Chapter 9
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 9: Joining a Club at the Academy is a Serious Matter (3)
"Senior Luciela, by any chance... do you like me?"
"....Eh?!"
"I'm sorry. It's not that I dislike you, Senior, but I feel we need time to get to know each other..."
"Oh my... was it that? No wonder I knew too well! Where did we meet?"
What is needed to pierce through that composed attitude is an attack that catches one off guard.
When I launched a reverse confession attack, Senior Luciela's leisurely atmosphere shattered in an instant.
Before she could explain, I added a word, and another senior next to us put in a follow-up hit.
"It's not like that... Ethan, you really... have a mischievous side."
Senior Luciela responded while maintaining a poker face, but it was visible to my eyes.
Her ears had turned noticeably red.
The gaze that was observing me just a moment ago couldn't meet my eyes.
Added to that was the sight of her fanning herself as if heat had risen to her face.
It went in properly.
If I pressure her like this, she'll probably tell me where she got my information to avoid the embarrassing situation.
However, Senior Luciela confessed the source of the information more obediently than I thought.
"It's not something to hide, so I'll tell you. Actually, I also belong to the Student Council."
"Student Council?"
"Yeah, since this year's freshmen are a bit flashy, right? Because of that, the Student Council is grasping information about a few students in advance."
"And one of them is me?"
"Correct."
It was a plausible explanation, but it lacked persuasiveness.
How many 'special' freshmen came this year?
Considering not only those within the Empire but also international students from various countries within the continent, the number is by no means small.
But they investigated me, who only has some reputation within the Kingdom, in such detail?
When I looked at Senior Luciela with eyes remaining doubtful, perhaps having regained some composure, she continued her explanation with her usual gentle smile.
"It wasn't my decision to consider you on the same level as those juniors over there. The one who said to pay attention to you was none other than Professor Kell, who is in charge of the Knight Department."
"Yes? Why him?"
"I wouldn't know, right? However... having met you, now I think I know."
I became confused by the sudden mention of the head professor's name.
Senior Luciela wouldn't have sold the professor's name to deceive me.
But why would Professor Kell's name come out here?
'Did I buy interest because I won against the Sword Saintess during the first spar?'
It was a plausible reason, but if he started having interest from then, the fact that he knows stories from when I was in the Kingdom bothered me.
There is a distance between the Baran Kingdom and the Franz Empire, so a week is insufficient time to investigate rumors and convey them.
Then it means the investigation about me started before that...
How did Professor Kell know me?
I'll have to look into this point later.
"What do you mean by 'now I think I know'?"
"Fuhu, that's a secret."
Senior Luciela brought her index finger to her lips with a secretive smile.
I shrugged my shoulders and gave up cleanly.
Afterward, the food we were waiting for came out.
Fitting for a freshman welcome party of a club bearing the name of Gourmet Exploration, the taste of the food was incredibly good.
When everyone had roughly finished eating, the person who appeared to be the president rose from his seat.
"Now now, please give me your attention for a moment. Did you enjoy the meal today?"
"""Yes!"""
"Thinking that one action is better than a hundred words, I believe you have come to know about our club to some extent with this freshman welcome party."
His words were true. It was only one meal, but it was sufficient to feel the information power of this place.
"Freshmen, you will have many meals at the academy from now on. We will not spare any information for your enjoyable meal times."
The president paused for a moment and continued his explanation.
"Our club's activities are as diverse as the number of restaurants existing on this continent. Not only inside the academy, but wherever you go can be considered the activity range of the Gourmet Exploration Club."
Two club members who were preparing next to the president unfolded a huge map. It was a map of the academy, and very diverse restaurants were densely recorded by district.
"From your hometowns, places you often visit to play, or places you have to go. Visit restaurants existing in all regions and share them with the club. All that information will soon be added to the Gourmet Exploration Club's gourmet map."
"Hum hum... Was I talking too long? Since I feel the pressure, I'll end it now. Wishing that every restaurant you go to is a gourmet restaurant, I sincerely welcome the freshmen to the club!"
"""Waaaaaaah!!!!!!!"""
There was enthusiastic applause from the freshmen.
It was definitely a more amazing club than I expected.
Since maps are one of the military secrets in this era, it wasn't detailed, but it was an incredibly high-quality gourmet map.
They update and add that information every time?
It was something impossible unless it was with considerable sincerity.
Also, how wide is the activity area?
Since the place where a restaurant exists is the club's activity radius, the degree of freedom was also incredibly wide.
However, as the thought that the activity radius was wide crossed my mind, a subsequent thought occurred.
