“Karbaldr, Vigdis, hello! And Yor too, right?”
As we reached the carriage waiting area, Reysir, who had arrived earlier and was waiting for us, greeted us warmly.
I deliberately ignored the greeting to stay true to Karbaldr’s character, but Vigdis and Yor happily returned the salutation.
“Yes, hello…!”
“Meow~”
Perhaps influenced by Reysir’s energetic vibe, Vigdis showed a fairly bright expression and spoke in an excited voice.
Yor wagged his tail and added a joyful meow in his own way.
Since Vigdis had a crush on Reysir in the Original Protagonist’s story, it was only natural that she still felt affection for him.
But I was slightly taken aback by the fact that my baby dragon also seemed to like Reysir.
‘Is it because he knows Reysir is a good person? Or did Reysir’s kind greeting, where he didn’t overlook his existence and even made eye contact, increase that sense of closeness?’
I thought about warning Yor to keep his distance from Reysir later just in case.
But since Yor knew enough about the Original Protagonist’s story, he would likely handle himself well, and it wouldn’t do any good for me to interfere and limit his freedom of choice.
Above all, today we had gathered to have fun together.
It seemed best not to spoil my baby dragon’s mood by acting overly cautious.
Just as I was about to settle on that conclusion,
“When will the trendsetter among us finally return my greeting?”
Reysir tossed out an ambiguous remark with a playful expression and tone directed at me.
“Trendsetter? What on earth are you talking about?”
“Why, isn’t it a trend these days for the professor to say ‘Today’s class is canceled’ as soon as he arrives at the lecture hall and then leave? And you’re the one who started it, Karbaldr. You’re the trendsetter, aren’t you?”
“…That kind of thing became a trend?”
“Didn’t you know? You saw it on Tuesday during ‘History and Ethics’ class—someone did exactly that and left.”
Now that I think about it, that did happen.
I never understood why someone would bother going all the way to the lecture hall only to say something like that to the professor’s face, losing points for attitude when they weren’t even going to attend class.
But since Reysir used the word ‘trend,’ it seemed that many students had picked up on it. I had wanted to try it myself but held back during exam season. Once midterms were over, everyone must have done it all at once.
“You know, I really had an urgent matter that day and had no choice but to do that. Don’t lump me in with those fools who do it just because it looks funny and get on the professor’s bad side.”
“Maybe it didn’t just look funny, but cool? Because you did that and then solved the kidnapping case!”
“Cool…? Do you really think so…?”
“What’s with that disgusted reaction? Are you… embarrassed about your own ‘class cancellation’ statement now?”
“……”
Wouldn’t I be embarrassed if it became a trend that even other students imitated?
I swallowed the words and glared silently at Reysir.
Breaking the resulting silence, a voice spoke up—none other than Liolikin’s.
“Um, um, um…! H-hello…!!”
I had put off mentioning it since there was no good opportunity, but Liolikin had been standing beside Reysir for some time, looking nervous and hesitating to speak.
He wanted to greet me, but with Reysir and me engrossed in conversation, he couldn’t find the right moment and hesitated.
Half of this was my doing, but regardless, it was a welcome interruption at a friendly time.
Still, I had to maintain consistent character and mercilessly ignored Liolikin’s greeting as well.
And when Hailga, who had just spotted us from afar and was rushing over, came near, I planned to say nothing to her either.
“Sorry, I’m a bit late.”
“Late? It’s still five minutes until the appointed time.”
“Yeah…! I’m not late at all. Karbaldr and I just arrived too.”
“Y-yeah. N-not late at all.”
Taking advantage of everyone’s attention drifting away from me, I quickly scanned their outfits.
Hailga, who had just arrived, wore a simple dress that reached just above her knees paired with flat shoes, presenting a style somewhere between noble and commoner fashion.
Reysir and Liolikin also maintained the dignity of nobility but wore clothes without decorative elements.
Rather than actual medieval or early modern era attire, these were fantasy-inspired outfits.
But that applied equally to the clothes Vigdis and I wore.
Still, despite that, there was a stark difference in atmosphere between their three outfits and ours.
‘Especially my outfit… does it look too extravagant?’
Vigdis was the most uncomfortable in terms of attire, but if it was about flashiness, I was the most conspicuous here.
I couldn’t help but realize I was in no position to criticize Vigdis’s outfit.
I thought I should prepare several sets of expensive and luxurious yet restrained clothes that wouldn’t look out of place on Karbaldr.
Of course, I would never go out with these people again, but just in case.
I could just contact the family and have them prepare it—no need to waste my own money or time.
Hard did complain about Karbaldr wasting time, but not about money.
“Well, well! Now that everyone’s here, let’s get going!”
Whether from the instinct of being the novel’s protagonist or because he was the organizer of today’s gathering, Reysir stopped the chatter and guided us onto the carriage.
