Chapter 1 – The Deep Friendship of Childhood Friends

The outskirts of the Empire.

South Valley, a peaceful village located at the southern end of the continent.

It was a place proud of its clear water flowing through the gorge and its clean air.

On top of that, a ‘Healing Center’ opened by Mr. Germanium, who had moved to the village a few years ago. South Valley was such a small town that its only notable distinction was that, thanks to that Healing Center, it had become a must-visit tourist destination of the Empire.

It was a rural village so quiet it was almost boring, without any special incidents at all.

…It certainly had been that way until five minutes ago.

“Get out! Get out this instant! Get out of my house!”

At Aunt Anne’s furious voice as she flung a broom without hesitation, tears welled up in Irien’s eyes.

How could something like this be fair.

She was about to be thrown out overnight without a single coin to her name.

“Auntie! This is too much, really! I hate it! I said I hate it!”

“If you hate it, then get out! What’s so great about marriage, right? Every single day you just lie around sprawled out and rolling about… I can’t tolerate it any longer! You parasite! Get out of my house! Either get married or get out right now, choose one!”

“Th-that’s… Aunt Anne! Please, just give me one month. Hm?”

Irien clasped her hands and begged, making the most pitiful expression she could, but it was no use at all. Aunt Anne shook her head firmly, then soon brought out coarse salt and began scattering it in sharp flings.

“You parasite! Be gone! Out! Get out of my house this instant!”

“…This is really too much.”

Irien, who had stood there being pelted with salt in silence for quite a while, let tears stream down her face.

Really, it was too much no matter how one looked at it. Even if she was not her real daughter, how could she suddenly treat the niece she had raised so dearly since childhood like this!

Of course… it was true that she had spent every day rolling around on the bed, buried in cookies and novels… but even so!

“Just you wait. I’ll make you regret this, Auntie! I’m going to marry a man far better than that Thomas brat who looks like a squashed tomato! And when the time comes, it won’t matter even if you beg me. So there!”

“Good grief! As if you’d ever meet a man like that. By what means? Thomas is a hundred times too good for you, what ridiculous nonsense are you spouting! Where would you find another decent young man like him these days! Irien, anyway, don’t you even think about coming back to this house now! Understood?”

“Fine! I don’t need some pathetic marriage anyway! I’ll become even more successful! Just you watch!”

Bang!

Aunt Anne looked utterly fed up, then turned around and went back into the house. At the sound of the door being slammed shut, Irien made a sullen face, then clicked her tongue.

“Tch….”

Looking at the tightly shut door, Irien pursed her lips and turned away.

She was only twenty, just three years past coming of age.

Aunt Anne was too cold-hearted.

How much could she possibly eat, and how much mess could she possibly make, for her to be called a parasite?

Irien paused and recalled the past for a moment, then sucked in a breath. It did feel as though a memory of her doing something wrong surfaced for an instant, but… that was surely just her imagination.

Irien grumbled as she kicked at a pebble by her foot for no reason.

“Fine! I’ll take care of myself and live well on my own. Life is alone in the end anyway.”

She said that, but the more she thought about it, the more absurd it felt.

In a rural village like this, there was no proper work she could really do. At best, all she could do was help out with Aunt Anne’s farm work or run little errands for the elderly and receive snacks or a bit of pocket money.

Something for which one did not even receive proper wages could hardly be called work, could it.

“Haah.”

At this rate, it was no different from when she had been a little child running errands.

She had at least recently tried to get hired as an employee at the ‘Healing Center’ that had opened not long ago, but she had been thoroughly rejected at the interview.

Something about how the progression of the original story must not be changed, or whatever.

Those were the words Mr. Germanium, who ran the Healing Center, had said. Since he had given a reason that made neither sense nor any kind of logic, he probably just had not liked her.

He might as well have just said he did not like her. Giving a ridiculous reason like that only made even pride she had not known she possessed feel wounded.

Irien sat down by the stream where the windmill was turning peacefully and let out a sigh. Then she soon grabbed at her hair and cried out.

“Darn it! I should’ve controlled my temper. I don’t even have anywhere to go!”

“Irien.”

At the low voice calling her name, Irien startled and whipped her head around. Behind her stood a tall man who had come up without her noticing.

“U-uh?”

When she lifted her head and looked up, she saw a familiar face.

Black hair that looked as though it had been roughly brushed back, and mischievous black eyes.

And on top of that, the noticeably solid yet lean build was unmistakably Dexter.

Dexter, her childhood friend of fifteen years.

While Dexter’s long eyelashes blinked several times, Irien simply sat there blankly with her mouth hanging open. Then only after quite some time, as if her senses had finally returned, she pointed at him with her fingertip and cried out.

“Y-you…!”

“It’s been a long time, Irien.”

Dexter smiled softly, walked over, and dropped down beside her. It was such an easy, familiar action, as if he had seen her yesterday and was seeing her again today.

Even though he had appeared after no less than three whole years!

Dexter, who had vanished without a word, was acting as though nothing at all had happened. Somehow, anger surged up in her chest. Irien had always disliked this brazenly slick bastard.

“You shameless jerk! You disappeared without even a word. Why did you come back to the village?”

“I came to see you.”

She could not read his intentions at all from those pitch-black eyes staring straight at her. Irien could not endure Dexter’s serious gaze as he quietly looked at her.

Whenever she locked eyes with this guy, she was always the one who lost. Even in something as simple as a staring contest, she was always the loser.

Irien awkwardly scratched the back of her head and averted her gaze.

Dexter, the annoyingly gifted childhood friend who had monopolized the affection of all the village elders.

Three years ago. He had left the village without a single word to her, and had gone on to become a dragon slayer. He had killed a Red Dragon and become the highest-paid mercenary in the Empire, and a hero to boot.

There was no need to say more when even this tucked-away rural village had heard the rumors. A guy who had always been impressive had now returned as one of the most remarkable men on the continent.

If the village elders found out he had come back, they would probably make an uproar saying they ought to throw a feast.

Anyway, perhaps because they had spent more than ten years together, it was hard to stop the corners of her mouth from automatically trying to rise in gladness. But she absolutely hated the thought of openly welcoming this wretched jerk so easily.

The last scraps of pride left in one corner of her heart simply would not allow it.

“Irien, didn’t you miss me?”

“Miss you? Not a chance! Without you around, I felt completely relieved, you know?”

Maybe because it had been so long since they last met, Irien kept feeling awkward. So without thinking, she lightly punched Dexter on the shoulder and spoke teasingly. She had only meant to ease the awkward atmosphere.

But perhaps she had made some sort of mistake, because Dexter’s face only darkened abruptly.

However, she had no time to think about why Dexter’s face had darkened.