This Novel is not my Novel

"We can talk in your room later, so... why don't you get some shut-eye for now?"

Seeing Reisir place his hand on my forehead again while saying that, it seemed my fever hadn't gone down yet.

But I shook off Reisir's hand and, while I was at it, shook my head to express my refusal.

My headache had subsided considerably compared to right after I ended the 【Character Analysis】 skill, and...

Isn't it kind of wrong to sleep in the middle of Mock Battle training?

Was that all?

Besides, I had the setting of suffering from insomnia attached to me.

I had all the more reason to reject Reisir's proposal.

"Even if falling asleep is too much, I think it would help you recover if you just closed your eyes and meditated... I can keep watch."

I was extremely grateful for his concern, but I shook my head again.

"Don't you have something else you should be doing?"

"Huh? What?"

"You have to stop the opposing team from setting any more traps."

"...By myself? Is that possible?"

A hint of hesitation was apparent in his question.

He had succeeded in breaking free from Ríolíkin's and Lausa's mark, but he still seemed to lack the confidence to face the entire Teal Team alone.

But I was certain.

He could definitely do it.

Of course he can. He's the protagonist of this world within the novel, isn't he?

That's why I was able to answer him in an indifferent tone.

"Not by fighting them head-on. If you use your Ether Attribute Ability to fight with hit-and-run tactics while keeping them in check, you can definitely do it alone."

"Do you really... think so...?"

"That's what I think... But if you're really that anxious, you could take Yor with you."

"No! I'll go alone. If Yor goes with me, the members of the opposing team will try to target you no matter what. I'll do my best to stop them from coming this way, but you won't be able to relax and rest easy if you're alone, right? And more than anything—"

Reisir suddenly started spewing words at a fast pace, then just as suddenly fell silent without properly finishing his sentence.

In the silence that followed.

Reisir slowly parted his lips, his eyes meeting mine.

"You believe... that I can do it. I can't betray that expectation."

For some reason, Reisir's face, as he looked at me, was colored with deep emotion.

Surely I didn't trigger a Reverse Inspiration Event on the protagonist of someone else's novel again?

And it even succeeded?

This was no ordinary baffling situation.

This kid... why is he so easily inspired...? He's the original protagonist, for crying out loud. Is he allowed to be like this?

I was so dumbfounded that no words came out.

As I just stood there with a flabbergasted expression, moving my lips, Reisir, perhaps mistaking it for me being shy, gave his usual irritating smile.

"I'll be back, so get some good rest with Yor."

"......"

"Yor, you keep Karvaldr safe while I'm gone."

"Kyaong, myaong, kyaoong, myaong mya...!"

On behalf of me, who was still speechless, Yor let out a sharp meow, expressing her protest.

I couldn't tell what exactly she was saying, but.

If I had to make an educated guess based on the feeling, she was probably questioning what right he had to say such a thing.

"Karvaldr. If anything happens, make sure to shout and call for me."

The protagonist of someone else's novel, unfazed by Yor's furious attitude, said this and headed toward the Teal Team's starting point.

And I, ignoring him completely, hugged and petted my baby dragon.

Both to calm the angry Yor and to grant some healing to my brain, exhausted from maintaining the 【Character Analysis】 skill.

It was a shame that I couldn't follow the original protagonist and narrate his active role.

But the volume for this episode was already overflowing anyway, to the point where I was starting to regret not splitting it with a subtitle in the middle.

So, to get straight to the conclusion.

Reisir splendidly accomplished his mission of obstructing the opposing team from adding more traps.

And no situation arose where I had to scream to call Reisir.

After Vigdís and Sveinn returned, we went straight into battle without exchanging any words.

This place was not that far from the opposing team's starting point.

Because there was a high risk of Fjodora using her Ether Attribute Ability to eavesdrop on us.

Thus, in the battle that restarted without a separate strategy meeting.

Reisir immediately targeted Fjodora, dropping lightning to keep her in check, and at the same time rushed at Pret and swung his spear.

He's already achieved his goal of breaking free from Ríolíkin's and Lausa's mark on his own. He probably figured there was no need to wait for them to charge at him.

Fjodora barely dodged the lightning.

She then ordered Ríolíkin to check Vigdís, her familiar Lausa to check Yor, and Helga to check me.

She herself used 【Spatial Leap】 to move near Sveinn.

Since they were ahead by 5 points anyway, she must have judged that it was fine to give up one of Pret's ribbons.

If she took Sveinn's ribbon, the loss would be immediately covered.

And unlike us, who had to run a round trip of nearly 20 minutes to get a ribbon, Pret could rejoin the battle at any time even if his ribbon was taken.

And her telling Helga to check me... I wonder if she did that because she was confident she could snatch Sveinn's ribbon before I could approach Helga?

Perhaps because using Fire Attribute Ether for ranged attacks couldn't help but reveal one's location.

Helga did not hide and revealed herself, hurling fireballs at me.

