This Novel is not my Novel

"Helga, think carefully. This is an opportunity that won't come again."

What happened to saying she should hurry before someone else snatched her up?

The extra villain spouted contradictory nonsense at Helga, saying she wouldn't find a good marriage prospect if she refused him.

At his insulting words, Helga's face was stained with humiliation, and the villainous man smiled as if satisfied by her reaction.

And was that all?

"Well, I'll be on my way. See you later."

After saying this and waving at Helga, the bastard...

"And I'll see you again soon too, Young Master."

"Why should I have to see the likes of you again?"

"It's good for people with similar views on romance to get to know each other, don't you think?"

He left after spouting such nonsense.

It was indescribably unpleasant.

But of all things, because the body I possessed belonged to a character who acted coercively toward his own fiancée, I couldn't deny it.

It even felt unfair.

He really got me good.

To think that, even though I had appeared with the original protagonist and stood by Helga's side to denounce the villain, that same villain would try to find common ground with me and get close to me.

If I had predicted this, I wouldn't have attempted to launder my image and would have prevented the conversation from going this way from the very beginning.

Thinking that Author Senna must have some affection for this character, since she put so much effort into Karvaldr's setting, had been a blunder.

Why had I thought that, knowing she was someone who easily took the lives of the characters she had created herself?

What's more, in the pre-remake version, the original author wrote the story so that Karvaldr would meet his death as an "insignificant villain."

Even if she'd had any affection for Karvaldr, she obviously would have abandoned it long ago...

Just as I was reflecting on my mistake and ruminating on my regret,

"Hic..."

I heard the sound of sobbing.

Helga, unable to swallow her indignation, had finally let it all out.

"I'm so, so furious...! To hear my family insulted and not be able to say anything... I should have said something, anything... Hic! But the words wouldn't come out... What's more, hic... the reason I'm being treated like this is because our family has no power... That thought just popped into my head without me realizing... I feel so guilty toward my dad, but it's so sad... Ugh, I'm so annoyed...!!"

In the end, after pouring out words of self-reproach, Helga burst into loud sobs.

"Waaah!"

"I'm sorry. I should have said something... I'm sorry for being no help at all..."

Reisir, too, was reprimanding himself and offering an apology while carefully pulling Helga into an embrace, patting her back, and trying to comfort her.

The atmosphere was quite poignant.

I intervened in this matter to prevent this very situation...

It seemed Helga had heard things she didn't need to hear because I had needlessly gotten involved, so I couldn't bring myself to stop the original protagonist's actions.

It wasn't a situation where I could do such a thing in the first place.

Even more so since I had been framed as the same kind of bastard as the main culprit behind this incident.

It's a bit awkward to keep watching. Should I leave...? Or should I stay, just in case...?

As I hesitated, contemplating this, my only confidante made a "Yaong..." sound, wrapped her long body around me, and nuzzled her face against my cheek.

She must have been doing this to comfort me, having sensed that my mood was low.

"Ah...! Hey, Karvaldr..."

Just as I had decided to leave and was about to turn around, the protagonist of someone else's novel called out to stop me.

It seemed he had heard the sound Yor made and remembered that I was here too...

"I'll be in the lecture room, so just worry about your childhood friend."

I said as much in a notifying tone and left the area.

Because if Reisir were to bring up my engagement with Vigdís and criticize me, I thought it would be too upsetting.

"Karvaldr, talk to me for a moment."

Feeling needlessly conscious of Helga's gaze, I had hurriedly finished my meal and left the campus cafeteria, but Reisir followed me out and requested a conversation.

The first thought that crossed my mind was, Why is he doing this?

Because °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° I had expected him to stick to Helga like glue and guard her at close quarters until the villain clinging to her was dealt with.

"Is it okay for you not to stay by your childhood friend's side? That guy from yesterday could approach Helga again and threaten her with more nonsense..."

I immediately voiced the question that came to mind.

It was unlikely, but I wondered whether the protagonist of someone else's novel perhaps hadn't thought of that.

But as expected, that wasn't the case.

"I asked Vigdís to stay with Helga until lunchtime is over and then take her to the lecture room."

A pretty good personnel selection.

The villain we saw yesterday had clearly shown signs of wanting to get friendly with Karvaldr, and Vigdís was Karvaldr's fiancée.

Furthermore, since that guy knew I was trying to win Vigdís's sincere love, he would likely refrain from running his mouth carelessly or raising his voice to threaten them.

"Still... um... If this is about what happened yesterday, I don't really have anything to say..."

"There's something else I want to talk about."

