I’m Not Doing This With A Friend

✿

At a normal lunch time.

Hans and I were walking along the promenade.

This is because Hans, who I met during my major class, had something to say and asked me to make time after lunch.

It's been about two months since I gave Hans the antiperspirant made with the help of Kun and Carson.

It seems like it might be something related to that.

"Why did you call me out?"

What I was curious about was this. He can tell me during the class, but why did he have to meet separately?

When I asked, Hans looked around a few times to see if there was anyone around, and lowered his voice.

"It's about the antiperspirant you entrusted to our top."

"I know. Shouldn't you have said it when we sat down to attend the class earlier?"

I'm confident that I won't get hurt even if I fail.

However, he was the one who said that things were going well even when inquiring about the progress until about a week ago.

When I looked at Hans bluntly, he shook his head.

"I couldn't tell you there, because if other kids heard that you were the creator, there would be a commotion."

"…Did you secretly put poison in the medicine without me knowing?"

My eyes were filled with distrust when I saw him.

"I wouldn't do such a thing! I'm not saying that, but I was just trying to tell you that the antiperspirant you made right now has become something someone couldn't get."

Hans forgot that he had lowered his voice until now and shouted back.

"Oh really? But why?"

"Oh really? Leen? I guess you don't know the situation yet. I'm trying to save you from here and there! Do you think they'll leave you alone if the creator turns out to be you? They're going crazy asking me to sell one secretly."

"Well. I don't know."

It was hard for me to understand Hans' reaction. Because I thought it didn't go well enough to feel excited about it.

If anything hits a jackpot, rumors will spread. Besides, the rumors about the Arena Academy were fast.

So, shouldn't it be famous enough to be known to everyone?

Of course, not through Fjord or Jane, who has all kinds of gossip, but through a different route.

However, I didn't hear any rumors related to the antiperspirant.

But I must have overlooked one thing. I met Hans' eyes with his face asking if I really didn't know.

"No, Leen. Think about the use of the medicine. You can also think about the area where the medicine will be applied."

"Oh."

That’s right!

Neither I nor Hans thought that antiperspirant would only be purchased by people like Kun who really want to cure hyperhidrosis.

The customers we're really aiming for…

People who just want to make their armpits dry.

Maybe it's a different part…

If so, it deserves to be secretly rumored.

Hans laughed lightly at that moment.

"Did you get it now? It just didn't show on the outside, but we did a great job! You're such a genius at our age, Leen! I wouldn't have even thought of controlling my sweat?"

I scratched my cheek in embarrassment.

I made this because I didn't like the smell of my dad's sweat…. Of course, later on, I found it useful.

Dad always tried to hug me when I was young, and it was no exception when he was sweating profusely because of his sword training.

I was afraid that my father would get hurt, so I couldn't openly refuse to hug him, so I made some medicine for him.

When I was young, I didn't know the importance of sweat, so I was able to come up with the idea of ​​blocking all pores, but now I know that it wasn't a very good method.

Still, at the expense of my father, I was able to discover the side effects of the antiperspirant I made.

Sweat that could not be discharged after applying the medicine somehow comes out to another area.

It was by using that principle that I was able to cure Kun.

He had sweat anywhere other than his hands, so I shifted the sweat from his hands to another area to balance it out.

My dad, who applied my antiperspirant all over his body, had sweated only on his soles for a while.

My good father did not hesitate to apply what his young daughter made…

As I was trying to remember my childhood, Hans talked a lot.

"There's a limit to the quantity, so we are selling with a set number of sales per day, but because the supply couldn't keep up with the demand, it's being sold at several times the price in the shade. It's a good sign for us as suppliers. Even if the price was raised to that much, it means that there are people who want to buy it."

"Woah, you should breathe while talking."

Hans in my head was the image of a foolish and good pushover. However, it looked a little different when I saw him speaking coherently.

He was definitely more suited to this than herbs.

"It would be okay to release the supplies more slowly to increase the value."

I occasionally nodded and let the explanation flow through one ear. Then, when I was told that the amount was to be released more slowly, he responded with a shiver..

"Uh… Should we even do that?"

As far as I know, the first measured price was not a small amount.

Hans blinked quickly and answered.

"Leen, you were the one who asked me to sell it as expensive as possible, right?"

"That's true, but I'm afraid I'll bleed if I'm too greedy."

Hans patted me on the back and smiled so brightly that I could even see his teeth.

"You won't have to worry about it. The antiperspirant you made was worth it. Besides, you said you need money to move out later? And you said you didn't want your aunt to worry. Wasn't that why you asked me? You really needed money."

"…That's true."

It was the perfect word.

