Free Web Novel“By the way, Reisir. When are we finally going to have that arm-wrestling match?”
“Oh! Right. We said we’d do it once the semester started, didn’t we? Back when you refused to believe my Strength stat was over a hundred.”
Seizing the brief lull in the conversation, Ríolíkin, as though he had been waiting for exactly this moment, reminded Reisir of the promise he had made back in Chapter 140.
Reisir agreed without hesitation.
“I object.”
The interruption came from me.
“You can arm wrestle later. Don’t destroy someone else’s furniture or flip over the café table.”
Back then, Ríolíkin had said his Strength stat was only just over one hundred.
Purely in terms of stats, the protagonist of someone else’s novel already held the advantage, and on top of that, he had the uncanny knack of handling almost anything well.
In other words, the outcome was obvious.
Reisir was going to win.
Since I already knew how it would end, there was no reason to sit around watching while risking the café’s furniture.
“Ah... I didn’t even think about that. Ríolíkin, would it be okay if we did it another time?”
“Yes... that’s fine.”
Reisir accepted my objection immediately.
Ríolíkin also agreed without protest, though the disappointment was plainly written across his face.
Perhaps hoping to distract him, Reisir turned toward me.
“Come to think of it, arm wrestling wasn’t the only promise from last time, was it?”
“Ah...! Th-That’s right! Lord Karvaldr said... he would tell us... the name... of his sky-blue Ether ability...!”
For the past week, I had eaten with the protagonist of someone else’s novel every day.
He had never once brought it up.
I assumed he had forgotten.
Apparently, he had either been waiting until everyone was present...
Or he genuinely had forgotten and had only remembered now.
If I tried to determine which it was, I would inevitably end up hearing some nonsense about how disappointed I must have been that he hadn’t shown enough interest in me.
To avoid inviting that conversation, I answered as briefly as possible.
“【Weather Manipulation】.”
“When you introduced yourself earlier, you only described it as the ability to make it rain. It’s much broader than that?”
“At my current level of proficiency, I can only produce rain clouds, so that explanation was sufficient. In theory, I should also be able to create fog...”
Strictly speaking, that was something I should have included during my self-introduction.
Still, now that the protagonist knew, he would naturally take it into account when planning our future strategies.
“Can you control exactly where it appears? And its range?”
“Yes.”
“If you filled an area with dense fog and I released lightning into it... we could paralyze a huge number of monsters at once.”
“In theory. Though it would only work against monsters with poor electrical resistance.”
“Even so, that’s incredible! We could block their vision too!”
Listening to his cheerful praise, it seemed he had misunderstood.
He apparently believed I had intentionally left fog out of my introduction because I considered it too insignificant to mention.
That misunderstanding was far preferable to him realizing I had simply panicked slightly at the time.
So...
“Hmph. I’m already aware of that.”
For no particular reason, I answered curtly while absentmindedly stroking Yor, deliberately acting as though I wanted to end the discussion.
It was one of my habitual ways of closing a conversation.
Perhaps Vigdís recognized the signal.
She smoothly picked up the thread.
“Um... shouldn’t we start putting together our class schedules? We still have plenty of time before curfew, but wouldn’t it be nicer to finish everything before relaxing?”
“I agree.”
Helga took several sheets of paper from her inventory and spread them across the table.
They were the second-year course list and the accompanying syllabi.
Most of the combat course descriptions, however, were practically worthless.
Apparently, the administrative office had been unable to recruit every instructor before publishing them.
The sections where the professors’ names should have been were left completely blank.
And at the bottom of the final page was an almost absurd disclaimer.
This content was written arbitrarily.
...If those course descriptions had actually been complete, I would have noticed the names of the original supporting characters and realized much sooner that the story had already gone off the rails.
Seeing those sloppy syllabi again made my stomach churn.
Still, what could I have done?
It wasn’t as though Hárðr would have allowed me to withdraw from the Academy.
Even if I had barricaded myself inside his office until he finally relented, the end result would have been exactly the same.
My identity as an Awakened was already public knowledge.
The Imperial Family would simply have forced me into the Special Class for Awakened by some other means.
And Hárðr, unwilling to stain the family's honor, would naturally have accepted their decision.
“I suppose none of us expected there to be four required courses now... It’s lucky you already had all the course materials.”
“I was planning to take mostly theoretical classes again this semester anyway, so I needed to make a new timetable regardless. But as you know, Sister... I know nothing about combat. Looking at the syllabus alone, I couldn’t tell which classes were worthwhile, so I brought everything with me hoping everyone could give me some advice.”
Helga answered Vigdís with an exhausted smile.
She had accepted reality and decided to prepare herself for entering the Demon Realm.
But what needed rebuilding was more than just a timetable.
Her entire life plan had been overturned.
Feeling overwhelmed was only natural.
“So... does anyone have any recommendations for combat courses?”
“How about swordsmanship? I don’t know what your main weapon will be yet, but swords are the most common. Someone once said it’s useful to understand swords when facing sword-wielding opponents... something like that. Kar learned swordsmanship last semester for the same reason.”
Vigdís immediately recommended the swordsmanship course.
She even awkwardly quoted something I had told her months ago.
