This Novel is not my Novel

*The Thursday afternoon lecture, "Botany," was opened exclusively for the Special Class for Awakened Ones, so it did not cover academic knowledge such as plant classification or ecology.

Instead, it focused on practical knowledge, such as the appearance and effects of medicinal and poisonous herbs, as well as how to handle them.

According to Djúpr, we might eventually go on field training, but that was something far in the future.

This week, all we did was sit quietly, listen to Djúpr's explanations, and look through the textbook.

I'll be skipping that scene.

I will also omit the scene from the Basic Physical Training lecture at dawn the following day.

I will resume the narration from the moment the problematic ten-hour lecture begins.

For reference, the location is the mountain entrance behind Valhalla Academy.

"Nice to meet you all. My name is Bjorn Ketilsson, and my Ether Attribute Skill is 【Earth Domination】... but..."

Bjorn, the head professor of the "Mock Battle and Survival Training" lecture and also a supporting character from the original novel, introduced himself.

He wore an expression that looked as though he was extremely uncomfortable, like someone wearing clothes that did not fit him, and his tone was painfully awkward.

Then, he fell into thought and began agonizing over something by himself.

By the time confusion had settled over the faces of all the students, including mine, Bjorn cautiously opened his mouth.

"I'm not very educated, so it's difficult for me to properly show respect to noble lords and ladies. Using Honorific Speech also feels incredibly awkward. So, if I may ask... would it be alright for someone who is merely a commoner mercenary to speak informally to you all?"

The moment I heard this, all my doubts disappeared, and I understood.

The Bjorn in the original novel was a character with a broad-minded and rough personality who spoke in a cool, straightforward manner.

Naturally, his usual way of speaking was informal.

So...

It seems Author Senna thought that such a character using Honorific Speech and politely addressing students would feel unnatural.

However, Bjorn was a commoner-born mercenary, and the world of this novel followed a strict status system.

He could not simply start speaking informally to members of the Imperial Family and noble heirs without permission.

So Author Senna must have inserted a scene like this to justify him asking for approval.

"You speak the obvious. You are not currently employed as a mercenary. You have been appointed as a professor, have you not? There is no reason for you to feel uncomfortable with your own students."

"So... um... does that mean I can speak informally?"

Judging only from the content of her words, he should have understood that was what she meant.

Was it because Fjodora's tone was clearly that of someone speaking to a subordinate?

Bjorn reacted as though he was unsure whether he had interpreted her correctly.

"It means you may."

"Is it really alright...? Including Your Royal Highness the Princess herself? Or excluding?"

"Including me."

"I-I'm really going to speak informally...? Truly...?"

"Do so."

After repeatedly confirming it, Bjorn finally managed to abandon his formal speech while glancing toward Fjodora.

Even though he had just said himself that Honorific Speech was difficult for him to use.

It seemed that speaking informally in front of Fjodora was even more difficult.

"Uh... Then, shall we begin with attendance?"

Bjorn said that with an embarrassed expression and opened the attendance record, calling out each student's name.

Afterward, he took out a container from his inventory.

Inside were several wooden sticks, clearly prepared for drawing lots.

"First, we need to divide into teams, so everyone draw one."

Surely he wasn't planning to have us practice team battles on the very first day?

If students fought in the mountains, where countless obstacles blocked their vision, the professor would not be able to properly supervise them.

A slight mistake could easily lead to an accident.

Then perhaps the rule was that we could not use Ether?

I came up with various possibilities in my head, then realized it was pointless and stopped.

Even if I guessed correctly, there was nothing I could do to prepare.

Thinking too much would only exhaust me.

So I simply watched as Bjorn approached the new students and held out the container.

The ends of the sticks drawn by Pret and Sveinn were teal and purple.

Their teams had been decided.

Don't they usually make them red and blue?

Thinking that, I absentmindedly counted the number of sticks remaining in the container.

There were only five.

Since Pret and Sveinn had already drawn theirs, there should have been seven remaining.

No way... the colors of the lots just happen to be teal and purple, symbols of the Imperial Family and the Austri Ducal Family...?

It seemed that because Fjodora and I had arrived together with Lausa and Yor, they had separated us into completely different teams for the sake of fairness.

As expected, Bjorn simply passed by me and offered the container to Reisir.

"Ah...! Senior Reisir, you're on the same team as me!"

After confirming the color at the end of the stick Reisir drew, Sveinn looked extremely happy.

Since dividing teams through drawing lots essentially meant that the teams would be arranged according to the original author's intentions, it was only natural that the Original Protagonist and the original traitor would end up on the same team.

And Sveinn being happy after drawing the same color as Reisir... that's only natural, isn't it? Reisir is the strongest among us.

But there was nothing I could do about the displeasure I felt.

Still, considering the circumstances, it seemed I would also be on their team.

Should I consider it a small relief that I could interfere with them becoming closer?

"Yeah, that's right. And since it's purple, Karvaldr is probably on the same team too."

