This Novel is not my Novel

"......My business is done, so I'll be on my way."

Regrettably, this was a space surrounded by bookshelves, so there wasn't a single hole for me to hide in.

For that reason, I said as much and was turning to leave, but at that moment, Reisir suddenly grabbed my wrist.

"Your business is done? What are you talking about?"

"Weren't we done with the important stuff?"

"What about you saying you'd recommend a novel?"

My original purpose was to make the protagonist of someone else's novel use his 【Truth-Reading Eye】 on me, and I had already achieved that.

But the superficial reason I had given was exactly what Reisir had just mentioned.

"Ah..."

It was inevitable that such a sound would escape my lips.

And it was just as inevitable that Reisir would once again cover his mouth, swallowing his laughter.

"S-stop laughing so much."

"You can't say that after making me laugh... Pfft..."

As if to prove he wasn't just pretending to laugh to tease me, Reisir's face was flushed from breathlessness, and the hand gripping my wrist even trembled intermittently.

Because of that, my embarrassment reached its peak.

I desperately wanted to declare that the novel recommendation could wait and escape this place, but unfortunately, my wrist was currently held captive by Reisir.

I had confirmed just a few minutes ago that our Physical Strength stats differed by nearly threefold.

I concluded it was better not to even try than to waste energy and wound my pride in a futile test of strength.

However, that didn't mean I just stood still.

I kicked the other party's shin with all my might.

As if Yor also thought Reisir was being unreasonable, she clenched her tiny hands and repeatedly tapped his head.

"Whew... That was a close call. I almost couldn't hold it in."

Despite having kicked him harder than usual, to the point that my own toes hurt, the protagonist of someone else's novel muttered in relief as he caught his breath, as if nothing had happened.

I had expected it.

Reisir's Defense Power exceeded 100, so he wouldn't feel any pain from what we did. That was why I'd hit him with peace of mind.

But for him not to show even a hint that it tickled, let alone feign pain, was incredibly vexing.

"Kyarr, Nyoong."

"All right. I'll let go, I'll let go."

"Yaaong, Myaooo."

"Ah, right. I should return these too, right?"

Since Reisir laughed his head off every time I spoke, I kept my mouth shut and just glared at him to prevent the same situation from happening again.

Yor protested on my behalf by smacking the back of Reisir's hand.

And after Reisir let go of my wrist, she didn't forget to take back the whiteboard and board marker she had lent him.

In moments like this, she seems incomparably more assertive than me.

As expected, my baby dragon was great in many ways.

Reaching that conclusion, I silently walked away with long strides.

Then, as expected—

"Karvaldr, are you sulking? You're not just going to leave, are you?"

—the protagonist of someone else's novel followed after me, spouting such nonsense.

To be honest, I was dying to do just that, but I knew it would become something he'd tease me about forever, so I had no intention of doing so.

I was simply moving because the book I intended to recommend to Reisir was on a different bookshelf.

I silently rounded the corner, took out the book I had noticed earlier, and handed it to Reisir.

At that, the other party let out a snicker and gave me his signature cheerful eye-smile.

So very vexingly.

"Now that my business is truly done, I'm leaving. Don't stop me."

"Wait, I have something to say."

"If you're going to say something pointless again..."

"It's not like that. It's a really serious topic."

I was about to just ignore him and leave, but the original protagonist's eyes held a truly serious light.

His face, too, had shed all traces of laughter, giving off a calm, even cold, atmosphere.

And so, this time, my feet were rooted to the spot even though my wrist hadn't been grabbed.

"...I'll listen. Go ahead and speak."

"I'm thinking of using 【Jinilnun】 on Pret."

"You abbreviate it like that, too...? No, it's... Never mind."

The readers of the original work also abbreviated the skill's name like that, but I didn't know the original protagonist himself would, too.

The original novel's narration always diligently used the full notation, 【Truth-Reading Eye】.

And in the original work I read, Reisir had never spoken the skill's name aloud.

It's not that he never told a trusted companion about the existence of the 【Truth-Reading Eye】. But even then, he only explained that it was a skill that could read information windows, right?

So I was momentarily flustered.

But on second thought, Reisir had a track record of abbreviating 《How a Repentant Villain Saves the World》 as 《Hwae-ak-beop》.

He had also asked to call me by a nickname, citing the five-syllable name 'Karvaldr' being too long as the reason.

In that case, wouldn't it be stranger if he didn't abbreviate a six-syllable skill name?

If the skill's owner himself is doing it, I suppose I don't need to meticulously call it 【Truth-Reading Eye】 either.

For this reason, from now on, if I have to mention the skill, I will also refer to it as 【Jinilnun】.

"He is a suspicious individual in many ways, so I expected you would do that. I just didn't expect you to notify me in advance."

"He seems to be getting more and more overly friendly with you. I'm saying this because I want you to be careful around him, at least until I can confirm his identity."

"And after you confirm it, what then, if he's revealed not to be an ordinary circus troupe member?"