But I didn't think that meant she was defenseless.

There must be tons of traps set up around her, and Lissy is probably hiding somewhere nearby too. To launch a surprise attack on anyone who approaches Helga.

Above all, Helga's own skill was a hidden danger.

If I dodged the fireball she threw, it would change direction and fly back at me.

If I struck it with my whip, it would explode, and some of the embers scattering in all directions would change into the shape of arrows and fly at me.

Having to strike down those additional arrows made the approach itself difficult.

I see. So this is why Vigdís and Sveinn couldn't handle Fjodora alone, even with Yor's help. Because Helga, with this level of skill, was providing her support.

Still, Helga was not accustomed to combat itself.

I could feel that she had no idea where and how to aim to be threatening.

Moreover, her attack speed was slow, so activating the 【Character Analysis】 skill even gave me the leeway to survey my surroundings.

I'm quite worried about Yor, who has to face Lausa...

It seemed that while Lausa was capable of close combat, Yor was not.

I was anxious that she might harm my fragile baby familiar with her hard beak and sharp claws.

But fortunately, this was a groundless fear.

Contrary to my worries, Lausa did not attack Yor.

To describe it in more detail, Yor was glaring fiercely at Lausa, while Lausa was cautiously watching Yor, looking flustered.

I conjectured that she was probably scared because of Yor's 【Dragon Fear】.

Looks like I can rest easy about Yor's side.

Vigdís and Ríolíkin were exchanging blows, continuing a normal sparring match unrelated to snatching ribbons.

It seemed Vigdís couldn't take Ríolíkin's ribbon, which was protected by 【Armor of Protection】.

And Ríolíkin, holding a shield and mace in both hands, couldn't grab Vigdís's ribbon.

They were literally just keeping each other in check.

Reisir snatching Pret's ribbon and Fjodora snatching Sveinn's ribbon happened at almost the same time.

The next moment, Reisir dashed toward Helga.

He scattered lightning around her, an act meant to forcibly trigger the installed traps and neutralize them.

Helga tried to hold on, clutching the knot of her ribbon with her hand.

But when Reisir lightly tapped the back of her hand with his index finger, which had a small spark on it, she reflexively let go with a cry of, "Ah, hot!"

The teal ribbon came undone with almost absurd ease.

Lissy, a step too late, burst out from the bushes and swung a giant hammer with a head as big as her torso toward Reisir.

But her attack posed no threat to the original protagonist.

Rather, it only served to reveal her location.

Reisir leisurely dodged Lissy's attack and easily snatched the ribbon tied around her neck.

Meanwhile, Fjodora joined forces with Ríolíkin and took Vigdís's ribbon.

We captured three ribbons, but the score difference only closed by one point.

The biggest problem was that there wasn't much time left.

Perhaps because the original protagonist knew this as well, instead of retreating with me like before, he immediately shot lightning toward Fjodora.

Fjodora held on for quite a long time, dodging here and there with 【Spatial Leap】.

But in the end, she was hit by Reisir's lightning attack, missed her timing to use 【Spatial Leap】, and had her ribbon snatched.

With this, we succeeded in narrowing the score gap to 3 points, but.

"It seems you intend to stall for as long as possible."

Reisir frowned, saying this to Fjodora.

Even though they could have immediately put their ribbons back on and stepped up to help Fjodora, none of the opposing team members did so.

He must have felt impatient at the conclusion that was naturally drawn.

"Isn't that the best method at present?"

Fjodora answered calmly with a light shrug of her shoulders.

Seeing her only glance at the clock, without even looking at the basket of ribbons below it.

It seemed she intended to put on her own ribbon and resume the battle to match the time Pret had to take to put his back on.

"Even though you only have to face myself and Karvaldr right now?"

"Don't try to subtly reduce the numbers. Including Lord Karvaldr's familiar, that makes three, does it not?"

"Even so, doesn't Your Royal Highness's team have far more members?"

"The problem is that we have that many more ribbons that can be snatched."

As if she had completely discerned Reisir's intention behind these words.

Fjodora continued her answers with a haughty attitude.

"Besides, you'll probably fight us first, and if it seems you have no chance of victory, you'll retreat with Lord Karvaldr like you did before. But we have nowhere to run, and we're winning, so we don't want to take any unnecessary risks."

At the sight of her casually saying I would be carried away by Reisir, I couldn't help but glare at the main culprit of this situation, the protagonist of someone else's novel.

But only my sweet baby dragon patted my shoulder.

No one except Yor paid any attention to my reaction.

"It will take nearly 20 minutes for your team members to return anyway, and we must finish putting our ribbons back on before then, right? In any case, we have no choice but to fight you, so wait comfortably."

Perhaps judging that Fjodora wouldn't change her strategy no matter what, Reisir looked at me with an expression that seemed to ask, "What now?"

But it's not like I had any brilliant ideas either.

Frankly speaking, I was a little miffed at him, so I let out a "Hmph!" and whipped my head away.