"Where exactly did you hear say that? I told you it wasn't sothing worth celebrating."
At the sa mont Ríolíkin rejoined us, Nidr, who had been pushed to the edge of the conversation, dumped a bucket of cold water over the friendly atmosphere.
As though he disliked the attention being taken away from him.
"Y-You're awful! E-Even if you're upset because I knocked you down and made you land flat on your back...! Y-You still shouldn't i-interrupt soone else's celebration...!"
"Interrupt? It seems you've misunderstood because you don't grasp the seriousness of the situation. I rely stated a fact."
"W-What's so serious about it?"
Ríolíkin's face showed irritation rather than anxiety.
Which ant he didn't believe Nidr's words at all.
"You can never beco a knight now. Every ti you enter combat, madness will consu you. You'll rampage without being able to distinguish friend from foe."
"W-Why are you saying I c-can't tell friend from foe?"
"If you rember what happened while you were berserk, shouldn't you know the answer yourself? You lost your reason and were overco by the urge to destroy everything you could see. Did you really think you were still distinguishing friend from foe?"
"D-Destroy...? I-I never wanted to do that, though... I-I just felt like I'd get s-scolded if I broke things for no reason..."
"...What?"
Confusion crept into Nidr's gaze as he looked down at Ríolíkin with pity.
On the other hand, one of my own questions was finally answered.
I had been wondering what exactly Reisir had seen with the 【Truth-Reading Eye】.
Apparently, Ríolíkin's 【Frenzy】 was different from the commonly known version.
It allowed him to distinguish friend from foe.
"Explain in detail. What were you thinking when you charged at ?"
"Uh... eh...? I-I just... I thought I wanted to k-knock you down and get p-praised by Lord Karvaldr. A-And... if possible... I wanted to win too... Then Lord Karvaldr would c-cherish more..."
"You correctly identified your target...?"
"D-Does that cause a p-problem?"
"No. Not at all. If anything, that resolves one issue."
Nidr stroked his chin and stared at Ríolíkin.
The look in his eyes resembled that of an appraiser evaluating the worth of an object.
At that mont, Reisir stepped in and drove a wedge between them, reiterating that Ríolíkin's 【Frenzy】 was nothing to worry about.
"If that's the case, then perhaps the madness wouldn't appear at all if he were simply ordered to defend. Once he enters a berserk state, defending becos impossible. Failing to defend would effectively an disobeying the order."
Though he phrased it as speculation, he was undoubtedly speaking based on what he had confird through the 【Truth-Reading Eye】.
Even to Nidr, who knew nothing of that fact, Reisir's reasoning must have sounded convincing.
Because the way he looked at Ríolíkin changed.
It was the gaze of soone who had discovered an extraordinarily rare accessory—sothing that would make everyone envious if worn openly.
"To think he normally serves as an unbreakable shield, yet transforms into a berserker that charges only the designated target whenever his master gives the order...!"
Listening to Nidr mutter to himself, I felt nothing but dread.
He seed to be imagining a future in which he beca Ríolíkin's master and issued commands to him.
As for the person Ríolíkin currently recognized as his commander...
"L-Lord Karvaldr. D-Did you hear that? Sohow... I think I turned into s-sothing amazing."
...Apparently it was .
There wasn't even room for doubt.
The mont I had finally lowered my guard around Ríolíkin and thought it fortunate that he had followed instead of the original protagonist, this happened.
I imdiately restored the alertness I had carelessly relaxed.
Unfortunately, that alone changed nothing.
At this rate, am I going to end up competing with the original villain for the position of Ríolíkin's master...?
If possible, I would gladly hand such a role to soone else.
I had absolutely no use for it.
The problem was that such a thing didn't seem possible.
And the biggest issue was—
Who exactly am I supposed to hand him over to?
According to the original novel, Ríolíkin awakened at the sa ti Karvaldr did.
If I handed him over to Nidr, he would spend his entire academy life being bullied to soothe Nidr's inferiority complex before eventually being murdered.
But I couldn't hand him over to Reisir, the original protagonist, either.
If I did, he would die according to the rules of this miserable novel that existed only to kill people.
This really has beco a predicant...
Had I known he would attract the original villain's attention like this, I never would have let Vigdís and Ríolíkin participate in the Tournant.
Regret ca too late.
And even now, there wasn't enough ti to sit around worrying.
"Karvaldr. It's our turn."
As I sighed deeply, Reisir tapped my arm.
Right.
The match directly ahead of took priority.
Besides, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) in the original story, Nidr doesn't begin seriously murdering Awakened people until after graduation. There's still plenty of ti until then...
I forcibly shoved the anxiety and worry filling my mind into a corner.
After removing my coat and folding it neatly, I rose alongside Reisir.
Then—
"I-I leave Lord Karvaldr in your care."
Ríolíkin suddenly said that to Reisir.
How exactly was I supposed to interpret a remark like that?
Unlike , who had completely lost track of whether the situation was absurd or not, Reisir answered naturally.
"Don't worry."
"ow! ow! Mrrrow~!"
As I stood there bewildered, Yor offered what sounded like an adorable cheer of encouragent.
Apparently she had no intention of bringing out the whiteboard.
