Chapter 164: Clown Union Club 11
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 164: Clown Union Club 11
Including today, only four days remained until the club selection deadline.
Just moments ago, Frederick, Kuran, and Ren had signed their application forms, bringing the Clown Union Club’s official membership to five.
That covers the minimum requirement to establish a club.
The only Special Class students who hadn't joined yet were Gashurin, Clara, and Sepia.
“What in the world is happening?” Gashurin muttered, looking utterly bewildered.
The same kids who had initially sworn they would never join the Clown Union Club had suddenly signed up overnight. It’s okay, buddy. You’ll be joining them soon enough.
When my eyes met Sepia’s, she immediately looked away.
I thought we’d become somewhat close during the special training before we caught Betzdo, but ever since then, she’d been strangely avoidant.
Clara, on the other hand, sat in her seat reading a book, seemingly indifferent to whether the other Special Class students joined the club or not. Curious about what she was reading today, I stole a glance. It was one of the books I had retrieved for her from the library.
I thought I’d find it quickly since I’d picked it up a few times in the game before I was reincarnated, but it actually took quite a while.
That book wouldn't be of much help to most mages, but for Clara, it was a treasure that couldn't be bought with any amount of money. As for the actual contents of the book—the very thing that made the stoic Clara thank me and even delay her club selection...
I had no idea. I couldn't read a single word of the language it was written in.
“Gashurin, let’s have a spar after classes. It’s been a while,” Lucas said, approaching Gashurin to strike up a conversation.
“I am always open to a bout, but... you don’t have some ulterior motive, do you?”
“Huh? We’ve always spared from time to time. What kind of ulterior motive could I possibly have?”
It seemed Lucas was trying to keep the momentum going. Now that Kuran, Ren, and Frederick had joined, he was immediately targeting Gashurin.
He really knows what to do without me even having to say it.
If it weren't for Lucas, my plan to recruit every single Special Class student might have actually failed. I still didn't know why he had suddenly changed his mind and decided to join the club in a single day, though.
He had some serious dark circles under his eyes that day.
I wondered if something was wrong, so I asked Yerika over the phone that night, but even she didn't know why her brother had experienced such a sudden change of heart.
Right. I shouldn't be worrying about Lucas right now.
The ones I needed to focus on were Sepia and Clara.
I intended to approach Sepia first to mend our awkward relationship, but unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen—perhaps she’d gone to the restroom. Instead, I tucked the application forms for Kuran, Ren, and Frederick into my Pocket Dimension and approached Clara.
She was so engrossed in her book that she didn't even look up when I sat down right next to her. Or, more likely, she knew I was there and was simply ignoring me. I wanted to stare at her intensely until she spoke, but knowing Clara’s personality, she might just ignore me until Professor Elicia arrived.
“Oh? You’ve already read this much of such a difficult book? As expected of Lady Clara, you’re amazing.”
At my words, Clara, whose eyes had been fixed on the pages, looked up at me with wide eyes. Finally, she was looking my way.
“You! Can you read this?”
“No. I can’t read a word of it. I can just tell how much you’ve read by looking at the pages, can’t I?”
“...Then how did you know it was difficult?”
“I just assumed it was difficult because it’s written in a language I can’t understand.”
“Go away.”
“Lady Clara, you aren't blushing, are you?”
Just as I was teasing Clara, whose face had turned a rare shade of red, a familiar voice rang out.
“Loki, get to your seat.”
Professor Elicia, the head of the Special Class, was standing at the lectern, staring at me. And just when it was getting fun, too.
“Professor Elicia? You should at least knock before coming in. You gave me a fright.”
“Setting aside why I should have to knock to enter my own classroom, someone broke the door again, so I couldn't have knocked even if I wanted to. Sigh... Whoever smashed the door, turn yourself in.”
“Professor? Usually, when people say things like that, they look around the whole room. Why are you glaring at me so menacingly?”
Sure, I’d been breaking the door about once every three days lately, and sure, I was the only one in the Special Class who ever broke the door, but to just assume it was me? This is blatant clown discrimination.
“Ho? Then if it wasn't you who smashed the door, who was it?”
“Professor Elicia?”
“Speak.”
“I never said it wasn't me.”
“...................”
Whack!
