Hearing the knocking, Eriu hurried to pick up the candlestick on the table. Besides, this was not an inn where he had to set many traps for intruders, here there were only children and adult women who were his mother's friends.
Pulling out the candle from the candle stick turned both hands into weapons, Eriu held the candle in his right hand between his index and middle fingers. This way, he could turn the doorknob and immediately thrust the candlestick, making the perpetrator pause before hitting him with the candle.
"Hufttt..." He let out a breath and silently counted down.
One.
His left hand gripped the doorknob.
Two.
Immediately, the doorknob turned.
Three!
Eriu pulled open the door immediately and pushed out the candlestick in his right hand.
Brukkk!
"Woahh!?" Since Eriu intended to attack, this meant that he would fall unless the enemy was in front of him. The smell of the grass was so strong that even Eriu, who had closed his eyes before falling, could feel the clay grass sticking to his face.
Startled, he immediately opened his eyes.
"....!?" Behind the open door was a large river with violin playing. The violin strings kept making sounds with each bow. The beautiful tones in combination with the green and blue colors are beautiful as summer.
The sound of the violin notes continues to be heard by an unknown masterpiece creator.
A sudden feeling of happiness arises in the listener.
A listener who just wanted to dance every time he heard the violin notes.
Before he was fully hypnotized, Eriu stood up and stepped into the room, closing the door immediately.
"Haaa... Haaa... What the hell was that?" Even if it was only for a moment, he could not forget that feeling of bliss, that overwhelming sense of euphoria like an addict getting their drug back.
The panting Eriu slowly regained consciousness, "...Don't tell me this is a side mission? No way..."
"Wait, this might be a possible side mission... 'Eriu Grith' can use magic."
Until now, he had been wondering why 'Eriu Grith' could use healing magic when he was injured.
'Eriu Grith' was an ordinary person?
No way. If he was a chimera, it would mean that the real 'Eriu Grith' was also a chimera.
All of a sudden, his memory was pulled back to the first day he met 001.
Those who are chosen can enter the famous school, but 'Eriu Grith' is not a chosen one. Even though he was a friend of the protagonist, there was no way to change the rooted rules.
However, if the conditions are met, 'Eriu Grith' can enter the school.
Tang!
The sound of a falling object startled Eriu who was thinking, he immediately turned his head only to see the great sword falling. It should have been in the bag. Yes, it should be...
But the great sword, which Eriu had never seen or touched during this entire journey, fell. It was not covered by a scabbard or even in a bag.
The sound of silence after the great sword fell, a second seemed like a minute.
"!!!"
Immediately, the sound of the violin that had disappeared was heard again, and the great sword opened its eyes.
His heart skipped a beat between nervousness and excitement. The song that was being played sounded terrifying, like the tune played when a player encounters a boss that needs to be defeated. Even the speed at which the notes appeared made him think that sooner or later, the strings of the violin would break.
'Damn! Damn! Damn!'
Not wanting to waste time with a sword that suddenly had eyes, Eriu immediately touched the doorknob and tried to open the door, but no matter how hard he tried, the door would not open at all.
Teng!!!
The sound of the string breaking and in an instant, the shadows from the sword spread out, making the whole room dark. Fearing that something was about to attack him, Eriu turned his head only to see that darkness had overtaken everything, but strangely enough, he could still see.
At the same time, every eye in the darkness opened. Staring at him.
He immediately turned his head towards the doorknob, but only saw the eyes staring at him, as if his hand had been eaten by the darkness. All eyes curved as if taunting a child that had been cornered.
Although Eriu screamed, his voice did not come out.
It was as if he was being pulled into the darkness.
'I haven't told Eros to be careful. I should have written it down sooner...' Eriu suddenly smelled ink, somehow he felt he was holding the little book in his hand. Just as he thought about the book for a moment, a stinging sensation shocked him and woke him up, just as a knock on the door sounded.
Knock-knock.
"Hufff, huftt..." Cold sweat soaked his entire body, his heartbeat was like a drum that kept beating, his vision gradually blurred into clarity and the sound of a pen dropping.
Knock.... Knock.
The sound of knocking could be heard in the room once again. Just like before, Eriu could not smell anything. His body went stiff, just remembering the previous incident made him feel as if everything was repeating itself.
Everything was like a nightmare.
"Eri..." After the knocking stopped, there was a child's voice behind the door. "...Is he sleeping?" The girl standing in front of the door mumbled. Realizing that the person knocking was Noah, Eriu wanted to open the door, but somehow he felt that something bad would happen if he opened the door...
The reason was the dream, of course. Even though his sense of smell was sharp enough to make his nose hurt, he could tell which one was human and which one was not.
It was probably because he was still remembering the dream. Maybe because of that, his sense of smell became dull.
Eriu was silent for a while before he got up and went over to open the door.
"Ah!" Noah stepped back, surprised by the sudden opening of the door.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Eriu scratched his neck, "Why were you looking for me?" Eriu asked afterwards. Noah blinked and noticed that Eriu's face was very pale.
