Chapter 27

27. The Jester, the Hero, and the Parrot (9)

Grandma's gaze was fixed on Raymond.

Poor Raymond, whose head was being bitten by Luna.

"Yes, well... we are in the same class."

"Then can't you take him with you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Every day, he just comes here and stays. He probably doesn't have any friends. Why don't you play with him? Even for just today."

"But..."

"I'm worried he'll end up like that. I'm asking you, please."

Grandma extended her hands and gently held mine.

And she gave me something.

A cold metal, but to me, it felt incredibly warm!

'By the weight... it's gold!'

Not copper or silver, but gold.

An amount sufficient to make Raymond our Raymond.

"Hehe, leave it to me. I'll make sure today is a day he'll never forget."

"...I must have misjudged you. You only resemble that kind, good boy in appearance."

Hehe! What a rude thing to say!

Despite appearances, I am a person with Buddha-level perfect character!

"Raymond, come here."

"U, uh... Zero, it hurts so much."

"Luna, that's too much. Hurting my best friend Raymond!"

"...?"

I extended my arm to support Raymond.

Hehe, come here, 1 gold... no, Raymond.

For today, we are...

Best friends.

* * *

Parrot's Diary #2

"Friend! Look at this! I brought your favorite fruit!"

I spread my wings and glided.

Snap!

"Huh?"

Luthus looked at his empty hand.

I had effortlessly taken the fruit from his hand.

"Oh, well. I was hoping to use this as an excuse to play together today."

Luthus leaned against the tree trunk. It was the tree I was sitting in.

It's been a week since I started operating around the Academy.

I still haven't made any friends.

Neither the parrot me, nor the human Luthus.

"They're going to training together. I'm so envious."

"..."

"Ah~ I want to form a team with friends. I always get a zero in team play. The teachers are too harsh, don't you think?"

I heard that making friends is also considered a skill.

I can relate. This Academy is really unfair.

If there were an Academy for parrots,

'I would have gotten a zero too.'

When I had eaten about half the fruit,

Luthus's face suddenly appeared beside me.

Flap!

"Whoa!"

Thud!

Luthus fell to the ground below. It looked like at least 2 meters.

When did he climb up here?

"Ouch... sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Tears streamed down Luthus's eyes.

It must be from the pain. He must have hit his back when he fell from the tree, causing him to cry from the pain.

"I... I can't do it, can I? I can't make friends? Just because of how I look?"

Luthus sobbed.

Tears flowed endlessly from his small eyes.

Did I just deepen his heart's wound?

I don't know.

'Let's leave.'

It's a waste of time. I should leave.

But after gliding for a while, I found myself in front of Luthus.

"Parrot...?"

We look different.

We are different species.

We don't communicate well. But still,

'Can we be friends?'

I don't know.

The fact that I even have this feeling, that I even ponder this, is wrong.

But.

I wanted to comfort his loneliness, and my own, even if just for a moment.

Slowly puffing out my neck, I uttered the word I had long held back.

"Friend! Friend!"

Luthus smiled happily.

Just for a moment. Just for a short moment, we'll be friends.

For us.

Until we make other friends.

* * *

Raymond and I, who became best friends due to 1 gold.

But I soon regretted that decision.

"Best friends... I'm so happy."

Raymond twisted his body and blushed.

It's annoying when a boy acts like that.

Even when Luna stepped on me, or when Rodelin and Luna gave me disdainful looks.

There were many times when I felt I was opening my eyes to a new taste, but this taste is really not right.

Morally, socially, and even in terms of censorship!

It's going to end badly in every way.

Anyway, Raymond's shyness was a problem, but the real issue was...

"Hey, are you really best friends with him?"

"Hehe, yes."

"Why?"

"...Because he's a friend?"

"Am I not your friend? Then I'm your best friend too, right?"

"...I guess you could say that."

"Who's going to do it? I reject people without principles, you know?"

Do friends need principles too?

But I couldn't say, "That's a surprising fact!" because Luna's eyes were sharp.

'This doesn't feel good...'

Luna's questioning didn't stop there.

"Since when have you been best friends?"

"Well... the other day, after I parted ways with Luna... "

"I saw you go into the dormitory. You haven't come out since then."

How does she know I haven't come out?

The daughter I cherished (?) turns out to be a stalker?

"Explain exactly when, where, and how you became best friends."

Do I have to explain the reasons for becoming best friends in detail?

I'm not going to do such a troublesome thing.

