Lucas Coppersmith

“Squee…”

I hold Pudding tight as I sob into my knees.

I wish Vincent were here. He’d know what to—

“H-hello?” someone in the stall next to me calls out.

Her voice is soft and shaky.

I go silent.

“…A-are you o-okay?”

…

“No… I’m not.” I whimper. “The only person at this school who actually liked me, who actually wanted to spend time with me… just told me he doesn’t want to see me anymore. And I… I don’t know what to do. I’m just so sad, so tired of being lonely… but I just…”

I trail off, unable to push any more words out before I start crying again.

“I… I t-think I can r-relate.

“E-everybody’s always treated me like a m-m-monster. The way I look… the way I act… B-but, I get lonely and sad too. If I had a friend… I wouldn’t want to give up on them. N-no matter what. I… I’m not saying it would be e-easy, but… m-maybe… if you k-keep trying… you can find a way.”

I wipe my eyes and give Pudding a squeeze before tucking him under my hat.

She’s right.

Lucas… he was hurting too. He wouldn’t have been so sad if he truly wanted us to part ways. I… I can’t give up on him. There’s gotta be a way to make this work.

I can’t let it end here.

I pop out of the stall and start to run out of the restroom, but before I exit—

“You… wouldn’t happen to be Nettle… would you?”

Silence.

“Um… it’s me, Nora. I think we actually share a lot of classes together. I… I know what it’s like to struggle talking to people, so… if you ever want someone to talk to… from one loner to another… I’d be more than happy to. And thank you, Nettle. Truly.”

Whoever’s in the stall remains silent.

Somehow, though… I just know there’s a smile on the other side of it.

***

I sprint down the now-empty hallway, desperately hoping Lucas hasn’t left the workshop yet. As I approach the room, I find the door already open—

“Argh!”

Lucas falls to his knees, clutching his stomach, bruised and battered.

“Not so tough without Arthur protecting you, huh?” Petra’s lackey squats down in front of him. “Let’s try this again. You help get us alone with Nora, and we leave you alone. What do you say?”

Lucas spits in his face.

“Piss off.”

He kicks Lucas in the stomach, sending him crashing into a wall.

“Wrong answer.”

“The four of you combined aren’t half the summoner she is,” Lucas pants. “If you think I’d help you hurt her, you’re even dumber than you look. My answer’s not changing. Smack me around all you want.”

He wipes Lucas’s spit from his face, then laughs as he cracks his knuckles. “I mean, if you insist.”

This is everything Lucas wanted to avoid.

And it’s all because of me.

Zack Darkwell is the cocky guy with blonde and brown hair that just kicked Lucas. Bruno Braddock is the strong silent guy with blue hair. And Rhea Riff is the rowdy orange hair girl. Breadhead is with them too.

Petra’s entire crew is made up of High 3rd Order summoners, so even if Lucas and I fought them together, there’s no way we could win…

…but we don’t need to.

I just need to buy enough time for Lucas to escape. Whatever they do to me after that… so be it.

I try to steel my resolve, but I’m absolutely terrified at the thought of what they’ll do to me after he’s escaped—how much it’s going to hurt… but that doesn’t matter.

I have to save Lucas.

I pull out my wand, take a deep breath, and charge up the strongest burst of wind magic I can muster.

I’m coming for you Lucas.

WHOOSH!

The four of them turn as I blast through the doorway and hurtle straight toward them.

“Nora?!” Lucas shouts.

I fire off several boulders, knocking Bruno, Rhea, and Breadhead down. Zack manages to dodge, and I immediately start conjuring another boulder—but before I can finish, he dashes toward me and grabs me by the throat, unraveling my spell.

“Lucas! Run—grk!”

Zack punches me in the stomach so hard I almost vomit.

“Nora!” Lucas yells.

The other three start to get up.

“Oh, you’re going to pay for that,” Rhea growls.

“Lucas, get out of here, please!”

Rhea snaps. “You think we’re just gonna—”

“Nah, it’s alright.” Rocco interrupts. “Our business is with her.”

“I’m so sorry, Lucas. I never meant for any of this to happen. Please, just go! Save yourself!”

“Nora, I—”

“Go!”

…

“No… you refused to abandon me… well, I refuse to abandon you.”

Zack laughs. “Ha! This guy’s really got a screw loose, huh?”

“Nora.”

“...Yeah?”

“Show the ground a thousand years of shame.”

Zack turns. “A thousand years of what—GRAHHHHH!”

BZZZZZZZZT!

“ARC BOLT!”

Purple lightning explodes across the water now covering the floor.

Petra’s four lackeys scream in pain, their bodies locking up as electricity courses through them. Lucas is standing safely atop one of the tables.

The moment I heard ‘thousand’, I knew exactly what he wanted. While Zack was distracted, I flooded the floor beneath us—and the instant Lucas’s spell hit him, he dropped me.

