Episode 48 Club (1)
The next day, lunch time.
I gathered with my crewmates who had cleared the dungeon together at my favorite bench. We gathered to review the events that had occurred and discuss future plans.
It would be much more efficient for people who shared the incident to put their heads together rather than struggling alone.
Moreover, two of these four are the top two students in the school. Chloe is also a member of Auditore, who is deeply involved in this incident. I had more than enough reasons to summon them.
It’s a bit of a heavy story, but this place was sparsely populated anyway. The only person I’d ever met here was my first meeting with Abel.
Since then, I haven’t seen a single person coming or going, so I arranged this place.
Besides, I think I’ll be having frequent meetings with them in the future, but I can’t rent a cafe conference room every time.
Chloe, who was discharged from the hospital yesterday, also attended. She coughed dryly while wearing a mask, as if her cold had not yet completely gone away.
Her complexion was pale, and it seemed like she wasn’t feeling well. When I asked her with concern, Chloe seemed touched and answered that she was fine with half-moon eyes.
I gave a faint smile.
“So it seems like there’s an enemy within the group targeting this guy, and during the midterm exam… … .”
“Oh, okay. I told you so. Weapon, why are you rambling on and on about such long explanations? Just get to the point. Does that mean you can’t be the leader?!”
It seems that he explained it just before the Speed Weapons gathered for Ryozo, who didn’t know the details. Perhaps because the explanation was too much, Ryozo had dark circles under his eyes.
“Huh, Saki, it seems like you’re relying too much on your brain. No matter how smart you are, you can’t beat someone who works hard. Do you think you’ll stay at the top of the class forever? You’ll get a lot of feedback on the written exam next week.”
Saki shook her head like a crane. She ignored Weapon’s determination and glanced at me from the corner of her eye. Then, when our eyes met, she looked away bashfully.
She turned her eyes back to me, peering at me. As if worried that I might be disappointed in her. Her half-visible blue eyes stared at me intently.
I guess it’s because the ordinance ended yesterday. I just didn’t have any thoughts.
He was at an age where he was interested in such things, but he was not the kind of person who would be so narrow-minded as to be disappointed in someone over something as trivial as that. Rather, it would be the duty of a model adult to guide him in the right direction.
‘… … ,’
But come to think of it, my body is like that of a teenager now.
When I woke up last night, it took quite a while to calm, soothe, and calm down the tent that was so bulging.
Because it almost went past closing time by 30 minutes.
It was the first time in a long time that I felt a surge of pride, inspiration, and self-esteem as a male. On top of that, I am 183cm tall and have a slim body.
It is not certain whether this is true or not, but at least Ganggeomma proved the ‘popular rumor’ floating around the internet.
‘You’re lucky.’
I cleared my throat, glanced at my crew members, and spoke.
“Saki, I’m sure you’ve heard the explanation, but the situation is a bit complicated. Trying to wrap my head around it by myself won’t get me anywhere.”
“I told you to call me something other than Saki.”
Ryozo pouted his lips and grumbled quietly.
“… Ryozo. Is that okay to call you?”
Only then did she show a satisfied expression. At some point, the listlessness on Ryozo’s face had disappeared. I let out a short breath.
“I thought about what we should do right now in my own way.”
Weapon took out a notebook from his bag and opened it up. It was neatly written in cursive, with lines underlined with colorful highlighters.
Weapon reloaded his explanation while rubbing the bridge of his nose. Saki already looked tired.
“I’ve organized it based on what we know, while also trying to figure out the truth. First, the fact that the Academy’s senior members are after you, Geomma. Second, the appearance of the female instructor that I heard from the checkpoint staff. Like this.”
The weapon scanned the area. I nodded as if to tell him to continue.
“But come to think of it, it’s not that important that we know this. Since the elders’ request is not clear-cut anyway, Auditore will probably get criticized. Right?”
Weapon turned his gaze to Chloe. Chloe coughed briefly and nodded. Just as Weapon was about to continue his explanation, Ryozo cut him off.
“Oh, by the way, there was that female instructor that the checkpoint staff mentioned. I definitely remember seeing her, but I don’t know her name. So I broke through the academy’s internal security and checked the memories of all 546 instructors, from the head instructor to the assistant instructors, but the identity of that woman who looked like that was not confirmed.”
“You can do that too, can’t you?”
“In a world overflowing with the 4th industrial revolution, wouldn’t we need one or two of these technologies?”
When I asked with wide eyes, Ryozo answered calmly. Weapon shrugged his shoulders as if he knew.
“But you sleep all the time, do you have time to do that?”
“The network security system is most vulnerable at dawn, when the network staff are off work. You have to take advantage of that gap to try to hack, and you may or may not succeed. Even for a country like this, it’s not easy to break into the security system.”
“… Then you were also sleeping during every class?”
“Right. I’m not a sloth, how could I sleep all day?”
Ryozo had an innocent smile on his face that he didn’t answer. I really thought he was a symbol of laziness, having slept all day.
As I was reflecting on my thoughts, a question arose. … Could it be that they found out a phone number that I never gave them?
