Is it Tough Being a Friend?

Is it Tough Being a Friend? v4 Chapter 1 Part 1

Record of Elmira’s Child Care Struggles

Come to think of it, I don’t know much about the girl named Elmira McCartney.

Despite the flags I’ve raised with her, I’ve never asked for details about her background.

The data that I do have on her is that she “comes from Eastern Europe”, “is the successor of the ‘Vermilion Bird'”, “writes novels as a hobby”, “can freely control flames through her supernatural ability”…that kind of stuff.

Of particular note is that she’s undeniably a “vampire”, but…she seems to be quite different from the vampires that I know of.

──First of all, the sun is not Elmira’s weakness.

She can calmly move around in sunlight without turning into ashes. She falls asleep often during morning and noon classes, but I also do that.

──In addition, she seems to have no fear of garlic or crosses.

On the contrary, her favorite food seems to be gyoza. It seems that she’ll die from a stake to the heart, but she said “anybody would die from that”. She’s got a point.

──Also, it seems that she can’t increase the members of her group through sucking someone’s blood.

She sucks human blood as an energy source for manipulating fire. Her supernatural ability is “turning blood into flames”. If she only needs nutrients, then normal food suffices.

(Though, she likes to blabber on about the taste of blood…She made me her ‘exclusive donor’ because of how rich and quenching my blood is.)

…Perhaps I should take this opportunity to know a little more about Elmira.

In the first place, why is she the only foreigner among the main characters? Everyone else is Japanese. Why did the family associated with the “Vermilion Bird” leave this town, the town where the four fiends rest, and move to Europe?

Now it’s time to investigate vampires. If apostles and “Evil Spirits” exist, then perhaps vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein’s monster, and Q-Taro exist too. (TLN: Q-Taro is a reference to the manga Little Ghost Q-Taro)

I’m only interested in how they relate to the story.

(Maybe Ryuga and the others know more.)

While thinking as such, I decided to gather information from the main characters about the “search for Elmira”. As a result, I managed to discover a few small things.

──一First off is what Hinomori Ryuuga had to say.

“Truthfully, the whereabouts of the family tied to the ‘Vermilion Bird’ have been unknown for a long time. According to my father, several apostles fled to Europe three hundred years ago…and the successor of the ‘Vermilion Bird’ at that time chased after them.”

“So, they vanished without a trace after that?”

“Right. I never imagined that they would merge with a vampire family in Eastern Europe.”

It seems that Elmira’s eccentric, free-spirited nature came from her ancestors.

──The second person I went to was Yukimiya Shiori.

“The family associated with the ‘Vermilion Bird’ originally had the family name ‘Akatori’.” (TLN: Akatori [赤鳥] directly translates to “Red Bird”)

“Is that so? Then, it seems they were originally Japanese.”

“If you think about it, McCartney is an unusual family name for Eastern Europe, don’t you think? Doesn’t it sound like it derives from the name Akatori? So maybe McCartney came from Makkanatori…” (TLN: She added a few extra characters that turned Akatori [赤鳥, Red Bird] into Makkanatori [真っ赤な鳥, Bright Red Bird])

Perhaps back then, their people had a different nickname instead of the “Blood-kin of Eternal Darkness”. After all, that title is clearly one that belongs to a vampire.

──The third person I listened to was Aogasaki Rei.

“Elmira is currently the head of the McCartney family. It’s extremely rare for a non-legitimate child to be born with special abilities.”

“Speaking of which, Aogasaki, you first battled with Elmira, right?”

“Yeah. If Ryuuga didn’t stop us, someone from either side would have died.”

At that time, I was a sub-character who specialized in the daily life part of the story, unaware of such matters. I want to return to that position soon.

──Fourth was Kurogame Rina.

“Now, I wonder if Elle will come back in a skippy. Hmm? Or is it, in a spiffy? Oh, in a jiffy!”

“……”

Well, I didn’t expect much from the tortoise.

──Anyhow, I can see that they all deeply trust Elmira. It seems that they didn’t even think about the possibility of needing to fight her.

(That’s how strong the bonds between the main characters are…and that relationship of trust will definitely be the decisive factor that brings Elmira back our side.)

Elmira will probably hesitate to attack if everyone stands in her way and appeals to her.

She would say something along the lines of “I can’t…I can’t hurt Ryuuga and the others…”

The apostles would probably see that and be very agitated.

Then they would say “What are you doing, Elmira?! Kill them! Guh, don’t tell me your bonds with them are that strong?!”

Yep. It seems that I can expect a spicy plot to unfold. I’d like the situation to follow that route since it would mean little involvement from me.

(In order for that to happen, Elmira must show up soon. For the time being, perhaps I should have the three princesses help out as well.)

Deciding as such, I went home a little later that day. Since I’ve been walking around the town after supplementary lessons finish, I’ve lately been returning home past the usual eight o’clock.

It’s already September 10th. Before I knew it, I had only one supplementary lesson left.


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11 thoughts on “Is it Tough Being a Friend? v4 Chapter 1 Part 1”

  1. Sorry for the short post. I’m just separating these chapters in the same way the author did (the author divides each chapter into numbered parts). I’ll post part 2 immediately after this since this one’s so short.

  2. You know I’m getting a little tired of him interpreting this all like a book, especially right after he caught himself assuming and putting people into roles.
    But then again this guy was ready to die for his “role” so I can’t expect much from such a psychopath. lol

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