Club (5): The Club's Fifth Member
THUD!THUD!THUD!
The door rattled violently, as if someone were hammering it from the outside.
“This really…! Don’t open it!?”
The chaotic wave of magical energy spilling in from beyond the door reached Gladia through her Mind’s Eye.
‘With that much mana… will it be a third-year?’
Gladia’s brows furrowed ever so slightly. A third-year at the academy meant someone who could exert real power here.
Probably stronger than most outside magicians or knights.
Even that would be enough to make them walk with shoulders squared, claiming their strength wherever they went.
CLANG!CLANG!CLANG!
Soon the sound of a blade striking something outside came through the door. Someone had clearly given up on politeness and gone straight to showing off.
Yet the club room itself was strangely quiet, in complete contrast to the fierce energy outside.
“W-what?! Why won’t this break!? If you have the money to make that, you should have paid me first! Dorothea!!!!”
From outside came the wail of a creditor whose frustration and fury were hopelessly tangled.
‘Tsk tsk, so you should have looked before lending money.’
Gladia clicked her tongue in silent dismay.
Even family transactions weren’t that common.
No matter who the outsider was, they had just gained a lesson they would never forget for the rest of their life.
In the end, the creditor, after a long struggle with the door, sounded thoroughly exhausted.
“Hah… hah…! W-wait! I’ll be back tomorrow!”
Her final ultimatum trembled with fury, accompanied by rough, panting breaths.
THUD!THUD!THUD!THUD!
“Huu… huu… She’s gone…”
Dorothea, who had been carefully checking whether she had really left, let out a sigh of relief.
“S-she’s my friend Sara. I borrowed money from her this time… I was supposed to pay back today…”
“So just pay it back then.”
Aiolet answered with a look of utter disbelief.
This was her first experience of a debt collector hiding from the debtor.
She had never owed anyone a single coin in her life and now found herself fleeing a creditor! What a first.
The experience of trusting a new third-year senior had dropped to near zero.
Yet Dorothea had followed her willingly and hidden under the desk anyway—along with imitating Gladia, of course.
‘…She’s more of a monster than I thought.’
That realization had come from sensing the overwhelming mana and terrifyingly high mana circles radiating from that tiny frame.
Of course Aiolet didn’t possess Gladia’s razor-sharp senses, but even she could feel the massive power when Dorothea had casually pulled her along.
‘…At least three circles… or more.’
Aiolet could not precisely count circles, but three circles alone would make someone capable of targeting a court magician of a small nation.
Given her own struggle to reach the second circle, Dorothea’s strength felt even more overwhelming.
Yet here was someone of that caliber hiding from a debt collector…
“B-but… the limited-edition 1:1 Hero Statue is a print without a single defect, so I can’t get one unless I order it now…”
Dorothea continued in a voice full of genuine injustice.
“M-money can be paid later when I work part-time… but the Hero doesn’t wait for me…”
…
This woman was hopeless.
Aiolet had been meeting all kinds of strange humans ever since arriving at the academy—pink-haired Kruse, for one, and now this Dorothea senior as well. Why did such capable people keep behaving like this?
Maybe a balance patch for exceptional abilities…?
‘I must be the only normal one here.’
Smart, beautiful, and strong—yes, that charged her self-esteem.
***
Recovering self-esteem was one thing. The club was another.
After pouring out every excuse—payday would come soon, creditors don’t appear every day—while Dorothea rambled on, Aiolet led Gladia and Kruse into the far corner of the club room.
“Dia, is this real?”
“What is?”
“No matter how you look at it, the vice president is a has-been!”
Aiolet launched into a tirade directed at Gladia.
Even if the club was small and easy to manage, this was ridiculous!
A club whose vice president owed money to buy merchandise could never run smoothly.
Still, since they had decided to join a club, they might as well join the proper one.
There were so many clubs at the academy; surely there were better ones to find.
Yet Gladia and Kruse had different thoughts.
Kruse spoke first.
“I think it sounds good!”
“Where are you seeing this?”
“It’s adorable!”
Aiolet studied Kruse’s eyes to see if she was joking. Those eyes were brimming with sincerity.
Of course Kruse was not stupid.
Dorothea was strange, but…
‘I already know two strange people.’
Adding one more would not matter, would it?
Moreover.
‘That senior… she feels friendly…’
Kruse’s puppy-like laser eyes pinged in delight.
She was a friend in the true sense…!
Someone like this would be perfect to befriend.
‘This is my chance to expand my friend list…!’
Three friends already? Just imagining it made her shoulders rise in joy.
Aiolet sighed deeply, having read Kruse’s true feelings.
‘Ugh, I’m supposed to be talking sense to a madwoman.’
A truly wise person never wastes words on a fool.
‘I’m sure she wasn’t this dumb when I first met her… now she gets dumber by the day.’
Aiolet naturally pushed Kruse out of her mind.
She ignored the chattering Kruse beside her and turned to Gladia.
“Dia, what do you think? Should we join?”
Gladia gave a faint smile.
She knew exactly what Aiolet disliked.
Even as a mere title holder, if someone above her appeared—someone like Dorothea—Aiolet would hate it.
Deciding to calm her down, Gladia casually drew closer and pulled her into a hug.
Startle!
