Seeing this subtitle, some readers might think, “Finally!”
On the other hand, there might be those who think, “Since you said there were a few weeks left until the closing ceremony, I thought one more chapter would pass before this came up.”
I am aware that the progression might seem a bit sudden, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Because no incidents worth making into an episode occurred during that time.”
The final exams went smoothly, there were no conflicts with anyone.
Even the original villain, Nidre, didn’t show his face at all.
A promise was made to gather and hang out a few days before the ceremony, but the problem was that it felt too similar in nature to the previous episode.
It means I had no choice but to skip it since it would have been a repetitive event.
For that reason, I jumped over “3 weeks + @” of time.
I am resuming the narration from this point in time—the morning of the closing ceremony and the last day of December.
Since the ceremony hasn’t started yet, I suppose everyone can have some time to prepare their hearts.
“You must have slept really well, haven’t you? Your dark circles are gone!”
Rayseir spoke as he sat down in the seat opposite me, placing a tray of breakfast.
Since I couldn’t give him a review of the sleeping pills I bought with my own money, I simply brushed it off with a light “Hmph!”
“G-Good mor… ning…. Oh, oh?! Your dark circles have graced us with their absence!”
Liolikin, who appeared soon after, stopped mid-greeting and was startled upon seeing my face.
I thought about pointing out that he was using honorifics for my dark circles, but this time, too, I just let the situation pass with a snort.
Vigdis and Helga, who arrived next, also mentioned the dark circles, and I handled them with a consistent reaction.
“By the way, what did you guys bring?”
Fortunately, everyone’s attention didn’t stay on the disappeared dark circles for long.
It was because Rayseir asked a question, noticing the items brought by the two who had just arrived.
“Ah, this? They are gifts for all of you. I bought them yesterday while hanging out with Helga’s friends.”
“Oh my, Sister Vigdis… they are your friends now, too. How can you phrase it like that? They’ll be upset if they hear you talking that way.”
“I-Is that so…? They were all my friends…!”
As Vigdis handed out the gifts to us with a proud expression, Helga put on a feigned pouting face, using her demure tone of voice.
Playfulness was evident in her words, but it probably wasn’t just empty talk.
Vigdis seemed to realize this as well, reacting with great emotion.
“But what, what is this?”
Regardless of whether the two sitting at the same table were filming a drama about friendship or not.
Liolikin, who had stealthily unwrapped the gift and checked the contents, asked the question.
It was likely because he couldn’t tell what it was used for just by looking, but I could identify its identity at a single glance.
‘It’s a self-adhesive photo album.’
Since photography was a recent introduction to this world, it seemed that photo albums were only just being produced now.
Sure enough, the name “album” and an explanation for it flowed from Vigdis’s mouth.
Since I already knew the details, I listened half-heartedly, focusing on the task of deboning the grilled tilefish with my chopsticks….
“I’ve already organized mine. I plan to keep photos taken with other friends in a separate album, so there are only three in here so far…. But I’ll be able to fill it up gradually, right?”
Vigdis poured out her words with a very excited expression, even going so far as to open the album she had brought to show us the inside.
The photo taken in Chapter 76 didn’t really matter.
The problem was the two photos taken after that.
When we took the second set of four-cut photos.
Rayseir had touched my face as he pleased, artificially pulling up the corners of my mouth.
Because of that, that scene and the scene of me pushing him away were vividly captured in the photo cuts.
This alone was embarrassing enough, but the next photo was at a level where I feared anyone seeing it.
‘To think that the four-cut photo shop had already started a prop rental service.’
Thanks to that, I was able to see the cute sight of Yor with a giant ribbon hairpin on the crown of his head.
But in exchange, I had to endure the humiliation of having a cat-ear headband placed on the head of this possessed body.
Everyone wore animal-ear headbands, but it was twice as shameful because I was the only one in the photo with a flushed face.
‘Technically, the one wearing the cat-ear headband is Karvaldr, not me, so why should I feel embarrassed?’
