"Hey, Neron! Want to come with us? We're going to Mr. Duffy's house today!"
Neron raised his brows at the question as he stared at all five of his friends.
They all seemed pretty excited, and he knew why.
Mr. Duffy was an elderly man—at least on his sixties—who lived in the outskirts of the slums.
His house was perched on top of a hill, close to the end of the territory of the Lord of the land, and by the standards of all slum dwellers, it was pretty luxurious.
However, none of these were reasons why the kids wanted to visit his place.
"Why are you asking me? You already know my answer." Neron frowned slightly as he looked at the one who asked the question.
It was none other than Legris.
"Come on, Neron! When will you get over your hatred for Magic?"
Neron's gaze narrowed as he glared at his friend.
"I already told you… I don't hate it. I'm just not interested."
Mr. Duffy was the only one close to the Slums who knew details about Magic.
He was a Magic Scholar, and while he didn't really have enough Mana to practice Magic, he had studied it for most of his life.
Neron personally thought it was foolish, which was why he didn't look up to the old man the same way his friends did.
"He said he's going to teach us about the various Levels of Spell and the Tiers under them!"
"He even told me that I might have an aptitude for Magic, and he has a device that could help me find out!"
"Come on… it'll be fun!"
No matter what his friends said, they only served to make Neron more furious.
'Why? Why are these people so obsessed with this stuff?!'
Initially, he had told himself to ignore it, however this nonsense was getting out of hand.
Before he realized it, Neron echoed out his thoughts to his friends.
"Magic is stupid! And you're all stupid for liking it so much!"
The moment he blurted out those words, Neron realized just what he had said.
He could see the faces of his friends—enveloped in both surprise and disappointment.
It even seemed like Yera would cry.
"I-I didn't—" Before Neron could take back his words, Legris stepped forward until he was mere inches away from Neron.
"What did you just say?"
He shoved Neron with his little hands, causing the latter to stumble backwards.
"Did you just call Magic stupid? Did you just call us stupid?"
He kept shoving Neron, who was shocked to see his friend acting this way.
The others were also standing still; all of them shocked to see Legris display such a level of anger.
"Answer me, Neron!" At this point, Legris was becoming very violent with his shoves.
He eventually raised his hand, and from its trajectory, he was about to hit Neron.
"STOP! Stop it Legris!" Yera's voice surged through the air as she quickly ran to defend Neron.
She boldly stood in front of the dazed Neron, stretching out her hands to protect him.
Everyone was surprised to see this level of assertiveness from the usually timid girl.
"Stay out of this, Yera!" Legris yelled.
"N-no! Neron is our friend! I won't let you hit him!"
Her voice was so loud that everyone felt their skins tremble. Despite her stutters, her resolute face made it clear that she wasn't going to budge.
Legris had two choices at this point—continue with his actions and risk hitting Yera, or backing off.
Of course, he chose the latter.
"Tch! Must be nice, huh…?" Legris spat as he glared at Neron who had hardly moved an inch since Yera protected him.
"Having Yera protect you. Having all that talent…"
Legris' face was red already. It was clear that he was doing his best to suppress his rage.
"Whatever…"
Legris walked away, turning his back on Neron as he departed.
"Come on, guys! Let's go!"
The rest of the boys trailed after Legris, but not before shooting Neron sympathetic looks.
Inasmuch as they cared for their friend, they still couldn't forget that he had just called them stupid.
Besides, they really wanted to visit Mr. Duffy.
"Are you coming or not, Yera?" Legris stopped after walking for a while, refusing to even look her in the eyes.
"I'll catch up with you soon."
Legris fidgeted a little upon hearing her response. He must have really wanted to leave with her, but she had chosen to stay with Neron instead.
"I… I see…" He mumbled.
Not long after he uttered those words, Legris resumed walking, and his friends joined him.
None of them spared Neron and Yera a second glance.
*******
"You should have gone with them. I'm fi—" n-(OIn
~WHAP!~
Before Neron could complete his sentence, a loud noise rang in both his ears as he felt sharp stings on his two cheeks.
Yera's tiny hands were on his cheeks, and the slaps she had just given him immensely.
"O-ow! What was that for?!"
Neron tried to get away from her, but she wouldn't let go of his cheeks.
They both stumbled and fell on the ground, with Yera right on top of him.
This was the first time Yera had ever been so violent and assertive, so Neron was pretty freaked out by it.
His widened eyes watched as she gave him a very resolute expression.
Her stubbornness made him realize that all attempts to resist were futile.
"I… I'm sorry…" He mumbled, finally giving up.
"Much better."
Yera's voice was accompanied by a smile.
Neron had never seen her smile that way before. He felt a burning sensation on his two cheeks, and it wasn't just due to the slaps he had just received.
"A-ah… sorry!" Yera realized her compromising position and awkwardly took her place beside him.
The two were silent for a while until Neron spoke.
"I went too far, didn't I? I shouldn't have called it stupid. I shouldn't have called you all stupid…"
He knew, deep down, how much Magic meant to his friends.
He had crossed a line.
"To be honest, Neron… I… I don't know what to say." Yera's tone suddenly went soft.
It felt like she was a completely different person compared to earlier.
"You're so smart. So athletic. So talented. So… handsome…
I-I mean, handy. It just seems like you're so good at everything, everything just seems so easy to you…"
This was the first time Neron was hearing Yera say so many words at once.
Still, he couldn't stop looking at her face as she said them.
"The rest of us… sometimes we feel inadequate, you know? We aren't as talented or strong as you, Neron. Maybe you're right. Maybe that's why we need Magic… because we're inadequate."
Was this really how she felt? Was this how the rest of his friends felt?
Neron had so many thoughts rushing through his mind as he heard Yera's words.
'I… I never thought of it that way before…'
A lot of times, his friends had said similar things in passing, but he never paid then much mind.
They always told him how great he was, but he never really thought very deeply about it.
Not until now.
"I don't know… I don't have any answers. I'm not that smart. I'm not strong… and I always think about my parents. If… if I had enough Magic, I'm sure I could bring them back… and…"
At this point, Yera was sobbing.
She was always a crybaby, and seeing her break down like this made Neron's chest hurt deeply.
He hugged her, and she embraced him back. She cried on his shoulders, and he allowed it.
Once she was done, he even helped wipe away her tears.
"Legris didn't mean to shove you, you know? He just loves Magic so much… probably more than the rest of us."
The only thing was… no one knew why.
Yera had lost her parents fairly recently. Kid had epileptic episodes and health complications. Dan liked to eat a lot. Ral envied the lives of the rich.
They all had distinct reasons why they desired Magic, but Legris never said anything really personal.
… Or did he?
"He wants to be like you, Neron. To be able to see the world the way you do…"
Neron's heart grew sullen after hearing that.
He had never really considered himself as anything special, just the same way he didn't think of Magic as extraordinary.
It was all the same to him.
But now, with Yera saying all of these things to him, Neron finally realized it.
'I… I'm not like the rest of them.'
*
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