Before the Semester Starts, It's Always a Battlefield #3
Standing before the mirror in the public bathhouse, my body looked like a mercenary from a war-torn nation.
“This guy has more scars than he appears.” With a model-like height and muscles devoid of any fat. However, just as I had evaluated, scars filled various places. It was only natural, as serving as an executor for the Student Council’s disciplinary committee frequently led to armed clashes with those who defied the law.
“......”
Yet among the scars were many that appeared extremely old. It gave me a sense of the kind of life this Victor, a man filled with nothing but sheer tenacity, must have lived.
“As someone who possesses nothing but this body, you must have struggled desperately. I respect that.”
It was truly a body like Steel. Solid to the point of rigidity. In more ways than one.
How many times had it been hammered in the forge of training to be tempered into something this strong? How had a man like this ended up discarded like crumpled scrap metal?
“Of course, such a thing will not happen now.”
As long as I was here, Victor would not become a boss monster with fifteen HP bars and an instant-death pattern. Ah, I truly had confidence. I had to have confidence.
Dong. Dong.
At that moment, the clock installed inside the bathhouse announced two o’clock in the afternoon.
“......”
It should be about time. Women’s bathing sessions were longer than men’s. Still, by now Nike should have shed her grimy appearance and stepped outside, shouldn’t she?
I wiped away the moisture, dressed, and emerged in front of the bathhouse. But Nike was nowhere to be seen.
“Did she run away by any chance?”
No, that was impossible. I held Nike’s bundle of ten million Rene. Before entering the bath, she had repeatedly urged me, “Don’t take my money and run away!”
“She is still not out.”
Even though I had told her time was gold.
“Still a novice.”
As I offered this moderate criticism, a pleasant scent wafted over with a soft whoosh. The smell of soap from someone freshly washed. When I turned my head, Nike stood behind me, her messy pink hair like strands of seaweed covering her face.
“You have arrived. You are late.”
“I was drying my clothes. How is it? They look clean after washing, right? I told you we didn’t need to buy new ones.”
So that was the reason. She had been delayed by laundry. Nike’s torn and damaged uniform looked considerably cleaner than before. If it had resembled trash earlier, now it was like slightly less dirty trash.
“Nevertheless, that alone is insufficient.”
“Eeeeh…”
I took Nike with me to a clothing shop located in the shopping district.
“It is exactly as I remember.”
Even calling it a clothing shop, the items’ performance fell far short of dungeon drops or personally crafted gear. Still, this particular shop was somewhat familiar to me. I had often stopped by to check because it irregularly sold costumes such as ‘bunny girl’ or ‘swimsuit’ outfits.
Those clothes existed for the favorability system, to be gifted to heroines so they would wear them.
"Bunny ears? You're telling me to wear this weird outfit? Well, since you've helped me in so many ways, I suppose I can do it just once…."
The memories came flooding back vividly.
“We must enter. Into the clothing shop. We are entering.”
“That is a strange command. Is that earth magic too?”
“......”
Nike took several long, deep breaths in front of the clothing shop. It was not a dungeon. Together with such a Nike, I finally stepped inside.
Ding-a-ling.
After the familiar bell sound, the shop interior was exactly the same as the CG in my memory. Even down to the female designer with languid eyes greeting us in a sensual tone: “Welcome.”
For reference, this person was known as Designer Sister and had been a somewhat popular character.
“It is moving.”
No one but me would experience this kind of remaster.
“......”
While I immersed myself in nostalgia, Nike had frozen solid. Was she the type to panic when a clerk spoke to her in a clothing shop? I decided to help the pitiful Nike.
“Designer. I wish to commission one set of this female student’s uniform.”
“Oh ho ho, wonderful. This way. We will take measurements first.”
The clothing designer led Nike by the hand. Soon, thumping noises echoed from inside the dressing room.
“Hee hee, my sides! It tickles…!”
“You are thinner than you look. You should eat more, dear. Still, your skin is exceptionally good.”
“Hee hee hee…!”
What sort of clothes was she making, exactly?
Some time later.
Nike appeared before me, fidgeting.
“H-how does it look?”
“It is much better than before.”
It was not an empty compliment; it was the truth. If she had looked like a beggar earlier, now she was neat and clean. The clothes suited her well after all. The claim that she possessed potential on par with Victorica might not have been false.
Only one thing was lacking.
“This will do.”
I picked up an item displayed in the shop. It was a ribbon. A hair ribbon.
“Designer, I will purchase two of these as well.”
“Those are display samples, so I will give you half off.”
“Buying two for the price of one. Splendid.”
However, Nike was startled.
“T-that is not necessary…! It is not like we absolutely need it…!”
“No. It will definitely suit you. For the club, this is absolutely necessary.”
In truth, it was more for my personal preference and curiosity than for the club.
In the publicly released illustration of Nike, her twin tails tied into two bundles had shone brilliantly. But the current Nike merely hid her face behind long, messy hair.
“Let me tie it for you, little one. It is a waste to cover such a pretty face. Come here. I will also trim and arrange your bangs a little. This is a service.”
In the skilled hands of the customer-savvy designer sister, ribbons were eventually fastened on both sides of Nike’s hair. The face revealed after her messy bangs were neatly snipped was…
“H-how is it? It looks strange after all, right? It does not suit me…”
“......”
I did not answer. It was because I felt a slight wave of emotion. The feeling swirled as if I had found the perfect puzzle piece and completed the masterpiece.
Yes. This was none other than Nike Mokemoke.
The designer sister offered plenty of praise in my place.
“It suits you tremendously. You look like a noble young lady out for a spring picnic. It feels as if this ribbon was made specifically for you. Don’t you agree, boyfriend?”
“I concur, but make a correction. I am not her boyfriend.”
