'Sigh, I don't even know anymore...'
I couldn't help thinking that as I let out a deep sigh.
If I tried using harsh words again to push him away, this damned Tsundere Image had already made it difficult to get any results with ordinary insults.
No, even aside from that.
I don't want to consciously hurt soone.
Because facing soone I've hurt is too painful and difficult for .
'Anyway, Reisir is supposed to withdraw from the Academy at the end of this sester, and after that the people around him start dying off, right? So once Reisir leaves the Academy, if I just ignore all his attempts to contact and never see him again, everything will be fine.'
I decided to settle on that compromise.
That doesn't an I plan to beco close with Reisir. My attitude toward him won't change in the future either.
This compromise was nothing more than a way to reassure myself that even if I failed to push Reisir away, there was no need to stress over it or tremble with anxiety.
'Now that I've settled on how to deal with Reisir ntally, it's «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» ti to focus on the matter at hand.'
Not much ti had passed since Reisir's figure disappeared into the winding alleyway.
Judging by his running speed and the ti that had passed, had he just arrived at the destination?
While calculating that in my head, I stepped out of the carriage.
Even if I arrived early, it didn't matter. I could just observe the situation from outside the building and go in at the right mont.
"A-are you really going...?"
Just as I was handing the coachman a tip and promising additional paynt if he waited, Ríolíkin asked that question.
To think he would ask sothing like that after hearing the entire conversation between and Reisir on the way here.
"What do you an by that?"
"W-well... it's dangerous, isn't it...? From what I overheard... Lord Karvaldr, even if you t-tell Tryggdrik to stop... it might not work... And you could get hurt too..."
"Are you telling to just sit back and let myself get frad?"
"U-uh, but anyway, Reisir... he said he be-believes you, Lord Karvaldr... so isn't that enough...? Besides, with the po-power of the Ducal Family... even if you get frad, I think you could... could get out of it..."
The legal issue could probably be resolved. But the problem is that you can't stop people from saying whatever they want.
Even if Reisir ca forward and defended , would people really believe him so easily?
Wouldn't they gossip that he'd been bribed or threatened into giving false testimony?
And if I secured a not-guilty verdict through the power of the Austri Ducal Family, people would say even worse things behind my back.
'Not being punished isn't everything.'
Is Ríolíkin really so stupid that he can't understand such a simple fact?
Or is he saying this to protect Tryggdrik?
One question after another rose in my mind.
"If you're only going to say such nonsense out of fear, then why did you follow here in the first place?"
"I-I, uh... I'm sorry..."
"When did I ask for an apology? I believe I told you to explain why you followed ."
"Ah, th-that's, well..."
I could understand the stuttering. That wasn't sothing he could help.
But the fact that he couldn't answer imdiately and avoided my gaze made frown.
That kind of reaction ant he was hiding sothing. At this point, it was certain that he hadn't followed out of concern for anyone.
"I'm not foolish enough to head into a dangerous place with soone whose intentions I don't know. The situation isn't relaxed enough for to wait around until you decide to answer, and even if I had the ti, I wouldn't particularly want to. So if you won't answer, don't follow ."
After saying that, I imdiately turned and started walking.
At the sa ti, I focused intently on the presence behind , staying on high alert.
'How will he react?'
The worst-case scenario would be Ríolíkin trying to knock out and drag to Tryggdrik, but I considered that possibility close to zero.
It's not because I think Ríolíkin has no reason to obey Tryggdrik.
Even if Tryggdrik had sohow ordered Ríolíkin to attack , Ríolíkin lacked the decisiveness to actually carry it out.
At most, he would probably block my path and try persuading again.
He might even simply stand there and rationalize that he had already done his best by trying to stop once.
Even in the original novel, there were quite a few monts where he only half-followed Karvaldr's orders like that.
Timid. Passive.
Even those words were nowhere near enough to describe Ríolíkin.
"I-if I stayed in the lecture room, everyone... would probably a-ask what happened..."
Ríolíkin wasn't the type of character who could smoothly make up excuses on the spot.
So there was no way those words were a lie.
"You followed all the way here for a reason like that? And you expect to believe it?"
The reason was so incomprehensible that I had no choice but to stop and turn around to ask.
At that, a faint trace of color returned to Ríolíkin's face.
As if he had found so hope in the fact that I had stopped walking and looked back at him.
"B-but it's true... I-I don't know why T-tryggdrik suddenly started d-defying you, Lord Karvaldr... If the other guys ask whether sothing happened between you two... I wouldn't know what to say... So if I said I didn't know, I thought everyone would ignore ... J-just like how you gave your fiancée the job of telling the lecture contents later... If you had... given a task too... then even if I stayed in the lecture room, I think it would've been a little easier..."
I genuinely couldn't understand what he was talking about.
Once the lecture started, nobody would even be able to talk, so why was he worried about that?
