This Novel is not my Novel

Soon, a light drizzle began [N O V E L I G H T] to fall from the small cloud Yor had created.

Only then did Professor Radvisin stop muttering about his thesis topic. He stretched out his arm, letting the rain wet his hand as he marveled.

"Oh, it's actually raining... Mr. Karvaldr, how much Ether does this ability consume? Assuming it can be maintained for more than ten minutes, how large an area can it cover with rain?"

He had said he was too busy to supervise my training today.

Yet Professor Radvisin couldn't suppress his scholar's intellectual curiosity and immediately threw a question at me.

Naturally, it wasn't a question I could answer, since the one using the ability was someone else.

Instead of replying, I blankly looked toward Yor.

The smart baby dragon immediately understood the meaning of my gaze and shook the Yeouiju she was holding.

At that, the Yeouiju jingled like a bell and produced a notebook and pen.

"M-Mr. Karvaldr! What in the world is that orb that defies the laws of physics?!"

Even without receiving an answer to his previous question, Professor Radvisin displayed his academic curiosity by immediately asking another.

I thought it was rather late to be talking about the laws of physics in a fantasy world.

'The awakened who appear later can take things in and out of thin air without even needing a medium like the Yeouiju...'

To be precise, they took things out of an "Inventory Window," but only the awakened themselves could see it.

To everyone else, it simply looked like they were pulling things out of thin air.

'Still, it really is a surprising sight.'

I had also been startled when Yor stored the notebook and pen inside the Yeouiju.

That was when I first learned it had such a function.

Now I had simply accepted it as a good thing.

According to the worldbuilding of 《NaSE》, it was impossible to store items indefinitely in the inventory due to space and weight restrictions.

So obtaining an additional item that functioned as an inventory was clearly beneficial.

Besides, it would be more convenient for Yor to carry her own belongings.

"I do not know much about that orb either. It is something my familiar possessed from birth. For reference, none of my family's familiars have ever had such an item."

After finishing my thoughts, I answered Professor Radvisin's question.

It wasn't an excuse. I was simply stating the facts.

I only knew that the orb was a Yeouiju. I still hadn't figured out what abilities it possessed.

When I asked Yor, she had simply written 「 Yeouiju = Yeouiju 」 and shown it to me.

"Your familiar possesses a certain mystical quality, Mr. Karvaldr. Not only was it born with such a marvelous orb, but it can write as well...?! Mr. Karvaldr, what does this mean? I have never heard of a familiar capable of writing!"

After marveling for a moment, Professor Radvisin was shocked all over again when he noticed the letters Yor had written.

It seemed that, in his surprise at seeing the notebook and pen emerge from the Yeouiju, he had failed to notice what the baby dragon was doing with the writing tools.

"I suppose other familiars simply did not wish to communicate with their masters in such a specific manner. Perhaps the structure of their forepaws was unsuitable for writing, so they gave up. Otherwise, my familiar must simply be exceptionally intelligent."

I deliberately answered in a casual tone, hoping Professor Radvisin would calm down soon.

At the same time, I checked the message Yor had just written.

「 Half of Academy 」

It meant that with her current ability, she could make it rain over an area roughly half the size of the academy grounds for more than ten minutes.

There was no explanation regarding the exact Ether consumption.

Perhaps because it was difficult to explain numerically, and because what mattered most was the size of the area the ability could cover, she had simply omitted it.

"I do not know how many times I have been surprised today. Mr. Karvaldr, this is an ability that could benefit the entire world! And an incredibly great one at that!"

Perhaps because he no longer had the energy to react dramatically, Professor Radvisin spoke in a relatively calm tone this time.

Still, from the content of his words alone, it was easy to tell that he was deeply moved beyond simple admiration.

"I suppose so. If it becomes possible to create rain during droughts or fires, we would be able to reduce the damage. Moreover, according to Yor, she can also stop naturally occurring rain, so heavy rain disasters could be dealt with as well."

"This is... I can feel the weight on my shoulders growing heavier."

It seemed Professor Radvisin felt a sense of duty, believing he was responsible for developing mine and Yor's sky blue Ether abilities.

This was good for me, since it meant he would become even more devoted to teaching me.

"But Professor, didn't you say you had something urgent to attend to today?"

"Oops! Miss Blida and Mr. Elska must be waiting... Let us continue talking while we head to the research laboratory."

It seemed the matter keeping him busy was related to the two senior research students.

Had he started working on a thesis with them?

I hesitated, wondering whether I would only get in the way if I went along.

'It should be fine as long as I quietly cultivate Ether in a corner. Besides, there is also something I wish to ask the professor.'

So, together with Yor, I followed Professor Radvisin to his research laboratory.

Of course, before leaving the lecture hall, I made sure Yor stopped the rain and withdrew the cloud.

"Professor. Do you happen to know anything about people with weather-related Ether Attributes?"

"No. In fact, today is the first time I have learned that such an attribute even exists. I have researched Ether Attributes for a long time, yet to think there are still unknown attributes remaining! The world of Ether truly is vast and marvelous, is it not?"

As we walked, I casually asked the question, and Professor Radvisin answered happily, his eyes shining with academic passion.

