“Why are you looking at me with such wary eyes?”
“Do you really have to ask that?”
“Hmm… are you upset?”
“How can you even say that?!”
This is utterly ridiculous.
After holding someone down and struggling to get free for a long time, threatening them, covering my mouth, and even searching my body in the end.
And then you have the audacity to ask if I’m upset?
Not only that, but you add the word ‘maybe’ in front of it, implying ‘just in case’?
‘How is this acceptable?’
“You’re the one who kept the treasure note in your body instead of storing it in the capsule. And now you act like you didn’t expect to be searched? I’m the one who’s baffled here.”
Shamelessly, the protagonist of another novel made a confused expression and pointed at me as the cause of the problem.
I felt a surge of injustice, but unfortunately, it was true.
“I admit that I am the origin of this situation. That’s why I’m not just blaming you and distancing myself, but responding to this conversation. However…”
“However?”
“I really didn’t think I’d be searched! Even if it was discovered that I had the treasure note on me, I thought I could negotiate with the other party!”
“How?”
“I planned to ask how many treasures were needed for the quota, and then take out the treasure notes myself and hand them over. But who would have thought someone would try to take all my treasure notes just to put that cheap headband with a childish design on me?”
“So you really didn’t prepare for anything? Come to think of it, I saw Helly acting pretty carelessly too.”
The protagonist of another novel nodded in understanding.
I said that to blame him, but it seems he interpreted my words as an explanation of my actions.
With a shameless attitude, as if he had no fault at all.
“In that sense, you’re lucky it’s me, right?”
[Correction: The protagonist of another novel didn’t just think he had no faults. He thought I should be grateful to him.]
“What exactly is so lucky about that?”
“You saw how Her Imperial Princess suddenly appeared with [Space Leap] and attacked Hailga without warning, right?”
“I saw it, but…”
“Without even asking for permission or giving her time to prepare, she just swooped in and took the treasure note Hailga hid. And she reached right into her top.”
“I didn’t see that part. The bushes blocked my view.”
“I didn’t see it directly either, but it’s clear from the context, isn’t it?”
That’s true.
Before Hailga could even say she’d take it out and hand it over, Fjodra had already finished everything and stood up.
But…
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Compared to Her Imperial Princess, I conducted the search very kindly, considerately, and politely. Even though I could have just grabbed you and searched you right away like she did with Helly. Instead, I explained step by step why I had to search you, gave you warnings before checking anywhere, and even stopped midway when you told me to stop.”
“That’s true, but…”
I don’t want to admit it, but hearing it, I can’t deny it.
“And I didn’t even put my hand inside your clothes!”
“No, you did! You…”
“Are you talking about when I slipped my hand into your waistband? But it didn’t touch your bare skin; it was over your shirt. So strictly speaking, that’s outside the clothes.”
“Well… um… is that so…?”
“Yeah, it is.”
I clearly realized I was being swept up in his conversational tactics, but it wasn’t easy to escape.
I was losing the logical argument.
I thought I needed to shift the topic quickly.
“Even if it’s part of training, Her Imperial Princess wouldn’t search me, a man, to maintain at least minimal decency… So comparing her to you and saying I should consider myself lucky is a bit…”
“Right. Her Imperial Princess wouldn’t do that. But what about Pret? He would have been worse, not better.”
Pret would have taken the treasure note from me and given me one of his own instead.
That thought occurred to me, but I couldn’t voice it.
If I did, a second search would surely begin.
“I doubt it. If it were Pret, he wouldn’t have held onto you for so long like I did. He would have just slipped the treasure note out before you even noticed.”
“To do that, he’d have to fumble around your body to find the location of the treasure note without you knowing. Do you think that’s okay?”
“No… when you put it that way, it sounds really problematic…”
“Doesn’t it?”
“I suppose so.”
I wanted to argue, but I had nothing to say.
So I made a sour face, and the other person opened his mouth with a triumphant attitude.
“And most importantly! Wouldn’t you rather be searched by me, someone close enough to joke around with light touches, than by a complete stranger you’ve known for less than two weeks? Am I right?”
“I don’t think we’re that close, but compared to a complete stranger…”
“See? You think so too.”
“……”
Something feels off, but I can’t quite figure out what exactly.
However, one thing is clear: continuing this conversation topic with the protagonist of another novel will only harm me.
“……Hmph.”
“Alright, alright. You want to drop this topic, right?”
“…If you’re done with your business, get lost.”
“Get lost to where?”
“Anywhere out of my sight.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
For some reason, the protagonist of another novel opened his visible eye wide as if he heard something unexpected.
“Why wouldn’t I be sure?”
“Well, you know what my goal is, right? So if we part now, right before lunchtime, I’ll have to…”
This means that if I manage to find more than five treasure capsules in the remaining time, I’ll have to choose between staying with him the whole time or getting searched again later.
