"You're Just Like That, Are You?"
“Friends are just like that, aren’t they?”
“Haah… haah…”
The basic physical conditioning drills were conducted across the entire class. The method was simple.
Run laps around the designated long track—a flat, expansive field that stretched endlessly under the afternoon sun.
Of course, the goal was strictly to build foundational stamina. No mana reinforcement was allowed.
Fifty laps. That was the target.
How many had I completed now? My mind had gone hazy, like smoke.
My throat burned. My breaths came in ragged, desperate gasps.
My thighs throbbed with pain that felt like they might actually tear.
If I let my focus slip for even a second, I’d trip and fall.
I’d always told myself I worked hard enough… yet here I was, barely scraping by.
I ran forward with a half-sulky pout, eyes fixed on the distant horizon.
“Shion-kun, are you alright?”
A cool, crisp voice suddenly rang out beside me.
It was Shina.
Of course. Her stamina was already far superior to mine—she had lapped me dozens of times over.
How did someone with such a slender, delicate frame pour out that kind of monstrous endurance? I still didn’t understand it.
“Haah… haah… I’m sorry, Miss Shina. I’m in no condition to speak right now…!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. You look so exhausted… I wasn’t paying attention…”
Shina turned worried eyes toward me.
For a moment I stared blankly into those beautiful, sky-blue eyes—then I forced a grin and spoke as best I could.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. You don’t need to hold back for a guy like me.”
“It’s just training, Shion-kun. No need to be so dramatic. Then I’ll excuse myself.”
Shina’s light-blue hair fluttered as she pushed off and raced ahead without a glance back.
I couldn’t even think of chasing her. Shina Astorius was already streaking toward the future at full speed.
A small, proud smile tugged at my lips for an instant—until a soft, familiar whisper slithered into the back of my mind.
—Will I ever be able to chase that back even if I train for my whole life?
—Will anything change if I push myself this hard?
—If none of this matters… then what am I even fighting for…?
Shut up, you.
—Thud!
“Ugh! Your spirit’s basically gone from the strain.”
I slapped my own cheek hard, silencing the voice.
That whisper had haunted me since I left to save Elys. It still clung to me now, trying to coil around my thoughts.
Am I… finally breaking?
It felt so strange. Like someone else was constantly whispering to me from inside my own head.
Had the sleeping black dragon finally woken up?
No. That couldn’t be it. I’d killed him myself back in high school…
“…”
Then, without warning, an unbearable spike of pain ripped through my thigh—like a muscle had snapped clean in half.
The agony sapped every last bit of strength from my legs. I collapsed face-first onto the ground.
“…Shion-kun? Shion-kun!”
I’d heard the thud. Shina spun around in alarm and sprinted back.
“What’s wrong?!”
“Ugh… I don’t know. Probably nothing serious. You don’t have to worry about me…”
I tried to smile through the pain, desperate not to worry her. But her expression had gone stone-cold.
“…Stay still for a moment. I’ll be right back.”
She gently lowered me to the grass, then bolted off somewhere in a burst of speed. I could tell she’d reinforced her body with mana.
And just as she’d promised, she returned in less than a minute.
“I got permission from the instructor. Let’s head to the infirmary.”
Shina pulled me up and supported me.
“Ha-ha, you didn’t have to go to all that trouble, Miss Shina.”
“It’s not like I can even walk properly on my own. You saying that doesn’t have any weight.”
“I’m sorry for the trouble… Miss Shina.”
When I spoke those words, Shina turned her head toward me in silence.
……
At this distance, I could even hear her breathing. My heart skipped.
“…Is there something wrong with me helping you?”
Shina pouted, lips jutting out cutely.
The sight was so unbearably adorable my brain short-circuited. I just shook my head without a word.
“Then it’s settled.”
Shina’s cheeks flushed bright red again as she stared straight ahead.
“We’re friends, aren’t we? When someone’s hurting, friends willingly lend a shoulder.”
She trailed off, eyes drifting toward the distant mountains.
“And… Shion-kun is my first friend. So you can lean on me a little more.”
…How utterly perfect and adorable. It felt like pure luck to be friends with someone like her.
A faint smile touched my lips as I murmured softly.
“…You’re cuter than I expected, Miss Shina.”
“H-huh? What are you suddenly saying?!”
“Kyaa!”
Shina yelped and shoved me away.
My already shredded thigh couldn’t withstand the shock. I tumbled across the ground with a loud thud.
A tear nearly escaped before I swallowed it. I looked up at her and asked.
“Miss Shina… I’ve been wondering for a while now. Do you… like making patients suffer?”
“Ehh? I-I didn’t! You suddenly saying weird things like that…!”
Shina grabbed my arm with shaking hands and helped me sit up.
“E-even so, it’s still a joke, right? Shion-kun always says embarrassing things and then acts like it’s not serious. So I’ll let you off the hook this time.”
“It’s not a joke.”
“…Eh?”
Shina’s face froze again.
“This time it’s for real. You don’t believe me?”
“Huh? Ah… no, wait…”
Her eyes spun wildly in response to my blunt reply.
