Chapter 58: A Key Called Friendship

“Then I’ll head back to the Academy first. You handle what you need to here.”

“Y-Yes…!”

I didn’t particularly want to watch Liolikin apologize to Reysir.

Not just Reysir, but even the mercenary who had just spoken with me was giving me strange looks, which was irritating.

So, after giving Liolikin the ‘task of receiving blame and apologizing,’ I turned my back.

This should count as a pretty natural exit.

Thinking so, I started retracing the path I had come with Yor, when suddenly I heard footsteps running from behind.

‘Could it be that he finished his apology in just a minute and is now chasing after me?’

For a moment, I felt annoyed, thinking it might be Liolikin.

But then I realized the footsteps sounded rather light, and I relaxed my furrowed brow.

“Karvald, wait a moment! I want to talk to you!”

The one calling out to stop me was Reysir.

Given the recent conversation with Liolikin, Reysir’s words to talk felt ominous.

Unfortunately, I had no choice.

If I kept walking at this pace, I’d be overtaken and blocked ahead anyway, and running away would just look strange.

So, I stopped and turned back once again.

“What about the friend you just rescued? Why did you come all this way?”

“I left Helga with Liolikin for a moment.”

“Trusting that guy? On what grounds?”

“It’s true he’s not exactly reliable. But by now, the mercenaries wouldn’t suddenly try to take a hostage with bad intentions, right? So, I judged it to be okay.”

Reysir’s expression and voice were bright, as if saying there was nothing to worry about.

After seeing him with a hurt or anxious face, facing this kind of expression made me feel lighter.

But I couldn’t show it, so I deliberately kept a neutral expression.

“Still, entrusting such an important friend to Liolikin… I’m the one who caused you trouble, so I probably shouldn’t say this, but don’t you find him obnoxious?”

“You forgave me, so there’s no reason not to forgive Liolikin.”

“You’re really generous.”

“Ha ha! Thanks for the compliment.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“You should be embarrassed.”

“……”

‘How do I get rid of this damn tsundere image?’

Pressing my temple, I was pondering this when Reysir’s smile faded and he spoke seriously.

“Karvald. I think I finally understand why you refused to become friends with me and tried to distance yourself.”

“You’re misunderstanding.”

“We haven’t even started the real talk yet. Don’t jump to conclusions without hearing me out.”

Reysir protested with a baffled expression.

He seemed to think I was just blindly denying what he was about to say, but that was also a misunderstanding.

To prove it, I took the initiative and spoke for him.

“All the people I’ve met so far approached me not as ‘Karvald Austri’ the person, but just looking at the family I was born into, trying to use me. Because of that, I fell into human distrust and stopped opening my heart to others, even losing the ability to emotionally connect. You wanted to say I couldn’t accept a peer relationship like ‘friend,’ right?”

“Uh..?”

“My distance from you… I interpreted it as being defensive because you’re the first person who approached me purely as a friend, without trying to use me. It’s unfamiliar and confusing, and I couldn’t tell if you were sincere or just acting.”

“T-That’s right….”

“So you were about to ask if I secretly wanted someone to truly share friendship with, without using each other, and to try trusting you once.”

“That’s… spot on!”

I could see Reysir’s jaw drop.

Seeing that, I naturally thought, ‘Of course.’

“How did you know?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Given the timing.”

I had once told Reysir that Karvald Austri was just someone who’d been used.

Back then, Reysir hadn’t fully digested that hint, but now he’d completely absorbed it.

Well, let’s think.

A web novel protagonist learns the pitiable backstory of a supporting character.

Though arrogant and always looking down on others, they’ve actually lived a life of being thoroughly used by others.

Not only are they aware of it themselves, but they accept it with detachment.

If you’re the protagonist, you just can’t leave a character like that alone.

You dig into their mentally vulnerable points, spin all sorts of sweet lies, and ultimately move them.

That’s one of the tasks the protagonist must fulfill.

Then, following the cliché, the character says, ‘You’re the first person who treated me this way!’ and becomes completely devoted to the protagonist, forging a tight friendship.’

…That would be the usual flow!

I refuse to be swept away by that mood.

Thinking so, I looked at Reysir with an expression saying, ‘I’ve read everything you could say. So what now?’

I saw even more surprise deepen on his face.

Up to this point, things seemed to be going according to plan, which felt good… but then—

“Karvald, you… are really good at self-awareness, huh?”

“What are you talking about…?”

“Have you been waiting for someone to say that to you all this time?”

