I'm the Friend of a Male Lead who went Crazy after the Female Lead Died

Thank you, A Voracious Reader, for the Kofi 😘.

 

Elshnain continued to walk as she glanced at the people she had just heard talking.

A young couple, wearing flashy attires, was pointing at her as they whispered to one another.

Well, rather than whispering, it was more appropriate to say they were speaking loud enough to make sure she could hear them.

They are quite interested in someone else’s business; Elshnain thought.

Then, without giving much attention to the remarks of such shallow people, she briskly walked away.

She had no emotions or time to waste on those who focused solely on outward appearances, and easily looked down on others.

So, Elshnain simply shrugged her as she arrived at her destination.

“Which floor would you like to go to?” immediately asked the mage standing in front of the teleportation device.

 

“The basement, please,” she replied clearly.

 

Surprised, the mage paused for a moment before he quickly, but skillfully drew symbols in the air.

 

A reddish light emanated from the strange patterns, and then, with a slight jolt, the scene i her changed.

 

The first thing that caught Elshnain’s eye was the pile of yellow boxes stack up to the ceiling.

 

Next to them, mismatched shoes were scattered about haphazardly.

 

It was a very filthy room.

 

Ugh… the original story did mention the dirtiness, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.

There was also a nauseating smell floating around.

Elshnain’s nose wrinkled with disgust, then she carefully lifted her skirt as she walked, trying to find a somewhat clean spot on the heavily soiled and cluttered floor.

But the thing was so dirty that it was difficult to guess its original color.

So, it was only natural that she’d stop walking, but then….

 

“Just step on it and come over.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Don’t just stand there like an idiot.”

 

At that moment, along with a rustling sound from deep inside, a grumbling voice echoed throughout the basement.

 

 It really looks like a baby pig, doesn’t it?

With white, round angel wings and a chubby pink body, the creature resembling a winged baby pig occupied about half of the room, and was scribbling on a large piece of paper.

 

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a visitor. Come on in.”

 

“Uh, hello?”

 

“Hello.”

Without turning its head towards Elshnain, the baby pig continued to scribble with its little feet. It only turned its body once she came to stand in front of it.

 

“What’s the auction item?”

 

Elshnain’s purpose for visiting to the Golden Tower asked.

 

The person she wanted to meet.

 

The Gold Master, that was him.

* * *

 

The Gold Master was a famous figure throughout the empire, if not the entire continent, with hardly anyone unaware of his existence.

 

However, he remained shrouded in mystery as there was no one who had actually met him.

 

Even within the Golden Tower, only a selected few knew of his secretive presence.

 

Yet, there he was, right in front of Elshnain.

 

THE Gold Master.

 

“Hehe. Have a seat.”

 

The little piglet… no, the Master, sat down on the paper as he spoke to her.

 

From the way he gestured towards the ground with his small baby pig foot, it seemed like he wanted her to simply sit on the floor.

 

And after looking around and seeing that there were no suitable chairs or designated seating areas, Elshnain could only sat on the ground with her legs crossed.

 

“Masked person. What is this thing?” he asked with intrigued face.

 

While most people, including the majority of the staff at the Golden Tower, considered this underground floor as a mere disposal area for trash, it was far from the truth.

 

When an appraiser couldn’t determine the value of an item or couldn’t trust the accuracy of their discernment, the Gold Master would personally determine its worth.

 

And the rock that Elshnain brought with her fell into that category.

 

The appraised value is 0 shillings, but since it was brought to the Golden Tower, there must have been a reason… … I thought it might be a mineral no one knew about.

 

Because it was something that happened in the book, Elshnain was confident and had brought the stone.

 

According to the original story, Arwen picked up this rock and brought it here after receiving a divine revelation.

 

Whether it goes well or wrong, it’s all to help Killian.

 

Arwen did end up meeting the Gold Master through this incident, and upon realizing that she was the Holy Maiden, the Gold Master became her ally and actively supported her.

 

Why did the Gold Master help her?

 

Must have been the protagonist’s buff, or something like that.

 

But I don’t have that kind of buff.

 

And that’s exactly I planned to charm him in a different way.

 

“This is the auction item I want to entrust to you,” I said, taking out a genuine treasure, not the rock that I submitted in the lobby earlier.

 

The item inside  the small leather bag was none other than…

 

“Hmm? Hmmm?”

 

The Gold Master fidgeted with excitement, diligently working his little feet to untie the bag and examine its contents.

