"You did well on the exam this time, didn't you?"
"I did well, but... why are you asking that all of a sudden?"
"I heard you ranked first among the first years last semester. If you take first place again this semester, you'll be giving the speech as the first-year representative at the graduation ceremony."
"I suppose so...?"
Even to me, bringing up exam grades at a time like this was incredibly random.
Perhaps because of that, Helga looked reluctant, but the important thing was that I got an answer, wasn't it?
Since I had to speak to Reisir next, I withdrew my gaze from Helga and looked at her childhood friend.
"I heard your friend is going to give a speech as the first-year representative at the graduation ceremony. How does that make you feel?"
"Naturally, I'm proud."
"Then how do you think the other students will react?"
"Wouldn't most people not care that much?"
"And?"
"And...? Hmm... Well? There would be kids who admire her because she's amazing, and kids who envy or are jealous of her?"
Even if Reisir was the protagonist, it seemed difficult for him to arrive at the correct answer with only that much of a hint.
Well, he was an absolutely good person who still hadn't been tainted by the world.
After all, wasn't Reisir merely a teenager who had just taken his first step into the small society called the academy?
That in this world, when someone considered beneath oneself displays outstanding talent, there are people who feel shame and anger rather than jealousy or inferiority.
That instead of trying to improve themselves, they are satisfied only by trampling down and destroying the other person.
That ugly mindset, steeped in a sense of entitlement and unable to let go of petty pride.
It was understandable that he couldn't think of it immediately.
However, that didn't mean Reisir was completely ignorant of people's malice.
As the protagonist of a web novel, he certainly wasn't purely naive.
So with just a little more of a hint, he would quickly realize what I was trying to say.
"Helga's family is a Baron's family, the lowest of the five noble ranks: Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, and Baron. Furthermore, aren't there still quite a few people in this world who believe women don't need an education? But if Helga, merely the daughter of a Baron, steps forward as the first-year representative and gives a speech in front of everyone..."
"Someone might try to harm her."
As expected, the response came immediately.
Reisir turned to look at Helga with a serious expression.
If he said something like 'Then can't you just stop trying to be top student?' right now, the two of them would truly end up having a huge fight.
Of course, I intended to stop him before that happened, but fortunately, there was no need.
Helga was an incredibly precious and special friend to Reisir.
She was the person who became his support after he lost everything because of the Demon Realm and suffered through despair, a new family.
Knowing full well how hard she had worked to become top student, how could he casually tell her to give up?
"What exactly are you trying to do right now?"
Since Reisir couldn't say anything, Helga was the one who finally spoke.
"Why ask when you already know? Aren't I making him understand step by step why you can't comfortably call Reisir by a nickname or even speak casually to him?"
"What does that have to do with the grade representative─"
"It has everything to do with it. The reason you pretend to have a kind and sociable personality so you can increase your allies and be recognized by others as an 'exemplary noble lady.' It's to avoid the kind of 'harm' Reisir just mentioned."
"......!"
"You don't want to get close to people rotten enough to do things like that. But you still have to stay on their good side, so you must be suffering a lot trying to maintain a sense of distance."
As I said that, I curled one corner of my mouth into a sneer.
Even without looking in a mirror, I could easily imagine that this body's face currently looked extremely unpleasant.
And yet the reason I deliberately moved my face like this was...
'If I put on a serious expression right now, they'll think I'm sympathizing with Helga's difficulties and offering comfort and encouragement, won't they?'
That's right.
I, too, was suffering in my own way while trying to maintain distance.
Just in the opposite direction from Helga, who had to maintain false friendships.
Perhaps my efforts weren't wasted, because I could see anger rising on Helga's face.
"W-Why are you... talking about that so casually?!"
"When I said I would add a remark, you didn't refuse. You even answered the question I asked right afterward sincerely. Wasn't it because explaining the situation yourself was difficult, so you left it to me?"
"No, that's not...! I never imagined you would notice my situation, so I just let it go...!!"
I thought so.
If she had intentionally left the explanation to me, she would have looked pleading.
But Helga had been glaring at me provocatively, as if daring me to keep talking.
Still, I shouldn't point that out.
"Same here. I never imagined you underestimated me to that extent. So I just said it."
"Is this really a matter of underestimating someone or not?!"
"It is a matter of that extent. Even if I hadn't said anything, Reisir would have figured it out sooner or later."
At my words, Reisir made a bitter expression and muttered, "I don't think that would've happened...", but I ignored him.
Because I was certain my words were correct.
Because Reisir was the protagonist of the novel.
If I hadn't intervened, the two of them would have had a huge argument and remained in a cold war for several days.
But eventually, Reisir would still have understood Helga's situation.
All I had done was shorten the time it took for them to reconcile.
"Do you usually go around meddling in other people's business like this?"
"As if. You clearly want to call Reisir by a nickname badly enough to care about the title issue between me and Vigdís. But because of me, you can't do it. I simply thought I should take responsibility."
"Do you really think it's because of you? And not because I, merely the daughter of a Baron, got greedy and tried to become top student?"
