This Novel is not my Novel

"Does that mean you can handle me, just one person, all by yourself?"

Fjodora's lips parted as if she were about to say something, so I briefly turned off my 【Character Analysis】 skill and heard her say this.

It wasn't a particularly important comment, and it was also the reaction I had expected.

Even so, the reason I deliberately ended the 【Character Analysis】 skill was that I felt the need to give my brain a short rest before it became overloaded.

"That is..."

I deliberately let out a meaningless phrase to buy myself some time to rest.

While blocking the flow of the Sky Blue Ether, I continued thinking about various things.

This was so that the 【Character Analysis】 skill could be activated at any time simply by releasing my control over it.

To properly rest my brain, it would have been best not to think at all, but Fjodora could suddenly try to attack.

Even if Yor helps, it will still be difficult for Vigdís to snatch Pret's ribbon, won't it?

It couldn't be helped, not only because of the environment, but also because Pret was the only expert among us with extensive field experience.

Although directly clashing weapons wasn't his specialty, things like hiding, escaping, or luring opponents...

He would have had plenty of indirect combat experience.

It will also take Reisir quite a while to get used to the joint attack of Ríolíkin and Lausa...

No matter how much he was the original protagonist, his lack of practical experience couldn't be helped.

At this point in time, he had almost no experience facing two or more people at once, let alone a combination of a tank and a ranged damage dealer.

And was that all?

Ríolíkin's 【Armor of Protection】 could block Reisir's lightning attack.

While not comparable to Yor, who was born a great dragon, the setting of this novel dictated that familiars were inherently born with high attribute resistance values.

In many ways, he was bound to struggle.

"Why did you stop mid-answer?"

"I thought you would naturally know without me having to say it myself."

"And why is that?"

"Didn't you just experience how I respond to Your Royal Highness the Princess?"

"Hah...!"

Seeing her engage in conversation like this, it seemed Fjodora had chosen not to snatch my ribbon herself.

Instead, I thought she had opted for the strategy of stalling for time while waiting for Pret to snatch Vigdís's ribbon and return.

Not only could Pret spot the existence of a trap at a glance, but if you didn't know he could also make use of them, you were bound to fall into one.

That's why I sent Yor, who knows that Pret is a trap expert, with her, but...

Unless Vigdís was careful, I couldn't be at ease.

Even if she was conscious of the traps and careful, it was the same.

Since Pret could arbitrarily manipulate and activate the traps, Vigdís falling into one could be called a predetermined outcome.

The problem is, I think Pret will get back to help Fjodora faster than Reisir will get to me. Maintaining the 【Character Analysis】 skill for a long time is also a bit of a burden.

For the Teal Team to gain the upper hand, Vigdís and I had to lose our ribbons here.

Only then would it be possible for the Purple Team, the original protagonist's team, to stage a dramatic reversal.

This meant our team's victory was guaranteed, but...

Still, I have to put up a desperate struggle. What else can I do?

As I warned Ríolíkin in the chapter before last, this was just training, so we would only lose a ribbon, but in actual combat, what would be taken was our lives.

Because I didn't want to leave the power of life and death over me and the other characters in the original author's hands.

That was why I spoke to Fjodora in a provocative tone in the dialogue above.

If Fjodora only shot arrows from a distance, the plot would obviously unfold just as the original author intended.

It was meant to induce close-quarters combat.

"You sound as if you're trying to provoke me."

"I'm sorry if you felt that way. But I believed that lying to Your Royal Highness the Princess would be an even greater impoliteness..."

"Hearing that, you seem to think I'll approach you again to prove that I can snatch your ribbon by myself."

My opponent saw through my intention, but it didn't matter.

This was exactly what I was aiming for.

"Hearing you say that, you seem worried that if you approach me, you'll have your ribbon snatched again."

"I'll acknowledge that your reaction speed is fast. But don't you think you're being a little too confident?"

"Yor isn't even by my side right now, and seeing you drag things out by continuing the conversation like this... Not really?"

The moment I deliberately drew out my words as if contemplating before concluding with, "Not really?" Fjodora's shoulders twitched and rose, and a frown creased the space between her eyebrows.

Judging by her reaction, her pride must have been seriously wounded.

"You only succeeded in snatching the ribbon when I was off guard, and now you've become quite arrogant."

She was saying that if she hadn't been careless, her ribbon wouldn't have been taken, and that was probably true.

At that time, Fjodora hadn't considered my reaction speed, so she hadn't even thought about protecting her ribbon.

If she had put up even a minimum defense, the result would surely have been different.

So now that Fjodora was wary of my reaction speed, if she approached again, it was a given that snatching the teal ribbon in one go would be impossible.

