Chapter 35
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Club (3)
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"Poor thing."
I shook my head back and forth as I watched Sophia filling out the magic club's contract form.
Just as in the original story, she'd safely joined the magic club—but I knew exactly what went on inside.
The magic club wasn't bad. No, in fact, it would have a positive influence on Sophia.
The only issue was how much they worked their members...
I had no idea how hard Professor Ludwig drove the club.
But considering how dark circles appeared under Sophia's eyes after she joined in the original story...
Ugh, horrifying.
Vowing never to set foot in the magic club, I started walking.
The club I needed to go to was essentially a loophole.
Not everyone who had to join a club actually wanted to participate in the activities.
The academy didn't allow that. Clubs counted as class time, after all.
But the original story mentioned a minor workaround, ever so briefly.
'A Haven for Those Who Rest.'
I knocked on the door of the classroom bearing that deceptively ordinary nameplate.
Knock knock.
No response even after two tries. I announced that I was coming in, then carefully opened the classroom door.
The room was filled with warm yang energy. A cozy aura wrapped around my body like a hug—a perfect scene for sinking into deep sleep.
Inside the classroom, someone lay asleep on a sofa that seemed deliberately positioned to avoid the light, completely buried under a blanket.
Nothing in the original story described what came next, so I had no idea who this person was.
I couldn't just rudely wake a sleeping person, so I leaned carefully on my cane as I surveyed the interior.
The classroom was spotlessly tidy, the floor free of even a speck of dust, surrounded by mysterious magic tools of unknown purpose.
It was a fascinating sight.
As I looked around, I noticed a white line drawn on the floor. With no idea what it was, I peered down at it without crossing.
"Don't step on that."
A voice came from behind me.
I whipped my head around to look. I hadn't even sensed her enter.
It was a woman with navy-blue hair swaying gently. She hadn't appeared in the original story, but my instincts screamed that she was at least upper-class—no, elite.
I instinctively gripped my cane tight. People feel powerless in unfamiliar situations like this, which is why we get on guard.
Whether I was wary or not, she ignored me and began unpacking the luggage she'd brought.
The brown sack was stuffed full of something.
I shuddered at the bizarre mana emanating from inside the sack.
Noticing my reaction, the woman asked,
"Good instincts. Class A?"
"Pardon?"
"First-year freshman. Right?"
"Yes."
"Knew it." She muttered that as she approached me.
"I recommend not crossing that line. It'll wake the president."
"Pre...sident?"
"Yeah, our club president."
I shifted my gaze from her to the lump on the sofa.
Only a vague human shape was visible under the blanket, but that was the president?
"So, what's the deal with our club? You didn't come to join, did you?"
"...I did come to join."
"Why?"
Her blunt response caught me off guard. Why join a club?
"No, wait. If you sought out our club, you must know what position it holds, right?"
"Isn't it the place people come to when they don't want to join any club or can't find one that fits?"
"On the surface, sure."
On the surface...? I tilted my head. There was more to it?
She glanced at the cane supporting my body, then spoke.
"Deron Phillasia. Right?"
"Yes."
"Heard a ton about you. First time seeing you in person, though."
Just what the hell kind of rumors were circulating so widely?
"Everything except that recent demon subjugation incident is bad reputation."
"Haha..."
Those rumors, huh. I know nothing about them.
She fixed her black eyes on me as I scratched my head.
"Staring like that won't make anything come out."
"Not trying to make something come out."
"...Then could you maybe stop with that burdensome gaze?"
"Need to check something. Stay still for a sec."
Her aura pressed down on me too heavily to ignore. She didn't seem aware of it, but my body could sense it clear as day.
She circled me briefly, then nodded.
"You pass."
Pass what?
"You joining our club?"
"..."
I'd planned to join originally, but seeing the state of this place made me wonder if I'd come to the wrong spot.
Maybe I should check out some other clubs first?
As I hesitated, she gave me a bored look and said,
"Decide quick. Don't waste time."
"I..."
"You won't join."
"...?"
The sudden mid-range voice made me turn around. There was definitely...
"Why would someone who passes Crena's standards join our club?"
"True enough."
"Freshman. No idea where you heard the rumors, but this place does activities on a regular schedule. It's not for wasting time."
