The fourth day of the Martial Arts Tournament passed without any noteworthy incidents.

That was only natural. I spent the entire day doing nothing but watching matches.

Since the third and fourth rounds were held on the same day, the participants must have struggled quite a bit with managing their stamina.

For someone like me, who had already been eliminated in the second round, it was none of my concern.

And it wasn't Reisir's concern either.

Compared to the other first-years, his abilities were overwhelmingly superior. Whether he had to defeat one opponent or two in a single day made little difference to him.

In reality, he secured two effortless victories and earned his place in the finals.

The gap in skill he displayed was far greater than it had been in the original novel.

Perhaps seeing Reisir perform so overwhelmingly had stirred Nidr's competitive spirit.

During the third round, Nidr deliberately fought a prolonged battle, defeating his opponent through swordsmanship alone. In the fourth round, however, he immediately brought out his Earth Attribute Ability and ended the match as quickly as possible.

In the original novel, he hadn't revealed that ability until after reaching the finals.

Of course, he had already used it during his fight with Ríolíkin, so any hope of winning the championship through swordsmanship alone had vanished long ago.

And he must have realized that defeating Reisir with swordsmanship alone was impossible.

With that, I suppose the report on the fourth day of the tournament is sufficient.

Now then.

Let us move on to the final day, where the long-awaited championship match takes place.

"Excuse me... Helga? Sorry for asking again..."

"Oh my, why are you apologizing? Just ask whenever you want. Is there something that's difficult to understand?"

"Well... I'm not really sure why this part turns out this way..."

Because today was the day of the finals, the competition for seats had been fiercer than ever.

As a result, we had finished breakfast earlier than usual and arrived at the stadium well ahead of time.

Unfortunately, final examinations were just around the corner.

The students who had come early to secure good seats were all busy reviewing lecture materials or looking through collections of past exam questions.

In other words, the stadium had effectively transformed into one massive study group.

The conversation between Vigdís and Helga was taking place against that backdrop.

Ríolíkin was also groaning over a textbook, and even Reisir, despite having the championship match ahead of him, was participating in the study session.

Are Yor and I the only exceptions...?

Not that I lacked things to study.

Even after finishing the foundational curriculum and advancing into more specialized subjects, there was always more knowledge to acquire.

The problem was that none of it was particularly suitable study material for the young master of a ducal family who had supposedly received the finest education available since childhood.

Instead of borrowing books for academic improvement, I had visited the academy library and checked out books purely for entertainment.

By which I mean what people in my previous world would have called web novels.

To everyone else, this probably doesn't look like reading appropriate for the heir of a ducal family either. Then again, Reisir already knows I read web novels.

Even so, I had wrapped the books in covers as a minimal effort to preserve my dignity.

For reference, Yor had chosen a humanities book titled The Agony of the Absolute.

I had skimmed through it myself.

The author's self-congratulation was unbearable, and the writing was so pretentious it made my head hurt.

It definitely wasn't my taste.

Enough pointless thoughts. Just read.

If not now, I wouldn't have time to enjoy my hobby for quite a while.

Determined to finish all three novels before the match began, I was just about to immerse myself in reading when Helga suddenly dropped a bolt from the blue.

"Come to think of it, Young Master Karvaldr is excellent at academics too. Wouldn't it be better to ask your fiancé instead of me?"

The excuse that I wasn't taking the course Vigdís was studying wouldn't work.

After all, neither was Helga.

The reason she could answer Vigdís's questions was simply because the material covered basic knowledge.

I could probably help to some extent. But it's not as though I could confidently answer every question the way Helga does.

For that reason, I pretended not to hear her and focused on my book.

Then Reisir unexpectedly stepped in.

"Helga. If you're worried that helping Vigdís is taking away your own study time, I can teach her instead."

Don't tell me...

Has the protagonist of someone else's novel started developing feelings for Vigdís?

In the original story, her love remained entirely one-sided.

If this somehow turned into mutual affection, how exactly was I supposed to react?

...No. I couldn't congratulate them.

Vigdís was destined to die much younger than she had in the original novel.

And if Reisir truly came to love her, the pain he would suffer from her death would be far greater.

The thought made my chest feel heavy.

A strange lethargy settled over me.

Fortunately, before those pessimistic thoughts could spiral any further, another voice interrupted.

"As expected, I was asking too many questions, wasn't I...? I'm sorry for bothering you..."

Contrary to my expectations, Vigdís didn't look pleased at all.

Instead, she lowered her head and apologized to Helga with a gloomy expression.

"Ah... You've misunderstood completely. Since studying is something everyone forgets without review, helping you is useful practice for me too."

"Really...?"

"Of course. Besides, there are plenty of couples who enjoy studying together as a date. I just thought it might be nice for Big Sister Vigdís and Young Master Karvaldr to do the same."

After comforting the utterly dejected Vigdís, Helga shot Reisir a sharp glare.

A look that plainly demanded why he felt the need to interfere.