 

Then, with an expression of disbelief, he remained silent for a while, his mouth agape as if he was struggling to comprehend.

 

After hesitating for a long time, unable to bring himself to touch the contents with his little pig feet, he instead examined it from various angles by moving his head.

 

Then, finally, he spoke.

 

“This is… the scale of a Silver Dragon…! This can’t be real. Dragons are supposed to be extinct!”

 

The Gold Master, trembling with excitement, started spinning around in place.

 

Awww. How cute; Elshnain laughed inwardly as his movement resembled that of a small piggy bank rolling around.

 

But realizing the importance of the situation, she firmly solidified her facial expression behind the mask.

 

“How… how did this end up here?”

 

“Hmm,” she stared  in a serious tone. “It seems the Golden Tower is curious about its customers’ privacy as well?”

 

“Pr… privacy? What’s that?”

 

Oops. She unintentionally switched to English while pretending to be tough.

 

“Ahem. Do you want to know about your customers’ personal information? That’s obviously a secret. If everyone knew about it, then it would lose its value, wouldn’t it?”

 

“…!”

 

The Gold Master covered his mouth with his small hands and nodded.

Then, as if acknowledging his mistake, he spoke softly, sweat dripping down his forehead, “Y-yes, I’m sorry.”

 

Like he said, dragons no longer existed in this world.

 

Except for Asherai. He was the last remaining connection to them.

 

Dragons were initially created by the God Aetern, to protect the continent.

 

This was to prevent the continent from being engulfed in darkness by the hands of the Demon God.

 

When that evil god sought to take control of the continent, the dragons were his biggest obstacle.

 

Therefore, for several hundred years, he devised a plan, and the first step of that plan was to wipe the dragons out.

 

The dragons, taken by surprise, faced the threat of extinction.

 

However, they didn’t go down without a fight.

 

They all sacrificed themselves in order to seal the Demon God away.

 

But little did they know that he saw it coming.

 

The Demon God, having foreseen his own imprisonment, had previously transferred his soul into the Demon King, tasking him with finding a suitable vessel.

 

And that vessel is Killian.

 

While Elshnain was engrossed in the story of the dragons’ extinction, the Gold Master seemed to have regain his composure.

 

“Are you going to put this up for auction?” he asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

“……Really?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The Gold Master suddenly flew up in excitement, buzzing around anxiously.

 

“Me! Me! Please sell it to me!”

 

“What?” Elshnain asked, pretending not to have heard correctly.

 

She already knew that he would want these scales.

 

He had his reasons.

 

“I’ll give you the best price! Come on!”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Elshnain held her chin as if she was really considering his offer. Then, with determination, she firmly stated,

 

“No.”

 

“What… Why not? he asked, lowering his head with a pitiful expression, but Elshnain remained unmoved.

 

Despite his cute and endearing appearance, he was no ordinary figure; he was shrewd businessman at his core.

 

If she were to engage in a direct transaction with him here, she might get ripped off.

 

So, Elshnain, who had been momentarily captivated by his cute, pitiful eyes without knowing , quickly hardened her face and brazenly said,

 

“I want to auction it off.”

 

Of course, in the end, you’ll be the one taking it home.

 

But at a fair price.

* * *

 

“Ugh, it’s itchy.”

 

Asherai sat with his chin resting on the table as he shamelessly scratched his inner thigh.

 

Since he still looked like Elshnain, Mikhail, sitting on the opposite side,  would have had every reason to be taken aback by such behavior.

 

“….”

 

However, the knight was not in the right state of mind to react.

 

Something significant had transpired in the brief period, and now he was staring at his hand, his mouth wide open, holding nothing but an empty palm.

 

“Does she think removing dragon scales is as easy as removing fish scales? Especially the inner thigh ones,” Asherai muttered, gently brushing his hand over the stinging flesh.

Then…

 

“Ha… one more round!”

 

“Huh?”

 

“One more round, lady Elshnain!”

 

Asherai, who was focused on cursing Elshnain in his head, was startled by the sudden loud voice.

 

“What are you talking about? You don’t even have any coins left.”

 

“Just wait a moment!”

 

Before long, Mikhail, who had swiftly ran outside, returned with a chubby piggy bank in his thick hands.

 

“Just one more round, lady Elshnain!” the knight earnestly begged.

 

What’s this now? The mage thought, staring at Mikhail with tired eyes.

 

For some reason, he felt like things were about to get very annoying.