It was just as evening approached, and I had just stepped out of the Tower of Training, heading toward the Dining Hall.
At that moment, something suddenly landed on my left shoulder, and at the same time, I heard a voice calling out the name of the possessed entity.
Turning my head to the left to check behind me was a natural reflex in this situation…
“Reysir..? What are you doing?”
The result of that natural action was utterly ridiculous.
Reysir had raised his index finger on the hand resting on my shoulder, poking my cheek with it.
I stared silently at Reysir with a bewildered expression, and he laughed heartily as if he found it amusing.
“Do you think I’m a child? To play such childish pranks?”
“Aren’t you the one who got pranked? Not really in a position to talk.”
“Stop babbling and take your hand off.”
I retorted and, instead of dragging the conversation on, I slapped his hand off my shoulder.
I didn’t forget to brush my shoulder and rub my cheek with a displeased expression as if to say, “That’s annoying.”
Still, Reysir grinned as if my reaction was hilarious.
I wanted to tell him to stop smiling because I was starting to get attached, but if I did, he’d probably just grin at me all the more, anytime and anywhere.
No, he definitely would.
With no choice, I turned my head and resumed walking.
Reysir, who was standing behind me, quickly caught up and walked side by side.
“…Why are you here?”
“I also used the private training hall in the Tower of Training after afternoon lectures. I used the key you gave me!”
“I thought you’d be busy studying for exams.”
“You said it’d be a waste of money if I didn’t use the rental for at least half a semester.”
“That’s your only reason?”
“You’re dismissing me just because I took Supplementary Classes last vacation, but that was only because you made it impossible for me to take the finals. I’m confident that just studying in the Library after evening hours will be enough for a B grade.”
From the sound of it, he’s not aiming for an A grade.
A wise choice, considering I’ll be dropping out of the Academy after this semester and will be roaming around the Demon Realm frequently.
Though Reysir probably didn’t know that when making this judgment.
“By the way, Karvald Austri, you’ll be using the private training hall even after dinner, right? Is it to prepare for the practical exams?”
“…If that’s the case?”
“I heard you’re learning Swordsmanship from Vigdis. If it’s Martial Arts, I could help. My main skill is spear fighting, but I’m pretty good at hand-to-hand combat too.”
Of course he would offer.
Reysir is the protagonist of 《I Alone Am SSS-Class Einheri》 and awakened ten years ago.
Plus, his teaching ability is surely not as terrible as Vigdis’s.
Though the original novel never shows Reysir teaching anyone, I’m certain of this.
Having two characters with such unique traits in one story would dilute their individuality.
‘Senna even made the Thunder Attribute rare to make Reysir stand out, didn’t she?’
An author like that wouldn’t give the protagonist’s unique trait to a supporting character as well.
In short, accepting Reysir’s offer would definitely be helpful, but…
“I’ll refuse.”
It’s just half a semester of training anyway.
And it’s someone who leveled up with early awakening bonuses, with no experience watching others train, and an amateur at that.
Martial Arts isn’t even his specialty, and it’s not mine either.
‘If he’s already so familiar that he can joke around, learning Martial Arts from him would only erase the distance between us to an unbearable level.’
It’s not a proposal worth the risk.
“Are you sure? The syllabus said sparring will start after the Midterm Exam. The finals might be sparring too.”
“I’m fine with getting a D in two subjects.”
“Hearing that out loud means you really lack confidence, huh? And in two subjects, no less!”
“……”
“You’re smart, so if you’ve taken theory lectures, you should get good grades easily. Why pick subjects you’re not confident in?”
“If I can do well without learning, why bother?”
“But if you learn, you can do even better. Isn’t Swordsmanship and Martial Arts something you don’t really need to learn in the first place?”
He’s curious about me and asks a lot of questions.
“Mind your own business. Whether I learn those or not doesn’t concern you.”
I didn’t want to be bombarded with questions all the way to the Dining Hall.
So, I said that a bit coldly to cut the conversation short. Reysir sulked and muttered with a gloomy face.
“I wasn’t meddling. I was just curious…”
Thinking he might be hurt, I glanced at him discreetly.
But I soon realized I had worried for nothing.
Because he immediately said this.
“Do you really not need my help?”
“No.”
“I actually saw you enter the Tower of Training earlier. You looked like you were deeply troubled. Is it because you’re overwhelmed by the practical exam?”
Despite my cold tone and attitude, Reysir didn’t back down and kept meddling.
