“…I’ll be going now.”
I glanced at the original protagonist, confirmed that Yor had put down his spoon, and stood up.
Just as I was about to leave the dining hall after returning my empty plate and tray, I heard hurried footsteps following behind me. The original protagonist overtook me and blocked my path.
“Can we talk for a moment if you have time?”
Judging by his cautious tone, he hadn’t chased me down to argue about the matter involving Pret.
Perhaps he thought I was angry because of his actions and wanted to talk to smooth things over? Whatever the reason, it worked out well for me.
My plan was to call Reysir Daudabina to the novel section while he was studying in the library, test him here and there, and get him to confess the existence of the **[Character Analysis]** skill himself… and then make him use that skill under my control. However…
‘Approaching someone who is clearly dissatisfied with you and explaining yourself for something that wasn’t even your fault just to match the other person’s mood… that goes against Karbaldr’s character!’
I was feeling quite uncomfortable, thinking the plan had been ruined from the very beginning. But now, the other party had approached first to offer a hand of reconciliation.
The relief and gratitude I felt lasted only a moment.
‘Wait, wouldn’t there have been no problem at all if he hadn’t listened to Pret and gotten petty in the first place?’
This thought forced its way into my head.
“Is it okay…? Are you really mad?”
“……Let us move elsewhere first.”
“Okay!”
Following the original protagonist, we arrived at a familiar place—a lonely bench tucked away in a secluded corner of the promenade.
I sat there with my legs crossed and arms folded, while Yor stretched out and lay long across my lap.
“Um, Yor?”
“*Meow?*”
“Are you doing that to stop me from sitting down?”
“*Meow?*”
“……”
Reysir, who had lost his place to sit, stood in an awkward posture. After having this brief exchange with Yor, he watched my reaction with a troubled expression.
He had once plucked Yor out of my arms like pulling up a radish. It seemed he realized that the current atmosphere wasn’t one where he could do that again.
‘And Yor really does know my heart well, doesn’t he?’
Since it was a situation where I couldn’t help but adore him, I slightly loosened my folded arms and gently stroked Yor’s back. In response, Yor made sounds like “*purr, purr, purr*.”
Unlike a real cat’s purring, there was no vibration at all. In fact, it was closer to him literally ‘saying’ the sound effect, but regardless, Yor seemed to be in a very good mood, so I decided not to worry about the minor details.
The expression of the relaxed baby dragon was very, very cute and lovely. Seeing him like that made me feel better as well.
“Yor is really… amazing, isn’t he?”
Reysir praised Yor out of nowhere, but there was nothing wrong with that. I didn’t even wonder why he was suddenly acting like that.
Because Yor was always amazing. I only thought that he was quite slow for just realizing it now.
“You are stating the obvious as if it were something new.”
“Ah… I guess it was too obvious…”
“More importantly, why did you ask to speak with me?”
“I felt like I should apologize…?”
“Do you even know what you did wrong?”
“Yeah.”
Back in the dining hall when I stood up with my tray, the original protagonist had a face that suggested he knew nothing. But now, he was nodding without a hint of hesitation.
I couldn’t help but look at him with suspicion.
“I’m not just making things up—I really know! The fact that Pret found out about your criteria for accepting someone as a friend was only because he heard it from Professor Skadi, right? It’s not like you told him directly, but I hurt your feelings because I kept watching you like you were some kind of betrayer.”
“If you knew that so well, why did you act like you were the victim earlier?”
Though my disappointment had melted away at the sight of him admitting his fault and showing signs of reflection, I asked the question while feigning a cold expression to hear his reason.
“Earlier… I thought it was too much, including the fact that you told Professor Skadi about that ‘standard for a friend.’ So it felt like you were the one who did wrong first and was getting mad at me, but…”
“But?”
“Hailga told me. Even if such a standard exists, the fact that you haven’t mentioned it until now might be because you didn’t want to force me into that mold.”
“……?”
“After hearing that, I thought it made sense.”
“……??”
I wondered what on earth he was talking about. If I hadn’t been speechless with absurdity, the question ‘How does that make sense?’ would have certainly burst from my throat.
“You can set an ideal standard for a friend. But picking and choosing who to be friends with by checking every single condition… well, looking at Nidhr’s case, I can’t say it’s impossible, but you’re not that kind of person, right?”
“……”
“Making relationships in a calculated way, like those who approached you because they were attracted to your conditions… You’d probably find that the most uncomfortable of all. I shouldn’t have overlooked that fact…”
“………”
My mouth hung open. The situation was getting more and more ridiculous.
“But the most decisive reason is probably because you like me as I am, right? I don’t know what your standard for a friend is, but surely you’d prefer me now over a version of me forced to fit those criteria—”
“Wait, wait…! You’ve got a major misunderstanding right now.”
Reysir’s nonsense was getting out of hand; he was even about to start his own self-triggering Influence Event. I hurriedly regained my ability to speak and cut him off.
