chapter 2
#One
People do not change easily.
That’s right. I learned that I don’t fix people. I feel it more deeply than anyone else.
No one told me about it, and I learned that truth through my own experience. Therefore, this proverb has a very valuable meaning to me.
So.
People usually don’t change easily, but in other words, it does change if you lose, stir-fry, and boil it somehow.
In my experience it was.
Somehow it changed.
It was impossible to find the former appearance, and it became a completely different image.
Let’s talk a little bit about the past.
When I was a freshman in middle school at the Academy, I was significantly shorter and dwarf than other boys my age.
I mustered up the courage to confess to her, who was my childhood friend and only friend, and my first love at the same time.
In fact, that courage was an emotion that came from impatience.
As I progressed to middle school and started playing in the wider waters, there were students with specs that were incomparable to mine.
The amount of mana you were born with, your talents, your constitution, and even your face… In front of my classmates who overwhelm me in every way, I had no choice but to shrug my shoulders.
And, I realized just how beautiful my childhood friend was objectively, after checking the number of seniors who ran to see her since entering school.
Was it because of that?
When I saw my childhood friend who was dazzlingly bright compared to this small and insignificant me, I felt impatient as if I was going to lose her to another man.
In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that the male students who showed a direct interest in her at that time accounted for one-third of all male students at Geojin.
It was common to see him dragging a chair and talking next to his childhood friend’s seat.
They asked about personal preferences, and compliments about hair, face, and beauty were always included in the words.
As she moved closer to the center of the country in a somewhat outlying area, the male seniors introduced her to various places of the academy for her, who had a hard time adapting to the changed environment.
My heart ached every time I saw it, but what do I deserve to stop them? There was nothing I could do about my childhood friend who looked at me with a troubled smile.
My childhood friend was an excellent student who was highly evaluated not only by classmates and seniors, but also by professors.
He is humble in everything and has a gentle personality that makes those who see him smile. Even though he lived in an area far from etiquette, he knew how to behave very politely and properly. Above all, he was a genius in magic. had an extraordinary talent.
Even the professors who spotted her would have easily exceeded about five or six.
So, all the faculty related to magic.
I never wanted to let go of a student who was so diligent and outstanding. His heart fully understands.
Even if I had been a professor, I would have written a handwritten letter of recommendation and applied to the Royal Academy of Magic.
If she did, she would be recognized as a professor with a deep eye for discovering outstanding talent. If she later became the youngest archmage, she would have been able to spread her fame.
No, it doesn’t matter.
The bottom line is that my childhood friend has been in a position that cannot be compared to me since he was in middle school.
6 years.
It is a time of friendship that I have built up with my childhood friend.
We’ve known each other before entering elementary school, so by the time we entered middle school, it must have been that much.
My childhood friend, who was in the same class at the time, was old and did not try to hide the fact, and even approached me, who was quietly reading a book in the window seat in the corner of the class, and talked to me first as usual.
Lunch was often eaten together as she was called. Just the two of us because I feel uncomfortable when other friends are involved.
At some point, people gathered around my childhood friends, and naturally I ended up eating alone… Anyway.
It seems that my childhood friend was always concerned about my appearance in class. He introduced his friend several times to me who didn’t have to worry about it.
Surprisingly, I did hang out a few times, but soon afterward, they fell away from me one by one.
It was only natural that there was no benefit to being friends with me, who was passive and not fun enough to bring jam instead of fun.
At first, knowing that my childhood friend and I had a deep relationship, many boys looked at me with jealousy, but after seeing that I was actually a low-key man, I stopped paying more attention to my existence.
I know. If you do this, you will lose it.
I know that I have to go out a little more actively than I am now, which is passive and dismal, and work harder as I am ugly, so that I can appeal to my presence around her, even if I am not equal to my childhood friend.
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Does that make it so easy?
People do not change easily.
In my case it couldn’t be changed.
So, I confessed before I was taken away.
The end of the second semester of the first year of middle school.
As we spent a year without meaning, we chatted less and less, and unlike in elementary school, where we went to and from school together, we lived in different places, so we didn’t have much contact, so we became ambiguous.
While the relationship continued, the childhood friend who was skeptical about what was going on, as if it was very surprising that I called the first one, put his hand to his lips as if he had noticed something in my unusual atmosphere, and stayed still.
The memories we played together as a child never change. Because the accumulated time does not melt away. I can proudly say that I enjoyed it more than ever. Perhaps it was the same with childhood friends.
It was better to believe that way.
Still, he is a childhood friend who has consistently shown interest in me. When we were young, we were shy, but we joked about getting married.
If the timing is abrupt and she accepts my confession, then fortunately she still likes me, so I don’t have to worry any more.
If I had first firmly tied my relationship with her, I was confident that I would try desperately to become equal with her.
Because.
He made hasty judgments and made an irreversible choice based on a vague possibility.
But is it too late?
… no.
At any other time than that, an answer like this would have come out.
