“By the way, Svein, why are you here?”
Our plan, established in Chapter 215, was for Svein to head to the Cyan Team’s starting point after his ribbon was taken to snatch the ribbons from Hailga and Risi instead of reuniting with us.
At that time, I was certain that Svein would fall into a trap and have his ribbon stolen instead.
‘Seeing him here now, it must have gone exactly as I predicted!’
Even though I thought this, the reason I asked him why he was here was to avoid unnecessary arguments. Judging by his expression, he looked ready to blame me, as if Reysir had lost his ribbon because I was making a fuss over nothing.
“That… I just happened to get caught in a trap by bad luck…”
Svein withdrew the sharp gaze he had directed at me and muttered a self-excuse in a half-mumble. It seemed he realized he wasn’t in a position to blame others.
“So, was your ribbon stolen?”
“……Yes.”
“I see.”
To me, it was just the expected result, so I could move on without much thought. However, the reactions of the others were different.
“Vigdis, Kar, and Reysir lost one each, and Svein lost two ribbons…. Does that mean we’re already four points behind…? Are we going to lose at this rate?”
“It’s three points, not four. Karbaldr snatched the Imperial Princess’s ribbon one more time. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that the point gap is large….”
The expressions of Vigdis and Reysir were dark as they spoke. Vigdis hadn’t been able to take Pret’s ribbon or even catch up to him as he fled, and Reysir had lost his ribbon while unable to break free from the marks of Liolikin and Lausa. They must have sensed that closing a three-point gap wouldn’t be easy.
“At least it’s a relief.”
“I guess Pret didn’t tell you about this?”
“No, I only heard that you two had your ribbons taken and the reason why.”
“I see…”
“Yes.”
In the end, the conversation between the two didn’t last long. They exchanged a few more meaningless words before falling silent. Seeing how she just rolled her eyes while keeping her mouth shut, it seemed Vigdis simply had nothing left to say.
As for Reysir, he appeared deep in thought, likely agonizing over our future strategy.
“Should I try again? Going to the enemy team’s starting point alone and taking the ribbons from Senior Hailga and Senior Risi….”
Svein broke the silence and offered his opinion. Since he mistakenly believed he had only fallen into the trap because of bad luck, he was under the delusion that he could easily take Hailga and Risi’s ribbons if he went back. He likely thought the traps wouldn’t be concentrated in one place.
If a massive number of traps were concentrated near only one team’s starting point, it wouldn’t be fair from the beginning. Thinking about it logically, it was a reasonable approach, but—
‘The problem is that Pret probably moved the locations of those traps.’
He would have done so while we were holding our briefing before the Ribbon Stealing Training began, and he was likely doing it even now.
That was why—.
“That plan is scrapped.”
—It was only natural for me to voice this decision.
However, since Svein didn’t know that Pret could manipulate the traps, it was possible he thought I was saying this because I didn’t trust his abilities. Sure enough, his eyes grew sharp again as he looked at me.
“Why is that?”
“The Imperial Princess must have headed to the starting point after I took her ribbon, so she would have heard the report that you were aiming for the two people there. Therefore, the first reason is that she will have devised appropriate countermeasures.”
“If that’s the case…”
Svein started to say something else but swallowed his words. Judging from the circumstances, if I hadn’t taken Fjodra’s ribbon, she wouldn’t have noticed he was targeting Hailga and Risi.
Then he could have stayed at the Cyan Team’s starting point and obtained two ribbons every 10 minutes.
‘Was he trying to say he lost a great opportunity because of me?’
That kind of thinking felt like a slight against Hailga and Risi, but I didn’t want to escalate the conflict by arguing with Svein, who already had a grievance against me.
So, instead of pressing him on what he was trying to say, I showed no reaction and—.
“And the second reason is.”
I started the sentence and turned my gaze toward my wise baby dragon to ask the following question.
“Yor. From what you saw, do you think Vigdis falling into the trap was just bad luck, LF?”
“OFF”
“If not, did it look like Pret guided her into it?”
“OFF!”
Yor shook his head in denial at the first question and then nodded in affirmation at the next. He immediately understood the intent behind my questions.
I stroked the head and body of the clever baby dragon while continuing my explanation to Svein.
“When I caught a glimpse earlier, it looked like Pret was luring Vigdis somewhere. So, just in case, I instructed Yor to help her… but as expected, Vigdis fell into a trap. That’s why I just asked Yor that question.”
