"By the way, are you all sure you don't need to stop by the dormitory first? I left some luggage in my room, so I think I need to go pick it up..."

"Same here. Dragging a suitcase all the way to the graduation ceremony sounds like a hassle..."

"I-I need to stop by too...!"

On the way to the carriage waiting area—

For those reasons, Helga, Vigdís, and Ríolíkin headed toward the dormitory.

Yor and I had stored our belongings inside the Yeouiju, while Reisir had his Inventory, so neither of us had any reason to go.

"Karvaldr. Should we get a carriage first and wait for them?"

And so I ended up sitting across from Reisir in a carriage.

While we waited for the three who had gone to the dormitory, the Protagonist of someone else's novel refused to leave me in peace.

"By the way, the reason you've been denying that you're friends with us all this time... could it be—"

"Don't talk nonsense."

"I haven't even said anything yet?"

"You were about to start talking nonsense about that professor's comment earlier, weren't you? That remark has absolutely nothing to do with me. It was merely her personal opinion."

"Really? It's not because you've never had a proper friend before and developed fantasies and romantic notions about friendship?"

"...!"

I could have simply admitted that everything I knew about friendship came from books.

Yet for some reason, this time I couldn't.

Had words like fantasy and romantic notion always been this embarrassing?

"Yep, yep. I get it now. So that's what it was."

"N-No...! Why are you deciding things on your own?!"

"You think a verbal denial works when your face is bright red?"

"My face only got hot because you were saying such ridiculous things! I'm angry, that's all! I'm not embarrassed...!"

"Puhahahaha!!"

As usual, the Protagonist of someone else's novel didn't believe me.

Worse, when I became flustered and indignant, he laughed so hard he nearly doubled over.

I couldn't help feeling choked up.

"Stop laughing...!"

"Haha... ha..."

"...?"

"..."

The man who had been clutching his stomach and laughing uncontrollably suddenly went quiet.

He remained bent forward without moving.

I had told him to stop laughing.

But seeing someone who normally laughed no matter what I did abruptly become like this was not merely bewildering.

It was frightening.

"W-What's with you all of a sudden...?"

"Talking with you like this... so normally... it's hard to believe what happened earlier actually happened."

"Shouldn't that be a good thing? If things have returned to normal, shouldn't you feel relieved? Why have you become so gloomy instead?"

"If I hadn't been able to save you back then, I wouldn't even be sitting here talking and laughing with you now, would I?"

His voice grew quiet.

"When I thought about that... it felt like my heart dropped for a moment."

Maybe I should have just let him keep laughing.

But was pretending not to notice and burying the trauma really the right choice?

If I left him alone, he would continue sinking into negative thoughts whenever they surfaced unexpectedly, just like now.

Besides, Reisir is destined to lose his loved ones several times in the future, isn't he?

His wounds would not heal with time.

They would only deepen.

I concluded that I couldn't simply leave him like this.

And if the last image I remembered of him was this miserable state, it would linger in my mind for a very long time.

"I think it's perfectly natural to feel shaken after nearly failing to prevent an acquaintance's death. I also understand worrying about someone's safety."

"...Hmm?"

The Protagonist of someone else's novel looked up, puzzled.

Meeting his gaze, I continued.

"However, feeling responsible and blaming yourself for it is another matter."

"Another matter...? What do you mean?"

"I witnessed it myself. You're strong enough to defeat a monster like the one that appeared today without difficulty."

I paused.

"But despite that, you're still a student who ought to be protected. Protecting students is ultimately the professors' responsibility. Therefore, that burden of responsibility is not yours to bear."

"Then why did you try to save Helga? You weren't obligated to either."

A crease formed between Reisir's brows.

His voice sharpened.

The reaction was entirely expected.

"I only stepped forward because it looked like I could save her. Not because I felt obligated."

I lightly dismissed his argument before continuing.

"So even if I had died, that would simply have been the result of my own choice. And if blame must be assigned, it should be directed toward the professors—not you."

"That's... true, but..."

"Even if Helga had died, it would have been nothing more than a tragic accident. There had already been numerous warnings about terrorism. Fortunately, I happened to have borrowed the pearl that rings like a bell from Yor, allowing me to activate a Buff Skill whenever necessary. If not for that coincidence, I wouldn't have been able to save Helga either. The monster appeared too suddenly."

If that explanation felt unnecessarily long—

That was not your imagination.

It was an excuse.

Specifically, an excuse intended to prevent the Protagonist of someone else's novel from suspecting that I knew about the Demon Realm Transformation.

I briefly considered mentioning the dagger hidden inside my clothes and connecting it to the poisoning incident.

