This Novel is not my Novel

"Ah, right. Come to think of it, I haven't thanked you yet, have I? Thanks for helping me rescue Helga safely."

As I silently glared at Reisir in resentment, he suddenly brought it up.

Reisir is the original protagonist, so he would have been able to rescue Helga safely on his own.

So he shouldn't have needed my help.

"There is no need for thanks. Didn't I tell you earlier in the carriage? I came here not to help you, but..."

"To avoid being framed as the one who instigated the kidnapping?"

"Yes, you understand well."

"Yeah. I think I'm starting to understand what kind of person you are."

It was an answer that made my brow furrow.

He's probably planning to treat me like a tsundere and tease me again this time.

I can't keep getting dragged around by Reisir's word games forever. So this time, I absolutely must not get flustered and should respond calmly.

Having resolved myself, I approached the conversation with a sneering tone.

"What kind of nonsense are you planning to spout this time with an opening like that?"

"I'm not trying to spout nonsense... Karvaldr, you know. Don't live like that."

"...What?"

I expected him to smile and tell me to stop being so shy already.

But contrary to my expectations, Reisir looked at me with a worried expression and made a harsh remark in a cautious tone.

'His expression and tone match, but why on earth is the content like that?'

With that single remark, my resolve not to be shaken instantly evaporated into thin air.

In the end, I could only stand there dumbfounded, blinking.

Was my reaction that amusing? Reisir even let out a gasp of admiration.

"Wow, that's an expression I've never seen before!"

"......"

"Oops, that's not it. I didn't mean that in a bad way, so don't get mad."

"I am not angry. Merely dumbfounded."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Stop with the pointless remarks and explain what you meant by that."

I quickly suppressed the bewildered expression on my face and feigned the original body's usual arrogant and prickly demeanor.

At that, Reisir's eyes briefly glimmered mischievously before he paused.

It seemed he judged that now was not the time for jokes.

"When I said not to live like that, I meant it would be better for you to simply accept a thank you."

Reisir began speaking cautiously again, his gaze steady.

The atmosphere was so serious that I wondered if he was trying to re-enter the influence event that had failed earlier because I stole his lines.

"Whatever reason you had for stepping in to resolve this incident, I... no, Helga and I were definitely helped. If it weren't for your advice, I would still be running around anxiously trying to find Helga. If you hadn't come here, I wouldn't have been able to use the mercenaries hired by Tryggdrik to my advantage, so I couldn't have wrapped this up so easily and quickly. I'm sure I would have been seriously injured too."

"Hmm..."

Now that he put it that way, he was right.

The original protagonist would have, of course, resolved this incident on his own.

Because of that conviction, I hadn't considered the hardship Reisir would have gone through in the process.

So I had concluded that Reisir had no need to thank me, but I was mistaken.

I deserved to receive his thanks.

Even so, I couldn't say, 'I think you're right. I deserve to be thanked by you.'

Because immediately agreeing with someone, let alone meekly accepting it, doesn't suit Karvaldr.

Acting as another person in daily life certainly isn't easy.

Feeling uncomfortable, I was wondering what Karvaldr would have said in a situation like this when Reisir started speaking again.

With an incredibly pitiful expression, no less.

"No one who has used you until now would have expressed sincere thanks, so it might feel awkward to hear someone say thank you. Still... no, that's precisely why I think you should accept thanks even for small things. If you refuse a thank you, others will use you without feeling any gratitude, let alone guilt, and at some point, they'll cross the line and end up hurting you."

Why do I have to listen to this lecture-like talk from a kid who's still wet behind the ears?

I'm well aware that you should immediately filter out despicable people who don't express thanks after receiving help.

For all I know, even the original Karvaldr would have accepted a thank you.

I wonder what on earth Reisir's image of me is like.

Surely he doesn't see me as a tsundere pushover who gets used by others and can't even receive a thank you, right?

"And from now on, make sure you receive apologies properly too."

No, that's exactly what he thinks.

Now he's even added an inability to receive apologies to my list of supposed flaws.

"It seems you are misunderstanding ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) something about me..."

"A misunderstanding? Then why were you like that with Ríolíkin earlier? You were the one he used. Yet instead of receiving an apology, you made him apologize to me and ended the conversation right there, as if that had been your only purpose from the beginning and you had no need for an apology."

The person Ríolíkin used was, strictly speaking, Karvaldr, this body's original owner. Not me.

So the very idea of receiving an apology from him hadn't even occurred to me.

It seemed Reisir had been concerned about the part I had overlooked because of that.

"Besides, that bastard didn't even thank you! Even though you gave him the opportunity!"

I just let it go because I didn't think it was something worth being thanked for.

If Ríolíkin has decided to use me as a mental shield, then I plan to use him as a physical shield.

Since I've decided to keep him by my side, I should make use of him.

Since he's such a coward, I was a little worried whether he'd be able to move instead of freezing up in front of a monster.

But in the original work, he was the tanker for Karvaldr's Demon Realm Conquest Squad, so it should work out somehow, right?

I can't trust him too much, since he's a coward who would run away at a crucial moment.

'There's not much time left until the graduation ceremony. It'll be faster to train Ríolíkin's mental fortitude than this body's physical abilities.'

My calculation is that it'll be enough if he blocks just one attack when the boss monster's aggro is on me.

After that, the awakened professors there will handle it somehow.

Just as they did in the original work.

As I was thinking that, Reisir muttered with a heavy expression.

"Why are you so calm...? It's your problem..."

Is it because it's the transmigrated body's problem, so it only feels like half my problem?

That thought briefly crossed my mind, but I quickly suppressed it.

Because there was someone right in front of me getting emotional and worked up over something that was completely someone else's problem.

That's probably why I almost blurted out my honest feelings without realizing it.

"I don't know how I should react... No, it's nothing."

As a person with a conscience, I will correct myself.

At this point, anyone would say I didn't 'almost' say it, but simply said it.

Next to me, Yor slapped her own forehead, once again using the gesture she had learned from Professor Radvisin.

"You..."

"It's a misunderstanding. It's not because I'm unfamiliar or awkward with others worrying about me. It's just that you're saying such absurd things that I'm flabbergasted. As if I'm the type of person who can't meekly accept thanks and apologies and rejects them. Of course not. That was truly pointless meddling."

"......"

"In Ríolíkin's case, I simply overlooked it. Since he's so servile, I just assumed he had, of course, said thank you or sorry."

"......"

No answer came back.

The other person looked too sorry for me to even speak.

"So... you don't believe me?"

"N-no. I believe you. Mhm, of course I do."

"......"

"......"

Judging by how solemn the atmosphere had become, he definitely didn't believe me.

Resenting myself for making so many slips of the tongue today, I irritably ran a hand through my hair.

Surely I haven't been influenced without realizing it, right? That would be troublesome.

"If you're done talking, I will be taking my leave."

"There's still more."

"......"

"It'll be really, really quick, so could you wipe that 'I'm about to die of annoyance' look off your face...?"

Instead of saying things like that, he should just quickly finish what he has to say if it's so quick.

There was no reason for me to grant Reisir's request, so instead of relaxing my expression, I glared at him even more fiercely.

At that, Reisir's face stiffened slightly as he parted his lips.

"Um, from now on, about meals at the campus cafeteria..."

"Is there a need to get my permission?"

"...There isn't?"

"......"

He had just been lecturing me about not being able to accept thanks and apologies, yet here he was, unable to confidently claim his own obvious rights and instead being overly mindful of others.

Thinking that, I looked at Reisir with pitying eyes, then turned around without another word and got into the carriage.

Without even realizing that I was the one who had misunderstood.