Free Web Novel"It was something I brought up because I thought it might put your mind at ease... But I suppose it wasn't that simple after all."
"Why would I feel relieved just because the professors are innocent?"
"I'm talking about the elderly professor who oversees the Special Class for Awakened Ones. The one who helped you last semester with the sky-blue ether issue, and the one you regularly had meals with."
I had never once mentioned Professor Radvisin's name in front of Reisir.
And yet he had still pieced it together.
Because Princess Fjodora had revealed that my major was Ether Attribute...
It must have been because I reacted so noticeably when Professor Radvisin stood up to deliver his speech.
Since it was only a matter of time before he found out anyway, I wasn't particularly surprised that Reisir knew.
What I felt instead was bitterness.
All my careful efforts to keep the original protagonist from recognizing him had been completely meaningless.
"Even though the vacation isn't over yet, you insisted on finding him just to greet him and let him know you'd returned to the academy. That means you trust him that much, doesn't it?"
I couldn't deny it.
I'd already grown deeply attached to him.
All because I'd carelessly concluded that he was unrelated to the original novel.
I'd convinced myself that he would remain safely inside the academy, quietly devoted to his research.
I'd never imagined he could die unexpectedly.
So I'd lowered my guard, accepted Professor Radvisin as my mentor, and followed him without hesitation.
Only to discover that he, too, was one of those major characters whose life could disappear at any moment, depending on the author's whims.
"So? Were you worried I'd feel betrayed by him?"
"Mm-hmm... But judging by your reaction, I guess I worried for nothing. You never even considered that he might betray you. For someone like you to think that way... he must really be a good person."
That was exactly the problem.
Before long, every student in the Special Class for Awakened Ones—including Reisir—would come to admire Professor Radvisin and rely on him emotionally.
What better character could there be to sacrifice as a device for shattering the students' spirits?
His death would plunge them into despair and maximize the hopeless atmosphere.
The more I thought about it, the more I regretted ever becoming close to him.
The fact that I even had to feel this way seemed unbearably cruel.
Still, this wasn't the time to wallow in sadness.
I still had to stop this novel from plunging headlong into a story of despair.
"You saw him too, didn't you? Looking conflicted while reading the speech someone handed him. Anyone could tell he'd suddenly been assigned a role he never wanted. This has nothing to do with trust."
"That's true."
I carefully controlled both my expression and my tone, pretending it wasn't a significant matter.
Fortunately, Reisir simply nodded.
"And this is a slightly different matter, but... I don't think the professors learned about the Special Class for Awakened Ones so late because of malice."
"Huh? Weren't you the one who said it was so the students would trust the professors and develop their abilities?"
"I did. But I never said it was to raise capable soldiers."
"...That's not what you meant?"
Reisir frowned in confusion before his expression shifted with realization.
Even then, however, he didn't suddenly become optimistic.
"If the students don't improve their abilities and don't trust the professors leading them into the Demon Realms... they'll die. So you think it was the minimum necessary measure to protect them?"
"That's my theory. But you still don't seem convinced."
"Keeping students alive is ultimately just a way of preserving soldiers who'll clear the Demon Realms."
His dissatisfaction was written plainly across his face.
He probably thought I was trying to defend the Imperial Family.
Of course, that wasn't what I meant.
"The method they chose—forcing students into an unknown device to determine whether they'd awakened and then organizing them into a special class—is excessively coercive and guaranteed to breed resentment. There were other ways to do it, yet the Imperial Family deliberately chose this one."
"So doesn't that make them even worse?"
"It certainly does. But if they were truly the sort of people who didn't care about any of that, would they have worried about how to build trust between the students and their professors? Would they have bothered searching for a solution at all?"
"...No. I don't think they would."
Reisir temporarily set aside his resentment and listened with complete seriousness.
"I think so too. Which means someone who wanted to prevent the worst possible outcome must have intervened."
"And that 'someone' is..."
"Judging from the circumstances... I think it was Her Royal Highness, the First Princess."
"Since she ended up in the Special Class herself... maybe she only did it for her own safety?"
It seemed Reisir had absolutely no intention of viewing Fjodora favorably.
Which was only natural.
He had carried resentment toward the Imperial Family for far too long.
That's why, even in the original novel before the remake, Reisir never managed to build a good relationship with Fjodora.
If only she'd apologized to him.
Even privately.
If only she'd shown him how desperately she'd tried to help him.
Everything could have been different.
Only as she lay dying had Fjodora finally confessed that she was sorry—sorry that she'd never been able to bring herself to say those words.
That was the only time she ever revealed her true feelings.
Even then...
She never confessed everything.
Because she concealed, until the very end, the love that had quietly taken root in her heart.
