This Novel is not my Novel

"Karvaldr. Weren't you surprised?"

"Shouldn't you ask that question after you put me down?"

"I'll put you down if you answer."

The protagonist of someone else's novel was spouting new nonsense again today.

It was so absurd that I found myself staring blankly at Reisir's face for a full three seconds.

If he had been smiling, I would have assumed he was simply playing another prank.

However, because he was wearing an unnecessarily serious expression, my confusion only deepened.

If I throw a fit and struggle, demanding to be let down, I won't get the result I want, and I'll only end up damaging my dignity... right?

Being held in what was commonly called a "princess carry" was humiliating enough.

I could not afford to suffer any further disgrace.

So, instead of wrestling with the protagonist of someone else's novel, I desperately tried to shake off my embarrassment. Then, while furrowing my brow to show my displeasure, I answered the question the protagonist of someone else's novel had asked.

"My ankle was suddenly caught, I was thrown into the air, and then I dropped without any time to mentally prepare myself. Isn't it only natural that I would be surprised?"

"Yeah, that's right. It's natural to be surprised. But why didn't you scream?"

Was he making this implicit threat of refusing to put me down unless I answered simply because he was curious about something so trivial?

The absurdity of it made a hollow laugh escape me.

However, I soon realized that, at least for me, it was not something that could simply be dismissed as trivial, and my expression hardened.

It wouldn't be good to answer that I have a habit... of holding my breath and swallowing my screams whenever I'm surprised or feel sudden pain, right? If I did, he would only ask why I developed such a habit...

But if I looked like I was struggling to come up with a convincing answer, I would only arouse suspicion.

I put on a solemn expression to hide my hardened one and glared unnecessarily at the protagonist of someone else's novel before immediately opening my mouth.

"Sometimes, when you are too surprised, a scream simply does not come out. Stop making a fuss over nothing and hurry up and put me down."

"I am holding onto you and talking like this precisely because it is not nothing, right?"

If it was not nothing, should he not put me down even more quickly before continuing the conversation?

Those words lingered on the tip of my tongue, but Reisir's expression was unusually serious, and I could not bring myself to say them.

So, while I hesitated in silence, he let out a deep sigh and spoke again.

"You know that screaming is a signal produced by the survival instinct to warn others of danger or request help, right?"

"That much... well..."

"It's fortunate that this is only a training situation and that you were walking at the front. But what if this place were inside a Demon Realm and you were following at the very back? What would have happened if we had continued ahead, completely unaware that you had been caught in a trap?"

Listening to him speak so calmly, I realized that Reisir truly had a reason for being this serious.

Though I still could not understand why he had to lecture me while holding me like this.

"If that were the situation... I would have called out and asked you to wait for a moment, I suppose...?"

"What if it was the kind of trap that immediately knocks the victim unconscious or drags them away somewhere? If you don't scream the moment you're caught, who in the world would notice that you're in danger?"

"...Yor?"

"Inside a Demon Realm filled with danger, do you think Yor can always keep her attention solely on you? Yor has to protect herself and move carefully as well."

Every single word he said was completely correct.

So, as I struggled to find a rebuttal, Reisir asked another question.

"Do you perhaps think that screaming is unrefined?"

It was not as though I was the heir of a prestigious family like the original Karvaldr, so naturally, that was not the reason.

However, the truth was that even if I screamed in pain, nobody would come to help me.

The only people around me would be crowds of spectators who would laugh and find entertainment in my suffering.

And now, in a situation where I could not reveal that swallowing my screams had hardened into a habit—

This is the perfect excuse.

So, I did not deny Reisir's assumption.

I simply closed my mouth and looked away.

I wanted him to interpret my silence as agreement.

"Karvaldr, you have to fix this habit of swallowing your screams. Survival is more important than dignity, isn't it?"

"I understand what you are saying. So put me down now."

"Not 'I understand.' Can you promise me that you will make an effort to fix it?"

"......"

"It's because I want to help you without being too late when you are in danger."

Seeing me hanging upside down, he had calmly given orders to Yor, as if he had not been surprised at all.

But now I realized that he had apparently been more shocked than Vigdís, who had made a fuss asking whether I was alright.

Not because he had seen someone else get caught in a trap right before his eyes.

But because if he had not witnessed it himself, he would have passed by without ever realizing that I had been caught.

He must have become serious after imagining what would have happened if this were an actual situation rather than training.

If he had not brought this up while I was in this position, I might have actually been moved...

Sveinn was staring in this direction with an expression that suggested he was witnessing something incredibly bizarre, causing my embarrassment to grow with every passing moment and overwhelm all other emotions.

Reisir, on the other hand, did not seem to care about Sveinn's reaction at all.

