Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Rejection Means Rejection
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Chp. Chp.
Ashen dust scatters into the air.
Every sweep of the broom across the floor sends puffs of dust billowing up.
Thud. Thud.
Someone drags in a desk... someone else hauls a cabinet, while another strains with a sofa.
The faces of the familiar student council members gradually grow slick with sweat, one by one.
"Put this one right here, junior."
"Ah, thank you, senior."
The once-empty confinement room—no, the disciplinary room—was transforming into something that could confidently be called a clubroom without raising eyebrows.
"Want me to grab a chair from the lounge?"
"Sure thing."
Of course, I was lounging in a chair I'd quietly snagged from the corner, overseeing the whole process.
"You are doing great! My minions!"
Lying sprawled on the floor beside me was Neru.
She scratched at her belly with her hand and swished her tail side to side.
"......"
The entire student council froze in unison.
Their dead-fish eyes locked onto Neru with emotionless stares that pierced right through her.
"A-hem..."
Neru cleared her throat awkwardly, then turned her head to fix her gaze on the wall.
"...Yes, Neru gone."
Neru acted like shouting "Neru gone" solved everything.
The student council members stared at her with dead-fish eyes for a moment before sighing and resuming their work.
They'd probably realized there was nothing they could do about that mess... a sense of helplessness.
"Right... Adel, have you decided on a club name?"
Klaus, who was helping with the cleanup, glanced at me while snapping a chair leg into place.
'A name, huh.'
Club name... come to think of it, we hadn't settled on one yet.
Honestly, I wasn't sure we even needed one, but since he'd asked, courtesy demanded an answer.
[How about Mask Club?]
"...You serious?"
"Whoa, that's straight-up trash. Little bro."
Violet fired off her brutal honesty with full force.
At that, Neru, who had been quietly sitting nearby, suddenly slapped an unknown mask onto her face.
"Hmm... Sounds good, nya."
[Right?]
If even Neru approved, that should be that, no?
I didn't see the problem at all.
I was the one who created this club, wearing a mask.
The top entrant, mask-wearing me.
Putting our symbolic mask right in the name... what was so wrong with that?
"...Let's just go with a general fellowship club."
"Yeah, junior, good call. The classics are always best, right?"
[Mask Club's pretty good though]
"Little bro, from now on, think twice before you say anything out loud."
Harsh.
Burying an idea this innovative.
[ ! ]
[ You have established a club! ]
[ You have obtained the achievement 'Club Master'! ]
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Club Master】
You successfully navigated the tricky procedures and finally established a club!
: All ability scores increase by 1.
And just like that, you're the club master!
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
'Oh.'
I'd unlocked an achievement right on cue.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Adel ]
Limit Breakthrough: ★☆☆☆☆
Attributes
: 「Abyss」
: 「Space」
: 「Nothingness」
Achievements
: 【King of the Abyss】
: 【Slime Slayer】
: 【A Class】
: 【Tenacity】
: 【Group Project Master】
: 【Sword that Sheathes Wrath】
: 【Club Master】
: 【…】
Ability Scores
: Physique: 14 (D)
: Strength: 4 (F)
: Intelligence: 28 (B)
: Mental Strength: 31 (A)
: Mana: ■ ()
Talents
: 【All talents are fixed at 'Lowest' due to 'Stigma'.】
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
'Quite a few achievements.'
Honestly, compared to Klaus in 'Aka Calamity,' it wasn't that many...
But not bad.
Though if this were the game, I'd have two or three times more by now.
'...Still, making this much progress is something.'
These achievements weren't just numbers—they were the fruits of my blood, sweat, and tears.
There was something oddly moving about "obtaining an achievement."
"Keep the clubroom tidy regularly. That stuff factors into evaluations too."
"Anything else we need to watch out for, senior?"
"Watch out for? Hmm..."
Violet glanced away for a second, then looked back and forth between me and Neru.
"Just keep an eye on those two, and you should be fine?"
"Ah... anything besides that?"
Hold on...
Why are you agreeing so easily?
Your face looks 200% on board with that?
"It's a fellowship club, so budget won't be an issue... Just keep good records of expenses and activity results on paper?"
"So just good organization, got it."
"Yep."
Violet pulled a sticky note from her pocket and slapped it onto the wall.
In the center of the fluorescent yellow note, the word "Organization" was scrawled large, flanked by two stars.
"Junior, you should probably be the president. Seems like you're the most reliable out of the three."
"Haha... thank you, senior."
[Klaus is the president]
"...?"
"Oh, really? Figures..."
I'd made the club and gotten my achievement. My goal was complete.
From here on, I knew nothing about the club.
Policies? Plans? Our club president Klaus would handle all that.
"You've got that leader vibe from your looks to your aura."
