

Dailor scratched his cheek, looking from Kamil to Liel as if to ask what was wrong.

“The problem is, if we attack, they’ll run away. They’re such a quick creature.”

Even flying in the air, they’d be hard to catch if attacked, and even harder to catch if they flee.

But even in the midst of all this, Dailor was nonchalant.

He twirled his hand-braided hair and shouted in a booming voice.

“Winged demons are rare and hard to come by……. Perhaps this is a sign that we should take a gamble today?”

Then Kamil asked in a pouty voice, one corner of her mouth pulled up.

“And you can still call yourself a paladin?”

She gave him a look that said he was getting more immature by the day.

“Aww, that’s a bit harsh of you to say that about a joke.”

Dailor grumbled that he’d heard it all before today. He paused, however, and rubbed his chin as if pondering something.

“By the way, how long have they been hanging around and watching this way? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them, at least not when I was around.”

“It’s been about …… a month, I think. There weren’t that many at first, but somehow they got more and more as the days went on.”

The birds appeared irregularly.

It wasn’t every time they were outside that they were greeted by birds, and that was true of the other knights as well.

“We’ll report it to the Empress, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

It wasn’t exactly harmless, so that was the conclusion they came to.

“Is that the case with Young Master Marsen?”

A disconcerted Dailor turned to Liel with an offhanded question.

“What do you mean?”

Liel’s answer was blank because he was concentrating, but that didn’t mean he could give a clear answer to the question.

“I’m asking what the birds were like when Young Master Marsen came.”

The more examples the better, right?

“…….”

Liel glanced over at the birds, suddenly understanding what Dailor meant, and slowly spoke up.

“Same here.”

One by one, the birds began to flap their wings as they sat still and stared at Liel.

“I’ve seen them once in a while, but never as many as today.”

Caw—

The birds’ cries grew more distant, but they continued to speak to Liel even as they avoided him.

[The king’s resurrection is near.]

At the same time, his ankle throbbed. The pain was so intense compared to the intermittent ones that Liel couldn’t help but chew on the thin flesh in his mouth.

He managed to keep a straight face, so no one could tell he was in pain.

Kamil, noticing the birds flying away in flocks, tapped Liel on the shoulder.

“Hey. Let’s head back.”

“Yeah.”

Quickly responding to Camille’s words, Liel moved his feet to follow her. Even with the pain that felt like a saw was cutting through his ankle, Liel’s gait wasn’t awkward.

That day, Liel went straight back to the Duchy of Marsen without stopping by Lucy.

Surely Lucy would have noticed.

⁂

Finally, graduation day arrived, and not just any graduation day, but Liel’s and Melissa’s graduation day.

In other words, it was the year they became an adult.

The first thing I did when I got off the carriage was look around the academy grounds. It had been a long time since I’d seen it.

As I hurried inside, the uniformed students were bustling around, waving goodbye to each other.

Where are Liel and Melissa?

I had come all this way to see Melissa. I looked around diligently.

“Lucy?”

A nostalgic voice called from not too far away. I immediately recognized the voice as the one I was looking for.

My nerves immediately kicked in and I turned in the direction of the voice.

As I expected, there she was, a more mature Melissa than the last time I saw her, staring at me in surprise.

But her attractive red bob was still there. That made my longing even stronger.

“Melissa!”

I was so happy to see her that I ran toward her with open arms. Melissa, on the other hand, walked toward me with a relaxed gait.

“Congratulations on graduating!”

I said, throwing my arms around her, and her body leaned back slightly.

“Thanks.”

She stroked my hair, her voice much more affectionate than before. I pulled away and looked up at her, feeling awkward about Melissa being so affectionate.

“……I’m not so mean as to be cold to a friend who’s come a long way.”

Melissa squinted, as if she’d been stabbed, and retreated herself. I shook my head vigorously to let her know I didn’t mean it that way.

‘Huh? Wait, you’re not going to be mean to me?’

I stopped my diligent shaking and my eyes lit up.

Realizing that this was another opportunity, I hugged Melissa tightly again and rubbed my forehead against her shoulder.

Melissa left me alone, wondering if she should take back what she said.

I buried my head in her shoulder until my bangs were a mess, I remembered that Liel’s graduation would coincide with her signing ceremony.

I looked up and turned to Melissa, who was looking at me with glassy eyes.

“Oh, right. Melissa, do you happen to know where the knighting ceremony is?”

I can’t wait to get there and congratulate Liel.

At my question, Melissa winced and pulled her hand away, pointing to the training grounds.

“The knighting ceremony? That’s in the training grounds—”

“Melissa.”

At that moment, an unfamiliar voice called out to her.

“Let’s go.”

The ear-meltingly sweet voice made me turn around. The woman locked eyes with me and smiled sweetly.

“Yes, Amelia.”

Melissa replied, looking back at Amelia. She had heard the name once before.

‘Melissa said she was her guardian…….’

I quickly bowed and said hello. The person on the other end gave me a gentle smile and waved.

“Lucy, I’ll see you later. I’m starting my training at the academy next year.”

“Training?”

“Yeah, to become a professor.”

When she said that, Melissa’s face lit up with the kind of joy you see in someone who has realized a dream.

I clapped enthusiastically and told her congratulations again.

She told me that if I ever decide to return to school, even if it’s later, I should come to her.

The friend who had pushed me away as unhelpful to her future seemed so much bigger and better now.