And I couldn't understand why he thought not knowing about Tryggdrik's secret kidnapping plan would make people ignore him.
And what was this about things being okay if I had given him a task too...?
'At this point, this feels less like speculation and more like persecutory delusion. No, before that, does this guy never look in a mirror?'
Even though he was still in his teens, his face looked not rely rugged but like that of a man in his forties.
[N1]
Then I lowered my gaze and checked his muscles, which went beyond rely large and bordered on monstrous.
Did it make any sense for soone who looked like that to tremble in fear over being ignored by others?
I just hadn't ntioned it until now because I didn't think it was particularly important, but every ti I faced Ríolíkin, I had to ntally prepare myself.
So I wouldn't instinctively flinch or feel intimidated.
Ríolíkin simply had the kind of appearance that provoked that reaction.
In that sense, what he had just said could only be described as a serious plausibility error.
Author Senna must have ssed up the character settings.
"S-since I told you... can I co with you...?"
"...For now."
For so reason, it didn't feel like Ríolíkin was only asking about 'right now,' so instead of saying it was okay, I gave a temporary answer.
It seed I would need to have another conversation with Ríolíkin after this incident was over.
It's not that I want to dig into his personal backstory and figure out how he ended up thinking like this.
To begin with, it's doubtful that such a story even exists.
It can't be helped. Ríolíkin isn't even a 'villain,' just a 'minion.'
I doubt Author Senna would have written so long, tragic backstory for him.
Even if there was a setting for it, it probably wouldn't be detailed or elaborate.
'So what I need to confirm is... why Ríolíkin follows Karvaldr.'
Actually, I could already roughly guess the reason from what Ríolíkin had said earlier.
But now wasn't the ti to analyze or verify sothing like that, so I decided to set it aside for the mont.
I assu the readers are more curious about the progress of the kidnapping incident than Ríolíkin's circumstances anyway.
I moved through the alleyway with Yor, while Ríolíkin followed behind us.
Once we completely exited the alley, I could see the building written in the note.
It was a fairly large warehouse. Tryggdrik had probably rented it under the na of his transmigrated body.
Perhaps because the area was deserted, nobody was standing guard outside.
Thanks to that, it wasn't difficult to quietly approach the slightly open warehouse entrance.
Fortunately, it seed I hadn't arrived too late either.
"I believe I told you it would be best not to move carelessly."
Tryggdrik was saying that while pressing a dagger against the neck of an unconscious girl who was presumably Helga.
anwhile, Reisir was crossing weapons with soone who looked like a rcenary.
"Where the hell did that spear suddenly co from?! Drop it now!"
It seed that while the two of them were talking,
the rcenary had received a signal from Tryggdrik and launched a surprise attack on Reisir.
Unable to simply take the hit, Reisir must have pulled a weapon from his inventory to defend himself.
Tryggdrik's dagger nicked Helga's skin, leaving a small cut.
The mont he saw that, Reisir imdiately released the spear in his hand, and it clattered across the warehouse floor.
Apparently satisfied, Tryggdrik curled the corners of his mouth into a smirk.
"Good, very good. Now kick the spear over there and get on your knees imdiately."
"You're the one who should be kneeling."
Without hesitation, I shoved the door open and entered the conversation.
It wasn't that I acted recklessly simply because I couldn't stand seeing the original protagonist I supported kneel before soone like Tryggdrik.
Though if you asked whether that feeling played no role at all, I couldn't honestly deny it.
'Anyway, this is exactly the situation I expected. I can solve this easily.'
It was because I had that confidence that I could boldly open the door and step in.
Although Reisir reacted with obvious disbelief, as if he thought I was just being recklessly brave.
"Did you really have to make such a dramatic entrance? We could've waited until Tryggdrik let his guard down, slipped in through the back, subdued him, and rescued Helga, couldn't we?"
"Can you not see the rcenary standing behind Tryggdrik like a bodyguard? A strategy like that would never have worked."
"I still think it would've worked better than barging in like this..."
"I'm soone who's never even sparred before, let alone experienced real combat. The sa goes for Yor, who has no combat experience either."
"What about Ríolíkin?"
"You're asking for too much."
"But he looks like he'd be insanely strong?!"
Reisir shouted with an expression of disbelief.
Honestly, I agreed completely. From my perspective too, Ríolíkin looked like he possessed trendous combat ability.
Unfortunately, according to the original novel, Ríolíkin's abilities were entirely specialized toward defense.
Not only that, but apparently terrified by the three rcenaries hired by Tryggdrik, Ríolíkin was currently pressed flat against the wall and trembling.
Judging by appearances alone, the rcenaries and Ríolíkin looked about evenly matched.
'At this rate, I can't even use him as a shield.'
Not that I had been expecting anything in the first place.
Besides, it didn't matter, since a fight wasn't going to break out anyway.
User Comments
0 comments from readers