"Regardless... thank you."
"For coming all this way to see ... and for telling you bear no ill will."
"Thanks to you, this old man's heart is a little lighter."
"It truly is a blessing that you're safe, both in body and in mind, Lord Karvaldr."
Professor Radvisin smiled warmly.
I never know what to say in situations like this.
As I stood there hesitating, he spoke again.
"If nothing cos to mind, you needn't force yourself to answer."
"I was only talking to myself."
"You know how this old professor is, don't you, Lord Karvaldr?"
"I do tend to ramble."
I must have looked thoroughly flustered.
Since the professor himself had said I didn't have to answer, remaining silent wouldn't have been discourteous.
But because he'd shown such consideration...
I couldn't bring myself to simply let it pass.
Wanting to say sothing—anything—that might encourage him, I finally managed to force the words out.
"I..."
"I hope you'll always stay healthy, Professor..."
"Hahaha!"
"Then I'd better recover my spirits quickly for the sake of such a wonderful student!"
Strength had already returned to the old professor's voice.
Even his complexion seed a little brighter than before.
I was glad I'd overco my embarrassnt and spoken.
"In that case, I ought to change my work environnt."
"Locking myself away in a tiny office only gives room for gloomy thoughts."
"It's terribly bad for one's ntal health."
I suspected Professor Radvisin had secluded himself precisely so his research students wouldn't see him weighed down by guilt.
In other words...
What he'd just said had the cause and effect reversed.
But there's no reason to point that out.
Thinking so, I walked over to his desk.
I simply intended to help organize the docunts scattered across it so they would be easier to carry outside.
"Ah, that's right."
"Lord Karvaldr, you've awakened now as well, haven't you? Just like Professor Skati."
He asked just as I'd almost finished arranging everything.
It sounded like nothing more than casual conversation.
Without giving it much thought, I answered.
"Yes."
I reached for the neatly stacked docunts.
"Then you've already confird the exact activation condition of your second buff skill through the Status Window, haven't you?"
"...!"
The stack nearly slipped from my hands.
"Th-That's..."
"I an..."
"Was the skill description difficult to understand?"
"Even so, your Inclination should have been listed."
"Given how sharp you are, Lord Karvaldr, I assud you'd have deduced the rest."
"Co to think of it..."
"I'm rather curious what your Inclination is."
"..."
Why had the from Chapter 18 been so diligent when writing that report?
At this mont...
I truly regretted it.
"Is it perhaps sothing that's difficult to answer?"
"Th-That's..."
"Well..."
"My Inclination is rather... personal..."
"So it's a little difficult to discuss."
"Oh my."
"This old professor was terribly thoughtless."
"My apologies."
"N-No."
"There's no need to apologize."
"It's simply..."
"I'm a little sensitive about it."
I waved both hands in denial while thinking.
If I don't intend to keep 【Encouragent】 hidden forever, limiting it to Yor and myself...
Then perhaps I should co up with an activation condition that can be disclosed publicly.
Besides...
Professor Radvisin would eventually be helping develop my Ether Attribute Skill.
It would probably be better to explain at least part of it to him.
"The condition is probably..."
"It requires establishing a relationship through a certain word."
"And..."
"I believe a certain level of friendship is necessary as well."
"Sothing along those lines."
"Then shouldn't you hurry and acknowledge your friends as friends?"
I knew he'd say sothing like that.
"Even then, the stat increase isn't very large."
"It's only three points."
"To be honest, it's small enough that using it or not barely makes a difference."
"And..."
"I don't think they necessarily have to be friends."
"Being acquaintances should be enough for the buff to apply."
"Lord Karvaldr..."
"Could it be that you..."
"...when it cos to friends..."
"Ahem."
"Never mind."
"Please pretend this old professor never said that."
Prompted by my unusually heated explanation, Professor Radvisin had almost asked sothing...
Only to abruptly stop himself.
Even so...
He'd already revealed enough for to infer the rest.
Do you have so kind of trauma related to friendship?
That was probably what he'd intended to ask.
A transfer student approached before first period and said they wanted to be my friend.
Then, at lunchti that very sa day...
They told they wanted to take it back.
Would sothing like that count as trauma?
Back then, that child had apologized.
"I'm sorry."
"I didn't know you were that kind of person."
Even now...
I still didn't know what "that kind of person" ant.
I couldn't bring myself to ask where they'd heard it.
Or from whom.
But I never resented them.
Perhaps they hadn't believed so baseless rumor.
Perhaps they'd simply realized from the atmosphere around that I was the child everyone ostracized...
...and beca afraid that standing beside would make them the next target.
That possibility had always existed.
Thinking of it that way...
I could understand.
In fact, I ended up feeling guilty for nearly dragging them into it.
And yet...
For this mory to resurface now...
I suppose I really was hurt back then.
I couldn't rember that child's face anymore.
Or even their voice.
Only those final words remained.
Like a thorn lodged sowhere inside .
Would it have been better if I'd asked what they ant back then?
As that thought crossed my mind...
Yor let out a soft ow and rubbed her face against my cheek.
Only then did I return to myself.
I wondered what expression I'd been making.
Professor Radvisin was looking at with unmistakable pity.
