Episode 1: The Mob Character Who Couldn’t Be the Protagonist

Fate is very cruel.

The more I look at others, the more I realize that I am a very small person in this world.

I was confronted with the fact that everything I had hoped for was in vain, and I had nothing left to lose anymore.

Not everyone can be a hero in this world.

No matter how much effort you put in, you can never win against someone who jumps over the process right from the beginning to the end.

I knew that.

I knew that my efforts would never be rewarded in the end.

It’s just a painful reality, after all.

“——Wait a minute! Liza!”

I tried to reach out to grab the girl with the braids who was pulling away from me, but she was going somewhere as if she was rejecting me.

“Look, I’m not interested in country bumpkins like you anymore, so please leave me alone.”

She said as she left, pushing me further into the depths of despair.

There was another man in her path.

An average-looking man with dark hair.

His name was Lute, and he was a student at the same magic academy as Liza and me.

However, he’s not just a student at the academy.

Before attending the Academy of Magic, he was known as a hero.

Yes, he was a hero who saved the world.

He was the man who defeated the Demon King, the root of all evil, and won everything.

Fame, honor, money, status, women.

Liza, my childhood friend, was among them.

Liza was walking down the corridor like a loyal dog, as she hugged Lute against her chest.

“Good morning, Lute!”

“Liza, don’t startle me so suddenly. I can’t take it if you hug me every time I come to school.”

“But I have to be the first.”

“Fu-u~… Good grief.”

I saw Lute stroking Liza’s head, who was looking very dumbfounded and happy, and I found myself feeling miserably jealous.

Why is it always Lute?

I don’t have to ask such wild questions though.

It’s because he is the hero of this world itself.

That’s why my heart ached at that sight.

I couldn’t accept it because my grandfather, who I loved so much, used to read me all kinds of stories.

I wanted to be a great hero like in those stories.

But being from the countryside, my level of skill was negligible.

I felt an overwhelming difference from the time my childhood friend Liza, whom I vowed to marry in the future, awakened her powers.

And I, an ordinary person with nothing, could only watch her go off to defeat the Demon King.

Still, she smiled gently and promised to see me again once the battle was over..

After she left, I continued to train myself, trying to catch up with her as much as possible.

If her feelings for me had not changed, I would confess my love to her once I meet her again.

That’s what I had decided.

A few years later.

I entered the Arcadia Academy of Magic to try something new, but to be honest, my grades were not that good.

I could barely keep up with the basics of magic.

However, if I could get my credits within the next five years, I would be able to graduate from the academy, and there were plenty of job opportunities for me to look out for.

If I continue to study for the next five years, I may be able to stand next to Liza one day.

I spent my days sweating and training in the mud for that.

The good news is that the demon king has been defeated, and the news came to me very suddenly.

It was announced that the hero Lute and five of his friends would be attending a magic academy.

Apparently, it was Lute’s suggestion.

He wanted to accumulate knowledge at the academy because he had been concentrating on defeating the demon king since he was young and had not been able to learn as much as he should have. In addition, he appealed to the younger generation that they have the right to grow further by acquiring social common sense.

As a result, they ended up attending the same academy as me, and to my surprise, I found my childhood friend Liza by Lute’s side.

I was so happy to see her again that I immediately jumped into her arms for a hug.

“Stop!”

I was so happy to see her again that I jumped in to give her a hug, but Liza shook my hand away in disgust and told me coldly.

“You can’t touch me like that. If Lute sees you like this, how are you going to take responsibility…? To be frank, it’s annoying, so get out of my sight.”

Liza’s feelings for me were gone.

She didn’t see me in her eyes, the frivolous words of a childhood friend I loved pierced my heart badly.

Still, I couldn’t give up, and I desperately tried to reach out and grab Liza’s arm as she tried to leave, but I couldn’t reach her.

As a result, when I saw Liza looking like a maiden in love with the hero, Lute, I almost threw up in despair.

That was when I learnt that I, Helios Crowley, could not be the protagonist.