“Svein, you should return to the Starting Point quickly and put the ribbon back on. You only have ten minutes, so you’ll have to hurry.”
The Original Protagonist spoke to the still-dazed Svein without taking his eyes off Liolikin. Even though he knew his opponent was weaker than him, he did not let his guard down.
I thought it was just like a webnovel protagonist to grasp the situation and give orders to his teammates while staying focused.
“Gasp! Yes!”
Since it had taken us more than twenty minutes just to walk here, Svein gasped and hurriedly ran back the way he came.
On the other hand, the Green Team’s Starting Point seemed to be nearby. Fjodra had also lost her ribbon, yet her words and attitude were brimming with leisure.
“Then I shall also withdraw with Lausa.”
Fjodra spoke casually and stretched out her arm. A high-pitched *screech!* came from the sky, and an emerald eagle glided down on the wind to land on her arm.
Watching Fjodra stroke Lausa’s body, a question suddenly crossed my mind.
‘She isn’t wearing a protective glove for birds of prey; is she not getting hurt?’
Since Lausa was a Familiar, its intelligence was much higher than that of an ordinary eagle. I supposed it was the result of the author’s convenient setting — the creature was capable of controlling its strength so its master wouldn’t get hurt.
“Uh… then, should I…?”
“No. Liolikin, you must stay here and hold them back. Keep them from following me and finding out where our team’s Starting Point is.”
On the surface, it sounded like the Green Team was being careful not to reveal their Starting Point’s location. However, if that were truly the case, she wouldn’t have mentioned the phrase ‘Starting Point’ at all.
“Huh…? But, uh… by myself…?”
“It cannot be helped, can it? Pret has fled, and since I lost my ribbon, Lausa cannot join the battle either.”
“……”
“Liolikin, I’m counting on you.”
Fjodra used [Space Leap] to teleport next to Liolikin and then fled behind him. She left Liolikin with an impossible mission.
Earlier, Reysir had only faced off against Liolikin because the other members of the opposing team hadn’t shown themselves.
Otherwise, Reysir would have broken away from marking Liolikin to steal someone else’s ribbon.
‘But she wants Liolikin to handle not only Reysir but also Vigdis and me? He only has one body; there’s no way that’s possible!’
That was why I was certain. Fjodra had definitely left a hint that her location could be found if we pursued her. Since she had confirmed that a surprise attack using [Space Leap] wouldn’t work, she was now shifting to a strategy involving traps.
‘She might even be pretending to return to the Starting Point while luring us into a trap she’s already checked!’
This wasn’t a direct combat action, so it wasn’t a rule violation. If push came to shove, she could simply make the excuse that she took a long route to avoid letting us know the location of the Starting Point. She only needed to put the ribbon back on within ten minutes.
“Um… so… you can’t… pass…?”
Left alone, Liolikin spoke hesitantly, tightening his grip on his shield with a look of resignation. He knew it too. Even if he tried to block us, we could pass him whenever we wanted.
“I’ll chase the Imperial Princess, so do you two want to handle Liolikin? Or should you two chase the Imperial Princess first, and I’ll follow?”
This was the line the Original Protagonist directed at Vigdis and me. It was a statement brimming with confidence — that he could shake off Liolikin’s marking whenever he felt like it.
Normally, upon hearing this, one would reflexively choose the latter, but…
“If the Imperial Princess, who has the [Space Leap] skill, is determined to run away, it’s impossible to chase her. It would be entirely impossible if Pret, who is hiding somewhere, helps her escape with his [Camouflage] skill. So, I don’t think there’s any need to waste energy.”
There was no need to go after her and get caught in a trap when it was obvious she had prepared one. When I chose the third option, the protagonist of another novel spoke with an expression that seemed to ask if it was okay to do that.
“That’s true… but we can’t just wait around and do nothing until the Imperial Princess returns with her ribbon, right?”
“Don’t we have things to do?”
I spoke, gesturing toward Liolikin with my chin. Liolikin blinked with a blank expression as if he didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter. The person who needed to understand my words did.
“Karbaldr. Do you have a rope? If not, could you lend me your whip?”
“Why are you trying to borrow… something like that at this timing…?”
“I thought it would be easier to tie you up while I experiment on how to take your ribbon.”
At Reysir’s words, Liolikin stepped back in anxiety, but after hearing the rest, he turned around completely. However, unlike his teammates, he couldn’t escape. This was because Reysir, holding a long spear, extended it and tripped Liolikin’s feet.
*Crash!*
Liolikin’s massive frame fell to the ground with a loud noise. The Original Protagonist didn’t miss this chance; he pinned him down and succeeded in tying him up with the whip I handed over.
