This Novel is not my Novel

The strategy meeting continued even after I boosted the original protagonist's morale.

However, I will not describe the details at length and will replace them with a brief narration.

If the opposing team stuck to their existing strategy...

Yor, Vigdís, and Sveinn decided to deal with Pret.

This was because even if one of them were to get caught in a trap, the other could hold Pret off while Yor rescued the trapped person.

This was the force allocation for that purpose.

And Reisir told me that while I should face Fjodora, simply enduring would be enough.

After all, a whopping three people were assigned to Pret.

He said that since they could snatch Pret's ribbon and come to help, there was no need for me to overdo it and aim for Fjodora's ribbon myself.

It didn't stop there.

Reisir said he would also try his best to escape from Ríolíkin and Lausa's mark as quickly as possible and come help me.

He also added that I should trust him and wait.

With such a tragically determined expression, no less...

I conjectured that he might have set a goal for himself to come help me faster than Yor and the other two.

Anyway, the reason I'm substituting all this with narration is...

"You said the Teal Team's starting point is around here, right? But for no one to have shown up yet... It seems they're planning to stage a defensive battle centered on their starting point."

As you can tell from the dialogue coming from Reisir's mouth, the result of the aforementioned strategy meeting had become irrelevant.

The reason I narrated it briefly nonetheless...

was because the counter-strategy we prepared, assuming the opposing team chose a defensive battle, was an application based on the above-mentioned content.

"This makes the possibility of there being a trap expert on the opposing team even higher, doesn't it? Just as Karvaldr said."

Since the original protagonist said this while looking at Sveinn...

Sveinn, receiving his gaze, couldn't hide his reluctance as he said, "That's... right."

He only answered unwillingly, and it seemed he was still suspicious.

"Yaong yaong!"

It was then that Yor made a cat sound and pointed at the sky.

As I immediately looked up, the sight of a gliding eagle with teal feathers entered my field of vision.

The location it was heading toward was the Teal Team's starting point.

"It must have spotted us and gone to inform its master. The battle will probably start soon, so I need a buff."

As if on cue, the moment I spotted Lausa...

Thinking, Let's do well this time, too, I used the 【Encouragement】 skill on myself, and...

I also applied the 【Encouragement】 skill, targeting myself and Yor.

Thus, as soon as Reisir finished speaking, I was able to swing my whip without delay to activate the 【Exaltation】 skill.

"We don't know when or where a surprise attack might come, so let's walk with heightened tension and caution. And when you see the opposing team's starting point... you know what to do, right?"

"...Yes."

Reisir once again shot a glance at Sveinn and spoke, and Sveinn nodded, answering a little late.

Still, when the pillar with a clock on it came into view between the trees...

Sveinn created a fist-sized mass of water and threw it around, performing his assigned role.

This was one of the strategies prepared in case the opposing team chose a defensive battle.

Under the assumption that numerous traps had been installed, it was an action meant to trigger them in advance.

It would be impossible to neutralize all the traps, since he was just throwing them randomly rather than accurately identifying and hitting their locations, but...

Reducing the number of traps by even one will make things that much safer.

For reference, it was Reisir who gave Sveinn this role.

While doing so, Reisir also added that if traps were triggered even by randomly thrown masses of water, it would mean there were a great number of hidden traps.

He added that, in that case, they should believe my words about there being a trap expert on the opposing team and be on alert.

And the result was...

"W-wha...?!"

Sveinn showed a flustered expression, his eyes wide with disbelief.

This was because a tree branch with a heavy sandbag attached swung with a Woosh-! sound.

An arrow suddenly shot out from a pile of leaves, and an iron trap covered in dirt snapped shut with a clank.

He had only thrown a mere ten masses of water, yet he had coincidentally triggered a whole three traps.

Even I was slightly surprised by this result.

So how much more so for Sveinn, who had distrusted my words and called them a leap in logic.

"Sveinn, throw more."

"Y-yes...!"

At the original protagonist's instruction, Sveinn answered dazedly and threw ten additional masses of water.

They hit the trees, ground, and bushes with splattering sounds.

This time, only one trap was activated.

"One more time."

"Yes."

And on the third try, he couldn't find any traps, but...

When one more trap was activated on the fourth attempt...

"Oh no...! All the traps I worked so diligently to set, all for nothing!"

A lamenting voice was heard from within the bushes.

Yor immediately created an Aether Arrow and shot it in the direction the sound came from.

"Oops, it was so regrettable that I let my voice slip out without realizing!"

Pret popped out of the bushes and spat out these words.

But I didn't believe him.

Neither that he'd made the sound by mistake, nor that 'all' the traps he'd set had been activated.

"There are still traps left. And Pret must have intentionally revealed himself to lure us into getting caught in them."

"To not trust me like this! You're too much, Senior Karvaldr."

"Hmph."

I gave a light snort of contempt and ignored Pret's nonsense.

