Chapter 4: A childhood friend without two (3)

A precarious house in the slums, looking as if it would collapse at any moment.

“Um… Eliya, are you angry?”

Eliya didn’t answer at all.

What should I do?

“…Ugh.”

I turned around and hugged the sleeping Eliya from my side.

Then I pressed my ear close to her back.

Thump-thump.

I could hear the beating of her heart.

As I kept my ear there, I felt her heartbeat gradually quicken.

“I really didn’t mean to.”

“…”

“Considering whose life I owe.”

“…”

Still no answer, she’s quite stubborn.

I also gave up talking and clung to Eliya’s back, feeling her warmth.

When night fell, it would get so cold that a single thin, old blanket wouldn’t be enough.

But if I slept with Eliya, I wouldn’t be cold.

Eliya is the mastermind.

She’s the mastermind who will later destroy the kingdom and kill the other heroines of the academy, the one who must be stopped now.

If I were to take Eliya’s life at this moment, that terrible development from the original novel wouldn’t happen, would it?

But I couldn’t do that.

How could I commit such an ungrateful act, using the very life Eliya saved to end hers?

What’s more, the most frightening thing was that the longer I spent with Eliya, the less dangerous she felt.

The more we talked, the more human she seemed.

She felt kind.

She felt like a friend.

Even at this very moment, as I playfully hug Eliya, it’s the same.

Even though only a week had passed since I transmigrated, I was once again realizing how terrifying human warmth could be, a surprisingly obvious truth.

When I only read about her in the novel, she seemed like nothing more than a villain.

I could feel my internal affection for Eliya steadily rising.

It wasn’t me who was strange at all.

It was Eliya being too pretty that was the problem.

Looks really are their own justification.

And so, I was lost in idle thoughts, hugging Eliya from behind.

****

“Um, Tere.”

“Huh? Yeah?”

I wiped some drool from my mouth as I replied.

‘Did she somehow find out I was thinking idle thoughts?’

When Eliya, who had been lying quietly, suddenly spoke to me, I felt a little nervous.

‘What should I say?

It felt like dealing with a niece I didn’t quite know how to handle.’

“I became a Saintess.”

“…Huh.”

Eliya turned her body again and looked at me.

Her platinum-blonde eyes met my blue ones.

Eliya’s eyes were softly glowing.

“Look at this.”

When Eliya spread her hand, beautiful pure white magic swirled from it.

It moved like a cluster of stars.

“Wow…”

Seeing magic in person, I couldn’t help but be amazed.

There was a description that people who saw Eliya’s magic would lose themselves in its beauty… and it was exactly as described.

“…Will I have to fight demons after entering the academy from now on?

I just want to be with you.”

“Still, since there’s a Saintess, won’t there be a Hero too?”

“I wish you, Tere, were the Hero.

I don’t want to go on adventures with some other Hero I don’t know.”

‘Still, there’s no way I could be the Hero, right?’

I gave an awkward laugh.

The original protagonist, Chris, was already the Hero.

I was a character who didn’t appear even once in the original story.

In fact, I was just an extra who was either already dead or about to die.

I still didn’t fully understand the conditions for Eliya becoming the mastermind and bringing ruin, but I did realize that it was ultimately linked to my death.

If I were to die, I would have to stop Eliya somehow before that happens.

“So, why don’t you try training in magic too, Tere?”

“What?”

‘There’s no way I can use magic.’

Thinking that, I waved my hand.

“It’s impossible.

I’m not a Saintess like you, nor am I a noble, so how could I use magic?”

“Hmm~.

Do you really think so?”

Eliya narrowed her eyes and poked the center of my chest with her finger.

“I think you, Tere, can use magic.”

“Your tone sounds quite confident.”

“Just try it anyway.”

Even if she says so…

I don’t know how to use magic.

I’ve never learned, and besides, Eliya, who can naturally wield magic as soon as she awakens her Saintess abilities, is the strange one.

Still, with Eliya repeatedly telling me to try, I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘What if I have magical talent too?’

So, I tried gathering power in my hands, or making strange groans like “Ughhh,” squeezing strength from my whole body, but not even a hint of magic appeared.

Feeling like I’d made a fool of myself, I said to Eliya, my face flushed, almost accusingly.

“See…! It doesn’t work.”

“Pfft! Hahahaha!”

“Don’t laugh.”

