After returning to our team’s starting point, reattaching our ribbons, and reuniting with the rest of the team, we immediately returned to the battlefield.
However, it was ultimately impossible to overcome the point difference within the remaining time.
‘Author Senna arbitrarily extended the strategy meeting time before the training began. I thought she might manipulate the remaining time to make up for Reysir’s blunder…!’
Time flowed naturally.
I suspect that the moment the opposing team decided to delay reattaching their ribbons to stall for time, she might have already written a description stating that there wasn’t much time left.
Perhaps she even specifically stated exactly how many minutes remained.
‘All to maximize the thrill of a come-from-behind victory!’
I probably wasn’t the only one convinced that our team would pull off a reversal through the original protagonist’s efforts.
My readers must have felt the same, and so would Author Senna’s readers.
‘But the team’s defeat was sealed because of the original protagonist’s mistake?
‘And for a reason as ridiculous as a wink?’
‘Is this…’
‘Is this kind of development even acceptable in a novel…?”
I truly couldn’t believe it.
In the pre-remake version of Nas-e, the author had depicted the protagonist, Reysir, as a serious and tragic hero.
He was emphasized as an extraordinary and exceptional powerhouse, which made this situation even harder to swallow.
Unless Author Senna had redefined Reysir as a “troller” protagonist and changed the main genre to a comedy, this shouldn’t be happening.
“Um, Karbaldr…?”
“……”
“Are you okay…?”
“Don’t talk to me.”
“Oh, okay….”
Perhaps worried by my half-soul-less expression, the protagonist of another novel tentatively spoke to me.
He shut his mouth immediately at my cold response.
It seemed he at least knew he had messed up.
‘No, well… fine. It is actually a very good thing that Reysir can act outside of the author’s will. If the reason is related to me, it could even be considered a stroke of luck. But still, isn’t this going a bit too far?’
I didn’t know how to process this absurd situation.
My head throbbed.
I even started to think that the expression “mind-blowing” was invented specifically for moments like this.
Just as I was pressing my temples and letting out a deep sigh.
“I am disappointed in you all.”
Bjorn spoke up, standing with his hands on his hips.
My explanation was delayed because I was sharing the shock of this ridiculous defeat with my readers, but we were currently at the entrance of the Academy Back Mountain, where the ‘Mock Battle and Survival Training’ lecture had begun.
Once we had gathered here, Bjorn simply stood there for a long time, staring at us in silence.
Only now did he utter his first words.
From a reader’s perspective, it felt like an outdated, cliché line, but no one present could take his words lightly.
This was especially true for those with a guilty conscience.
Svein had his ribbon stolen the most, and Vigdis hadn’t managed to showcase any particular activity.
As for the protagonist of another novel, he had not only been distracted twice during combat but had also lost his ribbon both times as a result.
Seeing the reactions of those on my team made me feel sheepish as well.
On the other hand, the expressions of the opposing team members were quite proud compared to ours.
After all, they had won and hadn’t made any glaring mistakes.
They likely felt they hadn’t done anything wrong.
The hero of their victory was undoubtedly Pret.
However, he at least pretended to lower his eyes and watch Bjorn’s reaction.
Thus, the one who looked the most confident among the opponents was Fjodra.
It likely stemmed from the pride and confidence of leading her team to victory as their leader.
Being an Imperial Princess who couldn’t afford to look intimidated was probably another reason.
“I watched everything—what strategies you formed and how you fought using the artifacts the Academy provided—and really…”
Bjorn spoke as he narrowed his eyes and scanned our faces.
While everyone else avoided his gaze, Fjodra alone maintained her confident posture.
Perhaps because she stood out so much, Bjorn pointed out her fault first.
“No matter how much you wanted to win, you shouldn’t exclude teammates from ‘training.’
Especially Princess Fjodra, shouldn’t you be the one to stop others even if they suggest it?”
Because his opponent was a princess, he couldn’t scold her severely.
He simply expressed his dissatisfaction with a sour expression.
However, the intent behind his words was more than mere complaining.
‘You’re a member of the Imperial Family who formed the Special Class to force students into the Demonic Realm. Is it right for you to exclude the most inexperienced students just because a single meal is on the line?’
…That was the subtext of his criticism.
Fjodra wasn’t so dense that she couldn’t understand the hidden meaning.
In fact, her character setting stated she was accustomed to this roundabout way of speaking.
Realizing her mistake, she let out a low groan.
“I would have understood if Team Purple had acted that way… but that team instead encouraged each other so that everyone could actively participate in battle, emphasizing the importance of experience.”
“……I admit I overlooked an important fact.”
The royals in this novel’s world were a lot who couldn’t be described as anything less than arrogant.
Fjodra was likely showing as much remorse as possible while still maintaining her dignity as a member of the Imperial Family, just as she had been taught.
