After returning to the dormitory, Rigel quickly slipped back to his room. He even used the coffin's effect to become invisible. He knew those brats wouldn't be able to keep quiet and would spill the beans, but he didn't want to be surrounded by the Gryffindors asking questions, so he hid as fast as he could.
Finally feeling safe, Rigel was able to look at the Adventure Book.
//-//
[Congratulations, Writer, for successfully killing the Troll and receiving the "Monster Slayer - Troll" achievement]
[Congratulations on receiving: "Troll's Club (Silver)"]
[Troll's Club (Silver)]
[Type: Bound Equipment]
[Effect 1: Troll's Power (Passive) -> Physical strength increases by 2x, but speed decreases by 30%.]
[Effect 2: 'Who am I?' -> Hitting the opponent on the head with the club has a '?'% chance of triggering the Fainting effect for 3 minutes.] (The '?' is determined by the percentage difference in physical strength between the two parties, the greater the opponent's strength, the lower the chance of triggering the effect. Furthermore, the 3-minute period is only the mandatory duration, after that, the target may remain unconscious if not awakened or awakened on one's own.)
[The club was placed in the king's treasury.]
[Note: The club's size adapts to the Writer's body size.]
//-//
Rigel stared at the information in the book, thinking deeply. For a moment, he couldn't help but imagine himself brandishing a huge club like an enraged Troll.
Fortunately, it seemed that the Adventure Book still had some consciousness, at least that thing could adapt to his size.
Rigel took the club directly from the King's Treasure. The club wasn't large, already adapted to his size. Well, it was still large compared to Rigel, practically the same size as him, but it was thinner, almost like a staff with a concave tip. It looked rustic, made of wood. It would be really interesting to see a child swinging that around.
Rigel couldn't move much because of the coffin, but he still managed to hold the tip of the club, feeling the passive effect being activated, his body seemed to swell with strength, he almost wanted to go out and hit things just to see the effect.
Still, when he tried to move, he clearly noticed the difference in his speed, it was almost like wearing heavy armor, making him frown. There was really no defensive effect to this thing, it was simply heavy and that was it.
Well, if the enemy is a large target with strong defenses, this thing can be useful, mainly due to effect 2.
Although larger targets would likely be stronger than him, it would be easier to hit their heads, if he was lucky enough, he could inflict a Fainting effect after hitting their heads a few times. Rigel almost wanted to pick a fight with a Dragon to test it, but thankfully, it was just a passing thought.
The interesting thing is that, since the percentage was based on Rigel's own strength, hitting someone weaker than him was basically a 100% guarantee of activating the Fainting effect.
In the end, this thing was interesting, but the situations in which it could actually be used were few, perhaps he could prepare some Felix Felicis, thus increasing his luck and allowing him to trigger the effect more easily.
Imagine going around hitting dragons on the head while they fell like flies... now that was fun.
Furthermore, due to the King's Treasure, Rigel could project this thing at any time, so when he was fighting, he could fight normally, and when he needed the club, he could simply project it in a fraction of a second.
The effect of a 30% slowdown would be much less detrimental in this way.
At the very least, even if he didn't end up facing some giant beast, he could simply use it to stun people, making it a very useful tool for capturing more troublesome targets.
The Troll Club wasn't the best reward he'd received, but it wasn't the most useless either, he shrugged, it was worth keeping.
Who knows, judging solely by physical attributes, he might use that to hit Quirrell on the head and find out if it would work on Voldemort.
Voldemort was just a spirit now, so technically he didn't have a 'head', but he was possessing Quirrell's head, so the club might work on him, Rigel felt his hands itching, he was interested to find out if it would work.
//-//
The following day was complicated for Rigel, just as he expected. The news about him killing the Troll spread quickly, and as soon as he woke up the next day he was surrounded by the twins, asking him everything that had happened.
Of course, they had already heard it from others, but they wanted to hear it from him.
They weren't the only ones, Rigel had to repeat the same story several times that day, not just the Gryffindors, but even Draco came with some Slytherins to ask him.
Rigel made it clear that from beginning to end, everything was an accident, he even openly mocked the Troll's stupidity, practically killing himself.
This made the boys laugh, and that was exactly the effect Rigel had hoped for. Now, although Rigel's fame had diminished, he wasn't unhappy at all. With the story changing from Rigel killing a Troll to how stupid Trolls were, the students became more excited thinking of ways to kill a stupid Troll.
Several ideas followed, Fred even suggested that he could simply pour oil on the floor and let the Troll practice 'ballet', the subject became a joke and Rigel was pleased with that.
While some fame would be good, infamy would not be good for him, even more so with his name associated with Death Eaters, his mother and 'father' were Death Eaters, Sirius was one too, so although the association was currently limited, he didn't want to leave any opportunity for this matter to take on a negative tone.
The ministry has already shown more than once that judgments depend more on 'guesswork' than on facts. Who knows, they might have blamed him for the basilisk in his second year, or perhaps even arrested him for aiding Sirius Black's escape, he wouldn't put it past an idiot like Fudge to do something like that just to quell public dissatisfaction.
Another change that appeared first thing in the morning left Rigel completely speechless, at the same time, he knew he had messed up the plot.
Hermione didn't go after Ron and Harry, but after Rigel and Neville.
Although Ron and Harry appeared, their role in the overall context was very minor.
Rigel practically assumed the role of both comforter and savior this time, which made the little girl practically cling to him!
He didn't even know what to say, he should try: 'Please go and befriend Harry and Ron.'?
This would only make it seem like he was pushing her away on purpose and could further damage what little self-esteem the girl had left.
Thus, without knowing it, Rigel adopted a second 'friend'.
Damn, this golden trio wasn't supposed to be like this! Rigel clearly wanted to be the kind of protagonist that readers complain about because they don't change the plot at all, and now?! Now he didn't even know how to fix it.
If only Hermione had maintained her previous habits, Rigel could have simply moved away quickly, after all, keeping the know-it-all girl around was reason enough to escape swiftly.
The problem was that Hermione listened completely to his advice, she no longer acted like a know-it-all, learning to listen and not putting her opinion before others'.
The worst part was that Hermione's current personality perfectly matched his and Neville's, leaving him even more unsure of what to do.
Since he was quite advanced in his studies, he could talk about any topic Hermione brought up, making the little girl very happy. With Neville, Hermione seemed to see that he was trying to learn, although she still struggled not to force her knowledge on him, she was able to talk to Neville about any knowledge related to plants.
Even Rigel couldn't do it so well, after all, the books Neville was reading didn't correspond to a specific year, he just read for pleasure, something Hermione could easily share.
If the relationship between Rigel and Neville was more like an older brother looking after a younger brother, Neville's relationship with Hermione was really like two friends discussing interesting topics.
In the end, at least for now, Rigel gave up on pushing Hermione away, only he knew how complicated his future life would be. Now he would need to act proactively to keep the developments that would lead to rewards on track.
You could certainly say that he really shot himself in the foot this time.