"You should be even more careful and keep a much greater distance."

Reisir answered resolutely, as if wondering why I would ask such an obvious question.

He didn't know that it was already too late for me to distance myself from Pret.

Well, even if I had heard this earlier, I still would have met Pret behind Reisir's back to propose a deal.

I wasn't unaware that he was saying this out of concern.

Instead of feeding Reisir a lie or drawing a line and telling him not to meddle, I changed the meaning of the question I had asked earlier.

"I wasn't asking about me; I was asking what you plan to do."

"Me...?"

"Yes. Surely you're not thinking of abruptly calling Pret in for a talk, then demanding to know his purpose because you know his identity? If you did that, you'd just get a question in return asking how you found out about his identity."

"Even if I get that question, I can just not answer... Ah..."

The protagonist of someone else's novel replied in an indifferent tone before suddenly stopping and letting out a sigh.

He must have realized what the problem was.

"If you reveal that silver iris, you'll have to reveal what you can do with your Silver Ether. At least to those in the Special Class for Awakened Ones."

"Yeah... I suppose so. I could probably make up a story that 【Jinilnun】 can only read simple objects or plants without sentience, but..."

"If Pret really isn't an ordinary person, and you go to him and say you know his identity, he'll immediately see through the true nature of your skill."

"It would've been a big problem if you hadn't told me beforehand. Thanks."

In truth, I didn't think it would be a big deal even if Pret found out about 【Jinilnun】.

In the original work, Pret did notice that Reisir could see other people's status windows.

But he never sold that information to anyone or used it as a pretext to threaten him; he kept the secret until the very end.

He didn't even try to tempt him into using the ability to make money, nor did he ask him to check someone's abilities.

For the reason that, with the slightest misstep, Reisir's ability could be exposed to others.

He valued the person 'Reisir' more than the information he could obtain through the original protagonist.

Still, considering Pret's character, proposing a deal would have suited him better... Or perhaps recommending a scout, like he did with me.

I conjecture that, since Pret was a character who was criticized by readers for being shady due to the setting that he routinely conducted background checks on others, he might have become an overly 'convenient supporting character' in an attempt to highlight his good side as much as possible.

In any case, the setting that Pret was a person overflowing with loyalty definitely existed.

And it was only natural that he, a supporting character, would develop a positive impression of Reisir.

This time, too, even if Pret found out that Reisir could read other people's information, he wouldn't tell anyone.

Even while thinking that, the reason I warned Reisir was...

It was both because I didn't know how to respond to Reisir telling me to stay away from Pret and because I wanted to shift the point of the argument—

"And speaking of which, about your Silver Ether and that skill. I think it would be better to keep them hidden for at least one more semester."

—and also to naturally bring up this topic.

"Why? Because you still can't trust the kids in the special class?"

"You know me well."

I answered Reisir's question like that, but there was another reason.

Not only had the stage of 【Jinilnun】 risen too quickly, but it had happened right after he read Yor's and my status windows.

If the original protagonist starts walking around without his eyepatch right now, how would Author Senna try to weave this into her novel...?

It was because this worry had suddenly surfaced.

"Ah. For reference, even if you come to trust everyone later or have to reveal the existence of your Silver Ether for an unavoidable reason, you must hide the fact that the power is connected to the 'First Demon Realm.'"

"Of course, I plan to. They'd obviously want to analyze a power connected to a Demon Realm, treating me like a test subject and trying to use this ability."

Reisir didn't specify exactly who would do such a thing.

But it was easy to guess that the agent behind that act would be the 'Imperial Family.'

He used a rarely heard sarcastic tone, unable to hide the hostility written all over his face.

I gauged his mood and carefully opened my mouth.

"In that sense, I've thought of a story you could use as an excuse... How about explaining that the Silver Ether is a power you were born with and that, since you were a child, a silver tinge would occasionally appear and disappear in your irises?"

This was a lie that could never be exposed.

Because anyone who could testify that it was a lie had died in that incident ten years ago.

"Then, when the 'First Demon Realm' appeared, you exhausted all your Golden Ether in your desperate struggle to survive, which caused your originally unstable Silver Ether to go on a rampage. And you've been unable to control that power ever since, forcing you to cover your left eye, the medium for the skill's activation."

"That... sounds really plausible? Much more so than the story about gaining a new power after defeating a Boss Monster in a Demon Realm. It's so convincing that I'm almost confused about whether the Silver Ether really is a power I was born with."

"You would know best that it isn't."

"Yeah. Not only was there no Ether rampage, but after I defeated the Boss Monster, an unfamiliar energy suddenly flowed into my body and settled in my head. I just meant that the story sounds more real than the truth."

I knew full well what Reisir had lost because of that incident ten years ago.

I had been inwardly worried that merely mentioning it would cause that wound to split open and burst.

But seeing him able to make something like a joke about it, it seemed that his wound had thankfully healed quite a bit.