I reincarnated as a losing heroine, the hero’s childhood friend who lost to the main heroine, so I switched jobs to alchemist

Chapter 17: Future hero!

"...the village was attacked?"

I muttered in disbelief.

--The timeline of "The Last Brave" is definitely approaching. It's not just a matter of the time or the day, but it's also a matter of the speed the events are happening!

Lucas grasped my hand as if to call me back from my complete astonishment.

I wonder if these hands have protected them all.

"No one was hurt, you can rest assured."

"... Lucas got rid of it?"

Lucas nodded his head.

While I was relieved to hear that no one was injured, I wondered if the person who defeated the demon himself wasn't injured.
He is the kind of kid who hides it if he's the only one injured.

I asked fast, closing the distance so that I could cling to his body in front of me.

"Where? Lucas tell me!!　Didn't you get hurt?"

For some reason, Lucas glanced around happily. And.

"It's okay. This eye lit up again and I managed to defeat it. Plus, the adults in the village have helped me out too."

He laughed and pointed to his own left eye.
At the beginning of "The Last Brave", the villagers tell us that even before Lucas left the village as a brave hero, he had defeated the demons that attacked the village.
So this time, too, is just a stepping stone to the main story.
It's the scheduled timeline happening in harmony... It's an event that was set to happen.

I know!
"The old me" knows it.
So why am I so upset about it?
When I was about to be devoured by a demon, hadn't I been so calm and collected ?
"It's an event, so I won't die"
So why don't you--

Is "the old me" just memories... or is it becoming part of my human being in this world too?

"Is that so, thanks goodness! And thank you ."

"Why does Laura have to thank me?"

Lucas laughed out loud, as if to lighten the depressed air.
But I couldn't live up to that smile, and it disappeared from Lucas's face as well.

"And one more thing...,"

After exhaling a breath to comfort himself, Lucas opened his mouth again.

"... I found out later that the magic to protect the village was not weakened or anything like that. It's just...the demons, they've become stronger."

He ended his words in a very small, private-speaking volume.

"It was just like Laura said it would be."

His voice was a complex mix of emotions: frightened, frustrated, fearful, elated.
I'm sure Lucas had been carrying it all by himself until he talked to me today.

My childhood friend believed me from the very beginning when I said a few years ago that "demons will become stronger in the future", an outrageous statement at that moment.
However, I think Lucas also thought it was something that was going to happen in the distant future.

"I'm really glad Lucas is here."

With a sigh of relief, I could finally laugh.
Lucas's mouth relaxed slightly in response to my smile... But soon that grin faded.

"Mom and Dad ... said that a demon had never... come into the village... before."

Words that are like, spilled out in drops, breathy.

This incident must have upset not only Lucas, but also the people of the village of Emme.
I think of the faces of my parents and friends...and then it hits me, feeling a strong pain in my chest.

Now that Lucas is not in the village, the residents must be very anxious.
If, at this moment, the village is attacked by a demon...

It's not as if they didn't consider that possibility.
I'm sure that the men in the village must have taken up arms and planned a countermeasure.
They probably told Lucas to go and see me without worrying, he, who wanted to go see his childhood friend for the first time in a long time.
But...
I didn't know anything about it.
No one informed me of anything, which is correct, but it was too much... !
The reason why people didn't let me know what had happened was surely so that I could focus on my studies as an alchemist.
Clenched my fists inconsiently while I was thinking.

Next time, I'll go to the village of Emme to see them for myself. Not just on long vacations, but more often in smaller periods of time!
I'm not sure if it's right or wrong, but I'll do it.
If we have at least three free days, we can go back to my home in the countryside, although it will be only a moment, it'll help me to know how they're.
That's right.
Can I work on weekends in exchange for a week off to go and see them or maybe a few days?
Let's talk to Mr. Kasper about it later.

"... I have a bad feeling about this. Lately, I've had a sudden feeling... like a fever in my left eye."

At these words, I looked into Lucas' left eye without thinking.
A gold crest that asserts its presence in the sky-blue eye.
I wonder if it's just my imagination that the color seems to be darker and deeper.

Perhaps, the power of the brave is getting stronger.
Or what had been an incomplete awakening is complete now.

For whatever reason, Lucas seems to be feeling something akin to bewilderment at the change in his left eye - and his own power.

He touched his left eyelid, hoping to wipe away a few of those feelings.
Maybe he thinks like it's hateful but for me... I still remember the warmth on my fingertips on that day when I decided to live as his childhood friend, even if he becomes the brave hero and forget about me.

But telling the truth... I don't know what it means.
It is the proof of a hero who will save this world, if I say it to him now would only confuse things further.

I groggily bite my lower lip.

"I don't know..."

Don't let he think about it anymore.
My intuition told me so.

"Lucas is Lucas. I don't care about the crest nor anything else!"

I spoked too fast.
The emblem is a symbol of the bravery that protects this world.
It is not something to be awed by.
It's the embodiment of the kindness and strength of Lucas, the mark of him.

He rolled his eyes at me, the tone of my voice suddenly becoming stronger...
The expression on his face made me recognize that he feels embarrassed was a little too desperate to end the talk.
But it's something that needs to be communicated properly, so I said again.

"... I do care about it...but thanks to Lucas's power, I'm alive now.... and everyone in Emme's village isn't injured either, right?"

Yes, I would have died long ago if Lucas hadn't awakened the power of the brave.
... being killed and eaten by demons with nothing to do.

I knew I wasn't going to die because of the events I saw in "The Last Brave" - Each time I'm more tempted to make light of the events of that day, but that doesn't change the fact that Lucas was the one who saved my life.

"If it weren't for Lucas, I'd be in the stomach of a demon right now, being digested"

"Ahahaha"

A smile appeared on Lucas face, and he nodded in a more forceful voice than I thought ever heard before.
"Yeah," he said.

"If I didn't have this power, I wouldn't be here with Laura right now. Because of this power, I was able to protect Laura and everyone else."

His expression and his voice were full of energy again.

"On the other hand..."

"...I want to use this power to protect you."

Lucas said emphatically.
The expression on his face isn't anymore the one of a cute childhood friend... the one I used to know so well.
It's the face of the future hero who will carry the fate of this world on his shoulders!

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