“I don’t know when it will be, but we all have to enter the Demonic Realm together eventually… right? At that time, anyone who can’t fight will just be a burden. So, I thought that getting stronger as quickly as possible would be the best way to help the seniors.”
Svein spoke with strength in his voice, even as he lowered his gaze, unable to meet my eyes directly.
A strange sense of confidence settled on his face.
It seemed he thought his answer was quite logical.
In truth, he wasn’t wrong, but…
“Surely, you aren’t saying such things to teach me because you thought I wouldn’t know something so obvious?”
“O-Of course not…! I just wanted to say that I’ve been looking for ways to get stronger in my own way so that I won’t be a nuisance to the seniors…”
Doesn’t that ultimately mean he explained it because he thought I didn’t know?
I considered pointing that out but decided against it.
If I nitpicked every little thing, we’d only end up straying from the main topic, and there wasn’t just one point to criticize.
“You say it’s to avoid being a nuisance. Yet the best result of your search was to steal away that senior’s training time? How incredibly contradictory.”
“Even so, I thought this was the best way. My skills won’t improve quickly just by learning what’s taught during lectures once a week.”
“Can’t you just go to the professor who teaches Spearmanship outside of class hours and ask for guidance?”
“But… the Spearmanship professor isn’t an Awakened…”
His statement was so absurd that a hollow laugh escaped me.
Because my main weapon happened to be the minor Whip, a regular course wasn’t even established for it. Until Skadi told me she knew how to handle a whip, I had to repeat clumsy training on my own while doubting if I was even doing it right.
“Do you think there’s a separate Spearmanship just for an Awakened? Or do you think that because you’ve awakened, you’ve become some special and grand being? Is that why you think you don’t need the teachings of someone who isn’t an Awakened?”
“No…! I just wondered if it was okay to ask such a favor from someone who has nothing to do with the Awakened Special Class…”
“I don’t know why you’d think it’s not okay. Professors are hired to teach students. Furthermore, you are a member of the Special Class scheduled to be dispatched to a dangerous location. Any professor would be more than willing to make time for you if you asked for guidance.”
“Ah… I-I see…”
It was impossible for Karbaldr to explain things in a soft and kind tone.
Thus, when I spoke with an arrogant tone and a look that seemed to deem him pathetic, Svein’s face turned red with shame.
That reaction raised a question in my mind.
“Did you ask Reysir to teach you Spearmanship because you really didn’t know something so obvious…? Was there no other purpose?”
“T-That is… I thought it would be better to be on friendly terms anyway… so I thought it would be good to build a friendship while learning the spear…”
“You’re saying you only realized you could ask a professor for guidance after I explained it? Even though you were admitted through the Awakened Special Admission?”
‘Does this make sense? Did the author, Senna, lower Svein’s intelligence just to easily pair him with Reysir?’
Thinking that made me feel pity for the person in front of me.
So, without realizing it, I let out a sigh of ‘Hah…’ and gave him a pitying look. The guy’s face burned even redder as a sense of humiliation washed over him.
‘Surely he won’t harbor a grudge or murderous intent over something like this, right? My tone was a bit obnoxious to stay in character, but I even told him he didn’t need to feel burdened about visiting a professor…’
Svein’s reaction bothered me quite a bit.
However, the one I had to prioritize right now was Reysir’s reaction.
This protagonist of another novel had always been amused and practically doubled over whenever I turned red with embarrassment.
‘What if he tries to keep Svein around just because he thinks his reactions would be fun to tease…? That shouldn’t happen…’
Feeling anxious, I cautiously stole a glance at the person sitting next to me.
Reysir’s expression was calm, but the corners of his mouth were slightly curled up.
As I was contemplating how to interpret that smile, Reysir turned his head and met my eyes, grinning widely as if he felt my gaze.
He clearly hadn’t said a word.
Is it because he teases me like that every chance he gets?
Now, just having this protagonist of another novel look at me with that kind of expression made me feel embarrassed for no reason, as if I were being teased.
‘In this regard, I’m no different from Pavlov’s dog!’
I felt reluctant, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
In my previous life, whenever someone teased me, I always felt afraid, anxious, and thoroughly ostracized.
Was it because I couldn’t find any mockery, superiority, or cruelty in Reysir’s attitude toward me?
Instead, was it because his behavior was rooted in friendly emotions like praise and intimacy?
Only after thinking that far did I realize that my worries were unnecessary.
Svein’s current embarrassment stemmed from the humiliation of having his ignorance pointed out.
It was fundamentally impossible for a good person like Reysir to find joy in seeing that.
‘Phew… Thank goodness.’
It was just as I was shaking off my worries with relief.
The original protagonist suddenly spoke to the original traitor.
“Svein, you don’t have to be so anxious. Seeing as the **[Spearmanship]** skill was registered only one month after you started learning, it means you’re talented enough. Your skills will improve quickly if you train hard from now on.”
