"Where exactly did you hear me say that? I told you it wasn't something worth celebrating."

At the same moment Ríolíkin rejoined us, Nidr, who had been pushed to the edge of the conversation, dumped a bucket of cold water over the friendly atmosphere.

As though he disliked the attention being taken away from him.

"Y-You're awful! E-Even if you're upset because I knocked you down and made you land flat on your back...! Y-You still shouldn't i-interrupt someone else's celebration...!"

"Interrupt? It seems you've misunderstood because you don't grasp the seriousness of the situation. I merely stated a fact."

"W-What's so serious about it?"

Ríolíkin's face showed irritation rather than anxiety.

Which meant he didn't believe Nidr's words at all.

"You can never become a knight now. Every time you enter combat, madness will consume you. You'll rampage without being able to distinguish friend from foe."

"W-Why are you saying I c-can't tell friend from foe?"

"If you remember what happened while you were berserk, shouldn't you know the answer yourself? You lost your reason and were overcome by the urge to destroy everything you could see. Did you really think you were still distinguishing friend from foe?"

"D-Destroy...? I-I never wanted to do that, though... I-I just felt like I'd get s-scolded if I broke things for no reason..."

"...What?"

Confusion crept into Nidr's gaze as he looked down at Ríolíkin with pity.

On the other hand, one of my own questions was finally answered.

I had been wondering what exactly Reisir had seen with the 【Truth-Reading Eye】.

Apparently, Ríolíkin's 【Frenzy】 was different from the commonly known version.

It allowed him to distinguish friend from foe.

"Explain in detail. What were you thinking when you charged at me?"

"Uh... eh...? I-I just... I thought I wanted to k-knock you down and get p-praised by Lord Karvaldr. A-And... if possible... I wanted to win too... Then Lord Karvaldr would c-cherish me more..."

"You correctly identified your target...?"

"D-Does that cause a p-problem?"

"No. Not at all. If anything, that resolves one issue."

Nidr stroked his chin and stared at Ríolíkin.

The look in his eyes resembled that of an appraiser evaluating the worth of an object.

At that moment, Reisir stepped in and drove a wedge between them, reiterating that Ríolíkin's 【Frenzy】 was nothing to worry about.

"If that's the case, then perhaps the madness wouldn't appear at all if he were simply ordered to defend. Once he enters a berserk state, defending becomes impossible. Failing to defend would effectively mean disobeying the order."

Though he phrased it as speculation, he was undoubtedly speaking based on what he had confirmed through the 【Truth-Reading Eye】.

Even to Nidr, who knew nothing of that fact, Reisir's reasoning must have sounded convincing.

Because the way he looked at Ríolíkin changed.

It was the gaze of someone who had discovered an extraordinarily rare accessory—something that would make everyone envious if worn openly.

"To think he normally serves as an unbreakable shield, yet transforms into a berserker that charges only the designated target whenever his master gives the order...!"

Listening to Nidr mutter to himself, I felt nothing but dread.

He seemed to be imagining a future in which he became Ríolíkin's master and issued commands to him.

As for the person Ríolíkin currently recognized as his commander...

"L-Lord Karvaldr. D-Did you hear that? Somehow... I think I turned into s-something amazing."

...Apparently it was me.

There wasn't even room for doubt.

The moment I had finally lowered my guard around Ríolíkin and thought it fortunate that he had followed me instead of the original protagonist, this happened.

I immediately restored the alertness I had carelessly relaxed.

Unfortunately, that alone changed nothing.

At this rate, am I going to end up competing with the original villain for the position of Ríolíkin's master...?

If possible, I would gladly hand such a role to someone else.

I had absolutely no use for it.

The problem was that such a thing didn't seem possible.

And the biggest issue was—

Who exactly am I supposed to hand him over to?

According to the original novel, Ríolíkin awakened at the same time Karvaldr did.

If I handed him over to Nidr, he would spend his entire academy life being bullied to soothe Nidr's inferiority complex before eventually being murdered.

But I couldn't hand him over to Reisir, the original protagonist, either.

If I did, he would die according to the rules of this miserable novel that existed only to kill people.

This really has become a predicament...

Had I known he would attract the original villain's attention like this, I never would have let Vigdís and Ríolíkin participate in the Tournament.

Regret came too late.

And even now, there wasn't enough time to sit around worrying.

"Karvaldr. It's our turn."

As I sighed deeply, Reisir tapped my arm.

Right.

The match directly ahead of me took priority.

Besides, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) in the original story, Nidr doesn't begin seriously murdering Awakened people until after graduation. There's still plenty of time until then...

I forcibly shoved the anxiety and worry filling my mind into a corner.

After removing my coat and folding it neatly, I rose alongside Reisir.

Then—

"I-I leave Lord Karvaldr in your care."

Ríolíkin suddenly said that to Reisir.

How exactly was I supposed to interpret a remark like that?

Unlike me, who had completely lost track of whether the situation was absurd or not, Reisir answered naturally.

"Don't worry."

"Meow! Meow! Mrrrow~!"

As I stood there bewildered, Yor offered what sounded like an adorable cheer of encouragement.

Apparently she had no intention of bringing out the whiteboard.

