Chapter 89: Fear and Fists

“I knew you were timid… but this is really something else.”

The sight was so pathetic I couldn’t even look at it with my eyes open.

I turned away and sighed.

Maybe the reason Liolikin was able to serve as a tank after graduation in the Original Protagonist’s story was because Tridric spent years training and yelling at him.

Otherwise, there’s just no explanation.

To think he couldn’t even manage a sparring match… ‘Why did he sign up for the Martial Arts Lecture, which includes sparring, if he’s just going to act like this?’

‘Did he underestimate sparring, and now that someone is running at him with a clenched fist, he’s too scared?’

I thought he knew his own weakness so well that he wanted to overcome it.

He trained his body hard, enrolled in the Martial Arts Lecture, which involved scheduled sparring…

‘Maybe I was expecting too much from Liolikin.’

I know all too well that fear isn’t something that can be easily overcome. That’s why I tried to give him a push.

I promised him that if he knocked down just three people in the tournament, I’d let him keep following me around.

But even that wasn’t enough, it seems.

‘I should stop caring about Liolikin and focus on my own training!’

With that resolve, I shook off my thoughts.

Right at that moment, by coincidence, Reysir Daudabina spoke up.

“At this rate, he won’t even win a single match in the tournament and will just end up a laughingstock…”

Reysir looked at me with a deeply concerned face, trying to read my expression.

He probably wanted to ask if I really intended to let Liolikin participate.

The registration period had ended, but withdrawal was still possible at any time.

“I think so too. He has no intention of improving on his own, so it’s almost like he’s whining at me to take care of his hopeless self.”

“I doubt he’s doing it on purpose, but…”

It sounded like a rebuttal to my words, but with the ‘but’ tacked on at the end—and not even finishing the sentence—it was clear that Reysir’s thoughts weren’t much different from mine.

“Whether it’s on purpose or not, I have no intention of changing the terms now.”

“Then after the tournament, are you really going to make sure Liolikin can’t even come near you?”

“Did you get attached to him already? I don’t mind if you hang out with Liolikin; you all can meet up without me, if you want. You can even use a separate table at meals.”

“No, no! That’s not what I meant.”

I subtly tried to put some distance between myself and the Original Protagonist, but it was no use.

Reysir hastily and firmly denied my words.

“Karvald Austri, you… do you realize how soft-hearted you are?”

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You sound so cold, but if you look at what you actually say and do, you’re not cold at all.”

Once again, the Original Protagonist tried to paint me, the poor author who possessed someone else’s novel, as a tsundere.

Naturally, my brows furrowed.

“That’s just your misconception…”

“Anyway! The point is, I don’t think you’ll really be able to get rid of Liolikin.”

Reysir cut me off and made a ridiculous assumption.

Knowing that a crisis would soon hit this world, would I really be crazy enough to burden myself with a huge lump I couldn’t even use as a shield?

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha, how absurd. Do you really think I can’t do it?”

“Yeah….”

“Mya…”

“…?”

The first to answer “Yeah.” was probably Reysir.

But the sound that came next? The only one here who could make a sound like that was Yor.

I looked at my baby dragon in bewilderment.

“Nyan-nyan-nyan, meow meow, mya-aang, nyanyat!”

Yor babbled on in incomprehensible cat-like cries, pointing at something.

The sharp dragon claw was aimed at none other than Reysir.

The number one target to avoid if I wanted to survive.

Even though I tried to stay away, even at this very moment the Original Protagonist was right by my side.

With Yor pointing at him, it was obvious what the baby dragon wanted to say.

You can’t even keep Reysir away, and you think you’ll manage to shake off Liolikin? That’s probably the gist of the critique.

The evidence was so clear that I couldn’t find a word to refute it.

“……”

“Hyaa….”

Yor let out a deep sigh, clutching his forehead, then shook his head and suddenly flew off somewhere.

Gliding through the air, Yor landed right in front of Liolikin.

Why did he go over there? As I wondered that, “Kyaooong!!”

Suddenly, Yor let out a sharp cry and threatened Liolikin.

“Hiiiik..!!”

Liolikin, confused by Yor’s approach, lowered his guard for a moment, then curled up tightly in fright.

The baby dragon looked even more displeased.

Floating up to a higher spot, Yor looked down on Liolikin and started what sounded like a lecture.

“Mya, nyanyanyat-, nyaaaat!”

Judging from the context, it seemed like Yor was saying, “Since you can’t get rid of Liolikin, I’ll turn this coward into someone useful myself.”

As his owner, I couldn’t help but feel a bit complicated.

‘Was I really so unreliable?’

But if Yor succeeded in knocking some sense into Liolikin, it would be to my benefit, so I decided to just let it be.

