This Novel is not my Novel

The original protagonist gave Sveinn a brief, curious glance, but perhaps deciding that it was not worth pressing him further, he continued what he was saying.

"Next, since Pret is supposedly from a circus troupe... I expect him to use irregular movements by taking advantage of the terrain, such as moving between trees."

After mentioning Pret's background, the pause before he spoke his next sentence was subtly longer than usual.

Through that, I could confirm that Reisir did not fully believe that Pret was from a circus troupe and was still suspicious.

Still, I do not know why he is not using his 【Truth-Reading Eye】 skill on him.

I doubt there was any possibility that Reisir had secretly looked at Pret's Status Window behind my back.

If he had, then just as he had told me in Episode 68 that Skati was an extremely skilled assassin, he would have informed me that Pret appeared to be connected to the Information Guild and warned me to be cautious.

And more importantly—

If Reisir had looked at Pret's information window—

"Still, the 【Disguise】 skill becomes obvious when he moves, and it cannot hide footsteps. So if we focus on sounds and carefully observe our surroundings, we should not lose our ribbons without realizing it."

—or something like that.

"Besides, while Pret's agility is impressive, he cannot move through space like Her Royal Highness the Princess. I think it is more than possible to take his ribbon instead."

—he would not have been able to say something like that so casually.

And there was a reason for that.

Pret had the following skills registered in his Normal Skill Window.

【Trap Master】, proof that he could freely handle traps.

【Phantom Glide】, which came with the description that he could move silently like a ghost anywhere.

With skills like these, it was no exaggeration to say that the setting of a "mountain filled with traps" was a stage specifically prepared for Pret.

Therefore, the opposing team member we needed to be most cautious of was not Fjodora.

It was Pret.

But I cannot say that, can I?

When Reisir talked about Skati, I had let the matter pass without questioning where his information came from.

So if I asked him to do the same now without explanation, Reisir would probably accept it.

The reason I could not speak about Pret's abilities despite knowing them was—

Because of the original author, who is watching this situation and writing it.

Besides, Vigdís and Sveinn were here with us as well.

So I silently nodded, pretending to agree with the original protagonist's words.

"And Helga's fire manipulation ability is a threat. But because of that, she will hesitate to attack us using her Ether Attribute Skill. On top of that, our team has Sveinn, who uses Water Attribute Ether, right? And her physical abilities are weak... It may be a little harsh to say this, but you can probably underestimate her."

When he said the final sentence, Reisir unnecessarily glanced around before lowering his voice.

He knew Helga could not hear our conversation, but it seemed he still felt strangely guilty about speaking negatively about her.

"Finally, regarding Senior Lissy, I do not know how much her physical strength increases through her Ether Attribute Ability since that information has not been revealed yet. However, I do not think we need to be wary of her. No matter how strong she is, it is meaningless if she does not know how to fight."

After finishing his explanation, the original protagonist looked around at us.

It was an obvious gesture telling us to speak if we had any opinions.

At this, Sveinn subtly looked away, clearly hoping not to be called on.

Vigdís, meanwhile, seemed not to understand why Reisir was looking at us at all.

She simply appeared to be storing his explanation in her mind with an expression that said, "I see."

"Karvaldr. Anything to add?"

Reisir singled me out once again and asked for my opinion.

Should I start pretending to be ignorant like Sveinn from now on?

"That team must already know that Helga and Senior Lissy are weak. Therefore, it would be dangerous to rush in carelessly while aiming for their ribbons, since there is a possibility they are being used as bait."

"I think so too. Pret could use his 【Disguise】 skill to hide nearby together with Her Royal Highness the Princess. Then, when we rush toward Helga or Senior Lissy to take their ribbons, he could use that opportunity to steal ours instead."

"If they happen to discover a trap, they might place Helga or Senior Lissy near it and attempt to lure us in."

"Ah! I suppose we should consider that possibility as well?"

I gave an indirect warning while staying within the boundaries of what "Karvaldr" could say without making Author Senna suspicious.

Judging by Reisir's reaction, he did not seem to find anything strange about my comment.

"I was thinking that perhaps Helga and Senior Lissy might remain at the starting point without moving while the rest of their team members step forward to stop us from reaching them..."

"You mean so that their ribbons cannot be taken at all?"

"Yes. Once the battle begins, those two will have their ribbons taken quickly and will have to return to the starting point, right? But if we occupy the Teal Team's starting point, they will lose their ribbons every ten minutes. Since they need to defend the starting point anyway, wouldn't that be the safer choice?"

"That certainly seems possible."

I also thought that Helga and Lissy would remain at the starting point, so I nodded for the time being to show my agreement.

