Chapter 02

There are people who can get along with anyone and are always surrounded by others.

The so-called popular kids.

Unfortunately, the old me was definitely not one of them.

I mean, confessing to a girl, getting rejected, and immediately enlisting in the army already screams “social outcast,” doesn’t it?

…Ah. Outcasts wouldn’t even do something like that?

Fair enough.

Then what should I call it?

Right. I’ve got it.

An idiot.

‘According to Marcus, none of our classmates took a leave of absence. They’ve all been attending normally.’

I considered walking around and greeting everyone…

But somehow, it just felt… awkward.

Even as I wandered around the academy, I couldn’t tell who was who anymore.

Was that him? Or was he someone else?

I honestly had no idea.

I could barely remember anyone’s names.

Remembering their faces was even harder.

My luck really was terrible.

Of all people, my classmates happened to be the sons and daughters of noble families that mine had rarely interacted with.

Past me…

If you were going to take a leave of absence anyway, couldn’t you at least have made a few friends first?

How was it even possible for me to know so few people?

I’m seriously going to lose my mind…

‘Should I just endure this until the people I actually know enroll?’

In another year and a half, the people I’d been close to would finally arrive.

Still…

Damn.

A year and a half sounds short when you say it out loud, but living through it already felt impossible.

Back in the army, at least we became friends naturally by suffering together.

The seniors and juniors who’d initially kept their distance because I was a noble soon treated me like anyone else.

By the end, they even offered me a promotion to sergeant with,

“Why don’t you just stay in the military?”

But the academy…

From what I remembered, it was a very different place.

Since this was basically a romance fantasy world, everyone was too busy flirting.

And if they weren’t flirting, they were busy playing noble politics.

Either way…

For someone like me—a discharged soldier returning to school—it was an incredibly uncomfortable place.

Even so, I came back for one simple reason.

Honestly…

I was pissed off.

Including my previous life, I’d already served in the military twice.

Twice.

As an enlisted soldier, no less.

That was already unfair enough.

There was no way I was going to spend the rest of this life as some noble who made the military his career.

Since I’d reincarnated into this world anyway…

I wanted to experience the academy.

Even if I never got the romance, I should at least try living the academy life.

That single thought was what brought me back after my discharge.

“Huh? Wait a second. Are you… Kal?”

A voice I didn’t recognize.

And a face I recognized even less.

Although…

Looking closer…

He did seem vaguely familiar.

While I searched my memories, the male student walked over with an astonished look.

“It really is you, Kal! What the heck? You came back?!”

“…Uh… Etve?”

“What are you talking about? It’s Etvin, idiot! Etvin!“

Ah.

Right.

Etvin.

Sorry.

Now that I looked properly, I finally remembered.

He was one of the few classmates I’d been relatively close with since we were both from the eastern part of the Empire.

“You disappeared without saying a word when you took your leave. And now you’ve come back just as quietly.”

“What good would making a fuss do? It’d only make things awkward for everyone.”

“Awkward? Why?”

Why was this guy pretending not to know?

I was sure he’d heard about it.

“Selena. Not just for me—it’d be uncomfortable for her too. It happened years ago, but still…”

“I seriously don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Damn it! I confessed to Selena the moment school started! She rejected me! You were there!”

“…Huh? No, this is the first I’ve heard of it.”

…

What kind of nonsense was that?

How could this be the first he’d heard?

“Oh… I had to return to my family’s estate for a few days back then. When I came back, you’d already disappeared. Then I heard you’d taken a leave of absence. This is literally the first time I’ve seen you since.”

“…”

Ah.

So he really hadn’t known.

Which meant…

I’d just voluntarily revealed one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

“So… you confessed to Selena?”

“Shut up.”

“Then I guess you were the first guy she ever rejected.”

“I said shut up. I don’t even want to remember it.”

“But taking a leave of absence just because she rejected you was a little extreme, wasn’t it? More than ten guys got rejected by Selena after that. They all stayed in school. They’re seniors about to graduate now, Kal.”

Please.

Just stop talking.

The more you explained it…

The more pathetic I sounded.

Running off to the army because I got rejected was already bad enough.

But I’d even enlisted as an ordinary soldier.

Which meant…

I’d served in the military twice if you counted my previous life.

Twice!

“I still think it’d be better if you cleared the air.”

“There’s nothing to clear up. Time solves everything.”

“But Selena graduates this semester.”

“Yeah. She graduates.”

