Chapter 39: Yor’s Choice, My Resolve

“Yor, you really are a genius?! You solved our communication problem!”

“Nya nyan~”

Yor joyfully fluttered through the air like a dancing figure, expressing happiness with its entire body.

Watching that adorable sight, the heavy, damp feeling in my heart, like wet cotton, lightened and felt fresher, even if only a little.

No wonder people are completely devoted to their pets.

“The characters written here as ‘protagonist’—is that referring to the person we met earlier on the stairs, the ‘original protagonist’?”

“Nyah!”

I pointed with my finger at the words written in the notebook and asked.

Yor nodded vigorously in affirmation.

It seemed very pleased that I understood what it wanted to say immediately.

“Right, that’s correct. That kid is Reysir, the protagonist of 《I Alone Am SSS-Class Einheri》. You haven’t mentioned anything about his appearance even when you were still inside the egg, but you recognized him well. Did you guess it just from my attitude and vibe? Yor, you really are smart.”

“Nyaong nyang, nya nya nya, nyaoong~!”

I mixed admiration and praise, and Yor purred proudly for a while.

Then it flipped the notebook page and wrote new characters, but the content was very brief.

[Good person]

A sentence far too concise compared to the time spent meowing.

No, it’s not even a sentence—just a combination of two words.

Since I had just complimented it, was this Yor’s way of returning the favor by praising me?

I briefly entertained that possibility, but it didn’t seem likely.

Rather…

“You mean Reysir?”

“Nyah!”

“That’s also true. Reysir really is a good person. But he doesn’t have to be a good person to me too…”

Thanks to Yor’s bright energy, my mood improved, and I didn’t sink into the same endless depression as before.

Still, a bitter smile spread across my lips, something I couldn’t help.

If Reysir were an anti-hero protagonist.

If, to worry about me, he hadn’t tried so hard to make himself out to be a good person.

Or, if he had at least shown a friendly, innocent smile…

‘I wouldn’t be consumed by this much guilt right now.’

Unfortunately, Reysir was far too kind and warmhearted.

Every time I was reminded of that fact, his fate—doomed to unhappiness—felt more absurd, and I felt increasingly detached from myself as a bystander who chose to stand aside.

‘At least within the work of fiction, good people should be recognized by many and live in complete happiness…! So why…!’

I never imagined the day would come when I would pity a protagonist from someone else’s novel, and come to resent the author who wrote that novel.

‘Can it be helped?’

Something that was merely someone else’s creation has now become my reality.

“Yor, do you think I have to save Reysir from his destined unhappiness?”

[The protagonist’s feelings are most important]

“You mean I should do whatever I want… right?”

“Nyah.”

“But a moment ago you said Reysir was a good person?”

[Feelings]

“So that was just your feelings…?”

“Okok.”

Yor answered my question by writing characters in the notebook or meowing and nodding.

Because I was a halfway person who couldn’t become completely heartless nor summon enough courage.

I even wished someone else would decide my course of action for me and push me forward.

‘Did Yor notice this wish of mine?’

My familiar wrote the following message in the notebook.

[Avoid discomfort? Help O Survival important? Help X]

It’s an extremely efficiency-focused message.

Still, it wasn’t difficult to interpret what the baby dragon was trying to say.

“If your heart is too uncomfortable to turn your back on Reysir, then help him. But if your survival is more important and you can suppress those feelings, then you don’t have to help, right?”

“Nyaaang~!”

A cry as if to say, ‘Exactly that!’

***

After answering me, Yor scribbled something else in the notebook as if there was more to say.

[Respect owner’s choice. No disappointment ᄂᄂ]

“Meaning you won’t be disappointed no matter which side I choose, and you’ll respect my decision?”

“Nyah!”

“But maybe writing it out is annoying?”

“……”

Yor quietly turned its head away and avoided my gaze, so it seemed like it was indeed too bothersome and wrote such a cost-effective message.

Although Yor’s front paws function like hands, they aren’t shaped exactly like human hands.

So it’s understandable that holding a pen and writing would be tedious and inconvenient.

Still, I was grateful it picked up the pen just to communicate with me.

“Anyway, thank you for saying all that.”

Though it didn’t decide for me as I wanted, my heart felt much lighter.

That was probably because it promised not to be disappointed no matter what I chose.

Unconsciously, I had been anxious about the possibility of disappointing Yor.

Thanks to that, instead of rushing into a hasty decision as if chased by someone, I was able to calmly contemplate.

‘What decision would minimize regret?’

‘What would be my best choice?’

