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

Chapter 25: The sad fate of the childhood friend.

That day, the people of the village of Emme gathered to see me off on my way back to the royal capital.

I only had a day and a little more of time to relax, but it was still good.
It was a relief to me to see them in person and not only communicate by letters, and most of all, it put my parents at ease.

"Petra, Radmila and Yulia, see you later!　I'll write you a letter."

I smile and say goodbye to three of my friends.
Then, as if to represent the three of them, Yulia stepped forward and answered.

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it! Good luck, Laura."

A smile and a light handshake, then Petra sneakily gave me a letter.
I was staring at it furtively, wondering what it was, and Petra pushed my hand to grab it.

"Um, Laura, read this when you're alone."

"Uh, yeah. Thank you."

The fact that she went to the trouble of writing a letter and then insisting that I should read it with nobody seeing, means that there must be something in the letter that she doesn't want other people to know. 

At Petra's words, I grabbed the letter tightly with my hand, I smiled again at them and turned around.

Master was here too, when I saw her, I run toward her.

"Master, I'll come back again! And you're welcome to come and visit me in the royal city too!"

"Oh, well, one of these days."

It's a somewhat shallow reply.

Master was also a renowned Royal Alchemist Master in the past, she must know many people at the castle. One or two disciples of her at least.

However, I sensed an air of reluctance and tilted my head, so Master held out a thick book to me. 

I received it reflexively, and it was too heavy to hold with one hand.

"I came to give you this."

"What is it? This is..."

I lightly scratched the paper cover, with which the book was wrapped.

The title of the book was "World Lore and Legends".

"In this book, you will find ancient lore and legends from all over the world. I thought it would be a good way to pass the time... It might come in handy, too. Most of them aren't even real, though."

At Master's words, I opened the book, then I saw a very fine writing on the paper.

It's going to be a pain to read this kind of small letter and light color, but it seems to contain a lot of information.

Surely Master looked for this after I asked her about the autonucleosis. 

Judging by the dust-covered cover, she unearthed it or stored in the back of the bookshelf for many years.

I held the book tightly against my chest, I'm a really happy to have such a good mentor.

If the master wouldn't have her residence near the village of Emme-- If she wouldn't accept me, who suddenly appeared in front, back then as her disciple... I wouldn't be where I am now!

I'll have to thank Master properly next time. 

It's not filial piety, it's gratitude for all the things Master has done for me.

As I was secretly admiring Master, Lucas came, his expression didn't even try to hide his loneliness.

"Laura."

"Lucas, I'll be back soon!"

"I'm looking forward to it... Take good care!"

After saying that, Lucas offered something to me. 

I quickly realized what it was, but I froze as it was so unexpected.

"The guy at the weapons store said this is perfect for Laura. A dagger like this will be light and you'll be able to handle it, it's only for you to feel more secure."

It is a dagger. 

A copper dagger that you can find in the village weapon shop.

Since it's the first weapon you acquire at the start of the game, it has a pretty low attack power.

Even if I have it for self-defense, I may not be able to defeat a single slime with this, specially I, who has no strength nor magical power...

Just as Lucas says, it can only give you the sensation of security, but...

"...um...no, thank you."

It's still too heavy for me and not only by its weight, but I feel like it's the sign of that a disaster is around the corner.

Lucas didn't accept it back, so at the end I took it.

A letter, a book, a dagger. 

I've accumulated a lot of stuff. 

And except for the letter, the other two are pretty heavy in their own way.

"Dad! Mom!"

Finally, my parents.

They were staring at me with troubled expressions and can't laugh, they're simply concerned for her daughter security.

In my heart, I'm really glad to have parents like them, who don't hold me back, even when it's hard for them.

They care for me but also respect my decisions.

This is why I know that I should repay them somehow... someday, but for now I have to go.

Our embrace felt eternal, and knowing it would more difficult later I decided to hurry and go to the carriage before it leaves.

In the village of Emme there's only one carriage that comes or goes to the royal city, so if I miss this one, my next chance will only come after some days.

The carriage starts to move and I look back one last time at them.

"I'll be back soon!"

The people of the village of Emme waved their hands to me. 