“Do you mean that Pret identified the locations of the traps in advance and used them to take Senior Vigdis’s ribbon?”
“It’s not that ‘it seems’ that way; it’s exactly what I mean. Didn’t Yor just give a firm answer? He saw Pret guiding Vigdis so that she would fall into the trap.”
I thought that by saying this much, Svein would realize it too—the fact that his own fall into a trap might not have been due to ‘bad luck.’
However, Svein completely failed to grasp the point of my words.
“I wasn’t lured into a trap by Senior Hailga or Senior Risi, though…?”
Not only did he show a reluctant reaction, but he even said this:
“Do you really think the opposing team can move or manipulate the traps at will just because Senior Vigdis and I fell into them? That seems like a huge leap in logic…”
It seemed he really didn’t trust me at all. Or perhaps he simply didn’t want to trust me.
‘Well… I suppose it could feel like a leap.’
Since I already knew Pret could manipulate traps, I was essentially fitting the reasons to an answer I already had.
“Even if Pret really did lure Senior Vigdis into a trap, I think it’s more likely he just used a trap he found ‘by chance.'”
“But isn’t it true that the possibility exists? In actual combat, even the smallest possibility can lead to death the moment you overlook it. You must move with that in mind.”
“You haven’t exactly experienced much actual combat yourself, have you, Senior?”
“……What?”
I couldn’t help but show my bewilderment. Svein was extremely conscious of his status as a commoner. I didn’t expect him to speak so defiantly to Karbaldr, who wasn’t just some low-ranking noble but the scion of a Ducal House.
‘I thought if he rebelled, it would be much later…!’
He must have realized his mistake because he quickly lowered his eyes, but he didn’t correct his words or add an excuse. He didn’t seem to have any intention of apologizing either.
‘The timing was faster than expected, but it can’t be helped. It was none other than me who fueled his dissatisfaction!’
If I raised my voice here, my relationship with Svein would take a turn for the worst. I had no intention of getting along with someone destined to betray the original protagonist, but I didn’t want to create a hostile relationship by picking a fight, nor was I angry at his behavior in the first place.
Since there was no reason to raise my voice and fight with Svein, I let out a small sigh and spoke in an explanatory tone.
“To realize what I just said through ‘combat experience,’ you’d have to be very lucky. It would mean you almost died because you overlooked a possibility, but somehow managed to escape that danger and survive. I simply don’t want to bet my life on such luck.”
“……”
Dissatisfaction still clung to Svein’s face as he kept his mouth tightly shut. He didn’t seem to be taking my words to heart. Still, if it were revealed that Pret could manipulate traps, he would have no choice but to admit that my opinion was entirely correct.
So I decided to leave it at that. Anyway, no matter what I said now, it was clear it would only feel unpleasant to him.
“Reysir, you choose.”
“Wh-what? Choose? Suddenly, what?”
It wasn’t like he had been spacing out while Svein and I were talking; he had been listening with a serious expression. Even just now, when Svein expressed his dissatisfaction, this fellow had looked at me with a satisfied face when I took a calm stance.
‘So why is he asking what he should choose?’
The absurdity of it made me laugh. The protagonist of another novel said something ridiculous again before he could even come to his senses.
“I’m obviously on your side, Karbaldr!”
“Who asked you to blindly take my side? Think logically and decide whether it’s better to try the strategy of Svein going to the enemy starting point alone to target the ribbons of Seniors Hailga and Risi, or whether we should scrap that strategy.”
“Oh…….”
Judging by his reaction, his claim of being on my side must have been a statement made without passing through his brain. It was truly baffling, but seeing him say he was ‘obviously’ on my side without a hint of hesitation made me feel slightly touched despite myself.
Feeling a bit of a blow to my pride, I frowned and urged the protagonist of another novel.
“Answer quickly. We’re three points behind, aren’t we? We can’t afford to waste any more time.”
“Got it, got it.”
For some reason, the protagonist of another novel answered while wearing a strangely joyful expression. I didn’t understand that attitude, but since he soon fell into contemplation with a serious face, I couldn’t take issue with it.
Especially since I had just said we couldn’t waste time. For that reason, after waiting silently for about 1 minute while glaring at the protagonist of another novel, his lips slowly opened as if he had made a decision.