I'm an Ordinary Returning Student at the Academy

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – ChiSync]

Chapter 5

The four protagonists or the Four Heavenly Kings disappeared, a few days after being dumped by Selena.

“It was you, right?”

Marcus, upon seeing Karl in the instructor’s office, bluntly asked him.

***

Goodness. I never imagined making a timetable would be this difficult.

Why are there so many overlapping classes? Didn’t the professors discuss it with each other?

They shouldn’t compete to see who can get more students into their classes!

What did I do in my freshman year? And in my previous life during university?

I’m sure I did well back then, but after two lifetimes worth of military service, it feels like my brain has reset.

And now I have this instinct that says, ‘If I organize my schedule like this, I might die.’

Normally, asking the seniors for help would be the quickest solution.

But in terms of student seniority, my peers have already taken the top spots.

Below them are all the juniors I’ve never met before.

I barely know my peers’ faces, so it’s awkward to ask them anything.

Even though my social skills have naturally improved from rolling with the soldiers in the military. I’m not crazy enough to ask my juniors, who I don’t even know, how to make a timetable.

In the end, I chose the path of least resistance, going to see Assistant Professor Marcus.

Maybe as my senior, he would give me advice on the timetable….

“It was you, right?”

As soon as I entered the office, Marcus bluntly threw that question at me.

At first, I blinked, not understanding what he meant.

“Huh?”

“You’re the one who did it.”

“No, I mean, if you keep cutting me off mid sentences like that—”

“Shulifen, Wilhelm, Alexander, and Joachim.”

“Uh.”

“The four who disappeared.”

” …Ah.”

You mean the whereabouts of the Four Heavenly Kings. Well, about that….

“Do you have any evidence?”

I don’t know. I’ll just shamelessly wing it for now. Like do you have any evidence? Don’t you know about the principle of evidence!

“Evidence? You want Evidence. I have evidence. There’s the fact that you are constantly denying that you had nothing to do with it, but still wanting to see evidence, is the biggest evidence in itself, you moron.”

Damn it, I’ve been caught. But it’s okay because I’m really confident.

Honestly, what did I do? Did I brandish a knife, point a gun at them?

They’re the ones who did it as soon as they heard my words.

“I just said that military life was helpful to me in various ways?”

“Yeah, you crazy bastard.”

“Why are you like this? Honestly speaking, would someone who said they learned a lot in the military be considered crazy? Or would it be those who disappeared after saying they would enlist out of the blue?”

“Both! You Punk! Those guys are crazy too, but you’re the craziest of them all!”

Ouch. Why am I the craziest? Seriously?!

“You don’t know, do you? You are the first person in the history of the empire to enlist as a soldier while being the son of a high-ranking noble! And you’re trying to send your peers to hell because you find it unfair that you alone experienced military life!”

Sending them to hell? Instead, it’s rescuing pitiful sentient beings from the cycle of suffering!

It’s Unfair! And it’s driving me crazy! But the military being hell is actually true so I can’t really argue against that!

“Ugh… What on earth did you do as soon as you arrived? What on earth….”

“Why do you keep saying that? They’re the ones who decided to bear the sacred duty of national defense.”

“That’s not the point. Bitch.”

The senior who spoke suddenly rummaged for something and then swiftly tossed it towards me.

“This is the problem. This.”

“Isn’t this a leave of absence form?”

“Take a good look.”

Wondering why, I carefully examined the four leave of absence forms.

Shulifen, Wilhelm, Alexander, and Joachim. They had written their full names.

They’d also written down why they were taking a leave of absence, so that’s fine too.

Even though the confirmation stamp hasn’t been applied yet, the application has been submitted so no problem.

“…It’s all normal, isn’t it?”

“Normal?”

“Yes. Nothing wrong with the names, nothing strange written. If we just process it as is, won’t the leave of absence be confirmed automatically?”

At that, the senior muttered, ‘Not the content. Look at it again from the top.’

At the top, there’s the leave of absence form. Oh, it’s well written. Applying for a leave of absence. Approved.

Below, the form is filled out for medical leave under the leave of absence category for the student below…

“Huh.”

…What the fuck?

“Wait. This… it can’t be, right?”

“See? What did those guys write on their leave of absence form?”

“No…”

“Medical leave, even if it’s long, is only for three months. But isn’t military enlistment, as far as I know, at least 24 months? How can they use a medical leave application for that?”

“…”

Guys… guys! You’re the Protagonists! You fuckers!

Even so, why are you putting a leave of absence from military service on your application for medical leave!

Did they seriously misunderstood my praise for military service as an excuse for taking medical leave?

