Club Hunting and the Shift to Plan B

On her way to school, Arina happened to run into Marily. As the two of them passed through the academy gates together, a sight completely different from the first semester unfolded before them. The academy’s information boards were plastered with flyers introducing all kinds of clubs, and upperclassmen could be seen here and there handing out materials to the first-years.

“It’s club hunting.”

“Club hunting?”

When Marily let out a small snort of laughter at the scene, Arina turned to her with a puzzled tilt of her head.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like—recruiting students to join clubs. They’re targeting the new students.”

By the time someone reached second year or higher, the chances of newly joining a club were almost zero. Whether they had already joined one or chosen the going-home club instead, the decision had already been made. Of course there were occasional cases where upperclassmen joined a new club because a friend talked them into it or for other reasons, but the benefit hardly justified the effort of recruiting them.

“But the first-years, who haven’t decided anything yet, are a different story.”

In other words, the start of the second semester—when first-years could choose and enter clubs—was the golden opportunity for every club to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swell its ranks.

“To put it another way, if they can’t meet the minimum member count by this point, they risk sudden disbandment.”

There were many clubs, but the number of available clubrooms was limited. Mages were beings who looked toward the future. There was no reason to grant club space to an organization with no visible future.

“That’s why they call it club hunting. Don’t you think the word ‘hunting’ fits the scene perfectly?”

If the hunt succeeded, they could live without a single worry for the rest of the year. If it failed, they might vanish without a trace at any moment. It was a desperate struggle by the club members to protect their home.

After listening to Marily’s full explanation and watching the upperclassmen, Arina could sense a fierce heat burning behind their bright smiles as they handed out papers to the first-years.

“Well, it has nothing to do with us.”

Marily spoke lightly and strolled indifferently past the seniors distributing flyers. She was right. The two of them had already created their own club during the break and joined it. Of course, it was only a temporary club that would last for this single semester.

“To be honest, I was skeptical when Professor Karlsen said he’d handle everything. I never imagined he would actually pull it off. I have to see him in a new light now.”

Arina felt exactly the same. Given Professor Karlsen’s usual behavior, she had assumed he would promise to do it all himself, forget about it, and then cram everything in a frantic rush the night before. If anything was surprising, it was that. In a way, it was almost sad that a professor at the Ellemental Kingdom’s greatest academy commanded so little trust from his students.

“Still, I’m worried. From the second semester onward, practical classes will increase dramatically.”

Unlike Arina, who at least had some strength in practicals, Marily’s practical skills were an absolute disaster. It was perfectly understandable that she was fretting. Even Arina had felt the same overwhelming helplessness while watching the various spell formulas during the first semester.

“I wonder how many subjects I’ll have to drop.”

“…You’re not even planning to try hard at all?”

However, Arina was still underestimating her friend. Unlike the diligent Arina, Marily had every intention of abandoning any subject she found uninteresting from the very beginning. She was a headstrong princess who lived her entire life according to nothing but her own interests.

Seeing Marily cackling frivolously at her reaction, Arina let out a small laugh—half exasperated, half resigned.

The two of them entered the academy building side by side, and thus the second semester of Benedict Academy officially began.

Originally, a large-scale purge had been scheduled inside the Ellemental Kingdom following the Ariaadna Square terror incident. They would capture Kindness whether she was dead or alive and prove the connection between the church and the terror group. There was already more than enough evidence linking Immortal and the Tugwi Guard; all that remained was to tie the church into it for checkmate.

“Conversely, failing to prove it would mean they lack the justification needed to drive them out.”

From ancient times, wars involving religion had always created countless problems. It was not a simple clash of forces but a battle of beliefs. Those who had fallen so deeply into religion that it resembled brainwashing would refuse to see the truth no matter how wrong things were; they would uphold their faith to the very end. They would denounce the other side as oppressors and instead band together even more tightly to resist. The word “fanatic” had not appeared for nothing. That was precisely why a more solid justification was required to fight them.

In that sense, this opportunity had been perfect. If they had only managed to capture Kindness, who had come with the explicit purpose of killing Jealousy, they would have held an absolutely irrefutable justification.

At Majoan’s words, Pride’s groan-mixed reply came from the other side of the smartphone.

He had not expected Jealousy to fail. Or, to be more accurate, he had simply left the matter alone, confident that the man would handle it perfectly on his own.