“… ahaha. I’m totally amazed … Ugh, that’s right… Ezio was thinking that way… … ”
The childhood friend, who seemed to be slightly shocked, smiled vaguely as he carefully stroked his hair that resembled the color of cherry blossom petals in spring.
I was in a state of unprecedented tension in my life.
Sweat dried up on my hands, and cold sweat ran down my back. He was restless like someone who couldn’t hold his pee somewhere, so it was obvious that it would be funny to anyone who saw it.
Even so, my childhood friend looked at me with the same pure eyes as when I was a child, and spoke with the utmost kindness and tenderness.
“me too… I like you, Ezio.”
good flow
This is a much more positive response than expected.
At the same time.
I barely lifted my head and met my childhood friend’s eyes, realizing that I was a car.
what would that be…
It was an intuition close to nature.
I didn’t want to hear the words behind me.
But the feet did not fall.
“You are still my most precious friend. It hasn’t changed since I was little. Even today, I was very happy that you called me first, and my heart was pounding. Are you talking to me again now? If I talk to you, will you stop ignoring me? do… My current friends are also very good kids, but I guess talking to Ezio is… Because it was the most fun. yes. It’s the truth without a single lie. So, I still love you so much, but… … ”
I wanted to stop talking, but I couldn’t open my mouth.
stop.
don’t say any more
The childhood friend put his hand on the scarf and opened his mouth with a sad face as if he was about to cry, as if it were heartbreaking to say such a thing to himself.
“… … I think liking and love are different. I’m sorry, Ezio.”
That moment.
It felt like my heart was being ripped apart.
It was somewhat of an expected result.
But I didn’t expect it to be this painful.
My head, which had been boiling with excitement, cooled, and as my cold reason returned, I realized that I had made a choice I will regret for the rest of my life.
Observing it rationally, there was nothing wrong with what she said.
I was definitely her best friend.
It was said that he was invisible as a young man, as a romantic target, as an attractive opposite s*x, and as a man.
There was nothing more sad than that.
I didn’t even ask why.
What is it that you lack so you can’t date me? What is the standard of a man you want? How can you look at me as a person of the opposite s*x? …
It was really stupid to ask such a question.
It is because I knew best myself that even if an answer came out, I had no ability or even the possibility of making it happen.
Hagisa, who would consider a man shorter than a woman to be of the opposite s*x?
I don’t know if there is any other special attraction.
Thinking about a man with an ugly face, little talent, and a gloomy personality, from the point of view of a childhood friend, romantic feelings could never arise.
It was impossible from the beginning.
Even after 6 years of relationship, all the shortcomings could not be offset.
“… … yes it can be okay.”
My childhood friend carefully spoke out to me with a worried look on my fists that bled out.
“For Ezio… hurt, okay? I’m really sorry… Nana… I never wanted to do anything to hurt Ezio… I don’t know what to say, so if you don’t answer yes… Because I can’t… … ”
No words came.
I just had the thought of wanting to die.
“Sorry. I’m sorry, Ezio… But I don’t want to go away from Ezio… I want Ezio to remain as my precious friend forever and ever… Is it my greed? Am I going to be a bad person? Is not it? … Black, heh… … I’m a really bad b*tch… … I’m so sorry, I’m sorry… Whoa… … ”
My childhood friend was almost crying at this point.
She shed tears like silver beads and was deeply saddened by the pain she had caused to her most precious friend for the rest of her life.
she is crying for me
It hurt my heart even more.
Being rejected for the first time in my life, my childhood friend crying in front of me, imagining what kind of relationship I will have with the person who will be my first and last love… …
Among them, the saddest thing was the fact that the reason my childhood friend was sad only came from me.
I wish I hadn’t confessed in the first place.
If only I was satisfied with just being friends with my childhood friend.
I wish I hadn’t had a one-sided love affair with her.
Why the hell did I, a fool, think that my childhood friend would be far away from me on my own, and made hasty judgments to hurt each other?
She still thought of me as my best friend. If I hadn’t been greedy, I would have been able to live like I used to.
In hindsight, it was all my fault.
So I couldn’t blame my childhood friend.
Then there was only one way for me to atone.
At least let your childhood friend do what he wants.
Let’s correct the mistake from the beginning, and although it may be a little difficult in the future, let’s be friends so that she doesn’t get hurt any more… …
“No, it was me who was bad. Okay. As you said, we will always be good friends.”
His voice didn’t tremble at all. It was so neat that I wondered why. When he crossed the line, he became calmer and had a faint smile.
As I wiped away the tears of my childhood friend with the sleeves of my clothes that I prided myself on taking care of, she asked with big trembling eyes.
“… Really? really with me… Are you still going to be friends? Can we talk like we used to?”
It was difficult to keep a smile.
Well, well.
Probably not.
“Well then, of course.”
“… Heh heh heh heh heh… … oh oh oh… … ”
For a while, she cried over and over again, saying sorry and thanking, but eventually stopped crying, and as lunch time was over, she worried about her swollen eyes and asked me to go to class first, saying that she would come and wash her face.
“Hey, see you later, Ezio!”
“Yeah, see you later.”