Lucas tosses a wooden plank beneath me before I can fall onto the electrified floor.

Lucas jumps down and takes me by the hand as we make our escape.

“Run!”

As we head for the back exit, Zack manages to power through the paralysis just long enough to toss a dagger.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

It hurtles straight toward Lucas’s head, but just as it’s about to hit him—

“Squeeee!”

Pudding leaps out from under my hat and catches it midair, then spits it onto the ground.

Lucas is stunned. “Pudding! You—”

“Come on, we have to go!” I shout, quickly scooping Pudding up and running out the door with Lucas.

As we escape, I glance back to see Petra’s crew finally staggering to their feet.

“After them!” Breadhead shouts.

Lucas and I sprint as fast as we can, racing through doorways and winding halls, but it’s only a matter of time before one of them catches up.

The moment we make it outside—

“Hop on!”

Lucas summons Sugarcube, climbs atop him, then reaches down and scoops me up into his arms. Sugarcube shoots into the air, carrying us up to the roof, where Lucas hops off and gently sets me down. Just as we get out of sight—

“Anybody see where they went?” Zack asks.

“What the hell was that?” Rhea yells.

“Bullcrap! That’s what it was!” Breadhead shouts.

We sit against a wall, panting as we try to stay silent. Finally, it seems like they’re gone.

“Phew, that was a close one.” Lucas turns to me. “I wonder—Nora?! What’s wrong?!”

Tears stream down my cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Lucas. You got hurt, and it’s all my fault. I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you.”

Lucas shakes his head. “No, Nora, none of this is your fault. It’s entirely on them. I’m the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn’t have tried pushing you to be someone you’re not. You being the way that you are is what makes you so special.”

He smiles. “I like that you’re different. In the store, when everybody else stood by and did nothing, you leaped into help me without even thinking about the consequences. The kindness you showed me, the positivity you radiated, it’s why I fell—”

He freezes, and his face flushes.

“W-why I, uh, think you’re so cool. If… If you being different makes other people upset, well, screw 'em’! Because I like you just the way you are. After everything you risked to save me, anybody who thinks I’m not gonna stick by you is crazy. Sure, it might make things harder on me, but… if it means getting to stay by your side, then it’s worth it.”

“Lucas…”

“You were right, Nora. We are the same. I see the potential in monsters, same as you—especially after Pudding just saved me. Maybe he is a little cute.”

“Squee! Squee!”

Pudding leaps onto Lucas and purrs as it nuzzles him.

“My summon—”

I shake my head. “Sugarcube.”

“Nora, shouldn’t people get a say in the name of their own—”

“Lucas?”

“...Yeah?”

“Sugarcube.”

He sighs with a chuckle. “Sugarcube it is then.”

I smile.

“I found Sugarcube in some old ruins I snuck into nearby. They’re filled with all sorts of technology like nothing we have in our kingdom, but it’s all in horrible condition, so nobody’s bothered looting any of it.

There are all sorts of creatures in there that look like man-made golems, but they’re completely broken down. Sugarcube was different though. He seemed like he might still be salvageable, so I took him home. It took months of tinkering, but eventually, I finally got him working again. And as soon as I did—”

“He formed a contract with you! No fighting! Just like me and Pudding!”

“Yup.”

A sad smile creeps across his face.

“My family was pretty furious that I formed a contract with such a weak monster. And they hated the idea of me crafting gear for him—or any monster. They forbade me from crafting and forced me to focus solely on my spellcasting. They said I had a gift, and that it was my duty to use it to become a great Sweeper one day.

“But that’s not what I want. I want to become a professional crafter. But, when I told you that training for that was why I wanted to fly under the radar… that was only half the truth. Lightning magic is famously powerful—the pinnacle of offensive magic. Very few mages wield it. But I don’t want people thinking I succeeded because of my magic.”

Lucas looks me straight in the eyes.

“Like a lot of people here, I do want to become this academy’s top summoner. But I want to get there solely through the equipment I design. I want to prove that equipment can make our summons so much stronger that even a summon as weak as mine can climb all the way to the top. I want to show everyone what becomes possible when we start gearing up our summons—how much stronger summoners can become, and how much more good we can do for the kingdom.”

He smiles. “That’s my true dream, Nora. That’s why I’m really here.”

“Lucas… that’s so wonderful… so inspiring, I…”

…

“...I know what I want to do too.”

I place my hand over my chest.

“I want to climb to the top with you! I want to prove to everyone that if we truly try to understand monsters, there’s no limit to what we can accomplish together. That one day, we can create a world where everybody can finally experience peace and prosperity—where we can end the conflict between monsters and humans without any bloodshed! If I can show them that even the weakest monster—even a Blue Slime—can make it to the top, they’ll have to accept it! And I want to do it right alongside you, Lucas!”

“You do realize there can only be one number one student, right?”

