The Angel Forming a Club (11)
Did I... help out at all today?
Refri couldn't answer Soya's question easily. Normally, he would've wrapped her up in angelic flattery like, "Of course!" or "Soya's the only one for me!" If he was feeling playful, he might've teased her with something like, "A little better than Professor Hexi or Mari," or "I'll admit you've paid back 0.01% of my grace!"
But this time, Refri couldn't tease her or shower her with affection.
"Soya..."
Her gray eyes were trembling, yearning for something.
"Refri, I was more helpful than that stuck-up half-dragon or that violent cat, right?"
Refri sensed her anxiety—a deep, dark one.
"Yeah..."
"Good. I'm glad."
Soya smiled brightly. Though someone else might've called it a dark smile.
'Shining darkness...'
Soya was growing stronger faster than Refri had imagined. Sure, she lacked in magical knowledge, spells, and mana reserves, but her intuitive grasp of magic and mana control already rivaled Klein's.
'And earlier... she replicated that dragon soldier's mana after seeing it just once. Even Klein probably couldn't do that as effortlessly as she did.'
In some areas, she might've already surpassed him.
'Just where's Soya's limit?'
A chill ran down Refri's spine.
He knew from future knowledge that Soya possessed humanity's greatest magical talent. But jealousy and envy from the magical world had kept it from blooming fully.
Yet he had no idea how strong she'd become once it did.
'Of course, right now she's no match for Professor Klein... but in one or two years, she'll be on his level. And she'll only get stronger from there.'
Stronger than Professor Klein? Soya?
'This is getting kinda scary all of a sudden...'
Could Refri even control future Soya? Or escape her grasp?
'No clue...'
Even the lofty heavens didn't know, apparently. So Refri reached a conclusion amid his worries.
'Gotta make her even tastier food from now on.'
Angel's Secret Technique Chapter 13: Steadily build favor with future powerhouses. And the most traditional way to build favor with people was always... treating them to home-cooked meals.
"Soya, since you helped today."
"Helped?"
"I'll make you a black-magic-friendly dinner!"
"B-black-magic-friendly dinner!"
Soya lit up at the words, excitedly listing her cravings with all sorts of excuses.
"Refri, cream shrimp is actually... super black-magic-friendly!"
"Oh, really."
Yesterday, she'd been drooling over a show featuring cream shrimp and finally wanted to try it herself. Refri nearly nodded along.
"Hold on."
Cream shrimp was black-magic-friendly? Why on earth?
No matter how he thought about it, Refri couldn't see the connection between cream shrimp and black magic. It was white food, to begin with.
"Soya. But cream shrimp is white food."
"Huh? Oh! N-no, it is! You eat away the white part. So it's anti-white, totally black-magic-friendly!"
Was it? As Refri tilted his head, Soya kept bolstering her logic.
"Plus, shrimp are actually super scary creatures. Get poked wrong by one, and your finger could get severed or go numb from the waist up. Could even be fatal. Legends say shrimp are scarier than the Demon King!"
Refri couldn't help but laugh. What nonsense was this?
"Anything else you wanna eat?"
* * *
And so, the sabotage of the volunteer club's rivals continued. Refri would infiltrate a major club's warehouse using his divine abilities, then Soya would smash everything inside.
It was devilish work that would make demons weep... but Refri decided to think of it this way.
'This isn't terrorism. It's divine punishment. Heavenly judgment delivered by an angel himself!'
Opposing mighty powers to protect justice is the work of an angel!
You have acquired Angel Power.
Opposing mighty powers to protect justice is the work of an angel!
You have acquired Angel Power.
While raiding the major clubs' warehouses, Refri always made sure to leave traces of another club—stronger than the victim.
'When leaving traces, always use one from a stronger club.'
Why did Soya have to leave traces of an even stronger club during the raids? It was all part of the volunteer club's sabotage plan, of course.
And because of those traces, chaos was erupting in front of the student council headquarters right now.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
The executives of the Enchantment Club, whose warehouse had been raided last night, were shouting in front of the student council HQ.
"Our warehouse got hit! And traces of dragon soldier mana were found inside that damn place! From the Appraisal Club!"
"S-senior, please calm down for a moment..."
The student council was sweating bullets, trying to soothe them, but...