However—

“Liolikin, since last week you’ve been a distraction. If you have no intention of sparring, don’t ruin the atmosphere—just leave.”

The Martial Arts professor clearly had no intention of letting this slide.

It was understandable.

Even before Yor started yowling, the strange standoff between Liolikin and Vigdis Shalbrady had caught the attention of the other students.

“Uh, um… I… I…”

“Did you not hear me tell you to leave?”

“B-but…”

“At this rate, you probably won’t even be able to take the final exam. If you’re not ready, just stop coming from next week.”

I’d written off the professor as useless after the first week, but this resolute attitude was something worth emulating.

Not that I felt any respect, of course.

Anyway, Liolikin was kicked out of the classroom without a word of excuse, and Yor followed him out.

“Yor went after him—are you sure that’s okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? Yor must have a plan. He’s a clever child—he’ll manage just fine.”

“Well, he certainly seems more reliable than… someone else.”

‘Why is it?’

Reysir’s words sounded like he was leaving out, “unlike someone,” and that ‘someone’ seemed to refer to me.

‘Was I just being paranoid?’

For reference, Vigdis ended up sparring with some nameless student instead of Liolikin.

There’s an even number of students enrolled in this class, so ordinarily there shouldn’t have been anyone left without a partner.

But one student happened to skip class today, so Vigdis was able to spar safely.

“Well, shall we start our sparring too?”

“Let’s do that.”

“Ah! Just so you know, this time I won’t just shove you around like last time—I’m actually going to hit you.”

“…Go ahead.”

“Didn’t you just flinch?”

“I didn’t.”

To tell the truth, I did. I could feel it myself.

Reysir probably meant that a direct hit would hurt, so I should block and dodge well.

But rather than finding comfort in that concern, all it did was drag up memories of all the times I’d been hit in the past.

I forced myself to keep a straight face as I got into position, but my palms were damp with sweat.

Facing Reysir with bare fists felt more threatening than when he had a spear.

It had been fine last week sparring with Vigdis.

Maybe because those who’d actually harmed me in the past were all male and didn’t use weapons?

“Um, I did say I’d hit you, but I’m going to go easy, okay? So don’t get too tense.”

“…Would you close that mouth of yours? Sparring isn’t done with words.”

With that, I clenched my teeth, rushed at Reysir, and threw a punch.

I missed, as he dodged lightly, but just making the attempt made me feel like I’d shaken off the powerless memories of my past.

The heavy weight of fear was lifted from my body, and I could finally breathe again.

“You don’t get it, do you? Verbal sparring is also an important battle technique. You can provoke your opponent and make them lose their head, or break their concentration.”

“Then why don’t you just keep running your mouth by yourself.”

Instead of counterattacking immediately, Reysir stepped back and joked lightly.

Thanks to that, even the last shreds of my fear faded away.

I was grateful, but that wasn’t a feeling I could show, so I advanced again and threw another punch.

“Your moves are a bit slower than last time—did you not activate your buff today? Because it’s during class?”

Reysir lifted his left arm and easily blocked my oncoming fist, speaking leisurely.

Instead of answering, I focused all my attention on predicting her next move.

‘If she blocked my attack, that must mean she plans to counter this time. She used her left arm to block, so will she attack with her right hand? Where will she aim? Or is that too obvious?’

He could grab the arm I’d extended and twist it to subdue me.

‘Maybe he’ll use his foot to attack instead…’

‘Wait a minute, there’s no way I have enough time to run this kind of analysis in the middle of a spar!’

Just as I thought that, It was as if time, which had been frozen, suddenly started to move—Reysir, who had been still until now, darted at lightning speed.

He grabbed my wrist with his left hand and yanked me forward.

At the exact moment I stumbled, he hooked my leg, threw me completely off balance, and released my wrist.

It happened so quickly that before I knew it, I was face-down on the ground.

If I just stayed there, I’d be in the perfect position to get stomped on the back.

It’s not like this is a real fight, just a spar—surely Reysir wouldn’t actually do that.

Still, you never know. I quickly rolled sideways to put some distance between us and scrambled to my feet.

If this novel were in the wuxia genre, that move would be called the Pair Technique of Lazy Donkey Rolling—an embarrassing escape technique that throws away all dignity.

Fortunately, the novel I possessed is a fantasy.

So even with the prideful body of Karvald Austri, using such a move doesn’t break character.

Just now, what on earth was that? For a moment it felt like time really stopped….

But sadly, I don’t have time to ponder that now.

Reysir was now throwing a punch at me. I hurriedly crossed my arms to block.

Thanks to her holding back, it didn’t hurt too badly, but my arms tingled.

Maybe it won’t bruise badly, but it’ll definitely leave a mark.

If possible, it’d be best to dodge; if not, block. That’s my plan.

I focused all my attention on my opponent’s movements.