[Side: Alisa]
I have no friends.
Well, I used to have some, but… to be honest, I don’t want to remember the past.
The world is always unjust.
When did I realize that the world wasn’t made for me?
In this world, there are only two people I can truly rely on.
I have no intention of saying that I’m unfortunate.
In fact, I consider myself lucky to have even two.
As long as I have my father and mother, I’m fine.
Friends, rivals… I don’t need them.
I’ve always been quick to learn.
My father taught me practical skills, and my mother taught me academics.
Once I was taught something, I never forgot it. And once I learned the basics, I could apply them further.
When I combined fire magic’s fireball and water magic’s Water Splash to create a mist-dispersing spell called Sprinkle, they both praised me.
I had friends, but none of those relationships lasted long.
Most of them would soon disappear from my life.
Getting along with children my age was always difficult for me.
Because I matured faster, everyone else seemed childish to me.
When I out-argued someone, they would try to resort to force, but I always beat them so thoroughly that it wasn’t even a contest.
As that continued, people drifted away from me.
Everyone except for one girl, Miko, who was a year younger than me.
She was clumsy, slow, and yet always called me her friend, tagging along wherever I went.
She was my one and only true friend.
But she died.
No, that’s not right—I killed her.
That’s why I’ve decided never to grow close to anyone again.
Unless someone is as strong as my father or mother, they will die if they get too close to me.
…I don’t want to experience that kind of pain ever again.
At some point, I started shutting people out.
But then, one day, everything changed.
My father brought home a child from somewhere.
He said we’d be looking after him.
I thought it was a joke.
But with my mother’s agreement, all my desperate objections were in vain, and that boy—Kuhn—came to live with us.
He was different from the kids I knew.
Every morning, he’d head into the forest with my father and return before sunset.
I didn’t know exactly what they were doing, but I assumed my father was training him as he had trained me.
For my father to keep at it every day without getting bored, the boy must have potential. And if he had earned my father’s approval, it meant he was enduring grueling days of training.
I had long stopped regular training with my father, only occasionally sparring with him for practical magic practice.
Even though I’d improved a lot, I still couldn’t beat him—I’d get thoroughly beaten every time.
That’s why I didn’t like sparring much.
My father is hopelessly bad at teaching, but his skill is the real deal.
Once, when he was drunk, he mentioned winning a championship in the world’s greatest martial arts tournament.
That’s probably an exaggeration… but still.
And now, my father is training him.
Recently, my father’s been in an unusually good mood.
When he’s upset, he drinks more, but lately, his drinking has decreased significantly.
Kuhn must have enough skill to satisfy even my father.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about how strong he was.
So, I fought him.
And… I lost.
Maybe I was overconfident.
I never imagined losing to someone my age.
I should have been more cautious, knowing he’d been trained by my father.
I don’t want to call him unfair, but… I was frustrated.
When I realized I had lost, my mind went blank, and before I knew it, I was back in my room.
Hugging my knees, I looked down and thought.
What went wrong?
Could I have won if I had tried harder?
The same thoughts kept swirling around in my head.
Before I knew it, he came to see me.
I thought he was there to mock me for my humiliating loss, but that wasn’t the case.
He seemed genuinely worried about me. He didn’t look like he was lying.
I had assumed he’d come to make fun of me, so I was honestly surprised.
Maybe… just maybe…
Kuhn isn’t as bad as I thought.
But I’m still bad with people my age.
The thought that someone might die because of me again is terrifying… no, that’s not it.
Kuhn beat me.
If that’s the case, he probably won’t die so easily… Wait, why am I already convincing myself to accept him!?
For now, maybe I’ll try being a little… just a little kinder to Kuhn.
I don’t want to repay genuine concern with ingratitude, after all.