The important thing was that Fjodora simply wasn't capable of being honest.
She willingly accepted being hated as the Imperial Family's representative.
She accepted being branded the villain.
Even by the person she loved.
She had endured it all in silence.
She would probably do exactly the same this time.
Which was why...
"Perhaps you've got the order backwards."
"The order?"
"She could have used her age as an excuse. Or argued that her duties as royalty came before her duties as an Awakened. She had several ways to avoid enrolling. Instead, she may have entered the academy specifically to obtain authority over the Special Class for Awakened Ones... so she could protect the students who'd been forced into a death trap."
...I would defend Fjodora.
I was certain she'd keep the Imperial Family from crossing the line and do everything she could to protect the students in the Special Class.
But to be hated simply because she was born a princess... wasn't that unbearably cruel?
Besides, if the class had a common enemy from the very beginning, the atmosphere would inevitably become toxic.
As someone determined to turn this novel into a healing story, I couldn't just stand by and watch.
"Karvaldr... do you think Her Royal Highness, the First Princess, is a good person?"
"I've only stated my conclusions based on the circumstances. If you fail to distinguish friend from foe, you'll regret it someday."
"..."
"I'm not saying you should trust Her Royal Highness unconditionally. It's still too early to reach a conclusion. For now, let's simply leave open the possibility."
"If that's what you think... then I'll try to observe Her Royal Highness without prejudice. Let's continue this discussion another time."
It seemed I'd managed to fasten the first button correctly.
Better yet, Reisir didn't intend to decide everything on his own anymore.
He wanted to compare his conclusions with mine before making up his mind.
Even if a series of incidents ended up falsely painting Fjodora as a villain...
I'd still have the chance to clear up the misunderstanding.
That alone was an enormous relief.
I nodded in agreement.
Then, deliberately putting on a serious expression, I changed the subject.
"By the way... about the Awakened Person Detector."
"Yeah? What about it?"
"Don't you think it was developed remarkably quickly?"
"It does seem that way. It's only been a little over two months since research into the Demon Realms and the Awakened even began."
"In that case, it's only a matter of time before the technology advances, portable detectors are created, and they're distributed everywhere."
"I suppose so...?"
Reisir blinked at me, clearly wondering why I was suddenly talking about something so unrelated.
I'd already laid all the groundwork.
Now it was time to reach the real point.
"People are already saying it's the duty of the Awakened to conquer the Demon Realms. As the damage caused by the Demon Realms grows, that opinion will only become stronger. If someone hides the fact that they've awakened and it's discovered later... don't you think both the Awakened and ordinary people would turn against them?"
"I suppose they would..."
"It probably wouldn't stop at criticism. They might even be treated like criminals and forced into especially dangerous Demon Realms that everyone else avoids."
"That... actually makes sense."
The protagonist of someone else's story listened intently and nodded with an unusually serious expression.
It was almost the reaction I'd been hoping for.
Almost.
There was still one final push I needed to make.
"Come to think of it... the upperclasswoman sitting behind us earlier left her inventory unused and insisted on carrying those heavy books herself, didn't she?"
"Huh? Yeah, she did."
"...She must have been trying to hide the fact that she'd awakened."
"I guess so."
"...Looking at it in the long run... don't you think ending up in the Special Class for Awakened Ones might actually be fortunate for her?"
"Uh... wait a second."
At last, he realized I had been steering the conversation toward a specific purpose.
Ideally, I'd hoped Reisir would remember the library club senior himself and decide to comfort her.
"Karvaldr... are you trying to tell me you want me to go talk to that senior and help her see the situation more positively? Because you're too shy to walk up to a stranger yourself?"
"...That's not it."
"Then what is it?"
"I'm a duke's son. She might assume I share the Imperial Family's views and misunderstand everything I say."
There were other reasons, too.
I didn't want to become personally acquainted with another character who might die at any moment.
Approaching her out of nowhere to say something like that might completely shatter my character's established personality.
And if someone like me—a mere supporting character—said those things, she probably wouldn't take them seriously.
If they came from the protagonist, Reisir, she'd be far more likely to accept them.
There were plenty of reasons.
None of which I could explain.
"So why didn't you just tell me that from the beginning and ask me to pass the message along? Why go all the way around by talking about how quickly the Awakened Person Detector was developed?"
"I only became concerned because it looked like someone might ruin the atmosphere of today's lecture. But you kept drawing strange conclusions, so I had no choice."
"Aha~! So you were worried that if you admitted you wanted to help someone, I'd praise your sweet little heart and say, 'Just as I expected—you really are such a kind person!'"
"..."
If it felt like Reisir's teasing had somehow advanced to an entirely new level...
I sincerely hoped it was just my imagination.