"A buff that can only be granted to those close to you..."
"It seems you're the sort of person who doesn't give your affection away easily."
"But once you accept soone as your own..."
"You treasure them with everything you have."
"Hahaha."
Just as I'd chosen not to point out that he'd reversed cause and effect earlier...
He likewise chose not to ntion what he'd noticed.
Instead, he gently changed the subject.
I appreciated the thought behind it.
Even so...
The words themselves were embarrassingly sentintal.
I could feel my face growing warm.
No... wait a minute.
The one who created 【Encouragent】 wasn't .
It was the original Karvaldr.
There's no reason for to be embarrassed.
According to the dictionary, encouragent didn't rely an supporting or urging soone on.
It also carried the aning of driving soone forward—almost like a whip.
Until now, I'd simply thought the original Karvaldr had co up with an oddly fitting skill.
But hearing Professor Radvisin describe it that way...
I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for the original owner of this body.
"By the way..."
"Did you co only to greet today?"
"Or were you planning to have lunch together as well?"
After I'd carried the docunts out into the laboratory, the professor asked.
It was still more than two hours ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) before noon.
He had probably assud I'd deliberately chosen an earlier hour.
"No, Professor."
"I wasn't sure what ti you usually ate during the vacation."
"And I thought suddenly appearing at lunchti to ask if I could join you would be rather impolite."
"So I ca early instead."
"That might be true for soone else."
"But you're always welco here, Lord Karvaldr."
"So you needn't worry about such formalities."
Having said that, Professor Radvisin looked toward his research students, silently seeking their agreent.
In response—
"Ugh... ughhhh...!"
The laboratory filled with another chorus of zombie groans.
What exactly was I supposed to have heard?
Suppressing the urge to ask, I simply answered politely.
"Ah... yes."
Fortunately, the professor didn't notice my empty agreent.
"As for als..."
"In the past, I'd beco so absorbed in my research that I'd completely lose track of ti."
"I often ate at irregular hours."
"Sotis I skipped als entirely."
"But thanks to Professor Skati..."
"I've maintained a proper schedule throughout this vacation."
"I leave the laboratory at exactly twelve every day."
"So if you visit again in the future, please keep that in mind."
"Does Professor Skati eat with you?"
"Or does she simply remind you what ti it is?"
The question occurred to naturally as I listened.
The mont I asked—
"Oh my..."
"Those are exactly the sort of words that would make Professor Skati cry if she heard them...!"
"Thaaat's riiight~!"
"I am huuuurt~!"
—I hurriedly explained myself.
"The campus cafeteria is closed during vacation."
"And until recently, Professor Skati wasn't allowed to leave the Academy."
"So I was wondering how she managed her als."
"Ahh, so that's what you ant."
"You don't have to worry about that anymore."
"Professor Skati is allowed to go out now."
"The official order says I can leave the Academy as long as I'm accompanied by at least one other professor~!"
"And I have Grandpa Rabi~!"
"So those miserable days of buying piles of instant als and frozen food from the campus shop before vacation..."
"...and surviving on nothing but those..."
"Are fiiiinally oooover~~!"
"I've said bye-bye to them forever~~!!"
I'd often wondered how soone forbidden from leaving campus had managed to eat throughout the vacation.
Now I finally had my answer.
So she does receive a monthly salary after all, considering she bought food from the campus store.
Still...
Closing both the cafeteria and the campus shop during vacation while simultaneously forbidding her from leaving the Academy had been absurdly unreasonable.
For soone with nowhere to go and no opportunity to spend money, they might as well have skipped paying her and simply provided als instead.
Now, however, the restriction had finally been relaxed.
Considering that...
Receiving a salary was undoubtedly the better arrangent.
Perhaps it really had turned out for the best.
"Aaand~!"
"Now I can attend all kinds of events too~!!"
"I can finally watch the closing ceremony and the graduation ceremony properly~!"
"And I can even go see the Martial Arts Tournant outside the Academy~!"
"Isn't that wonderful~?"
"Isn't it amaaaziiing~??"
"Yes."
"It truly is."
"Congratulations."
"Hehe!"
"Oh, right!"
"Karvaldr, are you going to dance at this year's Martial Arts Tournant too~?"
"I'm not."
"And I didn't dance at last year's tournant either."
"Aww..."
"That's too bad..."
"I really wanted to see iiit..."
"..."
For a fleeting mont, genuine disappointnt crossed Skati's face.
But it disappeared just as quickly.
Perhaps she regretted missing last year's tournant.
Or perhaps...
She was simply looking forward to all the future opportunities she would now have.
"Oh!"
"Did you practice your whip and dagger techniques a lot during the vacation~?"
"How about I take a quick look before we head out for lunch~??"
It wasn't rely an offer I had no reason to refuse.
It was one I had every reason to accept.
Until now...
I'd always assud that, just as in the original story, Skati would eventually leave the Academy and die sowhere in the Demon Realm.
That's why I'd consciously kept an emotional distance from her.
So...
How should I treat her from now on?
It wasn't a question I could answer imdiately.
After all...
There was still no guarantee the original storyline no longer held any influence.
For now...
I decided to watch how things unfolded.
There was no need to rush my conclusion.
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