“Then shall we go check out the original protagonist’s new skill?”
“Nyang!”
Since I hadn’t directly participated in the battle, I didn’t need to shower and change clothes right away. So after washing the coffee cup and tidying my hair and clothes a bit, I headed straight to Reysir’s room. And just as I arrived in front of the door and raised my hand to knock—
–click
I heard the sound of the lock unlocking, and the handle turned by itself, so I had no choice but to withdraw my hand and step back quickly. Since I didn’t want to get hit by the opening door.
“Huh? Karbaldr? Did big brother already leave?”
The door opened, and I saw Reysir’s eyes go wide when he spotted me. Proof that he didn’t open the door knowing I was coming; it was just a coincidence of timing. Well, of course, it’s only natural since he wasn’t pacing in front of the door waiting for my visit.
“That’s right. But… are you going out now?”
“Yeah, it’s time for dinner.”
If Valtraus had dawdled just a little longer, I would have ended up knocking on an empty room and standing there dumbly waiting for a response. So I felt relieved and inwardly cursed Valtraus when—
“I thought you’d go eat with big brother…”
Reysir said this with a puzzled expression. It seemed he couldn’t understand why a brother who rarely meets would stay together until this hour and then just leave without eating dinner. Moreover, didn’t Valtraus come into the Demonic Realm with me today? It was a perfect situation to make him mistake Valtraus for caring about his younger brother, so Reysir couldn’t help reacting that way.
“Because he needs to tell Father about what happened today and discuss the punishment for the Offrausi family brothers.”
“Ah, so he left early because he was busy?”
“That’s right. If he had planned to eat with me, wouldn’t he have suggested we talk in my room? He would have gone to a cafe outside the Academy, or straight to the dining hall for an early dinner.”
“I thought he was curious about how his little brother was doing and asked to go to my room.”
“Well, I suppose there could be such a reason too…”
Since there wasn’t even a 1% chance of that, I turned my head away to hide my discomfort and let out a lie. Reysir, who was caught up in prejudice, mistook my reaction for embarrassment and laughed loudly. I wasn’t sure whether to consider that a good thing or not.
“Anyway, it worked out! Since our timing didn’t clash. Let’s go eat together, you and Yordo!”
“What about the new skill you got?”
“We can talk about it after we eat.”
So it got pushed back again. Unless when Reysir obtained that skill, the narrative perspective briefly shifted to him or became third-person, I worried that by now the readers might be reaching their limit of curiosity and feeling frustrated.
‘As expected, Valtraus is the problem. If that bastard hadn’t held me up with pointless talk, I could have heard the skill explanation ages ago!’
Just as my frustration was peaking for the above reason, Reysir whispered the following in my ear.
“[Eye that Perceives Truth].”
“……Huh?”
“That’s the skill name. Since you seem so curious, I’ll at least tell you that much for now.”
The way he said this with his eyes and lips curved into a smile. It looked like he was teasing me, which was a bit annoying, but I could tell that Reysir also wanted to tell me about the skill quickly but was holding back because the timing wasn’t right, so I decided to let it go.
‘That aside, the [Eye that Perceives Truth]… from the name alone, it gave off a strong paired feeling with [Truth-Reading Eye]. But it was quite peculiar that the word ‘perceive,’ which I used when I pressured Reysir to do something somehow in Chapter 310, was sitting right in the center. Did the original author add the skill after transcribing my dialogue and thinking, ‘This is it!’? Or did Reysir gain enlightenment on his own and carve out a new path? I personally hope it’s the latter. Probably not even Reysir himself or Author Senna would know.’
While blocking the flow of Sky-Blue Aether so the [Mental Acceleration] skill wouldn’t activate on its own, I was walking while lost in thought when I heard the Protagonist of Another Novel snickering.
“Why are you suddenly laughing?”
“Because it seems your head is full of thoughts about my skill.”
“……Why is that a reason to laugh?”
“Hahaha! Well, I wonder~?”
“……”
The Protagonist of Another Novel seemed to expect me to dig into the reason. But it wasn’t a topic I particularly wanted to explore, so instead of delving deeper, I decided to just brush it off.
When I finished coming down the stairs and reached the first-floor lobby of the dormitory, I saw Hailga and Vigdis. During the time skipped between Chapters 318 and 319, after I and Valtraus left first, it seemed they had promised to eat dinner together and even set a time to meet.
“Oh? The tsundere young lord came too?”
“Big brother had to discuss today’s events with Father, so it seems he returned to the capital early.”
