Chapter 305: Buff Before Battle

“Does anyone know why Reysir only acts like this toward Karbaldr…?”

Fjodra’s voice carried a hint of displeasure as she asked the question.

Svein didn’t say anything, but judging by his expression, he seemed quite sympathetic to Fjodra’s confusion.

It appeared that both of them couldn’t quite understand the behavior of the protagonist of another novel.

“He’s probably teasing. He wants to see the Young Lord get embarrassed.”

This time, it was Hailga—the protagonist of another novel’s old friend—who spoke up.

Rather than dismissing her statement as nonsense, Fjodra treated it as truth and asked a follow-up question.

“But why would he want to see that…?”

“It seems he finds the Young Lord’s embarrassed face amusing.”

“Well now… I don’t know how I’m supposed to react to that.”

“Just brush it off with a ‘Sigh, there they go again.'”

I found this quite disconcerting.

It was always the protagonist of another novel who said strange things, yet for some reason, Hailga had used the plural expression ‘they’ instead of ‘he.’

Was that why?

“……”

“……”

Fjodra and Svein cast curious glances at me.

They seemed fully aware of the protagonist of another novel’s intentions and goals, yet they willingly showed him the reaction he wanted.

I feared they might be misunderstanding that I had willingly become Reysir’s personal clown.

‘It’s already a foregone conclusion that I won’t be able to take down the boss in one blow. That means it must have tremendous resistance to the Lightning Attribute… Do I really need to use the [Encourage] skill on the protagonist of another novel?’

This thought crossed my mind for a moment, but I soon realized something.

Precisely because I couldn’t defeat the boss in one hit, I absolutely had to use that skill.

When the protagonist of another novel had asked me to say something encouraging.

He must have recalled information about my [Encourage] skill.

And that information would have been described in the original author’s novel text.

‘If I don’t use that skill, Senna’s readers will blame me for not easily handling the Boss Monster!

They’ll say it makes no sense to refuse to use a powerful Buff Skill just because I’m embarrassed to say a single word.

I can already imagine comments flooding in saying I should be replaced by another support character. The thought is unbearable.

Besides, I have to reveal the existence of the [Encourage] skill eventually.

The longer I delay, the more people will criticize me—not just outside this novel, but inside it as well.

Even if I then claim, ‘I just obtained this ability recently,’ they won’t fully trust me and will remain suspicious.

‘Since things have turned out this way, I might as well reveal it now!

Moreover, isn’t a battle with a giant Boss Golem imminent?

Given all this, I concluded that revealing the existence of the [Encourage] skill right now was the best choice in many ways, and immediately opened my mouth to act on it.

“Your Highness the Imperial Princess. Reysir asking me to say something encouraging wasn’t just to tease me.”

“Hmm… I, I see…”

I had started with a light preamble before my full explanation, but somehow, I received a strange reaction.

It wasn’t just Fjodra who answered that way. The others also wore expressions of disbelief, as if they were at a loss for words.

‘Could it be… they misunderstood that I was saying this to defend Reysir?’

If I let this continue, my dignity would be compromised.

I quickly got to the point.

“I recently obtained a new Buff Skill. Its activation condition is saying something ‘likely to help the target draw out their potential,’ and Reysir knows this. That’s why he made that request of me.”

“You say you obtained a new Buff Skill? Is that true?”

“Yes. So the reason I’m about to say something encouraging to Reysir now is solely to use the skill…”

“Enough with the lengthy excuses. Just tell us about the skill’s effect.”

Fjodra cut me off mid-sentence, treating my explanation as an excuse.

For a moment, I thought she was being too harsh, but since revealing the skill’s effect was also necessary for my explanation…

Instead of lodging a complaint, I gave my answer.

“It’s a skill that strengthens the target’s Aether Characteristic Skill.”

“What? Don’t talk nonsense! If such an amazing skill existed in your family, it would have been known long ago. Moreover, a Buff Skill that affects another person’s Aether… something like that has never been recorded in history…”

Fjodra couldn’t hide her shock and revealed her disbelief.

I couldn’t say I didn’t understand that reaction.

After all, the effect of the [Encourage] skill deviated from the world-building settings established by the original author, so it was inevitable that she, being heavily influenced by the original author, would find it hard to accept.

Besides, Author Senna would capture this situation in her creative work.

If I thought of it as a scene within a creative work, Fjodra’s reaction could be seen as a device to emphasize how amazing the [Encourage] skill was.

But—

‘You believed without question that Reysir just wanted to enjoy seeing me embarrassed, right in front of a Boss Monster?!’

—this complaint raised its head.

I wanted to argue, but now wasn’t the time for a quarrel, so I decided to hold back.

“Since this skill is newly acquired, its proficiency is low, so I don’t think the effect will be very noticeable… but since I can’t show you my skill window, all I can say is for you to receive the buff directly, concentrate, and try to feel the difference.”