However, I did not completely agree with Reisir's conclusion.

Assuming that the opposing team will guard their starting point is a misjudgment caused by lacking information.

They would not be guarding the starting point.

They would merely pretend to do so.

Because Pret would have dismantled the traps discovered elsewhere and reinstalled them around his own team's starting point.

Rather, they would be hoping that we all gathered there together and were caught in the traps as a group.

The original author is probably hoping for that development as well.

Readers of the pre-remake 《NaSE》 would know that Pret was capable of handling traps.

However, newly joined readers who did not know that fact would only look at the team assignments and expect our team to achieve an overwhelming victory.

Even without that reason, it was only natural for the protagonist's team to win.

If the protagonist was fighting alone against many enemies, readers would still feel excitement and satisfaction from seeing him display overwhelming strength and achieve a one-sided victory.

But right now, this is a four-on-five team match, and two members of the opposing team are complete beginners who have never even sparred before, right?

So if our team won overwhelmingly—

Senna's readers would not think the original protagonist won because he was special.

They would think he simply got lucky with the team assignment.

And they would feel that the development was too obvious, to the point of becoming boring.

That was why the original author must have added the "trap" element to create a situation where Pret could play an active role.

If the story proceeded with the feeling that the game briefly favored the Teal Team before a reversal—

Readers would anticipate, How will the protagonist overcome this situation?

They would become interested in the progression.

And they would also get to enjoy the thrill of a dramatic turnaround.

"Um... but... Is it really okay to stay at the starting point without participating in the battle...?"

It was Sveinn who cautiously raised that question.

He had avoided eye contact earlier when Reisir looked around to invite opinions, but it seemed he was not completely opposed to participating in the strategy meeting.

"Why? Do you want to do that too?"

"No, no! Since the professor said that we must retie our ribbons within ten minutes, I just thought that not participating in the battle might go against the purpose of the training."

At Reisir's lighthearted teasing tone, Sveinn panicked and quickly ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) denied it while waving his hands.

Was that reaction amusing?

"Ahahaha! It was just a joke, a joke."

The protagonist of someone else's novel burst out with his usual refreshing yet somehow irritating laugh.

It was a sight that naturally made me furrow my brow.

"A joke...?"

"I have seen you training diligently during other lectures, so there is no way I would misunderstand and think you were trying to skip training now, right?"

"Ah..."

Although it was not anything particularly special, I could see the tension leave Sveinn's face, and a faint trace of deep emotion appeared in his eyes.

In the original novel, he had sincerely admired Reisir before suddenly betraying him.

Therefore, this could by no means be called a good sign.

"You seem overly nervous and uncomfortable around us..."

"We do not have much time left, so should we stop the small talk?"

Just before the words treat us comfortably could leave the original protagonist's mouth, I cut him off and inserted myself into the conversation.

To prevent their conversation from continuing, I used the opportunity to answer Sveinn's question myself.

"For this round, as long as you properly wear your ribbon, there will be no penalty even if you do not participate in combat."

"Because the professor did not mention any related rules...?"

"Why would you assume the professor made such an oversight? This lecture also functions as survival training, so she may have judged that surviving by any means necessary is important. Or perhaps, since protecting a team member at the starting point is similar to protecting a civilian rescued from a Demon Realm, she may have thought that this would also be valuable experience in its own way."

"Ah... Th-that's... right. I think you're right, Senior."

Sveinn reacted like someone shrinking before an overwhelming display of authority, lowering his head.

I had merely explained the reasons for his question from several perspectives.

But perhaps because I was speaking in the arrogant tone of the original villain, a tone that seemed to look down on others, he felt as though I was humiliating him.

It is never good to get on the original villain's bad side...

I knew it was inevitable since I had decided to interfere with the original protagonist and him becoming close.

But separate from that, seeing him shrink back like this caused unnecessary sympathy to rise within me.

I would have been more comfortable if Sveinn had been a character overflowing with malice like Tryggdrik, someone who enjoyed bullying others and had even kidnapped Helga.

Then I would not have to be troubled by something like this.

"Still, as you said, waiting at the starting point goes against the original purpose. So in the afternoon, the professor will probably add a related regulation so everyone has no choice but to participate in combat."

"Yes... I see..."

By agreeing with what Sveinn had said earlier, I had wanted to leave the impression that I was not hostile toward him.

However, rather than recovering his confidence, his expression and voice became filled with even more hesitation.

No matter how I looked at it, it was clear that he had interpreted my words negatively.

Surely he does not think I stole his opinion, slightly modified it, and am now acting arrogant as if I came up with a completely new idea, right...?