The Only Childhood Friend
In the academy fantasy drama that connected humans and demon races, it was a middle-grade novel I had always liked.
I had been reading it since my high school days, and when I saw the cover illustration, I was thrilled as if it were my own novel.
The heroine, Sera, was very much to my taste.
In this era where yandere menhera types were rampant, the traditional nun-type heroine strongly stirred my heart.
Her beautifully flowing platinum blonde hair, wavy long hair.
And sometimes, when she smiled at the protagonist Chris or teased him, she was incredibly cute.
With a kind personality and a self-sacrificing nature.
Moreover, the occasionally dark side she showed was pure charm. It made me think it was a shame for the novel's protagonist Chris.
Furthermore, the episodes that deepened as she got involved with the demon race were truly fascinating, and I recommended the novel every chapter and commented on it to cheer on the author.
But then...
"Sorry, Chris."
The protagonist who had left the academy for a while due to some incident was met with Sera's figure, bloodied and having burned down the entire kingdom.
And she confronted the protagonist, and the novel continued as is.
For 200 chapters, she lived well with the protagonist, but then a sudden black villain! crazy development happened, and I was shocked.
No bait, but suddenly the main heroine's betrayal, villainization, and even continuing the novel.
With three crazy developments, I was left speechless, and in a state of anger, I wrote angry comments to the author, vented my anger on Sera for no reason, and burned my anger.
Then, something felt strange. I looked down and saw blood flowing from my neck, and I was holding a rusty knife in my hand.
I thought it was a dream, and staring at the wound on my neck, the blood started spurting in sync with my heartbeat, and in the pain of my whole body burning, I writhed and collapsed.
At that moment, a girl opened the door and appeared.
"Bread, I got...?"
The girl looked at me, her eyes wide open, and she ran over madly. My consciousness faded.
'That damn author...'
All I could do was curse the author in my heart.
Therese.
Therese.
Therese.
Warmth was felt from my lying hand.
It felt like someone was holding my hand. The touch of soft, delicate fingers.
The warmth of a person from each vein in the palm.
"Ugh."
I was alive. I opened my eyes and glanced around.
What I saw was a dilapidated wooden ceiling.
A bed with a musty smell.
A girl lying next to me, holding my hand.
Her hair was platinum blonde so beautiful that it made my eyes blur.
This was the first time I had seen such beautiful hair in my life.
I was mesmerized by that hair. It didn't matter where I was or who I was. It was just beautiful.
"Nice..."
I stroked the girl's hair. It was oily and rough because she hadn't washed it recently, but it was still soft.
It was exactly like the heroine's hair from the novel I had read.
As I stroked the hair, my hand came into view. The hand of an adult man was nowhere to be seen; it was the hand of a young girl.
The scattered red marks on it were clearly not a lie from just a moment ago.
'My neck?!'
I didn't check my condition because I was distracted by the girl in front of me. The wound on my neck must have been fatal.
But...
"Slippery... smooth."
It was smooth without any wound.
But the blood on my hand was telling me that my memory wasn't a lie.
So, the girl in front of me must have healed me. I didn't know which world I had transmigrated into, but it was probably a world where magic existed.
Actually, I had an idea of what world it was.
It was from the novel The Holy Knight Who Wouldn't Save the World.
Of course, the last novel I read was this one, and I had written a long comment angry at the author, so the trigger was satisfied.
But.
"No way, I didn't know I would be reincarnated like this..."
Who would have known that reincarnating by cutting my throat like this? I had to make excuses for this girl who looked like Sera, so my head was hurting.
'Was it really not Sera?'
It was impossible. I thought that, but in my heart, I thought there was a sufficient possibility.
In the novel, Sera was described as a girl with very beautiful eyes and hair, and the illustration showed that. And the girl in front of me, if she was about 6-7 years younger than Sera, wouldn't it be this appearance?
I had become the childhood friend of that crazy girl who stabbed the protagonist and caused the kingdom's downfall.
When the doubt turned into certainty, the girl blinked, then looked at me standing up with wide eyes.
"Therese! Are you okay?! Is there anywhere your body is weird?"
"Uh, yeah."
The girl stood up and poked my body, then hugged me tightly.
"Wh-why... why are you doing that! Again... are you going to say something like 'I don't want to live'?! I almost died..."
I accepted the girl's weak hug, and I was just dazed.
I knew why the girl was sad, but it wasn't because of what I did.
For now, I should smile. I didn't know what was going on, but I thought it was more important to comfort this girl.
Anyway, this girl is the one who stabbed the protagonist and caused the kingdom's collapse. I don't know what kind of personality she has. It's better to be cautious.
"Yeah. I'm okay now, Sera."
Then the girl's expression hardened.
Of course, she would think that, since I was the one who had just cut my throat and tried to commit suicide, and now I'm smiling and saying I'm okay.
How could I comfort Sera? While worrying inwardly, the girl's mouth opened and an unexpected word came out.
"Sera? What do you mean...?"
"Eh?"
