The Club and the Self-Proclaimed Imperial Princess (2)
Operation Get Close to Lily carried on long after the lecture had ended.
We explored the far corners of the Academy that we hadn't managed to see before, given how sprawling the place was. Whenever something snack-worthy caught our eye on the way, we ate it, and we chatted away to close the distance between us.
"……"
As we walked side by side, Lily's gaze locked onto a single spot.
She must have been unable to tear her eyes away even as she passed it — her head had turned nearly a full 180 degrees.
Curious, I followed her line of sight.
There was nothing but the ordinary Academy scenery.
If anything qualified as remotely special, it would only be the students passing by.
"What, is there some guy you like or something?"
"Huh?"
"You were staring so hard. That guy who just walked by? Hmm… I don't think he's that handsome. Aren't I better looking than him, anyway?"
"No! No! That's not it…!"
At my guess, Lily waved both hands wildly in denial.
The flush that started at her throat swallowed up her earlobes whole.
She was a bomb on the verge of detonation.
"It's not that… just come with me for a second…"
Looking as though she wanted to explain herself, Lily tugged at my sleeve.
So, led along by her hand, I arrived at a wooden notice board with papers pinned to it. Lily pointed at one of them with her finger.
NOW RECRUITING NEW CLUB MEMBERS!
"The truth is, I've always wanted to try something like this."
A club!
When it comes to clubs, they're the very flower of university life, aren't they?
I remembered joining a job-hunting club in my past life and happily sharing information while studying all day long — though unfortunately, the members who were obsessed with women drove me out, and things ended badly.
Anyway.
I never got to enjoy clubs to my heart's content in my past life either, so I was genuinely interested.
Come to think of it, just making a club of our own wouldn't be a bad idea.
An Engineering Club, for instance.
We could use this place as our workshop and churn out new inventions.
I was skimming through the flyers pinned to the board with interest when Lily fidgeted and mumbled.
"It's just… we haven't known each other all that long, and clubs rarely take penniless commoners like me anyway…"
Ah, so that's why she'd only been looking.
She wanted to join, but there was nowhere that would have her.
If that was the problem, then thankfully I'd already thought of a solution just moments ago.
"Clubs are great. Want to just make one?"
"That's a good idea, but founding a club costs money. And quite a lot of it. You also need to bring in a faculty advisor."
Money was no problem.
Even if it cost a bit, it would still be cheaper than setting up a workshop in the Imperial Capital, so it'd be a bargain.
As for the faculty advisor… that shouldn't be too hard.
At the very least, the professors whose lectures I shared with Lily were favorable toward me, and though I wasn't sure whether that dwarf counted as a professor, he seemed like the type who'd gladly do it if he were one.
"That much, I can handle."
"Really?"
Color bloomed across Lily's face.
Looking up at me with round, wide eyes, both fists clenched together, she was the spitting image of Puss in Boots.
"But if you're only doing this because I want to, forcing yourself… you don't have to…"
"No, after hearing you out, I actually want to now. Making something like an Engineering Club sounds fun."
"A teddy bear? Teddy bears are adorable."
It was Engineering Club, not teddy bear, but Lily just giggled, oblivious.
The club I was imagining was a greasy, grease-stained bunch writing code until they withered; the club Lily was imagining was no doubt full of cute, cuddly vibes.
But I wouldn't be disappointed by the disconnect.
Given the glow-in-the-dark teddy bear and the giant robot teddy bear to come, Lily would surely love it too.
Who on earth could hate that?
"What do you need to do to found a club?"
"I actually looked into it before. One second."
Lily rummaged through her bag, pulled out a piece of paper crumpled like a ball, and smoothed it out.
Holding it up with both hands, she read the contents aloud.
"A minimum of three club members. A founding fee of ten gold. One faculty advisor required. To receive subsidies, you must produce results every month. That's what it says."
A minimum of three?
Me, and Lily.
Me, and Lily…
That's only two.
"Lily, do you happen to have any friends?"
"No, I don't?"
Ah, right.
She was a total loner, wasn't she.
Dang it!
I'd run into an unforeseen obstacle.
Recruiting club members hit a rough patch.
Nobody told us the reason outright, but it was obvious.
Lily and I were penniless commoners without a lick of influence.
This was Trinity Academy, already overflowing with conflict thanks to every factional squabble imaginable.
So a pair of near-bottom-caste, moneyless commoners gathering together to run a club of their own?
The nobles were never going to look kindly on that.
Simply lying low like a dead mouse and avoiding attention was hard enough as it was; there was no reason to go out of our way to play the thorn in everyone's side.
"You couldn't find members, so you can't found the club?"
No, how was this the easiest condition to meet, by any reasonable measure?
Even if not for Lily's sake, I wanted to make this club for my own sake too.
I glanced back over my shoulder.
Behind me, Luke, the Count's young heir, sat sprawled in a slouchy posture, chattering away.
The moment his eyes met mine, he whipped his head away and shook his fists with fury.
I wasn't glaring at him to tell him to shut up.
I was only looking because I was wondering if, just maybe, in the absolute worst case where I couldn't find a third member, I might have to let that guy in.