But that seemed like it would only make me more suspicious.

Besides, even without making elaborate excuses, he'd probably misunderstand things on his own anyway.

"Even so, I was able to prepare. Because I experienced that anomaly ten years ago. First came the suffocating feeling and the nausea. Then the surroundings changed. And shortly afterward, a monster emerged from a shimmering distortion in space."

"Do you really think it's reasonable to criticize someone who was so injured they couldn't even move? To blame them for failing to save others while they were suffering themselves?"

"A problem... isn't entirely absent, but... why are you suddenly saying that?"

"Because that's exactly the state you were in."

His eyes widened.

"At the time, an old mental wound had resurfaced. You were barely able to breathe. Holding someone in that condition responsible for not saving others simply isn't reasonable."

"..."

"In other words, you bear no fault whatsoever."

"..."

Reisir looked at me strangely.

It resembled the expression of someone about to cry.

Yet there were no tears.

No visible sadness.

He merely pressed his lips together and remained silent for a long time.

Eventually, I spoke again.

"It's natural to regret failing to save someone you care about. But stop blaming yourself for things beyond your control. If you continue driving yourself this hard, you'll exhaust yourself before long."

"Yeah... I'll remember that."

Even if he said that, I knew this Protagonist of someone else's novel would shoulder the blame again the next time something similar happened.

Still—

I hoped he would remember this conversation.

Even if it reduced his guilt by only a little.

Even if it lessened his pain by only a little.

"Karvaldr."

"...What?"

"Thank you for worrying about me."

"Hmph! Don't misunderstand. I wasn't advising you because I was worried. Your pathetic state was simply irritating to look at."

After saying that, I sharply turned my head away.

I had already said everything that needed to be said.

There was no reason to keep facing the Protagonist of someone else's novel.

Certainly not because I was embarrassed.

Or shy.

"It irritated you because you were worried, wasn't it? If you truly didn't care, you wouldn't even have paid attention to whether I was depressed."

"You have a very strange way of speaking. Since when have I ever paid attention to you?"

"You have, though."

"I have not."

"You have. Since last semester."

Reisir grinned.

"That's why you kept poking at me for no reason, then apologizing afterward. You overreact whenever I say something casual and get embarrassed. You worry about my financial situation. You worry about whether my future self will be exhausted and suffering. You pay attention to my mood, my trauma, and my future."

"Y-You really... have a very strange... way of talking..."

I was so dumbfounded my voice shook and the words refused to come out properly.

How could he say such absurd things so confidently?

...Though if I wrote that down, nobody would believe me.

"Ahahahaha! Are you flustered because I hit the mark?"

"I am not...!"

"Then are you deliberately pretending to be flustered because you know it makes me laugh?"

It was such outrageous nonsense that it felt innovative.

I stared at him with my mouth hanging open.

For several moments, I couldn't even formulate a rebuttal.

"What kind of ridiculous logic is that...?! That's even less true! Why would I deliberately act like a clown for your amusement?!"

"Because you consider me a friend and like me very much."

"Stop presenting your fantasies as fact!"

"If it's only a fantasy, then why did you go so far to tell me exactly what I needed to hear?"

"Because you keep getting on my nerves...!"

"Pfft—! Ahahahahahaha!!"

The moment those words burst out of me, the Protagonist of someone else's novel erupted into laughter once more.

"J-Just because someone gets on my nerves doesn't mean I'm worried about them...! Didn't I already explain? It was simply frustrating to watch you acting so pathetic..."

"I already refuted that argument."

"..."

"Ahahaha! Karvaldr, your face is as red as a perfectly ripe persimmon. Can I poke it?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Why not? Are you afraid it'll burst?"

"..."

The Protagonist of someone else's novel laughed so hard I briefly wondered whether he might actually suffocate.

Fortunately, he finally stopped.

Specifically, he stopped when the carriage door flew open and the others returned from the dormitory.

"Ah... my stomach hurts from laughing so much..."

"While we were gone getting our luggage, what exactly happened...?"

"I-I'm c-curious too...!"

"Yes, tell us so we can laugh as well."

Seeing Reisir wipe tears from his eyes—the result of laughing too hard—Vigdís, Ríolíkin, and Helga all looked intrigued.

I braced myself for him to say something completely unnecessary and humiliate me further.

Instead—

"Nothing special happened. Karvaldr was simply being his usual self, and I laughed as usual."

—to my surprise, he let the matter drop.

The problem was that his childhood friend climbed into the carriage and casually added:

"Ah. So the Tsundere Young Master was being a tsundere again today."

That single remark, delivered so casually, doubled both my embarrassment and my humiliation.