“Hey Phi. Your big brother’s great. He beat that monster armor beast like it was nothing.”
That night, Shiroi laid on Yuugo’s bed, and spoke to Phi, who laid on another bed.
The person he talked about, Yuugo, was sleeping on the floor with Marcos, and Phi was happy about his big brother being praised.
“Yes! My big brother is amazing! He’s a hero that’s beaten a lot of monster armor beasts, and protected people from lots of even more dangerous things!”
“That’s so cool…! It was really awesome how he used that magic item and beat that monster armor beast so fast. Did you make that? Did we talk about that?”
“No, that’s a normal magic item anyone can get. I just tuned it for my brother, and added the feature to make weapons.”
“So you modded it! It’s not just your brother, you’re awesome too! You’re not that different from me, but you can do all that…!”
They were close in age, and seemed to have gotten closer when they were taking a bath together.
The fact that they both looked up to a hero, may have contributed to that.
Phi was embarrassed, now that he was the one being praised, and Shiroi whispered while holding the stone knife that was used by Yuugo to take down the monster armor beast.
“Hehehe…! We both helped your brother… Is that fair? I just lent him my knife though.”
“Yes! You can say he took down that monster armor beast thanks to you!”
“Hehe, yay!”
Phi remembered what his big brother said when he beat the arachlaw, and told Shiroi what he was sure his big brother would say here. Shiroi smiled happily, and pointed the knife at the ceiling.
He looked at the knife as if it were some sort of important medal, and spoke quietly enough that he was practically speaking to himself.
“I’m going to treat this knife like it’s treasure. It’s the cool weapon a cool hero used. I feel like just having it makes me stronger.”
“Fufufu! I’m sure my brother would be happy to hear that. But I’m a little jealous…!”
“I’ll make one for you too! You helped me too! Take it as a symbol of friendship!”
“Really!? Wah, thank you, Shiroi!”
As they made that promise and furthered their friendship, they continued the lively conversation despite it being night.
After having fun talking like this for a while longer… Shiroi’s tone suddenly lowered, and he spoke with worry.
“…Phi, is it really okay? My mom and dad, and everyone in the village that turned weird… Will they be back to normal?”
“Shiroi?…”
The cause was still a mystery. No one knew what strange thing happened exactly.
But Shiroi knew the vague discomfort he felt was not a misunderstanding, and could not help but be anxious, and worry if his life would ever return to normal.
Would his parents, his friends, and all the kind people in the village return to normal?
Phi tried to encourage his friend, who was scared because they did not even have a clue about the answer or how to solve this.
“…It’s okay! My brother, Marcos, and the others will find out what’s going on and solve it! Your parents will be back to normal! Trust heroes, Shiroi!”
“Phi…”
As Shiroi heard Phi have complete confidence in them, he remembered the reliable hero he saw earlier that day, and looked at the stone knife again.
Trust heroes… Those words repeated in his head, and as he nodded with a small smile, he responded to his friend who cheered him up.
“Yes…! I’ll believe you guys. I’ll believe it will be okay.”
“Yes! My brother said heroes are invincible if you believe in them. If you believe, it will all be okay!”
Phi smiled as he encouraged Shiroi with the same words he heard from his big brother.
That smile led Shiroi to feeling better as well, and he placed the stone knife on the bedside table, and spoke with a different, brighter tone.
“That vegetable soup I ate before was really tasty…! I hope I can have it again…!!”
“Fufu! I’m sure Precia will make it if you ask! Let’s talk to her tomorrow!”
“Yes! I’m getting sleepy… Should we go to sleep soon?”
Shiroi yawned, and his eyes felt tired.
Phi was also getting sleepy, so he nodded, and said goodnight to his friend.
“Goodnight Shiroi. See you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight Phi…”
That was the last thing they said before they were off to dreamland.
Surely they were supporting heroes in their dreams. And with those cheers behind them, they would break through the evil squirming in the darkness, and bring peace back to this world.
The boys formed a quiet but firm friendship, and both had smiles on their faces.
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