[I'm no slouch in looks either, senior]
"Quiet, little bro. You're ugly."
[If I took off this mask, the world would end]
"The fact you can't take off that mask means your world already ended, little bro."
Wow... savage.
I poked with a finger, but it felt like getting stabbed with a knife in return.
"Alright, I'm heading out. Carnel must be bored alone..."
That was when it happened.
- Thud!
The door flew open roughly, and a wild Charlotte appeared, radiating an intimidating aura.
"...Found you at last."
And the target of her gaze was...
"...Huh? Me?"
Klaus.
"...You. We need to talk. Now."
"...Uh? Sure."
Before he could even finish responding, Charlotte clamped onto his wrist like a vice.
Klaus was practically dragged out the door.
"What the...?"
Violet muttered at the scene, and I shared the sentiment.
'Main character privileges, huh.'
Already living under his future wife's thumb.
***
The next day.
Tap. Tap.
A consciousness dormant in the abyss slowly rose toward the surface.
Still half-lost in dreams, but something from the outside world was trying to rouse me.
"...Lecture's over."
I'd been face-planted on my desk, deep in sweet slumber, when Rev poked my cheek with an expressionless finger.
I rubbed my eyes and ran a hand through my messy hair before lifting my head.
[Good morning, Lev]
"...You said that earlier."
[Did I?]
"...The Club advisor prof's coming."
For the record, Lev had joined the Mask Club too.
She'd seemed skeptical at first... but surprisingly accepted with a casual "...Yeah."
Without even asking what the club was about.
"Mr. Adel."
As we headed for the lecture hall door, a voice called out to me.
"You were sleeping quite soundly during the lecture."
Professor Delphine, in charge of Basic Magic Theory, was beckoning me over.
"So... did you sleep well?"
Why the sudden interrogation?
She hadn't said a word yesterday when I was dozing...
[I've been feeling under the weather, Professor]
"Oh dear... I see."
[Yeah, that's the reason]
"I understand... so that's why you sleep through every lecture."
[Yes]
"And sometimes you're not even there..."
[Must be your imagination]
...This lady's got a surprising amount of interest in me.
Creepily so.
"If you're ill... well, nothing to be done about it."
Delphine withdrew his gaze after that.
As the click of his shoes echoed out of the lecture hall, Rev and I followed behind.
"Miss Lev."
"...Yes."
"Any progress with magic?"
"...A little."
"I was actually surprised. Priests have that stereotypical image, but... you're handling magic at about Erwin's level."
For reference, "about Erwin's level" meant magical talent between A and S.
...In other words, a total prodigy.
"But Mr.Adel can't even manifest magic, let alone handle it."
...Why the sudden fact-check smackdown.
And he hits the core without a hint of hesitation.
"The top seat can't actually use magic... quite the punchline, isn't it?"
[Doesn't sound funny to me]
"Oh, my apologies."
Her expression and tone didn't shift a bit.
Apologies? Then why does it feel so refreshing?
'But...'
Somehow, Lev, me, and Professor Delphine's paths... were overlapping oddly.
Coincidence? Or was she following to tease me...
"Well... truth be told, Mr. Adel, since you handle natural mana, you might not need my lectures anyway."
Ignoring that, Delphine kept talking.
"Handling natural mana... it's like wielding infinite energy, same as spirits."
[I'm not an elf]
"...I never thought of elves."
Surprising.
Most people hear I handle mana and jump to "Oh, elf," suspicion turning straight to certainty.
"Hmm... so, what I'm saying is, if you can hide that you handle natural mana, you should."
[Hide it?]
"Yes. Handling natural mana is like handling the oxygen you breathe—normal people would never notice."
...Everyone sure noticed though?
Or maybe the people I've met aren't normal?
"You're frail, Mr. Adel... so hiding your weapons is for the best."
[You know more than I expected]
"I've heard a lot about you from the Dean."
Not from students, but straight from Veronica?
...Why does that sound so ominous?
Plus, imagining how much Veronica chewed over my stories before passing them on only amps up the unease.
"Ah, we're here."
I looked up to see we'd arrived at our destination.
Me, Lev, and Delphine—all standing before the same door.
[Excuse me?]
"Oh... did I forget to mention?"
Delphine casually nodded toward the nameplate by the door.
"I'm the advisor for the fellowship club."
...No thanks?
Not quite.
Just... a bad match?
If I'm ice, Delphine's fire.
Get too close, and I melt or evaporate... it's just uncomfortable.
"For the record, the Dean said, 'Rejection means the club's rejection.'"
Veronica must've whispered something killer into Delphine's ear.
I could practically see that signature sly grin of hers.
"And to add... my own rejection was rejected."
...Ah, so that's it.
Even the professor's a victim.
"..."
"..."
"..."
This feels like hot potato gone wrong—we all landed on each other...