You’re happy soon
It was so cute that she covered her face with both hands and ran to the bathroom like she was embarrassed, so she just kept smiling.
long after she left.
That day, I left school early.
#2
This is the last moment my childhood friend and I were able to be friends with.
As everyone who wants to go through life knows, true friends cannot exist between a man and a woman.
As we have always done, the words of being childhood friends who are the most reliant on each other have not come true of course.
In fact, I was still benefiting from my childhood friend. A lot more than expected.
Childhood friends get a lot of support from students. She didn’t want me to be culled, and all of a sudden, strangers kept talking to me.
At that time, I was consistent with my vague attitude.
Because I didn’t need any other friends other than her.
As long as I had a childhood friend, that was it.
That thought was now over.
I was completely alone.
But there was no feeling of loneliness. It was because he had filled all the time alone with time for self-discipline.
I stopped reading books full of useless magazines, and instead opened a tech book to find what I could do.
The only thing I could easily do, terribly lacking in talent, was alchemy, where recipes were offered at least.
If you watch it and follow it, the result will be soft. It wasn’t that difficult.
Of course, this is the process for entering alchemy.
If you start digging deeper, alchemy changes 180 degrees from the easiest to learn to the most difficult to learn. They are also good at fraud because they are not bastards who make gold from stones.
You also need to know how to give up in advance.
After trying a few times and producing only harmful substances, I threw away the tools and started looking for other jobs.
There was nothing to see about swordsmanship that was basically learned at the academy. The sword is so heavy that I can’t even wield it properly, so how do I learn the technique?
Magic was my childhood friend’s specialty.
Conversely, it was also the area where I was most vulnerable.
Oh my God, there were cases where even the basic magic didn’t work because the amount of magic power was so small as a rat’s tail. My classmates also ridiculed me by asking why you went to the same school as your childhood friend and why you were so different.
Each time, my childhood friend stared at them and gave them sanctions, but nothing really changed.
for the rest of the time.
Swordsmanship, magic, alchemy, lance, metallurgy, archery, learning, martial arts… I borrowed related books from the library of vast resources and read and read them every day, trying to find what I could do best.
As a result, the first year of middle school was over, and I finally opened a book related to a field I had not looked through and tested it myself.
conclusion so drawn.
“It’s amazing.”
I have no talent.
Are you desperate?
No, it is not.
The world must have a reason for making me this way. certainly.
What.
If not, I have to create it.
I have to decide for myself why I exist.
With that thought in mind, the frustration that was slowly starting to corrode, at least faintly, was lifted away.
Even though it was just his name, he was able to attend such a high-quality academy because he was the son of a noble family. It is an educational facility at a level that I would not have dreamed of at my original level.
The reason why I desperately persuaded my parents to apply for this place was because of my childhood friend.
Because my childhood friend had a brilliant talent for magic.
The academy willingly paid scholarships and scouted.
On the other hand, I had nothing in me, so after arranging thirty reasons why I had to go there to pursue her, I finally managed to get the academy uniform.
My childhood friend was living in a dormitory, and I was living alone in a nearby facility instead of a dormitory.
The reason I did not apply for the academy dormitory is simple. That’s because roommates are mandatory there.
There is not much difference in actual cost, and of course it is true that the standard is inferior compared to dormitory facilities, but it was a passing score because there were more advantages to be gained from being alone.
I don’t have much contact with my childhood friend because I go to school differently. Even after going to school, the unintentional, no, natural distance has continued since that day, so face-to-face conversations with childhood friends have become extremely rare.
Inorganic time flows and flows like a river.
The cold winter has passed and the warm spring has arrived.
The beginning of the first semester of the second year of middle school.
When my childhood friend chose to go to the Ministry of Magic, I was completely separated from her.
Not all academy middle school students progressed through their sophomore year to a specific field of faculties.
It was some of the benefits that only a select few could receive.
So, I’ve been doing nothing out of the ordinary, as I’ve always been.
The only thing that has changed is the color of the nameplate.
If my freshman year was blue, now it’s white. You said that you change to golden when you are in 3rd grade.
Well, it’s not that important.
Occasionally, there were freshmen with blue nameplates who greeted me by looking at the color of their nameplates, but very few. At first glance, it seems that I was a senior who didn’t have much respect for them. I also like your eyesight.
A childhood friend entered the annex where students and professors belonging to the same Ministry of Magic reside. I was still in the main building.
In fact, the term “main building” is absurd. The professors as well as the dean have invested much more resources and manpower in the annexes that have been established than in the main building.
I have no friends in my class.
It is natural. I just didn’t feel the need to make one.
Surprisingly, the results were better than before.
Of course, the actual writing was the same, only the writing.
Going to the library every day and reading books all over the place seems to have had some effect.
For some reason, I spent more time at the library than at home after school. I think the number of books I borrowed over the past six months alone probably exceeds 200.
I don’t know the exact numbers. Ask the librarian and he’ll find out.
… … okay.
There is one thing that comes to mind when I buy it.
The end of the first semester of the second year of middle school.
“Please date me.”
someone confessed to me