Unexpected Collaborator

The next day.

As scheduled, the promotion exam proceeded. Despite the tremendous incident of the capital being attacked, the exam had already been postponed once. It seemed they decided they couldn’t postpone it again.

Was it the pressure of an exam that could result in being held back a year, or the gloomy atmosphere from last night’s attack? The Academy was quieter than usual, exuding a melancholy vibe.

The lecture hall on the first basement floor was filled with the Combat Department students gathered for the practical exam. More professors than usual were busily moving in and out of the tents. Their faces showed they hoped this exam would end without any further problems.

When people gather, noise is created. They exchange words, move around, and breathe. But today’s noise was different in nature from before. The current murmur was filled with anxiety, fear, and chaos, unlike before.

Raikan, who was talking with another professor, seemed to sense the low-lying atmosphere and clapped his hands loudly-! *Pak!*

At the sound, the heads of the Combat Department classmates turned towards Raikan at the front.

“Everyone, put the outside world out of your minds for a moment and focus on the exam. This is an exam that evaluates a year’s worth of work. It’s a day when even more focus than usual is needed. I hope everyone does their best without regrets!”

Raikan Professor-nim’s words snapped the students, who had been preoccupied with various thoughts, back to their senses.

But I couldn’t shake off the sense of unease that had surfaced in my mind.

Like feeling frustrated because you don’t know the exact location of an itch, I was wandering around, unable to grasp the true nature of the unease I felt towards Roel, and sorting through the clues in my head.

“You look like you’re deep in thought?”

Something suddenly blocked my view. I realized that the large brown eyes were closer than the implicitly agreed-upon distance between men and women, and I unconsciously leaned back.

“I have something to think about.”

To my excuse, Navier nodded with a ‘is that so?’ expression. Perhaps because of the written exam, Navier’s slender neck caught my eye, as her silver hair was tied up, unlike usual.

Navier is the most insightful person I know. If it hadn’t been for her efforts at the Northern Lighthouse, it would have been impossible to obtain the Pen of God.

Perhaps Navier could offer a new perspective that would resolve my unease. Hoping her insight would come into play once again, I cleared my throat.

“Suppose… there’s a hero who’s supposed to gain something through trials, but they obtained it without going through the trials… Why would that be?”

I knew Roel was in pain and struggling to accept killing the child. But after talking with Roel, I was able to understand his actions by thinking of him as a utilitarian hero.

That’s why I felt uneasy. I had known from the beginning that Roel was a utilitarian hero. That was why I understood Roel’s words about sacrificing the girl to kill Confession.

But at the time, I couldn’t rationally accept what was happening before my eyes. I thought killing an innocent child was something Roel shouldn’t do. I wondered where that disconnect came from, and I was able to realize it belatedly.

I had been checking the character settings repeatedly, and I had become accustomed to the Roel of the second year, who spends his days with me. The Roel of the second year was still immature, a Roel who was growing and had not yet established his own firm sense of justice.

After Nelson died in the trap set by the Order, and the Academy was attacked, resulting in the deaths of many students, Roel becomes a truly utilitarian hero. It was the result of realizing that he couldn’t protect everyone with his own power alone.

So, I felt uneasy. It felt strange that Roel, who hadn’t yet experienced trials or sorrow, had a firm sense of justice.

To my nonsensical question, the kind Navier didn’t ask what I meant but put her hand on her chin and pondered.

“If you obtained the rewards gained through trials in advance… wouldn’t it be because they used a shortcut, or secretly passed the trials?”

Because I asked the question ambiguously, the answer wasn’t as satisfactory as I had hoped. Nelson is alive, and there hasn’t been an incident where people around Roel have died. Since there were no trials themselves, there would be no way to pass them secretly.

As I stroked my chin, wondering what else it could be, Navier, sensing my dissatisfied expression, said with a glint in her eyes.

“Or maybe they received similar rewards with the help of someone else. Or maybe they obtained it through a different trial.”

“…It doesn’t quite hit the mark.”

At my words, Navier narrowed her eyes, looking determined to get the answer right no matter what.

“Well, if it’s not that, wouldn’t it be because they’ve already experienced the trials?”

“I don’t think you can experience future trials now. I’m assuming it’s an early point in time when the trials themselves haven’t even occurred yet.”

Navier thought for a moment, then gave a playful smile.

“Still, if that hero has already obtained what they would gain from experiencing the trials, there’s only one thing to explain. That person has overcome the trials. If so, there’s only one thing to explain!”

Navier raised a finger and drew a circle.

“They went back to the past after experiencing the trials…! The so-called regression! This is a popular cliché in romance fantasy these days, where the female lead, betrayed by the male lead she trusted, goes through trials and regrets it, then somehow goes back to the past to correct her mistakes and be with new guys….”

Navier chattered excitedly, but I was falling deeper into thought, so I didn’t hear her.

