Chapter 1 - Part 1
Huge thanks to Tamy for the kofi!
Bonus Chapter (1/1)
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$~
***
Like Kalix, Oscar didn’t look that big when he was dressed.
But when he took off his top, his large skeletal build and hard, thick muscles were visible. His muscles were more prominent because of his wet, bare skin.
Lelia exhaled slowly to hide her nervousness.
[Are you saying that you’ll take your clothes off and dry them?]
She shook her head in vain, when she secretly pulled out the alchemy items, hidden from Oscar and tried to light the fire.
Whoops.
Suddenly, a fire ignited in the fireplace in front of her.
Moreover, it was not a mild flame, but a blazing fire.
Lelia turned around in surprise and saw Oscar approaching.
She wanted him to get some clothes on, but it was strange for her to ask him to put his wet clothes back on without drying them.
Oscar came and sat down next to Lelia.
Then he shook his body like a wet dog. Lelia frowned at this.
“… I prefer to dry like this.”
Oscar didn’t say anything to the frightened Lelia.
Lelia glanced past the broken mirror next to her by the fireplace.
[Uhhh?]
She stopped, as Lelia’s gaze turned back to the mirror.
[Hair color…!]
When the effects of the alchemy faded, her hair color went back to normal.
When she was at the Imperial Castle, she looked in the mirror every time to check the color of her hair and eyes, which changed when using her alchemy.
Just before she left the castle, her hair and eye color were the same as they had been.
But since she fled the capital, she never looked in a mirror, and they seemed to have returned automatically after the drug had stopped working.
[Why didn’t you say anything?]
But Oscar didn’t ask her anything about that.
Lelia was about to ask a question, but then she shut her mouth. There was no need for her to push it.
“The firepower is very good…”
Lelia mumbled softly to get rid of the awkwardness, and rubbed her hands back and forth near the fire to warm her hands.
As she warmed her hands, a new fear came over her.
She ignited a fire like this in an instant.
Oscar’s power was a little different from sacred or magical or anything like that.
The power he used was the power used by the ancient demons.
In the temple, it was also called “the power of destruction” or “the power of darkness.”
“… That power, it will be dangerous if it’s known by the temple.”
She said it out of concern, but Oscar didn’t even listen.
Perhaps the temple finding out is unimaginable since Oscar didn’t use any of that power in the battle with the light dragon.
In any case, his demon sword could sense divine power.
Priests could hide their divine powers, but there was no way that could be the case on the battlefield. There were a lot of priests with strong divine power around, so the magic sword hid its power.
Nevertheless, the fact that he boasted excellent skills in war meant that Oscar was an excellent swordsman even without that power in the first place.
Since such a person has the power to deal with darkness, it is natural to be afraid and worried.
Then, a low voice was heard.
“Are you worried about me?”
His words caused her to tremble a little. Lelia looked into his eyes as she stared at him coldly, then lowered her head.
“Of course.”
“I wouldn’t have done that if you were really worried.”
“…”
Lelia had nothing to say to the resentful tone.
She was silent for a moment.
She turned her head to look out the window. It was still raining heavily.
“…”
After a moment of thought, she glanced at Oscar.
In her memory, Oscar was afraid of rainy days, especially of thunder.
[Are you still afraid? Or did you overcome the trauma of that time?]
With that thought, Oscar spoke as if he had read her thoughts.
“You know me better than anyone, but… I hate rain.”
“… I heard it from Brother Leo.”
Seeing Lelia’s blatant response to his, Oscar smirked as if he was stunned.
Then he opened her mouth again.
“When it rains, it brings back terrible memories.”
‘Not now,’ she thought.
Oscar swallowed his next words.
Lelia stared at him with her worried gaze.
Oscar slowly blinked his eyes, enjoying her gaze.
She suddenly remembered that ‘terrible memory’ of his childhood.
His biological father was a tyrannical, lunatic emperor. He often killed people in front of Oscar’s eyes. It was the education he used to give to the small child so he could become a great emperor.
It rained the day his mother died.
The Emperor laughed at the terrified young Oscar, waving his sword blood-stained from his wife.
As a child, he sobbed in pain with seizures every rainy day.
But not after meeting Leo.
Since that day, rainy days were no longer painful.
Leo’s sweet voice and warm touch.
It was a sense of comfort that he had never known before.
After hearing the news that Leo had died, rainy days became terrible again.
It was truly a heartbreaking time for him.
Now, he can hear the sound of the rain happily.
“Do you remember when it rains?”
“What?”
“A person comes to mind when it rains. Don’t you have one?”