‘However, did her attitude—maintaining a calm tone without even a change in expression—cause a misunderstanding?’
Antipathy broke through the sourness on Bjorn’s face.
“Does that mean… you understand, so I should shut… no, stop talking?”
“That is not what I meant…”
“If not, then what?”
“I meant that I admit it literally.”
“…I don’t quite understand, but fine.”
Since she had suddenly become a student who told a professor to shut up, Fjodra couldn’t completely hide her embarrassment.
Seeing that, Bjorn let go of the misunderstanding.
He scratched the back of his head and turned his gaze away from her.
It seemed he had lost the confidence to continue correcting the Princess’s mistakes.
“Risi. You were just following the plan, so I won’t criticize your low participation. But the one time you swung your weapon, you closed your eyes, didn’t you?”
“Ah, that… I did it without realizing…”
“Now that you know, try to fix it.”
“Yes.”
Bjorn stared at Risi for a moment with a look of immense concern before shifting his gaze to Hailga.
“Hailga, you… I know you’ve just started learning weapon techniques and martial arts, so you’re bound to be weak in close combat… but, you know. If you had created a wall by raising a large flame, couldn’t you have blocked the opponent’s approach for at least a moment?”
“What if the opponent gets hurt…?”
“You can heal them with a potion.”
“I suppose so…”
“……Well, I guess you can’t help but worry when you’re throwing fireballs at a friend.”
He had started with such an intimidating atmosphere, saying he was disappointed, but Bjorn now seemed more anxious than the students he was supposed to be scolding.
***
After letting out another groan, he suddenly whipped his head around to look at Reysir.
“You know what you did wrong, right?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I heard so much about your great skills that I had high expectations, but you showed the most disappointing performance of all.”
“I messed up.”
“If you promised to protect someone, you should have stayed more alert.
‘Why on earth…’
I’m so dumbfounded I can’t even find the words.”
“I have no excuse…”
With every word of nagging from the professor, the protagonist of another novel’s head dropped lower and lower.
He seemed to realize just how ridiculous his mistake had been.
“Even if I used a ‘game’ format to make the training interesting, it didn’t mean you could approach it with a light heart.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“You did that even though you knew?”
“I’m sorry…”
“Apologize to your teammates later. Especially to Karbaldr.”
“I already did…….”
“Do it more.”
“I will do so.”
‘Was it because a person strong enough to be responsible for his comrades’ safety had made the most fatal mistake?’
Bjorn grilled the protagonist of another novel for a long time.
Then, his eyes turned toward Pret.
“Pret. You showed the most impressive performance. I never imagined someone would use a trap.”
“Aha! Thank you for the praise!”
“I couldn’t hear your team’s final strategy meeting because of Princess Fjodra’s ability. Was it your idea to use Karbaldr’s wink to lure Reysir into letting his guard down?”
True to a man who described himself as uneducated in Chapter 210, Bjorn phrased it very strangely.
If one were to take that sentence out of context, it would sound like I had actually winked at Reysir.
Unlike me, who was disgusted by the thought, Pret answered with an incredibly proud attitude.
“Yes! To be precise, I told them I had a secret move to draw Reysir’s attention, so I asked them to let me handle Karbaldr alone. I thought if I mentioned a wink during the strategy meeting, I’d get scolded for joking around.”
“……”
“But I was very, very serious. And it actually worked perfectly, right?”
“……”
Bjorn looked at Reysir once more.
Thinking he had nagged him enough, he simply shook his head silently before looking at me.
“Karbaldr, you also fought better than I expected. Your reaction speed is fast, and your situational judgment is good. Even when you were left alone because your friend next to you was acting like a fool, it was impressive to see you give your best and not give up until the end.”
“That thing isn’t even my friend.”
“I understand.
I’d want to end the friendship too.
After acting all cool and saying he’d protect you no matter what, how could he get distracted by something like that…?”
I had meant that we were never friends to begin with, but Bjorn interpreted my words differently.
However, since he was the first person to agree and empathize with my claim that we weren’t friends instead of ignoring it, I decided to let it slide without correcting him.
But then, Bjorn betrayed me.
“Still, show him a wink later.”
“Pardon? I think I misheard you just now…”
“I said, give Reysir a wink.”
“……”
“Look at him. He’s winking even at this very moment. How badly must he have wanted a wink that he goes around winking all day and then gets distracted just hearing the word during battle?”
Who on earth describes someone wearing an eyepatch as “winking all day”?
Just as I was standing there speechless from the absurdity, someone went a step further than Bjorn.
“Then should we all just take turns winking at Reysir once we get back?”
The culprit of the wink incident raised his hand and shouted energetically.
Unless Author Senna had really decided to change the genre, this situation had to be a result of the butterfly effect I had caused…
Please, I really hoped it was just Author Senna making a big decision for the story.