This Novel is not my Novel

After finishing breakfast, I headed to the personal training ground.

Usually, I would have locked the door immediately upon arriving and started my warm-up exercises.

But today, I did not.

Because I have a visitor coming.

Leaving the door unlocked and only closing it, I sat down with my back against the wall.

While gently stroking Yor's mane and letting about ten minutes pass,

the person I was waiting for finally arrived.

He made no sound, so much so that if I hadn't kept my eyes fixed on the door, I would have never noticed his visit.

"Wow~! I never thought Senior Karvaldr would request to meet me in such a secretive way."

As soon as he entered and our eyes met, the visitor locked the door and spoke with such social ease.

My dear readers must have guessed the visitor's identity from his tone.

Still, to be clear, the person I was waiting for was Pret.

The "secretive way" that just came from his mouth referred to the note I passed him during breakfast, telling him to come here while avoiding others' eyes...

And the one who pulled it off was my baby dragon.

During the meal, Pret sat in the seat beside Yor, and Yor was able to move her hind legs as precisely as hands.

So I had made a request to Yor.

To move her leg under the table during the meal and put the note inside Pret's pocket.

Of course, no matter how precisely Yor could move her leg, she couldn't do it without the owner of the pocket noticing.

So if Pret had shown a startled reaction to something entering his pocket, the plan to secretly summon him here would have been a failure.

But I was certain Pret wouldn't do that.

Subtly slipping a note into a pocket to deliver information or a contact point is a common method used by informants.

Indeed, Pret showed no reaction even when Yor stuffed the note into his pocket.

Even the original protagonist didn't show any sign of noticing.

《NaSE》 was fundamentally developed from the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° first-person perspective of the protagonist, Reisir, but it wasn't as if there were no narrations from the point of view of supporting characters or villains.

So there's no guarantee that even the original author wouldn't be able to observe this.

But I was the one who left the note telling him to come before Pret could make a move. So isn't there a high possibility that it wouldn't be observed...?

It would be great if I could avoid the original author's observation, but it doesn't matter even if I can't.

Because I plan to speak and act as "Karvaldr" no matter what.

I'm not going to reveal the fact that I'm a transmigrator, so what does it matter?

"Senior Reisir was extremely wary of me getting close to him, but our Senior Karvaldr wants to enjoy a secret meeting with just the two of us? I wonder if this is okay?"

Since he came after a sudden summons, asking about the business at hand would have been the normal reaction.

But Pret showed the leeway to plop down in front of me and toss out a joke.

His words and expression were overflowing with playfulness, but it was clearly a ploy to seize control of the conversation's flow.

I refused to be swayed by the other party's light words and actions and approached the conversation with a serious attitude.

"Yor is also here, so this can't be seen as a meeting between just the two of us... Besides, does anyone ever tell a third party before making contact with someone from the Information Guild?"

"Huh...? Someone from the Information Guild?? Me???"

Pret's face as he retorted was the very picture of bewilderment.

Most people would have been completely fooled by that act, thinking, I must have been wrong, and feeling awkward.

But I hadn't just made a wild guess; I had spoken with an understanding of the truth through the original work.

Instead of losing my conviction and getting flustered, I intentionally let out a short, hollow laugh.

I put on a solemn expression, gazed at the other party, and parted my lips.

"You acted as if you were blatantly asking to be found out, and now you're backpedaling?"

"What on earth did I do...?"

"While 'disguised' as a mercenary, didn't you use a similar tone and accent as when you kidnapped Helga, and even show you were proficient with traps?"

"I'm just an ordinary performer from a circus troupe, my 【Disguise】 skill is merely an ability that changes my Ether color, and this is the first I'm hearing about Senior Helga being kidnapped. And as for the reason I could handle traps, I told you yesterday, didn't I?"

"That working in a circus troupe improved your manual dexterity and observational skills, allowing you to easily handle a trap you'd never seen before. Do you really think that's a plausible excuse?"

"But it really was possible thanks to that?"

Now, the other party's expression feigned grievance and frustration.

It felt as if he were provoking me to present more definitive grounds.

But I had only been watching Pret for the last week, and I hadn't witnessed anything like a scene of him meeting someone from the Information Guild.

There's no way I have irrefutable, crystal-clear evidence.

Nevertheless, the reason I could be sure of his true identity was purely because I had read the original novel.

Since this was a fact I could never reveal,

I decided to throw a bait that the other party couldn't resist biting.

"Aren't you curious what kind of request I was going to make by calling someone from the Information Guild?"

