This Novel is not my Novel

"Karvaldr, where are you going? That's not the way to the dormitory."

We had just arrived at the academy and gotten out of the carriage.

I tried to slip away alone and head in a different direction, but Reisir immediately noticed and interfered.

I judged that announcing my schedule before anyone asked would be out of character for me, so I simply turned away in silence.

The place I was heading to wasn't some secret location, so there was no reason to hide my destination.

"I am going to the personal training ground."

"For someone with no intention of participating in the martial arts tournament, you're awfully dedicated."

"It's because of the sky blue ether, nothing else. To control it, I must deplete the purple ether, though I plan to do other training as well..."

Reading that line, many of you must have wondered, 'Wasn't the sky blue ether training supposed to be done with Professor Radvisin?'

So let me explain.

If this were a web novel, Chapter 50 would have included the sentence:

[Now, I have become able to draw out and use the sky blue ether while leaving just a trace of the purple ether, without reaching a state of exhaustion.]

'It means I can now train the sky blue ether without worrying about the side effect of ether depletion. Besides, Yor is always by my side, so there's someone to stop me if I overdo it!'

That was why I could continue my training even during the exam period, when Professor Radvisin was busy.

I could even train daily, consistently working on using the sky blue ether.

Thanks to that, I can now draw out the sky blue ether while keeping 10 percent of the purple ether remaining.

"Huh? Can't you use the sky blue ether without consuming the purple ether?"

"It is gradually improving, but that is still the case."

"Hmm... is that so...?"

According to the original work, Reisir could use the ability as soon as he obtained the second ether.

Although he cannot turn the passive skill 【Truth Reading Eye】 on and off as he pleases, for now he has no choice but to wear an eyepatch.

This is purely due to his low skill level and proficiency, so time will solve it.

Anyway, Reisir himself had no obstacles in drawing out and using the second ether.

By his standards, it's understandable that he finds it strange that I'm struggling with the initial stage of drawing out the sky blue ether.

Leaving him deep in thought, I turned away again.

However...

"Let's go together!"

Because Reisir stuck close to my side, I had to stop walking again.

What on earth is his intention in asking to go together?

When I glared at him with that thought in my eyes, he answered as follows.

"My goal is to win this martial arts tournament. So I'm going to do some training."

It's obviously a lie.

Reisir's skills had long surpassed the first year level.

The only thing stopping him was the restriction that first years cannot participate in the all-grade tournament for safety reasons.

He would surely be able to defeat the fifth years and win the overall championship.

'But to drag your tired body out to train at this hour after playing around for so long? For a tournament you're bound to win anyway?'

That suspicion grew in my mind, but I couldn't find fault with Reisir's words.

If I take it for granted that Reisir's martial prowess is outstanding, he'll naturally ask how I knew that.

It would be fortunate if he only asked questions.

People tend to judge others by their own standards.

Thinking I possess an ability similar to his 【Truth Reading Eye】, he might try to inspect my skill window.

I wanted to avoid such a situation for the reason mentioned in Chapter 61, so I nodded as if convinced by Reisir's excuse and answered, "Do as you please."

"Then I'll go train too... Ah..."

Seeing Reisir say he would train for the martial arts tournament must have motivated her to work harder as well.

Vigdís took a step forward to follow us, but stopped short.

She soon noticed her attire and let out a sigh.

"I guess I should stop by my room and change clothes first..."

"U-uh, umm... I-I will change my clothes too... and then go train..."

Ríolíkin watched my reaction and parroted Vigdís's words.

Because he lacks confidence in achieving the goal I set for him, I suspect he's doing that so he can later make the excuse that he at least tried hard.

"But are Kar and Reisir okay without changing clothes...?"

"I have already entrusted my change of clothes to Yor."

"Nyannyang!!"

"I always leave a change of clothes in my personal training ground." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Since everyone had already seen Yor take a whiteboard out of the Yeouiju several times, no one asked for further explanation regarding my words.

At Reisir's remark, Vigdís admired, "Such a method...!" and her reaction made it obvious that she planned to do the same in the future...

'There is no way someone with an inventory would bother leaving clothes in a personal training ground.'

Of course, even an awakened person's inventory has limited capacity, so they can't just shove anything inside.

But there was still no need to carry around survival supplies while preparing for conquering the demon realm.

It was entirely plausible that he had spare clothes in his inventory.

"Then Karvaldr and I are the only ones heading to the Training Tower right now? Helga, get some good rest once you return to your room, and Vigdís and Ríolíkin, train hard. See you tomorrow morning at the campus cafeteria!"

Reisir called his childhood friend by her name rather than her nickname and greeted all three of them at once.

Since it was the weekend after exams had ended, quite a few students were around us, returning after dinner and spending time outside just like we had.

He must have been mindful of the titles because of them.

"Yes, see you tomorrow then."

"Reisir and Kar too... train hard."

"I... I-I will really w-work hard...!"

Helga greeted us normally, and Vigdís offered words of encouragement.

Ríolíkin was busy emphasizing effort that hadn't even begun yet.

I had to maintain Karvaldr's character, so I headed toward the Training Tower without saying anything to them.

