I Became the Villain’s Childhood Friend Chapter 26

 

Dad clearly had probably already mastered me.

 

I opened my mouth in a voice full of determination.

 

“Don’t worry, Paul. I’ll do my best and come back after the test.”

 

I guess I can just take a dip in it without being obvious, well.

 

“Yes. I will be cheering you on!”

 

I entered the Academy with Paul’s support.

 

The Academy was crowded with people.

 

Perhaps only the entrance exam for the Department of Magical Engineering will be held today… Could it be that all these people applied to the Department of Magical Engineering?

 

They said that the Department of Magical Engineering was the department with the highest competition rate in the Academy, and it seemed like that was true.

 

I was fortunate that Dad applied for the Department of Magical Engineering exam. There would be no chance for someone like me to pass these many people.

 

The entrance exam for the Department of Magic Engineering consisted of 70% practical and 30% written.

 

Because the test took a total of three days, the cost of the entrance exam, including room and board, was quite expensive. Nevertheless, students were willing to invest in entrance exams to get ahead.

 

There were a total of ten subjects in the written exam. The fact that there were a lot of subjects was a lot, but the key point was that there wasn’t a single subject that I could solve.

 

Of course, there were subjects that nobles had to learn.

 

However, it had been a long time since I stopped studying, so there were a lot of problems that I couldn’t even tackle.

 

Of course, I didn’t even try to solve the problem.

 

The written exam was completed by the next morning. And the practical exam was conducted from the afternoon of the next day until the last day of the exam.

 

The topics of the practical test were ‘Making magic tools using wood’ and ‘Making magic formulas using Felin’.

 

Felin. What on earth is that?

 

Of course I had heard of it. It seemed to be one of the types of combination magic, but it wasn’t exact.

 

Since I didn’t even understand the test topic, I naturally skipped the practical test.

 

First of all, the magic tool made of wood was completely shattered after being hit with a hammer, and in addition, the design of the magic circle itself was wrong and it was even burned.

 

And since I didn’t know anything about the magic formula using Felin in the first place, I couldn’t make it even if I tried.

 

Of course, since Dad said he would check the answer sheet, I couldn’t give a blank paper. I finished the test by drawing a heart pattern on the magic circle provided as standard.

 

I was so happy that I had passed the test perfectly.

 

‘Now I’m soon to be freed.’

 

I stretched and walked out the main gate of the Academy.

 

Maybe it was because I felt at ease, I began to see the surroundings of the academy that I had not been able to see on the first day I visited.

 

Watching the birds chirping and flying. I paused for a moment at the familiar silhouette.

 

It’s Reynold.

 

Reynold was leaning against the wall with a blank expression, looking up at the sky, I wondered what he was thinking.

 

The moment I saw that guy’s profile, I started to feel angry inside.

 

…That bastard obviously didn’t even mention the Academy to me.

 

Even when I asked when he was going to take the Academy exam, he was busy avoiding the answer. Plus, seeing as he’s here, he obviously knew that I was taking the entrance exam.

 

I thought my anger had subsided a lot after being locked up in the Academy for three days, but seeing how angry I was, it seemed like my anger toward Reynold was quite deep.

 

As I slowly approached Reynold with the intention of hitting him in the back of the head, Reynold, who had sharp ears, turned his head.

 

Reynold, who made eye contact with me, smiled brightly as if he had been lost in thought for some time.

 

I flinched at his smile for a moment, but then I looked away, bewildered by his seemingly innocent appearance.

 

Maybe I was angry at Reynold’s face as he smiled brightly at me.

 

I felt a little ridiculous like this, so my words came out a little shakily.

 

“…If you pretend not to notice and then get hit, what good will it do?”

 

“Are you mad?”

 

“…”

 

I couldn’t imitate his pretty smile, so instead I opened my eyes and glared at him.

 

Then Reynold voluntarily stuck his head out to me to see if anything was stinging him.

 

“I can at least let you give me one hit.”

 

But when I saw the head obediently presented to me, my thoughts changed like a tree frog.

 

I unexpectedly stepped on Reynold’s foot.

 

But even for a moment, I was a little scared as I raised my head and looked at Reynold’s face, looking at me with his foot stepped on, so I quickly added.

 

“Stop, I forgive you.”

 

Reynold, who heard me stutter like an idiot, just grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

 

“So what do you think the result will be?”

 

“I think I’ll pass.”

 

I told lies without even putting saliva in my mouth.

 

Reynold just laughed as if he was dumbfounded by my confident response.

 

I feel bad seeing him laugh.

 

I unconsciously narrowed my eyebrows and asked.

 

“…Why are you laughing?”

 

“I’m just happy to go to school with you.”

 

When I heard those words, I felt like my conscience was prickling.

 

I glanced at Reynold, who was walking next to me.

 

Now that I see it, Reynold seems to be in a pretty good mood today.

