Chapter 356: Rest

“Ah, you do not know yet, do you?”

“What is it?”

“Last Wednesday, a Demonic Realm appeared at the Academy Back Mountain. That is why I, who was at the Imperial Palace, had to return to the Academy.”

This world is full of things that should not exist, including twjunkwu and KF94 masks.

Still, there are definitely no TVs, computers, phones, or the internet.

So unless one was a high-ranking noble who received information passively just by staying still, the only way to hear about events happening in other regions was through the newspaper.

‘But even that newspaper’s main customers are nobles and merchants, right?’

Ordinary commoners almost never subscribe to a newspaper on a regular basis.

The price of a newspaper is fairly expensive, too.

And the content within has no direct connection to them, so there’s no harm in not knowing it.

Even if one is interested in world affairs, the most they do is buy a single copy of the Extra Edition published for special occasions.

‘For that reason, Fjodra must have thought Pret wouldn’t know about the Demonic Realm at the Academy Back Mountain…!’

Pret acted out a startled reaction, living up to Fjodra’s expectations of him as an ‘ordinary commoner.’

“Whaaat?! A Demonic Realm appeared at the Academy Back Mountain a few days ago?? It hasn’t been long since the entire Academy grounds were swallowed by a Demonic Realm! And didn’t one appear during the Graduation Ceremony at the end of last year too? Plus, about a week before this semester started, I heard a rumor that the commercial district here was also thrown into chaos because of a Demonic Realm…!!”

“Hmm……. Hearing them all gathered like that, it does feel like Demonic Realms occur particularly often around here.”

“Of course it feels that way! Because it’s true!! My goodness, is the land here really that bad?! Is there some feng shui problem or something??”

What’s truly the problem here.

Isn’t it that remark about ‘feng shui’ and ‘land energy’ coming from a character in a fake medieval Western fantasy novel?

“I heard they considered all of that when selecting the Academy grounds, but I suppose superstitions are not to be trusted after all.”

…………I’ll just skip commenting on Fjodra’s line there.

It’s just too absurd.

“So what about the Demonic Realm? Was it cleared? By the seniors???”

“The Demonic Realm that appeared this time was cleared by the professors. It was the most dangerous one out of every Demonic Realm that has appeared so far. We could not leave the handling of it to students who are still inexperienced.”

“Gasp! What kind of monsters appeared for it to be…?!”

“This… I have a feeling this conversation is going to become quite long. So rather than standing here talking, how about we sit down somewhere and continue the conversation over some tea?”

“That sounds good! Then I’ll hold in my curiosity until we reach the teahouse!”

For the above reason, we finished our lakeside stroll earlier than planned and moved to the teahouse.

“The monster that appeared in the Demonic Realm at the Academy Back Mountain was a plant-type entity with a giant flower.”

After we found our seats at the teahouse and finished ordering, Fjodra opened her mouth first.

“A plant? It doesn’t seem that dangerous…? Can’t you just set it on fire and easily deal with it?”

Pret deliberately let out a muttering that was half talking to himself, showing his puzzlement.

“That is not so. According to Professor Dyuf, who specializes in Botany…”

Fjodra explained the characteristics of ‘Sid Bloom’ in detail.

And so, by the time the tea and snacks we ordered were placed on the table.

“So you’re saying it’s a monster that doesn’t catch fire easily, moves around, uses its stem, roots, and bomb seeds as weapons, and sprays poison powder and sleep powder?”

Pret summarized what he had heard, organizing the information.

Strictly speaking, the poison powder and sleep powder were sprayed by the plants that grew from the [Germination] seeds.

But there’s no way Pret didn’t understand that.

The Boss Monster also sprayed poison powder and sleep powder directly, and since [Germination] was ultimately Sid Bloom’s ability anyway, he was probably just lumping it all together.

“Just from the explanation, it really does seem like it would be a handful to deal with! But since it was dangerous enough for the professors to decide to handle the raid… did they go in and investigate before starting the raid? Well, given where the Demonic Realm appeared, there probably wasn’t anyone inside. Since there was no need for an urgent rescue, they could investigate leisurely and set up a plan, right?”

“At that time, it was not as if there was no one in that place.”

“Huh? Why…? Ah! Could it be that the seniors were receiving training there?”

“During the break, Reysir did conduct training at the Back Mountain, but the Demonic Realm appeared not during training hours but in the early dawn.”

“Then who on earth was there, and why? Did Professor Bjorn call in experts to set up traps?”

“It is not that….”

Pret tilted his head this way and that, repeatedly offering predictions that were deliberately off the mark.

It was an act designed to frustrate the other person into giving the correct answer out of impatience.

There was no need to go through all that trouble to draw out an answer; Fjodra would have readily answered if he just asked normally.

Except for the fact that Reysir was injured during the boss raid.

“Count Karbaldr and senior Reysir were trapped in the Demonic Realm and almost ended up in big trouble…!”

“Eeek, trapped…!”

“Still, it’s a relief they were rescued safely!”

“That’s right! It was an enormous relief!”

“And my respect for the professors is just welling up! Isn’t that right, senior Liolikin?”

