It Was a RoFan (3)
“Food’s ready~”
I was in the middle of hearing critical information from Louis when our ordered dishes arrived shortly after. Steaming hot, mouthwateringly perfect grilled fish.
“Whoa, I’m drooling already.”
“Ashen… As I always say, you must maintain your dignity as a noble…”
“What’s the big deal?”
It looked delicious. What was I supposed to do? The crispy exterior and juicy interior were practically a work of art.
We were enjoying our meal when it happened.
“!! Urk, cough, cough!”
“Hey, hey, you okay? Did it go down the wrong pipe?”
Louis suddenly made a startled face and started coughing like something had caught in his throat.
“Cough! Lo—Loxia—cough!”
“Huh? Loxia what?”
“Lo—cough! —xia…! Loxia…!”
“Loxia…? You mean Loxia Astra?”
He nodded frantically. Wondering what was going on, I turned to follow Louis’s gaze, and there she was.
“The most popular one, please.”
“Yes! I’ll have it ready right away!”
Ordering at the counter was the Magic Department’s 1st Place, Loxia Astra.
Hair as white as northern snow, eyes a cold sapphire blue. No doubt about it—this was Loxia Astra, the undisputed top student of the Magic Department.
The strongest mage of the current generation. The woman destined to become the next Master of the Magic Tower. The youngest Archmage to surpass her own teacher. A once-in-a-generation genius magician. She possessed all those grandiose titles, so what was someone like her doing in a humble grilled fish restaurant?
“Food’s ready~”
“…”
What was there to figure out? She came here to eat, obviously.
Even after she entered, I kept staring at her, but I couldn’t read a single thought on that face. She wasn’t some ice sculpture. After ordering, she simply closed her eyes and sat perfectly still. What was I supposed to understand from that?
Loxia remained motionless until her food arrived. Only then did she open her eyes, pick up her utensils, and begin eating. That was it.
Well, even if she was 1st Place and an Archmage, she was still human. It made sense she’d come to a normal place for a normal meal.
That was what I was thinking when—
“Yeah. Black mage.”
“…?”
I heard something strange. Did Loxia just say black mage?
Before I could even process it—
“Tsk, I’ve been found out…! Come out, my children!”
The man who had been a friendly, diligent employee just moments ago twisted his face into a sneer and thrust his hand toward the kitchen. From inside came the sound of hard objects clattering and something wet slapping against the floor, and then…
“The reason I sold delicious grilled fish was to gather fish undead! Die with a fish bone stuck in your throat, Loxia Astra!”
The ‘fish’ undead came pouring out. Nothing but bones, yet they flopped and twitched as if still alive. Setting aside the fact that this black mage had been using fish dishes as his material supply method, I seriously doubted he thought this level of force could actually defeat Loxia.
“Merge into one! Sync Shark!!”
Fortunately, the guy still had a stronger move. The bare fish bones began fusing together, forming a single massive skeleton. Then ominous black energy wrapped around it, shaping into a dark shark.
A black shark with multiple tentacles, its skeletal structure visible inside. That had to be the Sync Shark.
Okay, the fusion was impressive. But.
“…Worthless.”
“What? Graaaagh!”
If it was going to be taken down by a single flick of her finger, why bother with the whole performance? The confidently introduced Sync Shark crumpled like a deflated stress ball, and the black mage lost consciousness without a single wound.
“Winning with a single click.”
Honestly, I probably could have handled a black mage of that level too, but I couldn’t help feeling jealous of how effortlessly she ended it with just a snap.
When would I ever reach that realm?
…No, first I should ask if it’s even reachable.
Well, that was something I could think about slowly later. Right now, the most important thing was—
“Um, Loxia?”
“…”
“Loxia Astra?”
“…”
“The one with white hair reaching down to her waist, approximately 165 centimeters tall, sapphire-colored eyes, and an expressionless face that suggests zero interest in anything—the top entrance student of the Imperial Academy’s Magic Department, Loxia Astra?”
“…?”
“Finally looking this way, I see.”
She’d kept ignoring me, so I’d described her in exhaustive detail. Only then did she finally turn her gaze in my direction. Now that I had her attention, there was only one important question.
“Can I still eat this?”
I’d already eaten more than half. This was crucial.