“I feel a little guilty saying this... but unless Helga intends to specialize in the sword, I think another class would serve her better. The enemies we’ll actually be fighting are monsters from the Demon Realm, not people.”
Reisir cautiously disagreed.
Ideally, we really wouldn’t have to fight people.
Unfortunately, Author Senna would never permit something so convenient.
It might not happen often...
But eventually we would be forced to cross swords with humans.
Naturally, I couldn’t explain that.
Besides, unlike last semester—when only one theory course had been mandatory and we could freely choose seven electives—we now had four required classes, leaving room for only four elective courses.
Every choice mattered.
“From experience,” I added, supporting Reisir’s opinion, “you can learn enough about swordsmanship simply by observing Vigdís’s training. Or ask the instructor for occasional guidance outside class. You haven’t even settled on your primary weapon yet. Spending several hours every week learning techniques for a weapon you may never use would be wasteful.”
I had no intention of taking swordsmanship again myself.
After one semester of classes and even receiving private instruction from Vigdís, the skill still had not registered.
Continuing would accomplish nothing.
Besides...
I had already achieved everything I wanted from that course.
“Rather than swordsmanship, what about dagger techniques? Daggers make excellent secondary weapons. I was planning to take that course myself this semester.”
I had expected Reisir to choose dagger techniques.
In the original novel, before the rewrite, Skati had taught him the dagger, and he eventually wielded it extremely effectively as a secondary weapon.
I simply hadn’t expected him to recommend it to Helga as well.
I was prepared to suggest it myself if necessary, but this saves me the trouble.
Skati’s dagger class involved all sorts of acrobatic movement.
It improved flexibility while teaching precise body control.
Applied properly, those techniques made dodging enemy attacks and launching counterattacks far easier.
Even if someone never actually fought with a dagger, the course was worthwhile.
“That sounds perfect! Kar gave me a set of daggers during the vacation, so I was already thinking about taking that class!”
“Then... I suppose... I’ll take it too.”
Since I had intentionally given Vigdís those daggers, I had naturally expected her to enroll.
I had never specifically intended to recommend the class to Ríolíkin.
Still, I saw no reason to stop him.
It was admittedly difficult to imagine Ríolíkin performing graceful acrobatic maneuvers...
But tanks often fought at extremely close range.
Knowing how to use a dagger could only help.
Does that mean every one of us is taking dagger techniques...?
For some reason, the thought felt oddly awkward.
No matter who considered the question, everyone arrived at exactly the same conclusion.
It's useful to know how to use a dagger.
At this point, it almost felt as though dagger techniques ought to have been a required course, while the Academy merely pretended students had a choice.
Still... at least Martial Arts and Basic Physical Training are covered by our dawn training. I suppose that’s something.
Beyond dagger techniques, Reisir recommended several other practical classes, eventually completing Helga’s timetable.
Then, quite unnecessarily, his attention shifted toward mine.
“Karvaldr, what are you taking besides dagger techniques?”
“Shouldn’t you stop worrying about other people’s schedules and decide your own?”
“I am deciding mine. I’m using yours as a reference.”
“...Why?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we attended classes together?”
“Forget that. Pick the courses that benefit you.”
After my firm refusal, Reisir looked genuinely troubled.
“To be honest... aside from dagger techniques, I have no idea what else I should choose.”
Some readers are probably wondering why spear techniques never entered the discussion.
Allow me to answer.
The protagonist’s 【Spear Techniques】 had already reached S-Rank.
If he attended an ordinary spear techniques class, the pace would be far too slow for him.
There would be almost nothing left for him to learn.
Or so the explanation went.
Besides, the spear instructor is nothing more than a nameless extra. There's no way his 【Spear Techniques】 rank is particularly high. A-Rank at best... S-Rank if we're being extremely generous.
Even so, in terms of experience and practical insight, the instructor would still surpass Reisir.
There were undoubtedly things he could teach him.
Just not inside a beginner's classroom.
The proper approach would be to challenge him to spar outside lecture hours.
“My timetable wouldn’t be much help to you anyway. Ether Cultivation. Biology. And... one general education course I want to take simply because it interests me.”
“How is that not helpful? Ether Cultivation and Biology are both excellent choices. The more consistently you cultivate Ether, the larger your Ether reserves become and the better your control gets. And after seeing you identify the location of that centipede boss monster’s core, Biology practically feels like a required class.”
He rambled for quite a while.
The essence of his argument, however, was simple.
He intended to enroll in those classes with me.
“But what’s the general education course?”
Just as I expected.
His curiosity immediately shifted there.
Given Reisir’s personality, refusing to answer would only invite endless questioning.
Even if I somehow kept silent today, he would undoubtedly discover it eventually.
So I answered honestly.
“...Understanding and Criticism of Literature.”
“That really has nothing to do with combat or the Demon Realm.”
He wasn't wrong.
Claiming I had chosen it because of the existence of the 【Writing】 skill...
Was merely an excuse.
To tell my dear readers the truth—
For a long time now, I had simply wanted to study writing and creative theory properly.
Just one class.
For once...
Not because I had to.
But because I wanted to learn something solely for myself.