At first, I thought it was nonsense. Because there are no regressors in the novel I created. But when I think about it, even a possessor like me doesn’t exist anywhere in the novel. Just like I became a possessor, what if Roel really regressed to the past for some unknown reason…?

When I think about it, it was strange. Roel felt sorry for his younger brother, Ross, and took care of him in various ways, but he didn’t try to be as overprotective as he is now.

If Roel is in a state where his firm sense of justice has been established because he already experienced the trials in the past, as Navier said…? For Roel, who had to make choices that weighed people’s lives in the hands of demons every time, yesterday’s actions would be natural.

I can’t jump to conclusions without any evidence. But my intuition as a writer is telling me that there is enough plausibility.

If Roel really did regress… it might actually be a good situation for me. It means I can prevent the Order from breaking down the eastern border in advance.

If that happens, Luna’s family won’t be destroyed, and most of the continent won’t die at the hands of demons. It will be the happy ending I want.

“Thank you. I’ll buy you something delicious on our next date.”

“But she’s trying to get back with that ex-male lead… Huh? Well, I’m happy for you. Did I help?”

With a bewildered expression, Navier scratched her head.

***

I was in a hurry because I had something to check right away. Using Formless Breathing to the fullest, I broke through everything that blocked my path. After quickly passing the written exam, I headed to the second-year Alchemy Department’s exam hall as soon as the exam was over.

Because Rosalyn is the person who knows Roel best in this world, after me, the writer.

I found Rosalyn coming out of the classroom, just as the practical exam had ended, and blocked her path.

“Gasp, gasp! Ross, what brings you here?”

Rosalyn’s chest heaved, as if she was really surprised, but that wasn’t what was urgent now.

“Excuse me, can I talk to you about my brother for a moment?”

“About Roel? O-Of course…!”

Rosalyn, who shows interest in anything related to Roel, didn’t refuse my offer. I quickly found an empty classroom nearby and went inside.

“Do you happen to think my brother has changed in any way?”

“Roel?”

Rosalyn tilted her head, then her eyes widened as if something had occurred to her.

“Come to think of it….”

I swallowed nervously and waited for her to continue.

“Recently, he changed his part. When he sometimes sweeps his hair back, it used to be 6 on the left, but these days it’s about 4….”

I almost raised my hand and hit the heaving chest in front of me. I sighed and asked again.

“Not… not that, but something else. Like his behavior or the way he talks. Something that he used to do, but suddenly changed.”

At my words, Rosalyn put her hand to her mouth and pondered for a moment before saying.

“Hmm, there’s so much about Roel… I’ll have to check my records for a moment?”

I didn’t make a snide remark about how much there was. I bowed to Rosalyn, asking her to do it.

Rosalyn nodded at my request and headed to the Alchemy Department’s dormitory with me. Since men are prohibited from entering, I waited outside the dormitory, and Rosalyn came out with several notebooks.

“Are those all notebooks containing records about Roel?”

When I was setting up Rosalyn’s yandere character, I did set it up that she had a habit of recording everything one by one. But it was my first time seeing it with my own two eyes, so it was fascinating.

“Ah, this isn’t much. It’s a notebook where I temporarily write down things that need to be corrected when Roel’s hobbies change, or the food he rated as delicious during a date, or when the color of his preferred socks seems to have changed.”

At the words that these several thick notebooks were temporary, I unconsciously scratched between my eyebrows. Luna is the best, as expected.

“Let’s see… Recent changes in Roel include going to the training grounds more often than before, and having less sleep….”

Rosalyn, who blushed slightly, trailed off. When I sent her a questioning look, Rosalyn cleared her throat and continued.

“H-His skinship has become bolder, and the frequency of saying ‘I love you’ has increased…!”

I couldn’t help but sigh. This isn’t what I’m looking for. I needed solid evidence that Roel had regressed.

“Haa, is there anything else besides that? Like suddenly becoming stronger, or saying words you don’t know.”

When I said that in a sighing tone, Rosalyn shrugged her shoulders and gave me a look that said she didn’t know.

“Even if you say that, Roel has never changed much… Ah!”

Suddenly, as if something had occurred to her, Rosalyn began to rummage through the notebook she was holding.

“There was one thing that suddenly changed about Roel after becoming a second-year. It’s not a big deal, it’s just a minor thing….”

Rosalyn’s hand, which had been flipping through the pages of the notebook, stopped. Rosalyn, who had found something, read it aloud.

“After the sparring match. Roel’s posture for putting away his greatsword has changed. He lifts his left arm and wipes the blade of the sword with his forearm, then stylishly hangs the greatsword on his back…! I must write down Roel’s more handsome appearance!”

I laughed. I laughed and ran my hand over my face. I knew what that action was.

Flavia had even gotten angry several times, telling him not to do that. There’s no way I could forget that habit I set.

The habit of putting the blade of the sword against his forearm was a habit that Roel developed a few years later, when he obtained the Holy Sword and wiped the demon’s blood clinging to the sword.