***
“Ah, first class in a week.”
Because of the unprecedented incident on the very first day—a collaborative terror attack by the Scavengers and black mages—the Academy had been closed. Now we were finally having our second lecture.
And after a week, something new had become important.
Clubs.
“Those who grasp the sword are strong, and the strong grasp the sword! Come to the Swordsmanship Club!”
“Wisdom is our father, knowledge is our mother, and books are our friends. Come to the Magic Research Club!”
“Calculation is essential to living in this world! Come to the Everyday Economics Club!”
Upperclassmen from each club were out promoting, throwing every possible appeal at the passing freshmen. Among them were the famous clubs that most students aimed for.
“In the midst of daily effort for growth, take a moment to heal with dessert! Join the Dessert Club!”
“These days, not just accessories but equipment also requires artistry! Come to our Gem Crafting Club!”
“Become the protagonist of your own story! Our Theater Club is always waiting for new leads!”
There were also several hobby-focused clubs that fit their concepts nicely.
“W-would you like to play a board game…? Ch-chess is fun…”
And then there was the club so unpopular that everyone just walked right past it.
That was why, after finishing all our lectures and heading back to the dorms, Louis and I took our time looking at clubs worth joining. Back on Earth I would have thought who has time for clubs when you’re busy studying, but this was another world. And not just any world—a romance fantasy one. The clubs here operated on a completely different level.
So I had to choose carefully.
“Hmm… where would be good?”
“No clubs catching your interest?”
“It’s not that. The problem is I want to do too many of them.”
I was already double-majoring in my main subjects, so why couldn’t clubs be the same? Every single one I saw looked necessary.
The Swordsmanship Club would accelerate my sword skills, the Magic Research Club would broaden my magical knowledge, the Gem Crafting Club would let me create even cooler magic tools, and the Everyday Economics Club would make daily calculations easier.
There were too many places I wanted to go, but clubs were meant for students to gather and do activities during their free time. You could only join one.
“Sigh… You’re probably the only person taking all four majors, and the only one who wants to join every club.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
A person can have a lot of things they want to do. He was being too harsh. Anyway, that wasn’t important right now.
Where should I actually join?
The club application period was exactly one week. I needed to decide quickly and apply.
“Louis, have you thought about where you’re going?”
“Me? I’m your servant, so of course I’ll follow you.”
“You don’t have to. Just go wherever you want. You know I can take care of myself.”
“But as your servant…”
“Just go where you want. I’ll talk to your parents.”
“Then…”
Louis spent a long time looking at the various promoting clubs before finally nodding like he’d made a decision. And the choice he landed on was—
“I’ll just follow you. They all look good, so I can’t pick one.”
“Ugh… I see.”
The fact that he’d agonized that much only to give that answer meant that even as Louis—not just as my servant—he genuinely couldn’t decide. So in the end, he was leaving the choice to me.
I can’t decide either.
How was I supposed to choose? He’d even picked last night’s dinner for me.
I don’t know. Maybe if I keep looking around, one will just click.
So for the week, I decided to keep checking out all the club promotions. And the more I looked, the more I discovered one surprising fact.
“Hey, Louis.”
“Yeah?”
“…Why does it feel like all the upperclassmen promoting are avoiding me?”
“Ah…”
“They’re desperately chasing after the 1st and 2nd places, but why do they all glance at me nervously and look away when I’m only 3rd?”
Exactly. Most of the clubs were avoiding me. As a perfectly ordinary 3rd-place student, I felt deeply wronged.
“Well… the 1st and 2nd places are monsters beyond common sense, but you’re a madman who still operates within it?”
“Fair.”
But when I actually thought about Louis’s words, they made sense. A monster from Loch Ness was one thing, but a human charging at you with a sword right in front of your face was far more terrifying.
“Fuck.”
In the end, I wasn’t welcomed by most clubs and joined the only one that actually welcomed me.
That was—
“W-welcome to the Board Game Club! It’s reassuring to have Ashen, 3rd place in every department, join us!”
The Board Game Club. The one so ignored that its only equipment was the chess sets every noble already owned.
But then.
“Huh? You’re…”
“Oh, that person is…”
Why was the Saintess here? This was definitely the lowest-ranked club in popularity… Ah, fuck. She’s the RoFan protagonist.