'Her stealth was dispelled?'
Skati is a top-class assassin, beyond merely first-rate.
Although it has been a long time since she quit assassination work, that doesn't mean her skills disappeared, does it?
Furthermore, she would have continued using her stealth abilities to avoid the professors bullying her.
Yet she revealed herself like that.
This revealed just how shaken Skati was by Reisir's words.
And it was also a reaction that offered a glimpse into how deeply hurt she had been when her students turned their backs on her.
"No matter how painful your own wounds are... No, isn't that exactly why you shouldn't do that?"
Reisir must have heard Skati's sigh.
Yet he didn't turn around. He only looked at me with a pained expression.
Subtly avoiding his worried gaze, I examined Skati over Reisir's shoulder.
She was stiff as a statue, her face wretched and overflowing with guilt.
It seemed the thought of hiding again hadn't even occurred to her.
Taking in Skati's appearance, I spoke in a composed tone.
"Reisir. Why are you speaking as if I was hurt because of Professor Skati?"
"Aren't you? You weren't hurt?"
"Isn't that obvious? I merely took a brief interest in her situation because it reminded me of the mistakes I made last semester. I never gave my affection to Professor Skati, so why would I be hurt by her change in attitude?"
The moment those words left my mouth, a sound like "Sigh..." could be heard.
Not content with merely sighing, Reisir wore a lamenting expression and said the following.
"Are you being considerate toward the person who hurt you right now? Telling her not to feel too guilty?"
"I never showed such consideration. I'm just saying this in advance because I'm fine, but I'm worried she'll annoy me by feeling guilty and trying to atone on her own."
I had already intervened too much in Skati's affairs.
So before it became too late, I decided to draw a clear line.
"Let me make this clear once again: I was not hurt."
"That can't possibly be true, can it? You're someone who keenly notices other people's situations and thoughtfully understands the feelings they might have. How can someone like that be indifferent only toward their own affairs?"
It seemed Reisir refused to believe that I wasn't hurt, or that I wasn't being considerate.
It was truly frustrating.
As I let out a deep sigh and lowered my head, my hair fell forward.
In that state, I put on a mask of arrogance, then swept my hair back as I raised my head to face Reisir.
"If I were that kind of person, I wouldn't have bullied you like that last semester."
"I find that strange too. Just what kind of things did Tryggdrik say to lead a kid like you down the wrong path?"
"Although Tryggdrik influenced me, doesn't the fact that I could do such things prove there was something wrong with me as well? The image of me stuck in your head is just an illusion, so correct it quickly."
Since the original protagonist seemed to regard me as an excessively good person, I tried to remind him of what the owner of this body had done last semester.
However, that attempt didn't work at all.
I could see his expression turn incredulous.
"Hey, Karvaldr. You seem to be defining yourself as a bad person, but that's not it at all."
He didn't know what he was talking about.
First of all, Karvaldr is definitely a bad person no matter how anyone looks at it.
And I... no, I'm a bad person too.
'In that I know the misfortune that will befall Reisir and am desperately turning a blind eye to it...'
I stepped forward to help Skati because I didn't want to be a bystander, but in reality, I've remained a bystander all along.
The original protagonist's misfortune is bullying caused by the whim of the author, who is essentially the god of this world.
'The only one who can save Reisir from his predetermined fate is me, someone who came from outside the novel, right? It's established theory that a transmigrator is treated as an Irregular who twists fate.'
It's not that I never thought about this.
While reading Reisir's story, I wished for him to overcome all hardships and reach a happy ending.
Moreover, the person standing before me had spoken caring words to me multiple times.
If I could help him, I wanted to.
But the misfortune that will visit Reisir in the future is not merely something like fate.
If a few characters connected to him die, that could be called their individual fates, but if all of them die, then that should be regarded as a rule of this world.
In this world, the settings and rules created by the author are absolute.
Isn't that why Yor, who cannot possibly be called a cat no matter how you look at it, is still treated as a cat?
I could probably try to prevent a supporting character from dying once or twice.
But if I hover around Reisir, a deadly crisis will find me too, and I cannot devote myself to saving others' lives.
I don't have the confidence to do that.
"You are kind. And very tenderhearted."
"...I am not that kind of person."
"You are not not that kind of person. You are that kind of person."
"In your eyes, it seems like I'm someone extremely afraid of being hurt by others and wrapping himself in defense mechanisms. But that is your delusion and misunderstanding."
"Why do you go through the trouble of achieving perfect self-objectification, only to commit the meaningless act of denying the result?"
"......"
I was speechless for a moment.
Last time, when Reisir talked about 'self-objectification,' it was truly just nonsense, but now it was the truth.
Afraid of getting hurt, I was trying to distance myself from him as a defense mechanism.
"Can't you just... leave me alone?"
"Are you saying that after you couldn't leave Professor Skati alone either?"
