“It would have been extremely dangerous if this were a real battle.”
It was right when I scowled, intending to get properly angry, that I spoke those words. The protagonist of someone else’s novel suddenly brightened and his eyes sparkled.
The moment I saw that, I felt something was wrong. But before I could even open my mouth to correct what I had just said, Reysir poured out the following words in a rush.
“It wasn’t that you were trying to scold me for how I could save anyone when I can’t even protect myself. You were just purely worried about me…?!”
That was not it. I had exactly intended to scold him like that. However, this protagonist of someone else’s novel did not stop at cutting off what I was about to say; he arbitrarily denied it. He went as far as to speak as if his own wishful thinking — that I was worried about him — was the established truth.
I wondered if this was revenge for chapter 215, where I had intercepted his lines and blocked the progress of an Influence Event.
“No, who on earth was worried about you?!”
“Didn’t you say it would have been extremely dangerous if it were a real battle? If those words weren’t out of worry, then what were they?”
“I was merely speaking before I scolded you! I was going to ask how you dared to be so arrogant and talk about saving people when you can’t even take care of yourself!”
“Karbaldr… even if you have nothing to make up, how can you just lengthen what I just said? It’s not persuasive at all.”
The protagonist of someone else’s novel looked at me with a pitiful expression while spouting such unbelievable nonsense. I had not quoted him because I had nothing to say; I had truly intended to say that. To think he would spout such drivel after stealing my words.
“I really wasn’t worried about you…!”
“Sure, sure. I knew you’d react like that.”
I knew he would react this way, too. He was undoubtedly thinking to himself that I was acting like a tsundere. But I really was not worried about Reysir.
‘After all, Reysir is the protagonist of this novel’s world.’
Unless the author, Senna, intended to twist the genre into a Regression story, there was no way she would kill Reysir.
Therefore, even if he looked away during a real battle, nothing would go significantly wrong for Reysir himself. At most, he would fall into a brief coma, and even then, he would be fine once he received treatment.
However, by the time Reysir woke up…
‘The “comrade in danger” would have already passed away.’
That was the only way the original author could fully describe the scenes of the protagonist suffering from self-reproach and agony.
It would allow for the development where Reysir, through the desperate training he did while floundering in despair, could become even stronger.
Therefore…
“The one I’m worried about is myself.”
“If that’s really the case, shouldn’t you be satisfied that I looked out for you even in the middle of a battle?”
It seemed Reysir was completely immersed in the illusion he had created. I shook my head slowly and spoke to correct his misunderstanding.
“The strongest person among us is you, Reysir! If someone like you gets seriously injured or knocked unconscious and can’t fight, the survival probability for all of us, including me, becomes infinitely low. So if you truly want to save me, before you tell me to scream to signal danger, take care of yourself first!!”
I thought he would understand if I said that much. But it was a mistake.
“Karbaldr, you…! You trust and rely on me so much…!!”
“No, why on earth would you reach that conclusion…”
“You said it yourself. If I can fight until the end without falling, everyone’s survival rate increases significantly. My well-being is everyone’s well-being. You couldn’t say that if you didn’t believe in my skills, could you?”
“……”
It was a truly self-centered interpretation. But I couldn’t argue with that part.
‘Well…, Reysir is the center of this novel’s world.’
Of course, he probably had no idea he was the protagonist of a novel, but I knew. It wasn’t necessarily a wrong approach for him to interpret my words self-centrically. In fact, I certainly did not doubt his skills.
“I’m sorry for showing you such a disappointing side.”
“……”
“I’ll keep my wits about me and be careful from now on, so if things get dangerous, will you trust me and ask for help?”
From the perspective of Karbaldr’s character… in a situation like this, it would be appropriate to arrogantly lift my chin and reply, ‘If you say so, I’ll consider it.’
However, the words that came out of my mouth were completely different.
“If I do that, can you really save me?”
I knew. I knew this was a line that could be considered a Death Flag. But what could I do?
‘If I want to move this protagonist of someone else’s novel by my own will, not the author’s will, there’s no other way but to say what I want directly.’
Looking at the description of the **[Encouragement]** skill, it said, ‘The narrative flows through the author’s sentences, and the characters move forward.’ Yet, to actually activate this skill, I had to speak words out loud rather than write sentences.
I took it to mean that to twist the narrative Senna was trying to write and change the story so it flowed in the direction I wanted, I had to involve the surrounding characters through my speech.
And above all…
‘Whether I plant a Death Flag or not, Senna is going to try to kill Karbaldr anyway.’
Rather than doing nothing and just waiting for the death development, it was better to utter a Death Flag line and induce Reysir to work hard and save me.
