This Novel is not my Novel

"What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

"Hmph."

Because the protagonist of someone else's novel moved and planted himself in my field of vision, I had to turn my head away once more.

It was around then that Fjodora gathered her teammates.

Soon after, a transparent teal curtain enveloped them.

They must have blocked the sound with the 【Wind Control】 skill. The reason must be to hold a strategy meeting...

Was it because the original protagonist realized this too?

Despite me repeatedly ignoring him, he opened his mouth to speak to me again.

"Shouldn't we have a strategy meeting too?"

"Just because we can't hear what the opposing team is saying doesn't guarantee they can't hear us."

"Then we can just write to each other."

In the previous battle, excluding Ríolíkin, whose ribbon was impossible to snatch without knocking him out, Reisir had single-handedly taken the ribbons from the rest of the opposing team.

Although he hadn't faced them all at once, instead picking them off one by one.

Still, it doesn't change the fact that it was an amazing feat, just as expected of the original protagonist.

In the next battle, scheduled to begin in ten minutes, it was obvious he would sweep through the opposing team's ribbons like an unstoppable force.

However, having Reisir take on the entire enemy team by himself right now would be a breach of plausibility.

Yor's and my mission would be to mark some of them.

And the one who would decide which people Yor and I should be in charge of was the original author, Author Senna...

...and it will be reflected through the contents of the opposing team's strategy meeting.

Since devising a strategy was useless anyway, I saw no need to waste energy racking my brain over it.

It was much better to spend that time spying on the opposing team to find out who was scheduled to handle Yor and me.

"Can't you just think of something on your own and let me know?"

I waved my hand dismissively, spitting out these half-hearted words at the protagonist of someone else's novel.

All while carefully observing the mouth movements of those surrounded by the transparent teal curtain.

They were gathered in a circle, so a few of them had their backs to me or their faces obscured by others, making it impossible for me to see them.

But Fjodora, who was leading the strategy meeting, had her mouth movements clearly visible, so there was no problem.

Hmm... so... Pret and Fjodora will try to snatch my ribbon as quickly as possible? And in the meantime, Ríolíkin, Lausa, and Helga will hold off and restrain Reisir?

If my ribbon was snatched, I'd have to withdraw the buff on Reisir, according to the rule that those without a ribbon could not participate in battle.

If things went well, they might even be able to take Reisir's ribbon.

And even if he managed to protect his ribbon and escape.

The reason was that Vigdís and Sveinn, without the buff, wouldn't be much help, so they'd have no choice but to wait and waste time until I returned.

["Even if Ms. Helga and Ms. Lissy lose their ribbons, if we succeed in taking Lord Karvaldr's ribbon..."]

The moment Fjodora mouthed these words, Pret raised his hand and stopped her, mouthing, "Wait a moment."

Then he stared straight at me and moved his lips.

["Senior Karvaldr, it seems you know how to lip-read?"]

The moment I read the shape of his mouth, I reflexively flinched.

Fjodora's shocked expression as she hastily covered her mouth came into view.

And the person standing next to me witnessed this scene as well.

"What? Pret, why is that guy suddenly looking at you with that sly expression? And why is Her Royal Highness the Princess so surprised?"

The protagonist of someone else's novel asked, showing both displeasure and confusion.

Whether he heard his voice or read his lips, Pret put on an expression of being wronged and mouthed the following:

["I was just admiring Senior Karvaldr's versatility, but to call it sly... Senior Reisir, you're too much."]

"What on earth is he saying right now...?"

"He says you're too much for calling his expression of admiration sly."

"......Huh?!"

Since I'd already been caught knowing how to lip-read, I satisfied the original protagonist's curiosity.

At that, this time it was Reisir who was shocked, his eyes widening as he stared at me.

"How did you know that?"

"I read the shape of his mouth."

"You can do that too?!"

"I learned it over the break."

"Why?!"

"I just thought it might be useful to learn?"

"Well... it certainly is useful..."

He nodded and spoke as if he understood.

But his face was full of bewilderment, a look that said he still didn't understand why I had learned lip-reading.

Instead of explaining to him in detail why I had learned lip-reading, I shifted my gaze back to the front and observed the opposing team.

The entire opposing team, including Fjodora, was covering their mouths with their hands.

At that action, clearly meant to prevent their strategy from leaking, I clicked my tongue, "Tsk!" and Reisir asked me another question.

"Then you...! Was the reason you told me to come up with a plan by myself because you were trying to focus on reading the opposing team's lips?"

"Well... something like that. Though it became meaningless since I got caught."

"It's not meaningless. Figuring out even a part of the opposing team's strategy is a huge gain."

"There's a high probability they'll abandon that strategy and come up with a new one."

"But it's not like there's zero probability they'll just use that strategy if they can't find another way, right?"

That did have a point.

So I shared with Reisir what I had learned from reading the shape of Fjodora's mouth, but.

To quickly get to the result, this too turned out to be meaningless.

