“Cough.”
Seeing my dorm room after several years brought back a lot of memories. A pretty decent bed along with a desk for studying.
As I noticed my belongings one by one, I felt a curious excitement.
“Wow, this sword is really nostalgic.”
I looked around, admiring the sword my sister gifted me when I entered the academy. Back then, I just kept it safe and couldn’t take it when I got expelled from school.
As I drew the sword, a clang echoed, revealing its sharp blade.
My sister had said she picked it with care, and it seemed to hold its value well. I never had the chance to use it, though.
“Well, in the end, everything is real.”
I pinched my cheek; it still stung.
I’ve pinched my cheeks so many times today that they were turning red.
I realized that trying to apply common sense in this situation was just a foolish struggle. I stopped thinking and accepted it. I had returned to my past at 18.
The owner of the army and my childhood friend, Rin, had stabbed my heart, and here I was back at the moment of expulsion from the academy.
“And I even threw insults there.”
F off.*
I had never used such language before, but in a moment of impulse, I did it, and the dean’s expression at that time was unforgettable.
A unique experience, like a wave of relief washing over me from my toes.
She had yelled at me in a high-pitched voice, and I, still thinking it was a dream, retorted with various arguments.
“Then prove it!” The dean had given me a grace period.
Just a week.
I had to bring proof that I was wronged within that time.
“If my memory serves me right, it probably started with lacking grades…”
Not taking the practical exam, assault on a classmate, sexual harassment of a female student.
That might have been the case.
I couldn’t take the practical exam due to too many distractions at that time, and the assault and harassment were just false accusations.
“My head’s already starting to ache.”
The grades part seemed somewhat solvable, but the latter two were problematic.
“Well, I can think about it from now on.”
At first, I thought it wouldn’t matter if I got expelled, but my mind began to change.
Why did Rin become the owner of the army and bring destruction to the world?
In my previous life, I got expelled and severed all ties with Rin, but I was sure of one thing.
No matter how I think about it, it was Rin.
Even ten years later, her appearance hadn’t lost its shine, and the tears streaming down her cheeks gave me certainty.
“I need to stay at the academy out of curiosity.”
I was currently 18 years old, so after getting expelled, it would be a decade.
In just ten years, the once kind and lovely girl would become a calamity that slaughtered all beings on the continent.
I had to stop that.
“Eris.”
Yes, for Eris, who proposed to me in the end.
My chest ached at the thought. I realized that without becoming a Sherpa in the Forest of the Demon Realm, I wouldn’t be able to meet her.
“Well, I’ll hold off on becoming a Sherpa for now.”
If I became a Sherpa in the Forest of the Demon Realm after getting expelled, I’d meet Eris, but then Rin would destroy the continent.
I could graduate and still become a Sherpa or go to Yggdrasil to meet Eris without it.
I might not remember anything, but somehow it would work out.
“More importantly… my body is in good shape.”
Having fought for survival as a Sherpa, my body had suffered injuries, but right now, I was just a country boy who had been exercising without any wounds.
In other words, I was in my prime.
Struggling with that thought, I chuckled and took off my shirt, moving around my room and sweating when suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
I wiped the sweat off roughly and opened the door to find a girl with shimmering black hair, Rin, standing there.
“Hey? Were you working out?”
There was no dramatic surprise where I blushed and exclaimed, kyah!
As a childhood friend, how many times do you think she’s seen me working out without my shirt?
“…Yeah, sort of.”
“I heard about the expulsion. Is there anything I can help with?”
I tried to act normal, but maybe it showed on my face, as Rin stepped closer with a worried expression.
I stepped back, scratching the back of my head.
I tried hard to hold it back, but I eventually looked away and said,
“Could you…? Please go out?”
“…Huh?”
“Sorry, but I don’t really want to see you today.”
“Ah…”
Rin’s expression hardened as she lowered her head and said in a gloomy voice that she understood before walking out.
She might think I was saying this because I was distressed about the expulsion, but it wasn’t that.
It felt weird facing the person who had literally stabbed my heart just a few hours ago. I didn’t know what emotion to show.
Hah, huff.
Plus, my breathing wouldn’t calm down.
