Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Club (2)
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"Who... who are you...?"
Lily asked in a trembling voice.
She had cracked the door open just the bare minimum for conversation, when she could have opened it a bit more.
"Jeron Airgia. 1st Year in the Magic Department."
I gazed at her through the narrow gap and spoke calmly.
"A 1st year...? What brings a 1st year here...?"
"I came to join the club."
"Clu... club...?"
"Yeah. Occult Research Club. I saw it in the pamphlet."
Lily looked extremely flustered.
"Y-You saw that? Well, the truth is...? We weren't really trying to recruit anyone. We only posted the notice because they'd disband us if we didn't put it up actively..."
Her eyes quivered.
"A-And it's probably super boring and not fun at all... You'd be better off joining another club..."
After that, she went on with a long, barely audible string of excuses, but I lightly ignored her and said,
"That's fine. I want to join. Mind if I come in for a bit?"
"Y-You're coming in?! J-Just a sec...! One minute—no, two minutes! Please wait just two minutes!"
Slam!
With her frantic shout, the door slammed shut again.
And then.
Crash! Bang! Clatter! Smash!
It sounded like a war had broken out inside.
She was apparently scrambling to clean something up.
A moment later, the door creaked open just a tiny bit again.
"Um... I managed to tidy up sort of... But, um, you really came to join...?"
She asked with the air of someone desperately hoping otherwise.
Fat chance.
"Yep."
I nodded with a smile.
Lily's face fell in resignation, like she'd just received a death sentence, and she opened the door.
As I stepped inside, the clubroom came into view—clearly hastily cleaned, but still a mess.
A skeleton model's limbs lay scattered in the corner of the floor, uncleaned, and on the desk teetered beakers filled with unidentified liquids.
Those were probably her dark magic research materials.
And right in the middle stood Lily, wrapped head to toe in a worn, oversized robe.
"Ughhh... I'm Lily Rowendel... 2nd Year in the Dark Magic Department. And I'm the president of the Occult Research Club. Though I'm the only member..."
Her long black bangs covered one eye.
Even with one eye already hidden, she was doing her utmost to avoid meeting my gaze.
'A textbook gloomy girl.'
As you can see.
That was why [Stella Academia] players called her a 'bomb.'
Her dark magic talent was undisputed genius, but due to extreme shyness and an unstable mentality, she sometimes lost control of her mana.
Later, that led to a massive accident and rampage... In the main story, stopping her rampage was a pretty important event.
"S-So... Jeron junior? Wh-Why do you want to join... our club...?"
Lily fidgeted with her fingers and asked in a voice as tiny as a mosquito's.
I had two main reasons for coming to this club.
'First. Defuse the bomb.'
Among the academy clubs, most players ignored and skipped the Occult Research Club.
But actually, joining here let you meet Lily early.
So, by joining and building her affinity, you could prevent the rampage event later.
A sort of stabilization measure.
'And second, acquire the Shadow Cloak.'
For the mysterious quest to obtain a Myth-grade skill.
Her help was essential to get the first goal, [Shadow Cloak].
'Of course, I can't just tell her the real reasons.'
So, I gave the most plausible excuse that fit my character.
"Honestly, club activities are a hassle."
"...Pardon? A hassle...?"
"Yeah. Looks like there are no other members, and you barely do anything. Perfect for napping quietly."
"Oh..."
In short, I came to slack off.
Ding!
[Sloth +10!]
A statement of pure Slothfulness, endorsed by the system.
But to my answer, Lily didn't seem displeased—in fact, she looked relieved and even happy.
"I see...! I-I like quietly doing my research alone too...! I absolutely won't bother you...! Feel free to rest on that sofa over there!"
"Then I'll be in your care, senior."
"Y-Yes! I'll be in your care too, Jeron junior...!"
And just like that, my admission to the Occult Research Club was settled easily.
I headed straight for the plush sofa in the corner of the clubroom that she'd pointed to.
'Oh. Super fluffy.'
Perfect for lying down.
It even smelled nice somehow.
"Then, I'll get to it..."
I flopped onto the sofa and began my first club activity.
A nap.
Lately, I'd been sleeping through classes so much.
Sleeping had gotten way too easy.
Even now, sleep was tugging at me the moment I lay down.
"Uh... Y-You're lying down right away..."
Lily glanced at me curiously for a moment, then nodded.
"R-Rest easy...! I'll be over there doing research...!"
With that, she scurried off toward the desk.
***
After a good, deep sleep.
I was rolling around on the sofa, reading a novel.
I'd borrowed a few novels from Lily's bookshelf with her permission.
Last time, reading [Tales of the Seven Demons] had triggered a system warning.
But apparently, entertainment like novels was fine.
'Pretty fun.'
The novels in this world were quite entertaining.
You often see webnovels where the protagonist rips off modern culture from their old world and hits it big here... but that wouldn't fly here.
Still, I wasn't just vegging out aimlessly.
'All part of the plan.'
My eyes sharpened for a moment as I read.
For one, slacking off like this was farming Sloth points.
[Slothful action detected!]
[Sloth +1!]
...
Points were still accumulating even now.
Club time counted as class time.
Less frequent than regular classes, but slacking here earned points too.
And...
I glanced over my book at Lily, immersed in her research.
At first, she'd been fidgety, hyper-aware of me.
But seeing me genuinely laze around, she'd soon forgotten I was there.
"Ugh... Why won't it work...? Mandrake root makes the mana flow unstable, moonstone powder weakens the toxicity..."
She was muttering nonstop in front of a suspicious bubbling cauldron, thick book open.
From her mutterings,
She was researching the 'stabilization of deadly curse potion,' as expected.
Of course, I knew nothing about dark magic, not even basic magic.
So how did I know it was 'deadly curse potion stabilization' research?
Game knowledge, naturally.
'The first quest you get after joining this club is to help with Lily's research.'
No pop-up yet, though.
In the game, you had to scour the school library and hunt down related NPCs for data to give her hints.
But this was reality, not a game.
So, skip all that hassle and just tell her the answer, right?
And of course, I knew it.
"Haa... No good again... Another failure... What's wrong with it...?"
How much time passed like that.
Her research wasn't progressing, and her mutterings grew louder.
"Maybe something this great is too much for trash like me..."
Just as she was about to spiral down.
'Now's the time.'
I sensed the perfect moment to drop a hint.
Of course, I couldn't just give advice outright.
In the game, the protagonist advised after completing the related quest, so it made sense.
But I had no prior info—just the answer. And I wasn't even in the Dark Magic Department.
Sudden scholarly advice from me would raise suspicions, and the system might deduct Sloth for 'diligent' behavior.
'So, how about this.'
Still lying on the sofa, flipping pages, I tossed out a casual mutter like an afterthought.
"Oh. Using poison to conquer poison. That's intriguing."
"...Pardon?"
Lily whipped her head around.
She looked shocked, like she'd forgotten I was even there.
"Ah, sorry. Just an interesting scene in the novel."
I put on an innocent, clueless expression.
But.
"...!"
Lily's eyes widened.
"J-Jeron junior!"
She rushed over to me in a panic.
"Th-That thing earlier...! Could you say it one more time...?!"
Her eyes trembled desperately.