Free Web Novel"Ahaha..."
Reisir gave Helga an awkward smile before turning back to Pret with a stern expression.
"Anyway, Pret. If you wanted to join our table, shouldn't you have asked first?"
Apparently, he still hadn't let go of the suspicion that Pret was approaching me because of the possessed body's social status.
...Then again, can I really say it's only a misunderstanding?
Back in Chapter 183, Pret had asked Reisir how we'd become friends.
That was probably simple curiosity.
But he was also the successor to the Head of the Information Guild.
There was no way he hadn't considered that getting close to Karvaldr would make it easier to obtain valuable information—including information about House Austri.
In other words...
Reisir's caution wasn't entirely misplaced.
The Original Protagonist's instincts really are sharp.
"Oops! My apologies. Professor Banhilda was being misunderstood, and I got so caught up in correcting the misunderstanding that I completely forgot my manners. It became a rather belated request, but... since I'm already sitting here, may I join you? Oh, and could Sveinn join us too?"
Pret smiled sheepishly as he apologized.
Without making the slightest attempt to stand back up.
If anything, he pushed his luck even further by asking permission for his companion as well.
The man's shamelessness was impressive.
More importantly... Sveinn?
It turned out Pret hadn't come alone.
He'd brought the Original Traitor with him.
Looking behind him, I finally spotted Sveinn standing there with his tray, wearing an expression that practically screamed What am I supposed to do?
As I struggled with mixed feelings, the conversation continued.
"I don't think that's going to happen."
"Oh dear... how unfortunate. Sveinn, they said no to you."
"Not Sveinn. You."
Reisir's rejection was absolute.
Watching it unfold left me feeling strangely frustrated.
If he's going to be wary of someone... I wish it'd be Sveinn.
Even if Pret really intended to use me, I wasn't particularly worried.
I already knew his identity.
If necessary, I could always steer the relationship into the realm of mutual benefit.
Besides...
Pret was fundamentally someone who valued loyalty and trust.
At first glance he seemed impossible to read, but in truth he was surprisingly straightforward.
Sveinn, on the other hand...
He was the truly dangerous one.
In the original story before the remake, his betrayal came completely out of nowhere.
The reason behind it was never explained.
"Did something happen with that junior yesterday?"
Apparently sensing the unusual tension, Helga lightly poked Reisir's arm with one finger.
He leaned over and whispered something into her ear.
Moments later, her expression soured as though she'd bitten into an unripe persimmon.
After all, the only thing Pret had done yesterday was ask how Reisir and I had become friends.
If that single question was enough to earn this much suspicion...
Her reaction made sense.
"You two can sit down."
With a weary sigh, Helga rubbed her forehead before finally granting permission.
These first-years were destined to enter Demon Realms alongside us someday.
For the sake of that future, she must have decided it was better to maintain good relations.
"Oh! Thank you, Senior Helga."
"Th-Thank you..."
Pret flashed his usual cheerful smile.
Sveinn bowed timidly before taking a seat.
The problem...
...was where he chose to sit.
"Isn't it normal for you to sit next to me?"
Ríolíkin had a point.
There were three people seated on one side of the table ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) and four on the other.
Naturally, the next person should fill the shorter side.
That way, no one would end up isolated.
And yet Sveinn ignored the empty seat across from Pret.
Instead, he deliberately chose the seat beside Pret, leaving himself sitting apart from everyone else.
Naturally...
Everyone found it odd.
Pret was the one who explained.
"I'm telling you, Senior Ríolíkin really doesn't seem like a scary person."
Apparently, Sveinn had avoided sitting beside Ríolíkin because he looked frightening.
Which was ironic.
He certainly looked intimidating.
But once you actually knew him, he was probably the gentlest—and most timid—person here.
"Ah... that's..."
"You should explain that properly," Pret interrupted. "Otherwise Senior Ríolíkin might think you avoided him because you dislike him, and that would hurt his feelings. We should avoid misunderstandings like that, shouldn't we?"
"H-Hurt...?"
Sveinn stared blankly at Ríolíkin.
His feelings? That senior's?
The disbelief was practically written across his face.
Then their eyes met.
Sveinn immediately flinched and lowered his gaze.
No matter how I looked at it...
His fear didn't seem fake.
Come to think of it...
Before the remake, the original story frequently described Sveinn being frightened by monsters.
It wasn't because he was an especially cowardly character.
Rather...
He'd been portrayed as an ordinary person.
He got scared when facing terrifying monsters.
He admired how extraordinary Reisir was.
In that sense, he was the sort of everyman readers could easily relate to.
At the same time...
He gradually gathered the courage to ask Reisir if he could become part of the team.
Instead of running away from terrifying monsters, he slowly learned to stand and fight.
Yet Author Senna never framed that as character growth.
It was simply presented as part of what made him an ordinary person.
Which was exactly why...
His sudden betrayal hit readers so hard.
A man who had shared life-and-death battles with his companions...