 

There’s a big smile on those lips, and those fierce, straight-out eyes have subtly softened…

 

I laughed along with him and changed the subject.

 

“What about Paul?”

 

“I told him I would wait for you. Maybe he went back to the mansion first?”

 

“It looks like you know what you did wrong.”

 

“I know. You know, I was shivering and waiting for you on this cold day.”

 

Reynold responded as if he was proud.

 

Since you did something wrong, wouldn’t it be right to wait for me?

 

“I can’t even hit this thing.”

 

“Why, since when did you start hitting me while looking at the situation? You stepped on my toe earlier.”

 

“I won’t say a word.”

 

I looked at Reynold for a moment and then shook my head.

 

If I hit that guy every time I want to, I won’t have any hands left.

 

I didn’t know where the cute kid from when I was young had gone.

 

There was more than one time that I wanted to grab that guy by the collar and scream for him to return to the person he used to be.

 

I wonder if Reynold thinks the same thing when he looks at me.

 

Reynold asked me carefully while I was lost in thought.

 

“Do you want to eat scone?”

 

There was a small scone shop where Reynold pointed.

 

Before he could hear my answer, he led me towards the scone shop.

 

“It’s the shop Paul used to go to when he was at school, so he said he’d take you there.”

 

It was as if he was adding an excuse.

 

“…I didn’t say anything.”

 

“That’s just it.”

 

Just like that, Reynold and I packed scones from a scone shop and left.

 

“…!”

 

As soon as I took out a scone with chocolate chips from the bag and put it in my mouth, I couldn’t help but let out an exclamation.

 

“…This is really delicious.”

 

Seeing that even Reynold, who doesn’t like sweet food, liked it, it seemed like it wasn’t just for my taste.

 

I asked Reynold, feeling the sweet chocolate scent of the scone remaining in my mouth.

 

“Did you take the test? Did you do well?”

 

Reynold, who took out another scone from the bag and offered it to me, responded as if it was no big deal.

 

“Of course.”

 

Right, I asked something pointless.

 

“I think I’ll enter school at the top of my class.”

 

Reynold said, smiling mischievously.

 

I was so shocked by his unlucky words that I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

 

“Don’t do that when you go to the Academy. You won’t make any friends.”

 

Then Reynold pointed at me.

 

“Why do I need a new friend when I have you?”

 

It was a part that really left me speechless.

 

It was true that I was very grateful for his words, but the problem was that I had no intention of entering the Academy.

 

At this point, I started to worry about what would happen next.

 

If Reynold finds out about this, what excuse can I give him?

 

“It’s snow.”

 

At that time, Reynold looked up at the sky and spoke. At his words, I also looked up at the sky and saw pure white snow falling slowly. I raised my hand and greeted the falling snow.

 

“…Is this the first snow?”

 

“It hasn’t snowed in the capital yet, so isn’t this the first snow for us?”

 

Perhaps because the snow fell gently and straight from the sky, it seemed like the prettiest snow I had ever seen.

 

It has already been a year since we were greeted by snow falling randomly in the capital, Harchen.

 

I saw the first snow with Reynold back then too. Even though I reduced the number of times I met Reynold, strangely enough, the day the first snow fell was always with Reynold.

 

“How pretty…”

 

At that moment, my eyes met Reynold’s. Although we didn’t say much, we knew what each other was thinking.

 

So we turned from heading towards the carriage towards the street. I wanted to see more of this snow.

 

It hadn’t been long since it started snowing, but perhaps because it was such a nice, heavy snow, it quickly piled up in a light layer. We were the only ones on the street that had turned completely white.

 

I walked carefully, concentrating on taking pretty footprints.

 

Then, wondering why Reynold wasn’t following me, I looked back and saw Reynold walking, diligently crushing the footprints I had neatly taken.

 

I was making snowballs with my feet, and I couldn’t understand why he was ruining the footprints I had made.

 

While I was speechless because I was so shocked by the sight, Reynold quickly arrived at where I was standing.

 

He must have been so busy making snowballs that he didn’t even know I was standing there. Reynold looked up when he saw me standing there.

 

Reynold, who was standing right in front of me, was taller than I thought.

 

I already knew he was tall… but was he this tall?

 

While I was looking at his newly changed appearance and was amazed, Reynold gestured at his feet.

 

I followed him down and saw a small snowball.

 

I quickly realized that he meant building a snowman.

 

Reynold squatted down in front of me and began compacting the snow, squeezing the small snowballs with his hands.

 

I brushed away the snowflakes that were starting to accumulate on Reynold’s black hair, then squatted down after him and made a new snowball.

 

But my hands were so cold. I put my hands into my sleeves. I thought Reynold was amazing as he turned his eyes together with a calm expression.

 

“You’re not going to force me to do it?”

 

Then Reynold showed his hand instead of answering.

 

It was a red hand, not much different from mine.