This Novel is not my Novel

"To take the shortest route, we'd have to clear the thornbushes as we went...."

Reisir muttered this as he thrust the shaft of his spear between thornbushes that had grown as tall as he was and tried stirring them aside.

But the vines, bristling with sharp thorns, clung to one another in a vicious tangle.

All he managed to make was a hole barely large enough to fit an arm through.

Even the scenery visible beyond it was nothing but another path of thorns.

"We can't go this way, can we?"

Disappointment seeped into Reisir's voice.

But I wasn't disappointed. I hadn't expected anything in the first place.

The original author wouldn't want us to escape safely.

There was no way the thornbushes had been described as growing here merely for decoration.

Sure enough.

The farther we walked, the more distant the border of the Demon Realm became.

And it wasn't as though we had only followed the paths that were easy to walk. We had pushed aside every thornbush we could manage while continuing toward the outside.

At this rate.... Even if the professors realize we might be stranded here and set out to rescue us, it'll take them ages to find us.

I had expected this as well, so it wasn't as though I suddenly began fretting or growing impatient now.

It was just that those thorny vines felt like snares made to tighten around my neck, filling me with despair and making my chest feel increasingly constricted.

"......"

Perhaps sensing that the situation was steadily worsening, the original protagonist could no longer maintain his positive attitude and fell silent.

He was trying in his own way not to reveal his anxiety.

But he ultimately failed to hide it completely, enough for even me to notice.

Rustle, shhhk.

Shrrrk. Crunch, crnch.

How long had we been wandering around?

I sensed monsters both ahead of and behind us.

I can understand the one in front, but behind us? That's the way we came. How?

I turned around with that question in mind.

A Seed Bloom was crawling down over the thornbushes, wriggling along on its long stems.

The grotesque flower had rows of jagged teeth where its stamens and pistil should have been. Seeing it crawl like that was utterly terrifying.

If it had kept its main body on top of the thornbushes and attacked using only its stems and seeds, we'd have had no answer at all. Should I thank it for coming down, at least...?

Naturally, I did not put that thought into words.

Giving the original author the revelation, Oh, so that's what it could do? and inviting even greater danger would be incredibly stupid.

"Karvaldr. I'll take care of the monster up ahead as quickly as possible and come help you, so just hold out a little longer."

I wasn't sure whether that would work out.

Whether it was the protagonist of someone else's novel coming to help me or me holding out until he did.

I had a feeling one of the two would become impossible.

"Meow, meow meow. Mya mya mya myat."

Had Yor somehow noticed my thoughts taking a negative turn?

She pulled out a whiteboard, hastily scribbled a drawing on it, then held it up for me to see while meowing in a solemn tone.

Is this... supposed to be a cabbage?

Why a cabbage, all of a sudden?

I would be lying if I said I wasn't confused, but I soon understood what the baby dragon meant.

She must have been playing on the saying that "giving up" was a phrase meant only for counting heads of cabbage, trying to tell me that I must not give up.

"Right.... I suppose I shouldn't."

"Myaaow!"

Reisir had charged at the monster and entered combat the instant he finished speaking.

I gave Yor a faint smile to reassure her, then tightened my grip on the handle of my whip.

The baby dragon hurriedly put the whiteboard back inside the wish-granting orb.

At that moment, the monster's mouth opened wide as if drawing a breath, then pursed shut.

It was preparing to spit out seeds.

It won't try to use 【Germination】 right from the start.

But I couldn't simply keep dodging.

Reisir and I were currently standing back-to-back, each facing a monster.

A 【Seed Bomb】 I dodged might strike Reisir instead.

Reisir is probably trying to knock down every seed the monster fires for the same reason.

Continuing that line of thought, I activated 【Character Analysis】 and swiftly swung my whip.

The whip had a considerable effective range, allowing me to knock the seeds away before they came close.

And because it was flexible, the impact transmitted through the weapon into my palm wasn't particularly strong.

Unlike Reisir, I didn't have to accept an injury every time I knocked away a 【Seed Bomb】.

But viewed another way.

It meant Reisir was currently knocking away 【Seed Bombs】 while sustaining injury after injury, just as he had in the original work.

Vwoooooom—

The distorted sound of explosions, slowed and stretched until they resembled a low vibration, came from behind me as well.

I had read the descriptions in the original novel of how much pain Reisir felt every time he deflected a 【Seed Bomb】, so it weighed heavily on my mind.

I had plenty of healing Potions, but their effectiveness diminished when consumed in succession.

We couldn't treat ourselves after every single battle, which made it even harder not to worry, but....

No matter how I think about it, it's better for me to get hit by the sleep powder than Reisir.

Of course, it would be best if none of us fell asleep.

I only meant that if we absolutely had to choose between the two.