“It truly is! Saving Count Karbaldr and Reysir. Even Reysir struggled against ordinary monsters. But to take down that Demonic Realm’s Boss Monster without any damage…! That’s incredibly amazing!!”

Liolikin seemed to know that a Demonic Realm had appeared at the Academy Back Mountain and that the professors had cleared it.

But the fact that I and Reysir were trapped there hadn’t been printed in the newspaper.

So from the moment Fjodra mentioned our being trapped, he listened intently, and as noted above, he joined Pret in showing a fussy reaction.

“Count Karbaldr, Sir Yor, Reysir. Are you sure none of you are injured…?”

Even though it was already in the past, and even though he was looking at us right now, perfectly fine and drinking tea.

Liolikin asked about our well-being with a tearful expression, looking genuinely worried and at a loss. It seemed overly dramatic, but a strange warmth seeped into my heart, and it didn’t feel bad.

“Yor and I weren’t hurt at all.”

“I was hurt quite a bit when I was trapped in the Demonic Realm, but I healed it right away with a potion, so I’m fine!”

In chapter 349, when the boss monster raid was nearing its end, my left arm was grabbed by its root, so I was hurt a little.

It was a minor injury, and since we agreed to keep quiet about the injuries sustained after re-entering, I hid that fact.

Reysir also only mentioned when we were trapped and glossed over it appropriately.

“It must have been, incredibly scary…. If it were me, I might have, wailed….”

“Yeah, it really was scary. But I could endure it because Karbaldr was by my side. The situation was practically the same as me dragging Karbaldr into the Demonic Realm, so I felt terribly sorry…. But still, I think it was a real relief that Karbaldr was with me.”

The Protagonist of Another Novel answered like that, and then, not content with sending me a gaze so sentimental it was almost sickening.

He even brought his cookie right up to my lips.

Wondering what on earth he was doing, I pulled my head back and glared at him, and he said the following with a disappointed expression.

“So that’s why you only ordered tea without picking a dessert…. Are you too full to eat anymore? Well, we do need to eat dinner later, so it’s probably about time to stop eating anyway.”

If a stranger saw only this scene, they’d think I’d been accepting food from Reysir all day long.

Well, I did consume some of his food, that’s true.

But I never ate directly from his hand. There was always Yor as an intermediate step.

“Anyway. When I was holding onto Karbaldr, who had fallen asleep after inhaling the sleep powder, and fighting off the endless waves of monsters while protecting him, it was truly nerve-wracking.”

“It must have been…!”

“I couldn’t stop thinking that I was going to die in a place like this before even getting my fief back.”

“Uuuhh…”

“Never mind me, but I barely held on with the single sense of responsibility that I had to protect Karbaldr no matter what.”

“Ohhh…! What a, wonderful friendship…!”

I knew Reysir had tried desperately to protect me, but ‘never mind me’…

If Dyuf knew about that, he might be so overwhelmed with worry that his heart would burst.

Then again, maybe he already knows.

He raised that child like his own flesh and blood, and he’d want the boy to value his own life more than others’, but because he knows the trauma that boy carries, he can’t bring himself to firmly tell him to give up on other people’s lives.

In chapter 350, did he let slip a subtly nuanced remark without meaning to?

“Since it’s all in the past now, I can talk about it comfortably, but not everything that happened there was bad. There were a lot of things worth remembering too.”

The Protagonist of Another Novel smiled warmly and turned his head toward me again.

Does he want me to play along?

But even looking back on the events of that time, I couldn’t recall a single memory worth remembering.

‘Surely he’s not talking about the [Encouragement] comment, right?’

I have no idea how much he plans to tease me with that one word, ‘Fighting.’

“What’s worth remembering?”

“I can’t say~. It’s a memory between me and Karbaldr, just the two of us. It’s a secret.”

It seems like he’s declaring his intention to tease me all by himself.

I was making a disgusted face, and then Hailga’s face, using her facial muscles in a similar way to mine, caught my eye.

She must also think her childhood friend is making a fool of himself.

“Oh my? But Count Karbaldr doesn’t look like he’s reminiscing about memories at all?”

Pret, who had been quietly gathering information while listening closely to the conversation between Liolikin and Reysir, raised a question in an exaggerated tone.

Since Reysir had firmly stated he wouldn’t talk in detail about the time they were trapped.

He must have judged that he should probe my side instead…….

“Well, I fell asleep early after inhaling the sleep powder, so no matter how much I search my memories, nothing worth remembering comes to mind. Moreover, Yor was with us the entire time, so how could there be a memory exclusive to just me and Reysir?”

I took the attitude of playing dumb.

There’s nothing to explain anyway.

Even if there were, going on and on about a story I didn’t have to tell would be a Character Break.

“Count Karbaldr says that, though? Reysir, what’s the real story?”

“Why are you being so nosy? Karbaldr is saying he wants to keep it as a memory between just the two of us, so don’t pry any deeper.”

“Whaat?”

Whether Pret found it ridiculous or not.

The Protagonist of Another Novel held his head high with a face that showed no trace of shame, as if he had nothing to be ashamed of under the heavens.

Utterly shamelessly, at that.