The Awakened Special Class consisted of exactly nine members.
While that was a small number for a classroom, it was quite a lot for a single carriage.
Furthermore, it wasn’t just people who needed to fit inside.
Yor, a baby dragon with a body length of 150 cm, and Lausa, a 90 cm eagle, also had to come along.
It was impossible to cram everyone even into the largest eight-person carriage.
Therefore, they had no choice but to split into two six-person carriages…
“Since the goal is to build friendship, there’s no point in those who are already close riding together, right?”
“Then how about we split by gender? The ratio is nearly half at four to five. It’s usually more comfortable to be around the same gender than the opposite, so it’ll be easier to relax.”
Fjodra spoke up first, followed by Pret, who offered his opinion in a relaxed voice.
For me, being with strangers — especially sharing a carriage with Svein — was very uncomfortable, but I had no reason to object.
If I had to find a silver lining…
‘Did I manage to avoid a situation where Reysir and Svein ride in the same carriage while I have to take the other?’
The Protagonist of Another Novel was incredibly social.
Moreover, he was the type of person who could easily ask someone who had bullied him to be his friend.
There was no way such a person wouldn’t try to befriend Svein, who was the same age, just because they were in different years.
‘Besides, the author Senna’s will must be wishing for the two of them to become friends…!’
In the short time it took to ride a carriage to the restaurant, Reysir would have more than enough time to become friends with Svein.
I was burning with determination to prevent that at all costs when Fjodra spoke.
“Well then, let us meet again at our destination.”
With those words, Fjodra boarded a carriage with her Familiar.
Hailga, Vigdis, and Risi followed her into the same carriage.
“We should get on too!”
Pret merely said the words and looked at me.
Since he was a freshman, he probably felt he couldn’t just jump into the carriage first.
He was likely waiting for the person with the highest status among the remaining group to move.
‘I was planning to sit next to Reysir after he got on… but since Reysir will probably come to sit next to me anyway, does it matter if I get on first?’
With that thought, I did as I always did: I put Yor in the carriage first to take the window seat and then sat in the middle seat next to him.
As expected, Reysir tried to follow me into the carriage.
However, Liolikin suddenly made an unexpected remark.
“Could I… sit next to Lord Karbaldr…? Reysir, you were invited to Lord Karbaldr’s room earlier and played together, weren’t you? It’s too unfair for you to monopolize Lord Karbaldr all by yourself.”
Perhaps because he had been beaten up by Reysir while preparing for the Bimu Tournament, Liolikin’s behavior showed that he clearly viewed Reysir as higher in the hierarchy than himself.
I hadn’t considered this situation at all, but it seemed he was quite envious of the fact that Reysir had entered my room.
“All right, then you go in first.”
The Original Protagonist readily yielded the seat next to me to Liolikin.
This was beyond absurd.
‘It’s the seat next to me, so why are they making agreements among themselves without even asking for my opinion?’
The moment I felt disgruntled and inadvertently let it show on my face, Reysir circled around the back of the carriage and opened the door on the opposite side.
He then tucked the upper half of the baby dragon into my arms and placed the lower half on his own lap, effectively taking the side seat that had belonged to Yor.
“What do you think you’re doing…?”
“You looked disappointed that I gave up the seat next to you to someone else.”
“Who… who would be disappointed by such a thing?”
“No? Then should I move to the seat across from you?”
I looked away from Reysir for a moment and turned my head in the opposite direction.
I saw Svein standing there awkwardly, having stopped just as he was about to board.
Pret was behind him, waiting for his turn.
If Reysir moved to the opposite side, he would naturally end up sitting right next to Svein.
While I wasn’t thrilled about them sitting across from each other either, I couldn’t stop everything.
“…Never mind. You’ve already settled in, so there’s no need to go that far.”
“Hahaha! All right, then I’ll just stay here.”
Surely he didn’t yield my side to Liolikin on purpose just to tease me?
Looking at Reysir’s beaming face, a sense of baseless suspicion began to grow.
While I hugged Yor’s upper body tightly and glared at Reysir’s profile…
“You seniors really are close.”
Pret, who had boarded the carriage and closed the door before I realized it, struck up a conversation.
He hadn’t defined our relationship as ‘friends’ but simply said we were close, so there was no need to go out of my way to refute it.
Furthermore, if I wanted to stop Svein from acting friendly with the Original Protagonist, I couldn’t deny it.
When I remained silent, the smile on Reysir’s face deepened.
He seemed happy, as if he thought I had acknowledged Pret’s statement.
“That’s right, we’re very close.”
“Ooh— such confidence! I’m really envious. It makes me wonder what kind of history you two have that allowed you to become this close.”
Pret asked a question disguised as admiration in a sociable tone.
If he was indeed the Mercenary hired during Hailga’s kidnapping incident… no, even if he wasn’t that specific Mercenary, he would definitely know that Karbaldr used to bully Reysir in the past.
