While my memories of my previous body are vivid, I do not have all of Felix’s memories.

Memories are an important element that makes up a person. Even our innate personalities can change based on the lives we’ve lived.

In other words, my existence is composed of my experiences and the thoughts that arose from them.

So, if I were to also gain Felix’s memories amidst that, would I be me or Felix? Or perhaps a completely new existence would be created separate from the two?

Regardless of the outcome, the being that made me possess Felix’s body seems to have considered allowing me to exist purely as myself.

In conclusion, I do not have all of Felix’s memories. His memories gradually return to me, but slowly so I do not become a different being buried under them.

Why am I suddenly talking about this?

“Hey, are you okay, Felix?”

I have no idea who this child looking at me with concern is.

Sky blue colored hair, with matching blue eyes. A very small stature barely reaching my chin. Droopy eyes, and while not as pretty as Sylvia, a cutely featured face.

No matter how much I search my memories, I cannot find anything.

“…Yeah, I’m okay.”

The duel against Cain was, needless to say, a crushing defeat.

Of course, that was only natural. Even if I had fought with all my strength, it was certain I could not have won in my current state.

However, one important point is that I saw the potential.

It wasn’t a hopeless, one-sided beating. While I had no chance, I was at least able to see some hope. Even if Cain was one of the male leads, he too had not fully grown yet.

Right after the duel ended and Cain turned away, this girl, a student in the same sword department, approached me with a worried expression.

‘Who is she?’

Not knowing exactly who she is or what our relationship entails, I instinctively responded to her words by sheathing my sword and catching my breath.

“Why did you suddenly decide to duel Cain…! You know his talent is different from the rest of us!”

Despite her nagging tone, her blue eyes are full of genuine concern. Is this what they call a tsundere? Just as I’m thinking that, memories from the depths slowly start surfacing.

“It’s not ‘us’, it’s you, right?”

“……”

“I’m still among the top 10 in the sword arts department.”

“That’s why I’m worried…!”

As the girl pouts and lightly punches my arm in displeasure, I finally recall who she is just as I wipe away the sweat dripping down.

Helena Fell Degreff.

In my previous world, her trope would be one of myth, but in this world, a childhood friend is an exceedingly common and normal relationship.

The reason childhood friends are so common is because whether nobility or commoners, once a family has settled somewhere, it’s rare for them to leave. Particularly for nobles, the only way for them to abandon their territory was through complete ruin.

In any case, Helena and I were childhood friends who grew up together. Though there was a difference in our status as an earl’s child and a baron’s child, our fathers had some dealings, so we frequently visited each other from a young age.

Being the same age, Helena and I naturally became friends.

…Well, that was the premise.

My memories of Helena came back only now because ever since Felix came to this academy, he had only been thinking about Sylvia.

Naturally, he drifted apart from Helena, which is why his memories of her had fallen into the depths of my mind until now.

“Don’t tell me…this is because of that Sylvia girl again?”

“…Where did that come from?”

As I blinked dumbly in response to her dangerous question, Helena patted my shoulder in a comforting manner.

Of course, being smaller than me, it didn’t feel very reassuring.

“You confessed to Sylvia yesterday and got rejected again, didn’t you?”

“Ah, that.”

I let out a small exclamation at her following words as I finally grasped the situation. Well, the juiciest gossip around the academy right now would probably be that someone confessed to Sylvia and got rejected.

Funnily enough, that someone is currently me.

“Not at all? I’m really okay.”

“……Really?”

“Yeah. It’s not because of that. And to begin with, Cain was the one who came and challenged me to a duel first.”

I have no lingering feelings about Sylvia’s rejection. In the first place, I didn’t have feelings for her.

Of course, there is some embarrassment and irritation having been brushed off, but not to the degree of challenging Cain to a duel over it.

Unable to believe my words, Helena narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. I smiled to show her I was really okay.

Come to think of it, she’s a really nice girl…

To rush over and try to console me at the news that Sylvia rejected me after not even showing my face or properly talking to her for over a week just because we were childhood friends.

Abandoning a kind childhood friend like this to chase after a pretty girl.

The saying that childhood friends are destined to lose might actually not be wrong.

While her feelings for Felix seem to be more than just ‘friends,’ the Felix she liked is no longer there.

With a tinge of apology and pity, I briefly patted her blue hair.

…Huh, her height is perfect for patting.

“Wha…what is that for?”

“Just felt like it for once.”

Helena was an extra character who didn’t appear in the original novel. So being a bit friendly with her shouldn’t be a problem. However, I’ll have to be careful in case she doesn’t see me as just a friend.

“Don’t do that, I’m not a kid anymore……”

“You seem like one to me.”

“In what way?”

“……”

“Answer properly if you don’t want to get hit.”

“…Sorry.”

At my mumbled words, Helena clenched her tiny fist tightly. I knew secondhand just how feisty that small fist could be.

Apologizing to the menacingly smiling Helena with the dreadful tone, I quickly took my leave.

“Hey, wait. Were you just making fun of my height?”

“…No?”

“Die!!”

Helena and Felix are childhood friends.

Or, to be more precise, were childhood friends. Until recently, the kind of childhood friends who didn’t even speak to each other… one had to wonder if such a thing could exist.

Felix, who was always diligent and always excellent, suddenly changed somewhere along the way.

Abandoning even his beloved swordsmanship, casting aside his strong pride, he began chasing after only one girl.

Sylvia Bersche.

Even Helena had to admire her beauty.

Helena had never been called ugly, frequently receiving compliments on her looks. At the same time, she had seen many girls even more beautiful than herself.

However, Sylvia was in a class of her own.

More beautiful than beautiful.

She was a beauty that could not be expressed with just the word ‘beautiful.’ She was dazzlingly bright and radiant, and it seemed the whole world revolved around her center.

As such, Helena couldn’t help but admit it.

It was only natural for Felix to chase after Sylvia.

It was almost natural for him to prioritize her over Helena, his ever-present friend.

But the moment she heard that Felix had confessed to Sylvia only to be rejected as a matter of course, she couldn’t help but seek him out.

And she saw what happened.

The duel against Cain, who is rumored to have already far surpassed the level of a student.

Cain’s skill was tremendous. While Helena thought Felix, despite recently neglecting his training, possessed superior talent with the sword compared to others and would be able to fight Cain to some degree,

He was no match at all.

Cain read the trajectories of every sword strike, easily neutralizing any moves Felix prepared.

However, Helena could see it.

Felix’s eyes were shining… no, they were sparkling.

Just like back then.

Felix must have realized he was no match for Cain.

Yet, he did not stop. He puts his full effort and his entire being into trying to defeat Cain.
Even if the end was defeat.

And when the defeated Felix turned away, Helena finally felt it.
The Felix she knew had returned.

Felix may have been chasing after the breathtakingly beautiful Sylvia and neglecting everything else, including their friendship.

But in that duel against an overwhelming opponent, the passionate Felix she knew, who wholeheartedly pursued his beliefs and dreams, had returned.

And that gave her hope that he may look her way again, one day, as more than just a childhood friend.

Translator’s Corner

The cover of the novel is Sylvia.

The one below is Helena, the childhood friend.

Also, I’ll start making it one chapter per day. However, I may still catch up to the raws in no time as it is a fairly new novel.

-Ruminas