Love?! Love was it?! No way! I mean, Ria is a girl! How can I have these feeling on a person with the same gender as me! I must have gotten sick somewhere. But deep inside she had this one thought that said; it couldn’t be helped that Ria was too cool, right? 

Sheila shook her head at such unbelievable thoughts before sealing it off inside of her. It was really ridiculous, no matter how she thought about it. There is no way that she has that kind of feeling toward the girl in front of her. No, maybe this is normal? She had never fallen in love before, so she didn’t know if this feeling is what you called love for friendship or is it in that direction. Hopefully, No, it must be the friendship love!

“Are you okay, Sheila?”

“I-I’m fine, just a little dizzy.”

“Then why don’t we leave this place and you could take a rest in your bedroom?”

“Yes, that’s a good idea.”

Afterwards, Sheila turns off the restriction that was set onto the key before handing it over to Ria again. Now, Ria could enter and leave the Trial Tower as she pleased, so long as she didn’t accept the quest that is. Like before, Ria has to use the key as if unlocking an invisible door and with a twist, her figure vanished from the Trial Tower. Sheila didn’t wait much longer as the moment Ria disappeared, she immediately exits the Trial Tower with a simple thought.

…

Sheila’s bedroom.

“I fthoufh fuo faid fuo forgafe fe aflreafy?”(I thought you said you forgave me already?)

“I did, yes. But did I said anything about you not getting punished, no?”

Ria smiled happily at Sheila as she pinches the girl’s cheeks. She actually wanted to do this, but since they were in the Trial Tower, she didn’t feel safe there and as comfortable as in right now. Anyway, Sheila deserves a punishment so that she won’t make the same mistake ever again. The only way to give her a punishment that she would remember is something childish as pinching her cheeks. The girl herself is also childish, after all. 

A few minutes later…

“If ftill furt.”(it still hurts.)

Sheila moaned in pain while rubbing her red cheeks softly as she glared at the girl who was smiling at her in happiness. Although her glare kind of contained a bit of tear which makes Shiela appears to be pretty cute in Ria’s view. It was rare to see Sheila in making that kind expression since most of the time; she only seems stoic in appearance from the other perception of her. Although she doesn’t have any friend in school, it doesn’t mean that no one wants to talk to her and in fact, many wanted to do so but couldn’t handle the gaze from the stoic Sheila. 

She didn’t make such expression on purpose, but people misunderstood it as she didn’t want any business with them. If she smiles more often, she would be even more famous than she already is. As a childhood best friend, Ria knows Sheila the most. She tried to help her with making a new friend, but the result was not so good. There’s this one period where she introduced a girl whose parent also work in the entertainment circle, same as Sheila’s mother. Of course, Sheila tried to help them by asking her mother when the girl asked her, but in the end, the girl and her family was never to be seen again.

Sheila asked her mother what had happened to her friend, but her mother keeps her silence. It was only a week later than she saw the news on TV that said a family of three was caught in a car accident and passed away on the scene. It then showed the picture of the family and one little girl who appears to be familiar to Sheila. It didn’t take that long enough for her to conclude that it is her friend. She didn’t remember what happened afterwards, but from what her mother and Ria said, she fell with a cold for an entire week. It was also at that time that Sheila started to become introvert and slowly progress into the current her.

Till now, Sheila still doesn’t know what had actually happened to the girl and only thought as a misfortune in getting caught up in a car accident. But Ria knows the truth. As a mature kid, she notices thing different than Sheila. She had her suspicion that the car accident is not a mere accident, but it was an accident created by someone. One night, she asked her mother, Celia, and it was then, she knew the truth.

The car accident was caused by a rival company that Sheila’s mother works. Somehow, they knew that the girl is a friend of Sheila and to make her suffer, those cruel bastard make it happen. It did works as Sheila’s mother become quiet for a few weeks before she makes another appearance which would bring a nightmare to those people. Ria doesn’t have the heart and courage to tell Sheila the truth as she doesn’t want her to feel the pain which might escalate her thought into something unimaginable. 

But thanks to her, the current Sheila is way different than the one back then. It was really difficult and almost impossible to talk to her, but Ria didn’t give up. It didn’t need to be said as if Ria had given up; Sheila won’t be here while rubbing her red cheeks with tears in the eyes. To be honest, She couldn’t really accept the thing that she had just experienced. The world that Ria thought unlikely to be linked to fantasy, but it actually is. As a modern person, she didn’t believe that ghost, God or anything supernatural exists.

She didn’t mind to those who pray for God because they need such being to support their weak mentality and psyche. If they did not do as such, they are likely given up on life and commit suicide. Not all people are strong in both the mind and psychical. Most likely, if Sheila had known the truth about the whole accident, she would have… Ria shook her head at such negative thought and instead focused more into her current situation.

After exiting the Trial Tower via the key, she realised that the blue card had disappeared and nowhere in sight. Although it has disappeared, she can feel that the increased in her strength is not fake but actual reality. And if that is not enough, she was still holding onto the silver sword in her hands when her view changed from the Trial Tower to that of Sheila’s bedroom which was now left on the side of the bed. The very proof of the silver sword told her that everything she had experienced in that place is real. It’s not like she didn’t believe it; it was more like unconscious rejection. 

Living in a world where science and logic rules, it makes sense that such an illogical experienced make her feel like it was nothing but a dream. It is a normal reaction for a modern person like her to believe at such. If it were not for the otaku culture that she had been cultivated from Sheila, then perhaps she would likely reject it even further. To be honest, she was kind of excited about this whole thing, pretty hard for her to disagree that magic is cool and all. She had been thoroughly brainwa—learned about Otaku culture from Sheila, after all.

But everything comes with a price; Nothing is free in the world. Ria believes that if she continued on this path, she would likely lose her ordinary life. But will she be happy with such life without Sheila in it? After all, it was already too late for Sheila to leave this dangerous life where life is at risk. The moment Sheila had gotten the nightmare from her dream, which alarmed her to this day, she had been continuously thinking all sort of things, be it to protect her loves one or getting stronger. She doesn’t have time to enjoy her ordinary life no more. This possibly influenced her in choosing who is going to become the owner of the key. 

The smarter choice was to choose someone who had the gift to be a hero like the one in the story. Ria for sure is not that the type of person who would risk herself to save others like an idiot. If Sheila had done as such, she wouldn’t have to worry about the world and focused more on getting stronger while enjoying her ordinary life. Basically, leave the problem to the one who could handle it because Sheila, for sure, is not the right person for that.

Ria was woken up from the deep thought when her eyes accidentally came across Sheila who was drinking something like a potion and the red mark on her cheeks magically disappeared. Health potion? 

“Sheila.”

“Uh-Oh, this is not what it is! It’s just a normal drink, I swear!”

Sheila had thought of secretly drinking the health potion to heal her sore cheeks but wasn’t expecting to get exposed easily. She was flustered as she tried to give a reasonable explanation to Ria when she was called out. But it was already too late as a dark aura appears out of Ria’s back. Her best friend had gone alter!