GVRS 4

Chapter : 04

Thud.

As soon as I stepped out of Duke’s professor’s office, a sigh escaped me.

“Where did the possession boost go…?”

I’m not some genius with natural talent!

“Hey, Russell.”

“Huh?”

A shadow fell in front of me. Three big guys were blocking my way.

What’s this? Are they resentful toward the original Russell Blair? Even if that were the case, it wouldn’t be surprising at all.

They strode toward me and stopped right in front of me. Were they about to mug me? Maybe…

“You okay?”

Suddenly, one of them spoke in a soft voice.

“Huh?”

“You… doing stuff you normally wouldn’t. Why were you sitting next to that Plamel guy today?”

“Yeah. You usually throw a fit about it.”

“And what happened to your arm?”

No tie, pants tighter than normal—a ridiculous sight. Anyone could tell, “I’m a delinquent student.”

These guys… seemed like they used to be my friends.

Russell Blair…

I called the name that had become mine silently in my head. What kind of life have I been living?

At least the hair color is flashy, so it’s a small relief it wasn’t dyed.

Just trivial thoughts like that kept running through my head.

“Russell, I’m asking you.”

The one with a nametag reading “Tom” spoke first.

“Do you have any hard feelings toward us?”

“…Huh?”

“No matter how much we think, we can’t figure it out. If you’re upset, just say it.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah. If we made a mistake, we’ll apologize and fix it. Don’t protest silently.”

What is this wholesome turn?

The mood suddenly felt like a youthful friendship drama. If this continues, I’ll just look like a sulking brat for no reason.

“No… it’s not like that.”

“Then what is it?”

“Well… I’m just trying to live properly. Study and all that.”

After I finished, a silence hung in the air. Then, suddenly, they all burst out laughing.

“Ha! So you’ve started joking now?”

“Wow, ‘study and all’? Hearing that from Russell Blair is hilarious.”

“I actually thought you were serious for a second.”

Then they casually threw an arm over my shoulder, changing the subject.

“So, how did you hurt your arm? Did you actually meet a werewolf?”

“Ha! You believe that rumor? I’ve been to Moonlight Forest as a punishment many times, never saw a werewolf.”

Lucky guy.

“Of course that coward Plamel picked a fight with you there, right?”

“What?”

Why is the conversation flowing like this? They all started chatting among themselves, leaving me out.

“Should’ve taken care of it beforehand.”

“Just stubborn as ever. Annoying guy.”

“If we called him to the Lake of Silence at night…”

Ah. I remember.

Hearing the name Lake of Silence reminded me of the original story.

Right, that’s it. Those guys who held a grudge over Russell’s death lured Plamel, and in some remote place, they…

Were killed by Plamel.

Right. In this novel, the protagonist has no mercy! Trucks of characters die.

“Russell, you’re going too, right?”

One of them suddenly asked, eyes fixed on me.

I’m dead for sure. Absolutely dead!

If I went with them to the Lake of Silence now, the outcome would be obvious.

Swallowing.

It’s always hard to say NO when everyone else says YES. But when your life is at stake, it’s a different story.

“No.”

“Alright, so you’ll be there at 9 then… wait, what?”

“I said I’m not going.”

Saying it firmly again left them stunned. They hadn’t expected it.

“You guys should just study instead of wasting time because of me.”

Later, I’ll probably think studying was the easiest thing. Back in my day…

“What… what are you talking about? Why are you talking like a professor…”

“You were the one who said you wouldn’t waste your youth at some magic tower!”

I don’t care. I straightened my face and said it once more.

“Anyway, I’m not going. Don’t do anything foolish because of me.”

Tom, who seemed like the leader, stepped forward and glared down at me.

“You… don’t seem like the Russell Blair I know.”

Surprisingly sharp.

“Hah. I thought you were talking nonsense earlier. Guess you’re serious. Trying to live properly again? Should we take care of it?”

His tone was disrespectful.

“Fine. Let’s see if it’s really like that.”

Spit.

He spat near my shoes and brushed past me. The other two glared at me as they passed.

Phew. I was worried about getting beaten for rebelling. Guess it’s not that bad.

Facing delinquents is harsh for someone like me.

I hurried back to the dorm. As I turned the corner of the hallway, someone spoke.

“What are you thinking?”

“…Liz Camelot?”

A flash of blonde blocked my view. Liz crossed her arms, glaring at me.

“I thought you’d jump right into that foolish plan.”

“….”

“You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

Did she find out?

Did she realize I’m possessed?

“Russell, you…”

Liz narrowed her eyes, sizing me up, then nodded slightly.

