"You can finish cleaning up and leave. I plan to rest for the remainder of the day."

"That's a wonderful idea! Studying hard is important, but everyone needs rest once in a while!"

...Or so we were saying.

Just as Yohrn finished clearing the table and was about to leave with the cart full of empty dishes, the old butler arrived with a message.

"There will be a family dinner in the dining hall this evening."

Just as Ragfrid had used the carriage ride to observe both me and Yor, Hárðr apparently intended to use mealtime.

Father and daughter really were alike in many ways.

More importantly, if it's a family dinner, does that mean Valtraus, the second child of House Austri, will be there as well?

The fact that a family which hadn't gathered even when its youngest son attempted suicide by poison was suddenly assembling because of a newly born familiar was utterly absurd.

Still, I simply acknowledged the message before dismissing the butler and every attendant from the room.

Then I hugged Yor and flopped onto the bed.

"Now that nobody will disturb us until dinner, shall we leisurely examine our status windows?"

"Yaong, yaong, yaoong~♬"

As though she had been waiting for this very moment, Yor excitedly swished her long tail back and forth.

"Alright then. Let's start with our adorable Baby Dragon's status window."

"Myaong myaong mya!"

Yor readily nodded.

Having obtained the consent of the party involved, I immediately opened her status window.

══════════

〔Name〕 Jörmungandr

〔Attribute〕 Sky

〔Disposition〕 Absolute Being

[Physical Strength] 30

[Stamina] 30

[Agility] 40

[Mental Power] 251

[Ether] 627

[Defense Power] 40

[Attribute Resistance] 260

══════════

I rubbed my eyes.

Not because of the words Absolute Being boldly displayed under Disposition.

Well, that was certainly shocking too.

But something else had left me doubting my eyesight.

"These Mental Power, Ether, and Attribute Resistance values are way too high...! Especially the Ether..."

"Nyong."

"Ah, right. Of course. Yor, you're a dragon."

I nodded.

"Then it makes sense that those stats would be absurdly high."

"Yaong~!"

"But Yor..."

I blinked.

"Did you just say the word 'dragon'?"

"Myang?"

I didn't think I'd misheard.

But Yor merely tilted her head innocently.

So I decided to pretend nothing had happened.

"...I'll read your status window out loud."

After explaining the contents visible only to me, I opened my own status window instead of Yor's skill window.

That way, the readers could properly appreciate how ridiculous Yor's numbers actually were.

══════════

[Physical Strength] 43

[Stamina] 52

[Agility] 59

[Mental Power] 62

[Ether (Sky)] 47

[Ether (Improvement)] 93

[Defense Power] 31

[Attribute Resistance] 36

══════════

As you can see, none of my stats exceed 100.

The purple Ether listed as Improvement is close at 93, but even that can be considered extraordinarily high for someone of this body's age.

According to the original setting, an average person's innate Ether stat was around 20.

Since this body belonged to the direct bloodline of a Ducal Family, it had probably been born with a higher value due to hereditary influence.

Even so, if Karvaldr hadn't diligently trained his Ether from childhood, it probably would have been somewhere around 70 at most.

Did he believe that if his Ether reserves became large enough and his control improved sufficiently, he might eventually overcome his defect and awaken his poison ability?

Whatever the case, Yor's Ether was far beyond any normal standard.

Even the original Reisir, who constantly pushed beyond his limits with all the advantages of protagonist status, had only barely exceeded 500 Ether in the most recent chapter.

That alone spoke volumes.

For reference, the average values for Agility, Mental Power, Defense Power, and Attribute Resistance were all around 35.

Yet Yor's Mental Power and Attribute Resistance had not merely reached three digits.

They both began with a two.

Even considering she was a familiar rather than a human, that was astonishing.

Especially when less than half a year had passed since her birth.

I believe that sufficiently conveys how outrageous Yor's stats are.

So now let's examine the information written above them.

══════════

〔Name〕 Imir (Karvaldr Austri)

〔Attribute〕 Sky / Improvement

〔Disposition〕 Author / Possessiveness

══════════

"My real name is listed under the Name field."

I pointed at the screen.

"And it's placed first."

"Nyaong, nya!"

At my words, Yor raised one finger and mimed poking empty air.

Apparently she wanted to remind me that stabbing Reisir in the eye had been a fortunate accident.

I happened to agree.

After giving a small nod, I continued my analysis.

"Karvaldr's name appears in parentheses... Does that mean the Awakening System recognizes me as Imir rather than Karvaldr?"

"Nyao, grrr myaaa~."

Since Yor was nodding enthusiastically, I interpreted that as agreement.

"I already knew that the purple Ether is called Improvement, so let's skip that."

I rubbed my forehead.

"But isn't naming the sky-blue Ether simply Sky a little..."

Ridiculous.

I had been stunned by Yor's status window earlier.

Seeing my own wasn't helping.

They could have named it something like Heavens or Weather.

The system clearly had no issue using compound terms like Improvement, so why was this one simply Sky?

"And if Thought Acceleration Skill belongs to the sky-blue Ether category, why isn't the name something like Sky and Something Else?"