After I had thus expressed my intention to end the conversation...

"Pret. Didn't you say you belonged to a circus troupe? Then how do you know how to handle traps?"

The original protagonist threw this question at the successor to the Head of the Information Guild, who was hiding his social status.

Though his tone and expression were ordinary, as if he were merely asking out of curiosity...

The golden single eye not covered by the eyepatch glinted sharply.

It was an appearance that clearly showed he was doubting Pret's origins.

Of course, Pret must have noticed this as well.

But he calmly uttered the following words.

"Ah! In the circus troupe, we handle various devices for tricks, and I was the one in charge of installing and checking them. Since I'm young, I got stuck with the menial tasks. Thanks to that, my observational skills and manual dexterity improved, so this became possible."

"So, today is the first time you've handled traps?"

"Yes! The traps installed here are primitive in form and have simple operating principles. As soon as I saw them, I immediately got a feel for what to do!"

An outrageous statement.

No matter how simple the traps were, he had discovered ones that experts had cleverly hidden so ordinary people could never notice them.

And after dismantling them and installing them in the desired locations, he had even hidden them perfectly.

What's more, there aren't just one or two, are there?

It was no different from playing innocent with his eyes closed, so the original protagonist's gaze narrowed.

It looked like he thought Pret was lying.

If Pret had been determined to hide his identity, he wouldn't have shown himself handling traps during a mere training exercise.

That was why Pret's lie didn't make me uncomfortable at all.

Even at the risk of having his identity suspected...

Because I could read his thought that he wouldn't let us fall into a crisis by getting caught in traps inside the Demon Realm.

Around the time I reached that conclusion in my head...

I could see a teal light forming near Vigdís and Sveinn.

Since Pret was drawing our attention...

Fjodora and Lausa must have used the 【Spatial Leap】 skill to approach and snatch those two's ribbons during this opening.

Judging by the size of the light, is Fjodora aiming for Vigdís and Lausa for Sveinn?

The reason I could think this calmly at that moment was, of course, thanks to the Thought Acceleration effect.

Because in this situation, where our attention was focused on Pret, Fjodora wouldn't just stand by and watch quietly.

I activated the 【Character Analysis】 skill by considering Pret's words and actions.

After adjusting my thought speed to a level where I could just barely distinguish human voices, I continued observing my surroundings, then...

As soon as I spotted the light of the 【Spatial Leap】, I completely released control of my Sky Blue Ether to secure some leeway to think.

Protecting both Vigdís and Sveinn with my physical abilities seems impossible, doesn't it?

Considering that the environment was littered with traps, protecting Sveinn, who was capable of ranged attacks, would be the logical choice.

But the problem was that I really didn't feel like it.

Publicly, Vigdís was the possessed body's fiancée, and even if it weren't for that reason...

I don't know why, but Vigdís seems to consider me quite friendly. If I help Sveinn instead of her, she'll feel a sense of betrayal, right?

It seemed having a lot of time to think wasn't always a good thing.

If I hadn't had that extra time, I would have reflexively helped Vigdís without much thought.

Swallowing a sigh, I slightly slowed the flow of my Sky Blue Ether and reached my hand toward Vigdís.

Did he sense this movement of mine?

A beat later, Reisir could be seen raising his hand.

And when my hand grabbed Vigdís's arm, golden Ether formed at Reisir's fingertips.

While I pulled Vigdís away, the lightning extended toward the teal light.

The lightning struck the bodies of Fjodora and Lausa as they appeared.

At this rate...

I felt like, in the eyes of others, it would look as though I had unnecessarily stepped forward to pull Vigdís away when Reisir would have resolved the situation even if I had done nothing.

"Ah! W-what just happened...?"

I simply let go of the bewildered Vigdís's arm.

I didn't bother to explain the situation.

Because once her bewilderment faded, she would naturally be able to find the answer to that question.

"Well, this... I thought Ms. Vigdís and Mr. Sveinn were certainly worth aiming for..."

Fjodora, who had reappeared far away using 【Spatial Leap】, couldn't hide her disappointment even while flinching.

And Reisir also showed his disappointment upon seeing that.

"Did I lower the power too much?"

"That's a scary thing to say. Even now, the spasms haven't subsided, so I don't even have the nerve to take out a Potion and drink it..."

That wasn't an exaggeration.

As evidence, Fjodora used 【Spatial Leap】 to move next to Pret, and Pret took a Potion from his Inventory, opened the lid, and fed it to Fjodora.

Seeing as it was the same Potion Fjodora had given me earlier, it seemed she had also handed out Potions to her team members.

Putting that aside, it must have hurt an awful lot.

Considering her dignity, she would normally have endured until the spasms from the electric shock subsided, then taken out a Potion and drunk it with her own hands.

Fjodora was the type to hide her pain, if anything; she was definitely not the type to feign it.

Knowing that fact, the thought that she must be in a bad way to act like that came to mind.