Hideout

,”…That’s what happened.”

As I had discussed with Bella, I explained to the club members that I had suffered mana exhaustion due to an accident during space magic training. That was the excuse for my collapse, externally.

However, I knew the club members would soon find contradictions in my excuse. There was no stranger explanation than me suddenly disappearing during dinner and then suddenly losing consciousness while training alone.

And I didn’t want to lie to the club members if I could help it. Lies had a way of accumulating their own weight.

I didn’t want to be crushed by the weight of lies, at least not in front of them.

,”Officially, that’s the reason I collapsed.”

To my added words, Lacar asked, his eyes gleaming.

,”…Then what’s the unofficial reason?”

Four pairs of curious eyes turned to me. I subtly avoided Aria’s gaze, which was full of anticipation, as if she were about to hear the secret location of hidden treasure.

,”I can’t reveal everything, but someone was in danger, so I went to save them. There was a fight, and fortunately, I was able to save them. I overdid it a bit, so I lost consciousness for a while.”

,”A while? You were unconscious for a week!”

I lowered my gaze slightly at Aria’s fierce glare.

,”…But I don’t have any problems with my body, so…”

As I mumbled the excuse, Aria raised her pillow high again.

As I cowered, Lacar sighed and stopped Aria.

,”Hoo, but the club president didn’t do anything bad. Let’s end the interrogation here.”

,”…Okay.”

Thanking Lacar in my heart, I sincerely apologized to the club members.

,”I’m sorry for making you worry. It was such an urgent matter that I didn’t have time to explain it to you. This won’t happen again. I’m sorry again.”

At my apology, Kane shrugged, looking nonchalant.

,”Well, is there anything to apologize for? Like Lacar said, you didn’t do anything bad. If you saved someone, that’s honestly a good thing. Besides, Ross is the club president of the ‘Messiah’ club. It’s natural for you to save someone.”

Encouraged by Kane’s support, I took my hand out of the blanket I had been wrapped in and raised my index finger, but I had to lower my hand again at the following words.

,”But disappearing without explanation and then showing up unconscious, making Luna worry, is the worst as a boyfriend~”

Since it wasn’t wrong, I scratched the back of my head with an awkward expression, and suddenly remembered that Kane had called me Luna’s boyfriend.

,”While you were asleep, Luna confessed to us that she’s dating you.”

Aria said, raising one corner of her mouth, as if she had read my surprised expression. When I shifted my gaze to Luna at those words, she avoided my gaze, her lips pursed, as if she was embarrassed.

,”Eung… I wanted to tell the club members before the vacation….”

Aria, who was next to Luna, wore a sly smile. Her annoying appearance, with her eyebrows furrowed, made me want to flick her forehead.

,”I thought you two looked good together~ I didn’t know you were already dating. Ross is sneakier than I thought~?”

Pretending not to hear Aria’s nonsense, I got out of the blanket.

,”Yeah. As you all know, Luna and I are dating. Sorry for deceiving you all this time.”

As I bowed my head, Lacar cleared his throat.

,”Actually, everyone had already noticed to some extent. How could we not know when Luna only speaks informally to you? Everyone knew, but they pretended not to know until you told us.”

At Lacar’s words, Aria and Kane nodded with relieved expressions. I sincerely thanked them for their consideration.

,”As expected, our club members are very considerate.”

At my words, Aria put her hands on her hips with a triumphant expression.

,”Then how about Ross treating us to a homemade meal tonight?”

,”Eung? Well, I don’t mind, but wouldn’t it be more delicious to eat out?”

To be honest, I was a bit bothered that I hadn’t properly finished the dinner I had with the club members that day.

Making a meal myself wasn’t difficult, but there was a unique atmosphere that only eating out could provide.

,”Uh-huh! You have to be punished for making us worry all this time! Everyone’s okay with that, right?”

When Aria asked the club members, they all nodded.

,”Great, I’ll get to eat a meal made by the club president after a long time.”

I nodded with a smile to Lacar, who had an expectant expression.

,”I’ll watch from the side. I’m studying cooking these days.”

Kane, who had been interested in camping cooking since last time, said with sparkling eyes.

,”I’ll help too.”

Seeing Luna say that with a pretty smile, I felt like hugging her tightly. I had a lot of things I wanted to say to Luna, and a lot of things I wanted to hear.

I also wanted to apologize for making her worry separately. But knowing that now was the time to focus on the time with the club members, I had to suppress the impulse.