Suddenly sent one of them to their death.
There was nothing ordinary about that.
From that moment on, Sveinn ceased being an ordinary, relatable character.
He became the most incomprehensible person in the story.
"That's right," Ríolíkin said. "My feelings are hurt. And I'm not scary."
He tried to make a pitiful face.
Unfortunately...
The effect was the exact opposite.
Calling it "pitiful" was purely my own perspective.
I knew him.
I understood his personality.
Someone meeting him for the first time yesterday wouldn't see it that way at all.
To them...
He probably looked like the sort of thug who deliberately bumped into people before demanding compensation.
"I-I'm sorry..."
Sveinn bowed his head, his face completely pale.
His apology didn't sound genuinely remorseful.
It sounded like someone begging a gangster not to beat him up.
Pret looked embarrassed.
"I probably should've sat next to Senior Ríolíkin instead. I thought that if I talked with him for a while, Sveinn would quickly realize he isn't scary. That's why I deliberately sat here."
"The one who's much, much, much scarier than me is Lord Yor."
"He looks perfectly docile right now."
"That's only because you're not afraid of him, Junior Pret. If some timid stranger sat beside him, it'd be a completely different story. Until he decided he trusted you, he'd hiss, glare at you... he'd be like a wild beast."
...
Ríolíkin was insisting that the truly frightening one wasn't him.
It was Yor.
A single possibility surfaced in my mind.
Could this entire conversation exist solely because Author Senna wanted to rearrange the seating... so Sveinn would end up beside Reisir?
Maybe I was reading too much into things because I'd become overly conscious of Author Senna's writing habits.
Even so...
Ignoring the possibility left me strangely uneasy.
The reason Yor had hissed at Ríolíkin before...
Wasn't because Ríolíkin had been a stranger.
It was because he'd shown no remorse whatsoever for trying to use Karvaldr.
That was why Yor disliked him.
Likewise...
The reason Yor had gone so far as to use 【Dragon Fear】 wasn't because Ríolíkin was timid.
It was because Yor feared Ríolíkin might become a burden—or even a danger—to me.
Ríolíkin's cowardice was merely the cause.
Not the reason.
He knew that perfectly well.
So why was he insisting Yor simply disliked timid strangers?
And there was another problem.
"Pret."
Reisir narrowed his eyes.
"Yesterday was your first time meeting Ríolíkin too, wasn't it? Just like Sveinn. So why are you talking as though you already know what kind of person he is?"
That question was completely appropriate.
For the successor to the Head of the Information Guild...
Pret's familiarity was suspicious.
Then again...
Author Senna often had an unfortunate habit of leaking foreshadowing whenever she became impatient to reveal information only she knew.
I couldn't help wondering whether this entire exchange existed both to justify rearranging the seating later...
...and to quietly hint that the mercenary from the kidnapping incident had been Pret all along.
"In our circus troupe," Pret replied smoothly, "there was an older brother built like a bear, but he was the kindest person imaginable. That's where I learned an important lesson."
He smiled.
"Never judge someone's character by their appearance. Judge it by their eyes and the way they speak."
Once again...
The circus troupe became his convenient excuse.
Reisir didn't entirely lose his suspicion.
But he let the matter drop.
An awkward silence settled over the table.
I seized the opportunity.
"Reisir."
I looked at him.
"That's not what you should be criticizing."
"Hm?"
"The problem isn't that. Someone barged into another group's meal without asking, then openly declared who looked too scary to sit beside. That's the rude part."
"...Yeah."
Reisir grimaced awkwardly.
"I suppose you're right."
For some reason, I glared at the protagonist of someone else's novel before turning toward the original story's future traitor.
"You."
I fixed Sveinn with a cold stare.
"Your name was Sveinn, wasn't it?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Surely you weren't expecting everyone else to rearrange their seats just to accommodate you."
"I wasn't...!"
Sveinn hurriedly denied it, looking genuinely wronged.
To be fair...
The first-years had only just joined us.
There was no way they could dictate where everyone sat.
Even Author Senna wouldn't force something that implausible.
More likely...
At lunch later, when Sveinn inevitably hesitated between sitting beside Ríolíkin or beside Yor, Helga or Reisir would suggest switching seats so Ríolíkin ended up next to Yor instead.
I decided to stop that possibility before it even had a chance to happen.
"You've got some nerve."
I didn't soften my tone.
"You join someone else's table, openly make it obvious you don't want to sit next to one of the people already there, and create an awkward atmosphere for everyone."
I stared directly into his eyes.
"If you're going to behave like that again, then eat by yourself."
"That's basic courtesy."
"...I'm sorry."
The possessed body's face wasn't nearly as intimidating as Ríolíkin's.
If anything, it was strikingly handsome.
But...
Its sharp eyes carried an unmistakable pressure.
The moment I fixed him with a hard glare and spoke without restraint, Sveinn visibly shrank back, wearing the expression of someone who had been thoroughly frightened.
