Clubs (2)
If I wanted to follow the original story, the baking club Exipri joined would have been the right call—but she was such an easy character to raise affection with that putting her somewhere else seemed wiser.
She really was the type who'd trail after you for a single piece of candy, so dangerously fond of people and sweets that leaving her unsupervised was a risk. That was exactly why she'd ended up in the baking club, stuffed full of delicious confections, in the first place.
With her, a single candy a day would probably have her conquered before I knew it. It made me feel like something of a villain, but there was no helping it.
That left the magic research club and the swordsmanship club as the remaining candidates…
Anastasiya's swordsmanship club was clearly the better choice. Given the subject matter, the theology club's members were almost all genuine believers, which made building useful relationships difficult.
More precisely, I could build relationships—they just wouldn't be much help when it came to conquering anyone.
I'd considered joining the theology club because of Gloria, but contact with her would arise naturally once Stephania started making real moves, so I struck it from the list.
As for magic, I already had Georg as an excellent teacher. There was no need to learn more. More importantly, I had zero desire to walk into a pure boys' club without a single woman in it.
There were a few other clubs with heroines, but most of them had special conditions attached. The swordsmanship club, which required nothing particular, seemed like the best option.
Camilla was in a social club that was essentially women-only, and Cecilia's spirit research club required the ability to communicate with spirits.
Then there was Iris, whose club membership wasn't even mentioned.
As I kept turning it over alone, I found myself wondering which club Hoyeon would choose.
If possible, I wanted to join the same one so I could look after her—but fretting over her too much would clearly leave me chained down.
Thinking that way, the road ahead looked a little dark. How had gaining just one new thing made life this exhausting?
I glanced at the seat beside me and saw Hoyeon still ignoring me. Even when she looked around the classroom, she stubbornly refused to glance toward my side.
I wondered what it was this time, then decided to just let it go.
We'd only known each other a day, but she'd already shown plenty of mercurial moods. This was probably more of the same.
I didn't really need to ask, but curiosity won out. Even if I got ignored for it, I decided to try once.
Whatever else, I wanted a clear answer on which club she was interested in.
"Have you decided on a club by any chance?"
"…A club?"
Whether because she'd been spacing out when I suddenly spoke, or simply because I was the one speaking to her, she looked a little surprised.
Her expression didn't change, but her ears twitched slightly, which gave me that impression.
More than anything, her tone said she'd never heard of such a thing.
"Yes. Today's the day we choose clubs. You didn't know?"
"…I see."
Whether she was uninterested or simply unaware—probably both. She fell silent for a moment as if thinking, then answered.
"A club… No. I haven't thought about it."
I almost said, Then how about the swordsmanship club?—but stopped. We weren't close enough for that kind of recommendation, and it would have been far too obvious. An indirect approach, though—that might work.
"Are you interested in swordsmanship at all?"
Casually, but clear enough that she could catch the intent. I didn't say it outright, but I was suggesting she join the swordsmanship club.
Her reaction, however, was lukewarm.
"Swordsmanship. I learned a little from my father as a child. Even that was at a play level—nothing I'd show anyone. Why do you ask?"
Whether she'd picked up on my intent or not, she didn't seem particularly pleased. Her expression never changed, so I couldn't read her at all.
But the fact that she mentioned only childhood lessons and modestly called them "play level" suggested she wasn't eager.
"You didn't seem to have settled on a club yet, so I thought I'd ask in case there was something I could recommend."
"…I'll consider it. Thank you for the thought."
I didn't get a who do you think you are to tell me what to do, so at least I hadn't earned her dislike—but recruiting her to the swordsmanship club had clearly failed.
Hoyeon didn't seem interested in talking further and went back to staring blankly ahead. When someone was that openly done with a conversation, pressing further would only backfire, so I left her alone.
Still, for someone in her position, she was surprisingly polite.
As I was thinking about little things like that, Ms. Dorothy soon came in through the front door.
After a brief greeting, she delivered the announcements.
"Um… Hello, everyone! As you all know, today is club selection day. You don't have to join one, but it might help you after you leave the academy, and Amauros Academy's clubs have such long histories that they're every bit as good as regular classes. If you're interested, I recommend joining!"
The rest of the miscellaneous notices, summarized: from first through sixth period today, club representatives would come explain their clubs, so there were no regular classes; midterms were a month away, so study ahead; the field trip destination was being voted on at the student council building, so please cast your precious votes.
Having said her piece, the teacher quickly pattered out of the classroom.
A little later, the first-period bell rang, and a club promotional ambassador entered.
"The swordsmanship club's room is in the First Gymnasium. Interested students, please visit after school."
With the sixth-period bell, the swordsmanship club's pitch also came to an end.
I'd listened to everything, but nothing really clicked. The magic research club's showcase performance had briefly caught my eye, but it was all mana-based, so it was thoroughly unpleasant.
Spirit research, social clubs—none of them held much appeal either.
The spirit research club's ambassador did wake me up a little when they first summoned a spirit—I'd felt a divine presence.
Even that was so twisted and faint I doubted whether I'd felt it correctly.
I'd sent a message just in case and gotten no response, so either it was my imagination, or it was something made from a god's remains or corpse.
Even back home, gods died on rare occasions.
Cases of those who violated Mother's laws too many times and were punished, or who wagered their divinity against each other, lost, and were absorbed.
But I'd never seen a being created with even a faint divinity like those "spirits."
Maybe it was related to this continent's Holy Power or mana. I'd sensed a similar distortion.
Anyway, that was neither here nor there.
In the end, I still hadn't decided on a club. My whole purpose in coming to the academy was to watch what the protagonist would do, so I figured I might as well follow wherever Dogeon went.
"Have you decided on a club?"
When I asked the Dogeon next to me, he hesitated a moment before answering.
"Ah… yes. I've decided on the swordsmanship club."
Of course the fantasy protagonist would be a sword guy. Boring, but swords were cool—there was something that stirred the male heart.
"Then maybe I'll try the swordsmanship club too."
"Really?"
The look on his face said he'd hit the jackpot, and it grated a little that I seemed to be moving exactly as he wanted—but I was going to join the swordsmanship club either way.
"You talk too much."
Still, I didn't like it, so I snapped at him. The way he shrank back like a whimpering puppy if he'd been one made me feel a little better.
"Hoyeon-nim. Did something good happen? Your expression seems a bit softer."
The words that followed made my blood run cold. The green ping-pong ball in my skirt pocket had finally let me breathe a little—had he noticed it?
What do I do. I'd already been so awkwardly guilty since morning that I couldn't even look at him. Looking at me with those eyes only made it hurt more.
"…Just show me the way to the gymnasium where the swordsmanship club is."
Feeling caught out, I proposed heading to the club room to escape the situation somehow.
Oddly enough, this guy seemed like the type who'd do anything if you asked. Yesterday, and now this—when I said let's go, he went along. It was plausible.
As I walked under his guidance, I felt two pairs of eyes following us for a while. Looking around, a silver-haired girl and a golden-haired young man were trailing after us.
Anastasiya and Geum Taeyang.
They'd been glancing this way since first period—had Geum Taeyang set his sights on me properly? I felt uneasy.
Between hitting on the nun and this, he seemed like a nun-chaser. Otherwise there was no explaining that stare.
Once we arrived, I understood why they were coming this way.
"Hi! Are you guys interested in the swordsmanship club too?"
Looks like they wanted to join as well.