Four Days Before the Term Begins

─A strange rumor was circulating through Olympia Academy.

Every morning, starting at the crack of dawn, some eccentric would jog the entire campus grounds, beginning from the dormitories. And once the run was finished, the same person would head down to the lakeside and crush a full weight session on top of it.

Word even had it that this wasn't a Knight Department student at all, but someone from the Mage Department—and curiosity about just who was pulling off this bizarre ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠routine was spreading fast─

"So that was you all along!"

One of those curious souls—Helene—spoke up, her eyes sparkling as she looked at me.

……No, hang on. Why?

Act One, Scene One of A Song of Sword and Sorcery: the entrance exam.

If Irina, the protagonist of the mage route, had handled the Magic Ball trial, then the knight-route protagonist took a completely different approach.

Complete a full circuit of Atenel Island in the shortest time possible.

In other words, the exam was basically just my regular daily routine, word for word.

"Hup, two, hup, two."

Another string of feel-good messages scrolled up today. Right. I was still training, same as always—all so I could take first place in the Inter-Year Exchange Tournament.

I was still a long way from pushing any of the numbers up to 2, but if I just kept grinding like this, I'd get there soon enough.

And as I ran, I could hear the wheezing from behind me.

─Hah, haah, fuck. Is that guy even—shit—tired……?

─Huff, huff. Insane. I heard he's Mage Department, so why the hell is he faster than us, huff.

─Hey. Hey. Stop talking. You're wasting energy…….

Knight Department freshmen.

The new students had been racing nonstop from the starting line. By pure coincidence, their timing lined up with when I usually began my run, so plenty of them ended up matching pace with me for a stretch. The one glaring difference, though—

"Hup, two, hup, two."

—was that I wasn't tired in the slightest.

Tsk, tsk.

And these were the guys who wanted to become knights? This soft? What was so hard about two hours of uninterrupted running on an unpaved road?

I kept going, tuning out the jealousy, shock, and envy trailing behind me, until eventually the gap widened and they faded farther and farther into the distance.

"Hah……."

Then a thought suddenly hit me.

I'm going to run into the protagonist any minute now.

I didn't know exactly which route he was taking, but as the top-ranked entrant in the Knight Department, he would definitely be out in front. And since I was closing in on him with my physical cheat, I needed to be careful.

"If I don't want to meet him, I'd better cut off the path."

Just for today, I'd change up the routine.

I broke from the course. Following the normal running route would have meant looping around the long way, so instead I cut a straight line and shortened the distance, heading directly toward the lakeside in the southern part of Atenel Island.

This way I should get there ahead of the protagonist.

Even if he stuck to the official course and caught up later, I'd already be at the lake by then. Yeah. Safe. I was absolutely not getting tangled up with the main character.

And so, on the path leading to the lakeside—in a clearing near the forest, a spot none of the Knight Department freshmen had reached yet—I found a young woman waiting.

A beautiful girl with radiant golden hair braided down her back. Helene, the princess and heroine of A Song of Sword and Sorcery, had been waiting for me.

"Hello there?"

Her bright smile was disarmingly warm. Helene stood up and casually brushed off her skirt with a few pats—surprisingly down-to-earth for someone of her station. My own mood, however, was nowhere near as light.

Why is she calling out to me?

Helene's first appearance. On the knight route, it happened right in the middle of the entrance exam. She stopped the protagonist mid-race and introduced herself by saying she'd been waiting for him.

Okay, that much I understand.

In A Song of Sword and Sorcery, the protagonist's gender changed depending on the route. Choose the Knight Department and you got a male lead; choose the Mage Department and you got a female lead.

……Ah, damn it. What the hell! Talk about getting in the way!

Given that the one I'd met was Irina, the knight-route protagonist had to be a guy. So Helene being here made sense. I got that part.

"……Did you need something from me?"

Then go talk to the protagonist. Why me?

"Ahaha, you don't have to look so scared. I may be who I am, but I'm not the type who gets a kick out of status differences."

"Ah. Right."

"Hmm. You really won't let your guard down, will you……."

Helene tilted her head, then finally explained why she was standing there.

"I've been waiting for my fated person."

"……Your fated person?"

"Yes!"

Fated person. In the original story, Helene said those exact words to the protagonist—that he was her destiny.

"I saw it in a dream. I can foresee the future, you see. I received a revelation that if I simply waited quietly in this spot, my fated person would come."

