"Anyway, I understand the situation. So I just need to go talk to that professor, right?"
I hadn't said a single word yet about Skati's contradictory attitude or her past.
And yet he had already grasped her circumstances?
Although one of the easiest ways to showcase a protagonist's superior intellect and insight is to have them deduce the truth from insufficient clues.
'Even so, this is a bit too much, isn't it? The clues aren't merely insufficient, they're practically nonexistent.'
So I was flustered, wondering whether this level of plausibility was even acceptable...
To state the conclusion first, it was my mistake.
And Reisir was mistaken as well.
"Don't worry too much. Although you did bully me, you sincerely apologized and promised never to do it again, right? You even stepped up to help when Helga was kidnapped."
"......?"
"It's just your tone that's harsh. In my eyes, I think your true nature is kind. You went astray last semester, but I think there are mitigating circumstances since you had a guy like Tryggdrik hanging around you."
"...What are you talking about right now?"
"What do you mean? I'm saying I'll explain properly to the professor that you're absolutely not a bad kid and that I've already forgiven you. I don't know what kind of person that professor is, but if they're a decent adult, they'll surely understand you and look upon you more leniently."
Listening to Reisir's words, I realized something.
I had ended up overestimating him just because he was the original protagonist.
No wonder he seemed to grasp things too quickly; in reality, it was the complete opposite.
Far from understanding Skati's circumstances, he hadn't even understood what I wanted.
"What are you trying to achieve by having you, the victim, defend me, the perpetrator?"
"What on earth are you talking about? Then of course I should defend you. Or should I curse you together with that professor?"
"Even if you don't curse me, you should at least empathize."
I touched my forehead and let out a deep sigh.
At my action, Reisir reacted with bewilderment.
"I don't quite understand. Weren't you worried that the professor might dislike you and deliberately give you a failing grade?"
"The exam will probably be fine. Given the nature of a practical exam, there are plenty of eyes watching. There will be a limit to how much she can lower my score based on personal feelings."
"You seem confident about doing well on that professor's exam?"
"Well... something like that."
Because I had thoroughly analyzed and reviewed how to apply the movements taught in dagger techniques to my whip technique.
I thought of that reason internally, but I didn't bother telling Reisir.
No, there was no need to.
"Isn't dagger combat a difficult skill to learn? Yet the fact that you're confident about the exam means you must have listened to that professor's lectures attentively and studied hard... It must have been uncomfortable to suddenly be hated by someone like that."
"......"
Even though I hadn't said anything, Reisir noticed my efforts and accurately guessed my feelings.
I thought Yor was the only one who recognized such things.
Indeed, it seems the protagonist's unique insight works effectively as long as enough clues are provided.
"Returning to the main point, Professor Skati may currently be suffering ostracism amounting to bullying from her fellow professors. Of course, this is still only my personal conjecture for now. But considering various circumstances, I think the possibility is quite high."
Lest Reisir attempt another influence event, I quickly brought the conversation back to the original topic.
However, the protagonist of someone else's novel still refused to move according to my wishes today.
"You seem to like that professor a lot."
"What nonsense are you suddenly spouting?"
"You told me not to defend you in front of that professor. Isn't it because you prioritize her feelings over defending yourself, since you feel at least some human affection for her?"
"That is not it."
"Then you gave up defending yourself for someone you don't even particularly like?"
"Please stop talking about irrelevant things. Aren't you the one derailing the conversation?"
"Are you annoyed because you don't have anything to say in rebuttal right now?"
"......"
I can't help liking Skati as a character after reading the original novel, but I'm always conscious that I shouldn't like her as a person, knowing she is destined to die soon.
But human affection?
Absolutely not. It must not be. It cannot be.
"S-sorry...?"
"For what?"
"Uh... well? Seeing your expression, I just felt like I should apologize for some reason..."
"......"
I didn't dare ask what kind of expression I was making.
So I merely stared at the ground and continued walking in silence.
The conversation still hadn't concluded, but I had conveyed the important information to the original protagonist.
The rest was up to Reisir... or so I expected.
"Anyway, you finally confided your worries in me after all this time, but it seems there's nothing I can do to help."
At Reisir's remark, which completely shattered my expectations, I stopped in my tracks.
"...You won't step in? Someone else might be going through pain similar to what you experienced last semester. Doesn't that bother you?"
"Of course it bothers me. But what can a mere student do by interfering in professors' affairs?"
Unfortunately, that statement itself wasn't wrong.
If the professors were openly assaulting Skati in front of the students, the issue would be resolved through disciplinary action or expulsion.
