Became a Childhood Friend of an Academy Genius

2 – Unexpected Luck

Four years have passed since Lone manifested her magic.

Quite a lot has changed during that time.

“Bell! I brought you a present!”

“Uh, uh…. Thank you.”

The biggest change is that why it became Lorne’s side instead of me bringing things to offer.

When she was bored, she would come to my house and offer me shiny stones, coins, and sometimes fruits from the backyard that she had picked up from somewhere.

A magpie that repaid the favor.

Before becoming a great mage later, I thought she would be in a position to keep giving from this side, but seeing Lorne, who has already started to repay me, her feelings are very new.

Although he has never had a child, this is probably his father’s heart.

‘Anyway, there are quite a lot today.’

I thought it was a gift, and like the last time, he would bring broken glass pieces from somewhere, but today he brought them all in a basket.

When I peeked at the contents inside, there were quite a lot of fruits and vegetables piled up.

There are also apricots that Lorne and I like.

Anyway, it is clear that she brought this because she wanted to eat it.

Don’t touch it carelessly and give it to the future archmage to eat it.

Just like that, I looked around the basket and checked what items were in it.

Lorne, who was standing next to her, suddenly clasped her hands and called me cautiously.

“Hey….”

“Why? Do you have something to say?”

“Yeah, it’s not like that….”

It’s not something I would say to a girl, but it looks like a dog that wants to poop.

Usually when Lorne says something like this, it’s just that I can’t get her to say it because I’m noticing it, so if I stab her one more time, the answer comes out.

“Tell me, it’s okay. Is something going on?”

“This is not a job. Bell doesn’t seem to be giving compliments these days.”

“A compliment?”

Oh, you mean stroking.

It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I think it’s rude to put my hands on a girl’s body now that I’m older.

In addition, I had a hint of lately that Lorne was refusing to have physical contact with me.

I’ve never said it outright, but when I go up the back mountain and hold my hand, I suddenly shrink my body.

In the past, there were a lot of things like Lorne hugging me, but these days it hasn’t happened at all.

‘Is it puberty?’

At least I came up with an inference, but it doesn’t really come to me.

I heard that girls go through puberty earlier than boys, but I don’t think puberty will come at 12.

Anyway, good work is good work, so praise should be given.

Since Lone herself seems to want it, she has no particular reason to be reluctant.

“Yes, well done. Thank you.”

“hehehe…. Huh!”

As she stroked Lorne’s hair while expressing her sincere gratitude, a bright smile soon spread across her face.

In my eyes, he still looks more like a two-year-old than a twelve-year-old.

Is it normal to remain this innocent until the age of 12? I do not know.

“Huh? But what is it?”

While rummaging through the basket, she found some strange fruit buried among her apricots.

Clear blue fruit that looks like it has moved the sky.

The size was just enough to hold in my young hand.

At least it’s a fruit I don’t remember, what is it?

“Ah, I picked it up on the spot! It looks strange, so I wanted to bring it to Bell.”

“Really?”

My habit of showing me something new is still the same.

Anyway, I didn’t expect to hear that I came and picked it up here.

“Sniff sniff.”

I sniffed it as a test, but it doesn’t have a special fruity scent.

It’s the first time I’ve seen it, so it’s a bit difficult to try it.

But since it looks pretty, should I just keep it?

“It might be poisonous, so set this aside and ask your sister or parents later. Got it?”

“Yes!”

Fortunately, Lorne doesn’t seem to care much as he watches me slide the fruit aside.

I wondered what would happen if someone felt sad at the thought of not accepting his gift.

If it’s meaningful just by giving me a present, then you’re so kind.

“By the way, Lone, where did you get that fruit from?”

“I picked it up in a cave in the back mountain. It was put in spring water.”

“A cave?”

If it’s a cave, you mean the one that wild boars use as a hideout?

I’m not afraid. The air around there is rather spooky, so I don’t really like stepping into it either.

‘Well, Lorne has always been fearless.’

As long as it wasn’t like a snake, he also showed me how to slash spiders and light insects with his hands.

Contrary to her innocent appearance, she has a pretty girl-crush side.

Although it’s funny how you quickly return to your usual sloppy Lorne in front of me.

“I also received a present, so today I will play with Lone to the fullest.”

“Really?”

“Sure. What do you want to do?”

“Ugh…. I want to take a nap with Belle!”

I was trying to find something to play with, but what a nap?

I’m grateful that I was able to move my body just a little while ago, but I wonder if I’m too considerate of myself.

“You can play with something else.”

“Yeah, it’s okay. Taking a nap with Belle is the most fun.”

I suggested it again just in case, but Lorne shook his head and resolutely wanted to take a nap.

Somehow, it feels like you’re saying that I’m a boring guy.

Out of all the things I’ve played with, taking a nap is the best.