"Can't they enjoy that sort of date some other time? Let Karvaldr rest."

"And why exactly should they?"

"Because there is a reason. The healer said Karvaldr's frequent nosebleeds are caused by mental fatigue. If that's the case, shouldn't he avoid anything that requires him to use his brain?"

I lowered my book and stared at Reisir.

His answer was so ridiculous that I couldn't help myself.

What was this absurd level of overprotectiveness?

Apparently Helga shared my confusion.

"If that's your reasoning, shouldn't you take away the book he's reading right now first?"

"No, that's different. I've read that novel before. The sentences are short, the pacing is fast, and it's perfect for turning your brain off. It's relaxing."

He even added an unnecessary explanation.

Naturally, he neglected to mention the title.

Not that he needed to.

He had discovered it himself by peeking over my shoulder and reading parts of it without permission.

And the fact that I happened to be reading a novel Reisir had already read was hardly a coincidence.

He had recommended it back in Chapter 71, insisting that it was excellent and that I absolutely had to read it someday.

Readers, think about it yourselves. If a web novel protagonist recommends a web novel, how could you not read it?

More importantly, this protagonist from another novel happened to love the novel I had written.

That meant our tastes were remarkably similar.

A recommendation from him practically guaranteed quality.

Given how precious my free time currently was, choosing this book had been the best possible decision.

"Hmm... Reisir? Are you really offering to help Big Sister Vigdís because you're worried about Young Master Karvaldr? Not because you don't want his reading interrupted and hope he'll finish the novel quickly so you can discuss it together afterward?"

"Hahaha. As expected of Helga. You really do know me well."

There was a limit to how far ahead someone should count their chickens.

I had no idea why he assumed I would automatically discuss the book with him after finishing it.

"Good grief... Anyway, Reisir doesn't need to help Big Sister Vigdís. I only brought it up because I wondered whether the Young Master might get jealous of me. But that doesn't seem to be the case. If a man like you starts helping her instead, wouldn't that change things?"

"After all the time I've spent teaching Vigdís while sparring? Now you're saying that?"

"Teaching someone while crossing weapons and sitting shoulder-to-shoulder helping them study are completely different things."

Helga shook her head firmly and waved him away.

The message was obvious.

She would help Vigdís herself, so he should mind his own business.

Reisir reluctantly opened his textbook again.

I also raised my novel and resumed reading.

Even after ending up inside a novel, reading novels is still fun.

And if reading was still enjoyable, then writing would surely be enjoyable as well.

Someday, when I finally had the freedom, I wanted to finish the novel I had been writing before I died.

Now that I knew worlds inside novels could truly exist, the desire had become stronger than ever.

Perhaps responsibility was the right word.

My world.

My protagonist.

My characters.

As their author, it was my responsibility to guide them all toward a happy ending.

"Looks like it's about time for me to head to the participant waiting area. Save my seat for me, all right? I'll come back once I've finished winning the championship."

A long while later, after the general spectators had filled the stadium and the surroundings became noisy, Reisir closed his textbook and stood up.

Come to think of it, even after finishing his fourth-round match yesterday, he had come straight to the student seating area instead of returning to the participants' section.

It seemed he genuinely disliked being alone with Nidr.

Not long after Reisir left, the host appeared holding an ether microphone.

The host first stirred up the audience's sense of regret by emphasizing that this was the final day of the tournament.

Then he immediately shifted gears and pushed anticipation to its peak by bringing up the championship match.

He announced that the day's opening event would be the third-place playoff for the first-year division.

Although the finalists had already been decided, he declared, next year could bring entirely different results.

As the speech continued, the two students defeated by Reisir and Nidr the previous day stepped onto the stage.

They were both outstanding talents.

Had it not been for the existence of two monsters known as the original protagonist and the original villain, either one of them could easily have reached the finals.

I closed my novel, leaving only ten pages unread, and focused on the arena.

The sight of the two combatants drawing out every ounce of their power and abilities was more than enough to keep the audience on edge.

When the match concluded, thunderous applause erupted throughout the stadium.

Only after the cheers finally subsided did the host pick up the ether microphone once more.

"Now then~! The moment we've all been waiting for! Student Nidr Gramod versus Student Reisir Daudabiner! From the very first day of the tournament, I knew these two would meet in the finals! And I'm sure many of you thought the same! Their abilities have simply been too exceptional to ignore!"

After delivering a lengthy and overly dramatic introduction, the host began discussing the strengths of both finalists.

When speaking about Nidr, he praised his solid swordsmanship and his ability to deploy Earth Attribute Ether at precisely the right moments.

When speaking about Reisir, however, he focused entirely on his flashy and powerful lightning abilities.

What nonsense.

Reisir's spearsmanship is vastly superior to Nidr's swordsmanship.

Why make it sound as though he reached the finals solely because of his lightning abilities?

Questioning the host's qualifications as a commentator, I found myself frowning.