Surviving As The Villain’s Childhood Friend - Chapter 26

We ate all the sandwiches Roziel packed.

“Oh, I’m full.”

“Yeah.”

We patted our stomachs and enjoyed the feeling of satisfaction.

The sun was warm, and Roziel was cute.

In a space where everything was perfect, only one creature was emitting a gloomy energy.

“Cutie. Why are you sulking?”

Roziel asked anxiously.

“…He’s sulking?”

Cutie was lying down as if he were dead.

Our call was completely ignored.

“Yes. Sometimes he does that. The time when I gave him a name, he completely ignored me.”

“…”

It was the first time I saw an animal sulking.

“Let’s leave him alone. He’s probably just tired.”

“Is that so?”

It was a nice day to relax, but it was also good to get a good night’s rest. How frustrating it must be to be alone in the stable.

I was blown away by the wind while cleaning out the trash on the blanket.

“Cool.”

Roziel looked happy.

I didn’t know in detail what he was thinking or feeling, but at least on the surface, he appeared to enjoy the outing.

It was a relief. 

“Isn’t it nice? I used to go out with my family from time to time like this.”

“Yes.”

“It’s a happy thing to have someone who you can relax and do nothing with.”

Roziel looked up at the sky for a moment and nodded.

Did Roziel have such a person?

No. There wouldn’t have been. That’s why you fell in love with the kind and friendly Luena.

So I had to let you know.

“Roziel. You’ll definitely have someone like that someday.”

“For me…?”

“Yes. A person who likes Roziel, and a person who will like Roziel back. It’s a relationship that can make you happy just by sitting next to each other.”

He blinked his eyes. My appearance was reflected in the blue eyes reflected by the sunlight.

“What do you call such a person?”

“Lover.”

“Pfttt-!”

He spewed out the milk he was drinking. 

“Why are you so surprised? Roziel, too, will one day fall in love and get married.”

“That, that, that’s right.” 

Roziel somehow avoided my gaze with a look of embarrassment. 

“Well then, will this happen more often in the future…? Like an outing… ”

“Of course. I often do various things with my loved ones.”

“With the person you love…”

I had to teach him how to truly love.

Even if I couldn’t convey the exact meaning, I could tell you some ways of love.

Peaceful, happy… And ordinary things.

“I-I wish that day would come sooner.”

His face was red. He was really embarrassed.

“Yes, it will definitely come.”

I added. 

When such a day came I hoped you would be able to properly love. 

‘Don’t be obsessed, don’t trap them, don’t exterminate those who meet her, and don’t chase them.’

Just normal.

I wondered if only a few words like this could change his life. 

Maybe it will fail. However, I decided to believe in Roziel.

He was a good person by nature, and he was a person who listened enough to others.

‘More than anything else, I wish I was more important to him than I thought.’

A person who could properly influence Roziel.

‘Your childhood friend.’

All of our future conversations were going to be built on trust, and trust was built on strong relationships.

I had to be such a thing to him.

“I want to be one of Roziel’s precious people, too. Someone you can spend time with.”

I meant it.

Even if you were not a hero to save the world, no one would be able to leave such a cute and kind child alone.

If there was, they were the ones who would destroy the world.

Roziel stared at me for a moment.

His red lips twitched over and over again.

“I- me too… I feel the same. 

“Hehehe.” 

I smiled broadly at Roziel’s words.

Roziel followed my lead and laughed.

“Hehehe.”

How much we laughed facing each other, and Cutie slowly got up and approached us.

The mane stretched out was like my mother when she just woke up.

Cutie squeezed in between us.

As if he were separating us.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He must have gotten jealous because we played without him.”

Jealous?

I smiled awkwardly as I looked at Cutie and then Roziel.

“Hey. Roziel. I’ve felt it for a long time now… I think he’s something different from other horses.”

“Different?” 

“Yes. This is my guess, but I think the previous owner was a very strange man.”

He stared into people’s eyes, was strangely obsessed with his owner, and snorted at the subject of words…

I shook my head, convinced.

“Otherwise he couldn’t be acting like such a human like this.”

I put my hand on my chin and agonized.

“Did he eat something non-hay like human food?”

A horse that preferred shiny things to hay. It wasn’t normal.

“Hay?”

“Yes. Horses eat hay as food.” 

“Cutie has never had a meal before.”

“What?”

“He always goes back to the woods after I go back to the mansion.”

It became more suspicious. 

“Nonsense. Roziel. The owner must always feed his pets.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I’m glad Cutie is used to the wild, or else he would have starved to death.”

Roziel looked embarrassed at my words.