The image didn't change until the village's houses looked like of the size of a grain of rice, they kept waving their hands. 

Goodbye...

It's the beginning of another long carriage journey. 

Just thinking that, a sigh escaped my mouth.

Despise the carriage rocking, I opened the letter that Petra gave me. 

It was a very simple thing.

The text is only three lines long.

'Please forgive me for saying this out of the blue.'

The first sentence is a preamble.

And the second sentence...

'I like Lucas.'

... This is really unexpected, or just for me, did the other girls already know it?

The moment my eyes caught those words, my head went blank.

Petra likes Lucas?

Recalling my old memories.

Was there such a scene or something? I think no.

Petra was one of the villager's mob characters, but she was never portrayed as liking Lucas-- No, in the first place there isn't even one scene where the name of Petra appears... 

On top of that, she is telling this to me but why? Does she want me to support their love? Or help her as his childhood friend?

The hero's... childhood friend?

Then, I realized that I had to do something!

--A childhood friend.

There is no clear delineation of whom the term refers to.

If I refer to the original definition of the words, it's a friend that you know since childhood.

Lucas and I, Laura, are undoubtedly picture-perfect childhood friends. 

Born in the same village, spending time together since we were very young.

And of course, the closest friends in all the village of Emme. 

But...

Somehow, Petra is also a childhood friend of the protagonist, Lucas, even if a little more distant.

However, the main requirements are fulfilled.

From the same village of Lucas.

A similar age.

They don't talk too much with each other, but that doesn't mean they don't have a friendly relationship...

--Yes, this is the kind of relationship we can call a "childhood friend" too.

"...no way, Petra is becoming the Laura of the current "The Last Brave" story?!"

It's unknown to me when, how or why she began to have feelings for Lucas.

However, if she continues to have feelings for Lucas, there is a good chance that she will confess to him...

And she will wait for him until he returns from his heroic journey years later.

While I am moving away from the sad fate of "the childhood friend of the hero" depicted in "The Last Brave", both in terms of the environment around me and in terms of how I feel about myself, Petra... 

My idea wasn't that someone else takes my place and suffers in my stead... I just thought that if I didn't fall in love with him, there wouldn't be a broken heart childhood friend that waited for the hero for years while he just forgot about her.

However, Petra is now fulfilling the requirements for that role... To become the "childhood friend of the brave man", as if on my behalf.

The future that has been entrusted to the "childhood friend of the hero" is about to be transferred from me to Petra...?

Pressing my chest with one hand I tried to relax myself, taking some deep breaths.

To start with... There's a chance that the original Petra from "The Last Brave" had feelings for Lucas.

When the game was released, the main story was something secondary, just to make the game more vivid and attractive for the players.

There're many backstories deleted to adapt to the game format. 

Yes, like Arnold and Elvira.

To put it bluntly, Petra in the game is a mob character - an NPC. 

Most players don't even remember their names. 

So, even if Petra had an unrequited love for Lucas, the staff would put effort on other part of the game, like the scenarios, challenges, etc. not in describing another love story.

Yes. It's still too early to judge that Petra has taken my place--

Regaining some composure, I gaze the letter again.

The last sentence was nothing more than an apology for keeping it a secret from me, I was expecting her to ask for my support...

Surely Petra was troubled and sent this letter to me because she was feeling guilty... Yes, I can see that. 

The true is, I would be very happy to cheer on my friends' love... However, this means Petra will almost certainly be heartbroken in the future. 

Leaving aside my suspicions... If she already loves him, it'll surely hurt her when he falls in love with the real heroine.

Oh, God why?! In this world, is it inevitable that the abandoned childhood friend is born?

What to do... What to do... No, there is nothing I can do about it now.

The only thing I can do now is wait.

Going back to the village to say to her 'Don't fall in love with Lucas or you'll be dumped after waiting for him many years!'...

That will only make the things for everyone more complicated.

Petra is Petra and I'm Laura, I can just change that fact.

If there's no other way, if a fated heartbroken childhood friend of the hero will appear in this world no matter what I do... The only thing I can do is to hope she can be happy afterwards.

...　I can only hope so.

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