My mind came up with that question, but my hands moved quickly to close the album Vigdis had opened.
This was, well, an expression of my sense of duty to show a consistent character… or something like that.
It wasn’t because I was embarrassed to see myself looking embarrassed.
“Don’t open it carelessly outside. And don’t show it to others.”
“Gasp…! I, I shouldn’t show it to o-others?!”
I was pointing out Vigdis’s carelessness, but before she could react, Liolikin asked a question in a voice filled with desperation.
Could he be planning to show the photos to others and brag about his friendship with Karvaldr?
As I glared at his face with such suspicion, Liolikin flustered and quickly explained.
“U-Uh, it’s not that, I j-just wanted to show my family. As you know, my p-personality and way of speaking are a bit… u-uh, like this, right…? So everyone w-worries a lot….”
He said he wanted to ease his family’s worries.
How many people could flatly refuse after hearing that?
At least, I couldn’t.
“…Family is an exception.”
“T-Thank you!”
Whether he was excited at the thought of showing the photos to his family, Liolikin wore a beaming expression that didn’t match his fierce impression.
His appearance is close to middle-aged, but seeing him like that, I realize he really is a teenager.
‘I wish today would end peacefully like this without anything happening……!’
Even though I know it can’t be so, I find myself unintentionally thinking of vain hopes at the sight of this ordinary daily life.
Since simply wishing will only lead to the worst possible future.
While firmly bracing my heart that was about to go slack, I continued my meal, trying hard not to show my tension.
And so, as the meal, which proceeded in a friendly atmosphere as usual, was coming to an end.
I saw the villain of the original work, who hadn’t shown his face for a while, approaching our table.
The original protagonist also spotted him and hardened his expression, subtly sliding his chair back so he could stand up at any moment.
It seemed he thought a fight might break out……
“I’ll admit it. In the field of combat, Rayseir, you are more special than I am. And looking at the speed at which her swordsmanship improves, Vigdis seems no less special. Not to mention Liolikin, the controllable berserker. Was it Helga? I heard you’re scheduled to give a speech today as the representative of the first-year students. You’re quite special, too. And Karvaldr, you surely have something special about you as well. Though I don’t know what it is yet because Rayseir tries to hide it.”
Nidre, who appeared out of nowhere, poured out words as sudden as his appearance.
“…It’s been a while. What on earth are you talking about?”
“I told you. I’m admitting your specialness. So, you all should also admit the fact that I am special.”
“You talk big for someone who lost to me.”
“The reason I emphasized combat ability was because I thought it was the easiest and fastest way to prove it. But in truth, my specialness doesn’t stem from combat ability alone. I am a multi-talented individual who stands out in various fields.”
“……”
The protagonist of someone else’s novel wore an expression that seemed to say, ‘What is wrong with this guy?’
However, I could guess Nidre’s psychology, at least roughly.
‘I wondered why he hadn’t appeared until now.. Seeing this, he must have been so miserably defeated in the finals that it was impossible to even maintain a rival position, and only today did he finally manage to pull himself together and finish his mental victory.’
He’s quite pitiful, too.
In the sense that if the “Awakening” phenomenon, which serves as an indicator of specialness, hadn’t occurred.
He could have lived an ordinary life, mingling with various people and gradually letting go of his sense of superiority.
“I believe that special people should be with other special people. Only then can they create synergy, develop each other, and achieve much greater things than when they are alone.”
If he had rushed in while showing inferiority, I would have thought he was acting like an original villain character.
But seeing him like this, isn’t he just an adolescent teenager in need of friends to play along with his eighth-grader syndrome?
Since I’m facing a major event, I’d like to decline getting involved with the original villain for no reason, but—.
“In that sense, the only ones who can become my friends are you—”
“Everyone is special and ordinary at the same time.”
“…Huh?”
“If you yourself are special, you must realize that others also possess at least one special trait. And if you think others are ordinary, you must realize that you, too, are one of the ordinary people.”
