I’m Just an Ordinary Academy Student

2 – Meeting After Returning to School

People who easily make friends with anyone and always have a crowd around them. Colloquially known as “insiders.”

Unfortunately, the former me was not such an insider.

Confessed and got rejected, went to the military, and now the scent of an insider doesn’t seem to stick to me.

Ah, insiders don’t do such things at all? Okay, I admit it.

Then what should I call it? Ah, that’s fine. I’ll just call it a loser.

“There are no guys who took a leave of absence. Everyone seems to be doing well.”

According to Senior Marcus, it seems like all my classmates are still around.

I thought about going around and greeting them, but something felt off, so I withdrew for now.

Even wandering around the academy, it’s uncertain whether that person is this person or vice versa.

I really don’t know. I can’t remember their name well, but why is their face so ambiguous?

Luck is really unreliable. Of all things, the siblings and heirs of the family that I had little interaction with are my classmates.

Former me. If you were going to take a leave of absence, why didn’t you make some friends?

How can there be no one I know who knows what happened… I’m really going crazy.

‘Should I endure until the people from the families I used to interact with arrive?’

If I endure for about a year and a half, it seems like those who used to be close might come.

Still, damn it. It’s been a year and a half, and I’m already anxious about how to endure it.

During military service, at least we could become friends by bumping into each other.

Even the seniors and juniors, who initially kept their distance as nobles, soon treated each other comfortably.

Towards the end, even the sergeant just casually asked, “Would you like to drive a stake?” and handed it over.

But the academy… It’s a bit fuzzy in my memory.

Maybe because it’s a fantasy setting, everyone seems busy just flirting around.

Or perhaps it’s like a political drama in the name of an academy.

Whatever it is, as a military veteran returning to school, it’s incredibly uncomfortable for me.

Still, the reason I came to the academy… Honestly, it’s infuriating.

Having been through the military twice, including my past life, and spending it as an enlisted man, it’s unfair.

Living in that military as a noble is hell.

I reincarnated for this, to experience the academy’s water.

Even if it’s just flirting, at least I should try that much.

I returned to the academy with the single-minded goal of completing my service.

“Hey, wait. Are you, by any chance, Karl?”

A stranger’s voice and an even stranger face. But as I look closely, it seems vaguely familiar.

As I search my memory, a male student approaching exclaims, “Wow! It’s really Karl, right? Hey, did you come back to school?!”

“Well… uh, Etbe?”

“What are you saying? It’s Etbin, man! Etbin!”

Ah, right. Etbin. Sorry. Now that I see him again, my memory is coming back.

He’s someone from the eastern part of the empire, so we were a bit close.

“At that time, you suddenly took a leave without saying a word. And now, you came back to school without making any noise again.”

“What’s good about causing a commotion? It just makes things awkward for everyone.”

“Awkward? Why?”

Why does this kid keep pretending not to know? He probably knows everything.

“Selena. It must be uncomfortable for both of us. Even a few years ago, it was a bit awkward, no matter how it turned out.”

“So why is that?”

“Oh, damn it. I confessed to Selena as soon as I enrolled! And got rejected! You were probably there at that time, so why are you acting like you don’t know?!”

“…Huh? Oh, no. I’ve never heard of that before.”

“What the hell are you talking about, chewing on some random grass again? Why now? Damn it!

“No… I had some business at the time, went to my family for a few days, and when I returned, you were gone. And then there was the leave of absence. And now, here we are. I truly knew nothing.”

“…”

Ah, you didn’t know. Was this the first time you heard about it? Damn it.

And here I am, revealing my embarrassing past with my own mouth again.

“But, did you confess to Selena?”

“Too loud.”

“Then it seems you were the first. Got rejected by Selena.”

“Shut up. It’s a memory I don’t even want to recall.”

“But getting rejected and taking a leave of absence, isn’t that a bit extreme? There must be over ten guys who got rejected by Selena, and they all graduated well. Cal.”

Please, stop. If you say that, it makes me sound even more pathetic.

Taking a leave of absence and enlisting in the military just because of a rejection is crazy. I went crazy and enlisted even though I had already served in the military in my past life! Ha! Two discharges!

“If it’s still uncomfortable between you two, how should you resolve it?”

“There’s nothing to resolve. It’ll naturally fade away with time.”

“But Selena is graduating after this semester. Graduating.”