When the entire opposing team tied the teal ribbons around their necks, only one person rushed at me: Pret.

While it would be slower than if he faced me with Fjodora, it wasn't impossible for Pret to take my ribbon by himself.

Did they reallocate their forces to ensure they could tie Reisir down for sure?

Or...

Did they only send Pret to me, assuming Yor would lend me her strength? Is their real goal to concentrate the maximum force on Reisir and take his ribbon?

Reisir and I.

If just one of us lost our ribbon, our team couldn't resume the battle, so it was possible they had changed their target.

Moreover, in a situation like this, after Reisir snatched Fjodora's and Helga's ribbons.

If he were to shake off Ríolíkin and come help me before they could put their ribbons back on.

In contrast to me, who could barely hold out against one person, Pret, even with my familiar's help, the strength of Reisir, the protagonist, would stand out even more.

Even if the opposing team changed the target they were focusing their strategy on, what Yor and I had to do remained the same.

I just had to protect my ribbon and endure until Reisir came to take Pret's ribbon.

If so, the score would be tied at the point when the original protagonist took the ribbons of Fjodora, Helga, and Pret.

If he took Lissy's ribbon, we would be one point ahead and make a successful comeback.

It wouldn't matter even if the opposing team tried to protect Lissy's ribbon, putting their own back on and attacking again.

It would only lead to a scene where Reisir snatched those ribbons too, solidifying our victory.

However...

Why is Pret being so passive?

Even if the target was Reisir and not me, it would be much more advantageous for them if he snatched my ribbon first and then helped attack Reisir.

He'd already fought me once, so he couldn't possibly be unaware that engaging in close-quarters combat would be to his advantage.

For some reason, Pret made no attempt to close the distance.

He just moved back and forth appropriately within the range of my whip.

No matter how I looked at it, he was clearly stalling for time.

What on earth is he aiming for...?

Just as I was starting to feel that his grinning face was as sly as Reisir had described it, Pret suddenly leaped back and took a deep breath.

It was the preparatory movement for shouting something loudly.

I needed to hear what he was saying, if only to figure out his scheme.

And so, the moment I controlled the flow of Sky Blue Ether to deactivate the 【Character Analysis】 skill.

An utterly absurd remark, enough to make my mind go blank, stabbed into my ears.

"Ahhh—! Senior Karvaldr, did you just wink at me?!"

"What?!"

"What in the...?"

The statement was so unrealistic that I doubted whether I had heard him correctly.

As I stood there blankly, mulling over Pret's remark, I belatedly realized that someone else had reacted before me, yelling, "What?!"

And at that moment, the owner of that voice—

"Ah...!"

—had just had his ribbon snatched as the price for being distracted by Pret's nonsense.

As his teammate, I could only stare, dumbfounded and aghast.

"Wow~, Senior Karvaldr. I know you want to win, but you shouldn't ask a junior to go easy on you with cutesy acts. This is training, you know?"

As if I wasn't already dumbfounded enough, Pret went on spouting his absurd remarks, getting on my nerves.

I could feel a surge of anger welling up inside me.

"Stop your nonsense!! When did I ever do something like wink at you or act cute?!"

"Ah-ha! On second thought, maybe you didn't??"

The sight of him saying that and sending a wink my way awakened a violent streak I never knew I had.

But I knew that Pret was merely executing a "strategy" as an enemy.

So I roared at the member of our team who had fallen for the opposing team's not just low-brow but utterly flimsy strategy.

"Why in the world did you react to that ridiculous nonsense?!"

"It's not completely unbelievable...? If dust gets in one eye, it could look like a wink..."

"In the first place, why were you trying to watch the scene of dust getting in my eye?!"

"I wasn't trying to watch dust get in your eye..."

"If you're just going to keep spouting such pathetic excuses, then don't say anything at all!"

"......"

"......"

I was seething as I glared at the now-silent protagonist of someone else's novel.

That was when Fjodora's and Lausa's bodies were enveloped in teal light.

The moment I saw that, I realized.

The opposing team's plan didn't end with taking Reisir's ribbon.

They plan to snatch the ribbons of Vigdís and Sveinn, who are on their way here?!

The protagonist of someone else's novel seemed to have realized this as well, as I saw him hurriedly running toward our team's starting point.

If he could meet the two of them before Fjodora did and return to the starting point with them.

He could put his ribbon back on there and protect the two of them, but.

...it's physically impossible.

No matter how fast Reisir ran, I doubted it would be easy for him to catch up to Fjodora, who was moving using 【Spatial Leap】.

And catching up to Lausa, who even had the ability to fly, would be completely impossible—

"Well now~, that's a shame. Since Senior Reisir lost his ribbon, he can't carry Senior Karvaldr and run away."

"......"

"Will you hand over the ribbon willingly, or should 'we' take it?"

—Protecting my ribbon was also an impossible task.

I didn't give up and fought as hard as I could with Yor, but in the end, I had no choice but to give up another ribbon to the opposing team.