The Protagonist's Childhood Friend
In the game Heart-fluttering Stormy Harem Transfer Student, a total of five heroines appear alongside the protagonist, Marc Visus.
First, there is Lilit Tistina, the safe and classic childhood friend heroine.
Next, Seraphina Serion, the "Cold Rose" of the Knight Academy and the future Sword Saint.
Then, Elisio Gremlina, the gloomy genius alchemist.
Isabella Kshatri, the troublemaker of the Magic Academy.
And finally, Princess Tiara Altarion, the unyielding flower of the academy.
These five are the main heroines of the game.
They are also the heroines who end up with the protagonist no matter which route you take.
As I mentioned before, this game was created by absolute harem fanatics.
The only difference is whether you unlock specific events based on affection levels; in the end, every path leads to a harem ending.
Yet now, something completely impossible in the original game has occurred.
Far from achieving a harem, the protagonist hasn't ended up with a single heroine.
Faced with this utterly unpredictable situation, I...
Decided to mind my own business.
Well, it makes sense.
There are no obstacles left in the game's main scenario.
Now that this world has become reality rather than a mere game, I'm sure the heroines and the protagonist will figure out how to live their own lives.
Crucially, I am just an extra.
A minor character among minor characters, one whose name was never mentioned, let alone given a single line of dialogue in the original game.
The protagonist has carried out his duties faithfully so far, and he will continue to do so.
If I needlessly meddle in the relationship between the protagonist and the heroines, things will only get incredibly tangled.
Even though I tend to be a bit of a busybody by nature, I make it a rule not to get involved if it risks making a situation worse.
With that in mind, having returned to the academy from my family's estate now that the break is over, I am currently...
"Pant... pant..."
I was in the middle of my daily workout in the spacious gymnasium, doing everything from basic bodyweight exercises to training with various fitness equipment.
"Whew... whew..."
Exercising for the first time after regaining my memories felt deeply nostalgic.
In my past life, I had suffered a severe leg injury as a child. While walking was fine, any intense exercise quickly put too much strain on my body.
I couldn't even manage a basic run, so my muscles withered away day by day.
Because I couldn't move much, I gained more and more weight, eventually turning into a round, chubby couch potato.
But now, not only is my body perfectly healthy, I can freely move a physique that is better trained than most.
Being able to do the exercises I had longed to do brought a sudden swell of emotion to my chest.
As I lost myself in these subtle sentiments, a familiar silhouette caught my eye.
"...Rofel? Hey! You're Rofel Teufel, right?" a woman called out.
It was Lilit Tistina, the original protagonist's long-time childhood friend.
She ran toward me, her bright orange hair swaying and her golden eyes sparkling.
The bounce of her well-developed chest was an added bonus.
"There are still a few weeks left before the semester starts, but you came back earlier than I expected, Rofel."
"My hometown is comfortable, but there wasn't much to do at the estate. As you know, I come from a pretty remote area. What about you? You're already back at the academy?"
"Mmm~ Well, you see~ My house is just so suffocating and uncomfortable. If I didn't have business to attend to, I probably wouldn't have even gone back for the break."
Lilit, a heroine of the game, was casually chatting with an extra like me.
At first glance, it might seem unusual, but it wasn't strange at all.
She was essentially a human golden retriever, friendly to everyone, including the protagonist.
Despite being the daughter of a duke, she never looked down on others and approached everyone warmly as an equal.
In other words, she was kind to everyone regardless of department, age, status, or ability.
Furthermore, compared to the other heroines, she started the game with a baseline level of affection, and simply meeting her would raise it.
She was also the only heroine whose affection level only went up without triggering jealousy when interacting with other heroines.
To give you an idea of how extreme it was, even if you grit your teeth and tried to target other heroines first, her affection meter would still fill up first.
Since the game only had harem endings anyway, she was destined to be captured no matter what you did.
Since the endings were fixed, the player's sense of accomplishment came from whether they managed to view all of the heroines' affection events during the playthrough.
Therefore, assuming that one had to see every single affection event to truly "capture" a heroine, she was undoubtedly the easiest heroine to capture in the original game.
Of course, that didn't mean she was easy or loose in reality.
Because she was naturally kind and easily won people over, she received countless confessions.
The other heroines were either blunt, only kind to their inner circle, or held positions too high for anyone to easily muster the courage to confess to them.
In contrast, Lilit, who respected everyone without discrimination and approached them first, was easy to get close to.
Perhaps that was why Lilit had likely received the most confessions among the five heroines.
Yet, she had rejected every single one of them.
I had assumed the reason was naturally because her heart already belonged to the protagonist, Marc Visus...
But considering how little progress she had made with him even by their third year, there was probably another reason.
Well, whatever that reason might be, there was no need for me—just one of her many, many friends—to worry about it.
"Even though the break is over, you haven't changed a bit, have you? Well, I suppose that's only natural since you haven't missed a single day in the last three years."
"It's just a habit now. If I skip even one day, my body starts to itch."