There was even a strange obsession in his behavior.
Reysir in the original story was persistent, but not this relentless.
‘Was it only because the main characters willingly engaged with him?’
“You saw it wrong. I have no worries…”
I was about to firmly deny Reysir’s words again, to keep him from meddling anymore.
But I had to hesitate.
‘He’s the protagonist, and Skadi is a fairly important supporting character in the original, right?’
The protagonist has a duty to help supporting characters overcome their emotional scars.
Especially if, like I suspect, Skadi is also suffering from bullying.
Sharing the pain and helping each other grow together—’that’s a cliché, isn’t it?’
“So you did have worries!”
“…Why do you look happy?”
“No, it’s not that! I think it’s unfortunate you have worries. But since you hesitated, it means you want to confide in me, right? That made me happy…”
“So you are happy, aren’t you?”
“Ot…!”
Wow, I really don’t want to talk.
But it’s fitting for the protagonist to take on the problems of supporting characters.
Skadi is scheduled to start Einheri activities under the royal command after this semester, and there’s no way I can stop that.
Her fate to die entangled with Reysir seems inevitable.
‘Still, I can’t completely ignore her problems.’
From the first time I met Skadi, there was something suspicious about her.
In the original story, she said teaching students was the most rewarding and brilliant moment in her life.
The depiction of her enjoying teaching Reysir can’t be false.
From what I’ve seen, Skadi showed passion when teaching, genuinely happy whenever her students improved.
Yet, in the first lecture, she said she was forced to do this job and told students to change the schedule quickly if they wanted to.
‘Are her contradictory attitude and the fact she’s been bullied connected?’
If those two problems are linked, the conclusion is clear.
Her bullying is not just in the past but ongoing.
Knowing this, I can’t just stand by and pretend not to see it.
‘It must be the fellow professors. They probably worked hard to prove their qualifications to become professors and envy Skadi because she parachuted in as a criminal.’
I can’t just leave her to endure it, thinking she’ll be gone after half a semester.
Skadi doesn’t even know she’ll leave the Academy after this semester.
I knew I could be free from bullying once I graduated, but still, enduring three years of middle school was agonizing.
That’s why when I met the person who bullied me in high school and the torment restarted, I had no strength to endure another three years and had to escape by dropping out.
The school itself felt terrifying, and I didn’t even want to consider transferring.
‘Thank goodness Valhalla Academy’s building design and classrooms have a fantasy style. If it were like a real middle or high school, I’d suffer from PTSD every day.’
I only accepted the Academy because of the ten-year gap after dropping out.
Or maybe it’s because this world isn’t real but a world inside a novel that I feel okay.
Novels have always been a comfort to me since childhood.
Anyway, even knowing the end, it’s hard to endure the hardships.
Imagine how terrifying and bleak each day would be if you didn’t know the end.
And if she’s hiding it from students and pretending to be cheerful, someone needs to reach out and help her as soon as possible, right?
“If my attitude seemed lighthearted, I’m sorry, Karvald Austri. But that doesn’t mean I’m taking your worries lightly. If you don’t mind, would you talk to me about them?”
Reysir spoke with a serious and cautious attitude, asking me to confide in him.
That’s truly the kind of meddling a protagonist would do.
If he finds out about a supporting character’s pain, especially someone who will be his comrade in the future, he’ll be desperate to solve it.
“Have you heard of a professor named ‘Skadi’ who teaches Dagger Arts?”
“No. I haven’t, but if anyone knows her, it’d be Hailga. She has a lot of friends.”
I wanted to ask why he keeps trying to be my friend instead of just asking Hailga to let him join her friend group.
But since I have to pass the Skadi problem to Reysir now, I decided to let it slide.
“…That professor seems to be pretty clueless about rumors. I think she just realized last semester that someone bullied you.”
“And?”
“She seems to have a very negative view of me. She even called me out after class and scolded me.”
“Why on earth? Doesn’t she know you helped Hailga, or that we’re now friendly?”
Reysir muttered with a confused expression, tilting his head.
Before continuing, I decided to correct the mistake in his words.
“You and I are just people who eat together, not close friends.”
“We’re walking side by side and talking like this, and you say that?”
“We just happen to be on the same route.”
“And I’m listening to your worries now, too?”
“……”
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have corrected him.’
But if I hadn’t, Reysir would’ve teased me, “You’re not denying it? So you admit we’re friends?”
A truly impossible situation.