“Hailga, think carefully.
This is an opportunity that won’t come again.”
It was as if he was saying to hurry because someone else might take it.
The extra villain spouted contradictory nonsense at Hailga, saying that if she rejected him, she wouldn’t be able to find a good marriage prospect.
Hailga’s face was stained with humiliation at those insulting words, and the villainous man smiled as if satisfied with that reaction.
And that wasn’t all.
“Then I’ll be going now.
See you later.”
After saying this, the bastard waved at Hailga.
“And I’ll see you again soon, young master.”
“Why would I have to see someone like you again?”
“Wouldn’t it be good for people with similar views on romance to get closer?”
He left after saying such things.
It couldn’t be more unpleasant.
But unfortunately, because the possession body was a person who had acted coercively toward his own fiancée, he couldn’t deny it.
So he even felt wronged.
‘I got hit hard!’
‘I never imagined that despite appearing alongside the original protagonist, taking Hailga’s side, and denouncing the villain,’
‘that villain would try to form a bond of sympathy to get close to me.’
‘If I had expected this, I would have refrained from trying to clean up my image and instead prevented the conversation from flowing in this direction from the start.’
‘It was a mistake to think that Author Senna would have affection for this character since she put so much effort into Karbaldr’s backstory.’
‘Why did I do that knowing she’s the type to easily take the lives of characters she created?’
‘Moreover, in the pre-remake version, the original author wrote the story so that Karbaldr would meet his death as a worthless villain.’
‘Even if she had affection for Karbaldr, it’s obvious she would have discarded him long ago…!’
As I was mulling over my mistakes and savoring regret,
“Hiccup…”
A sobbing sound was heard.
Hailga had been unable to swallow her indignation and had let it out.
“I’m so, so angry!
Even after hearing words that insulted my family, I couldn’t say anything…
I should have said something, anything…
Hic!
The words just wouldn’t come out…
Even then, hiccup…
The fact that I’m being treated like this is because my family has no power…
I unconsciously thought that…
I feel so guilty toward my dad, and it’s so heartbreaking…
Ah, I’m so frustrated…!!”
In the end, Hailga poured out self-reproach, then burst into loud crying with a “Hwaaang~!”
“I’m sorry.
I should have said something too…
I wasn’t any help…”
Reysir also blamed himself and offered an apology.
At the same time, he carefully embraced Hailga and patted her back, trying to soothe her.
The atmosphere was quite tender.
‘I intervened in this incident to prevent a situation like this…’
‘But because I butted in, Hailga ended up hearing words she didn’t need to hear, so I couldn’t bring myself to stop the original protagonist’s actions.’
‘In the first place, it wasn’t a situation where he could do such a thing.’
‘And since I was framed as the same kind of bastard as the instigator of this mess, even more so.’
*’I feel awkward just watching.
Should I leave…?
Or should I stay just in case…?’*
As I hesitated, pondering, my only ally let out a “Meowow…” sound, wrapped its long body around me, and rubbed its face against my cheek.
It must be doing this because it noticed my low spirits and wanted to comfort me.
“Ah…!
Hey, Karbaldr…”
Just when I decided to leave and turned around, the protagonist of another novel called me to a stop.
Hearing Yor’s sound, he must have remembered that I was also present…
“I’ll be in the classroom first, so take care of your childhood friend.”
I said this like a notification and left the spot.
Because if Reysir brought up my engagement relationship with Vigdis and blamed me, it would be too sad.
After that incident, the next day at lunchtime.
“Karbaldr, can I talk to you for a moment?”
I had quickly finished my meal and left the dining hall because I felt awkward under Hailga’s gaze, and Reysir followed me out and requested a conversation.
The first thought that crossed my mind was the question,
‘Why him?’
Because I expected him to stick close to Hailga and guard her until the villain clinging to her was dealt with.
“Aren’t you supposed to protect your childhood friend?
That guy we saw yesterday might approach Hailga again and spout nonsense or threaten her…”
Well.
I immediately voiced the question that came to mind.
It probably won’t happen, but I wondered if the protagonist of another novel hadn’t thought of that.
But as expected, that wasn’t the case.
“I asked Vigdis.
I asked her to stay with Hailga until lunch is over and then take her to the classroom.”
That’s a pretty good choice.
The villain we saw yesterday showed clear signs of wanting to get close to Karbaldr, and Vigdis is Karbaldr’s fiancée.
Moreover, that guy knows that I’m trying to win Vigdis’s sincere love.
So he’ll refrain from running his mouth or raising his voice to threaten.
“Still… um…
if it’s about what happened yesterday, I don’t really have anything to say…”
“I have something else to say.”