Just looking at her made me dizzy, remembering the owner of the army, and I could hardly breathe.
I barely held back my words from coming out too roughly. I didn’t want to hasten the time it took for her to become the owner of the army.
While I was trying to ignore the earlier situation and was exercising a bit more intensely with my youthful body, there was another knock.
This one was heavier than before.
Without even opening the door, it suddenly swung open, and in walked a handsome boy with golden hair, slightly bigger than me.
“Daniel! I heard from Rin that you’re having a hard time…”
Ares, my childhood friend like Rin.
Unlike me, he was popular and at the top of the class, widely adored by many.
But I remembered that he hadn’t acknowledged me in front of others back then.
“That was a bit of a wound.”
He sometimes visited my room at night to talk, but we didn’t interact at the academy.
I thought that was a way to protect our friendship.
I was the target of disdain and ridicule from the nobles, and I thought if I pretended to be friends with the popular Ares, he might get bullied too.
“That was all nonsense.”
Now that I think about it, was that really what friendship was about? As childhood friends, we were always together when we were young, but as soon as I fell out of favor, he just cut me off.
Still, he would occasionally come visit me at night when no one was around.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
“Hmm, no. I don’t think so.”
“…Huh?”
Ares looked shocked; he didn’t expect such a firm response.
I thought he looked handsome even while flustered; it felt nostalgic. No matter what Ares did, his handsomeness always made me look pitiful by comparison.
If it were Ares, that would be helpful.
Thinking of all the girls surrounding him, I bet Ares could get all sorts of information just by saying a word.
But I didn’t need it.
Deep inside, he was no longer a friend I could call a friend.
“And I’d prefer if you didn’t come by anymore. If you want to talk, do it at the academy. Don’t sneak in like a thief only at night.”
“Uh?”
“I mean, I don’t want to beg for friendship fueled by guilt.”
I waved him off. Ares, looking startled, replied, “L-Let’s talk later,” and then he closed the door behind him.
After exercising for a while, there was yet another knock.
Now I was getting annoyed, and I opened the door harshly to ask who it was.
“Kyaa! Who are you! Why aren’t you wearing a shirt!”
A blonde female student stood before me.
“Who the hell are you?”
Well, “who the hell” is a bit vague. I clearly remembered someone like her existed, but I couldn’t recall her exact appearance or name.
“You came to my room, and you’re asking that? The girls’ floor is upstairs, you know.”
“F-First, get some clothes on.”
“Nope. If you don’t have anything to say, I’m closing the door.”
As I tried to close the door, she panicked and held it open, then straightened her posture. She began to cough awkwardly, attempting to appear calm.
“You’re a lot bolder than you look. Okay! I’ll say what I have to say.”
Crossing my arms and tilting my head, I focused on listening while still trying to figure out who she was.
Who the hell is she?
I felt like I was about to remember but was still hazy.
If only I had a little clue, it would click into place, but I felt uneasy like a piece of meat stuck in my teeth.
“In the past few days, why has Ares been visiting your room? At such late hours.”
“What?”
“Why does he come to your room in the dormitory when you don’t even talk at the academy? Even when he rejects dates!”
Ah!
Aah!
Now I get it!
She was one of the girls caught in Ares’ web!
She was friendly but over the top, almost feeling rough around the edges, and she seemed to feel a hint of jealousy toward Ares’ other female acquaintances.
“What was her name?”
Sorry, but I couldn’t remember her name at all.
But considering it was a memory from ten years ago, wasn’t this enough?
Sigh, what a pitiful thing.
I didn’t know what kind of ending Ares and this girl arrived at after I got expelled, but it definitely wasn’t a good one.
Ares had stolen the hearts of many girls in the town, but he had never reciprocated any of those feelings.
It felt like he hadn’t been like that from the start, but as he began to receive attention from girls, he gradually developed a Casanova personality.
Thinking about it made me feel a bit sad.
She was staring at me with wide eyes, not realizing she was caught in Ares’ trap, thinking I was an obstacle to her love.
In a way, it was fresh, but in another way, it was also pitiful.
“Hey, don’t think about dating someone like that, just go study.”
I closed the door with the best advice I could offer.