“It’s okay, you’ll learn to settle for second place.”

We both stare at each other for a moment, then break out into laughter.

After we laugh for a little bit, I grab Lucas’s hands.

“Let’s change summoner society together, Lucas. You and me.”

“Heh, you don’t find it a little strange for us to both have such lofty ambitions?”

“Vincent says it’s always the strange ones that end up shaking the foundations of society.”

Lucas shakes his head. “You really are amazing Nora, you know that?”

“You amaze me!

“Yeah, well, you amaze me more!”

“Oh, yeah? Well… uh… double amaze no take-backs!”

We both laugh again.

Lucas playfully sighs. “How’d I wind up with such an oddball for a friend?”

Tears suddenly well up in my eyes.

“W-woah! Nora?! What’s wrong?! Did I say something—”

I lunge at Lucas, tackling him to the ground and holding him tight as I can.

“N-N-Nora?!”

“My first time.”

“What?”

“It’s the first time… someone’s ever called me… their friend. I’m just… so happy.”

“N-Nora! Y-you’re getting really close here!”

I look up. “Please, Lucas? Please just let me have this.”

Flustered, he adjusts his glasses and looks away. “M-maybe…maybe just a little longer.”

We lie together for a little while as he pats my head.

“You kinda act like a spoiled kid sometimes, you know that?”

“Keep those head pats coming, buster.”

“This sunset sure is beautiful, it’s a shame you’re missing with your head buried—H-hey, stop it!”

He cracks up as I tickle his sides. “You sure you can see it with those thick glasses of yours?”

I keep tickling until I’ve got him pinned beneath me.

“Y-yes!” he laughs. “I-I’m sure! Just stop it already! I surrender!”

I let up, then stare at his glasses. “You know, now that I think about it, we’ve spent all this time hanging out together, yet I’ve never even seen your eyes.”

I crawl a little farther up and lean in until our faces are only a few inches apart, close enough that I can feel his breath hitting my lips, yet I still can’t see the eyes behind his glasses.

“N-Nora, I…”

I smile and whisper, “Let me get a good look at those eyes of yours.”

I start to pull off his glasses—

“Eep!”

Something suddenly pokes my leg, making me jump.

I look back. “What was—”

Lucas quickly rolls us over, leaving him on top of me, propped up on his arms.

“I, uh—have a wrench in my pocket!”

“Oh, okay—”

BANG!

A door swings open, and we both look over.

Coldheart is standing in the doorway, glaring at us with extreme annoyance.

“Must I remind you that public displays of affection are against—”

“THAT’S NOT WHAT WE WERE DOING!” Lucas shouts as he scrambles off me.

“We were, uh, escaping bullies,” I add.

“Yes, I’ve been told as much. That’s why I’m here.”

“You were told as much?”

A familiar face pops out from behind Coldheart. “H-hi, Nora.”

“Jane?!”

“I went to pick up the armor Lucas was crafting for my summon and saw them attacking you two. After I saw Lucas shock them, I ran to get Professor Boldheart.”

“Thanks to the injuries you left on those four hooligans, we had clear evidence that a fight had occurred, just as Miss Doehunter testified. The four of them have all been suspended and will be put under close watch going forward. If they try anything like this again, they’ll face further suspension or even expulsion.

“We’ve also warned Miss Redgrave and Miss Bloodthorn not to seek out revenge. Interestingly, Miss Bloodthorn admitted that they asked her to come along, but for some odd reason, she didn’t feel like participating. You’re quite fortunate. Miss Bloodthorn is well-versed in healing magic. With her help, they could have quickly shaken off the paralysis inflicted by Lucas’s magic. Her corroboration that this attack was pre-mediated was also enough to help us guarantee a suspension. Though, she was only willing to speak with us under confidentiality.”

“How confidential could it have been if you told us?” Luca asks.

Panic hits Coldheart’s face. “Uh…forget that last part.”

“Okay.” I nod.

“Ahem, regardless, you shouldn't have to worry about them bullying you anymore.”

I leap at Jane hugging her, “Oh, thank you, Jane!”

“It was the least I can do, Nora. I… I’m sorry for abandoning you the way I did. I know it’s cowardly of me to ask this only after Petra’s friends are no longer a concern, but… do you think we could still be friends—hey!”

I nuzzle up against her face. “Anything for you, Jane!”

“Littleroot! What did I just say about public displays of affection?!”

I pause for a moment before leaping at Coldheart and hugging her.

“You can’t arrest me if I make you an accomplice, Miss Coldheart!”

She blushes. “G-get off me this instant, Littleroot! Show your teachers some respect!”

“Of course I respect you! You’re the bestest teacher in the whole wide world!” I bury my face in her stomach as I hug her even tighter.

We all can’t help but laugh—other than Coldheart, who lets out a groan.

My heart fills with joy. Surrounded by all of them, I’ve never felt less alone.