Kiraware Yūsha ni Tensei Shitanode Aisare Yūsha o Mezashimasu!

[The Protagonist Is Attached to the Hated Hero]

After being teased by Marina and the other maids, I proceeded to get ready for the ball.

Well, I should just take that as proof of how close we were now. In the original storyline, the three gave somewhat emotionless—or should I say, indifferent impressions, as they carried out their work. Seeing them being so lively now, the original Barrett must have been a negative influence on them.

It was evening now.

The bustle in the academy grew larger than during the daytime, and so did the number of people.

At the moment, I was on my way to the main gate of the academy to welcome Tayte, who would be arriving soon.

However, in my mind surfaced the image of Raul’s berserk incident.

The perpetrator was still unknown.

Even the cause of Raul’s berserk had yet to be identified.

And that was despite the academy having mobilized all of its specialists, including Ms. Teixeira, on the case. It just went to show how skilled the culprit was.

Because of that, the academy was initially considering canceling the ball, but despite being small in scale and its attendees being students only, the ball was still a social gathering for ladies and gents. It was inevitable for there to be some political motives involved. But well, that was just how a ball was supposed to be, and the students generally were having fun regardless of the adults’ intentions.

That said, a few students were apparently trying to pull some schemes, but those suspicious students had already been marked by Reina and members of the student council.

By the way, she was fired up and fully prepared for war today. She was armed with a refreshing green dress with a design that fit her image perfectly.

――Wait, no, I had to focus.

Tayte would be arriving soon.

I couldn’t wait to see what she’d look like.

“Lady Tayte will arrive very soon!”

“Yeah… you sure are excited, huh.”

There was a boy next to me who was as excited as I was.

Today, the Protagonist Raul would be accompanying me to the ball as my personal attendant.

Incidentally, the clothes he was wearing were mine.

Earlier, Raul was informed that he couldn’t attend the ball in uniform, knocking him into the depths of despair.

Therefore, I offered to lend him my clothes. We had similar builds, too; they should fit him.

At first, Raul refused with all his might, possibly because of his status as he said, “A lowly person like me can’t possibly wear Lord Barrett’s clothes?!”

However, through the original work, I knew well how hard Raul had worked to climb up to this point in spite of the situation he was in. I really wanted him to shine on this stage.

Hence why I persuaded him.

As a result, we were able to participate in the ball together.

…Honestly, though, it surprised me that he thought so highly of me.

After all, I—or rather, Barrett was the mastermind behind his bullying.

I’d apologized to him regarding that, but Raul…

“I’d always admired you since I enrolled.”

…had replied with a shocking fact.

“My goal was to be acknowledged by you one day,” he had said while staring at me with clear, bright eyes.

Well, if Barrett had remained as he was, Raul would surely not have gotten the acknowledgment he was seeking for the rest of his life… Still, since he had enrolled, huh… You sure had admired Barrett for a long time, Raul. Still, in【The Rise of the Weakest Holy Swordsman】, that had never been mentioned.

…Hang on.

There was no clear mention of Raul hating Barrett for the bullying he’d been through, either.

Could it be that ‘Raul admired Barrett’ was a plot twist that had yet to be revealed as of the latest chapter?

If that was the case… I thought I could see a real possibility that Barrett would reappear in the original work.

Dammit… If only I had a smartphone… That way, I might have been able to read the latest chapters of 【The Rise of the Weakest Holy Swordsman】.

It was unlikely that the author would drop it with it having achieved such high popularity, they may have already made the outline of the future development, even.

“Ah! Lord Barrett, it looks like she has arrived!” Raul shouted excitedly while pulling the hem of my clothes.

A carriage with the Ehrenbergs’ crest on it was coming our way.

At last.

When the carriage finally stopped before us, I swallowed my saliva and held my breath.

When the coachman opened the door, Tayte walked out from inside.

She looked—