“Really? I thought it was clearly affection since you chose the perfectly fitting clothes.”
“Enough with the useless talk. We will settle the bill and leave.”
After leaving the shop, Nike remained extremely anxious.
“What should I do? Everyone is staring. Is it because it does not suit me…? I really do not need this. Should we get a refund right now…”
Was she bothered by the way people whispered while looking at her in the new clothes?
“Look at that. It is Victor.”
“Who is the girl beside him? Pink hair?”
“I do not know. Was there a student like that at Ludens? It is my first time seeing her. If a girl like that existed, there is no way this body, Daily Rumor, would not have known.”
“Damn it, she is cute. Both Victorica and her. Why is it only Victor…”
Everyone was full of praise.
“…Ugh, I want to return to the forest.”
However, Nike seemed so flustered that she failed to realize the whispers were compliments.
That said, telling her “Have confidence. You are sufficiently pretty” was not something Victor or I could do easily. We were not skilled with women. How could one say such words while in their right mind?
With that feeling, we soon arrived in front of the Ludens Student Council building. Our clothes were clean and we had secured the startup funds. Now all that remained was truly establishing the club.
“Nike. Full speed ahead.”
“Y-yes!”
We entered the building without hesitation. Several familiar students stopped in their tracks upon seeing us, but we had no time to mind them. The place we headed was the reception counter of the student council building.
“Victor, what brings you here? You are no longer part of the disciplinary committee.”
A male student who seemed to recognize me tilted his head from behind the counter. I answered lightly.
“I did not come for that matter. I intend to establish a club.”
“Victor, you are establishing a club…!?”
Was that so surprising? I drew a waiting ticket and sat down in a chair. Perhaps because it was the final weekday of vacation, the student council building was crowded and our turn was quite far back. Still, it seemed we would be called before the counter work finished.
Nike breathed a sigh of relief.
“Whew, I almost ended up late.”
“Nike, that is because you kept dawdling.”
“Eeeeh… it angers me that I cannot refute it.”
“Before that, fill out these documents. As the person who will become club president, this is a natural duty.”
“Me, the club president? Not you?”
“Worry not. It is only in name. In my heart I would like to take the position, but there is a regulation preventing anyone expelled from the student council from opening a club for one year.”
Because of that rule, Milone had struggled considerably in the fifth act.
“Besides, you have experience opening a club, so this should pose no problem.”
“…That is true!”
Nike quickly regained her confidence and scribbled away. Then she paused her pen and asked.
“But what kind of club are we making?”
“Why ask the obvious? It is a cooking club.”
“That name probably already exists. A plain name will not do. These things need impact in the name so new members will flock in droves.”
A fairly reasonable opinion. In the game, club names could be chosen roughly, but now it was reality.
Nike suggested, “How about this? Victory Cooking Club.”
“What?”
For a moment I was startled because my own name, Seungri, had come up. The panic had pierced even Victor’s Steel mentality, so one could imagine the size of that shock. I even looked up, wondering if my name was displayed overhead.
However, Nike spoke calmly.
“My name Nike comes from the goddess of victory. And you are Victor of victory. How about it? Do you not think it is perfect for the club we are founding together?”
“......”
It made sense. And it felt like fate. I had thought of several names, but none could surpass Nike’s suggestion.
Once the documents were roughly completed.
Our turn finally arrived and we entered the examination room. Waiting for us inside were…
“Victorica. We meet again.”
“I did not particularly wish to. You wish to establish a club? According to regulations, you must receive examination from at least three student council officers.”
In the examination room were Victorica, Shadi, and the reserve first-year accountant—the blonde bob-haired girl, Milone the Golden.
This was not good. Leaving Milone aside, there was no way Victorica and Shadi would look favorably upon me. I hoped they would not deliberately fail the examination.
“Be at ease. We will not deliberately fail you. Though in my heart I would like to. But if I did, you—who love regulations—would not remain silent, would you?”
Did Victorica also possess a Mind Reading skill? As I felt doubt, Victorica added in a cold voice.
“However, Victor. I know better than anyone what you can and cannot do. You, establishing a club. Just what are you plotting?”
“Must I explain even that?”
“No. There is no such regulation. And…”
Victorica, sitting calmly in her chair, turned her gaze toward Nike, who fidgeted behind me. Her golden eyes looking at Nike shook with a strange intensity.
“And…”
I could not tell what emotion that was.
“And…”
But Victorica composed her usual calm expression.
“And Miss Mokemoke. No, the former president of the former Mokemoke Occult Club. You could not gather three members, so the club was ultimately closed. By this Victor’s hand.”
“Miss Arclight, you remembered me.”
“I reviewed the documents again after returning. I was curious what kind of girl you were. Was it a club created to reveal Ludens’ seven great mysteries?”
While Nike and Victorica conversed, I fell briefly into thought. The Mokemoke Occult Club? What sort of name was that? Closed for failing to gather three members. This explained why Victor had shut down Nike’s club. The advice to choose a club name carefully must have come from experience.
“Then let me see the documents.”
With a smooth motion, Victorica extended her palm in a businesslike manner devoid of emotion. Nike handed the completed papers to secretary Shadi, who in turn passed them to Victorica.
Flip. Victorica calmly scanned the text while turning the pages. Somehow, it made me tense.
“Victory Cooking Club? Miss Mokemoke, can you cook?”
“No, I am in charge of procuring ingredients while Victor handles the cooking…”
“Victor cooking?”
Victorica wore an expression of disbelief. In response, I produced the Native Eggs, Spice Grass, and Dried Jerky I had kept in my possession and spoke.
“Execution is faster than explanation. I understand there is a kitchen next door. I will borrow it according to the regulations.”
After all, water and fire could be used for free.