“You’re using Plamel to avoid failing, right?”

“What?”

“Pretending to be friendly, doing a group project with Plamel, who has no friends!”

She looked confident, as if there was no flaw in her logic. Seems her mind is full of grades.

“Too bad, but the top of our grade belongs to me, Liz Camelot. Don’t even think about it. And you don’t even have a contract yet!”

“Ah… yes…”

Not interested anyway.

“By the way, what’s the matter? You came to see me?”

“Ah!”

Liz cleared her throat and glanced at me.

“Just came back from Professor Duke. And I heard you and Plamel really… met a werewolf.”

The tower hasn’t officially announced it yet. But it wasn’t a secret, so she probably heard it.

“How did you manage it?”

Her eyes were serious.

“How did you both survive after meeting a werewolf?”

I knew why she looked so desperate. Not in the early chapters I’d read, but I’d heard it from my younger sibling.

—Bro, when Liz’s story comes up later, I swear I’ll tear up. When she was young, she faced a werewolf with her older sister, and her sister sacrificed herself to save Liz. Because of that, Liz…

Seeing someone’s pain I had only read about come alive in front of me was strange. Knowing someone else’s private story all alone was strange too.

“I distracted it, and Plamel distinguished the Sunshade Herb.”

I said it plainly, without any emotion.

“My arm got messed up in the process, though.”

“…”

“Lucky. The kid was inexperienced at hunting.”

If it had been an adult werewolf, losing an arm wouldn’t have been the end.

“…Was inexperienced,” Liz muttered. Likely recalling the past.

Sad, but I couldn’t show I knew.

“Alright, that’s enough. I’m leaving.”

“Wait!”

“What?”

As I was passing, Liz grabbed my sleeve.

“…Be careful.”

Then she turned and disappeared.

What? Ominous.

Feels like some kind of flag…

Back in my dorm, I opened a sheet of parchment. I took my ink pen and roughly summarized the story I knew.

Title: No Country for Alchemists

• Genre: Fantasy
• Sub-genre: School, coming-of-age, overpowered protagonist, hidden-power story
• Plot: Plamel, hiding his contract nature, enters the magic tower and chaos ensues?

I put a question mark next to “slice-of-life.”

It felt cruel for a “slice-of-life.” Those unknown delinquents were supposed to be killed tonight, and I nearly died yesterday.

“Author, guarantee the lives of side characters…!”

Every time the protagonist moved, corpses of side characters piled up. Other students died, the protagonist’s gang survived.

“The death flags aren’t fully cleared yet… fixing this is urgent.”

I wrote “Death Flags” as a subtitle and jotted down what I knew.

Death Flags

• Group project, 4 per team, midterm replacement? Monster appearance
• Assassin targeting the 3rd prince, time unknown
• Encounter revolutionaries outside?
• There might have been a stalker-type character for the protagonist

The results were grim.

I only vaguely remembered what my sibling had told me. Knowing the group project at least was a small mercy.

But one thing became clear.

“Quit school.”

Yes. This is a school story. Most events happen at the magic tower.

“At least the chance of dying will drop!”

I couldn’t turn my sibling’s birthday into a memorial day.

And I’m a noble. I don’t know exactly what the Blair Baron family does, but at least I won’t starve.

“Alright. I’ll submit my withdrawal tomorrow.”

Having a plan eased my mind. I was just about to go to bed when…

Huh? What’s this?

A letter had been slipped under my door.

“Come to the Lake of Silence at midnight. You know what will happen if you don’t. I’ll be waiting, Russell Blair.”

“…?”

Lake of Silence?

Wait. Wasn’t this supposed to happen to Plamel? Why did I get it?

In the original, Tom and his gang, holding a grudge over Russell’s death, lured Plamel.

“Did Tom and his gang’s target… change from Plamel to me?”

You reed-like idiots. How can you just change a main event like this?!

Wait, is this an important event?

Yes. At the Lake of Silence, Tom and his gang get killed by Plamel, witnessed by the 3rd prince, who becomes interested in Plamel…

“This is a super important event!”

From the start, the original story is collapsing. Can I even do this?

Well, since I’m alive, the original story is already broken. I don’t have to follow it strictly.

But to survive here, the events need to flow according to what I know. Avoiding death flags yesterday was possible only because I knew the original.

“No, it’s not too late. I just need to steer the story back on track!”

The key is that this event is the first connection between Plamel and the 3rd prince. The 3rd prince just needs to be interested in Plamel.

“I need to take Plamel to the Lake of Silence… wait, what time is it?!”

I glanced at the clock.

12:03 a.m.

Damn it… I’m already late.