"Ah! You want to make a request to the Information Guild? Then instead of probing just anyone like this, wouldn't it be better to formally visit the guild? If you're the scion of a ducal family, you should be able to find out the Information Guild's location and method of contact easily, right?"

"And yet, it seems you're not curious why I called you here like this."

"......"

The mouth that had been chattering without a hint of hesitation suddenly clamped shut.

But his eyes were clearly speaking.

They were saying he was extremely curious.

"...You must have some information you want to find out without His Grace the Duke knowing, or something like that. That's how peers our age are, right? We want to do everything behind our parents' backs and don't want any unnecessary meddling."

He was saying it in an indifferent tone, but...

the curiosity in his eyes was revealing its presence even more clearly.

He was probably writing a scenario in his head where Duke Austri was trying to hide something from his child, and I was looking for someone from the Information Guild to find out what it was.

If that were really the case, I could have properly stimulated Pret's curiosity...

Regrettably, I had to shatter that sense of expectation.

"I don't need any particularly amazing information. It's even less of a matter for my father to meddle in. It's something I could get delivered within a day or two just by telling the butler to prepare it, so if you keep backpedaling like this, I'm just going to contact my family."

"Then why were you looking for someone from the Information Guild?"

"Why would you be curious about that? You're not from the Information Guild, are you?"

"In this situation, wouldn't anyone be curious?"

The thought that Pret's face looked deflated crossed my mind for a moment, but he didn't completely withdraw his curiosity.

It was likely because the reason I was looking for someone from the Information Guild had become even more incomprehensible.

This is enough to pique his interest, so now it's time to cast the line.

"That is true. Actually, if you are from the Information Guild and one of the mercenaries who accepted Tryggdrik's request and kidnapped Helga... I thought a deal might be possible, since that would mean there's information you want to get from me."

I pretended to agree with Pret's remark, nodding my head as I said this.

At that, the other party's eyes flashed open, revealing an even clearer sense of expectation than before.

"What?! A deal? Does that mean you'll answer anything I ask?"

"Why ask that? Didn't you say you weren't from the Information Guild anyway?"

"Th-that's true, but... Geez! You're making me want to pretend I'm part of the Information Guild and ask all sorts of questions."

This time, a look of conflict appeared on Pret's face.

He knew that what was dangling before his eyes was bait on a hook, so he couldn't just snatch it up.

And yet, he couldn't completely erase the thought of wanting to bite.

As expected, it seems there is information he wants to get from me.

I knew it.

A person who is the successor to the head of the Information Guild wouldn't have accepted a request from someone like Tryggdrik and kidnapped the daughter of a noble family just because he was short on money.

And since the biggest figure involved in that incident is this body's owner, "Karvaldr"...

"After denying it so thoroughly, do you think I'd believe you if you said that now? It might be a different story if you showed me some proof."

If he's backpedaling because of a lack of evidence, I just have to make the other party present the evidence and admit it themselves.

On top of that, if I can instill in him the perception that he's the one in need, the effect will be doubled.

"Uh... but Senior Karvaldr, why are you trying to make such a 'deal'? You must have more than enough money, so you have nothing to gain from a deal..."

"Well, isn't it unsettling? The thought that someone from the Information Guild is circling my surroundings, trying to dig up information about me. Rather than just letting that happen... I judged it would be better to confirm what information the other party wants from me, and sell only the information I'm okay with giving away for a price."

"Aha! What an unusual idea! Usually, if you suspect someone is part of the Information Guild, you'd be wary and try to distance yourself."

Judging by his reaction, my answer must have stimulated his interest.

This is a very good thing.

"From now on, I plan to do just that. There's no proof you're part of the Information Guild, but there's no guarantee you aren't, either. So, an occasion like this, where I talk to you personally, will never happen again. Of course, I will never leak any of my personal information to you, either."

"That would be quite a predicament, you know? I've taken a liking to Senior Karvaldr and want to get close to him."

"In that case, you can either show proof that you're part of the Information Guild and make a deal with me, or prove the fact that you're nothing more than an ordinary circus member."

The person I know as "Pret Grymur" would definitely choose the former.

Proving he's part of the Information Guild is easy, but proving he isn't is incredibly difficult.

Plus, he doesn't have the personality to easily kick away an opportunity to satisfy his curiosity.

Besides, isn't he interested in me?

If so, he would want to establish a transactional relationship with me, even if just to continue our exchange.

So, as I put on an arrogant expression and stared silently at Pret's face,

he finally raised the white flag.

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