The possibility of me being pushed back in close-quarters combat was also very high.

When I saw her sparring during the martial arts lecture, she looked like she'd received quite a lot of training in close-quarters combat.

Frankly speaking, I was currently pushing my luck, relying solely on the Thought Acceleration effect of the 【Character Analysis】 skill.

It was training right now, and this was a situation where losing the ribbon was all but a predetermined outcome.

I figured there was no better time to attempt a reckless adventure.

If I succeeded in snatching Fjodora's ribbon this time as well, it would be good because I would gain the confidence that I could escape the original author's will and protect my life even in actual combat.

And failing wouldn't endanger my life.

Though my mood will get a little... no, a lot worse. This level of risk doesn't even count as a risk.

Anyway, I'd rested enough, so I had to enter combat before it was too late.

Having made that decision, I said the following.

"Am I truly being arrogant? If so, then please, Your Royal Highness the Princess, correct my thinking."

"You, really... Even knowing that you're provoking me to induce close-quarters combat, you're making it impossible for me not to respond."

Fjodora let out a hollow laugh and drew her bowstring.

Just looking at her, it seemed as though she was going to shoot an arrow from a distance and continue stalling, but—

Based on what she just said, the arrow she's about to shoot is nothing more than a feint. The real attack will come when she approaches with the 【Spatial Leap】 skill while I'm deflecting that arrow.

As I swung my whip to deflect the incoming arrow, I simultaneously released the Sky Blue Ether I had confined in my core.

Immediately, the 【Character Analysis】 skill activated, and the world seemed to freeze.

As expected, Fjodora's body was enveloped in a teal light.

As I adjusted the flow velocity of the Sky Blue Ether, the distant light grew faint, and an identical light appeared very close by.

This time, Fjodora will be tightly clutching the knot of her ribbon to protect it, so it won't come undone even if it's pulled...

Reaching out to snatch the tail of her ribbon would be meaningless.

I conjectured that Fjodora was thinking the same thing.

So I believed she would either try to subdue me first or look for an opportunity to snatch the ribbon as the battle progressed.

Will she swing the bow she's holding?

Since being able to freely attack at both close and long range with 【Spatial Leap】 was her greatest strength, it was unlikely that she would let go of her bow.

And it was common sense that swinging something was more powerful than using your bare hands.

There was a risk of damaging the bow if one made even a slight mistake, but a rich princess wouldn't worry about such things.

No matter how much a bow wasn't a striking weapon, if an archer who used a longbow, which required great strength to draw, were to swing it, it would become a very threatening attack.

Therefore, the moment my whip deflected the arrow, I let go of it, pulled a dagger from my Inventory, and jumped back.

Fjodora appeared and swung the bow in her hand just a hair's breadth later.

Her weapon narrowly missed my body, but the rush of air displaced by its swing struck me, and for a moment, I felt dizzy.

Fjodora had swung the bow with one hand while protecting her ribbon, and even though she hadn't infused the bow with Ether—perhaps out of consideration for me—I could feel its considerable power.

If that had hit, I'd have been in big trouble. Just how much physical strength does Fjodora have right now?

I reflexively added a question to that impression to maintain the 【Character Analysis】 skill, and after throwing the dagger in my right hand at Fjodora, I immediately pulled a new dagger from my Inventory.

At the same time, I released my left hand, which had been holding the knot of my ribbon, and gripped a dagger with it as well.

The instant Fjodora showed any sign of trying to snatch my ribbon, I could defend myself by either dropping a dagger to grab the ribbon or swinging a dagger at the arm reaching for it.

I had judged that there was no need to keep holding onto the ribbon.

No matter how quickly I could react to my opponent's movements thanks to the Thought Acceleration effect, there was a limit to the physical abilities carrying out those actions, so the risk of having my ribbon snatched was not nonexistent.

However...

Fjodora will only continue this close-quarters combat if she sees some hope of being able to take the ribbon like this.

As I had this thought, I saw Fjodora infuse her bow with Ether and strike away the dagger flying toward her.

Then she took a step forward and moved to swing her bow again.

I infused the two daggers in my hands with Ether and crossed them to block her attack.

Perhaps seeing this as an opportunity, Fjodora took her hand off her ribbon.

It was obviously to take my now-exposed and defenseless ribbon.

To escape that hand, I twisted my body to the side and retreated.

Fjodora's hand grasped empty air, and her weapon cut through the void.

That was when teal light enveloped Fjodora's entire body.

She must have thought I would attack by throwing a dagger at her.

She must have used 【Spatial Leap】 both to dodge that attack and to reset her broken posture.