‘Why is she laughing when she’s the one who told me to do it?

I’ll pinch her cheek hard and make her scream.’

I thought, and reached for her cheek, but was flustered by the soft, fluffy texture.

‘Why are her cheeks so soft, too?’

“Sowwy.”

“Seriously.

Eliya, listening to you, I really thought I had talent in magic.”

“But you weally can use magic.”

‘But you really can use magic?’

Her tone was too confident to be purely teasing.

‘Does a Saintess perhaps have the ability to detect magical talent?’

“Ow.”

At Eliya’s protest, I took my hand away.

Eliya’s baby-like, fluffy cheeks were slightly red.

“Eliya, do you have some kind of ability to detect magic?

How can you be so sure I can use magic?”

Then Eliya flinched slightly.

“Yes, that’s right.”

She replied.

It was a somewhat unclear answer.

It left a subtly uneasy feeling.

‘Is she hiding something from me?’

I wondered, looking at Eliya, but she smiled sweetly and approached me.

“Here, Tere.

This is what magic is.”

Eliya created magic in her hand, then placed it on my chest.

At first, I hesitated, thinking it might be hot or painful, but when it actually touched me, nothing happened.

Rather…

“It feels warm.”

“Right?”

Eliya’s platinum magic was warm.

And yet, it also felt a little hot, a magic with that kind of sensation, anyway.

“The reason you couldn’t use magic, Tere, is simple.

You just don’t know the sensation of drawing it out because you’ve never used it before.”

“I see…”

‘Then how did Eliya use magic to heal my fatal neck wound in just one go?’

It was possible Eliya was simply an overflowing genius.

After all, she was described as a genius in the original story.

Which meant I was currently getting one-on-one private lessons from a genius.

‘Being the Saintess’s childhood friend is quite the privilege, it seems better than I thought.’

“Alright, now I’ll transfer my magic to you, Tere.

Receive it well.”

“Okay.”

Eliya said that, placed the magic on my chest, and pressed firmly.

Then, an unstoppable force began to spread within my body.

‘This feels good…’

A warm, cozy sensation spread throughout my entire body.

The pleasant feeling slowly stimulated me from my toes to my head, heating up my whole body, and then, as the magic fully entered me, the sensation exploded.

“E-ugh?!”

“…Are you okay?”

I felt so good that I let out a moan without realizing it.

It was a sensation that made my head go blank.

‘No, what is this?’

‘Was transferring magic such a lewd act?’

I was flustered by a feeling more ecstatic than anything I had ever experienced in my life.

Usually, in manga or anime, the development involves gaining enlightenment by feeling magic, or growing stronger while writhing in pain.

But I was just moaning because it felt too good.

‘Was I such a slovenly person?’

My ears were bright red as I panted heavily.

And in front of me was Eliya.

‘No, Eliya.

Please don’t look at my disgraceful state!’

“…Tere, are you okay?

Your face is really red and you look like you’re in pain.

Do you want to rest a bit?”

“Huh?”

It was a relief.

Eliya was still pure.

She hadn’t been tainted by darkness.

“Oh, no.

I’m fine!

I was just flustered because it was a new sensation.”

“…Really?”

Eliya made a skeptical face, as if thinking, ‘You don’t look fine at all.’

If I rested like this, it would be even more awkward.

Because I might have to go through that strange experience again.

That, I absolutely refused.

“Hurry!

Hurry and teach me how to use magic!

You don’t have to worry about me!”

Eliya seemed flustered by my immense eagerness to learn and stepped back.

But a moment later, she seemed to understand something, smiling broadly as she spoke.

“Oh, Tere, you want to go to the academy with me, don’t you?

You should have just said so.”

It seemed I had caused a strange misunderstanding.

But I was rather grateful.

It was a hundred, a thousand times better than being a perverted childhood friend who gets an orgasm from the sensation of magic.

“Okay, now you need to listen carefully to what I say, alright?”

And less than an hour later, I was able to use basic magic.

I could now handle minimal divine magic like Light and Heal.

Coincidentally, it was the same attribute of magic as Eliya’s.

But I felt no sense of accomplishment from having used magic for the first time.

I just gave Eliya a weak smile, said I was tired, and immediately fell asleep.

“By the way, Tere.

What was that strange sound earlier?”

I pretended not to hear Eliya’s last question.