When Hailga voiced the same question Reysir had earlier, Reysir explained the reason on his own. Thanks to that, it was convenient since I didn’t have to repeat myself, but…
“Hailga. Must you refer to me that way?”
“This nickname just rolls off the tongue too easily; I can’t help it.”
“Is that any way to talk? Go study again when the expression ‘I can’t help it’ is used.”
When I sneered at Hailga, the Protagonist of Another Novel next to me burst out laughing with a ‘Pffft!’ My words were meant to be sarcastic, but it seems they were taken as a joke. As I was glaring at the Protagonist of Another Novel who was laughing incredulously—
“That aside… thank you, Count Karbaldr.”
Suddenly a word of thanks came. And not lightly tossed but with a very sincere feeling.
“What’s this all of a sudden…?”
“Why are you so flustered? It’s not like you heard something you shouldn’t have.”
“Why would I not be? I heard a thank you despite not doing anything deserving of your gratitude.”
Could she have noticed that I intentionally provoked the Acid Villain to bait an attack? Before she could say something like ‘You took on the danger that would have come to me, didn’t you?’ should I get ahead of her and claim I had no such intention? But what if she thinks I’m a thief who jumps at the sound of his own steps and makes excuses? But wait, is it even appropriate to use a negative proverb about a thief in a situation like this?
“If that’s what you think, Count, then I really can’t help it.”
“…What is it this time that you can’t help?”
“You say you don’t know why you should be thanked. As the top student who was chosen as class representative last year, I have no choice but to kindly explain.”
Hailga placed one hand on her chest and the other on her hip, striking a conceited pose and spouting nonsense. I suspected she might be plotting revenge because her pride was hurt by my earlier comment about studying again.
“What are you trying to say…?”
“I was going to talk anyway, even without you nagging like that.”
“Oh, no, no…! What I just said wasn’t a question…!”
“You said you don’t know? Then shut up and listen to my explanation!!”
“…”
Since everyone had left, her clear voice rang out in the empty dormitory lobby. Feeling such overwhelming force, I reflexively shut my mouth.
“You said you only intended to humiliate Drembi, but still, thank you for making him apologize to me and my father. Even if the apology wasn’t sincere. There’s meaning in the fact that he himself admitted with his own mouth that his words to us were wrong.”
“But in the end, he didn’t even admit his mistake, let alone offer a honeyed word of apology…”
“That’s true. That man Drembi had no intention of reflecting. He even prepared dangerous substances like acid solution.”
When I cautiously opened my mouth again to raise a counterargument, Hailga readily acknowledged it and nodded. As I thought ‘unexpected’ at her reaction, I was just patting my chest in relief that the awkward situation would pass quickly when—
“In that sense, thank you for provoking that man. If you hadn’t done that, Drembi wouldn’t have taken out that solution on the spot and would have kept it hidden. And he would have waited until I was alone as originally planned and splashed it all over my face, right?”
As if telling me it was too early to let my guard down, the second round of explanation began from her lips.
“I wouldn’t have been able to deploy an Aether Barrier in time like you did, so I would have taken it full on. And since I’d be alone, I wouldn’t even be able to give proper first aid. Plus I couldn’t afford the treatment costs…”
“I understand now, so you can stop talking!”
“You should have said so sooner.”
“……”
This situation, isn’t it weird? Why does the person who said thank you act so smug, and I, the one receiving the thanks, have to feel awkward? I simply can’t figure out the reason. Is it that whenever I say I don’t know why they’re thankful, everyone ends up in this kind of situation? Then what should I say? ‘I know, so keep thanking me’?
“A-are you all planning to stand here forever?! Aren’t we going to eat??”
“Huh? Isn’t it because Kar was talking to Hailga that we couldn’t go?”
“He’s probably just saying anything to change the subject because he’s embarrassed. So let’s just pretend we don’t know and go, sis, as the Count wishes.”
Vigdis had been just watching the whole time, and I don’t know why she chose this timing to raise a question. And why did Hailga give an unnecessarily kind explanation to that question? Doesn’t adding ‘let’s pretend not to know’ afterward defeat the purpose? Whether I was frozen with my mouth hanging open, feeling both embarrassed and dumbfounded, Hailga linked her arm with Vigdis’s and they left the dormitory building arm in arm.
As I was still in a daze and unconsciously staring at their retreating backs, the Protagonist of Another Novel grinned mischievously and spouted nonsense.
“What? Jealous? Want us to link arms too?”
If this looks like jealousy, then his eyes must be sprained. Seeming to require correction, I lightly tapped his golden eyeball with my finger and then followed those who had left first.
Karbaldr poked his eye again LMAO
Lightly tapped? Lol