Chapter 138: Everyone Awakens

“By the way, it’s a relief that the carriage waiting area and the dormitory side weren’t affected by the abnormal phenomenon.”

As the carriage began to move, Vigdis cast her gaze out the window and spoke those words. Just as she said, the scenery visible through the glass was as peaceful as ever.

This was because the range of the manifestation of the Demonic Realm was limited to the Grand Hall where the graduation ceremony was held and its immediate surroundings. Compared to the Demonic Realms that would appear in the future, it belonged to a fairly small category.

“I… think so too. Thanks to that, the th-things in my room were f-fine, and the horses and carriages are safe, I mean.”

“It’s also a relief that the buildings besides the Grand Hall are safe! It means the Academy won’t suddenly be closed down or have the next semester delayed.”

Liolikin’s comment was obvious enough to ignore. However, the remark from Hailga, who had cast off her mask of innocence, was quite unexpected.

‘Isn’t a change in the vacation period something students would usually find regrettable…?’

Especially for Hailga, who had to exert herself to maintain social relationships and play the innocent girl, it must be tiring in many ways. Come to think of it, she seemed to have close enough friends to introduce Vigdis to; was hanging out with them something she truly enjoyed? Or was it because she couldn’t afford to neglect her studies to succeed in life?

‘Well, either way, it’s none of my business.’

I decided to stop caring and intentionally cleared the thoughts rising in my head. I was just about to leisurely stroke Yor and watch the view outside when…

“I think the luckiest thing of all is that, despite so many students being gathered in such a narrow space, no casualties occurred. And this is thanks to Karbaldr’s quick judgment.”

Suddenly, the protagonist of another novel began to praise me.

“Kar is truly amazing. No, really, he’s incredible! I was so confused and scared that my mind went blank… but he gave clear instructions to Liolikin and me, and immediately put into action what he could do…!”

“Th-that’s right! It was truly amazing and cool! B-besides, when you said that the only one you could tr-trust was me! I was totally moved!”

I felt extremely embarrassed by the sudden flood of compliments. Still, thanks to Liolikin bragging in the midst of it all, I was barely able to maintain my composure…

“Karbaldr, you… you must have been really desperate then, huh? For you to say you trust someone of your own free will.”

Reysir pointed out the part I could have just brushed off, ultimately making me feel even more awkward.

“Tsundere… no, Lord Karbaldr. As I said before, thank you so much. I didn’t know because I always saw you looking shy and emotionally wavering, but you have a calm and rational side too.”

As if to prove she had lived under the same roof as Reysir since childhood, Hailga also chimed in with words that stimulated my embarrassment. Being praised alone was cringeworthy enough, but she even threw in the claim that I was always shy.

“……”

I kept my mouth shut and, following my original plan, stroked Yor while casting my gaze out the window. Saying thank you for the praise was not an action that suited Karbaldr. Besides, in reality, I wasn’t grateful at all.

“Oh, right! Come to think of it, I can see it now too! Rei, that… thing that looks like a glass window with my stats written on it, the one you mentioned!”

“……!”

I couldn’t help but be startled and snapped my gaze back to the original position. Because the person who just spoke was Hailga, and the ‘thing that looks like a glass window’ she mentioned was clearly a term referring to an awakened person’s status window.

‘Hailga awakened too…? No, well, right… Originally, in the academy part of the original work, she was the protagonist’s only friend and held the position of a strong heroine candidate…!’

If the author Senna, exhausted by the flood of ‘kill the heroine’ comments, hadn’t killed her off. In the original work, Hailga would have fought alongside Reysir as his comrade. Thinking about it that way, I concluded that it wasn’t particularly surprising for Hailga, who hadn’t died, to have awakened.

“Ah! If it’s that, I saw it too. It disappeared at some point, so I had forgotten about it…”

“I-I saw it too. Were m-my stats written th-there? It’s a shame I couldn’t see it in detail then… H-huh! It… it appeared again…!”

“I want to see it again too…. Ah, I can see it again!”

“Can… can only I see this?! It-it’s amazing!!”

Unlike Hailga, who already knew about the status window through Reysir, Vigdis and Liolikin were making a huge fuss, finding it incredibly fascinating. Liolikin seemed so excited that he even forgot to try not to stutter. Perhaps emboldened by their reactions?

“And you can do things like this too.”

With a mischievous smile, Hailga pulled a travel bag out of her inventory window and then put it back in. At that, exclamations of “Wow…!” burst spontaneously from Vigdis and Liolikin.

“No wonder…! Hailga was the one who said she had things to pack first, but I was puzzled because she was empty-handed when she left the room. I thought she had sent all her luggage to the capital in advance and only kept small valuables…!”

“H-how do you do that?! I want to l-learn too!”

The inside of the carriage became very noisy. As I sat there quietly watching them marvel while putting random things into their inventories and taking them out after hearing Hailga’s explanation.

“Karbaldr. By any chance, can you not see anything…?”

Reysir spoke up cautiously. He was likely worried that I might be feeling left out because I was the only one who hadn’t awakened. The others also noticed and shut their mouths, and the noisy carriage became silent in an instant.

