Beside the sniffling Yufia, he spoke while staring at the opposite wall.
“When I said I wanted to be the strongest magician…… You told me I could definitely do it, right…?”
“……”
Yufia buried her face deeper into her knees, but Shion continued.
“My parents, everyone around me… they’re all good people. But not a single one of them actually believes I can become the strongest magician. Some think I’m joking. Others say they support me, but deep down, they think it’s impossible. I can tell.”
“……!”
“But when I said I was aiming to be the world’s strongest magician… you believed me right away. You told me I could do it一meant every word. It made me so happy…… I realized then… you really are a genuinely kind person.”
“……!”
“The people who harass you… they’re just hung up on your family name… or your talent… They’re jealous, that’s all. The real you… isn’t someone anyone could hate. If they actually talked to you like I do, they’d see how kind you really are……”
“……! U… uu……! Sniff…!”
“So… don’t cry like that……”
“Waaah…! Uuu…! Hic…!”
Despite his words, Yufia’s tears only fell harder, her sobs growing louder.
He didn’t say anything else. He just sat silently beside her.
About five minutes later… Though her crying hadn’t stopped, Yufia seemed slightly calmer. Slowly, she reached out with her left hand toward Shion.
“……!”
As her fingers touched his uniform, she grabbed his sleeve tightly.
“……Th… thank you…… Shion… thank you……. Sniff……”
Still wiping her tears with her right hand, she forced out the words.
Then, in a trembling, tearful voice, she continued.
“I… I’m sorry……. Hic……. Because of me… you… you had to hear all those awful things…! Maybe… maybe it would’ve been better if… if I’d never become friends with you…! B-but… I don’t want that…! If I… if I’d never gotten to be your friend…… I’d… I’d hate that…! Uuu…!”
“……Idiot. Don’t ever say that again. ……I’m glad I became friends with you, Yufia. Really……”
“Uu…! Waaah…! Sniff…… Shion… thank you… for believing in me…… Hic…! I’m… so happy…… so much…… sniff……”
“……Your nose is running.”
“……!?”
“Just kidding.”
“……!! Uu…! Sniff……”
……They didn’t speak again until Yufia’s crying subsided.
With her still clutching his sleeve, Shion simply sat beside her in silence……
The next day.
As usual, Yufia had plans to practice magic with Shion after school.
But that day, something urgent came up.
“Sorry, Shion……. Um…… Can you wait for me… just a little…?”
“Yeah, sure…… Did something happen?”
Noticing her unusual demeanor, Shion asked with slight concern.
“……! It’s fine… I’m okay.”
Yufia shook her head rapidly, eyes clenched shut.
“……Alright. I’ll practice alone first, so don’t worry about me.”
At his words, she nodded slowly.
“……I’ll be back soon.”
“Got it.”
……With that, Yufia left the classroom.
As the door closed behind her, Shion stared at it with a thoughtful expression……
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
After parting with Shion… Yufia walked down the hallway, clutching a memo in her hand.
It had been left in her locker that morning.
The note read: [Yufia-san, I have an important request. Please come alone to “East Building 2, First Floor一the Empty Classroom at the Very End” after school today. Tell no one.]
No sender, no clear purpose. But if someone was in trouble and needed her help…
(If they’re reaching out to me… maybe I’m the only one they can rely on…)
Remembering how Shion would act in such a situation, Yufia decided to go alone.
……After walking for a while, she arrived.
(This… must be it.)
Nervously, she opened the door一and saw a figure standing in the middle of the room.
(Is that girl… the one who left the note?)
Only the back of her head was visible, but she seemed to be another student.
“Um……”
Just as Yufia stepped forward to call out一
“!?”
A cloth was suddenly pressed hard against her mouth.
Not by the girl she’d seen一but by someone else, attacking from behind.
Yufia tried to pull away, but in the struggle, she inhaled sharply.
“……! ………Nn……”
A sharp, faintly sweet scent一 Then, her consciousness faded……
“……Looks like she’s out cold.”
“Did she see your face?”
“No. ……Help me tie her up.”
“Got it.”
“……Hey, are you sure we won’t get caught?”
“If no one sees us loading her onto the cart…… We just have to be careful.”
“Right.”
“Ah, we should gag her too. Lift her a bit.”
“Okay. Heave-ho……”
“Where are you girls heading with that big cart?”