The situation is that the villain is coveting Hailga, a heroine candidate and his childhood friend.
But if the original protagonist is leaving her protection to someone else to tell me something, it must be a significant matter.
“……What is it?”
Instead of postponing the conversation, I showed a willingness to listen first.
Then Reysir started with
‘It’s about…’
and suddenly looked around.
My confusion at his suspicious behavior lasted only a moment.
“About Pret.”
Reysir whispered this into my ear, so my question was quickly resolved.
This morning, we attended Caldrun’s ‘Practical Combat Techniques’ lecture.
The lecture was conducted in a way where two students sparred with full force while the rest observed.
‘There’s no better situation than this to use [Eye of Truth Reading] while avoiding everyone’s attention!’
Not only the participants in the sparring, but also the spectators were so focused that they couldn’t pay attention to whether Reysir lifted his eyepatch or not.
Since I had already revealed my and Yor’s status windows to Reysir in the previous chapter, I was also focused on watching and didn’t notice at all.
‘He must have read it when Pret was sparring, right?’
If he found out Pret’s identity, it makes sense that the original protagonist would momentarily put aside the heroine event.
Because an informant who has infiltrated the academy under a false identity feels much more significant than a guy who just pesters girls.
He must have judged that solving this problem was the priority.
And that’s not all?
If things go well, he might even be able to trade with the informant to get information about the villain.
I don’t know if Reysir had this thought, but I did.
‘And I’ve already acted on it!’
During dinner last night, just like in Chapter 235, I called Pret to my private training hall through Yor and made a request.
I asked him to investigate the extra villain who was bothering Hailga.
He asked me the reason, then readily accepted.
‘I feel a bit sorry for Pret…’
I nodded to Reysir to indicate that I would respond to the conversation.
Thus, the place I arrived at following the original protagonist was that familiar ‘secluded path with a bench.’
“It’s weird that people don’t come by here, so I came here for now…
but just in case, should we talk in whispers?”
“Just talk.”
“No, no.
Just in case.
You’ll understand too once you know ‘his’ identity.”
The ‘him’ in the above line would be Pret, and when it comes to him, I know far more than Reysir.
Reysir only read the status window that [Eye of Truth Reading], unlocked up to step 2, showed him.
But I’ve read the original novel, which is the foundation of this world.
All of it.
So I understand why Reysir is being so cautious.
He must think that Pret might secretly follow us and eavesdrop on our conversation.
Moreover, in Chapter 245, Pret actually did something like that, so it’s not excessive worry.
‘But he won’t be tailing us today!’
I’m so sure because, as I mentioned earlier, I gave Pret an additional request last night.
Not only information about the villain’s family, but also about his behavior and reputation within the academy—I asked him to investigate everything.
‘And as quickly as possible!’
If it’s information about an ordinary noble family, the guild would have already secured it, so there’s no need to investigate separately.
But to extract information from students without raising suspicion, it’s better to approach them as a fellow student.
Plus, Pret himself was already infiltrating the academy as a student.
The reason he gave was that if he had to pick an informant of appropriate age, disguise him as a student, train him in infiltration precautions, and then deploy him, it would take some time.
Pret stated that he would personally conduct the investigation himself.
‘He made a big show of saying he’s not someone who normally does this kind of grunt work, but because I asked him to handle it quickly, he’s making a special effort…’
Since it was already late when I made the request to him yesterday, he probably only now can begin the actual investigation.
He wouldn’t put off the investigation on the villain just to eavesdrop on the conversation between me and Reysir.
That would be a breach of trust.
But I can’t explain this fact to Reysir.
“Even so, lowering our voices enough to whisper should be sufficient.
But just in case, it’s better to cover your mouth.”
“True, Pret’s Aether Attribute isn’t specialized for eavesdropping like someone else’s.”
Reysir agreed with my words, but then sat close beside me, pressing his shoulder against mine.
“…If you’re this worried about someone listening, instead of doing this here, wouldn’t it be better to wait until after the afternoon lecture and then talk in the room?”
He said.
“I have a sparring schedule with the professors, so I don’t have time otherwise.”
“Or instead of coming here, we could have headed to the dormitory from the start…”
“Then too much time would be wasted going back and forth.”
That’s true.
As I nodded in understanding without realizing it, I saw Reysir’s eyes crinkle as he smiled.
“Now I can finally talk comfortably.”
It wasn’t something that should be said while whispering with a hand over the mouth.
But saying this despite that probably means he was watching my attitude because it was different from usual.
In other words, it means that now I’m treating him like usual again.