It was a situation where a villain was coveting and targeting the heroine candidate, his childhood friend.

But if the original protagonist was entrusting her escort to someone else just to talk to me, it couldn't be a trivial matter.

"......What is it about?"

Instead of postponing the conversation, I showed that I would listen first and then judge.

At that, Reisir began with, "It's about..." then suddenly looked around.

My puzzlement at his suspicious behavior was brief.

"It's about Pret."

The question was quickly answered as Reisir whispered these words into my ear.

This morning, we attended Professor Kaldrun's "Practical Combat Preparedness Skill" lecture.

That lecture proceeded with two students sparring with all their might while the rest of the students observed...

There's no better situation to use 【Truth-Reading Eye】 while avoiding everyone's eyes.

Not only the parties involved in the sparring, but also those observing were so focused that they couldn't pay attention to whether Reisir was lifting his eyepatch.

Since I had revealed my and Yor's Status Windows to Reisir in the last chapter, I too had been focused on observing and hadn't noticed at all.

He must have read it while Pret was sparring, right?

If he had figured out his identity, it made sense that the original protagonist would postpone the heroine event for a while.

Because an informant who had concealed his background and infiltrated the academy felt like a much bigger deal than some playboy who merely hit on women.

He must have judged that solving this problem took priority.

And was that all?

If things went well, he could even make a deal with the informant to obtain information about the villain.

I didn't know whether Reisir had thought of this, but I had.

And I've already put it into action.

During dinner last night, just as in episode 235, I used Yor to summon Pret to my personal training ground and made a request.

I asked him to investigate information about the extra villain who was bothering Helga.

He then asked me for the reason and readily accepted.

Though it's something I feel a bit sorry toward Pret for...

I nodded at Reisir, indicating my willingness to talk.

And so, the place I arrived at after following the original protagonist was that same old "secluded spot on the walking path with a bench."

"It's strange. People don't come this way, so I brought us here for now... But just in case, would it be better to talk in whispers?"

"Just talk."

"No, no. You never know. Once you know 'his' identity, you'll understand."

The "he" in that line must have been Pret, and when it came to him, I knew much more than Reisir did.

All Reisir had done was read the Status Window shown by his 【Truth-Reading Eye】, which was only unlocked up to Stage 2.

Because I had read the original novel, which could be called the foundation of this world.

So I understood why Reisir was being so cautious.

He must have been thinking that Pret could have secretly followed us and might be eavesdropping on our conversation.

What's more, in episode 245, Pret had actually done something like that, so it couldn't be called excessive concern.

But he probably didn't follow us today.

The reason I was so sure was that, as I had just revealed, I gave Pret an additional request last night.

Not only information about the villain's family, but I also asked him to thoroughly investigate the bastard's conduct and reputation within the academy.

And as quickly as possible, at that.

The guild would have already secured information on a decent noble family, so there would be no need for a separate investigation, but...

To obtain information from students without arousing suspicion, it was best to approach them while holding the same status as a student.

And since Pret himself had currently infiltrated the academy as a student, on the grounds that it would take some time to select an informant of a suitable age, disguise them as a student, educate them on the precautions for infiltrating the academy, and then deploy them, Pret stated with his own mouth that he planned to personally step forward and investigate.

While taking all the credit, saying he wasn't someone who usually did such chores, but that he was making a special exception because I had requested that he handle it quickly...

Since it was already late when I made the request yesterday, a full-fledged investigation would only now be becoming possible.

He wouldn't postpone his investigation of the villain just to eavesdrop on a conversation between Reisir and me.

Because that would be an act of betraying trust.

However, since this wasn't something I could explain to Reisir,

"Even so, it should be enough to lower our voices and speak in a whisper-like tone. Though it would be good to cover our mouths, just in case."

"True. Pret's Ether Attribute isn't specialized for eavesdropping like someone's."

Reisir agreed with my words, but he also pressed his shoulder against mine and sat right next to me.

"...If you're this worried about someone eavesdropping, shouldn't we be doing this in your room after the afternoon lectures are over instead of out here?"

"I have a sparring schedule with the professors, so if it's not now, I won't have time."

"Or you could have just headed for the dormitory from the start instead of coming here..."

"But then too much time would be spent going back and forth."

That was true.

As I unknowingly nodded in acceptance, I saw Reisir's eyes crinkle as he smiled.

"Now we can finally talk comfortably."

That wasn't something to say while whispering with his hand over his mouth.

Yet, for him to say such a thing probably meant he had been wary because my attitude was different from usual.

Conversely, it meant that I was now treating him as I usually did.

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