“Anyway, nothing has been clearly revealed right now. But that doesn’t mean we can just storm into the Elders’ Group and threaten them out of the blue.”
Weapon quietly turned his head towards me. Then he muttered with a snicker.
“… Well, I guess it would be possible for you, Geomma.”
I think there is a serious misunderstanding.
“And even if we do that, it will only make the situation worse rather than solving it.”
“Yeah, I admit that too.”
“I think so too.”
Ryozo also agreed with that statement. Chloe, who had been quietly listening to the story, also chimed in.
“So what I thought was, let’s create our own club.”
“Club? Why a club all of a sudden?”
I blinked. The words came out so suddenly. Then Ryozo, who was half-leaning on the bench, explained instead.
“Joaquin Academy’s clubs are special. They not only have freedom of movement, but they also provide support for activity expenses. As you know, this place emphasizes cooperation between cadets, whether it’s actual combat or something else. That’s how much they encourage group activities and give them special privileges.”
A clear summary. I nodded and listened carefully to Ryozo’s words. She raised her index finger for emphasis.
“As part of that privilege, the club here is treated as an affiliate of Joaquin Academy. In short⏤”
“⏤Just by belonging to a club, you receive protection from the Academy.”
Weapon quickly caught Ryozo’s words as if this was the moment. Ryozo stuck out his lips and quickly turned his head away.
“It’s not enough to just be an academy cadet. There are over 2,000 cadets currently enrolled. The academy can’t take care of each and every one of them, but the number of clubs is significantly smaller. There’s also a special department that’s solely responsible for clubs. For us who have enemies at home and abroad, they act as a double breakwater.”
Since ‘Miracle Protection M’ was a game with an academy background, it naturally had a club system.
However, it was used to increase favorability by flirting with the characters in the work. That’s why it was considered to be a maniacal content that only people from the so-called ‘that side’ did.
Who would have thought that it would actually have such a positive function? When I just heard the description of the weapon, it naturally caught my eye.
“Are there any separate conditions for creating a club?
“First, at least 5 people should write a ⌜Club Creation Plan⌟ and submit it to the relevant department.”
“The process isn’t as complicated as I thought.”
“I guess it’s because the academy encourages it. Most cadets don’t do club activities because they find it annoying. And it doesn’t have a direct impact on their grades.”
Weapon answered, scratching the bridge of his nose.
‘…The minimum number of people is 5, so we’re missing one.’
A thought that suddenly occurred to me while I was thinking about it for a moment.
“By the way, are you all joining this club?”
“Oh, man, that’s disappointing. Isn’t that obvious? If we weren’t going to do it together in the first place, I wouldn’t have suggested it.”
Weapon wiped his nose with his index finger with a look of embarrassment. I turned my gaze to Chloe and Ryozo.
“You too?”
“Of course! If it’s something that helps the Sword Demon Army!”
“Well, I owe you my life once in the dungeon. And in a place like this, shouldn’t there be at least one person with brains?”
Chloe coughed in response. Ryozo tapped his temple with his index finger and agreed. Those scenes made me feel very emotional. As I got older, I became more and more self-interested in my relationships.
In a society where there are many authors who date and reject others only for the sake of practicality, those who I don’t even know much about believe in me and follow me.
Even in a world where nobility and baseness clearly exist.
Perhaps I was satisfied with being dropped into this world for the first time. ‘I am trusted.’ That feeling alone made my thoughts, which had been quiet for a while, surge up. I forced myself to suppress my emotions and looked at their faces.
“Thank you, everyone.”
Weapon asked with a bright smile.
“Well then, let’s start by deciding on a name for the club. We’ll need to write a separate plan and find another member, but it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to decide on a name in advance to build momentum.”
“Well, I guess.”
Chloe ponders, pressing her cheek hidden by the mask with her finger. Soon her eyes sparkle.
“Memories of Assassination! With the purpose of assassinating the corrupt forces! What do you think?!”
“… Well, that doesn’t seem right.”
“Eek.”
Her voice was drooping. Ryozo quickly yawned, feeling sleepy, and blurted out a word.
“Well, how about just the Dotip Village Security Squad or something? Even if you call it a club activity, it’s just kids playing around, right? And is the name that important? Just make it up.”
“… Saki, shut up.”
Weapon scolded mercilessly, his tongue sticking out. Ryozoh lay down on the bench. I stroked my chin and pondered for a while before opening my mouth low.
“How about a travel club where we can explore the outdoors while also clearing dungeons?”
Suddenly, I remembered a movie of the same name that I had seen on Earth. Although I couldn’t think of a name, I was still able to use my imagination. I scratched the back of my neck in embarrassment.
“… Not really?”
“Well, it’s a travel club. It’s simple, so I think it’s better. I agree.”
“Me too, I think it’s okay!”
Chloe also nodded her head as if she had been waiting. On the other hand, Ryozo stared at me as if he was assessing me. After a while, she also nodded coolly.
“Not bad.”
I didn’t know until now that this insignificant club would have such a big impact on the ending of the story.
The little foreshadowing in the end lol