“That is true. Then go ahead and use it.”

I had brought up the topic myself, but now that I was about to use the [Encourage] skill on Fjodra, I didn’t know what to say.

Just as I was about to fall into contemplation—

Tap, tap.

Suddenly, the protagonist of another小说 poked my shoulder with his index finger.

I shot him a look asking what he wanted—

“I hope you don’t forget that I asked you first.”

—He said something like this.

“Is that really important right now?”

“Of course it is! First, we need to take care of the Boss Monster!”

“Wait a bit. If you can shatter the Magic Core in one blow, that’s fine, but if not, we’ll have to fight that Boss Monster. Either way, wouldn’t it be safer to use ‘that’ skill on everyone?”

“That’s true.”

Did he think I said this because I didn’t trust my own abilities?

Somehow, a hint of dissatisfaction appeared on Reysir’s face.

“And as I said, this skill was recently acquired, so its proficiency is low. I don’t think using it a few more times will dramatically increase its proficiency or effectiveness. But just in case, I thought it would be better to use it on others first, and then use it on you last… Why is your expression getting more sour?”

“No, it’s just… hearing about that skill, I’m thinking I should have asked you to use it on me right away. You know, so you could raise its proficiency even a little.”

I have no idea why he’s regretting that.

Even if Reysir had said such a thing back then, there’s no way I would have used the [Encourage] skill on him.

I then averted my gaze from the protagonist of another novel and looked at Fjodra as I spoke.

“Well… so… do your best.”

“……?”

“That’s enough.”

“That’s enough? Weren’t you supposed to say something encouraging or supportive?”

“That’s just what Reysir wanted. It’s enough as long as it’s ‘something likely to help the target draw out their potential.'”

“No, but still…”

A hint of displeasure mixed with bewilderment flickered across Fjodra’s expression.

It seemed she found the phrase ‘do your best’ rude.

But for me, this was the best I could do.

“Your Highness didn’t believe in my skill’s effect, so you asked me to use it so you could verify it yourself, correct? Since I used the skill to prove my ability to Your Highness, how could I possibly say something encouraging or supportive in this situation?”

“That is… true.”

“Yes. So I had no choice but to speak as if I were provoking you. There was no other way… So please understand with a generous heart.”

“Hmm… Very well…”

Was she feeling a bit sorry for not having believed my words earlier?

Fjodra no longer questioned my skill activation words, quietly closed her eyes, focused on her own Aether, and began checking for any changes.

Tap.

Meanwhile, I looked for the next target to use the [Encourage] skill on.

I had given Reysir the excuse of wanting to raise its proficiency a bit.

So I decided to prioritize the person whose Aether Characteristic Skill would be least helpful in this battle.

“Pret.”

“Yes!”

“Against a rock mass that doesn’t have eyes, I don’t know what use an ability to change Aether color would be. But still, do your best.”

“……Ah-ha?”

I pretended not to notice the person letting out a hollow laugh as if he found this ridiculous.

Turning to the next target, I spoke.

“You too… just do your best, Hailga. Who knows? Even if you can’t melt the rock, you might at least create cracks. Although it seems that even if the rocks composing its body break, it doesn’t hinder the monster’s movement.”

“Wow…! This really pisses me off!!”

The moment anger colored Hailga’s face, I could see Svein’s expression darken as he watched.

It seemed he realized he was next.

“Svein. Yor has prepared plenty of water, just as you wanted. I’m truly looking forward to seeing how amazingly you’ll perform.”

I looked down at him with an arrogant gaze and twisted one corner of my mouth into a smirk.

Anyone who took the ‘looking forward’ part literally after this would be a fool.

Svein, apparently no fool, immediately caught on that I was being sarcastic and tightened his facial muscles.

“And Lausa, hang in there.”

“Kyee!”

After genuinely encouraging the eagle familiar who suffered because of its owner, hesitation crept in.

I was torn over whether to use the skill on Liolikin or Vigdis first.

“I’m prepared. Please, go ahead.”

Did she think my hesitation was because I couldn’t speak to her first due to the Disengagement Contract?

Vigdis spoke with an extremely solemn expression.

Her face was anything but that of someone waiting to receive a buff.

“Even if I strengthen your skill, you won’t survive being hit by that giant rock monster’s attack. So just remember that you’ve barely equipped yourself with minimal safety measures, and dodge at all costs.”

“……?”

“Is understanding the word ‘dodge’ that difficult?”

“Ah, no…! Not at all! It’s just, I thought you were going to say something really harsh…”

“I did, didn’t I? Even if I strengthen your [Iron-Blooded Steel Body] skill, you won’t be able to withstand the Boss Monster’s attack.”

“Ah…”

I have no idea what kind of reaction this is supposed to be.