My First Male Friend

“…I’m going to follow that knight princess and go to Baldia Mountain.”

Henrik furrowed his brows and spoke with a heavy tone.

As Jonah had predicted… no, perhaps his mother had foreseen this and that was why she had warned them so strongly.

“But why? Baldia Mountain is extremely rugged—I don’t think it’s a place people can go.”

The book summarizing legends from various places that Jonah possessed clearly stated as much.

Moreover, if the legend was true, two dragons inhabited that mountain.

Including the fact that Patricia and the others were heading to subjugate the dragons, why was Henrik willing to take such risks?

Jonah felt it was different from the common story of a boy admiring legends and setting out on an adventure.

“Henrik.”

“…My dad might be at that mountain.”

Henrik fell silent at first but gradually opened his mouth bit by bit.

Five years ago, Henrik’s father, a hunter, announced he was going to Baldia Mountain and left, never returning.

It was originally known as the mountain inhabited by the legendary Paired Dragons, and locals knew it was rugged and not a place humans could climb.

Yet when his father suddenly said that, his mother could not stay silent.

She tried to stop him repeatedly and even clung to him as he left the house, but in the end he shook her off and vanished.

However, there was something suspicious.

Lately, his hunter father had started bringing back large magical beasts unlike any seen before.

Not only that—among them were even gem-like items, and when his mother questioned him, he only vaguely replied, “I just happened to find them.”

In any case, there was something on Baldia Mountain.

Something that had taken his father from their family.

“…So, what do you want to do by going to Baldia Mountain, Henrik?”

Jonah asked Henrik, who looked down after finishing his story, in a cold tone.

It was harsh on Henrik, but five years had passed since he vanished. His father had either met the worst fate on Baldia Mountain or abandoned his family and was living carefree somewhere else—one or the other.

Henrik probably understood that too. Jonah understood his feelings in wanting to go despite the danger, but there was a part he couldn’t forgive.

While Jonah himself, having done nothing wrong, would unjustly lose his life in less than ten months, why would Henrik, who could live much longer, treat his life so recklessly?

All the precious people Jonah had met until now had resisted injustice and desperately tried to live.

Wanting to help them, Jonah had wielded ancient magic.

Of course, Henrik was a very kind boy, and Jonah liked him too.

That was precisely why Jonah took this attitude—to make him understand the preciousness of life more.

“I… I… If I meet Dad, I want to tell him. That I’ll take good care of Mom, so don’t worry. So, he can rest easy now.”

Henrik shed a single tear and bit his lip.

For him, meeting his father likely meant parting.

Indeed… Henrik was heading to Baldia Mountain to settle things.

Gazing at him, Jonah shook his head and then.

“…I get it. I won’t stop you anymore.”

“…! R-really!”

“But only if I come along too.”

Jonah had planned from the start to go to Baldia Mountain to see the legend of the Paired Dragons with his own eyes, so there was no issue.

More importantly, he needed to stay by his side to ensure Henrik didn’t encounter danger as much as possible. That’s what Jonah thought.

“I-idiot! Baldia Mountain is dangerous! You stay here, Jonah!”

“No way. I have my own reasons to go to Baldia Mountain, and besides, I can’t let an important friend go alone.”

When Jonah declared it brooking no argument, Henrik wore a troubled expression and averted his gaze.

But.

“Haa… You’re hopeless too. Or rather, way too stubborn.”

“You’re the same, Henrik.”

“Well, maybe.”

“Ehehe.”

“Haha!”

“Ahahahahaha!”
“Ahahahahaha!”

The two looked at each other and clutched their stomachs laughing.

With that, Jonah and Henrik’s resolve was set. They nodded to each other, grabbed their bags, and slipped out the window in the dead of night.

And then.

“Princess Patricia, please! Take us with you to Baldia Mountain!”

“H-hey, hey…”

The two, who had been waiting at the forest entrance for Patricia’s imperial army, prostrated themselves before the perplexed her and pleaded.