"Wanna try again? This time I'll adjust to your level."

"It's fine. It's not like my skill will improve just from sparring a few more times right now. More importantly, I came to the training ground today for a different purpose."

"You mean getting used to the sky blue Ether, right?"

Reisir asked to confirm, and I answered with a light nod.

Then the other party made a new proposal.

"Why don't we just try separating the Ether right now? I'll help you."

"Didn't you already tell me the location of the Ether Core in the head and the path leading to it? What more help could you possibly offer?"

"I only confirmed it once. And that was through someone else's body, not your own. On top of that, you spent all your mental energy on training afterward, so your memory might've gotten fuzzy or mixed up, right?"

"Get to the point."

"To make sure, shouldn't I inject Ether into you and directly guide it to the core in your head?"

It was a valid argument.

Which was exactly why it felt suspicious.

I wondered whether he had told me the location of the core before training because he intended this from the start.

"And earlier, I only taught you one path, right? But to circulate Ether, you need two paths. There is a method where you send the Ether down from the head, circulate it only through the body, then send it back up to the head, but..."

"It seems there are advantages to circulating it through the head."

"That's right! Ether Cultivation becomes more efficient, and there's also the side effect of clearing your mind!"

This was information that had never appeared in the original novel.

It was striking that while everyone else only circulated Ether within the torso, Reisir alone used a circulation route that included the head.

What was even the point of giving the protagonist an exclusive privilege like that if the author wasn't going to mention it in the story?

Internally cursing the original author's negligence, I questioned the original protagonist as though demanding an explanation.

"Then why did you only teach me one path earlier?"

"If you try to memorize too much at once, you'll just get confused. Since teaching you the second path later wouldn't make any difference, I taught you the route to the core first."

"You weren't planning to demand a second payment from me later, were you?"

"No! I only reluctantly accepted the first payment because you insisted so strongly, you know?!"

"......"

"If you're uncomfortable constantly feeling indebted to me, then consider this compensation for agreeing to spar."

In many ways, I couldn't deny that Reisir was being considerate toward me.

He could've jokingly asked me to acknowledge him as a friend while taking advantage of this opportunity, but he absolutely never said anything that might burden me.

Does he realize that consideration like this only makes me feel even more burdened?

"By any chance, are you hesitating because you're worried I might still hold a grudge over what happened last semester and try to take revenge? If you can't trust me, I can just teach you the circulation route using my own body again, like before."

"It's not that I particularly trust you, but I do know at least that you wouldn't harm someone while pretending to help them."

"......!!"

At my answer, Reisir looked genuinely moved, his eyes shining brightly.

Only after seeing that expression did I realize I had sounded like some kind of tsundere.

I made a mistake.

No matter how much he disguised it as an accident, if he carelessly damaged this body's brain, he would incur the wrath of the ducal family, so I should have said I knew he wouldn't dare do such a thing.

'Why do the best answers always come to mind only after I say something wrong?'

Avoiding Reisir's silently grinning face, I needlessly brushed back my bangs.

"But... aren't you the type who gets anxious unless you're sacrificing yourself for others or stepping up to help people even when there's nothing in it for you?"

In older works, protagonists who willingly helped others even at a loss were common.

Has the saying that good deeds bring blessings lost all credibility because the world has become harsher?

These days, readers want protagonists to receive reasonable compensation immediately.

As a result, it has become standard for modern web novel protagonists to weigh profit and loss to some extent.

However, when a protagonist's alignment is set to 'Good,' situations inevitably arise where they help others without gaining anything in return.

What matters in those moments is plausibility.

"There's no need to even discuss the core in your head. Even with the sparring, you happened to gain something from it, but in reality, you probably suggested it because you thought it would help me."

I hesitated over whether I should bring this up.

However, blindly accepting help from others goes against Karvaldr's character.

And if I understood Reisir's principles for helping people, I felt I might be able to stop him from stepping forward to help me like this in the future.

All of this was to maintain distance from him.

Knowing that thought itself was little more than rationalization, I finally asked the question.

"Reisir, why are you trying to help me?"

"If I don't answer, you're never going to accept my help again, right? So I'll just answer honestly."

In the original work, nobody ever asked Reisir why he helped them.

Because for him and the supporting characters, helping each other was simply a natural part of their relationships.

Especially when it came to training, it was even more natural.

Since they were comrades fighting life-and-death battles together, improving each other's abilities directly increased their own chances of survival.

So none of the readers of 《NaSE》, including me, had ever questioned it.

And so—

"Actually, I'm afraid of people around me dying. So I want everyone to become stronger, so they can survive no matter what danger comes..."

—in the original work, Reisir never directly voiced his fears like this either.

"Karvaldr, since you're the young master of a ducal family, ordinary people probably wouldn't dare harm you. But at the same time, because of that, you could become a target for truly dangerous people, right?"

The reason I never expected this answer despite already knowing about Reisir's trauma was probably because of that.

Besides, the Demon Realms hadn't even begun appearing in earnest yet.

"For example, someone could kidnap you and use you as a hostage to threaten your father..."

As we spoke, had his thoughts drifted toward Helga, who had once been kidnapped?

Reisir grumbled that it would be nice if Helga voluntarily trained like I did, but since she didn't, he worried about her constantly.