I got hit before class even started.
* * *
The morning lesson for the Special Class usually consisted of everyone attacking Professor Elicia at once. However, she didn't just let us attack the moment she walked through the door; she usually made a few announcements first.
Professor Elicia looked at the application forms for Frederick, Kuran, and Ren in her hand and spoke.
“First Lucas, and now Frederick, Kuran, and Ren... I’m amazed you all joined this ridiculous club.”
“As you said, Professor, my club’s name isn't just ridiculous—it’s magnificent. And if you find me so admirable, could I perhaps put my arms down now?”
I was currently kneeling next to Professor Elicia’s lectern, holding the broken door up with both hands. Normally, a door would be light enough to lift easily, but Elicia must have done something to it because it felt as heavy as solid steel.
“I said I was amazed, not that I found you admirable. I need to start the lesson now, so return to your seat.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Before she could change her mind, I quickly shoved the door into my Pocket Dimension and hurried to my seat.
“Loki, if you break the door one more time, I won't let it slide like this. You’ll have to pay for the damages.”
“Does that mean I can keep breaking them as long as I pay for them?”
Whack!
I got hit again. Why?
* * *
Loki sat down, rubbing the spot on his head where Elicia had struck him.
Hitting the same spot twice... truly a dragon.
In retaliation, Loki glared at Elicia as insolently as possible, but since he was wearing a mask, she couldn't see his eyes.
“A certain someone has wasted a lot of our time. Does anyone have anything to say before we begin? If not, we’ll start immediately.”
“Me!”
Loki shot his hand up and even waved it so Professor Elicia couldn't miss him. Since he was sitting in the very front row, he was already directly in her line of sight even without the waving.
“No one, then.”
Elicia scanned the room and spoke. Aside from Loki, none of the Special Class students had their hands up.
“Me! I have my hand up! Are you ignoring me? No, that can’t be it. I’m such a model student. Then... have I become invisible? If I’m invisible, then the fifty-seven things I want to do are—”
Unable to listen any longer, Elicia cut him off.
“Fine, speak. But if it isn't something absolutely necessary, I’ll give you some 'special attention' today.”
“Then I won't say it.”
Whack!
He got hit yet again. Hitting the same spot, then hitting it again, and then hitting it one more time. This was why you could never trust professors.
“Sigh... My head hurts. Now, we are truly starting.”
The moment Elicia finished her sentence, Loki’s hand shot up again.
“...................”
The Special Class students began to seriously wonder if Loki actually enjoyed being hit by Professor Elicia. But then, they saw it. In his raised hand, Loki was holding a small device with a prominent red switch.
“Boop.”
Loki made the sound with his mouth.
Click.
The sound of the machine followed.
BOOM! CRASH! BAM! KABOOM! BANG! ROAR! BOOM! BANG! CRASH! THUD! KABOOM!! THUMP! BAM! BOOM! BANG! ROAR! BOOM! BANG! CRASH! THUD!
Explosions erupted from the lectern where Professor Elicia was standing. In fact, they were still going off. The Special Class students stared at Loki in shock at the sudden detonations. There was only one person in the Special Class who used bombs like that.
“When on earth did you plant those?”
“When I was being punished next to the lectern earlier. I planted a few on the floor. It was exhausting trying to set them without Professor Elicia noticing.”
BOOM! CRASH! BAM! KABOOM! ROOOOAR! BOOM! THUUUD! BAAAAANG! ROOOAR! THUD! BAM! BAAAAANG!
Loki said he’d planted "a few" while being punished, but the sheer volume of explosions currently rocking the room suggested it was far more than just a few.
“Oh! Besides the ones I put on the floor earlier, I also snuck into the classroom last night because I couldn't sleep and spent two hours setting some up.”
Hearing Loki’s words, every single student in the Special Class wore the exact same expression. What kind of madman plants bombs in a classroom because he can't sleep?
“This is your punishment for punishing me! Oh? Wasn't that a great rhyme? Anyway, a student might break a few doors while greeting people energetically. Professor Elicia is just too much sometimes.”
Against the backdrop of the never-ending explosions and Loki’s nonsense, Lucas, Frederick, Kuran, and Ren—who had already signed their application forms—all had the same thought.
Maybe I shouldn't have joined.