Is It Tough Being A Friend? Prologue

TLN: Yeah, consider this a teaser for any translators interested in doing this LN.

“*huff*…Jeez.”

A boy breathed heavily while looking below at corpse of a subjugated monster.

There was an empty parking lot not too far off from the shopping center. Dusk began to slowly approach, this was the period of time commonly referred to as “the time of disasters”.

Today as well, the boy had pummeled the enemy here.

He had protected the town from the peculiarity which was about to bring “death and destruction” to this world.

──When I had rushed over, the battle was already over.

So, I don’t know how he beat the enemy. Maybe he released a wave of spirit energy from his hands, summoned a legendary sword, or shot beams out of his eyes…my curiosity was unending, but I didn’t need to know.

The reason being that this is not a “territory” that I should step into.

That’s because ordinary people, who don’t have any power, shouldn’t recklessly get themselves involved.

(Nevertheless…it was quite helpful that the enemy suddenly found itself in a parking lot and that they fought there, wasn’t it? Only three cars were toppled.)

As I was worrying about such things, the peculiar corpse steadily continued to disappear.

When I had taken a glimpse of it from the streets, it was a monster of three or four meters, but now its body was about the level of a pickling weight.

I wonder why these monsters want to disappear or explode in their final moments. Perhaps it’s a way to remove their own traces? Well, from a human’s perspective, it helps out since it saves the trouble of having to deal with the dead body.

(Now then, I have to do my job as well)

I soon confirmed that the peculiarity had completely vanished, jumped out from the shade of a utility pole, and ran to the boy.

I called out to the boy’s back in a voice that seemed as if I only came here just now.

“H, hey Ryuga! So you were here!”

“Ah. Ichiro.”

Ryuga, the boy, turned around at once and instantly made an expression that said “not good!”

Don’t worry. I know nothing, I saw nothing. I wouldn’t think that there was a peculiarity there, not even in my wildest dreams. I won’t even pay attention to the faintly rotten odor.

Now that my partner there said something, I’ll talk on and on as much as possible, as if I’m distressed.

“It suddenly went out of sight so let’s hurry. Make a break for it! That monster from earlier might still be around here!”

Although I’m saying this to the very person who defeated it, I have no choice.

That’s because I’m not supposed to see the hidden side of that guy. That’s my established role.

“Watch out Ryuga! That car’s been flipped like a pancake! That’s definitely from that monster! It’s dangerous being here!”

“It’s alright, Ichiro. It seems like the monster’s gone.”

I was being frantic on escaping, but the boy lightly shrugs his shoulders.

Well, speaking honestly, I paid special attention to the peculiarity and waited until it vanished.

“It’s gone? What are you trying to say?”

“Well…I’m not too sure myself, but the monster died there a while ago. It seems that it fought with someone and somehow got defeated.”

And it was you that defeated it.

The monster’s dead body barely retained its form when I saw it. However, I’m certain that it’s the one that appeared on the streets.

“A, are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“What the heck, who could go against that monster…?”

“Don’t know, but it’s definitely alright now.”

While saying so, the boy made a smile.

Surprisingly, women’s clothing would match him, as he has androgynous, well-ordered features. He has silky straight hair, slightly tan healthy skin, along with long and well-proportioned legs. In addition, the back of his hair is tied up.

For a second year high schooler, he’s a little pet.i.te and thin, and his blazer is a bit big on him. However, beneath the clothing, he has some lean muscles like a feline animal or a sculpture, and is considered quite lucky to have them.

Yup. As expected, this guy is a blooming flower──someone who’s truly a protagonist.

“Now, let’s head home, Ichiro.”

“Um, sure.”

I immediately followed after the boy who started walking. Normally, there wouldn’t be anyone that would be convinced with that kind of an explanation, but I don’t pursue the matter any further.

This event ends on his command.

This ‘episode’ has already been completed.

──The boy entrusted with secretly fighting peculiarities using his “supernatural power”.

He boldly fights against enemies that appear one by one, and continues to protect this world to this day──

I’m aware of it. This is that kind of story.

The boy I call Ryuga…is a protagonist-like existence.

While we’re both high school students, he obviously lives in a different realm from me. This world that I live in undoubtedly centers around him. This is not something that comes from my delusions, but something I’m convinced about.

How can such a person live as a carefree student? There’s no use thinking about it. There’s no choice but to acknowledge that that’s the way it is.

──Anyways, this world is the “stage” of a story, with him as the leading actor.

The main story progresses without any place for me to get involved. He’s the main character in a story set to have an Armageddon-like, Ragnarök-like, G.o.d’s Judgement-like, heroic battle with an evil peculiarity.

And there would also be “companion characters” that fight along his side.

There would also be lovely “heroine characters”.

Of course, as you can see, there are also “enemy characters” that are to be defeated.

Then there are many others, the “mob characters” that can play a role.

Everything in this world exists for the sake of the story, I think that everyone is just one of the characters.

Even if it means not having anything to do with the main story for the rest of my life, I think it’s fine to be part of the “people who live peacefully without knowing anything”.

……So, what kind of person am I? Well, let me introduce myself.

My name is Kobayashi Ichiro.

I exist as the “friend character” of the protagonist.

My position is in, as what anime and light novels call it, the “daily life part”.

A minor character who bears the burden of comic relief within the interval-like parts of the protagonist’s story to balance out the serious storyline.

That is my role.

At least, I recognize my existence as such.

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