Yet who could have imagined that in the final moment he would escape through the Undying King’s Inner World?

It was good that they had identified one of the opponent’s trump cards, but the fact that the failure had halted all further progress was the worst possible outcome.

“I never thought the enemy would move personally.”

If Pride’s mistake had been not knowing about the Undying King’s Inner World, then Majoan’s mistake had been failing to anticipate that Tugwi would involve himself in the situation. A man interested in nothing but combat. Tugwi was the person most deserving of the title battle fanatic, which was exactly why no one had predicted he would barge into such a frivolous affair.

Pride had never intended to ask for Sawang’s help, but Majoan had believed that, should the worst occur, Sawang’s participation would reverse the entire situation for the better.

In the end, the failure had arisen from the intersection of both their mistakes.

Originally, when the body grows distant the heart follows. Even faith must be periodically reinforced to remain effective. If the church’s forces were completely erased from the kingdom, its influence would inevitably decline, naturally creating a hitch in the Undying King’s plans—the very work of altering the perception of everyone on the continent through the church’s power in order to deify himself.

They had no choice but to prevent that, so Kindness had erased every trace of her existence, including all CCTV footage, without leaving behind a single piece of evidence.

The fact that the underworld had failed to locate her for more than a month proved just how thoroughly and meticulously she had operated.

Yet that did not mean there was no evidence whatsoever.

The complete lack of any trace was evidence in itself. There were no traces left in the underworld. Rephrased, it meant the opponent had not passed through the underworld when entering the country.

And Pride possessed evidence of exactly that. Although they could not confirm it was Kindness, they had already verified that the church’s forces had entered the nation. Otherwise there would have been no reason to dispatch Lust to the exact spot where the opponent had attempted to hunt Jealousy.

The ones who had prepared the path for Kindness to enter this country were the kingdom’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nobles. More precisely, the church’s remaining followers still inside the nation. They had opened the route for both the church and the Tugwi Guard to slip secretly into the kingdom.

The underworld had already known about those movements, and the opponent had not believed they could hide them from the underworld either. As had been stated once before, the Ariaadna terror had been an incident that occurred on the premise that both sides had completely grasped each other’s movements.

The Plan B Pride mentioned was to strike first at the nobles who had assisted the church forces. Originally they had planned to prove the church’s involvement, gather public opinion on their side, and then use that momentum to expel the nobles. But now that the original plan had fallen through, the only remaining option was to hit the nobles first and extract evidence from them.

It was, in effect, reversing cause and effect.

And this was a plan Majoan had preferred to avoid if at all possible. Should they raid the nobles and find nothing, the backlash for oppressing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them without justification would fall on their own heads.

“Aren’t you underestimating the nobles too much?”

There was no chance they would have conveniently left behind easily discovered evidence. That was exactly why the church had used them to enter. Touching them clumsily would almost certainly result in the backlash Majoan feared.

It was a gamble so risky that Pride would have chosen any other option without hesitation had one existed.

Unfortunately, they no longer had any other options.

If we continue like this, it will only lead to a pointless war of attrition that keeps piling up fatigue.

Whether a war of attrition favored them or not was irrelevant. The important point was that Pride had always resolved matters with swift, decisive action and had little experience with prolonged conflicts.

There was no reason to deliberately fight on ground where he was weak. Of course, since Majoan primarily operated in the political arena, he must have experienced many such battles—unlike Pride.

I can’t trust it.

To move as a chess piece on a board prepared by someone else rather than following his own plan. Without faith in the other party, only distrust would continue to accumulate.

Whether ally or enemy, as long as the person in question was not Sawang, Pride’s nature would never allow him to operate beneath another.

“Certainly, the lesser nobles with less experience may have left traces.”

Of course, it was only a possibility. Still, it seemed far more realistic than aiming directly for the head.

“However, once the grand nobles begin interfering, even this path will become difficult, won’t it?”

No matter what justification they wielded, it would amount to nothing more than a childish cover-up. There was no way the other side would fail to notice their true purpose, and interference was inevitable.

And, as expected, Pride had already prepared a countermeasure.

“Is it the thing you mentioned to Agni last time?”

That much was true. In the worst case, the casualties could exceed even those of the Ariaadna Square terror incident.

“…Please keep the damage to a minimum.”

While the underworld drew their gaze, the royal family must obtain clear evidence.

With Majoan’s permission, a twisted smile formed on Pride’s lips.