“We’re gathering materials in the mountains for a school project!”
“My, how diligent! But be careful一bears and wolves live deep in those woods.”
“Yes! We’ll be safe!”
“Good luck, dears!”
“Thank you!”
“H-hey……”
“What……? What’s wrong?”
“What if Yufia-san wakes up now……?”
“Her limbs and mouth are tied. And the tarp’s covering her. She’s fine.”
“But… couldn’t she just use magic to break free?”
“Don’t worry. That drug earlier wasn’t just to knock her out一it also disrupts the flow of magical energy.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And those ropes? They’re woven with stones that suppress magical power. Even someone like her won’t be able to use magic so easily.”
“You really thought of everything, huh?”
“Of course. It’d be boring if she could just escape, wouldn’t it? ……We shouldn’t let anyone hear this, so let’s drop the subject. We’ll be out of town soon, so just act natural until then.”
“Yeah, got it.”
“Hup, there we go.”
“If we carry her this far, no one will spot her easily.”
“Right. Ahaha! I wonder what kind of face Yufia will make when she wakes up?”
“Maybe she’ll cry like a scared little baby? Hehe.”
“Ahahaha! Serves her right. For all her magical talent, she’s completely helpless now一how pathetic! Ahaha!”
“Hehe, true. She always acts so high and mighty, doesn’t she?”
“Right? Maybe this’ll finally teach her a lesson.”
“Hehe, yeah! Oh, right! We should leave a message for her too.”
“Ahaha! What if she never even comes back to school after this?”
“Heh, wouldn’t that be nice?”
“Right? Ahaha. ……Well, let’s head back. We still have to return the cart to the school.”
“Ah, yeah. And our bags are still in the classroom.”
“……Whew. In the end, no one noticed, huh?”
“Yep. Now, no one will ever find out where Yufia is.”
“Well then, got our bags一let’s go home?”
“Yeah. Hehe.”
“……Oh, wait!”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“When was the deadline for that assignment again?”
“Uh, pretty sure it was today?”
“Eek! I totally forgot! I’ll run to the faculty room to turn it in一go on ahead without me!”
“Ahaha, get it together. Alright, see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow!”
“(Huh? That’s weird… My assignment isn’t in my bag…)”
“(Ah, right! I finished it during break and just left it in my desk…!)”
“(I have to go back to the classroom and get it…!)””
“(……Huh…… Where…… is this……?)”
When Yufia came to, she found herself in an unfamiliar grove of trees.
“(……I can’t… move……)”
She tried to sit up, but her hands were bound behind her back with rope, and her legs were tied just as tightly, leaving her unable to shift her position.
Worse still, her body felt completely drained of strength一she couldn’t even adjust her posture.
“(……It hurts…… And it’s hard… to breathe……)”
Not only were her limbs restrained, but a cloth had been forced between her jaws and tightly knotted around her head, making it difficult to breathe while the pressure sent waves of pain through her skull.
“(……Why am I… in a place like this……?)”
Her mind was hazy, as if shrouded in fog, and she couldn’t comprehend what had happened to her.
About ten minutes after waking, as her thoughts gradually cleared, Yufia began piecing together what little she could remember.
“(……Right… I got a letter… summoning me…… Went to the empty classroom…… and then……)”
Her memory ended abruptly一right after she called out to a girl in that empty classroom, someone had attacked her from behind.
“(……Huh? What’s… this……)”
As she struggled to recall, her gaze drifted downward, where a single memo sheet lay within her line of sight.
Propped up against a small rock, the note was positioned so Yufia could read it without moving.
And on that note一placed there deliberately for her一was a single message:
[You don’t deserve to have friends.]
“……!!”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
In that moment, Yufia understood what had happened to her.
“(……I see…… I was… tricked……)”
The handwriting was deliberately impersonal, stripped of any identifying quirks一
just like the notes left in her locker.
The message she had mistaken for a cry for help had been nothing more than bait to lure her into this trap.
Just like those girls who had whispered about her after school with Shion, there were surely many who despised her. Someone must have been so disgusted by the idea of her getting close to others that they did this.
“(……All I ever wanted… was to help someone……)”
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
Even something as simple as being friends with someone一being friends with Shion一was something she wasn’t allowed. Every time she tried to help, she was betrayed.
The cruelty of it was unbearable. Humiliating. In the silence of the woods, Yufia wept alone……
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