"Hehe, Luna. Do best friends need a reason? You become best friends when you click."

"That's exactly what I'm curious about. How did you click? You've never met before."

Ah, I see. When it comes to friends, even smooth talk doesn't work?

I learned a new fact.

The problem is that the price is my life.

"What? What? What's the reason~ Ah?"

As Luna slowly leaned in, pressing me,

Raymond interrupted, shouting.

"Stop it! Be jealous of me!"

"Jealous? What are you talking about? I wouldn't be jealous. I hate such unprincipled and dirty kids."

"Jealous, right? It's ugly! Jealousy is really ugly!"

"Ugly, huh?"

Snap, snap, snap.

Luna's neck made a strange sound as it bent.

It's scary.

I'm not joking, it's really scary.

It's like a horror movie is unfolding right in front of me.

Oh, and it even looks a bit like the final boss.

"Ah, ah!"

Raymond hid behind me.

Making Luna the final boss and hiding behind me.

Typical Raymond.

"Taxidermy... I'll do it. The title will be 'The Friend Who Couldn't Be Best Friends.' Don't worry, it won't hurt at all."

To make a taxidermy, you have to remove all the skin.

That's the default.

Luna, with her neck bent almost 90 degrees, approached.

I blurted out an excuse I just thought of.

"Hehe, Luna. Do we really need to call our relationship 'best friends'? We share secrets."

Pause.

"Even best friends don't share secrets casually, right?"

"Um... right."

Only then did Luna's neck return to its original position.

Luna glanced at Raymond and said,

"We share many secrets, a very intimate and sticky (?) relationship."

No, it's not that intimate.

A smile appeared on Luna's lips, as if she didn't care about my thoughts.

A victorious smile.

Seeing that, Raymond started to babble.

"I, I like cute things."

"..."

"Zero, you know? When I was little..."

Does he think that by sharing secrets, he can become more than just a friend?

Raymond kept babbling.

He even whispered secrets I didn't really want to know.

Ah, I'm tired. Really.

"Alright, let's end the chitchat. Everyone, focus, please?"

Rodelin's call to gather.

It seems she has finally organized her thoughts.

"I've organized the information. It seems there was an incident 20 years ago."

The loss of the holy sword, the disappearance of a student, traces of a demon, the appearance of a parrot, and signs of erosion.

"They could be separate events, or they could all be connected. But at least three of them are likely related."

While they are all interconnected, Rodelin can't be sure from her perspective.

"The problem is that there's no place left to gather more information. Does anyone have any ideas?"

Rodelin's question. But everyone remained silent.

Only Rodelin has a brain capable of reasoning here.

'Well, I'm an exception.'

Perhaps hoping for something from me, Rodelin glanced my way.

I decided to give her the answer, as she wished.

In the original game, you wander around the Academy to find clues, but that's a waste of time.

'More importantly, I don't want to deal with those two.'

The friend battle between Luna and Raymond.

Just being around them is mentally draining.

Anyway, I stroked my chin with one hand and spoke.

"Hmm... what about the place where the holy sword was?"

"The holy sword? But that place is..."

"You think it's the least likely, right? Because it's too obvious."

"...!!"

Rodelin's eyes widened.

We are looking for traces of a demon.

More precisely, we are looking for a laboratory or research facility for erosion.

So, the place where the holy sword was should be the first to be ruled out.

Although only the imprint of the sword being stuck in the ground remains, it is still a place where a holy sword was once embedded.

It continuously emits holy power.

Would anyone build a demon's research facility near such a place?

It would be a crazy move.

"Exactly because of that, it's a possibility."

"Yes, the investigators back then probably thought the same way we do. So, they probably didn't search the area around where the holy sword was thoroughly."

"Hmm..."

"Why, don't they say the darkest place is under the lamp?"

"The darkest place is under the lamp..."

Rodelin mimicked my pose and muttered.

Did she realize that this is a pose that increases reasoning skills?

After a moment of thought, Rodelin said,

"It's worth investigating. The safety of the students is the most important."

"An excellent choice."

"Unfortunately, we can't request support from the Academy. We don't have solid evidence yet..."

I smiled inwardly at Rodelin's muttering.

Currently, we only have rumors.

Without concrete evidence, we can't request support lightly.

'You should enjoy the good things alone.'

If there's a strong person in the group, they will be kicked out just before encountering a demon's fragment.

Who would let a student fight a demon?

"Let's go."

So, we headed to the grave of the holy sword.