“Oh! Karbaldr, now that I think about it, what happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Imperial Princess’s ribbon. How did you steal it? I couldn’t see because I was busy dealing with Liolikin…”
Since *Nas-e* mainly progressed from a first-person perspective, was the author, Senna, controlling her protagonist to ask this question to fill in the narrative gaps? Or was Reysir just personally curious?
‘If it’s the former, I don’t really want to answer properly…’
Coincidentally, I didn’t know what Reysir’s situation had been like at the time either. So, I decided to answer as an exchange of information.
“Didn’t you say the opposing team would target me first? So I deliberately let go of my ribbon, and a blue-green light immediately appeared nearby. I let go of my weapon, grabbed the knot of my ribbon to defend it, and snatched the Imperial Princess’s ribbon at the same time.”
“Why do you talk about such an amazing feat as if it’s nothing?”
“What, should I make a fuss and use exaggerated adjectives?”
“It’s not that, but…”
Judging by how he trailed off, my explanation seemed quite unsatisfactory. I had been planning to ask how his situation went anyway, so this was perfect. Let’s see how impressively he packages his own achievements.
“Was everything fine on your end? I expected her Familiar to target your ribbon while the Imperial Princess targeted mine.”
“Karbaldr! It was just as you said. I was fighting Liolikin, and it suddenly appeared with that blue-green light.”
“And?”
“I swung my spear that way on impulse, and it got hit and went flying.”
“……”
It was a story difficult to evaluate, so I was at a loss for words.
“There was a loud *thwack!* sound then; didn’t you hear it?”
Now that he mentioned it, I thought I might have heard something, but I wasn’t sure. Honestly, I didn’t know. I was busy maintaining my **[Analysis]** skill while controlling the flow of the Sky-Blue Aether. I was exercising extreme concentration to control my own movements.
I didn’t have the mental capacity to listen to the surrounding sounds.
Moreover, due to the effects of Mental Acceleration, all sounds felt like low, long echoes anyway.
“You really didn’t hear it? Well, since you couldn’t know exactly when the Imperial Princess would use [Space Leap]. You must have been incredibly focused.”
“……”
“Ah! Earlier, when you spoke as if it were no big deal — was it not because you thought what you did was trivial, but because you wanted to say you could handle that much with ease?”
“There is no way that is true!”
I retorted, glaring at Reysir with sharp eyes. Telling him not to even think about teasing me. But it didn’t seem to have much effect, as the protagonist of another novel not only laughed out loud with an annoying “Ahahaha!” —
“But if that’s not it, then you don’t realize how amazing what you did was.”
By saying those words, he signaled: ‘From now on, I will trap you in a swamp of praise and make you feel embarrassed!’
“Even if you expected the Imperial Princess to appear and target your ribbon… reacting so quickly and accurately would be impossible with normal reaction speeds. It’s truly incredible!”
“Hmph!”
“But what’s even more impressive is the boldness to come up with such an idea and put it into practice.”
“……”
Despite my snort signaling the end of the conversation, the protagonist of another novel lightly ignored it and shifted directions to offer another compliment.
“If you had done it without thinking, just to see what would happen, I would have been angry. If this were a real battle instead of training, you would have been gambling with your life. But you are cautious in everything, and you know well that this is training to prepare for the real thing. I don’t think you acted with such a light heart.”
He explained calmly with a serious expression, as if he were trying to make me understand. No, that was probably it.
“It is very difficult to accurately grasp one’s own abilities and perform them without error, right? Yet, you aren’t acting humble, nor are you speaking arrogantly. You just explain it calmly, which somehow made me feel bad. I wondered why he doesn’t know how great he is when he’s this outstanding.”
“……”
The protagonist of this world, who was more outstanding than anyone else, was telling me that I was great. With a very serious expression, as if he truly felt bad that I didn’t know it.
‘Wait, could this be an indoctrination event instead of the usual teasing praise…?’
I could feel my face heating up from the embarrassment of the compliments. Even so, Reysir didn’t give his usual mysterious eye-smile or burst into laughter. He simply looked me straight in the eye with a kind face.
It wasn’t just a hunch; it really seemed to be an indoctrination event.
‘But can’t he stop these indoctrination events targeting me…? Is he doing this because I won’t acknowledge him as a friend?’
I rolled my eyes, not knowing how to react. That’s when Liolikin, who was watching us with an intrigued expression, caught my eye. Even though only his upper body was tied, he should have been looking for an opportunity to escape while our attention was off him.
Instead, he had settled down on the ground, sitting cross-legged.