The thigh pain was gone now. This was way too entertaining to feel anything else.
“Miss Shina, are you sure you’re not coming back? My leg’s starting to hurt…”
“Ah, yes. Right. Let’s go.”
We matched strides and slowly made our way toward the infirmary.
Even as time passed, Shina’s face remained blazing red and showed no sign of cooling.
—Dririruk.
“Excuse me…? Eh?”
No one was in the infirmary.
It seemed the nurse was out. Still, we’d made it here…
Shina gently helped me onto the bed.
Being lifted by a girl smaller than me was… strangely vivid.
“First, let’s stretch your leg out straight. I’ve been through plenty of training injuries before, so I can give you some relief.”
Following her instructions, I straightened my leg as much as possible.
Sharp pain spread through my thigh.
“Shion-kun, does it hurt?”
She asked with genuine concern in her voice.
“It does a little… but just seeing Miss Shina’s beautiful face makes me feel much better than before.”
“Don’t joke around. This is an emergency. Can you describe the pain from when you got injured?”
“Um… I guess you could say it was like my muscle just… snapped. Ugh, am I gonna end up paralyzed down there?”
“Don’t say something so negative!”
Shina gave me a rare, stern glare.
Then she stayed quiet for a moment, twirling a finger, before speaking again.
“I think… your thigh muscle has torn.”
“…Am I gonna die?”
“Die? People don’t die from a torn muscle. The nurse will take good care of you. You should be healed in a week.”
Shina pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed, sighing heavily before meeting my eyes.
Those clear sky-blue eyes.
“Anyway, Shion-kun… do you have anything worrying you lately?”
“Worrying me? Well… yes, of course.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Like, what posture will let me sleep without getting caught…”
—Thud!
Shina slapped my forehead.
“Ouch! No violence!”
“I’m being serious. Answer seriously.”
“Um… honestly, I don’t think there’s anything specific. Why do you ask?”
Shina fidgeted with her hands while answering.
“Well… you’ve been training way too intensely lately. It’s like you’re chasing after something. And now you got injured… I was worried something was weighing on you…”
Worrying? I was.
Pascal’s Big Bang left on me—the responsibility of holding down an entire fief single-handedly in the mock occupation battle.
Even thinking about it now made my stomach twist.
But no matter how much of a jerk Pascal was, I couldn’t pass up the chance to rack up so many points.
So I’d ramped up training intensity way beyond normal.
The accumulated fatigue was probably why I was in this state.
I’d overdone it for my own level.
But could I tell Shina the truth?
She was the main heroine who influenced the entire world—unlike Extra Shion.
If I dragged her down into my mess, I’d just steal her precious time.
After barely a month of being in this world, unease still coiled in my chest.
Was it really okay to get close to these characters?
Was I being selfish and reckless?
Would I be harming everyone around me with my ego?
‘Even just Jeremiah alone…’
I’d once clicked to make the protagonist drop out of Luin Academy.
That alone could cause a huge incident.
If I kept interfering… and Shina didn’t have enough time to train?
If Charlotte didn’t have time to plan for the future?
If Chloe couldn’t properly communicate with the spirits?
If I couldn’t stand against the later villains?
If the world ended up a bad end because of me?
If everyone’s futures were ruined by my meddling…
Could I live with myself?
“…You do have something on your mind. Otherwise you wouldn’t look that serious.”
“Ahaha, really, nothing at all, Miss Shina. So… I don’t want to steal any of your precious time.”
I tried to brush it off.
I didn’t want her to see how shaken I was.
Then Shina gripped the edge of the bed and spoke quietly.
“I’ve been living a busy life as a member of the Astorius family, as Megan Astorius’s little sister, and as an exchange student from Micah Academy. That’s why I push myself so hard.”
She bit her lip, eyes tightly shut, then suddenly grabbed my hand with surprising strength.
“…But Shion-kun is my precious friend. My first friend. I enjoy every second I spend with you. More than anything. Even if I’m busy, I can make time for whatever’s weighing on you. So…”
She paused, then continued.
“Please don’t say you’re wasting my time. It hurts my feelings.”
…Shina’s hand was warm.
“To Shion-kun… I have the right to take your time.”
“…”
I had no reply.
And in that instant, the truth I’d been missing finally clicked.
I wasn’t the Shion who would die as an early villain in a game.
I was the Shion who would rewrite fate with my own will, forge bonds, and change my own destiny.
Ever since I’d been summoned to this world, the world itself had already been shifting.
I didn’t need to worry about ruining it for the worse.
After all, the world would change even if I didn’t.
So…
—Then let’s change it for the better.
There was no reason for me to stay hands-off.
“Miss Shina, you always seem to be the one giving instead of taking. Today you taught me an important lesson.”
“Yes. So you can lean on me a little more.”
My chest felt lighter.
A pleasant relief swept through me like old grime finally being scrubbed away.
“Then today I’ll let you depend on me. You don’t mind sitting through it boringly, do you?”
“Of course not. I don’t lie to anyone.”
That day, we didn’t return to the training field until classes ended.