NOVEL NEXT chapter 5
5 – The Returning Student’s Heartache
The four main characters. A few days after the disappearance of the Four Emperors who clashed with Selena.
“Is it you?”
Marcus, looking at Karl who came to the briefing room, asked abruptly.
*
Incredible. I never imagined that creating a timetable would be so difficult.
Why are there so many overlapping classes? Didn’t the professors agree with each other!
Don’t compete among yourselves to see who can attract more students!
How did you manage it in freshman year? How did you manage it during your university life in the past?
I seemed to have handled it well back then, but after two military experiences, it feels like I’ve been reset.
And now, there’s an instinct saying, ‘You might die if you schedule like this.’
Originally, asking seniors for help would be the quickest solution.
However, based on the year, my peers have already taken up the top positions.
Below them, there are all these juniors I’ve never seen before, filling up the spots.
I don’t even know their faces properly, so it’s awkward to ask them how to schedule.
Even though my social skills have naturally improved rolling in the military with fellow soldiers.
I’m not crazy enough to ask strangers, completely unknown juniors, about scheduling.
In the end, I chose the path of approaching the somewhat alive fossil, Adjutant Marcus.
I went there hoping that as a senior, he might give advice on scheduling…
“You?”
As soon as I entered the classroom, that abrupt question came flying at me.
At first, I blinked, not understanding what was being said.
“Senior?”
“What you did.”
“No, if you cut off every word and—”
“Shulifen, Wilhelm, Alexander, Joachim.”
“Uh.”
“The four of them suddenly disappeared.”
“…Oh.”
It was about the whereabouts of the four main characters. Well, about that…
“Do you have evidence?”
I don’t know. Let’s brazen it out for now. Ah, do you have evidence! Don’t you know the principles of a trial!
“Evidence? Sure. It’s not about you denying it, but the fact that you’re told to present evidence right away, that alone is evidence, you bastard!”
Damn, I’ve been caught. But it’s okay. I’m really confident.
Honestly, did I, what? Did I wield a knife, shove a gun in someone’s face?
They just collapsed on their own as soon as they heard my words.
“I just said that military life was helpful in various ways.”
“Hey, you crazy bastard.”
“Why are you like this? Honestly, is the guy who said he learned a lot in the military crazy? Or are the guys who disappeared, saying they’d enlist right after hearing that, crazy?”
“Both! You bastard! Those guys are crazy too, but among them, you’re the craziest!”
Wow, that hurts. Why am I the craziest? Seriously?!
“Why are you asking when you don’t know! A high-ranking noble voluntarily enlisting as a soldier and falling for it is the first in imperial history! You’re trying to send your comrades to hell, saying it’s unfair that you alone experienced soldier life!”
Sending them to hell! I actually rescued pitiful beings from the inferno of poverty in the military!
Unfair! It’s unfair, and it’s driving me crazy! But the truth is, I can’t argue that the military is like hell!
“Ugh… What did you do as soon as you arrived? What on earth…”
“Why do you keep doing this? You guys volunteered to shoulder the sacred duty of national defense.”
“That’s not the problem. The knife. Damn, that’s not the problem.”
The senior who said this suddenly rummaged through something and swiftly threw it in front of me.
“This is the problem. This is.”
“Is this a leave of absence application?”
“Take a look.”
I wondered why they were doing this as I carefully examined your four leave of absence applications.
Shulipen, Wilhelm, Alexander, and even Joachim. They had correctly filled in their real names.
They had also written in detail why they were suddenly taking a leave of absence.
Even though the confirmation stamp hadn’t been stamped yet, submitting the application was done, so there shouldn’t be any problem.
“…Everything seems normal, doesn’t it?”
“Normal?”
“Yes. I mean, they haven’t misspelled their names or written anything strange. If we just process the confirmation, the leave of absence should be confirmed automatically, right?”
At this, the senior muttered, “Forget the content. Look at it again from the top.”
From the top. On top was the leave of absence application. Oh, it’s well written. They’re applying for a leave of absence. Approved.
Now, the form below had information about medical leave for the lower-class students…
“Huh.”
…Oh, damn.
“Wait a minute. This, this can’t be, right?”
“Did you finally see it? Do you know what they wrote on that leave of absence application?”
“No…”
“Medical leave can’t be longer than three months. But as far as I know, military service is a minimum of 24 months, right? They can’t even handle the leave of absence application for that.”
“…”
Hey… Hey! You guys! The main character, damn it!
I mean, seriously? Putting military service on a medical leave application!
Don’t tell me they misunderstood and thought military service was the best way to take leave just because I said enlisting as a soldier is the best?