—These are words that can only be said now, before I “Awaken.”
Because if I were to talk about specialness and ordinariness after becoming an Awakener, Nidre would consider it a deception.
Perhaps in the future, after he hears rumors that I have Awakened.
He might feel resentful toward me as he recalls this moment.
Still, until the fact of my Awakening is known, he should be able to take my words at face value.
“In the first place, ‘specialness’ is an abstract concept for which no clear criteria exist. If you run frantically while your eyes are captivated by it, nothing will be left around you, and you might even lose yourself.”
“Are you trying to lecture me right now…?”
“Who knows? If there’s something you learn from my words, then that’s what it becomes. If not, then I’ve simply been talking nonsense to myself.”
Even if Nidre dismisses my words as mere bullshit, nothing changes.
Anyway, if left alone, there’s a high probability that Nidre will turn into a killer in the future and attack me with the intent to kill.
And if I let Rayseir get angry and kick him out like this, that probability will only increase.
It’s better for me to step forward, pinning my hopes on a small possibility.
Who knows?
Perhaps he’ll be moved by the fact that I worried about his future and will pass us by without touching me or the people around me.
“Nidre. It’s not that we’re rejecting you because we don’t know that you’re better than others.”
“You already recognize my specialness?”
“Isn’t the confidence to step forward boldly with conviction in one’s own abilities a great strength in itself? Furthermore, while you may not have achieved the best skill in one field, you do possess a level of talent that everyone has to acknowledge. If you put your mind to it, you could become a leader equipped with both the drive and skill that stem from confidence.”
I openly praised Nidre’s excessive confidence, hoping that he wouldn’t fall into a sense of inferiority and would continue to live confidently for the rest of his life.
However, an individual whose body was large but whose confidence was smaller than a pea muttered the following complaint.
“W-Why on earth… is Lord Karvaldr giving s-such high praise to a g-guy like that…?”
Since I was planning to give Nidre some harsh words from now on anyway, I decided to ignore him.
“However, if you cannot fix your habit of looking down on, ignoring, and judging others, your strength will never develop into leadership. Because before the desire to follow you can arise, people will feel animosity and unpleasantness and leave. Just as we have come to avoid you now.”
Nidre’s face, which had been slowly curling into a smile at my praise, crumpled instantly.
Still, seeing as he didn’t immediately argue or refute, it seemed he decided to keep listening to me.
“Moreover, aren’t you assigning grades not only to others but also to yourself? That act will one day bring you to your knees. The moment you witness a ‘specialness’ in someone else that you cannot dare to possess. You will take that as an absolute indicator of evaluation and drag your own grade down to the very bottom.”
“……”
“For your own sake, you should stop obsessing over specialness and judging others.”
“……”
I wondered what I would do if he overconfidently said, ‘I’m the most special person in the world, so that won’t happen!’
But Nidre remained silent, unable to deny my words.
By losing to Rayseir with an overwhelming difference in skill, he must have realized that there can be any number of people in this world better than himself.
“In the future, why don’t you try taking an interest in the various strengths individuals possess, rather than the specialness that many people focus on? If you do, not only will your view of the world broaden, but you will also be able to further strengthen your own advantages, and people who consider you special will naturally emerge.”
Since I was trying to change the other person’s values by packaging what was essentially a prophecy as general advice, my words seemed to have become too long-winded.
Did I express something insignificant too grandiosely?
Was the basis of my argument too weak, or did the logic develop too leaps and bounds?
Is my tone okay?
It didn’t sound annoying like I was showing off, did it?
My head was filled with worries.
But the words had already been spoken.
What’s the use of regretting it now?
“I should probably head back to the dormitory. I haven’t finished packing yet.”
That was a lie.
I finished packing the day before yesterday.
Therefore, the above line was merely an excuse to quickly leave this place before Nidre could organize his thoughts and open his mouth.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.