“I told you, that’s not true! It’s definitely a misunderstanding!”

Without realizing, I raised my voice in frustration.

I felt like going crazy.

‘How on earth did we get to this conclusion?’

“If that’s my misunderstanding, then what is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“You let people use you without protest, but you’re wary when I try to get close to you.”

“How many times do I have to say it? I just… don’t like you…”

I remembered the hurt expression Reysir had before, and saying ‘I don’t like you’ so easily was no longer possible.

So, without realizing it, I hesitated and softened my words.

‘Looks like it’s hopeless, right?’

Yor must have sensed this too because he slapped his own forehead and shook his head from side to side.

And as a bonus, he let out a sigh that sounded like ‘Hyaaah…’

‘What good is it if the original protagonist steals the line and avoids the cliché?! You just end up a tsundere with great self-awareness, right??’

Knowing exactly how Reysir might think of me made my face burn with shame.

This was the worst possible situation.

Anyway, he probably wouldn’t get hurt just by me saying he’s disliked now, so why was my heart suddenly softening?

“You used to say you hated even hearing my voice, and now your opinion of me has improved a lot, huh?”

“…Shut up.”

“Now that I think about it, didn’t you also tell me not to talk to you at all last time, whether I had business or not? Yet, even when I grabbed your collar, you just let it go, accepted my comfort, helped save my friend, and now you’re having a perfectly normal conversation with me.”

“No, well…”

“Well?”

“……”

I wanted to argue but couldn’t think of anything to say.

Trying to babble out excuses here wouldn’t improve the situation.

It would only sink me deeper.

“Ah… anyway. I have no intention of becoming friends with you.”

“Why?”

“Well, maybe I don’t want to…?”

“……”

“……”

“You’re really embarrassed right now, aren’t you?”

“Shut up.”

“I’m not even raising my voice, so why do you keep telling me to shut up?”

“……”

Even if I fail to keep distance from Reysir for now, if he drops out of the Academy, we’ll naturally drift apart.

I decided not to get too stressed or anxious.

But being treated like a tsundere and teased like this was an unforeseen hardship.

So I had no plan on how to respond.

“Sigh…”

A sigh escaped, and my head drooped deeply.

No matter how much I thought about it, escaping the tsundere image seemed impossible.

And trying to sincerely tell Reysir, ‘I really don’t want to be friends with you!’ was pointless.

No matter what I said, it wouldn’t even register with him.

“Yor, the key.”

I raised my hand with my palm facing up.

The ‘key’ here referred to the key to the Private Training Hall I had lent to Reysir.

I had asked Yor to keep it for me, fearing a moment would come when I’d forget and need to hand it over.

‘Since things are impossible to sort out anyway, I might as well give him what I need to give!’

Yor shook the Yeouiju, the bell tinkled, and the key dropped onto my palm.

I tossed it to Reysir, who caught it as easily as Bigdis had.

“What key is this?”

“The Private Training Hall key.”

“Why are you giving me this all of a sudden…?”

“It’s compensation for the trouble I caused you last semester.”

“Then where will you train if you give me yours?”

I think the original protagonist misunderstood again, thinking I was yielding the Private Training Hall to him.

“You’re making me say the same thing twice. Since it’s compensation, obviously I still have my own key, don’t you think?”

“Wasn’t the Private Training Hall rental application already closed long ago?”

He was probably asking why I was only giving him compensation that I had prepared a while ago.

“The timing just wasn’t right. When the semester first started, you might have seen it as a gift from a friend, not compensation, so I couldn’t give it. After that… even if I wanted to, I didn’t think you would accept it.”

“So now you’re giving it as a gift to celebrate becoming friends…”

“Don’t misunderstand. I just rented it, and I don’t want to waste the money if you don’t use it for half a semester. I thought I should give it before it’s too late.”

I hoped he wouldn’t treat this statement as me hiding my embarrassment.

‘Should I be nervous about such things? That thought crossed my mind, but instead of easing, I only felt more self-loathing.’

Reysir looked back and forth between me and the key in his hand, then smiled brightly.

“You said it’s compensation, so I’ll use it without worries. If I’d received a gift like this right after becoming friends, I’d have refused because it’d be too much.”

“I never became friends with you, and I wasn’t emphasizing the compensation out of consideration…”

“Mm, yeah. I know, then.”

‘No, he had no idea.’

‘So he probably had an expression that seemed to say, ‘How long is this guy going to keep acting like this?’