A Senior Appears
Lapiel's training continued without a single day of rest.
She thoroughly destroyed me.
Then she would force holy magic into me to make me recover.
And the very next day, without fail, she would beat me senseless again.
My belief that nobles were at least intellectuals was officially revoked today.
Nobles are all equally barbaric!
Annoyingly enough, however, Lapiel's training produced results.
Three weeks later, the moment I learned the theory of holy magic, I succeeded in using lower-tier holy magic.
It was only the most basic kind that healed minor scratches, but the instant I heard the theory, my body understood exactly how to wield it.
“Hmm. Looks like the Seed of Light has taken root properly.”
“The seed?”
“The achievement of magic is the process of growing a massive tree inside your body.”
Lapiel pulled out a magic tome and showed me an illustrated example.
It depicted the process of a single seed growing into a tree across five stages.
1st stage: Growth Stage
2nd stage: Foundation Stage
3rd stage: Blooming Stage
4th stage: Establishment Stage
5th stage: Seeding Stage
I had yet to even enter the first stage.
“No matter how badly you want to use magic, if the seed hasn’t taken root, you can’t cast anything. That part is purely a matter of talent.”
So that’s why I’d felt drawn to holy magic from the very beginning. I must have had the talent for it.
“A mage’s quality depends entirely on how they nurture this seed. The reason street mages are looked down upon is because their seeds rot away half-grown.”
No wonder magic was divided into formal and informal categories.
“And even among seeds, there are differences in innate talent. Some people develop seeds with entirely different attributes beyond the usual seven, starting with size.”
“What about mine?”
Lapiel’s lips curled upward.
“Enormous and solid. You can be proud of it.”
It was far above average in scale.
These barbaric otherworlders wouldn’t even come close.
“That said, because it’s so solid, it’ll be difficult to crack.”
“Crack it? You won’t even spare it and you’re saying something that terrifying?”
“Of course it has to crack if it’s going to become a tree. What are you talking about?”
“I’ll become a baobab tree, then.”
I would grow it vigorously until it became the largest tree in the world.
“How you grow it is up to you. With a Seed of Light of such high purity, give it your all.”
“So does that mean the beatings are over now?”
“No. Those will continue as well.”
I cried.
The training went on and on.
Once again I was rolling across the floor when I sensed someone at the entrance of the training ground.
Shishiroka.
She was peeking in from the doorway, watching me.
Shishiroka never trained with me.
She only attended theory lessons.
Once, I had asked why we didn’t do the same training.
“Shishiroka was born with a frail body. If that child trained the same way you do, she wouldn’t be able to remain in this world much longer.”
The reason Shishiroka’s body was weak was because of the talent she possessed.
She was the one who held the special seed Lapiel had mentioned.
Shishiroka had been born already carrying a seed inside her.
The Seed of Banna.
It was a seed that fed on her body.
The Seed of Banna sprouted based on the physical body rather than magic power.
Therefore Shishiroka’s flesh was constantly being gnawed away at by the seed.
She was eighteen years old this year.
The reason I had mistaken her for a middle schooler was because her growth had been stunted by the seed devouring her body.
Right now the rate at which she was being eaten hadn’t yet overtaken her growth, so she was managing.
But the moment the seed’s consumption speed surpassed her growth rate, Shishiroka’s remaining lifespan would be short.
There was only one way for her to survive.
She had no choice but to reach the level where holy magic remained constantly active.
Holy magic would neutralize the Seed of Banna and extend her life.
Of course, reaching Lapiel’s level was not common.
Even Lapiel belonged to the rare angel race with an affinity for the light attribute.
Was it truly possible for an ordinary human to reach that height in their twenties?
It was a heartbreaking story, but reality was cruel.
Shishiroka was struggling to survive death, yet death continued to tighten its grip around her throat.
My eyes met Shishiroka’s.
The reason she was watching me now might have been because she was searching for any method to train holy magic that could help her live even a little longer.
Some people lived because they couldn’t die.
Some people lived because they didn’t want to die.
What a rotten world.
“Senior Shishiroka.”
I rose from the dusty floor.
Shishiroka flinched.
“If you’re here to observe, I’ll personally give you a demonstration.”
Shishiroka’s hair stood on end and she bolted.
On the first day I had teased her a little, and ever since, she ran away the moment she saw me.
“You’ve gotten quite close with Shishiroka, haven’t you?”
“Of course. Shishiroka and I are fellow disciples. It’s only natural to become close with a junior.”
“My, how shameless.”
Lapiel looked at me in disbelief.
“Still, the way Shishiroka acts around you doesn’t mean she thinks badly of you. Be good to her.”
She gazed toward the entrance where Shishiroka had disappeared, her eyes filled with pity.
“I can’t become that child’s friend myself.”
Even Lapiel couldn’t cure Shishiroka.
Perhaps that was why Lapiel showed an unusually soft side toward her.
Being told to befriend an eighteen-year-old girl was a high difficulty task even for me.
But it was my master’s order.
“Then if I become friends with Senior Shishiroka, teach me that.”
I pointed at the whip Lapiel had been using to swing at me lately.
It wasn’t an ordinary whip.