This was the part I understood least.

Meanwhile, Yor merely continued producing incomprehensible meows while wearing an entirely unconcerned expression.

A wise Baby Dragon surely had questions of her own.

Which meant she probably knew something.

Unfortunately, she showed no intention of writing any explanations on a whiteboard.

For now, I moved on.

"The dispositions are listed as Author and Possessiveness..."

I frowned.

"Can Author even be considered a personality trait?"

"Myoo, nya."

This time her response clearly conveyed ignorance.

Still, it wasn't important enough to spend hours worrying about.

I accepted it for what it was and continued.

After reading through all my stats, I finally opened Yor's skill window.

══════════

【Weather Manipulation】 - (S)

【Geological Shift】 - (S) [Locked]

══════════

"Weather Manipulation...? Geological Shift...?"

I stared blankly.

"If the Ether is called Sky, why is there an earth-related skill here?"

And worse—

"Why is it locked?"

Could unlocking it transform the Ether name into something like Sky and Earth?

Or perhaps Heaven and Earth?

Then what exactly was Thought Acceleration Skill?

Unable to tolerate the confusion any longer, I sat upright.

There were too many unanswered questions.

At this rate, I wouldn't be able to focus on the skill descriptions even if I read them.

At the very least, I needed to confirm the true identity of Thought Acceleration Skill.

After explaining the situation to Yor, I opened the skill window associated with my sky-blue Ether.

Unfortunately, it only made things worse.

══════════

【Weather Manipulation】 - (S)

【Character Analysis】 - (S)

【Geological Shift】 - (S) [Locked]

【Writing】 - (G) [Locked]

══════════

"No, what in the world..."

The fact that almost everything was S-rank was surprising enough.

But that final skill possessed a grade that had never once appeared in the original novel.

My brain nearly stopped functioning.

Apparently the true identity of Thought Acceleration Skill was 【Character Analysis】.

But that wasn't the important part anymore.

I stared blankly at the words 【Writing】.

Then, almost as though possessed, I selected it.

══════════

【Writing】 - (G) [Locked]

: A derived skill created through the influence of {Disposition: Author}

: Unlockable upon satisfying the following conditions

Condition 1. ■■■ the ■■ of ■■■

Condition 2. ■■■ the ■■ ■■ ■■ from ■■■■■ of ■■

Condition 3. ■■■ the ■■ that has been ■■ in ■ ■■ ■ ■■

Condition 4. ■■■ the ■■ to become the ■■ of ■ ■■

══════════

"What is this supposed to be?!"

"Mweang?"

"I clicked on a G-rank skill called Writing, and all the unlock requirements are censored with black squares..."

Although the skill existed because of {Disposition: Author}, there was no way it had appeared merely because my profession happened to be an author.

There had to be another reason.

And I suspected the conditions would reveal themselves only after I understood what that reason was.

"A skill deeply connected to writing..."

I murmured.

"One that requires fulfilling four hidden conditions before it unlocks..."

Above SSS-rank was EX-rank.

Exceptional.

But G-rank, which appeared to surpass even that, couldn't possibly stand for something as mundane as Great.

It was more likely short for Genesis.

Or perhaps God.

And what kind of thing would a healing-fiction author, transplanted into a novel overflowing with death and despair, be capable of writing?

The answer was almost embarrassingly obvious.

To become the author of this novel.

And rewrite this world.

【Writing】 was clearly a skill created for exactly that purpose.

The instant I reached that conclusion, the censorship covering Condition 4 vanished.

══════════

Condition 4.

To solidify one's resolve to become the author of this novel.

══════════

Despite being proven correct, I felt no joy whatsoever.

Only confusion.

Only bewilderment.

As I'd mentioned back in Chapter 73, I had long suspected the existence of a third author.

Someone who had conceived the utterly malicious idea of throwing a healing-fiction specialist into a despair-filled novel.

It was a natural suspicion.

After all, My Solo Einherjar was overflowing with Norse influences.

Character names.

Valhalla Academy.

The original protagonist's entire concept.

And amid all of that—

══════════

〔Name〕 Imir (Karvaldr Austri)

══════════

—there was my name.

The fit was simply too perfect to dismiss as coincidence. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

For readers unfamiliar with Norse mythology, let me explain the issue.

A being with virtually the same name as mine exists in that mythology.

Ymir.

The primordial giant.

The origin of the universe itself.

Just from that brief description, anyone could understand how central Ymir was to Norse mythology.

At this point, wasn't it reasonable to wonder whether I myself might actually be the protagonist of some transmigration story?

Still, I had never been certain.

Which was why I'd never recklessly relied upon some hypothetical protagonist's plot armor.

I had always tried to think carefully and choose what seemed the best option at the time.

And now—

Now I was suddenly being handed a G-rank skill called 【Writing】.

Was I... supposed to be the one writing it...?

At last, I understood.

I finally understood why the sky-blue Ether was called Sky.

It was never referring to the sky above.

Not the heavens.

Not the weather.

It referred to the transcendent absolute existence that governs all laws and principles of the universe.

The supreme being above all things.

God.

That was the true meaning of Sky.