Chapter 100: Volunteer? Activity (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 100: Volunteer? Activity (1)
The name of a club is more important than one might think.
There was a reason Uncle Aeryun had hesitated to finalize our club's name until the very end.
Similarly, there was a reason I had pushed so hard for the name "After-School Dessert Club."
In the Imperial Academy, the club system was surprisingly significant.
Depending on a club's performance record, it could be granted immense authority. Conversely, even the Flower Arrangement Club—which boasted the legendary RoFan heroine and a swarm of male lead candidates—could be disbanded if its performance was lacking.
That’s right.
Clubs can be shut down.
The most well-known rule is the minimum requirement of five members. A surprising number of clubs vanish because they fail to meet this quota.
Of course, since situations often arise where a club loses a large chunk of its members due to graduation—like the Flower Arrangement Club did last year—a grace period is granted if at least three members remain, giving the club a chance to revive itself.
However, if they fail to fill the minimum quota during that grace period, the club is immediately disbanded.
But even if a club has plenty of members, it can still be shut down if there is no club activity.
This rule was established after a past incident where someone created a fake club by gathering people who did nothing just to embezzle subsidies. Now, a club must consistently engage in activities befitting its name to survive.
And that is exactly why the name of the club is so vital.
For a Swordsmanship Club, simply gathering to train counts as an activity. If a member participates in a swordsmanship event during the Founding Festival, it’s automatically credited as a performance record.
On the other hand, a club with an ambiguous name has to put in a massive amount of effort just to stay afloat.
"In that sense, the ASDC is the perfect club."
Just eating snacks after school fulfills our activity requirements. As for proof of activity, we just have to collect and submit the trash from the desserts we bought with our club budget.
Of course, we’ll have to do something active once in a while.
But Uncle Aeryun, our president, will surely find a way to cover for that.
"So, eat your fill."
With that, I acted all generous while handing my junior expensive desserts bought with the Empire's tax money.
That cake, for instance, was a luxury item costing half an Imperial gold coin per slice. By participating in club activities, I was essentially dealing a blow to the Empire's treasury at the same time.
"In the royal family, even our snacks were restricted by the budget!"
...Was it that bad?
"Lately, they've been saying the investment in agents has become excessive..."
...Is that because of me?
Feeling a bit guilty, I was busy handing her more treats when the door flew open.
"Emergency!"
Uncle Aeryun burst into the club room, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Since this was a regular occurrence, I just watched, wondering if the Academy's security had been breached again.
"The Flower Arrangement Club is going to be active!"
"They're a club, so of course they'd be active, right?"
"No! The problem is they're doing an external activity this weekend!"
"......!"
Now that was a real emergency.
To reiterate: club names are important.
The reason Adam and the others could fulfill their club requirements just by stuffing their faces with desserts after school was because their name was the "After-School Dessert Club."
Conversely, the Flower Arrangement Club—the group consisting of Daisy and the rest of the RoFan cast—had to actually arrange flowers to get their activities recognized.
It sounded obvious, but the Flower Arrangement Club was incapable of doing this obvious task.
"Senior. Is... is this right?"
A new member looked at Esid while staring at a pile of vegetation that looked like it had crawled out of the twisted nether. Even for an Imperial Prince, his expression suggested this was just wrong.
"Um..."
Esid couldn't find the words. The result sitting before him was indefensible, even to his own eyes.
"......"
The other members were in the same boat. They all stood in stunned silence, watching as each of them gave birth to some kind of grotesque biological anomaly.
"......"
Daisy, the only one capable of normal flower arrangement, squeezed her eyes shut and thought to herself.
President Bellian... what kind of battle were you fighting?!
Back when Bellian was the president, they had at least produced results that could be called flower arrangements. Now that he was gone, everyone had fallen apart.
"This isn't working..."
"......Even you, Violet!"
Even her trusted childhood friend had betrayed her expectations.
The only silver lining was that Hedrick had prepared a staggering amount of flowers since last year, so they could keep trying no matter how many times they failed.
This is a problem beyond mere skill.
Simply placing flowers in a way that looks decent—the fact that not a single person could manage that made Daisy feel like she was witnessing something cosmically wrong.
And for some reason, the feeling was familiar.
This feeling is...
Lost in thought, Daisy soon realized when she had felt this before.
Right... when I went on a date with Mr. Adam during the Founding Festival!
That feeling of a Dark Mage popping out every time they moved!
She was used to (?) Dark Mages now, but back then, she hadn't been, so the shock had stayed with her.
Daisy couldn't help but worry with a grim expression.
It's okay for now. The Student Council does surprise inspections of club activities, but I can play it off as the new members still being in training.
She decided to ignore the fact that the veterans and the rookies were at the same level—or rather, that the rookies' results actually looked slightly better.
But... if we keep going like this...
Sensing a wave of transcendental "forced plot development," Daisy swallowed hard. She could have dismissed it as a gut feeling, but she trusted her instincts.
She had to move. Right now!