The past days when I thought of this and that kind of fun game for her in order to score her as much as possible are passing by like a kaleidoscope.

But it’s okay because you don’t have to suffer to play around saying that good is good.

In the end, according to Lone’s words, we decided to bury ourselves in the bed where I sleep and take a nap together.

Since the bed was so small, I had to stick to it, but I thought it was because it wasn’t yesterday or today.

* * * *

About a month has passed since Lorne brought her unidentified fruit.

I kept looking at the shabby dining table because of a growing sense of alienation.

‘Why doesn’t that hurt?’

The time of one month is colorless, but the blue fruit that Lorne brought is still intact.

It hasn’t festered anywhere, and it hasn’t even lost its vitality, literally.

Just like a model modeled after a fruit he saw in the other world.

‘What kind of fruit do you think it is?’

At least, none of the fruits I can remember hang from trees, and there is no species that survives for a month even when stored casually at room temperature like this.

At least, bananas start to have brown stains on their yellow skins, and persimmons even turn into persimmons.

Maybe it’s not an ordinary fruit.

When I reached that point, I suddenly remembered that this place was a fantasy world.

And that name exists in every fantasy world.

‘Could it be the elixir?’

It is a common presence in martial arts.

It is a divine substance blessed by nature that increases strength just by eating it together with doll tongue ginseng and brings about tens or hundreds of years of training effect.

Of course, I have no certainty that such a valuable object suddenly fell in front of me.

However, the existence of the elixir definitely existed in the original work, so it is not a very unlikely story.

Moreover, the fact that it was immersed in the spring water in the cave that Lorne mentioned is somehow bothering me.

Even if I can understand that the fruit that flew in from somewhere due to a recent typhoon has gone in there, why is there such a unique fruit that I have never seen before?

I lay there staring at the fruit in silence, then I jumped up.

Even if it’s a poisonous fruit, it’s fine as long as you don’t die from eating it.

If it’s such a dangerous fruit to begin with, there’s no way my parents, who have lived here for nearly 40 years, won’t be aware of it.

‘If anything goes wrong, I apologize in advance. Father, mother, sister.’

When I saw the blue fruit in my hand, I made up my mind and then opened my mouth wide and bit it without hesitation.

Enemy.

It’s a rather strange taste.

Like the figs I ate in the other world, it’s bland and sweet, and the flesh is so much that it overflows my mouth.

At that moment, I was worried that I might get stomachaches or nausea from clearing the fruit like that.

Surprisingly, nothing changed in the body.

‘Was it really just a fruit?’

The ending is more futile than I thought.

At least, if I had a sudden stomachache, I’d just say, “Oh, I’ve been an asshole.”

Still, I thought it would be better than eating the wrong thing and getting sick, so I decided to think positively.

At the moment I was about to leave the house for a while with such a light heart.

“Huh?”

I don’t know if it’s a sense of incongruity, but somehow my steps felt lighter.

Although I’ve never been obese, I can’t express it clearly, but I feel like I’ve lost weight.

The overall weight of the body is reduced, and the footwork is definitely light.

Along with that, my mind became clear as if I had just laid down in the Great Forest.

Originally, when I was thinking or standing still, I felt like there was some kind of hazy residue left in my head, but even that feeling was completely gone.

I wondered if it was a placebo effect, so I went outside with the wooden sword I use for recent training.

I took the same posture as usual, grabbed the wooden sword with both hands, and swung it with all my might.

Not just once, but twice, three times. Until your body gets tired.

Whiik! Whiik!

Thirty times.

Forty times.

Fifty times.

Even though I swung the wooden sword quite a few times, I felt almost no strain on my arm.

If I had just started training and had been in my original body, I would have felt pain in my shoulders and arms about 20 times.

‘Was it really a miracle?’

For that reason, I didn’t feel a sudden burst of power from my body.

My body just became lighter. And the burden was lessened.

I’d say it’s really just that much.

‘Wait, could this be?’

When I reached that point, there was one thing that suddenly popped into my head.

In the original work, it was called the fruit of the dreams of martial artists.

【Mephisto’s Grace】.

An elixir that does not increase the strength of the person who takes it, but increases the threshold for growth and increases the vitality of the body.

According to my memory, it must have had a blue appearance.

It was only mentioned in the work, but I forgot about it because I erased it from my memory because no one said that I ate it.

Anyway, did you mean I picked up and ate the fruit?

‘If it were true, it would be possible.’

Continuing my reasoning, I clenched my fists and made up my mind.

Perhaps this is the first and last blessing from God, who took pity on me for not having any talent or anything.

So that Beomjae, who was born next to a genius childhood friend, can reach the level of chasing after him.

Then you should use it to your heart’s content.

Six years until admission to the academy.

I have no choice but to do the best I can within that time.