“Cu-cutie….”

He called Cutie in a trembling voice.

“He’s been so indifferent this whole time.”

“Hmph.”

He pushed his head into Roziel’s arms.

He was so cunning. 

The gloomy atmosphere suddenly disappeared, and the cute black horse once again turned into a sinister black horse and nudged Roziel.

“Poor Cutie…” 

“Wheee.”

But aren’t you rubbing your face too much?

As expected, it was suspicious. I wondered if he really did receive special training from his previous owner.

It was when I was seriously agonizing over Cutie’s life.

“Huh?”

I saw someone walking from afar.

Red hair fluttering around her shoulders, taller than her peers, outstretched arms and legs, and above all, a glowing face.

To my surprise, it was a person I knew.

And I didn’t want to meet her here now.

“Le-Leniana?”

No. What happened to this being a remote place?

She would usually spend time training at the training ground or in the backyard of an annex.

I tried to hide in embarrassment, but it was too late.

Her gaze was fixed on me.

Soon after, I saw Roziel wearing a cute dragon hat in front of me.

Leniana approached us with a quick step.

“Le-Lady Leniana. What brings you here?”

“Hmm. ”

She came out in front of us and looked alternately at Roziel.

“When did you become like this?”

“It’s not like that.”

I was rumored to have been dumped while flirting with Roziel.

Thanks to rumors that I met my fate, things were able to calm down… But if I got caught playing with Roziel here…

Another rumor would be added.

And I was convinced that the rumor would be the most terrible rumor of my short life.

“Then why is the lady here with Sir Roziel?”

Her gaze turned to our picnic gear and Roziel’s hat.

“In addition… while doing such cute things.”

It was a moment when I was thinking about where to explain first. Roziel jumped up from his seat.

He looked quite powerful. But the opponent was Leniana Mienda.

She remained unshakable even in front of the young master of the Evelian family.

Roziel had on the cool face that he first showed at the banquet.

And what he said. 

“I am not cute.”

“….”

He had his focus in a strange place.

“It is rude to say such a thing to a knight. Lady.”

“….Ah.”

I didn’t know it before, but now I saw it. His eyelids trembled slightly, and the tip of his lips faltered, revealing that his face was now completely fake.

Roziel was pretending to be as cool as he could right now.

…Take off your hat and say things like that.

“I see, excuse me. Sir.”

But I seemed to be the only one who was embarrassed.

Except for me, the two were staring at each other seriously, using extreme respect.

“It’s fine. Please be careful in the future.”

“But you said you don’t like the word cute, so why are you wearing such a hat?”

“This is… a symbol of bravery.”

“Bravery?”

Roziel. No. You can’t say things like that.

“No matter how you look at it, it looks like you’re playing house.”

“…”

Leniana was a cruel woman. She sharply denied Roziel’s words of the hat as a symbol of bravery in the same manner that she sharply used her sword.

Roziel’s face was colored with embarrassment.

Look. I told you not to… I told you not to make a dark past.

He became timid and carefully took off his hat.

“My little brother likes to wear that kind of hat.”

Leniana wasn’t just good at using swords.

“For reference, my younger brother is three years old.”

She was a woman who could cut people even with words.

At her words, Roziel put on a face that looked like he was about to cry.

I realized that it was time for me to step up.

“Hmm, but he looks brave to me, don’t you think?”

My voice was a little shaky, but I hope Leniana didn’t notice.

“…”

“Geez, it’s true. Look at the spiky horns here. Besides, don’t his eyes look like wild beasts that threaten the opponent?”

“It’s just cute.”

I was embarrassed. Roziel kept his head down and was ready to dig a tunnel.

“N-no, I’ve never seen such a cool knight in my life.”

Now my voice trembled noticeably.

I wondered if my courage paid off.

Roziel raised his head sharply.

“That’s right. I’m a cool-headed and wonderful knight.

Ah. Please stop.

“Really?”

Leniana laughed as if it were fun. 

“Then the sword you’re wearing around your waist. Take it out.”

It was then that I realized the purpose of her coming here.

Did you intend to practice swordsmanship in such a pretty garden?

“Meeting Sir Roziel here, it must be God’s will to determine the number one in Agelisk right now.”

No.

“Good.”

But actually, I also wanted to watch a little. It was a match between Roziel and Leniana. It was a battle of the century.

However, I couldn’t let the two collide.

This was the Agelisk, and Roziel was the villain.

I couldn’t guarantee how a talented supremacist like Leniana would affect the novel if she saw his power in person.

So I carefully blocked Roziel and said. 

“Hey, Black Knight.”