The outside isn't scary. It's smooth. It has been such a long time since I felt so relaxed.
Well now.
The goal of going out is to rely on my own feet and memorize the surroundings' geography.
If I memorize it, I won't be lost even if I suddenly get chased out from the home to chase after skirts.
At the same time, I wanted to investigate the plants.
Incidentally, I have the botanical encyclopedia given by my father and I can identify what's edible and what's not, as well as differentiate between medicinal and poisonous plants.
That way, even if I'm chased out from home I won't get hungry.
My father just gave me a rough idea about the village plants, wheat, vegetables, and ingredients for creating perfume.
The ingredient for creating the perfume are flowers from the plant named Bardius.
A faint purplish colour, and also edible.
With an emphasis on eye-catching plants, I compare the plants I see with the botanical encyclopedia.
But the village isn't very big, so there aren't many varieties of plants. After a few days, my routes have become broader, and I started moving in the direction to the forest.
There are many types of plants in the forest.
Based on rumours from villagers, it is more dangerous inside the forest because mana tends to gather there easily.
The areas where mana tends to gather easily will have a higher chance of creating monsters.
This is because creatures will undergo sudden changes due to the mana.
Though I don't know why mana gathers inside the forest easily.
But this area has very few monsters here since the village will hunt them periodically, making it safer.
Monster Hunting is exactly as the words mean. Every month, hunters, and the self-patrolling team of men will go out in full force to enter the forest and clear them out.
But it is said that deep inside the forest, there might be the possibility of a fearsome monster.
Even though I have some form of fighting strength, I'm still someone who has never fought before.
I can't be arrogant.
I don't have actual combat experience. It would be terrible if I made a mistake because of complacency. Also, I'm not a hot-blooded person. I feel that avoiding fights is the best.
If I see any creature, I'll run to the house and report it.
I'll do just that. I climb up a small hill as I think. All alone.
Well, I had been investigating my surrounding for the past many days in pursuit of knowledge you see, which was why I hadn't made any friends yet.
『Eh, I'm bound to make a friend or two at some point.』I tried to laugh it off.
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The seasons came and went, I was six years old in the blink of an eye....and I had yet to make a single friend.
But you've got to see that I couldn't do anything about it. That was the price I needed to pay in my pursuit of knowledge. I mean, we need to take inasmuch information as possible to live. Yeah, that sounds about right. I have to admit something: I wouldn't have been able to change this situation even if I'd tried.
Upon memorizing every last vocabulary word, I would lock myself away in my father's study, glued to books of all kinds and continuing to absorb the ways of this new era. You see, in life, wisdom trumps all else. I made the right choice holing up at home for all those years and reading books upon books upon books. I tried to reassure myself once again.
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[2 weeks later]
....Erm, friends? Yeah, none to speak of. I'd been meaning to make some—I swear. That's kind of the reason I had wanted to go to the village in the first place. I'd finally thought about getting to know some other kids since I'd maxed out my pursuit of knowledge and all. But what do you know? I'm absolutely petrified of strangers, and I can't seem to strike up a conversation.
I know I'm still a 6-year-old brat, but even if that's the case, I've come to learn that humans are organisms quick to reject strangers. What if someone shot me a look of 『Who the hell are you?』 or told me outright,『Yeesh, I don't wanna be friends with you?』 The thought alone was more than enough to put me on edge, and I eventually lost my ability to even approach people, much less talk to them
...Okay, fine. I confess. All that talk about training and the pursuit of knowledge yadda-yadda-yadda was an excuse. The truth is, I was tangled up in fear and anxiety, and it left me practically immobile.
Yeah, I might be someone who has endured my father's hellish training. Yeah, I'd never been intimidated by any of my brothers. But now, a smattering of neighbourhood children is all it takes to terrify me... I'm sure you can see how this wouldn't be "fine."
Sensing a crisis close at hand, I decided to ask those who'd mastered the relationship game for their tips and tricks. In other words, I went to my parents. I mean, they'd married and given birth, right? From my perspective, that was enough to declare them successful at establishing friendships
....Well then, take a look at my father's response:
「Makin' friends? Ha-ha, that's easy! First, whoop them in the ass, then say, 'We're friends starting today!' and—」
「I'm sorry, what kind of life do you live, exactly?」
「What do you mean?」
「Isn't that how you make underlings?」
I cut him off short while he was answering.
When I finally realized I was looking in all the wrong places, I turned to my mother.
「I can't say I have a lot of friends...but I think it would be good to show them you're a gentleman, you know. If you treat everyone with integrity and honesty, I'm sure you're bound to win someone over. And then you ask them to be your friend. Or something」
My mother could teach my father a thing or two.
With her advice in mind, I hurried off to put my friend-making plan into motion.
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Another month came and went. But this time, I was living out my days giggling and tagging along with my friends...
Not. That kind of crap was nowhere to be found.
That scene couldn't be further from the truth. For some inexplicable reason, people were actively avoiding me. I'd followed the mother's advice to the very last word: I never forgot to smile; I always spoke politely to everyone; I made every gesture excessively elegant and refined.
And yet, no one wanted to strike up a friendship, much less come and approach me. Why the hell not?
Come to think of it, I'd heard a group of kids talking about me behind my back the other day.