Hans looked at me with his arms crossed, as if he had more to say.

"Leen. Say poor backwards."

"Poor? Is it… me?"

(T/N: 가난 ga-nan = Poor, but in Korean when you reverse it to 난가 nan-ga = it means ‘is it me?', so this is Hans' joke on Leen.)

Hans smiled when Leen stuttered and recited the word backwards.

"That's right. You're poor. So you should earn money while you can."

…This bastard?

For some reason, I was about to raise my hand, feeling that I would feel better if I grabbed him by the neck.

A shadow fell over the sky, signaling that there was a flying object. I frowned and raised my head to look at it.

"Oh, the dog-bird is here."

"Argh! What's that?"

Hans was frightened, but I waved without caring.

It was literally a dog bird with wings attached to the appearance of a black dog.

The dog bird, which had been flapping its wings in a circle over the two of us for a while, landed on the ground.

I took the sausage out of my pocket familiarly and stroked the dog-bird with the other.

"Good boy."

"Cru, Crung!"

As if in a good mood, the dog-bird growled a little and rubbed its face against my hand.

He was so excited to meet me, his plump butt wags like a tail.

Hans, who had fallen a few meters before me, called out my name with a trembling voice.

"Lee, Leen?"

"Yes."

Looking back at Hans, his eyes fixed on the dog-bird. He seems to be trying hard to figure out what's going on.

As if he had finished thinking, Hans swallowed his saliva and opened his mouth.

"Hey, isn't that a monster?"

I cut the sausage into small pieces and fed it to the dog-bird, and answered Hans.

"Yes. It’s a monster.”

I found it in a monster habitat, and it was definitely a monster because it had a strange appearance.

But the reason why Hans was so surprised wasn't because the monster appeared on the academy promenade…

This is probably the part where the dog-bird wags its tail like a normal dog, expressing friendliness to humans.

It's a little-known fact, but it did appear occasionally.

A life that was not stained with madness even though it was born in the distortion caused by the concentration of mana.

The reason it's hard to see a living monster like a dog-bird is because it's hard to survive among common monsters.

It was difficult for them to be born, and it was not difficult to find it because it often died right after birth.

Self and reason are not imperfect, but it has a perfect life.

In fact, there was no kind of classification of what was called a monster, so a child like a dog-bird was close to a normal animal.

"He's safe. It's okay to think of it as just a winged dog."

"You… want me to believe that?"

Not being vigilant, Hans crawled behind the bench and hid, laughing out loud.

If the winged object was not a dog-bird but a monster, would he have liked a Pegasus?

"Ugh, when did you start raising them?"

"I didn't raise it, but it was a few weeks ago that I discovered this child and started feeding him."

We met by chance when I climbed the mountain to dig up herbs for research.

Even though I didn't cross the first boundary, which was the monster's habitat, something approached me, so I wondered if it was a beast…

Well, wasn't it the dog-bird that Kun saw approaching me curiously, tilting his head?

It seems that this child was able to come out of the first boundary with magic, but not as a monster.

That's why it was able to survive.

"He was a small kid. But it's grown a lot now."

Even though the monsters were just born, their bodies were no different from those of an adult. This means that it does not grow over time.

But compared to the first time I saw him, this child had grown noticeably.

"I patted the dog-bird because I was glad to see him after a long time."

"Leen, please speak a little…"

"Why? It's not wrong."

I continued after responding to Hans' argument.

"Anyway, he followed me after that, and when I said no firmly, he's ears drooped as if he understood what I was saying."

It was a secret that someone in pink reminded me of that figure.

"So I gave him some food and comforted him, and I told him that I would sometimes hang out when he came to visit me."

"To the dog-bird…?"

I swallowed the question of what's more than a birdhead.

"I didn't mean it because I thought you would understand. I was just talking to myself to relieve my guilt."

"But how did this happen?"

"…But he really came to the dorm to see you? How did it know?"

After that, as Hans could see, we became close friends who sometimes brought food.

I gave commands to the dog-bird such as ‘sit’ and ‘hand’.

Then the dog-bird that carries out the orders as I say.

He was a smart kid.

However, Hans, who's scared, seemed to have no intention of stepping out of the bench.

"Wasn't it ugly? Even if it looks gentle, it’s still a monster."

"Hmm… Not really?"

Last time, I saw this child on the day Carson collapsed after being poked by a poisonous needle. But it was purely a coincidence..

Wasn't it an accident that would not have happened if I hadn't been joking around?

"Leen. You've probably heard of it at least once, but since ancient times, black-haired animals have not been adopted."

"Hey, you're talking bad about dark hairs."

Hans glanced over my black hair, and seeing my hair, his pupils shook.