Club Welcome Party
Knock knock.
"Come in."
The door swung open the moment permission was granted, and a girl with a brown bob haircut stepped inside. She glanced toward the student council president's seat, confirmed it was empty, and broke into a bright, radiant smile before rushing straight toward Isis.
"Isis! Did you hear?"
"Erina. What's going on? Calm down and tell me."
"You know the new club members joined for the first time today, right? The Royal Palace club had a welcome party, and Luan and Lady Remian got into a fight!"
"A fight? Luan didn't get hurt, did he?"
Isis, who had been calmly sorting documents while chatting with Erina, shot to her feet the instant Luan's name came up, her eyes wide with alarm. The intensity of her reaction caught Erina off guard, and she quickly shook her head.
"N-no. Luan was fine. Lady Remian was the one who got hurt."
"Is that so? What exactly happened?"
Isis leaned in closer, bringing her face near Erina's. Erina's cheeks flushed red. Regina, who had been watching from the side with a bored expression, suddenly straightened up and began eyeing Erina warily, but neither of them paid her any attention.
"Ahem! To put it simply, there was a dance at the new member welcome party. During it, Lady Scadia left her fiancé Luan behind and went off to dance with another young lord."
"Lady Scadia did that?"
Isis's expression turned icy. No matter how poor their relationship was, for someone with a fiancé to fool around with another nobleman was behavior that would severely damage Luan's reputation. If this dragged on, rumors would spread that he couldn't even control his own fiancée. While Isis debated whether to send an official letter of protest to the Maryland family, Erina continued.
"Yes. So Lady Remian approached Luan while he was left alone. Her followers were saying things like how kind he was and how he had the makings of the next crown princess's consort, but it was all just lip service meant to humiliate you, Isis."
"So what did Luan do?"
"He accepted, of course. Refusing would've only spread worse rumors. While they were dancing, Luan accidentally stepped on Lady Remian's foot. He crushed her big toe twice in a row and even kicked her shin."
"That must have been quite the incident."
"Exactly. Even His Highness the Crown Prince came to check on Lady Remian. Her followers got all excited and started claiming Luan did it on purpose."
For a moment, Isis felt her mind go blank. Remian was the future crown princess. Deliberately harming her was a serious matter. If the imperial family got involved, Luan's position would plummet beyond recovery. His reputation was already poor—if this happened, his life as a noble would be over.
Isis bit down hard on her lip. Seeing her reaction, Erina grinned and held up a finger.
"But! That's when Luan showed his quick thinking!"
"…Quick thinking?"
"Yes! He brought you up, Isis."
"Me? How did that help?"
"Luan said he'd only ever danced with you since they were children, so he didn't realize how serious it was. In other words, he implied that Lady Remian's dancing skills were inferior to yours. Plus, even His Highness the Crown Prince acknowledged your excellent dancing ability."
"The Crown Prince did…?"
"Yes! And after that, Luan even said it was his own lack of skill and asked them not to speak ill of you. So it was all dismissed as a simple mistake."
"Ah…"
Thank goodness. Truly, thank goodness. Hearing that the situation had been resolved somehow, Isis felt a wave of relief. If Luan had truly been cornered, she would have used every method available to calm things down. It was fortunate that hadn't been necessary.
Letting out a quiet sigh of relief in her heart, Isis offered Erina a gentle smile and her thanks.
"Thank you for coming to tell me, Erina. I feel a little more at ease thanks to you."
"It's nothing. I'd do this much and more for you, Isis. Feel free to ask me anything from now on. I'll report every single one of Luan's movements!"
"No, that won't be necessary. Just letting me know when there's a special problem like this is enough."
"Got it! Then I'll be going now. See you next time!"
Erina waved her hand, turned around, and left the student council room. After seeing her off, Isis returned to her seat and resumed writing documents. Her pen moved lightly.
Regina, who had been watching with sharp eyes, asked in a nonchalant tone, pretending not to care.
"You seem to be in a good mood?"
"Pardon?"
"Just… your expression looks much better than before."
Isis touched her lips. Without even realizing it, the corners of her mouth had curved upward. She answered with a hint of embarrassment.
"I'm just a little happy."
"About what?"
"That Luan… thought of me."
"Just that? Did you forget when he came to the student council room and caused a scene last time?"
"That was my fault. And it's not 'just that.' I thought Luan hated me. But that wasn't the case. We were simply misunderstanding each other. Someday, we'll be able to talk it out."
Recalling that moment, Isis smiled with a beauty so radiant that even Regina, who had spent over a year with her, couldn't have imagined it. Regina found herself captivated by that charming smile, yet at the same time, her wariness sharpened.
'Dangerous.'
Siblings or not, that didn't matter. In this moment, Luan Priulri had become the rival she needed to watch most closely.
*
After finishing another rewarding training session, what awaited me back at the dorm was the familiar tanned desert tribesman and Abel.
"Yo! You're back?"
"Move."
