This Novel is not my Novel

"...You don't need to call me 'Professor.' We are professor and student, after all."

"I see. I look forward to working with you, Lord Karvaldr."

I did not take swordsmanship classes, so I would hardly ever encounter her in the future.

Therefore, if I had to guess, Hjaltyn had probably meant that I should take good care of Vigdís.

Even though she could not have served as Vigdís's guard for very long.

She seems incredibly fond of Vigdís.

Vigdís must have adored Hjaltyn when she was young.

Even now, her eyes were sparkling as she gazed at Hjaltyn with open admiration.

Even without their past connection, it would be difficult for any teacher not to find a student like that endearing.

And yet, judging by how favorably she seems to view me...

Apparently, Vigdís had not told her what happened during our first semester.

There was no need to go all the way back to Episode 17 and revisit the incident where the former swordsmanship professor, who had since been expelled, picked a fight with me.

Even though Reisir had gone beyond defending me with all his might and tried to instill the belief that "Karvaldr = tsundere" in everyone around him.

Even though I had even saved Helga at the closing ceremony.

All I had to do was recall how Dyuf had remained wary of me and probed me from every angle over the course of Episodes 162 and 163. That alone made it obvious enough.

Would her attitude toward me change later, once she learned that Karvaldr had been obsessed with Vigdís?

Just as Professor Skati's had in the chapter [12. Qualifications].

Having to face that look of, "I never knew you were that kind of person," would be... difficult...

But Hjaltyn had not directly said, "Please take good care of Vigdís."

I could hardly declare, "I am not a very good fiancé," out of nowhere and begin recounting the atrocities committed by my possessed body.

It would be a remark so wildly removed from the context of our conversation that it made no sense at all.

Nor could I call Vigdís aside and tell her to inform Professor Hjaltyn about what had happened in the past.

Setting aside the fact that calling her aside would violate Clause Four of our engagement-termination contract...

If Hjaltyn reacted with hostility toward me after hearing the explanation, Vigdís would obviously try her best to defend me.

She might even downplay what had happened instead of conveying the facts exactly as they were.

Knowing that, telling Vigdís to explain Karvaldr's obsession to Hjaltyn would be no different from ordering the victim to defend her aggressor, wouldn't it?

Let us overlook the fact that Reisir had detained Helga and Dyuf so he could defend Karvaldr. He had volunteered to do that himself.

Even if I had tried to stop him, he would have kept defending me simply because he wanted to.

"Ah... yes...."

In the end, unable to think of any appropriate response, I deactivated 【Character Analysis】 and gave her a rather halfhearted answer.

Since meals were served only here during the academy's closure, we would have no choice but to keep running into each other for now.

But once the academy resumed normal operations, I would have virtually no occasion to encounter Hjaltyn at all.

It would probably be fine.

"Putting that aside, Reisir."

Before Hjaltyn could continue our conversation, I hurriedly turned my head and addressed the person sitting beside me.

Whereupon the protagonist of someone else's novel—

"Whaaat~?"

—answered with a broad grin, drawing out the end of the word.

I had no idea what had prompted that reaction.

Feeling exceedingly uncomfortable, I had no choice but to continue.

"No, I merely... Helga and I are to receive instruction from Professor Skati, while Vigdís will receive Professor Hjaltyn's assistance, correct?"

"Yes, that's right?"

"However, there does not appear to be a professor here suited to overseeing your training.... I spoke to you because I wanted to ask what you intended to do, but......"

For the record, I omitted Dyuf because he was not a combat professor.

He had played a respectable part in the Demon Realm, but he was not so proficient in combat that he could teach someone else how to fight.

He had probably decided to remain here simply because returning to an empty house without Helga or Reisir would be lonely.

"Aha~! I see~?"

"...Why does your smile keep growing?"

"I was just thinking that, as expected, you really do care a great deal about me."

"What in the world do you mean, 'as expected'?! As I have told you time and again, you are the strongest among us. I am only saying this because it would be troublesome if your skills stagnated. It is not because I care about you, but for my own safety!"

"Yes, yes. I know perfectly well how much you rely on me."

"......"

It seemed that speaking to the protagonist of someone else's novel merely to change the subject had been a mistake.

My objective had been to interrupt the flow of conversation so that Hjaltyn could not speak to me again, and I had already accomplished that.

I decided to stop concerning myself with the protagonist of someone else's novel and focus on eating.

Just as I picked up a wheat rice cake smothered in mala rosé sauce with my chopsticks—

"Oh dear, am I the last one here?"

Someone entered the dormitory lobby with those words, drawing everyone's attention.

My head naturally turned toward the voice, and a familiar figure came into view.

"Professor Bjorn...? Will you be overseeing my training during the academy's closure?"