“What am I misunderstanding?”
“First, I have never set any standard for a friend. Professor Radvicin, his research students, and Professor Skadi kept asking me what my criteria were, so I just made something up on the spot because I was tired of it. Pret must have heard that.”
“Then the information Pret has is wrong?”
“And second, you’ve already encountered that ‘wrong information’ yourself.”
“Huh…?”
“The day of the graduation ceremony, when we came out of the auditorium. Have you already forgotten that Professor Skadi was rambling on about ‘friends’ and saying strange things?”
At my question, Reysir blinked blankly before letting out an ‘Ah…’ of realization. He had successfully recalled the events from chapter 136.
“You mean that stuff about overcoming a desperate crisis together and saving someone’s life…?”
“Yes, that. There is no way I would actually use something like that as a standard for a friend, is there?”
“I suppose. It’s not like you’re looking for a prince on a white horse in a fairy tale. It would be ridiculous to select friends that way.”
“That is… correct. Since nothing else came to mind, I just made up some conditions that would be nearly impossible to satisfy so that people like Pret wouldn’t overhear me and claim to be my friend. I have never, absolutely never, held such ridiculous ideals as a standard. Really, I swear.”
“If you don’t have them, you don’t have them. Why do you keep emphasizing it like that? It makes it suspicious…”
“I am doing this to prevent misunderstanding in advance because you might use it as an excuse to tease me later!”
A long time ago.
I had once thought about how it would be nice if someone saved me from bullying and became my friend, so I felt a bit guilty. But that was just a passing thought from my childhood. It couldn’t be considered a standard.
“Anyway, I’m worried…”
“About what?”
“If that fake standard gets spread around, wouldn’t more people try to purposely put you in danger just to pretend to save you? I got anxious thinking you might actually get hurt because of that.”
“How is that a problem? It’s natural to feel favor toward someone who saves your life, anyway. If there were people willing to go that far to get close to me, they would do it even without hearing about a fake standard.”
“Have there been many attempts like that already?”
“Not even once.”
In the past, I wouldn’t have been able to answer so instantly and would have hesitated for a moment. Since I had no way of knowing whether Karbaldr had experienced such things or not.
However, yesterday I received materials from Pret that included Karbaldr’s past actions, and thanks to that, I could state it with certainty.
“Still, be careful just in case. If someone tries that, it means they value their own goals more than your safety. You must never let them get close. Got it?”
“Do I look like someone who lacks even that much judgment?”
“Definitely not. You’re very smart, wise, clever, quick-witted…”
“Don’t, don’t tease me…!”
“I’m not teasing! I really think you’re that kind of person.”
“……”
“Ahahaha!”
Judging by how he was laughing, he was definitely teasing me. So, I glared at the annoying human with wide eyes.
Only then did Reysir stop laughing and mutter an apology with an embarrassed expression.
“Anyway, I’m sorry. It’s not like you met Pret behind my back and poured out all your personal secrets that you never even told me. I was being petty and just glowering at you. You had every right to be mad.”
‘Was this what they meant by a thief’s guilty conscience?’
I felt a sudden pang of guilt, wondering if Reysir knew about what happened yesterday and was testing me.
‘No way, right? Yeah, no way… Pret is supposedly the next head of the world’s best information guild. There’s no way he would have been caught entering my private training hall.’
Even though Reysir is the original protagonist and is firmly holding the position of rank 1 in martial power in the Awakened Special Class by an overwhelming margin…
For now, he’s just a greenhorn student who has only just entered his serious growth phase.
On the other hand, Pret is a professional informant who has been deployed in the field for a long time and has experience infiltrating all sorts of places. Therefore, there’s no way he was caught.
‘But… if it’s discovered later… will he feel betrayed?’
Fortunately, it wasn’t like I had no room for excuses.
Pret and I didn’t share a friendship; it was merely a ‘transaction.’
What I talked about with him yesterday was related to the ‘possession body’s family history,’ and he had already acquired prior knowledge about it through a background investigation.
‘Didn’t Pret even ask the questions after presenting that information to me?’
Well, I was the one who asked to see it, but anyway.
Practically speaking, it was no different from saying that I didn’t pour out my personal stories to him, but was forced to confess because my family history had been exposed.
After going through this process of rationalization, I faced Reysir confidently and spoke as follows.
“It is good that you know now. From now on… do not blame me with that look of disappointment.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry.”
“Do not joke—answer me seriously. It was only because someone else investigated me on their own and brought up details I never confirmed… You should not have acted that way toward me.”
“O…”
“Is that the end of your answer to my words?”
“Ah, no…! I just realized I really made a huge mistake, so I was momentarily speechless… I’m really sorry. I won’t do it again.”
Reysir bowed his head deeply while assuming a polite posture with both hands clasped in front of him.
Watching that perfectly humble attitude, I felt the resentment that had built up in my heart melt away completely.