With one eye covered by an eyepatch, was his field of vision really so limited that he could not see what was happening around him?

"...Alright. I will make an effort. I do not know whether I will be able to fix it, though."

"It would have been better if you had not added that last part."

"Isn't making a reckless promise that you cannot guarantee the same as telling a lie?"

"That is a fair point, I suppose. In that case, can you tell me you will do your best?"

"Fine, fine. I will do my best to fix it, so now please, just put me down."

Finally, after giving the protagonist of someone else's novel the answer he wanted, I was barely able to stand on the ground again.

"How is your ankle?"

The person who asked me that question was Vigdís.

For reference, while the original protagonist was holding me and delivering his lengthy lecture, she had been examining the trap I had been caught in.

So I asked her a question in return.

"Fortunately, it is fine. More importantly, you seemed to be observing the trap carefully. Did you figure anything out?"

"Just that it was cleverly hidden, so it would be difficult to notice beforehand...?"

It seemed she had only been looking at it.

Did my face show my disbelief at that answer?

Vigdís awkwardly shifted her gaze around before looking down at my ankle and needlessly repeating the question she had just asked.

"More importantly, about your ankle, are you really alright?"

"If I were not, I would have used a Potion already."

I answered while deliberately twisting my ankle and forcefully stomping my foot.

Then, to prove that I was not the kind of person who would hesitate to use something like a Potion, I considered giving one to everyone but stopped.

If we were actually entering a Demon Realm, it would be a different matter... But giving Reisir a Potion to use during a simple training exercise would only place a heavy burden on him.

Because we had been delayed, we hurried our pace.

Fortunately, no one else was caught in a trap before we reached our team's starting point, and we still had enough time to hold a strategy meeting.

"If Ríolíkin is protecting the ribbon around his neck with his 【Armor of Protection】 skill, we should give up on targeting it. A weak attack will only result in the damaged armor being restored immediately, and if we attack strongly enough to completely destroy it, his life will be in danger."

"In the first place, the only person among us capable of launching such a powerful attack is Reisir."

"Ahaha... is that so?"

As expected, the first person to speak was the original protagonist.

Then Vigdís, a heroine candidate from the original novel, said something praising him.

Perhaps embarrassed by that, the protagonist of someone else's novel let out an awkward laugh before hurriedly continuing.

"Anyway, when Ríolíkin appears, we should not try to force the ribbon from him. It would be best to ignore him as much as possible. And the opponent we need to be most cautious of is, naturally, Her Royal Highness the Princess with her 【Spatial Leap】 skill and her familiar, Lausa."

Both what he had said before and what he was saying now were such obvious points that there was hardly any need to explain them.

However, even if everyone already knew those facts, identifying the abilities of the opposing team members while forming a strategy was still a necessary process.

So I silently listened to Reisir's words.

"Karvaldr. What would be the best way to deal with the 【Spatial Leap】 skill?"

He suddenly singled me out and directed the question at me.

It was incredibly perplexing.

Because no particular method of dealing with the 【Spatial Leap】 skill came to mind.

He must have asked because he expected me, of all people, to come up with some brilliant solution...

Even though I knew Reisir was not that kind of person.

The thought that he might be disappointed if I failed to meet his expectations made me feel unnecessarily pressured.

Was that why?

The dissatisfaction that finding the answer to this kind of problem should have been the protagonist's role, and wondering why he was pushing it onto me, also quietly surfaced.

"Well... if we think simply, hiding behind cover would be the best option. The 【Spatial Leap】 skill was said to only allow movement to places within one's line of sight."

"Is there an answer if we think complexly?"

"There is no answer. But we can reach the conclusion that hiding behind cover should be avoided. Especially if it is somewhere like behind a tree where the sides are exposed. Even if she cannot move directly behind the cover, she can still move to an exposed position nearby."

"So you mean that if we think simply and hide behind cover, we will actually become more vulnerable to Her Royal Highness the Princess's ability. It would be better to watch her movements until the very end and react accordingly?"

Reisir neatly summarized my words.

Even though what I had basically said amounted to there is nothing we can do except deal with it properly ourselves, there was not the slightest hint of disappointment on his face.

Although I had expected as much, I somehow felt relieved.

"Words like that..."

"Hm?"

"Ah...! It is nothing."

Although Sveinn, with a somewhat sullen expression, seemed about to say something, he immediately stopped himself when Reisir showed interest.

The content was probably something like, "Isn't that something anyone could say?"

But I decided not to worry about it.

After all, he was the type of person who did not have the courage to say such things directly to my face anyway.

Perhaps he was simply displeased because I had elaborately explained something obvious.