This novel is not my novel
‘Anyway, a munchkin protagonist….’
I clicked my tongue inwardly and swung the whip again.
Predicting the opponent’s next move.
But it was useless.
Because Reysir saw my movement and quickly twisted his body to dodge.
He even shot lightning at Yor while doing so.
Perhaps because he knew Yor’s elemental resistance was very high, he didn’t seem to hold back much.
The beam was quite thick, enough to tell at a glance that its power was considerable.
Instead of testing whether he could take it with his body, Yor chose to spread a wide Aether barrier to defend.
As a result, the barrage of arrows pouring toward Reysir stopped for a moment.
The original protagonist didn’t miss this opportunity and kicked the ground with all his might.
Whether it was due to strength or agility, or both, the distance between Reysir and me drastically shortened with just that one step.
‘As expected, stats are overpowered?’
I gritted my teeth, swung my whip, and even threw a dagger, but I couldn’t achieve any results this time either.
Even when Yor sent another barrage of arrows, it only slightly slowed his approach.
The original protagonist didn’t allow any attack to touch his body, maintaining a calm and relaxed demeanor.
‘Just last week, he seemed overwhelmed by Liolikin and Lausa’s combined attack…’
Come to think of it, even that was only brief.
After a few exchanges, he quickly learned how to handle multiple opponents and easily shook off their marks.
Moreover, while they were a combination of a tank and a ranged dealer, Yor and I were both the type to attack from a distance.
It might have been easier for him to deal with us.
I know that fact in my head, but…
I felt like I was being helplessly pushed back because I was too weak.
Just by the number of arrows created, it was obvious that my baby dragon was stronger than Fjodra’s familiar.
‘That means I’m overwhelmingly weaker than Liolikin, doesn’t it?’
It’s not that I look down on Liolikin, but…
Thinking of his usual clumsy demeanor, I was shocked by the conclusion I had just reached.
To deny this, I would have to land a hit on Reysir.
‘He’s already right in front of me.’
At this distance, if Reysir swung his spear, it would more than reach.
Conversely, it became difficult for Yor and me to attack him.
Yor, worried that I might get hit by his own Aether arrows, couldn’t unleash a volume attack and had to carefully manipulate a small number of arrows.
Since my main weapon is a whip, I can’t attack properly when the opponent is too close.
I had no choice but to let go of the whip and instead grip daggers in both hands.
It took barely over a second to do so.
In that short time, Reysir took another step closer.
My body had completely entered the opponent’s attack range.
I raised both hands holding daggers to the height of my collarbone and solar plexus so I could block the spear in time if it swung.
But Reysir didn’t swing that long, hard metal at me.
Reysir shifted the spear he was holding with both hands to one hand, and with it lightly deflected Yor’s attack coming at him.
He lowered his posture and charged at me from a slightly diagonal angle.
At the same time, he stretched his free hand not forward but to the side.
He wasn’t aiming for the bag; he must have intended to grab my torso itself.
I immediately noticed and flung my body to the side, but…
Reysir followed closely and succeeded in catching my waist.
Thus, I ended up in a posture of being held from behind.
‘It’s too early to give up.’
Both my arms were still free, so I wasn’t completely subdued.
I spun the dagger in my right hand and reversed my grip.
If you grab someone holding two knives in this posture, you must be aware that you could get stabbed.
And if it comes to that, I can just heal him with a potion from my inventory.
‘But… if he can’t dodge, it’ll hurt a lot… and there’ll be a lot of blood… I guess stabbing him like this isn’t right after all.’
My right hand was already in motion, stabbing down toward Reysir’s thigh, but…
Thanks to the Mental Acceleration effect of the [Character Analysis] skill, I had enough time to blunt the Aether tip wrapped around the dagger.
To be honest, it was a pointless effort.
Before the blunted Aether on the dagger even touched Reysir’s body, he let go of his spear and grabbed my wrist.
Then, with the hand around my waist, he also grabbed my left wrist.
‘I thought he’d reflexively let go of me…’
I don’t know if he predicted my attack and responded, or just reacted after seeing it.
At this point, there was nothing I could do.
‘My head was already throbbing from fighting Reysir so soon after finishing the battle with Vigdis. Well, fine…!’
Thinking that, I ended the [Character Analysis] skill.
It wasn’t self-justification; it was really close.
My mind was a bit hazy and dizzy; I could tell my head was burning without even touching my forehead.
If the fight had lasted a little longer, I would have definitely had a nosebleed.
“Karbaldr. Did you blunt the dagger tip with Aether because you were worried I’d get hurt? How very kind.”
“Ah, no..! You’re mistaken!”
Damn it.
I should have retrieved the Aether from the dagger before ending the [Character Analysis] skill.
I immediately retrieved the Aether to destroy the evidence, but it was too late.
“Heh… You’re embarrassed…”
Reysir murmured this in a voice tinged with laughter, teasing me.
I couldn’t just let his misunderstanding go uncorrected.