'....An accident will definitely happen to the Romance Fantasy group.'
They can go anywhere?
It was accepted as the same meaning that accidents can happen wherever they go.
I will absolutely never go on a gourmet exploration with the Romance Fantasy group.
Especially the Saintess, even more so.
Thinking that, I looked toward the Saintess, and our eyes met with her who happened to be looking in this direction to see the president.
"......"
"......"
I shook my head side to side and turned toward Senior Luciela.
The Saintess made an aggrieved expression, but what can be done. This was all her fault.
"Lovers' quarrel?"
"You will be arrested for blasphemy."
"Just kidding."
Senior Luciela making a bold joke against the Saintess.
This senior really... Still, she's a Saintess, how can she make such a joke.
Like this, she can't not be suspicious.
After finishing the pleasant meal, it was time to clean up.
While a senior was paying, the president said to the club members leaving the restaurant.
"Please stop by any restaurant by next week and leave a review in the club room about what menu you ordered and how the taste was! It is your first activity, freshmen!"
"""Yes!"""
It wasn't a difficult activity.
The period is one week.
Considering we eat three meals a day, it was incredibly leisurely.
I won't find a new shop every time, but if there's a menu I like, I can just recommend that.
Although there was a slight happening due to the mage's disturbance before starting, the freshman welcome party ended successfully.
Lecture on Basic Combat Studies started again after the weekend passed.
Professor Kell, dressed as usual, wrote on the blackboard and began the lecture.
"Today, I will explain about positioning, which is important in one-versus-many combat. Knowing where you should be in combat is an incredibly important matter.
Usually, it is simply divided into vanguard and rearguard, but if we go into detail, diverse situations can occur depending on who the enemy is, what weapon they hold, and how many of them there are."
Professor Kell continued the class explaining a few cases he had experienced.
He drew a huge circle on the blackboard and then drew several small circles surrounding it.
"This is the formation when I subjugated an Ogre in the past when I was a knight. The huge circle is the Ogre, and the small circles are the positions of the subjugation squad. Is there anyone who can explain why the subjugation squad stood like this?"
The one who raised his hand was the 6th Prince, Kyle.
"Yes, Student Kyle, try explaining."
"The enemy is a single humanoid monster and the allies are many, so it seems they utilized the blind spots of vision and surrounded it so the enemy couldn't escape."
"Correct. The core here lies in those like shield bearers who will directly receive attacks standing in front of the Ogre, and those who can inflict critical hits standing behind."
In gaming terms, would it be positions like Tanker and Assassin?
Thinking like that, it was easy to understand.
Professor Kell explained examples with diverse experiences besides the Ogre, such as when sweeping a criminal organization in the city or subjugating an Orc village.
"Let's talk about formations up to here, and next, let's talk about the characteristics of weapons. When forming a formation, the first thing to consider is class and weapon. Representative ones are Warrior, Mage, Archer, and Priest."
If one had played RPG games a bit, it could be easily understood.
Warriors are vanguards, the rest are usually rearguards.
In the case of warriors, there are weapons like swords, spears, axes, shields, and the content was that mages also have different roles depending on their attribute or major magic.
It was a somewhat familiar but simultaneously important class.
The process of changing knowledge learned through games into practical and substantial content containing Professor Kell's experience.
Considering I polished my skills as a spearman but most of that was combat done alone, I had no choice but to focus.
When I came to my senses like that, the lecture was ending before I knew it.
"For the next lecture, we will take time to directly execute the content explained today and think about your roles. For this, form groups of 3 to 4 people. Dismissed."
".......A group project."
Somehow, the nightmare of college life experienced on Earth came to mind.
Is the necessity of group projects the same on Earth and here...
I swallowed my despair and rose from my seat.
If I didn't get group members quickly, I might end up working with randomly met teammates.
I don't have greed for high grades, but still, wouldn't it be better to be with people whom I can communicate well with and who have good skills if possible?
"Jean."
"Ethan, you came."
As it happened, our thoughts seemed to be the same.
We nodded and formed a group on the spot.
"We need to get at least one more person, what should we do?"
"Is there anyone decent?"
"Hmm... let's see."
I looked around.
Students busy finding group members.
Between them, the familiar Pink Head was visible.
'No no, she's a no-go.'
Since she was with the Prince anyway, it didn't look difficult for that side to find teammates.
In the meantime, Jean tried to bring a few people he knew, but everyone had already formed parties quickly.
While worrying because I didn't want to bring just anyone since they would take up 1/3 of the group's power, a student approached us.
"Hello, by any chance, is there a spot left?"
A red-haired Male Lead Candidate. It was Asel Newland.