"In theory, an Ether wielder with a water-controlling attribute could imitate something similar, but evenly dispersing water across a wide area would be extremely difficult, so the mental burden would be severe. In truth, it is almost impossible."

He was praising just how incredible the sky blue Ether ability was.

Whether she was pleased by that or not, Yor spun around in the air, turning her joy into a dance.

'It's true. In terms of offensive power, the ability to manipulate water itself is superior. But in terms of benefiting the world, the ability to create rain clouds is undeniably more amazing.'

That was precisely why it felt strange.

Whether this was truly a power suitable for a mere "school bully who tormented the protagonist."

Even considering that Karvaldr had once been a character who might have joined the protagonist as a companion, this ability was excessive. Far too excessive.

'But it's not merely rare like the protagonist's lightning attribute. It's an attribute that no one even knew existed?'

As could be seen from Professor Radvisin's reaction, the ability to summon rain was beneficial to the world.

Which meant that if such an ability existed, it would inevitably attract attention.

And yet it remained unknown. There was only one possible conclusion.

'It means this is an ability that has never existed in this world before.'

After considering the possibility that sky blue Ether existed within the body I had possessed, the first thing I did was investigate the Austri family's lineage.

But none of the duchesses in the family's history had sky blue eyes.

As a result, I could only speculate that one of their distant ancestors must have possessed sky blue Ether.

'Because of that, I don't know what attribute Karvaldr's sky blue Ether, which Author Senna originally established, was actually supposed to have. It probably wasn't weather control. Maybe she intended to decide later, but after the companion route was scrapped, the setting remained blank...'

Regardless, even if Karvaldr had been accepted as the protagonist's companion in the original story, he definitely wouldn't have been able to make it rain.

Of that, I was certain.

Because in any fictional work, weather control was always treated as a god-tier ability.

But who was Karvaldr?

A character who couldn't even rise to the level of a supporting role and died as a petty villain.

On the other hand, "I" was someone who had possessed a body inside a novel.

If you asked which of the two was more suited to wielding a god-tier ability, a hundred out of a hundred people would choose the transmigrator.

'Besides, weather control? Doesn't that suit a dragon almost perfectly?'

So I arrived at the following conclusion.

The setting for sky blue Ether, which had never been properly established in the original novel, had been overwritten by the informational value of "me," whose name carried the meaning of "dragon," resulting in this attribute... probably.

Even though the world I originally lived in had been an entirely ordinary modern setting without anything like Ether abilities.

Still, hadn't my original body also possessed sky blue eyes?

That alone was enough plausibility.

The weather-controlling sky blue Ether ability must have originated from "me."

"Have you finished organizing your thoughts?"

As I walked while contemplating the attributes of sky blue Ether, I realized we had already arrived in front of Professor Radvisin's research laboratory.

It was then that Professor Radvisin spoke those words and pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Ah, my apologies. I was worrying about whether I could properly handle such a rare and precious ability..."

"You will be fine, Mr. Karvaldr."

It would have been absurd to start rambling about transmigration and story settings.

So I trailed off with an appropriate excuse and lowered my gaze, prompting Professor Radvisin to pat my back and offer encouragement.

"Well then, shall we go inside?"

The professor said this as he stepped away from the door.

Although the gesture somehow felt artificial, I opened the research laboratory door without thinking much of it.

And then...

Pop! P-pop!!

"Myaaaak!!"

As the sound of firecrackers rang out, Yor shrieked in surprise and coiled herself around my body while paper confetti rained down onto my head at almost the same time.

As I stood there blankly in bewilderment, congratulations poured over me.

"We heard your familiar was born! Then yesterday must have been your birthday, right? It's a day late, but happy birthday~!"

"Happy birthday, junior!"

"Yes. Happy birthday, Mr. Karvaldr."

After Senior Blida and Senior Elska finished congratulating me, Professor Radvisin also offered his congratulations and gently pushed my back.

Thanks to that, my stone-stiff body finally managed to move, and I stepped into the research laboratory.

"I heard you were busy today, Professor... so this was..."

"That's right. It was your surprise birthday party."

"Junior, are you that touched? We put everything together in a hurry after hearing the rumors, so we couldn't even prepare presents..."

As I stammered, Senior Blida answered with a bright smile.

Senior Elska, who was holding the cake, spoke jokingly, but he looked embarrassed, as though he genuinely felt bad about not being able to prepare a gift.

Behind me, I could hear Professor Radvisin laughing.

"I never expected you all to celebrate my birthday when we've only known each other for such a short time."

In my head, I knew that "thank you" should have come first, but strange words slipped out instead.

That alone showed just how flustered I was right now.

If this were a scene in a novel, readers would probably find my reaction strange.

So at this point, I should reveal a bit of personal information.

Actually, my... that is, Mir's birthday is today, the day after Karvaldr's birthday.

Moreover, after my mother passed away, I never heard the words "happy birthday" again, nor did I ever receive a birthday cake.

So I had reached the point where being celebrated on my birthday felt awkward.

'I celebrated Yor's birth yesterday, so I was planning to let my own birthday pass quietly again...'

That should be enough explanation.

For why I was so flustered and completely at a loss over what to do right now.