"Calm down? We lost everything for the club exhibition! What the fuck. Why aren't any executives showing up, you fucks."
As the Enchantment Club president unleashed curses unfit for a magic department student, two people watched the farce from afar: Refri and Yumari.
"Refri, the plan worked."
"Yeah."
"Now we can say the ties between the major clubs and the student council are finished."
Yumari's face was expressionless as always, but the slight excitement in her voice betrayed her enjoyment.
But why did this mean the major clubs' collusion with the student council was over?
The student council wiped their sweat and replied.
"We can't do anything about it."
"Can't? After all we've done for the student council?"
"Senior, please calm down and listen. The Appraisal Club says it's absurd to claim they raided your warehouse, and they've asked us to tell you to stop making such claims."
"So you're siding with the Appraisal Club?"
At that moment, a student council executive emerged from HQ.
"Enchantment Club president. We have no choice. Until the warehouse investigation is confirmed..."
"Investigation? The club war's starting soon! The evidence is already there—the Appraisal Club's dragon soldier trashed our warehouse!"
"Sigh, no reasoning with you. Get rid of them."
"What? What?! The student council can't do this to us..."
This was exactly what the volunteer club aimed for. When major clubs clashed with uncertain info, the student council naturally sided with the stronger one. And the abandoned side?
'They'll feel betrayed by the student council.'
Major clubs fighting each other, their ties with the student council crumbling completely. Then...
"I'll be off."
Yumari bowed gracefully to Refri before naturally approaching the ousted Enchantment executives.
"Hello. Members of the Enchantment Club."
"...Who're you? I couldn't forget a girl who looks like that..."
"Oh, those horns. The Seocheon Yu dragon lady. The student council president's sister."
Yumari introduced herself with her usual clear smile and gentle voice.
"Nice to meet you, seniors. I'm Yumari of the Seocheon Yu family. We just started a new volunteer club..."
"Volunteer club?"
At the president's question, nearby executives whispered.
"You know, the one the student council told us to bury in this club war."
"Ah, the one Yumari's in... Got it."
The president turned back to Yumari after the whispers.
"What does the volunteer club want?"
"I heard you lost a lot of exhibition items to the Appraisal Club's raid. Is that true?"
"Yeah, you must've heard."
Yumari gasped, biting her lip in genuine-seeming pity. Such an emotional reaction from a beauty like her was violence against men.
'Guh! Yumari's got some real emotions. And she's gorgeous...'
That was the consensus in the Enchantment Club.
"Those jerks... the Appraisal Club."
And then her hand trembled slightly, as if truly outraged by their evil.
'Having such a beautiful girl get mad on our behalf... eases the injustice a bit.'
The Enchantment Club softened a tad, asking in milder tones.
"So why'd you call us?"
"I came to say hello, but now I have another purpose."
"Another purpose?"
Yumari's hand trembled as she spoke.
"No, how could this... Enchantment Club, can we help? No, let us help!"
Refri couldn't stop shivering at Yumari's monstrous acting.
'Our Mari's gunning for a Best Actress award.'
Step by step, Yumari moved the Enchantment Club so deeply that they signed a contract favorable to the Volunteer Club.
Of course, this was possible only because the major club Enchantment was no longer under student council control.
Thus, the student council's power crumbled bit by bit.
"Kids these days are scary."
In truth, Yumari had fleshed out Refri's wild plan. He'd just suggested pitting major clubs against the student council somehow; she devised the cunning scheme.
A true serpent.
'But supporting the Enchantment Club or others... won't it mean nothing in the club war?'
A sudden doubt filled Refri's mind. He still didn't fully grasp Yumari's true aim.
The moment she got the contract, Yumari's face went blank again. The expressionless girl hurried to Refri's side, as if he might vanish.
"Refri. Where?"
Still blank-faced, but fixing her clothes and lips betrayed her anxiety.
'Heavenly fragrance!'
The boy waiting patiently where they'd left off. Yumari approached him at once.
"Got the contract."
"...Wow, it worked. This plan really panned out."
"Of course. With trust in the student council broken, no reason to harass or exclude us anymore. Or they might even help us more to get revenge on the council."
"Wait, revenge on the student council by helping us? You planned that far ahead?"
Yumari smiled awkwardly, murmuring.
"I'll keep protecting you like this."
Refri could've sworn her horns had grown a little bigger.