'This isn't just plausible. It's overwhelmingly convincing.'

Faced with a character who had once lost everyone precious to him, only to find new precious people—

And who was destined to lose them all over again.

And who would continue losing the people he kept close even after that.

I couldn't help but groan inwardly.

The wounds already carved into his heart were too deep and vivid.

I even found myself thinking that helping him without certainty that I could avoid death might actually become a burden to him instead.

Because Reisir would suffer more from someone dying while trying to prevent his misfortune than from me ignoring his misfortune altogether.

"Ah! And the reason I want to help you separate the Ether is because your sky blue Ether ability is an incredible power that could benefit this world."

While someone else's heart felt unbearably heavy, as though a stone had been placed on their chest.

The person involved, Reisir himself, cheerfully changed the subject.

"If you can summon rain, then that means you can stop it too, right? Then you'd be able to respond to both droughts and floods?"

"...It would take a very long time to develop the ability enough to have any meaningful influence, but someday it should be possible."

"As expected!"

Even though it would bring him no personal benefit whatsoever, Reisir looked delighted as though it were his own achievement.

"Using your ability is entirely your choice, so it's not like you have to go around solving climate disasters or anything. But because of that, people will have no choice but to respect you. Floods and droughts happen every year, even if the scale differs. If people want your help, then naturally they'll have to stay on your good side, right?"

"Are you also trying to get on my good side in advance so you can receive help later?"

"Ahahaha! If I answered yes, you'd probably feel more at ease, but unfortunately that's not it. My family's territory was confiscated by the Imperial Family, while Helga's territory barely suffers from droughts or floods."

Indeed, if he answered yes, it would immediately be exposed as a lie.

"Then why?"

"I want everyone to know that your worth isn't limited to the fact that you were born into a ducal family. I want to stop people from recklessly gossiping about you and hurting you again."

"......"

I had already forgotten about the incident in the lobby and moved on, but it seemed Reisir was still bothered by what happened that day.

If I had actually ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) been hurt back then, I might genuinely have been moved this time.

But fortunately, the only thing I remembered from the lobby gossip incident was the comment about wielding Yor like a whip, so not even the first letter of the word 'touched' came to mind.

"Reisir. Even if you desperately beg me for help later, I will ignore you."

"That doesn't sound like the kind of person you are..."

"You're mistaken about me."

"Okay, okay. Let's assume that's true. In the first place, I never said I was helping you because I expected something in return."

"......"

"Still, you're going to accept my help now, right? If you try moving the Ether by yourself and fail, you'd have to ask me for help personally, and you'd hate that, wouldn't you?"

It truly was the worst possible hypothetical.

I even found myself wondering whether I would've accepted his help immediately without questioning him at all if he had started with that argument from the beginning.

"...Since I'm already accustomed to extracting and using purple Ether from the existing core, I intend to move the sky blue Ether instead."

"Then you need to consume the rest of the purple Ether first? Want to throw discs again?"

"No, there's no need for that. We've done enough whip training already, and it's getting late, so I'll consume it another way."

I rolled up the whip in my hand, tied it to my waist, and activated 【Exaltation】, forcefully pouring in Ether without the efficiency boost provided by sound waves.

The targets were myself, Yor, and Reisir.

"Woah! My physical abilities improved so much I can feel it even while standing still! But even with this buff applied, you..."

"Your physical abilities improved so noticeably because your body is already well-trained."

"Either way, that means you're less trained, right?"

"......"

That wasn't a remark worth responding to.

So I pretended not to hear Reisir and once again drew up the purple Ether before activating the 【Encouragement】 skill.

Considering the increase in stats, it would normally be better to activate 【Encouragement】 first and then use 【Exaltation】.

But right now, the goal was simply to consume everything until only ten percent of the purple Ether remained.

First, I applied the keyword 'my possessed body' to this body.

For Yor, I applied a total of four keywords: 'my Familiar,' 'my happiness,' 'my comfort,' and 'my understander.'

For reference, 'my baby dragon' was unfortunately treated as identical to the keyword 'my Familiar.'

'If I apply just one more keyword, the remaining purple Ether should line up perfectly...'

Without thinking, I glanced toward Reisir before immediately looking away again.

However, one keyword that could apply to him came to mind.

If he somehow discovered that I had cast a buff usable only under certain conditions, Reisir would misunderstand and think I considered him special.

Considering even that slight possibility, I simply canceled the 【Exaltation】 buff on this body and reapplied the keyword 'my possessed body' instead.

Then, as a test, I drew up the sky blue Ether and formed it on my fingertips.

"It's a very clear sky blue."

"......"

"Everything's prepared now, right? Then let's begin quickly."

Reisir placed the spear he had been holding into his inventory and plopped down onto the floor.

However, instead of immediately turning my back to him and sitting down, I sent a look toward Yor.

When I became defenseless while moving the sky blue Ether toward the upper dantian, Reisir absolutely could not remove his eyepatch and look into my status window.

My wise baby dragon immediately understood what I was worried about.

Yor gave me a thumbs-up as if telling me to trust him, pointed at his own right eye with one claw, then mimed stabbing the air.

The claw at the tip of that finger looked unusually sharp and threatening today.