Free Web Novel"...That's not what I am."
"Yeah, of course not."
Unlike his words, Reisir's expression showed no sign that he believed me.
He had already firmly established the formula 'Karvaldr = Tsundere' in his mind, and his response practically meant, 'I knew you'd deny it.'
If I got annoyed and denied it even more strongly at this point, it would only backfire.
I'd probably just get told that excessive denial is proof.
'I'd rather not react at all. They say it's best to ignore nonsense, right?'
With half-resigned feelings, I came to that conclusion and opened my mouth to change the subject.
"If you're going to keep spouting strange nonsense, then just explain the circumstances of the incident. It doesn't seem likely that a kidnapping would happen inside the academy, so how did Helga get kidnapped? And how did you find out about it?"
"We were supposed to meet outside and eat breakfast together..."
"Breakfast? Why outside..., ah..."
For a moment, I wondered why they would go out to eat on a weekday morning instead of using the campus cafeteria, where you could taste all kinds of high-quality food from around the world.
But soon after, I let out a sigh of realization.
'Come to think of it, in the original work, Reisir only used the campus cafeteria briefly at the very beginning of the first semester and always ate outside after that, didn't he...? Because Karvaldr once poured food over his head, and he was afraid the same thing would happen again.'
There was also an explanation that, because of this, most of the allowance he received from his guardian ended up being spent on food.
Since his guardian was a very kind person who cherished Reisir like his own son, he surely would have increased Reisir's allowance if he had known about the situation.
He might even have protested to the Austri Ducal Family.
'Even then, it would have been like throwing an egg against a rock, so nothing really would have been resolved...'
As shown above, Reisir hid the fact that he was being bullied from his guardian.
Not only because he felt sorry for causing worry...
...but also because he thought that, if things were handled poorly, he might cause trouble for his guardian's family.
So he had also asked Helga, his guardian's daughter,
not to tell him about what Karvaldr had done to him.
Since she might become a target of bullying too if she stayed close to him, he suggested that they keep their distance and act like strangers within the academy.
This showed just how much Reisir cared for Helga and her father.
'It's also the reason why the readers of the original work disliked Helga.'
Since we're on the topic, let's briefly talk about the sentence I mentioned in passing in chapter 11.
'In effect, it was a forced plot development meant to get rid of a character the readers disliked.'
The fact that she couldn't help while the protagonist was suffering through hardships, and that she actually kept her distance when he asked her to.
Because of this, Helga surpassed Karvaldr and became the most unpopular character.
Karvaldr was a villain anyway, so he was destined to fall someday. But even though Helga was technically the protagonist's ally, she failed to fulfill her role.
[She acted like they were real family, but I guess her own safety mattered more lol]
[Why does Helga even exist? She feels like a useless character.]
Comments like these started appearing here and there.
At some point, an extreme opinion emerged saying they couldn't accept such a useless character as the heroine and that she should be killed off before becoming one.
It got to the point where comments like [Nth day of wishing for Helga's heroine route to die] appeared under every chapter.
'Should I call this the disease of free web serials?'
In the end, Helga died in the original work because readers who would have dropped a paid serialization instead stayed and kept posting those comments.
That's right.
Even though the original author used the pen name 'senna,' meaning 'diss rap battle,' he was thoroughly defeated by the readers' diss comments.
Still, I don't want to criticize the original author for lacking backbone as a writer.
Writers are people too, and naturally they get stressed when people criticize the plot.
Moreover, it's only natural for novice writers to be influenced and swayed.
'I was pretty shaken too when I first started writing novels...'
If narration unrelated to the current incident goes on too long, it might bore the readers.
So from here on, I will resume telling the story from the present point of view. frёewebnoѵēl.com
"Reisir. It's been well over a month since I apologized and promised I wouldn't bully you anymore. I think I've kept that promise pretty well so far, so why have you been eating out all this time?"
"To be honest, I wasn't sure whether you had really changed or if it was just a temporary whim. In that situation, it was too risky to use the campus cafeteria with Helga, and as for eating there alone... I could already imagine the way the other kids would look at me."
"......"
I could fully understand what Reisir meant.
Among the first years, there wasn't a single student who didn't know Reisir was being bullied by Karvaldr.
So if Reisir, who couldn't use the campus cafeteria last semester because of Karvaldr, suddenly showed up there alone?
The students' reactions would be obvious. They would gossip carelessly and steal glances at him.
Some students would pity him for eating alone without a single friend, while others would laugh at him and ignore him.
It was understandable that Reisir had been avoiding the campus cafeteria.