The president was still buried under the blanket, speaking to me about the club. The deliberate negativity made it clear they didn't want me joining.
...Even under the blanket, a pale glow couldn't be hidden. And as the blanket lifted slightly from above, strands of light purple hair peeked out.
From everything I'd researched in the novel, exactly three people had hair like that.
"If you still want to join despite that, you'd better be prepared to follow my orders. Deron Phillasia."
Calling me by my full name, not just Deron, was probably a warning not to rely on the Phillasia name.
She didn't want fools showing up just because of the family prestige. If you joined the club, you joined for real.
...I'd gladly do that.
"Understood. I'll join."
The light inside the blanket brightened a bit. Crena's eyes went wide. She'd obviously expected me to leave.
I paused for a moment before uttering my final words.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince."
The Empire's second sun, not yet fully illuminating the realm. The First Prince was here.
After filling out the membership application, Deron left the clubroom.
Idrian stared blankly at the spot where Deron had been.
Only then did he finally throw off the blanket covering his body.
A gem slightly deeper in hue than Second Princess Regina's caught the light. At the sapphire-like color, Crena swallowed hard.
Thinking, as always, what a beautiful sight it was.
The mark of the imperial bloodline, possessed only by direct descendants of the royal family.
The Jewel Eyes had taken their place as Idrian's eyes.
Due to the nature of Jewel Eyes—where the color deepened with age—Idrian's gems hadn't fully matured yet.
"Crena, how did he figure it out?"
Idrian tilted his head. He'd definitely been under the blanket, so how had he been spotted?
"Hehe..."
Crena stifled her laughter as she watched Idrian genuinely puzzled. She knew the reason, but he didn't.
Idrian frowned at her. He didn't like her laughing alone.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Recreate exactly what you did earlier. I'll sync it up for you."
Crena wiped the tears from her eyes and said that.
Idrian looked puzzled but struck the same pose as before.
The light purple hair sticking out and the Jewel Eyes shining even under the blanket were still eye-catching.
Crena couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Irritated, Idrian urged her on.
"Hurry up and sync it already!"
"Got it. Ah, it's just too funny."
She finally stopped laughing, closed her eyes. The world darkened, and a line appeared. Crena grasped it.
A sensation of connection followed. Crown Prince. Idrian's inner thoughts partially reflected.
Crena's sorcery: Synchronization.
A miracle on a different trajectory from magic or swordsmanship. Unlike those two, which anyone could learn by handling mana, sorcery had to be innate.
Synchronization was a spell that shared senses with another. Crena had entered Iliad Academy thanks to it.
Because through synchronization, she could learn others' combat sensations or sword strikes.
But it required mutual consent, and mastering it demanded Crena's talent.
Those without talent couldn't understand the problem even if shown the solution process.
In that regard, Crena brimmed with talent.
Idrian shared her gaze. He confirmed how she was looking at him.
The sticking-out hair and the sparkling eyes under the blanket entered his view.
Having checked someone else's perspective on him, Idrian severed the sync and shouted,
"It's those damn eyes!"
"To be precise, that hair color helped too."
Finally understanding why Crena was giggling, Idrian glared at her and said,
"Don't laugh."
"Yes, yes, Your Highness."
Knowing she wouldn't listen even to that, Idrian let out a sigh.
How had his authority fallen this far?
"That's your own karma. Right after you made this club, didn't you say to treat you like a normal student, not a prince?"
"That wasn't an invitation to mock me."
"Teasing each other is just what students do."
Crena smirked at Idrian, who clamped his mouth shut with nothing to say, then relayed news of Regina.
"Your little sister said the same thing, apparently?"
"Regina did?"
"Yes. Treat her like any other student. That's what she said."
"I see..."
Idrian thought of his now-only sister. The pitiful little girl who'd lost her smile along with the First Princess in that accident.
Now she'd grown up and come to the same academy as him. The fact felt strangely poignant. Idrian scratched his head and muttered,
"Guess I'm really not cut out to be emperor."
"That's the 4,759th time I've heard that out-of-left-field remark."
"For real?"
"Yes."
Seeing Crena's serious expression, Idrian burst into laughter. It'll work out somehow.
He left the clubroom with Crena in tow. He needed to tell his friends that a new member had joined the club.