Even if they did, it’s not medical leave. Did you guys catch some illness? Is there Wuhan pneumonia here too?
They are the main characters. The leading men! They are called the Academy’s Handsome Four!
But why is there a flower garden blooming in their heads? How did they survive until the fourth year!!
“Can’t we just do something about this? Change it to another leave of absence or something.”
“If it were that easy, would I be here talking about it? That’s blatant forgery. Regardless of anything else, a leave of absence application is a very important document that only the individual can write.”
“Anyway, they didn’t write the application, right?!”
“I know! I know, but it’s for military service! It’s only for three months!”
The situation is really bizarre. The guys who caused the accident aren’t even here.
Instead, the senior and I sat in the classroom, pulling our hair out in frustration.
Ah, is this sudden anger directed at me? I only shared what I knew as a favor.
These guys submit weird leave of absence forms and then get all worked up about it?
Damn it. I’m too busy living my own life, why should I worry about their academic struggles!
“…Instructor Marcus.”
“Why aren’t you calling me senior all of a sudden? Don’t bother. I can see what you’re about to say.”
“Whatever happened, it’s something for Instructor Marcus to ponder. It doesn’t seem like my concern.”
“Hey, you!”
Swiftly, I stood up and saluted energetically.
“Good luck!”
“Hey, you little punk!!”
That’s as far as it goes, senior. Unfortunately, what can I do? Deal with it yourself!
I narrowly escaped the senior’s attempt to grab my collar.
*
Sick leave. Sick leave, seriously. The more I think about it, the more absurd it becomes.
It was written as sick leave, so did they just assume it was for military service or something?
It’s really driving me crazy. What’s the point if the face is handsome? The things attached above aren’t that great.
Do male leads in real life lack awareness or is it a prerequisite for them to be a bit screwy?
Come to think of it, male leads in romance novels usually don’t have that tendency, do they?
Maybe that’s why Selena is so fascinated with you, I can’t be sure.
“Kal.”
Speak of the devil. Now the female lead is making an appearance.
“Selena?”
“Do you have a moment?”
“Well… I’m fine, but are you okay? Aren’t you busy with graduation?”
“I filled up my credits in advance, so I have some free time. Let’s have a cup of tea. Or maybe coffee.”
“I’ll go with coffee.”
In my past life, my people froze to death just to sip on ‘ahh,’ so honestly, water steeped with tree leaves doesn’t suit my taste.
I sit again at the cafe where Selena and I were yesterday.
Maybe this woman is also trying to ask me about the whereabouts of the four-person group.
So I casually checked her complexion, but there didn’t seem to be anything particularly different.
“Uh, Karl.”
“Yeah, Selena.”
“A few days ago, the story about when you enlisted as a soldier. Really, it wasn’t because of me… right?”
Actually, it’s true! It’s because of you! So feel guilty! Hot damn!
… I hope there’s no one in this world who says such things. Please.
“Impossible. No matter how much pain I endured confessing and how great the pain of being kicked out was, it’s not common for a noble heir to suddenly enlist as a soldier. In your opinion, am I that strange?”
Well, that case is right here. This is a three-strikeout. My past self.
“It’s not that… I just keep worrying about it.”
Fortunately, Selena’s answer didn’t seem to come from someone completely insane in the midst of misfortune.
“Um, well! Tell me more about the military!”
“Yeah?”
What’s this nonsense? Wasn’t military talk a topic that women hate more than soccer and games?
But why is Selena saying such things?
“I thought we could curse and get angry together?”
“Yeah? Well… it’s a bit, but there’s no need for that. Right after enlisting, I was sent straight to war. Some soldiers went through absurdities, but I experienced a living hell during that time.”
Although it wasn’t a war involving the entire empire, it was still a fierce fight.
It was to the extent that two regular corps were deployed.
“But if you really want to hear… from the first day of the war? I was on duty, and suddenly—”
Military stories just naturally arise even if you’re just sitting still.
Especially from my mouth, which was on the battlefield.
I thought I had only murmured for a moment, but 30 minutes had passed in the blink of an eye.
Wondering if I had talked too much, I glanced at Selena, who was just playing along without saying much.
Thinking that I might have talked too much about my story, I subtly shifted the topic.
“Yeah, that’s right. By the way, your older brother. Haven’t you heard any stories from him?”
“Huh? Um… he didn’t talk much about that difficult time. But if there’s something he did… yes. It’s a story about a soldier who rescued him and his unit.”
“Rescue? A soldier?”
Selena, tell me more about your brother’s military story.