Trusting her gut, Daisy moved quickly to check the systems that allowed clubs to earn points.
"If anyone is free this weekend, let's go do some volunteer activity together!"
"...Volunteer activity?"
Violet was the first to react.
RoFan. Weekend. External activity. Volunteering...
It was a combination that guaranteed a terrorist attack at minimum, with an 80% chance of a Dark Mage appearing.
"No. Given how fast the story is progressing, it might be over 90%..."
Leaving Violet to mutter to herself, Daisy declared her ambition.
"To be honest... our club is in danger at this rate."
At Daisy's words, the members looked down at the plant-undead they had created with their own hands.
"We need time."
...It didn't look like a problem that time could fix, but the members couldn't bring themselves to say that.
"To buy that time, we need to do volunteer work that counts as club activity!"
When Daisy appealed so passionately to save the club, the only person in the Flower Arrangement Club who could have stopped her was Violet.
And so...
"I'll submit the application for the weekend event!"
The Flower Arrangement Club officially joined the weekend volunteer activity.
Naturally, this put everyone involved on high alert.
"The Saintess is coming?"
The clergy at the Goddess Church Academy Cathedral, who were in charge of the volunteer work this weekend, were terrified at the news that the Saintess was visiting.
"The Flower Arrangement Club is volunteering?"
The Student Council, responsible for student management, club supervision, and various external activities, went into emergency mode.
"......I'm quitting."
"You can't, Director!"
The Director of the Imperial Academy, who was already busy writing an incident report regarding the recent discovery of a Dark Mage on campus, found his incident report turning into a resignation letter upon hearing that a group of royalty from various nations was heading outside together.
"What should we do in a situation like this?"
"What do you mean? We have to follow them!"
The After-School Dessert Club had no choice but to put down their half-eaten treats.
"Birds hear the words of the day, and mice hear the words of the night."
This proverb existed in this world too, but Violet, who knew the world well, preferred a slightly different version.
"The Saintess has moved."
Dark Mages hear the words of both day and night.
As expected of a typical RoFan world, Dark Mage spies were naturally hidden within the Academy. Having obtained information through them, the Dark Mages learned of the RoFan group's volunteer activity.
"This is our chance."
The Academy was breached every time, but the damage the Dark Mages sustained in the process was surprisingly heavy.
It was only natural. The Empire was not an incompetent nation, and the Academy was not run by fools.
Once an incident occurred, they analyzed the cause, process, and result, using that data to improve the Academy's security day by day. At the very least, a trick that worked once wouldn't work a second time.
Conversely, it meant other tricks might work, but the number of Dark Mages was too limited to face a giant nation like the Empire.
Thus, when they prepared for a mission, it was usually just a group of two to five people moving together.
Sometimes they would loiter around and recruit those with grudges against the Empire to commit acts of terror, but lately, even those recruits had all vanished.
Knowing this was also the work of Imperial agents, the Dark Mages had to be even more cautious.
"We don't know when a better opportunity than this will come. So this time, we must all join forces!"
Furthermore, internal factional infighting made it difficult to concentrate their power. Because of this, the man in charge of the branch near the Academy argued that at least for this mission, the two factions had to cooperate to succeed.
"Eliminating the Saintess. If we fail to do that, our very existence will be at risk."
The natural enemy of Dark Mages.
Saintesses had been called that since ancient times, but the Saintess of this generation was on a completely different level.
The Dark Mages watching the footage couldn't help but nod at the branch manager's words.
A massive sword of mana that cleaved the sky. Divine power that easily neutralized the final resort of a Dark Mage who had sacrificed his own soul. Since she had been a mage before becoming the Saintess, she was even proficient in long-range combat.
"...Is this really a Saintess?"
The Dark Mages fell into a heavy silence at the sight of someone who looked more like the Church's ultimate combat weapon than a holy woman.
"She achieved this level of growth in less than a year. If we leave the Saintess alone, there's no telling what kind of being she will become next year or the year after."
"There are already rumors from the Holy Kingdom that she even defeated a Demon..."
"I heard the Holy Kingdom branch was completely wiped out. Was that true?"
"If so, this isn't something we can solve on our own."
The same thought crossed everyone's mind.
The end of the Dark Mages. Saintess Daisy was more than capable of bringing that about.
Therefore...
"Every branch in the Imperial Capital will move."
"......"
"One of them... is said to have successfully summoned a Demon."
"......"
"Finally, to replace Silence, who died last year, the Black Tower is even dispatching a Named Dark Mage."
Seven branches in the Imperial Capital. Plus support from a Demon and a Named Dark Mage.
It meant the Dark Mages were staking everything on this mission.
"For the sake of the future, everyone must unite."
It also meant the Dark Mages...
"For our survival."
...were feeling a profound sense of crisis.
This is a celebratory illustration for the 100th chapter. The illustrator brought it of their own accord.
This is a rough sketch of Daisy in a swimsuit, currently in progress as a bonus.
It's being drawn by someone else, and I'm posting it without prior agreement, so it might be taken down if I'm caught.