“…I can see it too. I was just staying quiet because I didn’t want to make a needless fuss.”

“Is that really true? You’re not just pretending to see it because you don’t want to spoil the mood, are you?”

I glanced at Reysir’s face and let out a deep sigh. Then, to prove I wasn’t lying, I demonstrated by putting a dagger into my inventory. Only then did the carriage regain its liveliness.

“Has Reysir been seeing th-things like this for a l-long time?”

“Yeah. Even though it was ten years ago, I think you’d know about it since it was so famous… regarding the tragedy that occurred in Daudabiner County.”

“O-oh…. Th-that is, today, that…”

“Right. It was the same phenomenon as what happened in the hall today. Except the range was wide enough to swallow the entire fief, and the monsters were more numerous and much stronger.”

“Oh, I… s-see…?”

Liolikin rolled his eyes here and there in discomfort. It was a look that clearly showed he felt he had asked something he shouldn’t have. Reysir seemed to notice that too, as he gave a bitter smile and spoke the answer to the first question he had received.

“Anyway, I obtained this ability back then. I realized later that I could store things, though.”

“……”

“Right! About this ability, you can also see your Aether skills or mastered techniques at a glance. Give it a check. Just think about wanting to see the skill list.”

As if trying to lighten the solemn atmosphere, Reysir shared new information. The effect was excellent. The eyes of those who couldn’t overcome their curiosity scanned the air. They were opening their skill windows and reading the contents written there.

“Wow…! My skill has a cool name! [Iron-Blooded Steel Body]! Until now, I just called my Aether attribute ability ‘hardening,’ but I should change what I call it now!”

“I… am [Protective Armor]!”

“My skill name is [Lightning Domination].”

“Mine says [Fire Control]?”

This was the moment Hailga’s Aether attribute ability, which had never even been mentioned in the original work, was revealed. I reflexively looked into her eyes. It was a color that reminded me of a ripe cherry.

‘A red-tinted Aether color and a fire attribute…!’

If the original author had intended to kill her off in the graduation hall from the beginning, the eye color and Aether attribute ability would have been disconnected. As expected of a heroine candidate. I felt a sense of certainty that if she hadn’t been hated by the readers, she definitely would have fought alongside Reysir.

‘Then, will Hailga also end up quitting the Academy following the original protagonist…?’

It was someone else’s business that had nothing to do with me, but thinking that she might go off to die right after I had gone through the trouble of saving her made me feel very displeased.

“Karbaldr, what about you? What’s your skill name?”

I had intended to check the status window after passing through the Gate and discuss it with Yor. So I wasn’t inclined to do it now, but considering Reysir’s persistence, it would be impossible to move on without saying anything. Knowing that fact, I immediately brought up the skill window.

According to the original setting, the background color of the skill window is the same as the Aether color. Therefore, buff skills would be written in the purple area, weather manipulation and mental acceleration skills in the sky-blue area, and techniques unrelated to Aether, like whip techniques, would be written in the colorless area.

What caught my eye immediately was the purple area. Since I already knew the names of the buff skills, I was about to switch the tab to check the names of the sky-blue Aether skills when a skill name other than [Goyang] and [Encourage] caught my eye.

“……!”

[Heartening].

This was a skill that the Karbaldr in the original work did not have. I flinched involuntarily, and just as I was about to raise my hand to touch the skill name to read the detailed description…

“What’s with the reaction? What on earth is the skill name?”

At the voice of the original protagonist, I snapped back to my senses and glossed over the action of raising my hand by pretending to readjust how I was holding Yor. At the same time, I spoke the name of the basic buff skill of this possession body, which was located at the very top of the skill window.

“For now, the name of the buff skill is [Goyang].”

“No, how can a buff skill name be ‘Goyang’ (Cat)?!”

“It’s not ‘Cat’!! It’s [Goyang]!! It’s a word that means to raise one’s emotions or spirit.”

“Wow… Karbaldr, how is even your skill name ‘Goyang’?”

“I said, it’s not ‘Cat,’ it’s [Goyang]! …That’s what I said.”

“Yeah, I understand. It’s a cat, right?”

Even though I intentionally left a pause after [Goyang] the second time I mentioned it, Reysir said ‘Cat’ with a smirking expression. He understood my words perfectly, but he was doing that on purpose because he wanted to tease me.

“…I haven’t checked the names of the sky-blue Aether skills yet.”

“Ah! That’s right, isn’t it? Hurry up and tell us those too.”

“I refuse. I’ll check them later after I part ways with you all.”

“…Huh?”

“…”

“Are you pouting because I didn’t call the skill by its proper name…?”

“Hmph!”

Anyway, this moment was the last time I would face the original protagonist. Also, I was prepared to poke his eyes the moment he tried to take off his blindfold. This meant that even if I shut my mouth like this and piqued his curiosity, it would be impossible for him to peek at my skill window.

“You should have waited a bit before teasing him.”

“I agree.”

“Reysir, h-hurry up and apologize to Lord Karbaldr. Properly.”

Hearing the voices of the three people scolding Reysir made me feel slightly better.