Ch.229229. Club

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“…”

“…”

Silence stretched across the Chancellor’s office.

I’m the first to break it.

“…Aren’t you going to ask how my vacation went?”

“I tend not to ask meaningless questions.”

“…”

I see.

Seems like this person has completed their learning process. It’s a fair point, so I can’t argue with it.

“How was the Tristan Dukedom, Darwood?”

“…It wasn’t bad.”

Truly, it wasn’t bad.

Except for leaving my father there.

“…? Why would Baron Campbell…?”

“The head of the family said he had something to tell him personally. Something he wanted to teach him.”

That’s what Leonid directly conveyed to me. He told my father he had things to teach him slowly, so how about leaving the territory for a while.

He emphasized multiple times that he wasn’t forcing anything, but knowing my father’s personality, he probably hastily agreed out of fear that some trouble might befall our territory.

“…”

And hearing those words, Atalante looked at me with a dubious expression.

As if she couldn’t believe I didn’t understand what that meant.

“…Isn’t that marriage preparation?”

“What?”

“It’s a common situation when a high noble marries someone of much lower rank. It’s like a tradition when accepting a son-in-law. They educate them in advance about precautions and potential risks after marriage.”

“…”

“I wonder if that was the intention from the beginning…?”

“…By the way.”

Feeling a chill run down my spine, I quickly change the subject.

“Why are you so full of energy, Chancellor?”

It’s not just my imagination—her skin is literally glowing with vitality.

This is unimaginable compared to the usual Atalante who was practically a walking corpse from overwork since meeting me.

“…Oh, this?”

Hearing my words, Atalante smiled brightly.

She seems pleased by the comment.

“…”

I might have agreed with her if not for those lifeless, unfocused eyes.

“I used a spell technique. Physical regeneration.”

“…Pardon?”

“It’s a technique used in emergencies. When you live long enough, you occasionally need to use things like this. Though it’s a technique that trades the future for the present…”

“…”

After sitting in speechless silence for a moment, I finally manage to speak.

“…Isn’t that a combat technique?”

“Yes, it is a combat technique.”

“…”

I believe that’s something only people on death’s doorstep would use.

And she used it just to handle paperwork while sitting in an office.

“…What kind of work are you suffering through?”

When I ask that question, Atalante gives a transcendent smile.

I think I understand the meaning behind it.

Something like ‘If I could tell you, I would have done so already.’

“…”

And that means something else too.

Even the person establishing a continental-scale organization to stop demons with me as the centerpiece can’t disclose certain facts to me.

“…Is it serious?”

Hearing my words, Atalante now glares at me with angry eyes.

This expression probably means ‘Are you really asking that?’

As if I were the cause.

“It is serious, but it doesn’t matter since you’ll end up shouldering it all anyway.”

“…”

“My suffering is almost over. Only yours remains.”

“…”

“I’m joking.”

I watch the Chancellor’s grinning face with cold sweat.

It seems like she was only half-joking.

Before I can respond, the Chancellor sighs and continues.

“…The rebound will probably hit my body in about a month. I won’t be able to move for several days, so I need to handle all urgent matters before then.”

After saying that, Atalante handed something to me.

I look at the badge-like object that slid across the desk.

A bronze badge with Elphante’s emblem. It’s designed to be worn on the uniform.

“…What’s this?”

“You know you’re in the third school corps now, right?”

Atalante answered while stretching out a yawn.

“Elphante has six school corps in total. From the third corps on, you’re officially treated as an upperclassman. This is the ID you can wear from that point.”

Ah, right.

That setting existed too.

And if my memory serves me correctly, what comes with it is…

“Unlike before, it means you now have ‘obligations.'”

Atalante continued while rubbing her eyes.

“From now on, you’re in a position to guide ‘lower classmen.’ It would be good to be mindful of your conduct.”

“…Is that so?”

“No. That’s what it generally means, of course.”

“…”

“You’re an exception. Just continue behaving like a beast and seducing women as you’ve been doing.”

“…”

I’m newly realizing something.

It seems this person has given up on even speaking indirectly to me.

“However, there’s one mandatory requirement according to school rules.”