I shoved Yas aside as he greeted me with a bright grin and headed straight for my bed without so much as glancing at the fidgeting Abel. I tossed my things down carelessly and flopped onto the mattress. On weekends, I always trained late into the night like this before returning and collapsing. For someone in my position who couldn't afford to get involved with the main story yet, getting too close to Yas wasn't exactly wise. Of course, there were other reasons too—the existence of other transmigrators, my completely drained stamina from being worked to the bone all day, and so on.
Anyway, the moment I lay down and closed my eyes, Yas seemed to think I'd fallen asleep and started talking to Abel again.
"Abel. Don't be so self-conscious. He's always like this, you know? I already told you this morning, so it's fine."
"Still, isn't it getting too late? Maybe I should head back now."
"Aw, just stay another thirty minutes. So, how about you? Anyone you like in the club?"
In the game, the club Abel originally joined was the Photography Club. Yuni had persuaded him to join together, saying it would be nice for a change of pace since they could visit various places. I wondered how things would turn out here. The original plot had already diverged significantly the moment Abel was assigned to Class 6. My curiosity kept me from sleeping.
"S-someone I like? I don't know…"
"Come on, friend. Is that how you're gonna be? You've got Yuni, so it doesn't matter, right?"
"Why'd Yuni suddenly come up? Yuni and I aren't like that. We're just friends."
"Oho! Then can I make a move? Huh? You don't mind if I go after Yuni?"
"T-that's…"
"What, you don't like it? I thought you had no ulterior motives. Come on, friend, no lying between us. Huh? Bwahaha… Ah, I should keep it down."
Yas, who had been teasing Abel and was about to burst into loud laughter, glanced at me and shut his mouth. Looks like my nagging had paid off. Meanwhile, Abel, who had been stammering, finally regained his composure and shook his head.
"A-anyway, it's not like that, so don't misunderstand. It'd be rude to Yuni."
"Hmm… Really? Then why don't you answer the question first? Is there anyone you like in the club?"
"Uh, well… the club president? She seemed kind…"
"Oh, President May? You've got solid tastes, Abel. She does resemble Yuni a bit."
"I told you to stop bringing up Yuni!"
"Ah, sorry. Sorry. I'll stop."
May Yudilion. A second-year this year, she was definitely the president of the Photography Club. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any major changes there.
'The real problem is something else.'
That would be the fact that Abel and Yas had already become quite close. In the game, they had some interaction, but not to the point of Yas bringing him to the dorm. In other words, some variable had occurred somewhere. It could be for a very simple reason, but there was also a chance it was an extremely serious problem.
The only thing I was considering right now was one thing.
'Is Yas a transmigrator too?'
Fortunately, I thought I'd put on a decent act in front of him, but it was true that living together had dulled my wariness somewhat. If I'd done something suspicious without realizing it and Yas had noticed, that would've been bad. My head was a mess. Just as I was worrying that I wouldn't even be able to relax in the dorm from now on, Abel turned the question back on Yas.
"Yas. Why did you join the Photography Club anyway?"
"Me? Obviously…"
"Obviously?"
"To participate in the nude photography contest!"
"Huh? N…ude photography contest?"
"Yeah! I heard it's held a few times a year. Honestly, I was torn between that and the Mountaineering Club. The Mountaineering Club is a hotbed of affairs, right? If I joined, I could enjoy fiery romances with engaged noble ladies. But that seemed too risky, so I passed. Anyway, my goal is to casually join the nude photography contest!"
"Ah… I see."
His voice sounded like his soul had left his body. I didn't even need to open my eyes to picture the expression Abel was making.
'He's a lunatic, as expected.'
He was a character who occasionally said crazy things in the game too, but experiencing it up close made me realize that was just the tip of the iceberg. Well, thanks to that, the thought that Yas might be a transmigrator had faded quite a bit.
'If it's acting, then it can't be helped.'
How painful must it be for someone from Earth to put on such a deranged act? Of course, there was an astronomically small chance he was just naturally insane, but at this point, it was only polite to play along. Feeling relieved, drowsiness began to creep in. I tossed and turned, and the moment Abel left the room, I passed out completely.
*
"Alright, as you all know, midterms start next week. Study hard, and if anyone cheats, they're dead. Got it?"
After leaving that warning, Sara shot me an especially intense look before leaving the classroom.
'I'm sorry.'
As a troublemaker, my pride wouldn't allow me to study. At the very least, I wouldn't cheat—I'd try to solve the problems—but I couldn't guarantee good grades. No, I'd probably just fail.
After sending her a silent apology, I pushed aside thoughts of midterms and recalled the incident that would happen this weekend. It was the episode that wrapped up Chapter 1. In the game, Abel, who had reached level 100, awakened sword aura and used a new technique to take down the monster. I had no idea how things would play out here.
'I need to prepare just in case.'
It probably wouldn't happen, but since I couldn't predict what variables might interfere and cause problems, I had to make at least the minimum preparations. I turned my head and stared at Deborah. As if sensing my gaze, her body flinched.