Lelia swallowed her saliva at the thoughtful words of Oscar.
“… There should be.”
“…”
In response, Oscar smiled faintly. Lelia was relieved when his eyes seemed a little more relaxed.
***
The rain showed no sign of stopping.
In the end, the two decided to stay there through the night. Fortunately, there was a roof to shelter them from the rain.
Lelia lay on an old bed with a clean cloth.
It was a much more comfortable bed than what she had been using while camping for the last few days. She didn’t feel uncomfortable thanks to it, but the presence of Oscar made her feel uncomfortable.
Oscar was lying on the sofa beside her bed, on a similarly clean cloth.
Lelia raised her head slightly and looked at him.
From this side she could only see his legs.
He was lying on his back with his legs protruding off of the sofa.
Lelia suppressed her discomfort and forced herself to sleep.
Later that night…
[Oh, my god!]
Lelia woke to the sound of thunder that seemed to crack the sky.
She immediately sat up and checked the sofa where Oscar was lying.
Fortunately, he hadn’t woken up, and he slept without moving.
[Thank God…]
It was such loud thunder that she was astonished, and if Oscar had awoken, he would have been astonished too.
[Are you still afraid of the thunder?]
Lelia got out of bed very quietly and walked towards the sofa.
In the moonlight coming through her window, Oscar’s face looked calm.
When she looked at his serene, closed eyes, she could see images of his young face a lot when he was a child.
A small smile spread across Lelia’s lips.
She was about to head back to her bed, when suddenly…
“…!!”
Lelia froze. It felt like her heart was pounding to the ground.
Oscar grabbed her wrist.
He pulled her arm with force. She was taken by surprise, and Lelia was dragged down onto Oscar’s body.
She tried to straighten up, but the hand that grabbed her wrist was now at her waist.
His arms wrapped around her waist like a snake.
Lelia’s mind went blank.
As she struggled to get away from him, she heard a feeble voice in her ear.
“I’m afraid.”
“…”
“It’s raining, Leo.”
“Oh, Oscar…!”
“Thunder… He will kill me.”
Lelia turned her head to look at his face.
It felt like her heart was beating outward.
His red pupils were cloudy, but his breathing did not appear to have caused a seizure.
Before she knew it, she was staring into his moistened eyes, and realised that he was trembling.
Oscar was afraid.
In an instant, the tip of her nose became hot.
At that moment, Oscar’s arm that was wrapped around her waist fell weakly.
Lelia slowly got up and stood in front of him. She didn’t know what to do, so she just stared at him.
Oscar raised his upper body, lowered his head, and buried his face in both palms.
“……”
Lelia carefully put her fingertips on his distressed shoulder.
She wanted to hug him like she did when they were young, but she couldn’t.
At that moment, the light flashed outside the window again.
Before the thunder came, he reached out to Lelia again.
Oscar pulled Lelia’s hand resting on his shoulder and took it to his cheek.
“… I won’t call you Leo.”
“……”
Thunder
The thunder rumbled as if to split the earth. Oscar asked her without a hint of flinching.
“Can you give me a hug instead?”
“……”
“I said it earlier, but I hate rain and thunder. No, it’s actually horrible and scary.”
“Sir Oscar…”
“Life taking and frightening… Like I’m going to die.”
A low voice begged.
Lelia could no longer resist his trembling touch and voice.
So she slowly reached out her hand and pulled his head and hugged him.
Oscar gently embraced her approaching body and leaned against her waist.
And he breathed in like he was struggling. He repeatedly exhaled.
Lelia patted the back of his head with grief. Her hand almost went down onto his back for a moment, but she couldn’t touch his bare skin, so she placed it back on his head.
Soft silver hair was wrapped around her fingertips.
Lelia closed her eyes and calmed Oscar down , recalling her childhood.
With her eyes closed, Lelia had become the “Leo” of their childhood.
Holding the frightened crying little Oscar, soothing, and comforting, Lelia also comforted herself.
Every time she hugged him and healed him, Lelia was also comforted and healed.
But unlike Lelia, who went back to her childhood and recalled the memories of that time, Oscar’s red eyes shone in the dark and he hugged Lelia’s waist even harder.
His red eyes flashed with subtle madness in the dark cabin.
[T/N: Aiyo, Oscar?!]
The corners of his mouth were slightly raised.
Nevertheless, he mimicked the weak breath of a hurt animal, shaking his arms while hugging her waist like a lamb.
She didn’t even know that an evil inner snake was swallowing her, as Lelia stroked his head like she was comforting a poor, wounded wild animal.
***