I had firmly determined that the heroine in the novel was Sera and said the name, but it's not Sera?
The girl who looks exactly like Sera is not Sera?
The girl's expression became more serious.
This was definitely not good.
"Do you remember your name?"
"My name... Therese."
"Without a nickname."
I thought it was Therese's real name because she called me Therese, but it was a nickname? I desperately racked my brain. Therese, Therese, what name comes next...
"Theresa."
"..."
Now my serious face turned into a pale face. What else could it be if not Theresa.
"Nothing... don't you remember? Your name, everything that has happened until now...?"
I was exposed as having lost my memory in an instant.
"... Yeah, sorry."
I didn't want to make awkward lies because it would dig my own grave with my own hands, so I honestly confessed.
"Haha."
The girl lowered her face, laughing hollowly.
"Is it because of me...? That Therese became like this. Because I couldn't do anything for you? Hic... sorry, sorry... because of me. But I, you, hic..."
The girl sat down and covered her face with her hands, sobbing.
She was crying so much that it made the viewer feel sorry.
I wanted to call her by name, but since I didn't know the name, I was sorry that I couldn't talk to the girl without calling her by the same word.
As the girl cried, time passed while I just watched her.
1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes.
In the frozen air, I was lost for words.
She wasn't the heroine Sera? But her face was like twins, and ah, she's still crying. What to do.
How much more time had passed? When the girl's hiccups subsided, I spoke.
"Hey, the one who saved me is you, right?"
"What?"
No, why am I using honorifics? Look at that bewildered expression.
"I don't know who I am right now. I don't know who you are either. But I can tell that you have been there for me when I was in pain and trouble. Not just now, but for a long time."
The platinum blonde girl was looking at me with dazed eyes. Her eyes were swollen, and the bridge of her nose was red.
"You also healed this wound. How did you fix it?"
I pointed to the neck wound and forced a smile.
It was embarrassing.
I wasn't the type to say such things. But I couldn't just stand there while a girl who seemed like my junior was crying her eyes out.
"I feel blessed to have such friends. And even if I don't remember, the events that happened until now didn't disappear. So..."
It was embarrassing.
Won't you stop looking at me with a moved expression?!
"Will you stay with me from now on?"
I said to the girl with a red face from embarrassment, raising my eyes.
Tears flowed from the girl's eyes.
"Yeah."
And she smiled like a bright sun.
After that, the girl said her name was Elijah, and I was Therese.
We were both 12 years old, same age, and we said we were the only childhood friends who had lived together since childhood.
There wasn't much difference from Therese, so when I muttered that, Elijah laughed with a "fufu".
I lost my memory but still called myself Therese. Does it mean to act like Therese?
But I was just reincarnated.
I might have unconsciously followed the habits of the original owner.
Well, if Elijah likes it, it's fine.
Our relationship with Elijah improved, but the situation was still not good.
We were living in the kingdom's slums, and we were in a situation where it was hard to even get bread to survive.
So, I thought that the original owner of this body, Therese, had tried to commit suicide.
A young girl would be greatly affected by even such small things.
Moreover, in this way, what would happen to me in the real world? I didn't particularly miss the real world, but thinking that I would live as Therese from now on made me feel uneasy.
"Sigh."
Elijah was still lying on the bed without moving. She said to rest because she had lost a lot of blood even after healing the wound.
I had nothing to do while lying down. So I was arranging my spread-out hair. It wasn't platinum blonde like Elijah's, but it was dazzling golden blonde hair.
Thinking that my chest was slightly exposed, I had become a girl, but I didn't feel any lust or excitement at the 12-year-old body, and moreover, this body I had become from now on.
On top of that, being malnourished and dirty was a bonus.
Ah, living in modern South Korea where technology is advanced, and then this? There, you can order chicken delivered to your house just by saying the word, but here, you have to bet your life on one bread.
While complaining about my fate, Elijah came in.
"Therese, I got water."
"Thank you."
I drank the water in the wooden cup, and it really tasted bad. Drinking tap water from home was a hundred times tastier.
"Sorry, it tastes bad, right?"
I guess she noticed that I didn't like the taste. "No... haha." I replied, but the aftertaste of the bad water lingered in my mouth, making it miserable.
While sticking out my tongue at the bad taste, suddenly suspicion arose. Elijah could use magic to heal the fatal wound on my neck.
But living in such a slum?
So I asked Elijah about it directly, and Elijah answered in a casual tone.
"When Therese collapsed, I prayed to the goddess to save me, and my strength gathered! So when I used that strength, the wound healed?"
"... What?"
The voice of a goddess. The choice of a goddess.
"So, Therese. You shouldn't do dangerous things like that from now on?"
The chosen Saintess of Light.
"Of course, even if you do, I will save you."
The name was different, but this girl was the black villain heroine from the novel.
"We'll be together forever."
I had become the childhood friend of the black villain heroine who caused the kingdom's downfall.
Was Elijah's smiling eyes feeling eerie and scary just because of my mood?
Cold sweat ran down my back.