“And then she’ll get married.”

That was how I remembered the story.

The couples who spent their academy days flirting all got married immediately after graduation.

The ending had been ridiculously sweet.

“What? Married? What are you talking about?”

“Selena.”

“Why would she get married? Was there even a marriage arrangement?”

…

Why were you asking me?

I’d only recently gotten out of the army.

“Who’s with Selena right now?”

“No one.”

“…No one?”

“Yeah. Didn’t I tell you? She’s rejected more than ten guys.”

“…?”

Wait.

What?

Selena wasn’t dating anyone?

Wasn’t this around the time her wedding date should already have been decided?

“What about Schlipen?”

“He got rejected at the beginning of second year.”

“Then Wilhelm?”

“Second semester of second year.”

“Alexander?”

“Right before summer vacation in third year.”

“…Joachim?”

“He was the last one. Not long after fourth year started.”

What the hell was going on?

They’d all been rejected?

Schlipen.

Wilhelm.

Alexander.

Joachim.

Every single one of them had been male leads.

And yet…

With the academy nearly over, not one of them had ended up with Selena.

That had never happened in the original story.

Not even in the side stories.

“Could there be… another man by Selena’s side?”

“There isn’t. How many times do I have to tell you? She rejected everyone.”

Etvin’s answer only confused me further.

What happened?

Where had the story gone wrong?

“Hey, Kal.”

“Hm?”

“Why are you so bothered by this?”

“…”

“…Come to think of it…”

He was right.

Whether the male leads got together with the heroine or not…

Had absolutely nothing to do with me.

The world wasn’t going to end because they didn’t become a couple.

I wasn’t destined to die if the story changed.

So who cared?

I could just live my own life.

The male leads had their own lives.

Selena had hers.

“Hey, Kal…”

“What?”

“…You haven’t gotten over Selena, have you?”

“Did someone stab you in the head?”

Don’t compare the old me with the current me!

“Cut the nonsense, Etvin.”

“Then why do you keep asking about Selena?”

“I’m just asking. That’s all. There’s no reason behind it.”

I meant every word.

There was no hidden motive.

No lingering feelings.

Why would a guy who’d already been rejected once still be hung up on her?

* * *

…That bastard.

Yeah.

I definitely said that.

Sip.

So why…

Why was I sitting inside an academy café…

With Selena sitting across from me?!

“I heard you came back, Kal.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Back then…

The old me would’ve blushed just because Selena talked to me.

Now…

I was squirming because I felt embarrassed for my past self.

This was uncomfortable.

Seriously uncomfortable.

Ridiculously uncomfortable.

I wanted to run away.

But if I actually did that…

It’d probably create an even bigger misunderstanding.

“So… what have you been doing?”

“…I volunteered for the army.”

“As an officer? That must’ve been hard.”

I simply nodded.

Explaining that I’d enlisted as an ordinary soldier was too much trouble.

Besides…

A noble serving as a common soldier sounded even more pathetic.

“My older brother was an officer too.”

“Oh.”

“He fought in the war against Luzens not long ago.”

Why did everything she said sound like it was in the past tense?

Wait…

Don’t tell me…

“He’s already been discharged.”

Jeez…

You scared me.

“Were you in that war too?”

“I was.”

As a foot soldier.

“It must’ve been horrible.”

“It really was.”

“My brother said it was terrifying. People died every single day.”

“…”

“At first, he thought the greatest heroes were the strongest soldiers.”

She paused.

“But he said he was wrong.”

“The real heroes were the ones who managed to bring even one more person home alive.”

Your brother had it exactly right.

From the perspective of the higher-ups…

The best soldier was the one who fought the hardest.

But for ordinary soldiers like me…

The greatest hero was the one who kept us alive.

“Your brother said something very wise.”

“Someone saved him too.”

“We still don’t know who it was.”

Sip.

Selena took another drink of her coffee before continuing.

“I hope we can act like nothing happened.”

“That day… wasn’t a pleasant memory for either of us.”

“It really wasn’t.”

“So…”

She hesitated.

“…Can we at least continue being classmates?”

She probably believed I’d been deeply hurt.

Honestly…

She wasn’t wrong.

I confessed.

Got rejected.

Then immediately disappeared from school.

Anyone would think that.

The only difference was…

Those wounds belonged to the old me now.

“Please.”

“I really want to forget what happened that day.”

“Then why did you suddenly confess in the first place?”