Episode 2: Encountering the Main Heroine in a Lonely Classroom

This is the second year of my life at the Academy of Magical Arts.

The class is still the same as ever.

I pretend to be asleep behind my seat and look around.

The usual groups were chatting happily.

There are groups of positive people, groups of negative people, groups of girls, groups of boys, groups of talented people, groups of otakus, and so on.

Some of them have their own personalities, others do not.

I’m one of them. I don’t belong to any of those groups.

I don’t think anything of them in particular.

“I just think that they look fun.”

It would be twisted to feel disgust for them.

Or maybe I’m just relaxed because of a certain group.

Yes, Lute’s harem group.

“Lute-kun! Let’s have lunch together during the next break!”

“Of course I’ll eat with you, Liza, so don’t get so attached.”

“It’s not fair. I’ve made a lunch box for you too, Lute, so please include it too.”

“Yukina, I’ve brought my own bento, so I can eat it myself… but if you’ve made it for me, I’d like to eat it.”

“I’m so glad!”

The boys were jealous of Lute because he was even liked by Yukina, the popular girl in the class.

Well, he’s not sensitive enough to care about that, so he won’t ever understand the intent of her gaze.

He is that kind of an insensitive guy.

“It’s unbecoming of a man to have dinner with another girl without me. Take me with you as a token, Lute.”

Emilia, a young lady from a high class noble family, is also crazy about Lute.

It seems like him flirting with beautiful girls is going too far, but now it’s just an everyday occurrence that all of my classmates, including myself, are used to.

By the way, that’s only one part of it.

In one year, Lute has been flagged with various heroines who were already present in the academy already.

What a cruel thing to do, I think.

When you are loved not only by your classmates, but also by girls with whom you have little interaction, it’s pure madness.

There are far too many heroines who end up unhappy at this rate.

If all the heroines were to challenge the hero, it would not be surprising if some of them were to be completely crushed by him.

Is Lute perhaps thinking about that and maybe that’s why he doesn’t advance any relationships with them?

No, it’s impossible to make all of them happy because he’s too stupid to realize that the girl still likes him even if any of them kiss him.

Liza is one of them.

Yeah, I can’t help but wonder why she chose Lute of all people.

There must have been some event that happened without my knowledge or else I would have stayed in love with her.

It’s just that Liza doesn’t like him, she loves him.

I can’t help it though, she loves Lute after all.

The sight of the girl you love loving another man without your knowledge is just very very painful.

Especially so if you’re in the same class as them. Every day is like h**l to me.

And Lute doesn’t even notice her obvious fondness for him, which is even more annoying.

After class, after school.

“…Good grief.”

As I watched Lute return to the dormitory with the heroines, smiling as if he were at the peak of happiness, my heart was completely filled with hatred towards him.

But no matter what I do, I’m no match for him.

If I were to challenge a man who could defeat a demon king head on, I would be reduced to dust in the blink of an eye.

So, I play the role of a mob who is stuck in the shadows.

My very existence is empty, and I’ll probably die in the shadows for the rest of my life without being able to say anything to anyone.

I didn’t want to do that, and I wanted to do something about it, but I was too frightened to actually take a step forward.

After my struggle, I was left in the classroom without anyone noticing me, and I regained my composure and decided to leave.

Carrying the magic book I had used in class, I turned to leave the classroom.

Just as I was about to open the door and step out into the hallway, I bumped into someone.

The other person let out a startled “Ouch~” and fell to the floor.

“I-I’m sorry.”

I hurriedly apologized and reached out my hand.

“No… I didn’t pay enough attention because I thought there was no one in the classroom anymore. I’m sorry…”

I’m used to being treated as invisible by others because I’m a mob.

I’m not sad, but I should be.

My gaze caught hers as she looked up at me.

She stares at me as if she’s noticed something, then falls silent and freezes.

If you look closely, you’ll see that this girl looks pretty familiar to you.

She’s petite and cute just like a fairy.

She has short, shiny hair and vivid green eyes.

This is Dorothy, the strongest sorceress who contributed to the defeat of the Demon King, isn’t it?

And while our harem hero, Lute, doesn’t fall for any of the heroines, she’s the only one he likes and she’s an absolutely unique part of his story.

After all, she is the main heroine of this story.

“Arere~, if it isn’t Helios-kun.”

My eyes widened when she mentioned my name.

I don’t know how or why she knows my name, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

I’m an empty person who’s not even like a mosquito.

But this main heroine somehow knew about me.

———The main characters and I had no way of knowing that this encounter would turn out to be the turning point of the story.