For someone with a deep interest in others, it was a perfectly natural thing to be curious about.
Just as I was rationalizing it to myself…
“……And why exactly are you curious about that?”
The smile vanished from Reysir’s face as he turned dead serious.
At the sight of the Original Protagonist’s expression, Pret looked as if he was thinking, ‘Huh? This isn’t right.’
He probably thought that if he set the stage properly, Reysir would drone on and on about how he became close to me.
‘It looks like… Reysir misunderstood and thinks Pret is digging for a way to get close to me so he can use me.’
Even if that were the case, I couldn’t exactly step in to defend Pret.
I couldn’t find a single reason why I should.
Since he was the heir to the head of an Information Guild, he should be able to handle this much on his own.
“Did I perhaps ask a rude question? If so, I apologize. I’m not very familiar with society outside the circus, so I made a mistake.”
Look at this.
He didn’t hesitate for even a second before starting his excuses.
“I was just curious about how one makes friends and what one should do to become closer.”
But as I listened, something felt a bit…
“In the circus I was in, there were only brothers and sisters who were much older than me. Since we practiced stunts all day, there wasn’t even time to play with anyone in the first place.”
I got the feeling that he was mixing in some of his actual circumstances.
Of course, I didn’t think he was completely ignorant of how to make friends.
Sociability is a basic requirement if one wants to dig for information from others.
‘However, since he would have only made short-term approaches to uncover information while hiding his identity with the [Camouflage] skill… he probably hasn’t ever made a friend in the true sense!’
It wasn’t as if there were no young informants within the guild.
But even so, they would be at the very bottom of the ranks.
I doubted such people would ever have the chance to cross paths with the guild leader’s own son.
“You seem quite social for someone like that, though…”
“That’s only natural. When you’re surrounded by adults, the only thing that grows is your audacity!”
“Is that so…?”
“Yes, it is.”
Reysir didn’t fully believe Pret’s words and seemed somewhat suspicious, but he didn’t press the matter further and let it go.
After all, with examples like myself, Liolikin, and Vigdis standing right there, it would have been awkward to question how someone could reach that age without any friends.
“……”
“……”
The conversation cut off abruptly.
Reysir had no intention of explaining the process of becoming close to me to strangers, and Pret seemed to have decided that it was time to restrain himself, as adding more would only invite further suspicion.
As an awkward silence filled the carriage, someone finally spoke up, unable to bear the atmosphere.
It was none other than the original traitor, Svein.
“Um… Senior Reysir, I heard you also use a spear. How long has it been since you started learning?”
He had a talent for picking the worst timing.
I suspected that the will of the author, Senna, who wanted Svein to become friends with Reysir, was at work, since he chose to talk to the very person who had just soured the atmosphere.
“I first held a spear when I was 8, but I started learning in earnest after I turned 10.”
Perhaps because the question wasn’t about me, Reysir’s expression and tone returned to normal as he answered.
Seeing that, the tension in Svein’s face seemed to fade, as if he were relieved.
“Then you must be very skilled with the spear.”
“Well, I suppose so?”
Reysir spoke with a hint of bashfulness but didn’t deny it.
After all, wasn’t his [Spearmanship] skill not just A-rank, but a staggering S-rank?
Denying it wouldn’t be seen as modesty; it could be perceived as mocking those less skilled than him.
He must have decided it was better to simply acknowledge the truth.
“I’ve only been learning the spear for one month, so I’m worried about whether I’ll be able to fight properly when we enter the Demonic Realm. So… if you have some time in the evenings after lectures or on the weekends, could you perhaps look over my spearmanship and give me some advice?”
From the moment Svein revealed his primary weapon was a spear, I had inwardly guessed he would make such a request of Reysir.
But I didn’t expect him to ask for lessons out of the blue before they were even close.
Truly, he was as shameless as a character who betrayed his friend and teacher in the original version of the novel.
“That much is of course—”
“You’re making a truly absurd request.”
Before the words of agreement could leave Reysir’s mouth, I quickly cut him off.
Both Reysir and Svein looked bewildered, while Pret wore a face full of interest.
Yor agreed with my words by nodding while making a meowing sound.
Meow.
Liolikin just wore a blank expression, as if he were just going along with whatever was happening.
“Have you forgotten that Reysir also has to go into the Demonic Realm and fight?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten at all. That’s why I wanted to train together…”
“And how exactly is training with you supposed to help Reysir? It might be different if your skills had reached a certain level. But if you’ve only been learning for one month, aren’t you likely still just mastering the basic forms? In the end, Reysir would just be wasting his time while you’re the only one benefiting, aren’t you?”
Did my explanation sound like a taunt?
I could see the other boy’s face cloud with embarrassment, bitterness, and shame.