Reisir matched my pace but waved to the three heading back to the dormitory.

Because students who went to train immediately after hanging out were rare, the crowd thinned as we approached the Training Tower.

It was around the time I realized that.

Suddenly, Reisir grabbed my wrist and stopped walking.

"What is this?"

"I need to talk to you for a moment... You'd dislike it if I suggested talking inside your personal training ground, right?"

"You state the obvious. As I said before, we are not close enough to be entering each other's personal spaces, are we?"

"I knew you'd say that. Then shall we go somewhere more private for a moment?"

I only said I would not enter Reisir's personal training ground; I never said I would accept his request for a conversation.

Yet he led me to a suitable place to talk, pretending to accommodate me.

His subtle attempt to achieve his objective was absurd, but...

'As expected, he followed me under the excuse of training because he had something to say to me.'

Since I had that thought, instead of resisting by saying I had no intention of talking, I chose to let myself be dragged along quietly.

Only after we arrived at a secluded place and Reisir stopped walking did I shake off his hand.

"What on earth did you want to say badly enough to bring me somewhere this secluded?"

"Before that, can you look at this for a moment?"

Saying that, Reisir raised a hand to the back of his head.

And...

Poke.

"Ack!!"

I imagine many of you are bewildered by that sudden scream.

So I will briefly explain what just happened.

Reisir untied the knot and removed his eyepatch, and I poked the exposed silver eye with my finger.

I didn't do it intentionally; it was a reflexive action.

But if this happens again, I'll probably poke it on purpose.

Thinking that, I felt extremely sorry for Reisir, who was complaining in pain while covering his right eye with one hand.

Because of that, I apologized automatically.

"Sorry. Does it hurt a lot...?"

"Of course it hurts a lot! Why on earth did you do that?"

"You suddenly took off your eyepatch... so I got startled?"

"It wasn't pants, just an eyepatch?! Is that really shocking enough to make you poke someone's eye??"

I poked his eye because he took off his eyepatch; if he had taken off his pants, I would have kicked him between the legs.

I thought that, but as always, I did not say it aloud.

Because it would be troublesome if he misunderstood us as being close enough to joke around willingly.

"Ahem, hmm... I suppose it could be surprising. Anyway, was that silver eye what you wanted to show me?"

"You saw it clearly in that short moment."

"Since I saw it, wasn't I able to poke exactly that spot with my finger?"

"I'm asking just in case... you didn't poke it on purpose, right?"

"No. I swear to the heavens, I was genuinely startled and poked it in the heat of the moment."

If Reisir reveals his silver eye to me again, I do intend to poke it on purpose, though.

Since that hadn't happened yet, for now, I was innocent.

Whether he sensed sincerity in my utterly shameless attitude, Reisir did not question me further and silently put his eyepatch back on.

"Anyway, as you've seen from my eye color, I also possess two types of ether."

"Why do you go around hiding it?"

Having read the original work, I already knew the reason, but I intentionally asked the question so as not to reveal that fact.

Therefore, I didn't feel I absolutely needed to hear the answer.

"Actually, I obtained this silver ether when a calamity befell our territory... No, the place that used to be our family's territory."

"......!"

Because the original protagonist suddenly brought up a heavy past with a dark expression, I couldn't hide my bewilderment.

"Because of that strange and unknown phenomenon......... the environment of the territory changed drastically."

The pause between his words was exceedingly long.

As if he had been about to say something else but swallowed the words because he couldn't bring himself to say them.

I suppose he was about to say that everyone except him died but stopped himself.

My own throat felt choked up as well.

Because of that, I couldn't tell him to stop talking and had no choice but to quietly listen to what he said next.

"So the Imperial Family reclaimed the territory, saying they would investigate it, but if the Imperial Family finds out I possess a new ether, I might become a research subject too. Lord Diyoop... I mean, Heli's father, my guardian, told me so, so I'm hiding it."

It seems he has no intention of revealing that he wears an eyepatch because the passive skill cannot be controlled.

Well, if he did that, I would infer that the skill involves 'seeing something with the eye,' so naturally he wouldn't mention it.

"But... why are you telling me a story that you should be hiding from others and that is difficult to talk about?"

"Because you asked?"

"Do you think that's a real answer?"

"The incident itself is already widely known, right? So you naturally would have known too... and..."

Reisir's smooth reply faltered, and he let out a hesitant "Hmm..."

But soon he opened his mouth again and continued.

"Certainly, there was no need to go as far as telling you this story. But for some reason, I wanted to confide in you. Because I felt like... you would understand."

"Understand what?"

"Well, what could it be?"

It seems he has no intention of explaining the reason in detail.

I stared intently at Reisir's face for a while, then needlessly swept my long hair back and let out a long sigh.

"If you thought hearing such a story would make me pity you and treat you kindly, or that my heart would soften and I would no longer be able to treat you harshly, then you are mistaken."

"Ahahaha! You are always so consistent, aren't you?"

Reisir burst into laughter as if amused.

But I clearly witnessed it.

At some point, the corners of his mouth had turned downward and refused to rise again.

Damn it.