Quite a few students already saw Yor writing, so the rumor must have spread by now...
Still, a Familiar wasn't sothing that could be transferred or stolen.
Unless Yor personally brought out the whiteboard and wrote sothing first, Nidr wouldn't waste ti approaching her simply to verify the rumor.
It would be far more efficient to spend that effort winning over the "berserker who obeys commands."
Let's just hope Ríolíkin doesn't say anything unnecessary...
Suppressing the anxiety that was once again trying to take over my thoughts, I headed toward the stage.
Reisir hurried after and suddenly asked,
"About that boy, Nidr. His behavior is unpleasant, but he didn't seem particularly dangerous."
That was true.
He hadn't fallen yet.
If Nidr were already committing cris, I would have simply told Reisir—the original protagonist—to deal with him sohow.
As long as Nidr maintained a superficially friendly façade, all I could do was avoid provoking his hostility.
What a troubleso situation.
"Do those words still co out after what happened with Tridric, who was insignificant beyond asure? Never lower your guard. Discomfort itself is a warning signal sent by instinct."
"You... you've really suffered a lot because of bad people, haven't you? If you're that sensitive to danger signals..."
"...!"
Even though I knew Reisir ant, There must have been many people who tried to take advantage of you.
For so reason, what I heard was:
You must have been bullied a lot, huh?
I flinched.
A puzzled look appeared on Reisir's face.
And at that exact mont—
"Wow! Walking onto the stage together while chatting so intimately! It seems the two students about to compete share quite the friendship!"
The host abruptly declared the two of us friends before the entire audience.
Whether what flooded through was embarrassnt or bewildernt, I couldn't tell.
My mouth fell open on its own.
"Now that this many people know we're friends, how about you admit it too?"
"...What isn't true remains untrue, regardless of what others think."
"Exactly the sort of thing a tsundere would say."
"..."
Let's not get dragged into the rhetoric of soone else's protagonist.
Thinking that, I untied the whip at my waist and let it fall into my hand.
Then I glared at Reisir.
In response, he adjusted his grip on his spear with both hands and settled into a ready stance.
Every trace of playfulness vanished from his face.
His expression was serious.
I was already accustod to standing opposite Reisir like this.
We sparred together several tis every weekend.
But perhaps it was because the location had changed.
Or perhaps because I knew he intended to use his Ether Attribute Ability today.
The tension was so intense that the air itself felt heavy.
Not that I minded.
The pressure sharpened my concentration instantly.
Keeping my eyes fixed on Reisir, I took a quiet breath.
The host, after filling the air with various bits of comntary to excite the audience, finally announced the start of the match.
Imdiately, I activated 【Encouragent】 using my possessed body as the target.
At the sa ti, I cracked the whip through the air with a thunderous sonic boom and activated 【Exaltation】.
Even then, Reisir didn't move an inch.
He was waiting for to attack first.
A mory surfaced.
Chapter 84.
The ti I had charged at Reisir without a plan and been defeated instantly.
I couldn't afford to lose exactly the sa way.
At the sa ti, I had no desire for him to deliberately hold back and let my attacks pass.
Today wasn't sparring.
It was a match.
Keeping a firm grip on the handle so I could strike at any mont, I lowered my arm and let the tip of the whip drag across the floor as I slowly advanced toward Reisir.
Although I had initiated plenty of exchanges during our sparring sessions, I had never approached him like this before.
Perhaps because of that, curiosity and anticipation appeared on his face.
He seed eager to see what I intended to do.
The hand gripping his spear tightened slightly.
He was tense too.
Reisir has always been the one teaching , Vigdís, and Ríolíkin... Perhaps he feels that if he mishandles my attack, his dignity as an instructor will suffer.
As I observed his reactions and guessed at his thoughts, the Thought Acceleration Skill activated naturally.
Coincidentally, at that very mont, Reisir entered the whip's range.
I swung up my arm diagonally.
The whip followed the motion and shot toward him.
It wasn't rely an arm movent.
I twisted my waist, adding rotational force, and snapped my wrist properly at the end.
Within the accelerated perception granted by the Thought Acceleration Skill, the whip seed slow.
In reality, however, it must have been moving with trendous speed.
Even so, Reisir dodged effortlessly.
Not by retreating.
By stepping inside.
The old would have panicked, stumbled backward, and flailed the whip wildly.
Not anymore.
Because my opening attack had co from below, my arm naturally ended high in the air afterward.
Simply bringing it down again was enough to obstruct the opponent's advance.
And I wasn't satisfied with stopping there.
I bent one leg, slid the other far outward, dropped my center of gravity sharply, and swept the whip across the floor.
The aim was to catch his ankle.
"Tch."
The sound escaping my mouth told the whole story.
I failed.
Reisir jumped at precisely the right mont and avoided the attack.
For an instant, I considered manipulating the whip with Ether to catch his ankle anyway.
But I never got the chance.
Because the protagonist of soone else's novel hurled lightning at .
Strictly speaking, I saw the attack before it happened. The mont he extended his arm, I recognized the preparation.
I hurriedly vacated the area.
Golden lightning streaked through the space I had occupied monts earlier before dispersing into nothingness.
Since I had been able to evade it, he had obviously held back.
Otherwise, I would have been struck.
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