「That Claude guy's pretty weird.」
「Weird? Try creepy.」
「Yeah, totally. Ew. Dude seriously gives me the heebie-jeebies.」
It'd been a long time since I'd gotten the urge to destroy the world... Why did things have to turn out this way?
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Another month for the books. Summertime. The days continued to be red-hot, but my attempts to connect with others remained ice-cold, stuck in the dead of winter.
And maybe it was from all this mental stress, but I sometimes caught myself crying for no reason and found a friggin' bald spot on the back of my head... I'm sure you can see how this wouldn't be "fine."
With the way things are going, maybe it's my destiny to be forever alone
...I wasn't doing myself any favours by sulking, so I got ready to start my daily routine.
「Okay, Mother. I'm off.」
「All righty! Take care, now!」
I left the house and trudged toward the mountain near the village. My goal? To investigate plants.
The first thing I did was stamp down the foliage with my foot and elbow through the taller weeds to make my way up the mountain.
『Well. Now that I'm here, it seems like today is a great day to take out my piss-poor relationship skills on some foliage.』 I thought when I heard a shrill scream.
「Aaaaaaaaagh!」
Based on that sound alone, I quickly surmised it was a boy.
But what would elicit such a cry in this peaceful mountain range? In any case, I figured I should hurry to the scene.
I tried to pinpoint the target and run to quickly reach his location.
「...Huh? Wh-where did you come from...?」sputtered a young boy who was completely befuddled.
He was probably around my age and about a hundred and forty centimetres tall, which made him more than a full head shorter than I was. He was the epitome of beauty, hair slightly too long for a child, sculpted-like nose, small cute lips, pointed chin. Along with his blue eyes, his blonde-coloured hair also appears before me. His porcelain-like skin —– along with an expression like a frightened rabbit, creates an indescribable aesthetic beauty to him.
Definitely, yup.
「Graaaaaaaah!」
As I took in the sight, I saw the source of his distress from the corner of my eye. Unleashing a fierce howl was a wild dog—Its bloodshot eyes zeroed in on us as its fur bristled, radiating pure hostility all the while.
「R-run away! I'll hold it back!」
The boy with blonde hair sprang out to shield me and draw its attention. It was as if he was the one saving some damsel in distress from a big, scary monster.
「Um, excuse me. A word?」 I asked politely.
「Wh-wh-wh-what?! I—I—I—I told you to run!」
「But...can I ask why you're so afraid? It's just a mutt.」
「Wha—?! J-just a mutt?! Do you even hear yourself?!」
「Sure I do. I'm only telling you the truth.」
Although I said it was a wild dog, it wasn't like some giant animal—large enough to make you crane your head to get a good look. It was just a small pup, probably the size of an overgrown small dog.
The small dog interrupted our conversation with a low growl...then pounced toward him, just as I shoved him out of the way, took out my wooden sword and hit him with it.
The baby dog probably realizing that it would only injure itself if it tried to attack any further ran away into the depth of the forest.
The boy began to chatter on excitedly.
「...Y-you defeated that Wolf in one hit?!」
What's with that reaction? I didn't do anything worth getting worked up over.
「It wasn't even called a wolf you know? It was a wild dog.」
「.....I'm sorry?」
Again, why was he so surprised? Did he really just mistake that for a wolf? Seriously? Like, wolves are on a whole different level compared to your wild dog or at least that's what I have heard my father say so, after all, I haven't ever encountered a real wolf before.
「...Y-yeah, you're right! G-guess it was just a slip of the tongue! Ah-ha-ha-ha!」
He blew it off with a guffaw, though it seemed suspiciously forced. Then he looked up at me with his big eyes.
「A-anyway! Y-you got a name, mister?」
「I go by Claude Curzon. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.」
「I—I see. I'm[Aiden]...」
His fidgeting caused his thighs to rub against each other as he nervously thrust out a hand.
「I-I-I-I'll let you be my first friend!」
I couldn't help but stare at the hand before me. This sudden development had me frozen in place, and when I finally calmed down enough to assess the situation...I was overcome by fervent jubilation that swelled in my heart.
「...If that is what you wish, I'll be your friend forevermore.」
The moment I gripped his hand, Aiden's entire body gave a jolt and began to tremble. A few seconds later, he pinched his face with both hands while wearing an expression that had『Is this for real? I'm not dreaming, am I?』plastered all over it.
Then his mouth broke into a smile from ear to ear on his charming little face. It was honestly as bright as the sun.
「Oh, by the way, Aiden. You may want to reevaluate whether you should extend your left hand in greeting.」
「What?! I-is it bad?!」
「Yeah. Using your left-hand means...and if you'll pardon my forwardness...'You dirty bastard, I'm going to friggin' murder you!'」
「What?! N-no, I...I never meant it like that! I'm sorry!」
Oh, Aiden. He stood around looking all flustered and cute.
His expression is just too amazing.
Well, this idea is pretty good.
He will definitely be very popular among the girls with his face. Then, if I'm with him, anyone who's leftover might take notice of me. Even though my face isn't anything special, if we two guys stand together, we will look like a quality catch.
Any girls who are not so confident will change their target to me.
I prefer them over the girls brimming with confidence.
It should work. Girls will move together with uglier ones to accentuate their beauty. I'm the opposite.
Aiden and I played like this until dark.
And that's how I'd made a friend—my very first friend.