But if it remained at the level of covert workplace bullying without escalating into such a major incident, then a student stepping in would be useless.
Even if a complaint were submitted, it was highly likely the academy administration would try to gloss over it without properly addressing the issue.
"So you have to help Professor Skati overcome the problem herself."
Skati is a talented individual capable of assassinating the leader of the Assassination Guild.
The fact that she was suffering bullying despite that must mean the problem lay within her own mindset.
She must be enduring it because she believed she deserved to suffer due to the guilt she carried over the murders she committed as an assassin in the past.
"How?"
"Can't you use your special skill?"
"What special skill?"
"Deeply empathizing with another person's story and saying something that shakes their heart and inspires them."
"I have a special skill like that? This is the first time I've ever heard of it. Karvaldr, were you perhaps moved by something I said? Is that why you were inspired?"
"......!"
I realized I had dug my own grave and belatedly thought, 'Oops,' but it was already too late.
Far from stepping up as the original protagonist to solve the problem, he was already saying he would give up without even trying, which agitated me and caused me to blurt something out by accident.
"Wow~, so that was it~? I had no idea, since you always denied it whenever I brought up how close we are~?"
"I... I was inspired by you? Ha! I don't know what you're talking about. There is a limit to misunderstanding. At that point, it's a disease."
"Is it really a misunderstanding~? Then why did you describe inspiring others as my special skill~? And in such an obvious tone too~?"
"Ah, enough! Let's stop talking about irrelevant things!"
It was infuriating watching him shove his grinning face close to mine while teasing me.
It was only natural that I pushed Reisir's face away with my palm and raised my voice in irritation.
I am confident the Original Karvaldr would have reacted the same way in my position.
Reisir's behavior just now was so detestable that I don't believe my actions counted as a break in character.
"You really do react just like a cat, which is fitting for someone from a family that has lived alongside feline spirit beasts for generations."
It seemed Reisir didn't perceive my behavior as a break in character either, but instead of relief, irritation welled up inside me.
Not only was I being treated like a tsundere, I was also being treated like a cat.
And in the middle of all this, I couldn't even get angry because Yor was looking at me with a sense of solidarity while meowing.
As I silently glared at Reisir, he dropped his teasing smile, adopted a serious expression, and returned to the original topic.
"Thanks for discovering a special skill I didn't even know I had. Even so, I still don't think I'll be much help."
"...Why is that?"
"Well, I don't even know that professor. But wouldn't it be strange if I suddenly walked up to her and said something like, 'I heard you're being bullied by your colleagues, that must be really hard for you'?"
"......"
"Furthermore, I reconciled with you. Not only am I no longer being bullied, but I'm even getting along with you, the perpetrator. Wouldn't it be deceptive for me to offer empathy and words of comfort to someone who might still be suffering from bullying?"
"......!!"
He was right.
Trying to pass Skati's problem onto Reisir to solve had been impossible from the beginning.
Because this was a world inside a novel, I had vaguely assumed that if I left it to the original protagonist, things would naturally resolve themselves.
That assumption was fundamentally wrong.
'Even if he's the original protagonist, he can't step in to solve an incident unless the proper plausibility exists...? Because this is a world within a novel.'
For Reisir to step in and solve this problem, at the very least, the following two conditions needed to be met.
First, the two of them had to know each other.
Second, Reisir still had to be suffering from Karvaldr's bullying.
'Did the original author perhaps create this setting intending for these two to eventually meet at the academy...? So instead of Reisir unilaterally saving Skati, the plan was for the two of them to grow together while resolving their own problems...'
Maybe 《NaSE》 had originally been intended to remain an academy-genre story from beginning to end.
But as the original author continued writing the novel, it became difficult to sustain it as an academy story.
The thought occurred to me that perhaps they simply had the protagonist drop out and sent him to grind in the Demon Realm instead.
If that was why the path for Reisir and Skati to sympathize with one another over similar struggles and engage in a narrative of mutual growth was cut off—
Even though the setting of Skati being ostracized by her fellow professors still existed.
Then wasn't it rather natural that it was never depicted in the original work?
'More importantly, what do I do now? If I can't shift Skati's problem onto Reisir...'
First, it would be better to investigate whether Skati was truly being bullied.
There was no guarantee that my conjecture was correct. Even though I am a web novel author, this isn't my novel.
Therefore, the possibility that my guess was completely off the mark was quite high.
If someone were reading these thoughts of mine, they would probably think I was engaging in escapism.
But I have no choice except to desperately cling to this hope.
If I don't have to become deeply involved in Skati's affairs myself, and Skati hasn't actually experienced anything painful either—
Then what ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) could possibly be better than that?