"Ah, right. Speaking of Professor Skati, it's been a while since she revealed herself from stealth. And now she's watching us with a flustered expression."
"Don't change the subject. What does that have to do with anything? The person you've been talking to this whole time is me, you know?"
"Isn't that precisely what doesn't matter?"
It seemed Reisir had forgotten the original purpose of our conversation here.
No, wait. My purpose was to help Skati, but Reisir's purpose was to help me.
So in a way, he was proceeding straight toward his objective.
"Um... excuse mee... Guys...? P-please don't fight...?"
Despite being the central figure of this chapter, Skati, who had been neglected like a borrowed straw bag, finally summoned her courage and found her voice.
Only then did Reisir turn around.
For some reason, Skati momentarily hid herself in the shadows before coming back out again.
"Karvaldr. You still haven't received an apology and thanks from Ríolíkin, right?"
Reisir looked at me again and brought up a topic that felt somewhat out of nowhere.
However, that remark was undeniably connected to the current situation.
"Make sure to properly receive them from that professor."
After saying # Nоvеlight # that while placing a hand on my shoulder, he pushed me aside, opened the lecture room door, and stepped out into the hallway.
He even closed the door behind him. As if saying he wouldn't interfere, so we should talk comfortably.
That was impossible behavior from someone who still considered Skati a dangerous person.
"Well, so... you seee...?"
Standing far away, Skati barely opened her mouth while glancing at me, unable to even think about coming closer.
The distance wasn't great enough to prevent conversation.
Since I couldn't find a reason to approach her, I also remained where I was and continued speaking from there.
"Yes, go ahead."
"I'm sorry for getting angryy... You really didn't do anything wrongg~."
"It's not as though I did nothing wrong, is it? Not only did I bully Reisir, but I was also obsessed with my fiancée and tormented her."
Thinking a similar incident might repeat if Skati found out about Vigdís later, I subtly revealed that Karvaldr had once been obsessed with his fiancée.
Of course, unless she forgot today's events, it was unlikely she would criticize me again for my past deeds.
But just in case.
"Ah, that... there was one more victimm...?"
"I have already reached an amicable settlement with that side as well."
"Mhm~, of coursee~. Naturally, you would have handled it well on your ownn."
Even though it was her first time hearing about Vigdís, Skati showed no curiosity and didn't even ask what had happened.
Rather than lacking interest, she seemed to think she had no right to ask.
"Anywayy~. You could have argued that it was absurd coming from a criminal and asked what right I had to get angry at you... But instead, you tried to understand why I acted that way and worried about mee... Instead of condemning me as a terrible criminal, you said I simply grew up in a bad environmentt... For understanding my heartt... Really... thank you so, so muchh...!"
Had she become emotional while speaking?
Skati's eyes began to moisten, and before long, she burst into tears.
"To discriminate against and hate such a studentt...! I'm a really, really terrible professorr...!! Waaah~!! It must have been so scary to be hated by a former assassinn~! Yet you stayed alone in the lecture room just to talk to mee...!"
Strictly speaking, I wasn't alone.
Yor was always with me.
Furthermore, Reisir had been here today as well.
Since I knew from the beginning that the former assassin no longer killed people, there was nothing to be afraid of.
"When a student showed such courage, for a professor to hidee...! I'm really, really sorry for being this kind of personn...!!!"
Skati reached the point of wailing like a child.
It was extremely awkward. I wanted to tell her not to cry, but considering Karvaldr's personality, I couldn't do that.
Moreover, I was concerned that her favorability toward me had become excessively high.
'Since I've already heard both her thanks and apology, wouldn't it be fine to just leave the lecture room now...?'
A mean thought crossed my mind for a moment, but leaving a crying person behind felt wrong, so I silently remained where I was.
Fortunately, Skati soon calmed down and stopped crying.
Though instead of tears, she began sniffling with a runny nose.
"Today's exam, sniff! You did really welll...!"
"I know. Even without you telling me."
"True, since you're the only one who completed the exam using fewer than fifteen daggerss, you would naturally know even without my praisee... Still, it bothered me that I couldn't praise you despite how hard you workedk..."
The question of whether she had really been worrying about that rose to my throat.
But if I asked, I felt she would say she had been sad about it too, so I asked something else instead.
"More importantly, do you plan to continue enduring it?"
"Noo...! A teacher shouldn't make her disciple worry, rightt~?"
"I wasn't particularly worried, but... anyway, how do you plan to respond now?"
"I can't take it anymoree, so I'm thinking of telling them to stop bullying mee..."
"Wouldn't that be insufficient?"
"Mhm~. So I'm thinking of visiting them one by one each night while they're sleepingg~."
Indeed. If a former assassin breaks into someone's room in the middle of the night, wakes them up, and says she can't take it anymore, they'll have no choice but to listen.