Aiolet jumped at the sudden movement. Her shoulders tensed.
“W-why…?!”
Gladia’s voluminous chest swallowed Aiolet’s head completely.
Since Aiolet was smaller than Gladia, the embrace felt strangely secure.
Gladia’s figure was also well-proportioned, sending a soft, pleasant sensation straight to Aiolet’s nape.
Of course Gladia was not acting with any ill intent.
Somehow, when Aiolet was in this embrace, she tended to behave more obediently.
Perhaps it was the influence of losing her mother young.
This was Gladia’s favorite way to persuade people when needed.
‘Mmm… lavender scent of the young miss~’
While hugging, Gladia took a deep sniff of Aiolet’s lavender perfume… but there was no ill intent.
‘She’s doing it again…’
Kruse had quietly taken a seat, resting her chin on her hands and watching them.
Gladia, utterly ignoring Kruse, whispered into Aiolet’s ear while still holding her close.
“Come on, young miss, come in. The club must be joined anyway, right?”
“…That’s true, but isn’t there a better club than this one?”
Aiolet shivered at the ticklish words, neck shrinking.
Of course there were many better clubs than the Lavender one, but the Lavender had one advantage the others lacked.
“No other club has Senior Dorothea.”
“Whether that senior exists or not is none of your concern? Are you only saying the young miss is cute?”
Gladia’s eyes sharpened instantly as Aiolet’s gaze snapped from the arms that had been loosening.
Aiolet, already wary because of Gladia’s generous nature toward Kruse, had been unsettled by the thought of adding yet another woman.
‘Absolutely not allowed!’
Feeling Aiolet’s rapidly quickening breaths in jealousy, Gladia chuckled.
‘She’s so possessive it’s scary. Who knows where she’ll go when she marries.’
…Of course Gladia herself would draw her sword the moment Aiolet started clinging to another woman or brought a man along.
In a way, they made a perfectly matched pair.
“Young miss, don’t misunderstand. I don’t value Senior because she’s cute.”
Of course Dorothea was cute.
Even in the game, despite low visibility in voting, she consistently ranked high in popularity polls.
Especially as the tiny-mong girl who, when removed, was stated to be terrifyingly strong.
Her fan club had split Gladia and Rustiel for popularity.
Gladia pointed at Dorothea with a nod while polishing the grimy merchandise in the corner of the club room.
“Senior Dorothea is far stronger than you imagine. Being close to her will definitely help.”
“That tiny-mong girl is that strong? I know she has skill… but—”
‘Young miss, you don’t know anything.’
Gladia sighed deeply at Aiolet’s reaction.
The sudden breeze at the back of Aiolet’s neck made her flinch.
“Hey, young miss. Don’t tell such nonsensical stories just anywhere.”
“What?”
“In the academy, being cautious around women, children, and the elderly is ‘common sense,’ you know.”
In this genre, the more delicate the appearance, the stronger the person was.
Moreover, Dorothea was delicate and female…
This was the kind of person one should immediately turn around and flee from if met on the street. (For reference, Rustiel was woman + child + elderly, so one must never even make eye contact.)
“What kind of common sense is that…?”
Aiolet looked at Gladia with incredulous eyes, as if questioning the very existence of such common sense.
“Then shall we check?”
Gladia smiled, having expected this reaction, and led Kruse toward Dorothea while still hugging Aiolet close.
“Senior!!”
“Y-yes? What?”
“Our young miss wants to try out the club activities before joining!”
“R-really?!”
“What? When did I say that?!”
Aiolet struggled in Gladia’s arms, but Gladia ignored her and pulled her deeper into her chest, sealing her completely.
“Mmm!”“Mmm!”
“Look, she’s so curious she can’t help herself.”
“Heh… hehe…”
Dorothea blushed at the sudden situation and let out a bashful laugh.
This was her first time being so interested in while doing club activities.
It was truly her golden age of life!
Dorothea was overjoyed!
“I-I would love to… then…”
A strange ripple of magical energy flowed from Dorothea’s fingertips.
It was not a simple spell to cast, but she felt the urge to put on a show for her new juniors.
“I have a ruin… I’ve been keeping track of one… let’s go together!”
At that moment, a massive magic circle erupted beneath Dorothea’s feet, instantly filling the entire club room.
WHOOOSH—!
The air inside the room twisted violently. Aiolet felt the mana wave from within Gladia’s embrace and recoiled in shock.
‘Not three circles… this is…!’
Five circles…!
The magic flowing from Dorothea’s fingertips began to erode the surrounding space.
Gladia focused on the five rings of mana circulating through Dorothea’s heart.
For the first time since arriving here, the power of five circles reached her Mind’s Eye with perfect clarity.
‘It’s not as if anyone reaching five circles is automatically treated as a great magician.’
Feeling the immense power, Gladia let out an admiring breath.
Frankly, even five-circle magic would have been surprising, but what Dorothea was casting now was magic one dimension higher.
Five-Circle Application Magic — Spatial Teleportation
Spatial magic, usable by only an extremely small fraction of those who had reached five circles.
And now it was being unleashed by a mere academy student’s hand.
The club room shattered like glass, and the four figures vanished as if wiped by an eraser.
In the empty club room, only the golden Hero statue remained, gleaming under the light.