Chapter 1 - Part 1
Huge thanks to Carissa Rodgers for the kofi!
Bonus Chapter (1/2)
My Childhood Friends Are Trying To Kill Me now has extra chapters up on kofi-shop! Buy them now, only at https://ko-fi.com/rainofsnow/shop ! Tier 1 with 3 advance chaps is for 5$, tier 2 with 7 advance chaps is for 12$, and tier 3 with 10 advance chapters is for 18$~
***
In the system window that popped up, there was an unknown conversation floating on the screen instead of the words of Alchemy.
At the same time, the words sounded as if they were whispered in her ear. This was definitely…
[It’s the voices of Romeo and Griffith!]
Lelia was startled and called out to Alchemy.
[Alchemy, what did you do just now?]
- System: information collection completed.
- End system hacking! ✧٩(•́⌄•́๑)و ✧ Would you like to check the favorability of <Romeo>, a special favorable target?(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
[I will not! It doesn’t matter now!]
- The quest is completed and the next quest will proceed.٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶ Would you like to check it now?
[Wait a minute!]
Lelia pulled up Alchemy’s system window and looked at the other speech bubble window hidden by it.
But the speech bubble was slowly disappearing.
Just before the speech bubble disappeared, she managed to witness the conversation.
- So what did you find out about Leo?
- There are so many strange things. But there’s something even weirder, Lelia…
Unlike before, their voices were very small and faint, but it was definitely a conversation between Griffith and Romeo.
Then the speech bubble disappeared. Lelia paced nervously.
There seemed to be an error as the game system was trying to figure out Romeo’s favorability.
Not long ago, Romeo had witnessed a speech bubble floating in front of his eyes.
[What the hell are Romeo and Griffith talking about right now?]
The speech bubble a while ago was clearly a conversation between Romeo and Griffiths at this exact moment.
They must be talking in the other room.
They didn’t say anything to Lelia, but it seemed that the two were separately looking into Leo’s death.
There were so many other things to be concerned about that she didn’t even realize that this could happen. The problem is that ‘Lelia’ was mentioned in the conversation between the two.
[What the hell are you both talking about?]
Lelia, who had been standing still for a long time, came to her senses belatedly. This was not the time.
[I’d rather leave right away tonight.]
***
“There are so many strange things. But there’s something even weirder, Lelia…”
“What?”
“You said she was the daughter of Princess Iris, right? But looking at the records, it is recorded that on that day the dead Empress also gave birth to a baby who died.”
The conversation was happening inside Romeo’s room, soundproofed by magic.
At Griffith’s words, Romeo tilted his head.
“It’s strange… What about Leo?”
“It’s a bit… It doesn’t seem right.”
Griffith’s expression while answering was not good.
This morning, Griffith visited the secret room inside the Chapel of the Imperial Castle.
There were records of the priests sent from the temple to the imperial family of the five empires. Even the emperors did not know that the records existed. The temple kept secret documents at the shrines in the name of maintaining the peace of the five empires. The records covered everything from trivial to secretive things, such as imperial weaknesses, ugly secrets, and rumors. However, it could not be said to be unconditionally accurate because what was recorded was only what the priest had heard and saw.
Griffith, who knew about the records, secretly spied on them this morning.
He went secretly because the temple might go crazy when they find out about this.
Anyway, it was not difficult for him because the person needed the divine power of a priest-level to read the records.
Griffith asked, “Did you find out more?”
“No, but it’s true what Lelia said then.”
When he came to the Auraria Empire, he could see there was more to it than what he had researched in the distant battlefield. So Romeo did some investigation, and as a result, he found out that what Lelia said was true. Most of the people who knew about Emperor Lydios died, and the person who killed Leo was also put to death at the time.
Romeo and Griffith looked into each other’s eyes intensely.
Romeo asked, breaking the silence, “Tell me more about earlier. What was written on the record about Leo?”
“…”
Griffith didn’t answer, but stared at Romeo, squeezing his temples with his fingers.
He honestly didn’t want to say much.
It’s clear that Romeo knows something more but wasn’t saying anything.
Isn’t it meaningless to find out about Leo anyway?
What was wrong with Leo when he was alive?
However, Griffith concealed his true intentions and answered calmly.
“It’s just that he didn’t have a very good reputation. It seemed that the priest hated Leo.”
“…”
With those words, Romeo had a look on his face as if he knew.
Griffiths vaguely guessed.
‘Romeo, you’ve known this for a long time, haven’t you?’
It was odd.
That’s why he didn’t say anything… .
In fact, as Griffith left Auraria and went to the temple, he was puzzled the whole time.
About the existence of ‘Lelia’.
With such doubts, he returned to Auraria and once he saw Lelia disguised as a man, he was faintly certain.
‘Lelia’ is the ‘Leo’ he knows.
But there were a lot of strange things.
How the heck could such a thing happen. Is it possible?
The identity of ‘Lelia’ itself is also questionable. When he looked at the priest’s records, it was even more strange.
The priest wrote about ‘Leo’ as follows.
- His behavior is very violent, he is nervous in everything he does, and he bullies his subordinates.
It was a completely different person from the Leo he knew.
Griffith, who had been anxious for a long time, saw the record this morning and was convinced. That means that Leo who came to the temple was Lelia.
He doesn’t know which of the two is the real Leo, but it was certain that the Leo he knew didn’t die and was living as Lelia.
Griffith leisurely lifted the teacup from the table.
He doesn’t know why Leo was hiding that fact, but he was going to pretend he didn’t know until the end.
Until Leo said it himself.
In many circumstances, there must have been a good reason. He knew that the Leo he knows isn’t the kind of person who would do something like this without a reason. Of course, he was upset that Leo hid, but the fact that Leo was alive made everything better.
Romeo was like that too.
“…”
As expected of Griffith, Romeo was also convinced that Lelia was Leo.
However, there was something so daunting that it was difficult to properly think about it now.
That was because of the unknown illusion that appeared before his eyes. Inside the square, an unknown character was floating. It disappeared in an instant and hasn’t appeared since then…
[Who used magic on me?]
At first, he was suspicious of Griffith in front of him. Griffith doesn’t have magical powers, but it was high purity and powerful divine power.
With that much power, it wasn’t difficult to create an illusion in front of Romeo’s eyes.
But Griffith had no idea what had happened.
The illusion was only visible to Romeo.
Besides, recently, for some reason, he felt like someone was peeking into his head, and he wondered if it was the work of the same person.
“By the way, what did you mean by alchemy at that time?”
“Ah, that.”
Romeo’s expression darkened at Griffith’s words.
In fact, not so long ago, he had asked Griffith a question in a letter because of the mysterious alchemy pill Lelia was carrying.
‘Have you ever heard of an alchemist with incredible skills who recently appeared?’
“The alchemy that Lelia uses is a bit strange.”
“Why?”
“He had all kinds of drugs that I had never seen before. If he had made that kind of medicine, he would have been quite famous. Does it make sense that I don’t know?”
“Hmm…”
Griffith tilted his head. This story was also surprising.
Was Leo an alchemist? He didn’t feel any magic or anything like that… .
The two sighed at the unresolved questions.
Griffith wanted to immediately run to the opposite room, shake Leo’s neck, and ask him.
‘Leo, what the hell are you thinking?’
***