"In the first place, the reason you developed that ambition. Wasn't it because you resented the fact that your family's power couldn't protect Reisir, and decided you needed to rise to a high government position and grasp power with your own hands?"
"Wow... You really know everything, don't you? And you don't hesitate at all when saying it?"
Helga spoke sarcastically, wearing a dumbfounded expression.
Now that her act had been exposed, did she think there was no reason to keep hiding her true nature anymore?
Or was she simply too angry to maintain the pretense?
'For Yor's sake too, I had hoped today would end peacefully... Well, let's just think of this as a good thing instead.'
Reisir had been indebted to Helga's family for ten long years. Including the time they had known each other before that, it was even longer.
Because their fathers were best friends, the two families visited each other often.
Because of that, the bond between Reisir and Helga was deep and long-lasting.
On the other hand, what kind of bond existed between Reisir and me?
It was incredibly shallow and short.
Even its beginning had come from the ill-fated relationship caused by the terrible karma accumulated by the body I possessed, hadn't it?
'If I have a huge fight with Helga and completely fall out with her, Reisir will naturally choose Helga and abandon me.'
Before any deeper affection could form.
I thought ending our relationship this way wouldn't be such a bad conclusion.
But then...
"But you didn't realize this, did you? Earlier, when you asked whether it wouldn't be better to speak honestly, I shouted that I didn't want to hear that from you, right? I was annoyed because the main culprit was saying something like that! But I was even more pissed off because someone who is the complete opposite of honest was acting like he was preaching!!"
Words I couldn't even refute poured out of Helga's mouth.
"Whenever the topic of closeness or friendship comes up, you desperately insist that we're 'just eating together'! Even while being considerate of others, you stubbornly refuse to admit it! You won't even acknowledge your own enjoyment! You made it obvious there was some story behind your insomnia, but in the end you explained absolutely nothing! And yet you expose other people's stories and inner thoughts completely!!"
Leaving the others aside, the insomnia part was genuinely unfair.
I didn't even have insomnia in the first place, so how could there possibly be some story behind it?
"You shy bastard! Coy bastard! Meddler! Tsundere Young Master!"
"Don't give me weird nicknames."
"If you're going to force honesty onto other people, then you should be honest first─!"
"That is......!"
"That is what?! Finish what you were going to say!!"
My opponent had suddenly become far too honest, and it left me deeply bewildered.
I knew Helga had quite a temper, but in the original work there had never been an incident where she openly showed it.
Instead, it had only been filled with explanations about why she had to suppress her temper and maintain her facade.
So I hadn't known her personality was this extreme.
It was extreme enough that my eyes unconsciously swept across the table.
Even though I knew no one had ordered alcohol, I still checked just in case Helga was drunk.
"First... calm down."
"If you were in my position, could you calm down?! Huh?!"
"Reisir, calm your friend down."
"Why are you turning to Reisir in the middle of talking to me?! Why?!"
"So you don't have to keep acting anymore...?"
"Ah, what's the point of that crap now?! You're just going to expose everything anyway─!!"
"S-sorry. I won't do it again, so please calm down."
Her intensity was so overwhelming that an apology slipped out of my mouth automatically.
Only after I raised the white flag did Helga stop throwing a tantrum and yelling.
But she didn't return to her previous facade.
She puffed out a breath with her lower lip jutting forward, making her bangs flutter, and the gesture made her look genuinely delinquent.
Her glare was also extremely sharp.
I almost shrank back and hunched my shoulders from fear at the sight of Helga like this.
To add an unnecessary detail, Ríolíkin had already curled up in fear long ago.
"You did an impressive job hiding that personality until now."
"You got a problem with that?"
"...Shouldn't you have a conversation with your childhood friend now?"
"Changing the subject..."
Helga looked dissatisfied, but she seemed to agree with me.
I mean, she relaxed the eyes that had been glaring at me and looked at Reisir with a softened gaze.
Checking Helga's mood, I quietly lowered my hand beneath the table and stroked Yor's tail.
Unsure what to do with my bewilderment, I instinctively sought Yor Therapy.
As the rich, soft fur tickled my palm, I felt my stiffened heart slowly begin to relax.
"Ray... I... Um, well..."
"I'm sorry, Heli. I never even tried to understand why you kept hanging around all those different people while hiding your true self, or why you studied so hard. Instead, I was too busy expressing my own disappointment, so you must have been really hurt."
"No─! Of course you didn't know, because ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ I never said anything! And then I got upset because you didn't notice my efforts, how contradictory is that? Ray, you didn't do anything wrong!!"
The conflict that had distanced the two childhood friends was resolved.
Resolved with futile ease and speed.
Just as I expected, it could have been solved with only a few words.
"But Karvaldr immediately noticed your situation..."
"That's just because he's exceptional."
"True. Come to think of it, Karvaldr figured out Professor Skati's entire situation from only a few clues. His insight is extraordinary."
"Maybe because he isn't honest himself, he's especially good at noticing dishonesty in other people and understanding where it comes from?"
Neither of those theories was true.
I simply knew a lot because I had read the novel this world was based on.
So now that the two of you have reconciled, I would appreciate it if you refrained from making me the topic of conversation.