"That's a misunderstanding."

I shot her down immediately. Helene was wrong right now. The person she'd been waiting for was the knight-route protagonist—definitely not me.

"It's not a misunderstanding, though? In the dream, I clearly met someone who was running all over this entire academy. And that someone is you."

"I'm not doing this because of the entrance exam. It's just my usual routine."

"……???"

I calmly kept explaining. Helene was mistaken. In the proper story, Heracle never came to this place. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠This whole mix-up only happened because I'd been isekai'd into the role. Using even the rumors that had been circulating around the academy without my knowledge as supporting evidence, I tried to set her misconception straight─

"So that was you all along!"

—only for Helene's eyes to light up even brighter.

"I've been so curious about it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a while now. A mage who works out! You really are my fated person."

"I'm telling you, I'm not."

At this point it was starting to get irritating. Not that I'd ever let that show in front of a princess, but that was how cornered I felt.

Why is she mistaking me for the protagonist?

Helene was, without question, a heroine of A Song of Sword and Sorcery. She had a major role to play in the story, which meant I absolutely could not get involved with her. Having her mistake me for the main character was something that simply could not be allowed to happen.

"If you're so sure, then just wait a little longer. Your fated person will be here any moment, Your Highness."

"Oh, come on. You're not listening to me at all."

Look who's talking.

I dropped down and sat. Originally I'd planned to head to the lakeside and demolish a weight session, but given how things had turned out, I didn't have much choice. I'd just have to keep Helene company.

Fated person.

The reason Helene fell for the protagonist on the knight route. Like me with my Ultimate Physique, she was the owner of a Unique trait. Helene's unique power was Heavenly Insight—a special ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ability that let her see the future, or destiny itself. In the original story, the setup was that she'd used Heavenly Insight to find her destined partner.

I still have no idea why she thinks it's me, though.

If you're going to spill the secrets of heaven, at least get them right. Confusing the protagonist with an extra? Seriously?

"Heracle, you said you're in the Mage Department, correct?"

"Yes."

"How fascinating! You're a mage, and yet you train this hard. I never would have imagined it."

"I hear that a lot."

Even my lukewarm responses didn't discourage Helene. Ignoring how rude that was toward a princess was partly a product of her background.

"I went to the Mage Department freshmen orientation recently, and the atmosphere was absolutely terrifying."

"It usually is."

"But the top student this year, Miss Irina, didn't flinch at all. She's truly remarkable!"

"Yeah, that's just how she is."

She may have become a girl, but she was still very much the protagonist. Going forward, Irina would push through the story as the female lead and face any number of incidents.

And the male lead from the knight route would be there to help her through them.

That was why the dual protagonists were different genders. Making one male and one female made the story easier to develop—the clashes and friendships that bloomed between them were the core of it.

In the end, the male lead was always going to be the main focus, though.

Since the player needed to immerse themselves in whichever protagonist they'd chosen, the male lead took the driving role. Taking down the Act One boss in particular required a combination technique from both the male and female leads. The guy might be the one leading, but both protagonists were essential.

Anyway, the male lead of this world seemed to be a knight, so I'd just hand Helene off to him and get out of here. That should clear up the misunderstanding too.

"Oh. Who might that be? Someone's running this way."

Speak of the devil. In the distance, a freshman was sprinting toward us. Only one person would be running the course faster than anyone else.

The protagonist.

I stood up at once.

"That's the one. The fated person Your Highness has been waiting for."

"Huh? Are you still mistaken?"

"We'll see who's mistaken once we watch."

Time to end this awkward situation and go crush some weights. Without hesitation, I stepped out onto the course. The moment I moved to stop the approaching protagonist and bring them over to Helene─

"Huh?"

I froze. My body locked up. My brain short-circuited at a situation I couldn't process.

Swaying silver hair, a ponytail brushing against the nape of a neck. A frame smaller than most of her peers, and all the more agile for it, keeping up that blistering pace. The modest swell of a chest pushing against the shirt she wore as a top.

It was the appearance of the knight-route protagonist from A Song of Sword and Sorcery.

……More precisely, the appearance of the female protagonist.

"……A girl?"

The truth that had just revealed itself: this world had no male lead.

─And therefore, the combination technique needed to defeat the Act One boss was impossible.

"Fuck."

I was screwed.