"Haha! You know you've said that so many times already, right?"
Lilit Tistina said, nudging my side with her shoulder.
Hmm... How should I put this? It felt a bit sudden, but...
Isn't she standing a bit too close?
Before I knew it, she had not only rested her head on my shoulder as I sat on the bench, but she had also placed one of her hands on my knee.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second.
This is why friendly childhood friend heroines who are sweet to everyone are trouble.
They create situations that anyone else would easily misunderstand.
It might be rich coming from me, but as one of her many friends...
I should give her a firm warning later that friends shouldn't behave like this.
"...Hehe, it's really nice. Being able to talk to you face-to-face like this again..."
She smiled, pressing her body even closer to mine.
Before I regained the memories of my past life—
More precisely, when I had just finished my first year at the academy.
"Pant... pant..."
Although the gymnasium was open, it was late, nearing evening, so there was no one else around.
In other words, I was alone, drenched in sweat from intense exercise, slumped on a bench.
With trembling hands, I brought my water bottle to my mouth.
"Um... hello?"
"...! Cough! Cough!"
Her sudden appearance from behind made me choke on my water.
"Oh! Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
"Cough!... Whew... No, it's fine. I just startled myself. Hello."
"Yeah. So... Rofel Teufel, right? I'm in the same magic department. Do you know me?"
"How could I not know the lady of the Duke of Tistina's family? Lilit Tistina, right?"
"Yes, that's right. Actually, I've wanted to talk to you at least once."
"Really? Well, that's great. What did you want to talk about?"
"Why do you work out?" Lilit asked tentatively.
"Working out? Oh, that! Um... well... let's see... why did I start?"
"We're students of the magic department, right? Physical ability isn't meaningless, but most people would rather read another book in their spare time. Yet, strangely enough, you come to the gym every single day. You're probably the only one in the magic department who does."
Before my past memories returned, I simply scratched my head.
"Hmm... honestly, I don't really know either. It just felt like something I wanted to do without even realizing it. It feels strange, in a good way, to be able to move my body freely. And even though it's hard, I'm happy to break a good sweat like this. It's almost as if there was a time when I couldn't move my own body for years."
"Tch. What is that... What a weird reason."
"What does it matter? It's not like exercising is a bad thing. Then, swapping roles, can I ask you a question too?"
"Sure~ Ah, but you can't ask anything weird, okay?"
"You like Marc Visus from the Knight Academy, don't you?"
In an instant, her ponytail stood straight up like an antenna.
".....! W-W-W-What! H-Hold on, what are you talking about?!"
Lilit's face flushed bright red.
"Hahaha! Judging by your reaction, I must be right."
"I mean... well... Ugh... Is it that obvious?"
"Well, let's see. Your expression brightens up noticeably whenever you talk to Marc. Even though you're a magic student, you go out of your way to meet a specific knight student every single day. And you start grinning the moment his name is even mentioned... If I had to put it in words, I'd say your attempts to hide it are pretty transparent."
"If it's all that, then it's completely obvious! Ugh... I'm doomed..."
Lilit hung her head and let out a deep sigh.
Did Marc notice already too?
...No, there's no way that dense idiot would.
...But what if he did?!
She muttered to herself in a rapid-fire whisper before speaking aloud.
"Sigh... Yeah, it's true. I... I like Marc..."
"I knew it. So, since when? We haven't been here that long. Did you fall in love at first sight when you met at the academy?"
"Marc and I have been friends since we were kids back home. Even though I'm from a ducal family, I never thought status was that important. We've been looking at each other, laughing, and crying together for ten years... and at some point, I just realized. 'Ah, I like this guy.'"
"Hooh..."
"But... I guess I'm the only one who feels this way. The distance between us just won't close. I visit him every day, talk to him, give him presents... but Marc doesn't seem to have a clue that I like him."
"Come on, then Marc is the one with the problem. How can he not know when you do all that?"
"Right?! That jerk Marc has so many problems! When we were kids, he used to follow me around calling me Noona even though we're the same age! But the moment he grew up and entered the academy, his attitude completely changed. It's so frustrating!"
"So Marc Visus of the Knight Academy had a phase like that? That's pretty interesting. Anything else?"
"Oh, you have no idea. Marc's first love was actually one of the maids at my house when we were kids. But she fell in love with an adventurer and got married. He cried his eyes out all day back then..."
Perhaps because it was a topic she loved, she and I sat on the bench and chatted for a long time that night.
She probably hadn't been able to talk about these things with anyone else, as she looked not only refreshed but completely liberated on her way back.
In any case, after that first meeting with her, a new routine was added to my daily schedule.
After finishing my workout, I would sit on the bench and share light banter with Lilit as she walked over from the Knight Academy.
Though it was called banter, it was mostly Lilit talking one-sidedly about Marc or complaining about how much effort she put into caring for him.
I barely got a word in and spent most of the time just nodding along, but even without my past memories, I didn't dislike those moments with her.