Even if that’s the case, it’s not medical leave. Have you guys caught a disease? Is Wuhan pneumonia here too?

[PR/N: Huh? Wuhan? Doesn’t this seem bit too familiar]

You’re the main characters! The Academy’s Four Handsome Men!

But why do you have flowers blooming in your heads! How did you survive until the fourth year!!

“Can’t we just change this to another type of leave or something?”

“If it were as easy as you say, would I be in this situation? That’s blatant document forgery. Regardless of anything else, a leave of absence application is a very important document that only the individual can fill out.”

“Regardless, you haven’t submitted the application, have you?!”

“I know! I know, but it’s medical leave! It’s only for three months!”

The situation is really weird. The ones who caused the accident aren’t even here. Instead, it’s just me and the senior sitting in the office, tearing our hair out in frustration.

Ah, suddenly I’m so annoyed. I only told them out of kindness.

And these guys go and use some strange leave of absence form and then fall into this mess?

Shit. I’m too busy living my own life, why should I worry about their Academy life!

“…Mr. Markus.”

“Why suddenly dropping the ‘senior’ honorific? You, stop. I can see what you’re going to say.”

“Anyway, I think this is your concern, not mine.”

“Hey, hey!”

I quickly stood up from my seat and gave him an energetic salute.

“Good luck!”

“Hey, you little…!”

This is as far as I go, senior. It’s unfortunate, but what can I do? Just suck it up!

I narrowly escaped the senior’s grasp as he tried to grab my collar.

***

Medical leave. Medical leave. Ha, really. The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it gets.

They saw it written as medical leave and just assumed it was for soldiers or something.

It’s driving me crazy. What’s the point of being handsome if there’s nothing on top?

Maybe the protagonists are naturally clueless or they’re missing a few screws?

Come to think of it, protagonists in novels usually don’t have that tendency, do they?

Maybe Selena’s disdain for you guys has something to do with that.

“Karl.”

Speak of the devil. Is it the heroine’s turn this time?

“Selena?”

“Do you have a moment?”

“Um… I’m fine, but are you okay? Weren’t you busy because of graduation?”

“I filled up my credits in advance, so I have some free time. Let’s have a cup of tea. Or maybe a cup of coffee.”

“I’ll go with coffee.”

My previous life’s foundation was built on drinking ‘ahh’ even if it froze.

Honestly, water boiled with some leaves doesn’t suit my taste.

Selena and I sat down once again at the same cafe table we sat at yesterday.

I wonder if she also wants to ask me about the whereabouts of the Four Heavenly Kings.

I sneaked a look at her face, but I didn’t see anything different.

“Uhm, Karl.”

“Yeah.”

“The conversation we had a few days ago. About you enlisting as a soldier. It’s not really because of me… is it?”

Actually, it was! It was because of you! So feel guilty! Ha!

I hope the guy who says that… is not in this world anymore.

Please.

“There’s no way. No matter how much agony confessing and being rejected might cause, it’s not like a nobleman would suddenly enlist as a soldier. Do you really think I’m that strange?”

Though there is a strange person like that present here. Me, from the past.

“That’s not it… but, it just keeps bothering me.”

In the midst of misfortune, Selena’s response was fortunate enough to indicate that I didn’t seem like that much of a lunatic.

“Um, can you, uh, tell me more about, uh, that military story?”

“Huh?”

What’s this? Wasn’t talking about the military a topic girls hated more than soccer and gaming? But why is Selena bringing it up?

“Can I curse and get angry with you?”

“Huh? Um… Well, maybe a little, but there’s no need to go that far. I was deployed right into war as soon as I enlisted. Some soldiers went through absurdity while I endured a literal hell.”

It wasn’t a war involving the entire empire, but it was still a fierce fight.

Considering that two regular legions were deployed, it speaks volumes.

“But if you still want to hear… Well, from the first day of the war? I was on duty then, and suddenly—”

Military stories just naturally flow when you were from the military. Especially when you’ve been right in the thick of it on the battlefield.

It felt like I just started rambling, but suddenly 30 minutes had passed.

I glanced around, wondering if I talked too much, but Selena was just nodding along. She seemed to be going along with my story, so I subtly changed the subject.

“Yeah. Speaking of which, your brother. Did you hear anything from him?”

“Huh? Um… He didn’t really talk much about it, probably because it was a tough time back then. But if he did, well… Yeah. There was one about a soldier who rescued him and his unit.”

“…Rescue? Soldier?”

Selena, can you elaborate more on your brother’s military story?

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – ChiSync]

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