Watching everyone excitedly talk about the dishes I had made in the past, I couldn’t help but smile with genuine joy.

This was exactly what I had missed during the tedious bead-picking.

The grumbling Kane, the serious Lacar, the lively Aria. And even Luna, who subtly approached my side and smiled happily.

At this moment, I could feel that I was being filled with comfort and happiness deep in my heart.

,”Ah, right! We have a get-well-soon gift prepared!!! We have to see that first!”

Aria, who had been arguing with Kane, suddenly turned her gaze to me and shouted. I felt a little anticipation at the word ‘gift’.

Urged by Aria, I was almost dragged by Lacar and Kane to the island beyond the closet.

Beyond the closet, the hideout they had been working hard on, on an island full of palm trees, was already completed and welcoming me.

It was lacking compared to the houses in the capital made by designers. But the house, which contained Kane’s hard work despite not being a major, was even more to my liking than I had seen in the blueprints.

If everything was over and I was to remain here, I even thought it would be nice to finish my life in a house like this with Luna.

,”You finished it….”

Aria must have shown off her skills on the painted walls, as there were pretty pictures drawn on them. I don’t know why, but there was a cute baby dragon holding flowers unexpectedly drawn among the pretty flowers…. But that unexpectedness was Aria’s charm.

As I was unknowingly staring with my mouth open, Lacar put his hand on my shoulder.

,”Everyone worked hard all this time because they wanted to show it to you when the club president woke up.”

My nose tingled as if I had eaten something spicy for no reason, and I cleared my throat with my head lowered. I was touched, but crying in front of the club members was another story.

,”Hurry up and go inside!”

Urged by Aria, I opened the door with a sign that read [Except for Messiah members, you must receive permission from Aria to enter!] and went inside the house.

I was the one who was actually going to live there, but I was about to impulsively say, ‘Why do I need your permission?’ But I stopped, with a strong feeling that it would only waste energy and nothing would change.

,”Wow….”

I unknowingly checked the house and exclaimed in admiration. As if they had used space expansion magic, the inside felt spacious, unlike what it looked like from the outside.

A huge kitchen with a view of the sea when you opened the window and a wooden dining table where everyone could sit. The living room had a fluffy sofa and a fireplace, and all sorts of things were decorated on the walls, whether it was a soft velvet carpet on the floor or things the club members had brought.

I don’t know who brought the clock that was running backwards….

,”Hehe, actually, we didn’t complete it with just our strength.”

I tilted my head at Aria’s sudden confession. Was there anyone else who would know about us building a house?

,”Principal Nelson helped us. He also filled in a lot of the missing parts of the blueprints.”

The question was resolved at Lacar’s words. Just like Aria had asked sometime ago, I wondered if Ross was actually a hidden grandson. Nelson was too good to me.

Thinking that I should definitely express my gratitude, I continued to look around with curious eyes.

Luna subtly stuck to my side and linked arms with me, and Aria and Kane explained about the house non-stop.

Listening to the two of them, who were explaining so hard as if they were having a competition to see who could say more, with Luna linking arms with me, I had a strange feeling as if newlyweds had come to buy a house, and I had to subtly hold back my laughter.

The quick-witted Lacar realized that Aria and Kane had caught fire, and subtly stepped back, sitting on the sofa and reading a book.

,”And this is Ross’s room!”

Passing through the doors with each of our names written on them, I followed Aria into the room with my name on it.

It had a relatively simple structure with a fluffy bed, a small desk, and a closet, just like the original blueprint, but I liked it very much because it was exactly what I wanted.

,”Wow… you guys really went through a lot while I was gone. I guess I have to put my heart and soul into dinner tonight?”

As I said that with gratitude, Aria gestured to Kane with a triumphant expression.

As if she had received a pre-arranged signal, Kane silently closed the curtains on the window.

,”And this is my special gift!”

In the darkened room, something green was sparkling on the ceiling.

,”They’re magical glow-in-the-dark stickers that are popular in the capital! They even move!!! Hehe, they gave them to me as a service when I bought toy firecrackers. Let’s set off the firecrackers tonight as a celebration.”

,”…Take them off.”

Glow-in-the-dark stickers in a room that emphasized simple beauty… I said seriously with a straight face, but it seems that Aria, who was happy to see the rotating glow-in-the-dark stars attached to the ceiling, didn’t hear me.