Besides, these days, it had become a common cliché subversion to set a gloomy atmosphere with a Death Flag as if the character would die, only for them to survive in the end.
“…Yes. I will definitely save you.”
Reysir spoke with a very serious expression, clutching my hand tightly with determination. Since he was the one who first brought up saving me, he seemed to feel a sense of responsibility.
Normally, I would have pulled my hand away in disgust, but I just let him have it while I opened my mouth to get a firm promise.
“You promise…?”
“Yes, I promise.”
The original protagonist answered immediately without a moment’s hesitation, but it wasn’t very reassuring. How could it be? After all, in the original work before the remake, there were more than one or two supporting characters he wanted to protect but failed to.
Yet, it was incredibly ironic that Reysir was still the most trustworthy person.
‘Still, I think I’ve planted the resolve in him properly, so it should be okay to end the conversation now…!’
I was worrying about what to do, wondering if it would be too heartless to shake off his hand as soon as I got the affirmation, when Pret walked out from between the thick trees and voiced his question.
“What exactly is going on here?”
“This lady does not quite know either. It seemed Karbaldr was about to get angry at Reysir, but Reysir suddenly grew happy. Seeing that, Karbaldr acted coy, then he suddenly exuded a sorrowful atmosphere… and it ended up like this, as you can see.”
“It’s just the usual.”
Fjodra… was that supposed to be an explanation of the situation? I have no idea when I acted coy or exuded a sorrowful atmosphere.
Liolikin’s answer, dismissing it as the usual, was much more sincere. Indeed, it wasn’t a matter of a day or two that the original protagonist spoke sweet words while aiming for an Influence Event.
“Oh…! Thank you for the explanation that gives me absolutely no clue as to what happened, Seniors! It’s certain that I missed a great spectacle, right? Please tell me in detail later what conversation took place.”
Pret spoke to Fjodra and Liolikin in a joking tone before turning his head toward Reysir and me to ask a question.
“Senior Vigdis ran toward her team’s Starting Point as soon as she escaped the trap… Is it okay for you two to keep staying here?”
As if it would be. I immediately shook off Reysir’s hand, grabbed the whip I had dropped while fighting Fjodra, and ran toward the Starting Point.
“Ah! Karbaldr, wait for me!!”
Reysir, who stood up late, shouted urgently, but I didn’t stop or slow down. It was obvious he would catch up soon anyway, and he did. His face, running alongside me at my pace while I ran with gritted teeth, was so relaxed it was irritating.
“Whew~, it looks like we’re not late, right?”
Upon arriving at the Starting Point, the original protagonist took a light breath and put his Training Ribbon back on.
I wanted to snap back, ‘I don’t know exactly what minute we lost the ribbon, so how would I know?’ but unfortunately, I couldn’t because I was gasping for air. It was so bad that Yor was even tying the ribbon for me.
‘If the original protagonist says so, then we probably aren’t late!’
Anyway, I didn’t know how Professor Bjorn intended to find out if we had reattached the ribbons in time and give us penalties. Not only that, but there should also be evaluations of our attitudes and skills during the training.
‘Is there a setting where Aether Engineering items acting like CCTV are hidden somewhere?’
Bjorn would explain it once the morning training was over. If he didn’t bring it up first, I could just ask. As I was catching my breath with those thoughts, Vigdis’s voice reached me.
“Did something happen on your way here? Since Pret told me you two also lost your ribbons when he let me out of the trap, I thought you’d be here waiting… If Svein hadn’t mentioned that you two hadn’t arrived, I would have thought we missed each other on the way.”
Her lines served to inform us that Pret had delivered the news to her and also included the information that Svein was present at this location.
“Nothing really happened. Our departure was just a bit delayed because I was talking with Karbaldr.”
“Oh, I see. I was worried you were stuck in a trap and couldn’t move, so I was considering whether I should go look for you. I’m glad nothing happened.”
Vigdis accepted Reysir’s answer immediately and looked relieved. However, Svein’s expression was incredibly grumpy.
“From what I hear, Senior Reysir lost his ribbon because he couldn’t focus on the opponent after seeing Senior Karbaldr get injured… Is that true?”
“Yes, that’s why I arrived later than Vigdis after talking about it with Karbaldr.”
“Is that so…? You don’t particularly look injured…”
Svein spoke dubiously while scanning me from head to toe. I had drunk the Highest-Grade Healing Potion Fjodra gave me, and thanks to quickly covering my nose with a handkerchief, no blood got on my clothes. Plus, Yor had meticulously wiped my face with a wet wipe while I was talking to Reysir.
Naturally, that would be the case.