“…”

As soon as she says that, my expression hardens.

I roughly know what I have to do.

●

Come to think of it, I’ve never really been diligent in my academy life.

Around this time previously, the Chancellor even warned me I might have to repeat a year if I didn’t study, that’s how bad it was.

In that sense.

“…A club, huh.”

I scratch my head while looking at the badge attached to my uniform.

When you become an upperclassman, you can’t just freely attend classes around the academy like before—you need to ‘belong’ somewhere.

In other words, you need to decide where to form your ‘connections.’ At a place like Elphante, there’s a high probability you’ll meet the same people in society later.

‘It doesn’t really matter which one I join…’

Honestly, I don’t care much about joining somewhere. I don’t have any particular flaws, so I should be able to blend in anywhere without problems.

The issue is.

‘This is a branching point for endings.’

This seemingly insignificant event of joining a club is the starting point for choosing the ‘event’ axis that runs through the entire game.

Choosing something here doesn’t immediately determine the ending, but it definitely has a direct influence.

Each club has predetermined characters you can meet, so it strongly feels like deciding whose ‘affection’ to raise first.

The Knight Department probably has Riru and Serath, the Magic Department has Faynol, the Holy Department has Lucien and Yuria…

Various events will occur with characters specialized in those areas.

It feels like deciding which character to spend the ‘most time’ with.

That makes sense, but from my perspective, choosing which one to join is quite difficult.

While thinking about this as I walk down the corridor.

“Teacherrr!”

With that voice, someone pounces on me from behind.

Then, supporting my staggering body with her own, she covers my eyes with one hand.

“Who is it?”

“…”

“If you guess correctly, I’ll give you a reward!”

Come on.

From the way she addresses me and her voice alone, it’s obviously Elia.

“Elia, my waist hurts from bumping into—”

“Since you got it right.”

Saying that, Elia slowly lowered the hand covering my eyes.

Her hand travels down my neck to the top of my uniform.

“I’ll give you a reward?”

“…”

This girl.

She was well-behaved until the harvest festival in the Tristan Dukedom, but during that time, she seems to have firmly ‘resolved’ something.

It’s like she feels that since someone took my first time, she needs to quickly reach that point too, at the very least.

She aggressively pursues this kind of sticky skinship at every opportunity, which is almost frightening.

“…No, on second thought, it might be someone else—”

“If you get it wrong, I’ll have to punish you.”

“…”

Are you a robber?

What do you want from me?

Thinking that, I take a deep breath as I feel her sticky touch exploring my body.

“…Elia, stop—”

“Hey, just kidding.”

I used a slightly serious tone thinking it might get dangerous if this continued, but as soon as she sensed that, Elia quickly backed away.

“…”

I silently stare at Elia, who has a beaming smile on her face.

It’s always like this, making it difficult to deal with her these days.

From my position, she charges forward aggressively to a troublesome degree, but whenever she finds a line that might make me uncomfortable, she backs off on her own, making it impossible for me to reject her.

“But do you have something on your mind? Your expression looks worse than usual.”

“…”

As Elia examines my mood with a serious expression again, I inwardly sigh.

There’s no escape. Really.

Since her awakening as a hero, her obsession with me has increased to almost rival Elnore’s.

[She’s my sister, but well. She’s always had that fox-like side to her.]

‘…Then tell me how to fend her off.’

[Well, I’ve never seen her fail at something she set her mind to, so I don’t know either?]

‘…’

This person is really no help.

Thinking that, I answer straightforwardly.

“No, it’s about the club.”

“…Ah, I see…”

As soon as she heard my words, Elia put her hand on her chin and started pondering something deeply with a “hmm.”

“So you’re suffering again, caught between all these women?”

“…”

That’s an accurate description.

Whichever one I join, there will definitely be people who are dissatisfied.

Thinking that, I sigh.

“Do you have any good ideas?”

“Well, it’s not much of an idea…”

Elia said, scratching her head.

“If it’s troublesome to join any department’s club, why don’t you just create one yourself, Teacher?”

“…”

“I heard upperclassmen have that right from the third corps onward?”

Huh.

That.

Wait, really?

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