Chapter 1

"Ruisa, you really are a crybaby!"

One day, as I was practicing magic as usual, my childhood friend Erena Barnwood came to berate me.

"With that kind of way to cultivate your magic, there's no way you'll be able to use it! You need to do it with more of a 'whoosh' feeling!"

"Y-You can't understand just by saying it like that..."

"What!? You, Ruisa, are talking back to me!? How insolent!!"

Erena got angry at my words and started kicking me.

It hurts, it hurts! It might just be play for her, but her kicks are too painful for me, who isn't physically strong.

Because I regularly receive power harassment from Erena, my body is covered in bruises.

It's terrible. Why do I have to go through this?

"Really, you're such a handful. I can't help it! I, the super genius childhood friend, Erena, will train Ruisa!"

Erena said this with a smug "Hmph."

I'm frustrated, but it's true that Erena is a genius.

Starting with her first use of magic at the age of three, she has blossomed in various talents and eventually became known as a 'prodigy.'

To top it off, she is very beautiful. Large, clear eyes with long lashes, long, shiny black hair, and smooth skin. And a chest that even adult men can't help but stare at.

Erena was a beauty that didn't fit in with the rural village where I live.

However, her personality is the worst.

She is nice to others, but she regularly resorts to violence and insults me, her childhood friend.

To make matters worse, she apparently tells everyone that I am her boyfriend.

No way! I prefer someone kinder!

I want to tell her this, but the fear I have of her prevents me from doing so.

Such days will continue.

I had resigned myself to this, but on a certain day when I was 15, a turning point arrived.

"Well, today I, your kind lover, will train you, Ruisa!"

I was secretly training in the back of my house when, unfortunately, Erena found me.

She spotted me and said with a malicious smile, "Well, well, what do we have here?"

No way. Erena's training only hurts me and doesn't make me stronger.

The prodigy Erena can't understand how I feel, a person without talent.

Damn it, I'm sick of this. I want to practice on my own today.

"...Sorry, I want to do it alone today. Can you do it another time?"

"Huh? You still think you can get stronger!?! A talentless Ruisa can't get strong!! Just be my plaything and that's enough!"

Useless.

Erena's words made me feel a rage I had never felt before.

How much effort have I put into training? To dismiss all my efforts without even knowing...

"I have a good idea! Ruisa, leave the village! That way, you won't be a burden to the villagers! It might be lonely, but I'll come visit you, so it's fine, right? What a happy life!"

In the end, she even suggested I be exiled from the village.

...Erena wants to take everything from me. My place, my efforts, my purpose, my pride.

I can't take it anymore.

I've reached my limit!

"...I've reached my limit. I can't be with Erena anymore."

"Eh? W-What do you mean!?"

When I coldly said this, Erena visibly panicked.

She probably never thought I, who she considers inferior, would rebel.

"You can't mean you're breaking up with me...! It's a miracle that I'm dating someone as cute as me, so why!?"

I never even wanted to be her boyfriend...

But that's not important now.

"No."

When I said this, Erena's face brightened. Why is she so happy that I'm her boyfriend?

She doesn't even like me, she just treats me like a punching bag.

I'm so frustrated.

I need to end this relationship.

"Not just as a lover. I don't even want to be friends with Erena! Stay away from me!!"

For the first time in my life, I strongly rejected Erena.

Erena's face turned pale.

"Eh, n-no, you must be joking? Ruisa, you love me, right? Tell me it's a joke!"

"...I liked the kind you from the past, but I hate the current Erena, who is obsessed with power! Fine, I'll be exiled, I'll leave this village where Erena is!"

"You hate me...? But I've been so kind to you..."

Erena, looking bewildered, couldn't understand.

I saw this as my chance and fled into the nearby forest.

I could hear "Wait!!" from behind, but I ignored it.

I will become strong on my own.

And I will show Erena one day!

I swore revenge on her in my heart and began my training.

◇

"Huh, this forest is still as hard to navigate as ever."

I, Ruisa Bardy, was fleeing from Erena and advancing into the forest near the village.

This dense forest is easy to get lost in, and villagers rarely venture near it, so it's perfect for secret training.

I don't plan to return to the village anytime soon, so I'll build a small house here later.

I can probably survive by eating nuts and wild vegetables.

"Is this place good?"

I found an open area with few trees and decided to use it for today's training.

The training I will do now is wind magic.

Ordinary people can use simple initial magic without much training. For wind magic, anyone can learn to create a gentle breeze with a little instruction.

But I'm different.

Creating a gentle breeze is as difficult for me as using advanced magic.

I'm always mocked by Erena for not being able to do such a simple thing.

But I'm tired of it.

If I keep being bullied for such a pitiful thing, I won't be able to face my parents in heaven.

"Alright. Let's start."

I sat on the ground, closed my eyes, and focused my mind.

I concentrated the magic inside my body into my fingertips and carefully refined it.

"Alright, this is good so far."

The problem comes next.

I'm not good at converting the refined magic into a spell.

"Ha! Wind Whirl!"

I released the refined magic to activate the spell, but it dispersed with a pitiful "poof" sound.

Sigh, it didn't work again.

But this is nothing new.

I have to at least move a single leaf.

I tried many times, but I didn't improve much.

Of course, part of the reason is that I'm clumsy, but there's something else that's bothering me.

"Hmm, something feels off..."

The air in the forest feels strange. I haven't seen any small animals.

"Maybe there's a monster... If so, I should end this early."

I really want to train more, but my life is more important.

As I was packing up to leave, I noticed something.

"...? I feel magic from over there."

It was a large amount of magic, even for me, who has a low magic detection ability.

Normally, I wouldn't approach something unknown, but I found myself drawn to the source of the magic like a moth to a flame.

"This is... a hole?"

What I found was a crack about 3 meters deep in the ground.

The crack was emitting a blinding light, and I couldn't see the bottom.

"The magic was coming from here. I should report this to the villagers."

I was relieved it wasn't a monster, but I couldn't leave this mysterious thing unattended.

I stopped looking and was about to return to the village when I slipped.

"Eh?"

It was a completely self-inflicted accident.

I lost my balance because my foot got caught in the fallen leaves, a very embarrassing reason.

Normally, someone would be able to regain their balance, but I, known for my lack of coordination, couldn't do it.

"Ah, God. If I'm reborn, please give me a kinder childhood friend..."

I fell into the mysterious crack with those pitiful last words.