I Don’t Want To Be The Protagonist of a Romance Novel – Chapter 57

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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First of all, even after that incident, my usual daily life continued just the same.

I just learned magic, and if there was something I didn’t know, I asked my mentor or Sylphia next to me, that kind of everyday life.

In the meantime, it seemed that the underground work was steadily progressing.

A person who was obviously hiding their appearance in a robe and advertising “I’m a suspicious person,” probably one of Eileen’s adjutants or staff members, frequently entered and left the research lab, talked with my mentor about something, and then disappeared.

If this wasn’t a strange sight, what else could be?

It seemed that the preliminary work was smoothly progressing according to the plan that had made me blurt out “Is this the Avengers?” when I first heard about it.

And I had no room to intervene in that plan, and I just had to obediently do as I was told, so there was nothing burdensome.

Rather, I was quite busy at the moment.

‘It might be a good idea for you to try finding a way yourself.’

‘What way?’

‘…I mean a way to fix your constitution. At this point, even if they don’t show it, everyone, including myself, is probably looking for a way, but if you directly try to find a way, you might come up with a brilliant solution, don’t you think?’

‘Hmm… I had been thinking leisurely since there’s still quite a bit of time left, but then there’s definitely one thing I want to ask.’

‘What is it?’

‘In the end, the “me” before the regression couldn’t find a way, right?’

‘…That’s right. But this time, the situation is a bit different.’

Arwen tended to sleep in in the morning.

It made sense since she was a vampire.

The conversation I had with Arwen, who had been sleeping and waking up in a daze and giving me a massage, crossed my mind.

‘Your illness… constitution, curse. Well, it doesn’t matter what you call it. If it’s before it manifests and the worst situation occurs, I know a way to somehow resolve it.’

‘Then shouldn’t we use that method?’

‘…Let’s save that as a last resort for now. It’s not a method to be used carelessly.’

I still wondered what that method was that made her blush and try to change the subject, but for now, it didn’t matter since there was a secret trump card left to use when all else failed.

Anyway, following Arwen’s suggestion, I was currently focusing on finding a way to resolve my constitution rather than improving my magic skills.

Today as well…

“Ugh.”

I made a disgusted face when I saw the mountain of books piled up on my desk.

For now, I had borrowed all the books that seemed somewhat related from the Imperial Palace library, but looking at them piled up like this, it was an overwhelming amount.

I had never missed the internet, the treasure trove of 21st-century knowledge, so much.

Even if I read quickly with speed reading, to finish reading this much volume of books, I would have to do nothing but read books until at least before the festival.

And perhaps because my sighing was heard next to me, Sylphia poked her head out and asked,

“Rudrick, what’s wrong?”

“I have to read all of these.”

“That is… quite a lot of books.”

“Of course, right? I don’t know if I can finish reading them all before the festival.”

For now, I had borrowed everything that seemed even remotely related.

I didn’t bring them all by myself, but I received a list of the library’s collection in advance, checked everything that seemed relevant, and had someone bring them.

I was also starting to get used to life in the Imperial Palace, to the point where I felt a sense of discomfort at easily having someone else do something that I would have struggled with alone if it were before.

The result was the pile of books in front of me now, so I just had to accept it as my karma.

And Sylphia, who had been flipping through the titles of the piled-up books one by one, muttered,

“These are all…”

“That’s right.”

I nodded my head in affirmation.

They were mostly medical books on recovery magic or the occurrence of diseases and methods to treat them.

If not, they were papers with titles about why mana affects the human body.

Unless one was a fool, it was impossible not to notice.

The seemingly related yet random topics of the books clearly implied their meaning.

But I couldn’t keep turning a blind eye forever.

Even if I truly knew nothing, as long as there was the precedent of Arwen, the actions of the others all provided ample grounds for suspicion towards me.

The so-called “reasonable doubt.”

There were plenty of reasonably doubtful reasons scattered everywhere, so I couldn’t continue the act of being the only one deceived without anyone else being deceived.

Moreover, Sylphia wasn’t an ordinary human mage, but a dragon.

“…You know, don’t you, Rudrick?”

With a smarter brain than the average human, how could she not know what the books piled up in front of me meant?

“Unless I’m a fool, I can’t not know. I’m not a fool, right?”

“…That’s true.”