"Uh... Are you sick?"
"Hm?" Eriu blinked a few times and shook his head. "No, why?"
"Your face looks pale."
Hearing this, Eriu held his face and made a confused face, "Really? Um, maybe it's because I'm tired, I just got here after a long journey."
Hearing the words 'tired and long journey', Noah felt bad, "Sorry, I interrupted your rest..."
"No, I've had enough rest!"
"But I disturbed you anyway, sorry..."
Eriu, who felt that this was not going to end, immediately asked about their arrival, "It's okay, don't mind, and you must have something to tell me, right?"
Noah paused before nodding, "Um..."
"Mom invited you to dinner." Hearing this, Eriu nodded, after all, this was not his house, so he had to follow the rules that already existed in this house. And his mother was also someone who would be angry if he didn't go downstairs to eat together, but sometimes, if he was lazy, he could skip it.
"Let's go." Eriu walked out and closed the door to the room.
"Ehm!" The two walked down the long hallway together.
Tap, tap.
The echoing sound of each of them walking could be heard throughout the hallway, Eriu turned to Noah and asked, "Don't you feel lonely?"
"Huh? Lonely?" A question mark appeared on Noah's tiny face. Her bright green eyes blinked a few times.
"Um, I mean, this house is so big and there's just the two of you living here, it's bound to feel like you want to play with people your own age sometimes..." Today he was sure why many people said he wasn't good enough at explaining things.
When he saw that Noah didn't say anything and looked away, Eriu felt uncomfortable, had he said something that shouldn't have been said? Besides, he had received information that Noah's father was having an affair... She must have a half-brother.
"Ahh, you don't have to answer that, really! I'm just a little curious..."
Before Eriu could finish his sentence, Noah looked back at him. To her, the child of the same age as him looked like an unapproachable child, his expression was sometimes readable and sometimes not, his red-blooded eyes made him look terrifying, but for now, she saw those red-blooded eyes as warm.
"Of course I feel lonely."
Eriu panicked and those blood red eyes opened wide in surprise at the sight of the person next to him. Her black hair moved with her every move and those green eyes smiled.
"I would love to play with my siblings, but unfortunately, my mother has forbidden it."
The quiet one slowly opened her heart.
"That's why I was so happy when mom said her friend's son was coming to visit."
"That makes me so happy!"
The sound of the girl's heartbeat rang out, a pink blush coloring her cheeks. Everything was like a movie tape playing.
It was raining that day, and the sky seemed to understand the boy's sadness. This day was also the worst day for him, he was abandoned by his parents.
The boy didn't understand why, but because he felt lonely at home without anyone, he decided to leave the house. He walked through every puddle and ended up sitting on a swing with his eyes swollen.
Hasty footsteps could be heard, every puddle she stepped in, the sound of her ragged breathing. The girl ran through the rain without her umbrella.
"Haa... haa..." The girl stopped to try to regain her strength.
"The child on the playground?" A confused woman said, "No, that's not my child."
"Ah, I see... I thought it was your child, I am sorry I made such a mistake." The security guard scratched his head, probably because his yellow raincoat covered his work clothes, making the woman a little suspicious.
"Don't worry about that. Then I'll take my leave." The woman quickly left, leaving the confused security guard behind.
The security guard, who was about to return to the playground, was surprised by the girl who suddenly lunged at him.
"Uncle!"
"!? Hey, you know it's raining! You'll get sick if you don't wear a raincoat or an umbrella!"
"That boy, is that boy wearing purple?"
"Eh? Yes." The security guard was confused, but he reacted immediately.
Immediately, the girl ran away from the security guard and did not forget to say thank you to him, "Thank you, uncle!"
"Hey!" The security guard immediately called out to her, "You'll get sick if you keep standing in the rain!" The guard wanted to go to her, but today he had to make a report, not to mention the boy, he had to bring a raincoat for him.
The boy looked down at his mud-covered feet, the raindrops that were like musical notes.
His tears slowly mixed with the rainwater, tears he could no longer hold back.
"May!" When the boy heard his name called, he immediately raised his head. The girl smiled and walked towards him, "Let's go home!"
"..." May looked at the girl blankly, "Where to?" He asked.
"Huh, home of course!" The girl smiled broadly as she pulled his hand.
"We'll be family forever, I'll be your friend forever!" The girl said the dumbest but warmest sentence in this rain.
"Even if we are both old, I will always be your friend!"
"So don't be sad anymore, let's go home!"
The boy fell silent before his crying increased, in the empty playground, the girl made a promise.
Eriu laughed, embarrassing Noah, "Then we'll be friends forever!"
"Even when we are both old, we will be friends forever!" Hearing these words made Noah speechless and her eyes immediately watered.
"So don't feel lonely anymore."
Eriu immediately took Noah's hand and ran down the long corridor.
Who do you think will be alive in old age?
Life isn't always fair, but who cares, if I die first, I'll write a long letter laughing about the stories of our youth, and if you die first, I'll visit your grave often and tell you about our silly times.
Because we are friends!
Even if we grow old.