Of course, he wouldn't know that, which was why he was acting like that.
Maybe I should just recruit a ghost member.
In other words, buy one off with money.
If there was a student in desperate straits, they'd surely take the bait.
I was mulling this over, tapping my ballpoint pen against the desk, when it happened.
BANG!
The door flew open with force.
The lecture had already ended, so I didn't think much of it.
"Is the mage who invented the Paternity Test Kit here?"
But the instant the person who'd walked in said that, I couldn't help but look toward the source of the voice.
What the—?
How did she find out?
Don't tell me you're the one who blabbed, Luke, you Count's brat.
"The Paternity Test Kit…?"
Lily tilted her head as if she'd never heard of it.
The students gathered here had no particular reason to care about that kind of news yet, so it made sense she wouldn't know.
At this point, even if it came to light, nothing terrible would happen — but I was quite curious why she was looking for me specifically.
I raised my hand.
The girl, who had been looking around and was about to leave after getting no response, spotted me and came over.
"You're the mage who invented the Paternity Test Kit?"
If Lily had been Puss in Boots, this girl was just… a cat.
Upturned eyes with sharp corners, and lips shaped into a little triangle.
It wasn't just her expression — her whole bearing radiated a mischievous, faintly sly charm.
"Before that, I have a question. How did you know I was the mage who invented the Paternity Test Kit?"
"I happened to overhear the kid sitting back there muttering to himself while I was walking by."
"……"
Still seated, I twisted my upper body halfway around.
Luke was heading out of the lecture hall with his friends in tow.
Apparently he'd been uncomfortable with being connected to the Paternity Test Kit too.
"Fine. So, what did you come find me for?"
"I wanted you to give me one of the Paternity Test Kits."
Well, that was pretty much the only reason I'd expected.
I took the Paternity Test Kit I'd stashed in my coat and set it on the desk.
And then — sliiide.
The sound of the Paternity Test Kit scraping across the desk as it moved.
The girl was casually sliding it toward herself, about to pocket it.
Who do you think you're dealing with?
Trade, as a rule, follows the same law as hostage exchange.
If I hand over the goods, the other side hands over the money. That's common sense.
But putting up no money at all and pocketing the goods first?
That, I could not let stand.
Whoosh. I shot my hand out.
I managed to stop her just in time as she tried, all smooth and sneaky, to slip the Paternity Test Kit into her pocket.
"Hold it right there. Money first, wouldn't you say?"
The girl whose wrist I'd caught tried to shake my hand off, but her efforts were in vain.
Tugging against my grip in a tug-of-war, she asked,
"H-how much, then…?"
"Since we're fellow Academy students, I'll make it a special price. Fifty gold coins."
"……"
The girl fell silent.
Twisting at the waist, she used the hand that wasn't caught to rummage through the pocket on her other side.
…Wait a moment.
This side profile.
I felt like I'd seen it somewhere before.
The proud, upturned nose, and following the line of it down, a chest that announced its presence without shame.
"Ah — the auction house."
That's right, the auction house.
That woman who'd battled it out tooth and nail with Viscount Elmwood when he took part in the auction that time — it was definitely this girl.
"…Surely you could just give it to me. I shall not forget this debt of gratitude."
"Why did your speech suddenly change?"
"Though I tried to conceal it, I shall reveal it to you alone. I am, in truth, the Imperial Princess of this Empire…"
A snort of laughter burst out of me.
The girl made an indignant sound.
"Are you laughing at me? I shall repay this humiliation one day…"
The awkward speech was one thing, but — the Imperial Princess?
She was claiming to be the Imperial Princess.
As far as I knew, the Emperor of this Empire had no daughter.
So what, is she claiming to be some hidden daughter or something?
"You'd better not say that to anyone else. You could get arrested for impersonating royalty."
"It's not an impersonation. It's the truth."
"Sure. Let's go with that. Anyway, I can hand over a Paternity Test Kit for free."
"……"
The girl's face twisted with suspicion.
"It's nothing major. I'm founding a club, but we're short on members. Join ours, and I'll give you one."
"…That's all?"
"Yep."
The girl nodded and accepted the terms.
When I pushed the club founding application across to her, she wrote her name into the blank.
So that was this girl's name, apparently.
Anyway.
I'd gathered all the members I needed.
Next up: the faculty advisor.
Unfortunately, the professor whose lecture I was taking already had a club of his own.
But the dwarf I'd met before, Gode, turned out to be a professor at the Academy as well, and offered to introduce me.
So, following the note the dwarf Gode had given me, I made my way over and found—
"Ah, Owen! Perfect timing! I was in the middle of a debate with these block-headed dwarves, and you're exactly who I needed!"
Gode the dwarf was in the throes of a clamorous brawl with a pack of other dwarves.
A bottle shattered with a crash, a desk went airborne and splintered apart, and a rusted toolkit clattered to the floor with a tremendous racket.
One dwarf lunged at Gode, bellowing:
"Enough!! What business does a blacksmith have using magic?! A blacksmith is one who meets iron in face-to-facecombat with his body!! This I say!!"
It was an absolute disaster.