The Original Protagonist seemed to have immediately understood the meaning behind the colors.

However, Sveinn did not.

As if he could not understand why I was also on the same team, he responded with a confused "Huh?"

I could also feel his reluctance toward me.

It seemed Sveinn found me just as uncomfortable as I found him.

Well, I've shown signs of avoiding him more than once. It would be stranger if he didn't find me awkward.

Reisir explained to Sveinn why I was on the same team.

Then Bjorn offered the drawing container to Ríolíkin, saying that Reisir's answer was correct.

At that moment, Ríolíkin—

"Purple, purple, please, purple...!"

—shouted desperately.

With his eyes tightly closed, he drew a stick.

He seemed to want to be on the same team as me more than anything.

"Is it purple...? Is it correct...?"

As if he lacked the courage to check the result himself, Ríolíkin stretched out his hand holding the stick and left the confirmation to someone else.

This was not something I, who was already feeling uneasy about being on the same team as Sveinn, should be thinking.

But I wondered why he was treating something so minor with such seriousness.

"There's no color marking on it."

"Huh? What are you saying? Don't joke around. I'm being very serious."

"I wasn't joking either. Right, Karvaldr?"

Reisir was telling the truth.

However, when Ríolíkin still refused to believe him, Reisir used me as confirmation.

"It's as Reisir says."

Only after hearing my words did Ríolíkin open his eyes and look at the stick in his hand.

After confirming that it truly had no color painted on it, he turned to Bjorn.

"I seem to have picked a defective item. Please exchange it. If possible, for a purple one."

"Ah, that? It's not defective."

"If not, then what is it?"

"There are nine of you, so if we divide into two teams, one person will be left over. But I heard there is a really strong kid among you, right?"

"Reisir, is he talking about him...?"

"Uh huh, yeah."

I could see Ríolíkin's pupils trembling.

He must have realized after hearing Bjorn's explanation.

The fact that he could not be on the same team as me.

Yet Ríolíkin denied reality and asked again.

"I don't understand. What does Reisir have to do with this stick...?"

"If the team with the strong kid also has more members, the difference in strength would become too great for proper training, right? So I added one colorless stick. Whoever draws that gets placed on the opposite team from Reisir to balance things out."

"Th-that means..."

"You are on the Teal Team."

At Bjorn's confirmation, Ríolíkin looked at Reisir with resentment.

But—

"You can't blame me. It would have been fine if you had simply drawn a purple stick, right?"

It was an undeniable argument.

Unable to refute it, Ríolíkin could only mumble before letting out a tearful "Hiiing..."

"Did Karvaldr coat himself in honey or something?"

As Ríolíkin caused such a commotion simply because he could not be on the same team as me, Bjorn clicked his tongue with an incredulous expression.

"It's not like that. Ríolíkin is just very shy around strangers."

"In all my years as a mercenary, I've never seen anyone be so openly shy around strangers..."

Bjorn responded to my explanation with disbelief.

But soon, a situation occurred that forced him to accept my words.

Vigdís had drawn a purple stick.

And when Ríolíkin saw that, he collapsed with an expression of despair.

Naturally.

Because—

"Since all three purple sticks and the one unmarked stick have been drawn, there's no need to draw the remaining sticks. They'll all be teal."

—with those words, Ríolíkin was placed on the same team as Fjodora, Helga, Lissy, and Pret.

Aside from Helga, they were all strangers.

And among the second-year students, Ríolíkin felt the most uncomfortable around Helga.

I believe all you Readers understand why without me needing to explain.

"I... just wished that at least Older Sister Vigdís... would be on the same team..."

For someone as shy and timid as Ríolíkin, it was the worst possible team composition.

Perhaps feeling sorry for him, my affectionate baby dragon approached Ríolíkin and patted his back.

However, Ríolíkin responded with an outrageously ungrateful remark.

"If I had been born as Lord Karvaldr's familiar, that would have been nice... No matter what happened, we'd definitely be on the same team..."

Yor stopped comforting him immediately.

After all, he had dared to covet her position.

Not only that, as if deliberately teasing him, she nestled herself into my arms, making Ríolíkin even more envious.

"But what would happen if Reisir had drawn the unmarked stick?"

Was she completely unconcerned with Ríolíkin's feelings?

Helga, without even looking at him, threw this question at Bjorn.

Normally, the answer would have been obvious.

He would put the stick back, shuffle them again, and have everyone draw once more.

But—

"Then the teams would have been split into three."

Bjorn said that, then smiled, baring his teeth.

One of the three teams he mentioned would have been Reisir's one-person team.

This... no matter how I think about it, this is foreshadowing, isn't it? Announcing that there will eventually be a Mock Battle with that team composition.

That event would probably happen after Helga, Lissy, and Sveinn became capable of fighting properly.

That way, when Reisir alone defeated the rest of us who had formed a team, his strength would stand out even more.