This Novel is not my Novel

The claim that I "only" lost my memory of the day I purchased and ingested the poison is not true.

The truth is that I "also" have no memory of that day.

The reason I went around talking as if I had only carved out that one day's memory, inducing the misunderstanding of those around me, was...

I had to apologize to Reisir on behalf of this body's owner, and for that to work, Karvaldr couldn't have memory loss.

That was the reason.

Of course, I only laid out the false setting of partial memory loss long after I had already apologized.

I couldn't belatedly reveal, "Actually, I don't remember anything, but based on the information I've received, I apparently bullied you. So I just apologized to settle the grudge."

That's why I had to do it that way.

The explanation was a bit lengthy, but the gist is simple.

Karvaldr losing only the memory of the day he took the poison wasn't something Author Senna intended; it was a setting I made up.

So if Karvaldr really did get the poison and take it himself, I had assumed that he made the resolution long ago and simply put it into action on the day he returned home...

It was just an excuse I made to suit my own convenience.

But thinking back, for Senna's readers, it was a story that could very well have been taken as a kind of clue.

Even more so since Senna's protagonist, Reisir, was trying so hard to influence me.

When considering the plausibility based on the remake version of 《NaSE》, it's more natural for there to be someone who instigated Karvaldr, just as Pret said.

In reality, Karvaldr took the poison long before I started talking about partial memory loss.

But that's not a problem.

If you, my dear readers, have read numerous novels over the years, you've probably come across the philosophical interpretation of quantum mechanics that states, "Reality that is not observed is not decided."

It's a subject matter that countless creators love to use.

And what happened on the day Karvaldr took the poison exists in the unknown.

Since I, who possessed his body, don't know, my reader doesn't know either, and since the original author would never have described it, Senna's readers wouldn't know either.

As long as this world exists in a novel.

I believe that unless it's something the author has decided they will never change, past settings that have not been observed by the readers can be altered at any time.

So, the conclusion is...

"...I think you're right."

"Do you have anyone you suspect?"

If Karvaldr bought the poison on his way back to the main family residence after the closing ceremony, then he must have been instigated either before the closing ceremony started or right after it ended.

In that case, the culprit is highly likely to be someone affiliated with the academy.

They wouldn't have urged Karvaldr to try poison in front of others, so they must have been friendly enough to be able to meet with him one-on-one.

They would need to be able to influence Karvaldr with their glib tongue.

There's no way a person who meets those conditions wouldn't have caught my eye by now.

Therefore, considering plausibility, the culprit is likely one of the people I've met since I possessed this body.

And from a narrative standpoint, I don't think it would be an extra whose name hasn't even been mentioned.

And, quite coincidentally.

Back in Chapter 21, in order to alleviate even a little of the original protagonist's hostility, I had shifted the blame for the original villain Karvaldr's evil deeds onto Tridric.

In that moment, it became official that Tridric was a character who, while pretending to advise Karvaldr, was actually pushing him down the wrong path for his own amusement.

And on the day Helga was kidnapped.

Tridric even revealed his malice toward Karvaldr.

Was that all? Tridric also controlled who could approach Karvaldr, with his tacit consent, didn't he?

From every angle, there's only one person who could have instigated Karvaldr to take poison.

"It must be... Tridric."

"That's what I think too. But what on earth could he have said to instigate you, senior? I doubt he would have told that person all of your personal circumstances..."

"Of course I didn't. But he's a fellow who is exceptionally sharp when it comes to negative things, so he might have guessed something from seeing my obsession with Vigdís. He could have laid out the hypothesis that if your life was threatened by poison, your latent Ether Attribute would awaken, triggering a detoxification and awakening a Poison Attribute Ability. It's not impossible that he filled my head with vain hope."

The fact that Karvaldr couldn't use his poison ability became public knowledge after I possessed him.

But it wouldn't be strange for Tridric to have known before that.

With his personality, it's impossible that he never told him to try using that ability when bullying Reisir.

Karvaldr, who had a severe inferiority complex about his "flaw," would have reacted sensitively to that remark.

Seeing that, he would have naturally realized.

The fact that Karvaldr couldn't use his poison ability.

"Do you happen to know what kind of poison you were addicted to?"

"I don't. After my body recovered, when I first heard that I had purchased the poison myself, I suspected the family might be lying to me. That they didn't want to make a big deal out of it and wanted to bury the incident without hunting down the culprit. I figured that even if I asked, they'd just name a poison I could have easily obtained..."

...is what I said, but the truth is, I just wasn't interested.