“Following Reysir as his companion and helping him is too risky. But I don’t want to watch him suffer unhappiness right before my eyes. So I’ll try to keep my distance as I have until now, but I must prevent his friend from dying at the Graduation Ceremony.”

I’ll have to accept some risk in the process.

Anyway, if Reysir doesn’t let go of his resentment toward Karvald, I planned to consider saving that friend as settling the debt.

So it’s not exactly a loss.

“In the original story, Reysir dropped out of the academy to investigate the Demonic Realm Conquest that started appearing worldwide. Because it caused the deaths of his parents and childhood friends. Not only him, but others lost precious people because of it too. He wanted to uncover the source of the Demonic Realm to stop it from appearing.”

Though until the original story was discontinued, there was nothing fruitful.

There wasn’t even any foreshadowing about the cause of the Demonic Realm, so some comments said the author just wrote random stuff without concrete settings.

Even so, Reysir never gave up on investigating the Demonic Realm.

“Even if no friend dies at the Graduation Ceremony, his past of losing his parents doesn’t change. So this time too, Reysir will leave the academy and wander the world to investigate the Demonic Realm.”

He will form new bonds with various people and repeatedly experience losing precious ones in proportion to those connections.

But unhappiness that happens where I’m not present is something I can’t control, right?

“I want the last image of him in my eyes to be a bright smile. So when Reysir leaves this academy, instead of sinking into despair remembering his powerlessness, I want to help him resolutely move forward for a greater cause.”

This is the choice that feels most comfortable in my heart.

Although I ended with saying I want to help, the truth is this conclusion was made thinking only of myself.

Still, Yor seemed to cheer me on, purring with a bright expression and tapping my back lightly with its long tail.

‘When a familiar is born, I wanted to be a reliable protector to rely on, but somehow it feels like I’m the one being comforted…?’

I was really glad my baby dragon was smart and trustworthy, but it made me nervous that I might lose the role of protector.

I had also newly decided my course of action, so starting tomorrow I should try to show a more mature side.

***

That ‘tomorrow’ arrived very quickly.

It was, of course, the very next day.

But there was no chance to show a mature side.

To put it differently, nothing problematic happened, so I decided to take it positively.

‘Then why am I describing today without skipping it?’

Because nothing problematic happened.

That doesn’t mean there was no event worthy of an episode.

“Karbaldr, I’m busy today and can’t help with training. So I think you’ll have to extract Aether only using the crystal sphere in my lab. Is that okay?”

Right after the afternoon lecture on ‘Aether Attribute Enhancement’ ended.

***

After the students left the classroom, Professor Radvisin said to me with a very regretful expression.

But I wasn’t regretful at all.

Because on Thursdays I use most of my Purple Aether in training during regular lecture time.

Since I had only a small amount of Aether left to use, the one-on-one personal guidance ended quickly.

Today was no different in terms of how little Aether remained.

Effectively, the training location just switched from the classroom to the professor’s lab to refill the empty Aether Core.

“Of course it’s okay.”

“Ah! But it would be a shame not to check your familiar’s ability, right? Especially since it seems to have been born with Sky-Blue Aether.”

“Thank you for caring despite your busy schedule. But I don’t want to be a burden to you…”

“Burden?! That’s not it at all. I’m just curious.”

Professor Radvisin cut me off and jumped excitedly.

His curiosity about the properties of Sky-Blue Aether must be genuine.

But it wasn’t just about satisfying his curiosity to check Yor’s abilities.

‘By confirming the characteristics of Sky-Blue Aether now, he can plan the training method in advance for when I can use that Aether anytime in the future.’

He truly was a grateful mentor.

Though I wanted to say ‘Really, it’s fine,’ it didn’t seem like Professor Radvisin would back down easily.

So I decided not to waste his time with needless resistance.

“Yor, use your ability. But don’t fill the entire ceiling like yesterday. Make the clouds small. And of course, we can’t get wet.”

“Myaaang~!!”

I immediately ordered Yor to use its ability, and it let out a cute meow as it flipped its body once in midair.

Since its movement differed from yesterday’s, it wasn’t a required gesture.

It seemed more like just for fun, which was a huge relief for me.

“Oh…? Karbaldr, did you just say clouds? And getting wet? Could it be that Sky-Blue Aether’s ability is to summon rain?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“The property of Aether being connected to the sky! Looking at this, there must definitely be some correlation between Aether’s color and attribute.”

“……”

I felt sorry for giving my mentor a pointless hope.

But outright denying his words and engaging in a logical debate would be no different from saying, ‘I want to be your research student.’

So I stayed silent and quietly observed the clouds forming in the air.