I couldn’t refuse now that we were here, so I decided to follow along quietly.
The most comfortable seat was, of course, by the window where I could lean against something.
Yor gave up the window seat so he could look outside comfortably and sat next to me, recreating the same seating arrangement as when we used the Dining Hall.
When Reysir sat facing me, he seemed to recall that memory and said,
“Oh! Karbaldr, I tried to find a place that serves the kind of food you like, but I just couldn’t find one.”
“That’s why Yor and I always pick those kinds of dishes at the Dining Hall. It’s hard to find them anywhere else.”
“So it’s a very rare dish…! Hearing that, I feel like from tomorrow onward I should start ordering what you eat.”
“……”
On the Dining Hall’s menu, there was a dish called something like ‘Nuclear Spicy Fire Chicken Flavored Stir-Fried Ramen,’ a name clearly designed to dodge trademark infringement.
If I ate that, I could finally get revenge on Reysir, who always teased me. But since neither my tongue nor stomach was used to spicy food, I gave up.
“Anyway, I’m not sure if it will satisfy your sophisticated taste, but I reserved a Room-Style Restaurant so you don’t have to worry about people staring while we eat. I hope you’ll be satisfied.”
“Useless gesture.”
The words ‘thank you for your consideration’ tickled the back of my throat.
But I couldn’t bring myself to say them out loud, so I turned my gaze toward Yor and spat out a sarcastic remark.
Yet Reysir didn’t look offended at all. Instead, he seemed amused.
“Ahahaha! I knew you’d react like that! You really are a tsundere, Karbaldr.”
I wish he’d stop using terms like ‘tsundere’ on someone who’s not a possessed or reincarnated character. It felt out of place.
Of course, I couldn’t say that either.
No, right now I couldn’t say anything. Whatever I said, Reysir would just tease me.
So I kept my mouth shut and turned my head, only to have my baby dragon catch my eye and smile brightly while meowing.
I really don’t know why Yor was born so cute. It made it hard to keep a straight face.
Yor turned his head back to look outside, and I watched both the back of my magical beast and the scenery outside simultaneously.
“You seem embarrassed to hear thanks, but also shy to say it yourself, huh?”
Reysir muttered nonsense like that, but I resisted the urge to retort and kept my gaze fixed forward.
Luckily, my effort paid off as Reysir began talking to others.
While chatting with Hailga and Vigdis, he also made a point to include Liolikin in the conversation from time to time.
He was careful not to let Liolikin feel left out.
When Yor pointed to a spot outside the window with a meow, Reysir paid attention to that as well.
‘I’ve felt it for a while, but Reysir is unusually sociable for a fantasy novel protagonist…’
If it weren’t for Karbaldr’s bullying, Reysir would’ve made far more friends than Hailga.
Hailga’s sociability was a façade, but Reysir’s was genuine.
Still, that ability was nothing more than a bitter-sweet fruit for Reysir. Even laced with poison.
He was the protagonist of the bleak killing novel .
Being able to get close to others easily and quickly meant witnessing more deaths and suffering more pain.
And on top of that, he had the tendency to rarely reject those who approached him with affection.
‘So after suffering too many comrades’ deaths, he vowed never to get close to anyone again but repeated the cycle of getting close and getting hurt!’
Why did Senna, the author, torment the protagonist she created so cruelly?
As an author who specialized in the healing genre, seeking vicarious satisfaction through the protagonist, I couldn’t empathize with that mindset at all.
‘Ah, I shouldn’t keep thinking about this or I’ll get soft-hearted…’
Fortunately, the carriage stopped as we arrived at our destination, and I was able to stop my thoughts.
Though even after stepping out, my worries didn’t go away.
“Kar, your complexion looks too pale… Are you feeling car sick?”
While Reysir checked the reservation details with the staff, Vigdis approached quietly with a worried expression.
Though it was a wild guess, I nodded in agreement and added a gentle excuse,
“Maybe a little. I rarely ride in such a shabby carriage.”
“But isn’t the carriage we came in pretty decent with little shaking?”
“Then why ask if I got car sick when you think that?”
“Because your face looks noticeably worse than before we got on. Even on a nice carriage, if you’re not feeling well, you could get car sick…”
“……”
I looked steadily at Vigdis for a moment, then exhaled in frustration.
It would’ve been better if it was something light like car sickness bothering me. My body was in pain because my heart was weighed down by something heavy.
‘Come to think of it, all this trouble I’m having with Reysir is because that character has this trait of being highly sociable, right?’
Though the root cause was clearly Senna, the original author, why was I, an author of another novel, possessed here?
The more I thought about it, the more I suspected there was a third author who came up with the cruel idea of ‘Let’s possess a healing genre author with a character from a bleak novel!’
Ahah, the author slandering himself.