It was a whip made of light.
“You really do seem desperate for an offensive method.”
“Attack is the best defense, after all.”
“I don’t know what makes you so obsessed with attacking.”
Lapiel’s lips curled upward.
“Very well. If you become Shishiroka’s friend, I’ll teach you.”
From today onward, any attack on Shishiroka would be considered an attack on me.
* * *
From that day on, I followed Shishiroka wherever she went.
“Senior, are you eating? Let’s eat together.”
“Hikkyak!”
“You must be hungry, Senior. Have a snack.”
“Kyaaak!”
“Senior, you sneezed. Here’s a blanket.”
“Hyaaak!”
Perhaps because I kept appearing out of nowhere, Shishiroka screamed and ran away every time.
But she was slow, so I caught up and dragged her back.
Shishiroka actually seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit.
“Shishiroka did something wrong. From now on you don’t have to call me senior, so please stop tormenting Shishiroka.”
“Tormenting? It’s merely an expression of respect.”
“R-respect? This is?”
Shishiroka wore a frightened expression.
“This is how seniors and juniors or friends normally interact.”
“I-is that so?”
Shishiroka had no friends.
So she seriously pondered whether this was what friendship was like.
“Well then, Senior Shishiroka and I are friends now, right?”
“……Shishiroka is not an idiot.”
“Of course not. Senior Shishiroka is a genius.”
Shishiroka looked at me as though she were staring at something she could never understand.
“Why are you trying so hard to do something for Shishiroka?”
Because I wanted to learn how to forge weapons of light.
But I probably shouldn’t say that outright.
“Because I’m a transmigrator with no one I know in this world.”
My only human connection was Bulldog at best.
Everyone else was either pickpockets constantly eyeing my wallet or annoying guild staff I saw every day.
So my social life was pretty much in ruins.
“I’ve been living alone in a world where I know no one for several months, and now I have a fellow disciple under the same master. Of course I want to get close.”
I still lacked the strength to survive on my own.
So I had no choice but to cling to whatever relationships I could find just to stay alive.
“When Senior Shishiroka called me her junior, I was happier than I expected. Because it meant you accepted me.”
“……”
Shishiroka fell silent.
She wasn’t a transmigrator.
So she couldn’t fully empathize with my words.
Honestly, I hadn’t said it expecting her to empathize anyway.
Living by leeching off these barbaric otherworlders.
It was a wretched life, but to survive in this damned world, I had to do my best right now.
Lapiel cherished Shishiroka.
If I became close with the Shishiroka in front of me, I could also grow closer to Lapiel.
Shishiroka’s blue eyes gazed at me for a moment.
“……Shishiroka isn’t a transmigrator, so I can’t perfectly understand how Junior Harua feels.”
Shishiroka had the same thought as me.
Then she raised her hand.
She stood on tiptoe, trying to make up for her small height.
Her small hand patted my head.
“Well done.”
I was suddenly praised.
“Well done?”
“You’ve been living in a world where no one knows you. Shishiroka has many people looking after her, yet even then it wasn’t easy to live.”
Shishiroka’s life was far harder than mine.
Her lifespan shortened with each passing day.
Everyone faced death eventually, but for her, death was an especially close companion.
Meanwhile, what about me?
I revived even when my limbs were torn off by a cult, even when stabbed to death by thieves, even when beheaded by a murderer.
Compared to Shishiroka, my life at least had immunity to death.
And yet this same Shishiroka told me I had done well.
For some reason, a small laugh escaped me.
“So Junior Harua can smile like that too.”
“I’m always grinning.”
“This smile feels different.”
Is that so.
If that’s how it looked, then so be it.
“Senior Shishiroka, do you think we could become friends?”
“It’s difficult.”
Shishiroka pondered seriously.
“Still, if I become friends with Junior Harua, I’ll have gained another precious friend.”
One thing was clear now.
Why Lapiel cherished Shishiroka so much.
Shishiroka was someone who knew how to speak beautifully.
“I’ve found another thing to learn from Senior.”
“Is there something to learn from Shishiroka?”
“Plenty. I don’t say this to just anyone. Only to people I acknowledge.”
Among these barbaric otherworlders, only an extremely small number earned my acknowledgment.
Shishiroka straightened her posture and puffed up slightly.
Her adorable appearance made me chuckle.
“More importantly, did you have friends before?”
“Sh-Shishiroka has friends too! A friend that Lady Lapiel introduced me to.”
I was surprised; I’d thought she had none.
Though that was probably more of an acquaintance than a friend.
Shishiroka cleared her throat and changed the subject.
“If I become friends with Junior Harua, it feels like it’ll be noisy all day long.”
“If you wish, I’m confident I could carry Senior Shishiroka and run through the noble district right now.”
“Then we can’t become friends. Absolutely don’t do that.”
“So it’s possible if I don’t?”
Shishiroka covered her mouth and laughed softly.
“Yes, probably.”
Maybe I would make my first friend in this otherworld after all.
Shishiroka and I laughed while having such trivial conversations.
It had been a long time since I felt this warm somewhere.
And one month later.
Shishiroka collapsed and was confined to her sickbed.