“I just wasn’t prepared to stab someone..! So I did it out of concern for myself, not for you!”
“Yeah, yeah. Of course. You’re secretly soft-hearted.”
“No, that’s… not what I meant…”
“Sure, sure. Let’s say it’s not. First, put the daggers away since it’s dangerous. And Yor, how about you withdraw your Aether arrows? You can’t shoot them anyway. Karbaldr might get hit.”
Words that sounded like something a kidnapper holding a hostage would say came out of the original protagonist’s mouth.
Keeping so many Aether arrows floating in the air, enough to make the phrase ‘surrounded’ come to mind, must have been a burden for the baby dragon as well.
Moreover, Reysir wasn’t our enemy, and this standoff was just training.
Yor glared at Reysir with a frustrated expression, but eventually withdrew all the Aether that formed the arrows and absorbed it into his body.
I, still reluctant, struggled to free my wrists from Reysir’s grip by moving them around, and only then…
I accepted the reality that there was no way out and put the two daggers into my inventory.
“Good, well done. Now just stay still.”
It sounded like a line a robber would use on a subdued victim, threatening that they’d spare their life if they didn’t resist.
Just as I thought, ‘Is it okay for the original protagonist to act like this?’
Suddenly, he pulled my arms down into an attention stance and then hugged both my arms and torso together.
“What are you doing now…?”
“I’m going to take out the capsule in your bag and check it.”
“You don’t have to do that in this position, do you?!”
“Normally, I suppose.”
Reysir replied in a light tone, then unzipped my bag slightly, reached in, and took out one capsule.
“Why don’t you just take out both and let me go?”
“I don’t think that’s going to work. This one’s empty.”
I hastily suggested, but…
Unfortunately, the protagonist of another novel was faster in opening the capsule and confirming its empty inside.
No, not unfortunate.
He probably noticed from the start that the capsule was empty.
That’s why he grabbed my torso instead of the bag, acting as if he had no intention of letting go.
“As expected, this one’s empty too.”
The protagonist of another novel opened and checked the remaining capsule, then dropped the broken halves onto the floor with a thud.
“Karbaldr. Where did the notes that were inside these capsules go?”
“Th-that…”
“Come to think of it, Yor was trying to bury these earlier. How many empty capsules have been buried in the ground so far?”
“None. This was the first attempt.”
“So you only have two treasure notes?”
“That is correct.”
“Oh? Are you saying you have the treasure notes on you right now?”
“No, that…”
“What do you mean no? You just said ‘that is correct’ with your own mouth.”
To fall for such a leading question…!
I felt frustration and defeat as if I had lost the battle of wits against the protagonist of another novel.
“Fine, I’ll admit it. So let go, I’ll take them out myself.”
“No, you can’t.”
“Why?!”
“Because saying you only have two treasure notes is a lie.”
“No! I really only have two.”
“I ran into Vigdis on my way here.”
“Then you should know better. That I was carrying only empty capsules…”
“But before that, I also met Svein.”
“…”
Was Svein that resentful about having the treasure capsules taken from him?
Enough to tell that story to everyone he met?
“I’ll give you another chance, so tell me the truth.”
“…I only have three.”
Pret wouldn’t have casually told anyone about the ‘information’ that he handed over the treasure capsules to me.
Even if Pret had told Reysir, I could just reveal that the remaining one was with Yor, not me.
That was the answer I gave based on that judgment.
Indeed, Pret wasn’t as loose-lipped as some others, and Reysir didn’t bring up his name.
But.
“Not a single treasure found in over two hours. Are you even treasure hunting? You were searching together with Yor, weren’t you? And you expect me to believe that?”
“I really couldn’t find any! I’m frustrated too!!”
“I can’t believe it. You already lied once, saying you only had two treasure notes.”
‘If I had just said three from the start, would he have believed me?’
Regret momentarily crossed my mind, but immediately the thought that it was impossible followed.
Given the protagonist of another novel’s firm attitude, I doubt he would have believed me even if I said four, including the one Yor had.
“…So? What are you going to do if you don’t believe me?”
“I’ll have to check for myself.”
“……How?”
“Is there any other way besides a body search?”
Even I couldn’t think of any other method.
“No, no. That… isn’t it unnecessary? If it were someone else, maybe…”
“What’s that supposed to mean? It’s okay for someone else to search you, but you don’t want me to?”
“It’s not that…! I meant you’re strong, so you don’t need to go as far as a body search to take my things! It would be much easier to just take the capsules from someone carrying them…”
“Is there?”
“…What do you mean, is there?”
“No need to take yours.”
No way, it can’t be.
I denied and denied the sudden suspicion that arose.
But reality was very cruel and harsh.
“The headband Professor Bjorn prepared seemed like it would suit you well.”
I thought he seemed too happy to see me when he appeared in the last episode.
He must have been looking for me with the intention of taking all my treasure notes and making me receive the penalty.
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