For the sake of convenience, I'd been telling others that someone might have been trying to kill me.

But when Hárðr came to slap his son's cheek, he seemed completely unaware of the memory loss setting.

He wasn't trying to deceive me by using my lack of memory to claim I had taken the poison myself.

The conclusion was that Karvaldr really did do such a thing of his own will.

"I didn't think to ask for the poison's name. Is that information necessary?"

"It would make the investigation easier to know, but it doesn't matter if you don't. That is, if the purpose is to confirm whether you purchased the poison yourself, senior."

I hadn't even said I'd file a request, but it seemed the other party had already decided to start the investigation.

"If someone bought poison not to murder others, but to ingest it themselves, and if that decision was also impulsive, they wouldn't have used an unofficial route. There's no need, and they wouldn't have had the time to figure out how to use one. They likely bought a 'poison that can also be used as medicine' sold at a medicine shop on the way home. That would be the easiest to get."

"It'll be impossible to find a purchase record or information that I stopped by a medicine shop now. The family would have covered it up long ago."

"But I can still find traces of the information being erased."

I didn't feel the need to stop him.

He was doing this because he was curious, so he wouldn't listen even if I told him not to dig into it.

And since he'd be investigating secretly, he wouldn't share the results with me anyway.

It's better to just stay quiet.

"I'll also check if you spoke to anyone alone that day, senior."

"Whatever."

"Oh? Are you perhaps trying to turn this into a personal investigation to satisfy my own curiosity, rather than a formal request? So that the cost will be cheaper?"

"Isn't it true that you're investigating because you're curious?"

"I can't say you're wrong."

Pret admitted as much with an embarrassed expression.

Instead of starting to haggle over the price for this new investigation topic, he brought up the question he had passed over earlier.

"By the way, what happened with Your Grace the Duke?"

"Nothing happened."

"But you said he hit you. How can nothing have happened? If he slapped you because he was angry that you ingested poison yourself, couldn't it be seen as him being upset? Not that it's okay to use violence just because you're upset. Still, it's a form of concern, even if it's a twisted one..."

He seems to think that Karvaldr would have gladly accepted even that kind of attention.

The reason for that is likely because he knows how desperate this body's original owner was, and that he had never once received his father's attention.

But since I've gone beyond giving up hope on Hárðr and have even shown antipathy, it's understandable that he can't help but ask.

"It's a cliché, but they say it takes two to clap, don't they? My father had no intention of talking to me at all. He slapped me without warning, looked down at me for a moment with eyes that asked if I was satisfied now, and then turned his head before I could even react. As if he was going to exchange a few words with the personal physician, he then seemed to begrudge even that time and left immediately, saying he'd get the report later."

"......"

"He wouldn't even engage with me. How could anything possibly happen between us?"

"........."

Since Pret knew the details of Karvaldr's personal circumstances so well, I couldn't find a reason to filter my words.

There was no need to pretend to be the youngest young master who was raised with precious treatment.

So I told him without hiding anything, but for some reason, the other party's face was filled with shock.

"You knew what my father was like. Isn't this reaction a bit much?"

"This isn't a matter of knowing beforehand...?!"

"Then what is it? What's the problem?"

"......"

Now Pret, his existing expression overlaid with bewilderment, was staring at me with trembling eyes, his jaw hanging open.

Then he suddenly squeezed his eyes shut, let out a deep sigh, and showed a look of absurdity.

"Look, I'm not some psychopath with no empathy, you know? And what you just said, senior, was... very, ugh... Haaa—."

He couldn't finish his sentence and just kept sighing, but it wasn't hard to understand what he was trying to say.

He wasn't shocked by the fact that Hárðr did a Hárðr thing.

His reaction was one of empathy for the shock I must have felt back then.

"Isn't it taboo for an informant to empathize with their subject of investigation?"

"It is, but that's not something you can just control, is it?"

"After lecturing me on the importance of objectivity while haggling over the price of information about me, you have the nerve to say that so confidently."

"Do you have any idea how many times I've said I'm impressed with you today, senior? After waltzing into someone's heart like that, you expect me to take what you say objectively! There's no way that's possible, is there? An informant is a person with feelings too! And I am extremely fond of my people!"

"......"

This time, I was the one who was speechless.

I hadn't expected Pret to completely wipe the smile off his face and get genuinely angry.

I seem to have unwittingly succeeded in an Influence Event, but... it's probably not a good idea to ask if we're really close enough for him to lose his objectivity as an informant, right...?

Honestly, it was a little...

No, it was very bewildering.

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