Quite a few students already saw Yor writing, so the rumor must have spread by now...

Still, a Familiar wasn't something that could be transferred or stolen.

Unless Yor personally brought out the whiteboard and wrote something first, Nidr wouldn't waste time approaching her simply to verify the rumor.

It would be far more efficient to spend that effort winning over the "berserker who obeys commands."

Let's just hope Ríolíkin doesn't say anything unnecessary...

Suppressing the anxiety that was once again trying to take over my thoughts, I headed toward the stage.

Reisir hurried after me and suddenly asked,

"About that boy, Nidr. His behavior is unpleasant, but he didn't seem particularly dangerous."

That was true.

He hadn't fallen yet.

If Nidr were already committing crimes, I would have simply told Reisir—the original protagonist—to deal with him somehow.

As long as Nidr maintained a superficially friendly façade, all I could do was avoid provoking his hostility.

What a troublesome situation.

"Do those words still come out after what happened with Tridric, who was insignificant beyond measure? Never lower your guard. Discomfort itself is a warning signal sent by instinct."

"You... you've really suffered a lot because of bad people, haven't you? If you're that sensitive to danger signals..."

"...!"

Even though I knew Reisir meant, There must have been many people who tried to take advantage of you.

For some reason, what I heard was:

You must have been bullied a lot, huh?

I flinched.

A puzzled look appeared on Reisir's face.

And at that exact moment—

"Wow! Walking onto the stage together while chatting so intimately! It seems the two students about to compete share quite the friendship!"

The host abruptly declared the two of us friends before the entire audience.

Whether what flooded through me was embarrassment or bewilderment, I couldn't tell.

My mouth fell open on its own.

"Now that this many people know we're friends, how about you admit it too?"

"...What isn't true remains untrue, regardless of what others think."

"Exactly the sort of thing a tsundere would say."

"..."

Let's not get dragged into the rhetoric of someone else's protagonist.

Thinking that, I untied the whip at my waist and let it fall into my hand.

Then I glared at Reisir.

In response, he adjusted his grip on his spear with both hands and settled into a ready stance.

Every trace of playfulness vanished from his face.

His expression was serious.

I was already accustomed to standing opposite Reisir like this.

We sparred together several times every weekend.

But perhaps it was because the location had changed.

Or perhaps because I knew he intended to use his Ether Attribute Ability today.

The tension was so intense that the air itself felt heavy.

Not that I minded. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The pressure sharpened my concentration instantly.

Keeping my eyes fixed on Reisir, I took a quiet breath.

The host, after filling the air with various bits of commentary to excite the audience, finally announced the start of the match.

Immediately, I activated 【Encouragement】 using my possessed body as the target.

At the same time, I cracked the whip through the air with a thunderous sonic boom and activated 【Exaltation】.

Even then, Reisir didn't move an inch.

He was waiting for me to attack first.

A memory surfaced.

Chapter 84.

The time I had charged at Reisir without a plan and been defeated instantly.

I couldn't afford to lose exactly the same way.

At the same time, I had no desire for him to deliberately hold back and let my attacks pass.

Today wasn't sparring.

It was a match.

Keeping a firm grip on the handle so I could strike at any moment, I lowered my arm and let the tip of the whip drag across the floor as I slowly advanced toward Reisir.

Although I had initiated plenty of exchanges during our sparring sessions, I had never approached him like this before.

Perhaps because of that, curiosity and anticipation appeared on his face.

He seemed eager to see what I intended to do.

The hand gripping his spear tightened slightly.

He was tense too.

Reisir has always been the one teaching me, Vigdís, and Ríolíkin... Perhaps he feels that if he mishandles my attack, his dignity as an instructor will suffer.

As I observed his reactions and guessed at his thoughts, the Thought Acceleration Skill activated naturally.

Coincidentally, at that very moment, Reisir entered the whip's range.

I swung up my arm diagonally.

The whip followed the motion and shot toward him.

It wasn't merely an arm movement.

I twisted my waist, adding rotational force, and snapped my wrist properly at the end.

Within the accelerated perception granted by the Thought Acceleration Skill, the whip seemed slow.

In reality, however, it must have been moving with tremendous speed.

Even so, Reisir dodged effortlessly.

Not by retreating.

By stepping inside.

The old me would have panicked, stumbled backward, and flailed the whip wildly.

Not anymore.

Because my opening attack had come from below, my arm naturally ended high in the air afterward.

Simply bringing it down again was enough to obstruct the opponent's advance.

And I wasn't satisfied with stopping there.

I bent one leg, slid the other far outward, dropped my center of gravity sharply, and swept the whip across the floor.

The aim was to catch his ankle.

"Tch."

The sound escaping my mouth told the whole story.

I failed.

Reisir jumped at precisely the right moment and avoided the attack.

For an instant, I considered manipulating the whip with Ether to catch his ankle anyway.

But I never got the chance.

Because the protagonist of someone else's novel hurled lightning at me.

Strictly speaking, I saw the attack before it happened. The moment he extended his arm, I recognized the preparation.

I hurriedly vacated the area.

Golden lightning streaked through the space I had occupied moments earlier before dispersing into nothingness.

Since I had been able to evade it, he had obviously held back.

Otherwise, I would have been struck.