“Yeah, graduating. And probably getting married right away.”

The story I remember goes something like that.

Couples who were lovey-dovey at the academy get married right after graduation.

Judging from the ending, it seems like a happy ending…

“Marriage? What’s that about?”

“That’s what Selena said.”

“So, why is she getting married? Did she have any matchmaking meetings?”

Are you asking me about that now? I was in the military until recently.

“And who’s with Selena right now?”

“No one?”

“There isn’t?”

“No. I told you. She rejected over ten guys until now.”

“??”

Wait, wait. No one is with Selena? Does that even make sense?

From what I remember, by now they should have set a wedding date, shouldn’t they?

“Shulipen.”

“That guy? Broke up. In the second year, early on.”

“What about Wilhelm?”

“He broke up in the second semester of the second year.”

“And Alexander?”

“He broke up just before the summer vacation of the third year.”

“…Joachim?”

“He’s the last one. Broke up shortly after the start of the first semester of the fourth year.”

What on earth is going on? Did all of them break up?

Shulipen, Wilhelm, Alexander, and now Joachim. All the main guys?

Now that the academy is coming to an end, not a single one of them continued with Selena?

Such a plotline definitely didn’t exist. It didn’t even exist as a side story.

“…Is there another guy next to Selena?”

“No. How many times do I have to say it? They all broke up.”

Edvin’s words only deepen the confusion.

What is this? Why did things turn out like this? Where did it go wrong?

“But, Karl. Why are you taking it so seriously?”

“Huh?”

“So what if Selena dated other guys? It seems like it just didn’t sit well with you as a guy.”

“….”

True. Come to think of it, it had nothing to do with me.

Even if the main character and the heroine didn’t end up together, it’s not like the world would collapse.

It’s not my future to die if I don’t follow the flow.

I don’t need to care. Just live my life well, that’s all.

The main characters have their own lives, and the heroine has hers.

“Hey, Karl. What about you?”

“What. Why.”

“Haven’t you given up on Selena yet?”

“Did you get hit on the head, idiot.”

Do not treat the me from back then and the me now as the same person!

“That’s nonsense, Etvin.”

“No, you keep asking about Selena.”

“I’m just asking. Just. No reason at all.”

I definitely said it. Truly, without any reason, without any personal motive.

Why would someone who has already been rejected still hold on to lingering feelings?

*

“…damn bastard.”

Yeah. I definitely said that.

Horrifying—

Why am I in a café at the academy?

And why is Selena sitting across from me!

“I heard you returned to school, Karl.”

“Oh, yeah.”

In the past, just Selena speaking made me so embarrassed that I twisted my body.

And now, the current me is twisting my body because of the embarrassment from that past.

It’s uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable. Damn uncomfortable. I just want to run away.

But if I really did that, something quite awkward might happen.

“What have you been up to?”

“…I enlisted in the reserves.”

“As an officer? Must have been tough.”

I just nodded without bothering to mention that I enlisted as a common soldier.

Honestly, it’s much more idiotic for a noble to become a common soldier.

“My brother was also an officer.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“He participated in the recent war with Ruzence.”

What’s with all the past tense? Seriously….

“He’s discharged now.”

Ah, surprising.

“Were you also in that war?”

“Sure.”

As a soldier.

“It must have been terrible.”

“Really terrible.”

“My brother said so. It was truly gruesome. Many people died day after day.”

“…”

“At first, I thought someone who fought well was a hero, but that wasn’t true. According to him, a hero is someone who sends one more person back home.”

My brother was right. From the perspective of those above, the one who fights well must be the best.

But for someone like me, and other ordinary soldiers, from the perspective of those rolling on the ground below, the one saving my life was the best.

“Your brother spoke the truth.”

“Our brother was saved by someone too. We don’t know who.”

Slurp—

Selena, sipping her coffee, continues the conversation.

“I wish we could live as if nothing happened. Those memories are a bit awkward between us, aren’t they?”

“Quite a bit.”

“Yeah. So, um, can we still get along as colleagues?”

I seem to have been deeply wounded. In truth, that’s accurate.

After being rejected in my confession, I took a leave of absence and disappeared. Anyone would think that way.

Ironically, the wound had become a thing of the past for me.

“Please, let it be. I want to forget that day and move on.”

“So, why did you confess out of the blue?”