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"You apologized to me sincerely, but I didn't believe you and kept doubting you. Was that why you couldn't accept me as your friend?"
It was only natural that Reisir couldn't trust Karvaldr.
I would have done the same. I wasn't upset in the slightest.
That's why a different question came to mind.
"So even though you didn't fully trust me, you still wanted to be friends?"
"Even if it was just a whim, that apology must have been sincere, right? And it seemed like you had your own circumstances..."
"Did you ever consider that I might have been acting nice to lower your guard so I could stab you in the back later?"
"If that was your goal, you would have tried to act friendly, not make me stay cautious by saying you hated me."
"That's..."
"And most importantly, you wouldn't have read all of my favorite Star Author's novels just to deceive me. That's ridiculous. Even Helga gave up on those books after only the beginning."
"......"
He really shouldn't have added that last part.
As the author himself, it made me very sad.
"...Let's stop talking about irrelevant things and finish discussing how Helga got kidnapped."
"Even after our meeting time passed, Helga didn't show up. Instead, a kid came with a note saying she'd been kidnapped."
"A kid... He must have been paid to deliver it."
"That's right. When I caught him and questioned him, he said so."
"And he probably said the person who sent him had their face covered, so he doesn't know what they looked like."
"Th-that's right! How did you know?"
It would be far too sloppy for the culprit to show their face while sending a child as a messenger.
And if you finally found someone matching the description only to discover they were just another errand runner like the kid...
...that would just waste time and drag out the plot.
So the simplest solution is to hide the face of the person who gave the order.
That was the answer I couldn't give Reisir as the author.
And what I could say was...
"If that kid had given you a proper description, you would have been busy searching for the person he mentioned. In that case, there's no way you could have come looking for me before the martial arts lecture even started, right?"
"Ah..."
Whether he realized he had asked a stupid question or not, Reisir looked embarrassed.
Then, as if he had suddenly remembered something, he threw another question at me.
"Come to think of it, how did you know there would be a note in my room?"
It wasn't difficult to answer.
I simply repeated what I had already said out loud for everyone to hear while pretending [N O V E L I G H T] to explain it to Vigdís after he had rushed out of the martial arts lecture room.
And Reisir responded like this.
"Karvaldr, you... you're pretty smart."
"Not particularly. It's something anyone could figure out as long as they stay calm and think rationally."
"I guess it's because you're a tsundere. You get embarrassed easily."
"I thought I told you I wasn't."
Should I have just let Reisir stay anxious and impatient?
That thought briefly crossed my mind, but I didn't truly regret my decision.
I could tell Reisir was making those jokes to momentarily forget the anxiety he hadn't been able to shake off.
Although he wasn't restlessly shaking his leg or fidgeting with his hands anymore,
his expression was subtly stiff, and his gaze kept drifting toward the window. I noticed it constantly.
If I hadn't said something to reassure him, he probably would have been consumed by negative thoughts by now.
"Hey, Karvaldr."
"What are you trying to say with such a serious tone?"
"You're not planning to tell Ríolíkin to hold me back and then head to the place written in the note by yourself, are you...?"
Thinking there was nothing left to talk about, I had turned my gaze back to the window when Reisir suddenly spouted more absurd nonsense.
I was genuinely dumbfounded by his behavior, especially now that he had become such a devoted supporter of the 'Karvaldr = Tsundere theory.'
"Why on earth would I do something like that for you? I'm going with you."
"Good thinking. Tryggdrik might try to harm you too, thinking he can pin the blame on me."
"I had already considered that. Against someone who planned to frame me, I wouldn't let my guard down just because of my social status."
So I never even considered the option of meeting Tryggdrik first and trying to resolve things through words.
On the other hand, what if Reisir dies and I get framed for murder?
Something like that would never happen.
'There's no way Reisir, the protagonist of this world, would get killed by someone like Tryggdrik.'
With that thought in mind, I turned my gaze back outside the window, but the scenery gradually slowed before stopping completely.
The carriage had arrived near its destination.
As if he had been waiting for that exact moment, Reisir flung the carriage door open.
Before getting off, he looked at me and asked:
"Do you have anything to say to me?"
"Don't tell me you were expecting me to say something like 'be careful.' If you're going to keep spouting absurd nonsense like that, you might as well stay silent for the rest of your life."
"Yeah, thanks for worrying about me. See you later."
"......"
Watching Reisir's back as he ran through the deserted alleyways, I could only sit there blankly.
That Reisir guy...
What am I supposed to do if nothing I say fazes him anymore?