When I joked with a nonchalant nuance, Sylphia’s expression darkened drastically.

She had an expression as if she was feeling some kind of guilt or remorse, which made my own expression also turn unpleasant.

In the first place, I had known everything from the beginning, so if she was belatedly thinking she had deceived me and feeling guilty about it, I was rather at a loss.

I couldn’t actually answer, “Actually, the system told me so I knew everything from the beginning!” It was an awkward situation where my reaction became ambiguous and uncertain.

And at that moment, a brilliant idea occurred to me.

“Sylphia.”

“Yes?”

I stood up from my chair and grabbed Sylphia’s shoulders.

I had just thought of a good idea.

It was good for me because I could divide and read these books with Sylphia, which would take a long time to read by myself, and it was good for Sylphia because she could dilute her guilt by accepting my request.

It was truly a win-win solution that benefited both parties.

‘I really am a genius.’

It was a thing of the past when I was shocked to learn for the first time that magical talent and intelligence were not proportional.

Looking at how I could think of this while avoiding an uncomfortable situation, I must have been as smart as my magical talent.

In fact, as proof of that, not only my mother in this life but also my mother in my previous life had said, “Our kid is smart, but he doesn’t study so his grades are low.”

“I have a favor to ask you.”

“A favor…?”

“Could you read these books together with me, dividing them between us?”

I felt a trembling vibration from the shoulders I was holding.

And what followed was a long silence.

‘…Did I perhaps make a mistake?’

When the silence continued, I had an ominous feeling.

Perhaps there was something I had overlooked or made a mistake.

I carefully retraced my actions.

Sylphia had intentionally concealed the fact that she had regressed, and along with that, she had also concealed the fact that I had contracted something that could be roughly called a “terminal illness” for convenience, although it wasn’t strictly a terminal illness.

Despite the fact that I had died from that terminal illness and that was the reason for the regression.

And in the situation where that fact had been exposed, Sylphia’s expression darkened, and when she showed signs of feeling guilty, I thought of a good way to somehow smooth over the uncomfortable atmosphere.

Okay.

There was no problem with my actions up to this point.

After going over it again, there was no issue with my behavior, so I looked at Sylphia’s face with a puzzled expression, and at that moment…

“…Alright. But, um, could you let go of my shoulders?”

“Your shoulders?”

“Could you please let go…?”

I couldn’t tell well because she had been looking down, but Sylphia’s face had turned as red as her characteristically fiery red hair.

“…Ah.”

And I realized the part I had overlooked, my mistake.

Sylphia had some degree of romantic interest in me, and in that situation, I had made physical contact with her.

It was a mistake to dismiss it, thinking, “She’s embarrassed by just this level of contact?” I had only grabbed her to make her look at my face.

This world was the opposite of my common sense.

If I put myself in her shoes, it could also create a rather ambiguous and indescribable, soft atmosphere.

Hmm.

This was my mistake.

“I’m sorry, Sylphia. I didn’t intend it that way. If it made you feel uncomfortable, I apologize.”

“N-No, no! It’s not that it made me feel bad! Rather, I wouldn’t mind if you held on to me all day long!”

“…All day long? Well, if you want, I could do that.”

“Kyaaah!”

And with a high-pitched scream, Sylphia grabbed an armful of books from the pile and disappeared into the inner research lab, hugging those books.

“…She ran away.”

I shook my head.

Although I had doubts about whether Arwen and Sylphia were at the age of having teenage girl sensibilities… If they themselves said so, what could I do?

Sylphia had taken about half of the books and disappeared, so now what was left was the half in front of me.

Even so, the volume of books was substantial, and it was an amount that I would have to read over the course of several days…

“But still, with this much, I think I can manage to read them all just in time before the festival…”

I muttered as I picked up one of the stacked books.

The deadline left until the festival was tight, so I had to diligently read for a while.

Once the festival started, I wouldn’t have time because I would be enjoying dates that weren’t really dates, taking turns with each of them, so I had to be diligent in reading.

…I wonder if I’ll be misunderstood by the people in the capital when that time comes.

If rumors spread that this man changed women every day, it would be a fatal blow to my image.

Perhaps a gossip article titled “The Fatal Charm of Weiss County?!” might even be published in the newspaper.

If that happened, my mother and father might grab the back of my neck together, so I thought I should be careful as I opened the book.

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