For the record, my arriving at this conclusion had nothing to do with my mentioning "the less painful option" in the previous episode.

Fighting this monster had made me certain.

While I knocked away the seeds, dodged the stems, and kept the monster in check, Yor counterattacked by pelting it with Ether arrows.

But the Seed Bloom displayed remarkable regenerative power, quickly healing every spot Yor's arrows had pierced.

If Reisir is incapacitated, we won't have any way out at all.

It wasn't as though I felt no anxiety about falling asleep and entrusting my safety to the protagonist of someone else's novel.

I was afraid that I might die just like the supporting character who had found himself in a similar situation in the pre-remake original novel.

I also felt guilty at the thought of Reisir being battered beyond recognition while trying to protect me.

And since the master and spirit beast were apparently bound to share death, I was deeply worried about Yor's safety as well.

But....

Right. We have Yor.

Unlike the pre-remake version, where the supporting character and the original protagonist had been isolated alone.

There were three of us now.

Moreover, Yor wasn't a being created by the original author, so there was no reason she would be controlled by that person's will, was there?

That was why I decided to trust my wise baby dragon.

And so, if the original author showed any sign of trying to put their protagonist to sleep, I resolved to take the sleep powder in his place and fall asleep first.

Once Reisir learns that the plant grown by 【Germination】 releases sleep powder, he'll desperately try to avoid it.

Even if the opportunity arose for me to take the powder instead, he wouldn't interfere.

He knew better than anyone that shielding me in the name of protecting me, only to fall asleep in my place, would amount to nothing more than all of us choosing to die together.

In reality, Reisir, as the original protagonist, would survive to the end no matter what, but that was beside the point.

Therefore, if the original author intended to surprise readers of the pre-remake version by putting their own protagonist to sleep.

There were two ways to do it.

Since 【Germination】 had yet to reveal its true nature, it wouldn't be strange for Reisir to inhale the pollen without even thinking to hold his breath.

In that case, the original author would make it happen during this battle.

Not immediately, though. It would be after Reisir killed one of the monsters.

With monsters blocking both our front and rear, Yor and I wouldn't even be able to flee, let alone fight while protecting Reisir.

Alternatively, the original author could first show us only the blue flower that emitted poisonous powder.

Then, during the next battle, they could place a white flower in front of me, causing Reisir to mistake it for another flower that emitted poisonous powder.

That could create a situation where he shielded me and fell asleep.

If the original author has decided to press ahead with putting me to sleep... they probably won't overcomplicate matters and will just do it during this battle.

Amid the explosions coming from behind me, I heard the drawn-out crackle of sparks.

Bzzzt, bzzzzzt—!

The sound came with increasing frequency.

That meant Reisir had closed enough distance with the monster and was pressing his advantage.

I needed to stay especially alert from this point onward.

Rather than concentrating on a battle against a monster I couldn't defeat anyway, I merely kept it in check while repeatedly glancing behind me to monitor Reisir's situation.

At the same time, I slowly retreated, pretending that I couldn't withstand the monster's attacks and was being driven back.

I wanted to demonstrate to the original author that I couldn't even handle a single monster with my skill, so fighting while protecting Reisir would be impossible.

I wanted to convey my plea that, if only for the sake of plausibility, they refrain from putting Reisir to sleep.

And that was how I learned.

The original author wants Karvaldr to die as a cowardly villain.

That was what they wanted.

The instant Reisir brought down the monster he had been fighting, he spun around and kicked off the ground.

In the next moment, he flashed past my side.

Then he threw himself without hesitation between the plant stems wielded by the monster I had been keeping in check.

Without so much as pausing to catch his breath.

Because I had knocked away every 【Seed Bomb】, it didn't take him long to reach the monster.

The spearhead, brimming with golden Ether, sliced clean through the Seed Bloom's stalk.

Only then did the protagonist of someone else's novel relax and begin breathing heavily.

He failed to notice either the faint twitching of the monster's limp body at his feet or the single seed spat out by the red flower that had fallen to the ground.

"Watch out!"

I shouted and ran toward Reisir.

Fortunately, the quick-witted original protagonist immediately realized the battle wasn't over and pulled back.

Thanks to that, he narrowly managed to avoid the headless plant monster's stems as they tried to seize his ankle.

But the original author seemed determined to put him to sleep somehow.

Even though the thornbushes had damaged or exposed most of the traps, one intact trap happened to remain concealed in the exact spot where Reisir stepped at that moment.

If that wasn't the original author's meddling, what else could it possibly be?

The instant the fallen 【Germination】 seed sprouted, sent up a stem, and formed a white flower bud.

A snare caught Reisir by the ankle and hoisted him upside down.

It was the exact same trap I had been caught in during Chapter 212.

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