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THUMP!
Carelessly, the little girl ended falling over Luck's body, crushing him into the ground. She was much heavier than she made herself to look like!
"Ouch! Agh! Your horns are sticking into my ribs! Ouch! You dummy! Why did you just threw yourself over me?!" Luck angrily barked; his dog-like tail was risen with its hairs sharp like spikes over his anger.
"A-Ahahah… Ouch…" The girl giggled. "S-Sorry about that! Hahaha… But it was a bit funny, right? Hehehe."
Luck couldn't simply understand why the girl was even laughing over the matter. He, who had always lived his life rather bitterly, couldn't find a single thing that was fun about what had happened.
"It's not funny! Ugh, stop laughing!" Luck said angrily, blushing a bit. "Just get lost! Ugh! Bye!" Luck waved his hand, walking away angrily.
"E-Eh? Don't get angry now…" Sighed the girl, who began chasing him around while Luck picked up mushrooms.
"I'm sorry, okay? D-Don't get mad…" She sighed. "Ah! Look, look! I've got you a get-well present!"
The girl suddenly and randomly picked up a red colored flower from the floor.
"Heheh, it's so pretty, right? You can have it all for yourself! It also looks a bit tasty…" She said with a smile.
"A flower? Why would I want a damn flower?" Luck said. "And why are you following me around?! Leave me alone! I don't like… talking with kids."
"Kids? So mean! I am your same age!" The girl said angrily.
"But you act like a toddler… And where are you from anyways?" Luck said, raising an eyebrow. "Never seen you around…"
"I come from a far, far away land! Over the mountains, we Sheep Anima live!" She said with a smile. "I've been chosen by the gods for a big mission, so I've decided to escape my home and search for the other heroes! I've been going through tons of hardships, but I always come on top with the help of my buddies!"
"W-What?!" Luck asked in horror. "You ran away from home?! Are you crazy?!"
"Hehehe, not like anybody would miss me…" She sighed. "After all… Grandma passed away long ago and… uncle took away her house… Honestly it has been much better to explore the outside world than to stay with him, he always forces me to do all the chores and feeds me just grass!"
Luck was left shocked, was this girl dumb? He would happily live in her place if that was the case… Living a sheltered life was much better than going around picking mushrooms like he did.
"You're really dumb…" He sighed.
"E-Eh? Again with that?" She pouted. "And what's your name, friend?"
"Friend? Who said I'm your friend now?" Luck said angrily. "Name's… Luck though. What yours, runaway girl?"
"Lara!" Her eyes shone bright gold, behind her the shining sun resembled a beautiful halo above her head. "And these are my buddies!"
"Buddies? What are you talking about?" Luck looked around. "You're alone."
"Huh?! You can't see my buddies?!" Lara was shocked. "T-That can't be! You don't have Mana or something?"
"Mana?" Luck raised an eyebrow. "Nobody in the village knows magic… That's too fancy for us."
"T-That's… it can't be!" Lara was shocked.
"Sigh… you're a really weird girl." Luck walked away.
"H-Hey! Wait a bit! Don't leave me alone, Luck!" Lara pouted.
"Stop following me!" Luck complained.
At first, Luck was honestly annoyed by her. A homeless girl wandering around the dangerous world? Who did she think she was? And she didn't looked any stronger either. He thought she had been surviving by sheer luck more than anything.
And the worst part was that his big brother ended accepting her in the house because he pitied her as someone homeless, and ended sharing their meals with her, meaning he had even less to eat every day!
"Hey Luck! Look this huge bug I found! It's so huge and big! Can we eat it?"
"Aggh! Get that thing away from me! Gross!"
However, although he didn't wanted to admit it…
"Hehehe, you got stung by a bee!"
"Shut it! It was your fault for bringing flowers with bees in the first place!"
Even when he disliked her…
"Look at you! All tattered, did you had a fight with the other kids again? Geez… You've gotta be more careful! Fine, let me patch you up really quick!"
Even when she was so annoying…
"You know Luck? One day, I'm going to become a hero and save people! And I want you to accompany me, you'll be my… sidekick!"
"Would you shut up…? Let me sleep already…"
And even when she often talked nonsense…
"My buddies told me there are no bears around that forest, so we should go look for seeds! Ah! Look! They even brought me this huge rabbit!"
"What?! How come you hunted one?! You're too weak to even lift yourself sometimes!"
"Hehehe, my buddies did it!"
"You and your dumb imaginary friends…"
And even when she slowly grew on his heart…
"Let's go to an adventure one day! When you learn how to use magic and stuff! And we can become famous heroes… And… hmmm, I can eat cheesecake again…"
"What is even a cheesecake?"
"It's a tasty cake made out of cheese! It's so good!"
"I can't believe you ran away from such a fancy life… you're crazy."
"It was boring! I wanted to meet new friends… And I finally found one."
"One?"
"Yeah, you, Luck! You're my best friend! You're in fact, the only friend I've ever had! Well, aside from my buddies!"
"S-Shut up… I am not your friend…"
Although he didn't wanted to admit it, that cheerful girl, that beautiful smile, and such a bright personality. The girl that never stopped smiling, the girl that never stopped hoping for a brighter future.
The girl that never stopped dreaming, and that always told him to dream as big as her… That girl ended becoming someone incredibly important for him, someone that became part of his whole life.
And as the years passed, and she was fully assimilated into the village, and as she went around healing people, and helping people in the crops, or even hunting, he slowly realized… That maybe it could be possible…
That maybe she could one day become a hero.
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