"That's how it worked out. Except for Wednesdays. Some marquis is coming on those days, apparently."

Bjorn answered Reisir's question as he sauntered over.

The "marquis" he mentioned was presumably Marquis Kaldrun Isvald, who taught the Practical Combat Techniques class.

Kaldrun held a lofty position and had many duties. Even Fjodora could hardly criticize him if he chose not to come to the academy during its closure.

The fact that he had gone out of his way to make time suggested that he had taken a liking to Reisir.

He must have recognized the Original Protagonist's talent and decided that, with proper instruction, Reisir could soon become an excellent sparring partner.

In any case, it had now been established who would be learning from whom during the academy's closure.

After the scene break, I shall therefore continue the narration from a later point in time.

While I finished stretching and warmed up by swinging my whip in various directions, Professor Skati kept Helga with her, assigned her exercises to practice on her own, and demonstrated them.

Next, she checked my stance and offered advice before giving me my own exercises, accompanied by another demonstration.

Then she returned to Helga, asked which parts she was struggling with, and continued instructing her while proposing solutions. Once Helga showed a certain amount of progress, Professor Skati told her to practice alone.

Then she came back to help me in the same manner, returned to Helga again...

The rest of this repetition shall be omitted.

Since Helga and I used different primary weapons, teaching us both must have been extraordinarily hectic.

Despite that, Professor Skati never stopped smiling or praising us.

She did not remain idle even while Helga and I rested from exhaustion.

She would tell us to observe her movements while we sat, then show us how she manipulated wire or wielded a whip.

At other times, she ran busily around setting up targets for us to use in training.

Those targets were not even prepared solely for Helga and me.

Yor had asked to improve the precision of her attacks as well.

Like the wise baby dragon she was, she had realized on her own that overwhelming an enemy with sheer numbers would not always work.

Once Yor began training too, Professor Skati occasionally offered advice even to the baby dragon.

In that regard, it was an immense relief that Pret was not here.

If she had four students to teach, Professor Skati would be even busier, and the amount of direct instruction each of us received would inevitably decrease.

"You both worked so hard~! We'll be training just as intensely tomorrow, so let's simply rest after dinner! We can't have either of you overdoing it and falling ill, can we~?"

Helga must have wanted to use the academy's closure to improve her abilities as much as possible, just as I did.

However, neither of us objected to Professor Skati's suggestion.

My circumstances were somewhat better than Helga's, but neither of us possessed such robust constitutions that we could overexert ourselves without consequence.

We could genuinely end up bedridden.

"Then I'll wash up before heading over for dinner~! Let's meet again in your dormitory lobby later~!"

With that, Professor Skati departed.

As Yor, Helga, and I headed toward the dormitory—

"I think I'll skip training at dawn tomorrow too, like you.... I was fine when I stood still and controlled the wire with Ether... but attaching weights to the ends, throwing them myself, and then having to run around obstacles on top of that is seriously killing me......"

Helga trudged along, dragging her feet as she muttered her complaints.

Commisserating with someone by airing our hardships together did not suit Karvaldr's personality, and she did not seem to expect an answer anyway, so I simply ignored her.

We had walked in silence for barely two or three minutes when—

"Lord Karvaldr, aren't you tired?"

This time, I heard something I could not dismiss as her talking to herself.

"Do I look otherwise?"

"You don't look completely fine, but you don't seem to be struggling to walk straight like I am. From what I saw during training, you moved around much more than I did.... Are you much fitter than you look...?"

It would have been wonderful if I were fine because I truly had excellent stamina, but that was not remotely the case.

I was simply enduring the way every muscle in my body throbbed and screamed through sheer mental strength.

As for my depleted stamina, I had temporarily replenished it with a buff.

I could not be bothered to explain all of that in detail. More precisely, I was already exhausted and did not want to waste energy moving my mouth.

And while I was at it, I might as well improve my skill proficiency.

I used 【Exhortation】 on Helga with the keyword "my acquaintance."

"Huh? I suddenly feel a little stronger."

"I used a buff skill on you."

"Didn't you have to shout for that to activate?"

"It is less efficient this way, but that does not mean I cannot use it at all."

...Or rather, I had merely used a buff skill that did not require me to raise my voice in the first place.

I did not want to reveal the existence of 【Exhortation】 to her as well, so I brushed the matter aside with a lie.

More importantly, its effect remains unchanged even though another line was added to the keyword list.

Apparently, the amount by which the stats increased did not rise with every additional person covered by the keyword.

I had expected as much, so I was not particularly disappointed.

Without dwelling on it, I closed the description window for 【Exhortation】 and concentrated on walking with proper posture.

When we arrived at the dormitory lobby, extras were bustling around as they prepared the catering.

And sprawled lengthwise across a sofa was the protagonist of someone else's novel.

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