“…Just stay where I can see you.”
“If you insist.”
His smiling face is unbearably annoying.
When I first possessed this body, he wasn’t like this.
I don’t know how he became so sly in just half a year.
“Haah—.”
“Where are you going?”
As I sighed heavily and started shuffling away, the protagonist of another novel followed beside me and asked my destination.
I didn’t feel like answering, but if I kept my mouth shut, that persistent person would keep asking until his question was resolved.
“I can’t just do nothing for the rest of the time, can I?”
“So?”
“Since I’ll likely have to do treasure hunting in the afternoon, I plan to figure out where the hidden capsules are.”
“So you gave up on the morning treasure hunt?”
“Because of you!”
“Ahahahah…”
When I yelled at him, the protagonist of another novel laughed sheepishly.
Seeing that, a sudden unease washed over me, and I had to ask the following question.
“You’re not planning to steal my treasure in the afternoon too, are you?”
“Absolutely not. If I keep interfering, you won’t be able to properly train.”
“Someone who knows that…”
“If your condition is fully recovered before lunchtime, let’s spar once more.”
Since he took away my chance to compete with others for treasure, he means to be my sparring partner instead.
It’s not nearly enough compensation for the penalty I’ll receive later, but considering it’s compensation for interfering with training, it’s not bad.
“If we’re talking about condition, I’m fine now.”
“Are you?”
“Let’s wait about 10 minutes. Fighting back-to-back is a bit much.”
Reisir answered like that, then mouthed without sound, ‘Because of the skill.’
It must be a decision considering the side effect of his [Character Analysis] skill—which he mistakenly thinks is [Person Analysis]—the severe fatigue and headaches from the brain overload.
‘He really is considerate.’
Before lunchtime, I sparred with the original protagonist two more times.
Of course, there was a break between those two bouts, and I lost both.
I also found eight capsules, but I don’t know if they’re treasures or duds.
I didn’t want to share the location of the capsules with the protagonist of another novel, so I just passed by without touching them, pretending not to see.
“It’s about time to head to the mountain entrance.”
“We still have some time, but… shall we?”
He seemed to interpret my words as ‘There’s not enough time for another spar, and nothing else to do, so let’s just head back early.’
Reisir didn’t ask why and followed me obediently.
But after arriving at the mountain entrance, when I stopped right in front of a sign that Bjorn must have set up—reading “※ Combat prohibited from here ※”—he expressed suspicion.
“Waiting here to steal someone else’s treasure? Then if you manage to get past there before I catch you, you can avoid the penalty?”
“You’d prevent me from even attempting to steal someone else’s things.”
“You know that well?”
Then why did you stop here?
That question was left unspoken.
I caught it, but instead of explaining, I kept my mouth shut and glared at the protagonist of another novel.
Whether he thought I’d get mad if he kept asking, or he figured he’d find out soon enough, Reisir chose to wait quietly without pressing.
‘People are starting to arrive one by one.’
The first to cross the sign was Fjodra.
She seemed wary of us standing near the entrance, so she used [Space Leap] to instantly get beyond the sign.
Next to arrive was Pret.
He stood right behind the sign from the moment he arrived, watching us as if observing.
Liolikin, upon seeing us, hesitated, but only after Reisir said he wouldn’t take his treasure did he pass us and head beyond the sign.
The same went for Vigdis.
‘But why does Vigdis look like that?’
When I first encountered her, she was neat and tidy.
Yet somehow, her bobbed hair had bits of leaves and debris stuck in it, and her white training shirt was stained with dirt and grass.
‘Did she fall into a trap and have trouble getting out?’
That question crossed my mind, but then I thought, ‘Is this the time to worry about others?’ and pushed it away.
As Vigdis passed the sign, she let out a sigh of relief.
‘She must have collected at least five treasure notes!’
Just as I thought that with envy, Risi rushed past the sign, her short legs pounding the ground so hard it left dents.
Judging by the depth of the footprints, she must have used [Giant’s Strength], a strength-enhancing skill.
‘And she didn’t even notice me and Reisir standing right here… Is she being chased?’
As if to prove my guess correct, Hailga appeared a moment later, running while gritting her teeth.
As soon as she saw the sign, she collapsed on the spot.
Judging by the situation, Risi and Hailga had fought, and it seemed Risi had won and taken the spoils.
‘Their appearances are much worse than Vigdis’s. At least Vigdis had her clothes in order…’
They must have just come from fighting; they looked absolutely disheveled.
Not only did they have leaves and dirt stuck to them like Vigdis, but their hair was tangled and their clothes were a mess.
Hailga even had one sleeve half-torn and hanging.
The headband is unavoidable poor thing