“Hearing you say that gives me confidence, Senior.”
“Hey, Senior what? We’re the same age, so just speak comfortably.”
A remark mentioning being the ‘same age’ finally burst from the mouth of this protagonist of another novel.
He hadn’t directly used the word ‘friend,’ but it was practically the same as sending a friend request.
He really never gives me a moment to let my guard down.
“Is it really okay if I do —”
“As if that would be allowed?!”
I hurriedly cut in, strongly denying Svein’s unfinished words.
Then I turned my head to glare at the protagonist of another novel.
“Why are you deciding that on your own?”
“Then should we decide together?”
“Of course we should!”
“Whyyy — ?”
“That’s because…”
I had words prepared in advance for a situation like this.
However, just as I was about to let them out.
Reysir’s eyes, which curved into smooth lines, caught my attention.
“Why did you stop mid-sentence — ?”
“…And why are you dragging out your words?”
“Did I do that?”
“……”
Looking at Reysir’s reaction.
For some reason, I started to think that he might have suggested speaking comfortably not to make Svein a friend, but to see my reaction.
Could he have noticed that I was wary of him?
But I had always been wary of strangers, so this was nothing new, and it shouldn’t be a situation Reysir would find so enjoyable.
‘Does that mean… he’s mistakenly thinking that I’m trying to stop him from getting close to a stranger because I feel jealous or possessive…?’
It was a completely absurd misunderstanding.
Unfortunately, the original owner of this body had a history of doing something similar to Vigdis in the past.
Considering the narrative consistency, it meant it was quite natural for Reysir to have such a misunderstanding.
And since I, unlike the previous Karbaldr, wasn’t shackled to Vigdis and was leaving her free.
While thinking that I cherished him enough to not want to lose him to others.
It was possible for him to enjoy this situation instead of worrying about it.
“You seem to be… having strange thoughts again, but it’s not like that.”
“Is that so? I wouldn’t know, but anyway, let’s put that aside. Could you explain why I shouldn’t decide on my own for Svein to speak comfortably to me?”
Normally, he would have teased me mercilessly, asking me what ‘it’ wasn’t.
Although the smile on his face had grown deeper.
Seeing how he didn’t pester me and returned straight to the main point, he seemed to be holding back in his own way since we were in front of someone he met for the first time.
‘Is it reasonable for me to feel grateful for this…?’
No matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t think so.
So I snipped away the budding feeling of gratitude and decided to just answer.
“If you make that junior a friend just because you’re the same age, doesn’t that mean he becomes equal to me, who’s also the same age as you? And what about Liolikin, who’s practically one year younger than us since he was born early in the year? Should he treat that junior as an older brother?”
“Ugh! I don’t want to do that!”
Liolikin, who had been sitting idly as if watching a fire across the river, was startled by the sudden sparks flying his way.
It was exactly the reaction I wanted.
“Liolikin… wouldn’t really need to do that, right?”
“Then what about that junior named Pret? Should he treat Svein as someone on our level and respect him as a senior? Or should he consider him a friend in the same grade? In the latter case, how should he treat us, his second-year seniors?”
I didn’t even need to mention the fact that Svein was a commoner and leave the impression that Karbaldr was an aristocratic supremacist.
Perhaps it was because the original author was Korean.
As I briefly mentioned in chapter 88, even though the world in this novel was a Western-style fantasy, the Confucian spirit was permeated into the world-building.
Simply pointing this out was enough.
“Hmm… I guess this wasn’t something I could just think of lightly, believing that whatever’s good is good…?”
“Of course. Because it’s a problem that no one except you and that junior can think well of.”
Reysir making Svein a friend.
It was no different from an act that would complicatedly tangle the genealogy of the Awakened Special Class members.
And this could be said to be a point that Koreans find extremely uncomfortable.
‘If the author Senna is observing this situation, she won’t be able to think of making Svein Reysir’s friend ever again, right?’
While having such thoughts in my head, I gave one final warning.
“So, if you truly want to put that junior on equal footing with you, don’t pull him up; you go down.”
“What does that mean…?”
“It means you should stop standing on equal ground with me and stop speaking comfortably to me.”
After going through all that effort to close the distance between us.
Surely he wouldn’t pull out the possibility of being my friend by the roots just to make a junior he met for the first time today his friend, right…?
I thought that obviously wouldn’t be the case.
Nevertheless, I stared intently at Reysir’s face, feeling uneasy for some reason.
While wondering if I should take back what I just said if things went south.
To start with the conclusion, fortunately, I didn’t have to go back on my word.
“I’d hate that, so I’ll have to take back what I said about Svein speaking comfortably.”
Only after those words flowed out of Reysir’s mouth could I secretly feel relieved and relax my tension.