Messiah Club

After finishing our meal, we returned to the academy. We all filled out the club application together.

Aria and Kane chattered non-stop, seemingly delighted that we weren’t just joining an existing club, but creating a new one. Lacar and Luna helped with filling out the application beside them.

After completing the club application, we headed straight to the Headmaster’s office. I saw someone storming out of the Headmaster’s office, shouting angrily.

The middle-aged man with platinum blonde hair, exiting the Headmaster’s office, glanced at us, frowned, and passed by without a word.

Aria grumbled at the sight, saying she’d seen all sorts of weird people.

I knocked on the Headmaster’s office door. It opened as if he had been waiting.

The club members cheered me on from behind as I entered the Headmaster’s office, as if I was planning to wait outside.

“Good luck, Ross!”

“Fighting! Do well!”

It’s not like I needed encouragement just to submit an application, but there was no need to ruin the mood with unnecessary words. I smiled and nodded.

“Ross, it’s been a while.”

Seeing Nelson looking particularly tired today, I promptly handed him the application I was holding.

“This is the club application.”

At my words, Nelson erased the tiredness from his face, smiled, and slowly read through the application.

“It seems you’ve made good friends during this practical training?”

I nodded at Nelson, who asked with a smile.

“Yes, I made very good friends thanks to the practical training.”

I smiled sincerely, without needing to hide my feelings. Nelson smiled contentedly and put the application in his drawer.

“Let me say in advance, as long as you follow the school rules, there will be no restrictions on club activities. Of course, you’ll need my permission for outings.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Nelson, who was looking for something in the opposite drawer, found a slightly old key and handed it to me.

“The club room is assigned to the 2nd basement floor of the main building. You’ll be able to make good memories there. Be careful not to lose the key.”

As I carefully accepted the key, Nelson gave a mischievous smile.

“Although I’m the supervising professor, I don’t plan to enter the club room unless there’s a special reason. So, how you decorate the club room is entirely up to you, as the club president.”

I hadn’t even thought we’d get a club room, so I started to seriously consider club activities.

“Go to the club room with your members. I have a small gift for you.”

At those words, I bowed my head with an emotional expression. Headmaster Nelson was indeed the best teacher. Feeling grateful for the great help he had given me, I left the Headmaster’s office.

As soon as I left the Headmaster’s office, the club members, who had been hiding next to the hallway as if they had been waiting, approached.

“Ross, are you the president now?”

As Lacar said that with a smile, I showed them the key I had received from Nelson.

“Yeah, I even got the club room key. Headmaster Nelson prepared a gift for us, so shall we all go together?”

Aria, surprised by those words, suddenly let out a high-pitched scream.

“Nel, Nelson Headmaster-nim has a gift…?!”

Aria, saying that with a shocked face, suddenly came closer to me and asked in a whisper.

“Ross…are you secretly the Headmaster’s hidden child or something, or a relative…?”

Seeing Aria asking seriously, I felt playful and shrugged, throwing out a joke.

“You better treat me better from now on.”

As if she took the joke as the truth, Kane ended the banter by hitting Aria on the back of the head, overwhelmed by Aria’s sparkling eyes.

“Okay, enough with the jokes. Shall we all go to the club room?”

At my words, Lacar and Luna nodded, excluding Aria and Kane, who were punching each other.

As we all went down to the 2nd basement floor of the main building, Aria and Kane, who had been bickering until we reached the stairs, were chattering with good chemistry as if nothing had happened.

“A club room in the main building, no way…!”

“Such incredible privilege…! At this rate, you might not be his child, but his hidden lover…!”

We wandered around the hallway on the 2nd basement floor, looking for the club room we had been assigned, but it wasn’t visible.

“Um, are you sure this is the main building, President?”

Kane looked at me with suspicious eyes, and Aria nodded beside her.

“I’m sure. He said it was the 2nd basement floor of the main building….”

“Ah, maybe it’s at the end of that hallway over there?”

At Lacar’s words, we headed to the end of the hallway. There, we found a door with a sign that read -Messiah Club Room-.

“It’s in a really secluded place…?”

Aria, who seemed a little disappointed, said with her lips pouting, her energetic spirit somewhat dampened.

“Since it’s in the main building, the club room must be really small….”

Kane glanced at me, trying to comfort me.

Due to its location in a corner of the hallway, I doubted whether all the members could even fit inside, but I held onto hope that we hadn’t checked the inside yet.

I opened the door with the key I received from Nelson and entered….

Contrary to expectations, a club room larger than a classroom welcomed us.

“Wh, what is this!”

Aria, who had forgotten her disappointment, was jumping around, running around the club room, and next to her, Kane was denying reality, saying, “Is this a dream? Is this a dream?” I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at their antics.

“Wow, President. To receive a club room like this…. You’re really amazing.”

Lacar nodded and gave me a thumbs up, as if I had met his expectations.

“I, it’s amazing….”

Seeing Luna looking around the club room with a surprised expression and her mouth slightly open, I felt a sense of pride for no reason.

Whether it was originally used for dormitories, there were clean beds and sofas that all the members could lie on, a table with various items on it, a portable chalkboard, the fluffy, large chair that Aria had wanted so much, and a soft carpet on the floor.

On the walls were huge wardrobes and living paintings, and on the ceiling, warm sunlight and colorful flower petals were fluttering beautifully.

“Space expansion magic, and even soundproofing on the carpet…. Just by looking at it, there are over 10 types of magic implemented in this room…!”

Aria, who was making a fuss and shining her eyes, picked up a book from a nearby bookshelf and started reading.

“Th, there’s a research table too!”

Kane, who approached one of the tables attached to the wall, was surprised and immediately started organizing it, as if planning to make it his personal table.

“Th, there’s more space behind this pillar…! There’s a kitchen and a bathroom too!”

For some reason, I felt a sense of satisfaction rising up at Luna’s words, which were louder than usual, as if she was happy.

The members were looking around the club room with interesting eyes, like children who had come to a museum, and exclaimed in admiration.

“Is this the gift? It’s a really amazing gift….”

Lacar, who usually had a slightly indifferent voice, was filled with surprise and joy in his voice today, just like the other members.

As Lacar said, it was hard to believe that a club created by freshmen could receive such a club room. It was such an amazing club room that it was comparable to clubs with several times the number of members.

“Okay, everyone, if you’re done looking around, take a seat.”

It seemed like they were done looking around to some extent. When I called the members together, the members, who had been scattered and looking around like kindergarteners who had received instructions from their teacher, rushed over and sat on the fluffy chairs, shining their eyes.

Everyone’s expectations seemed to have grown tremendously at the sight of the club room, which was better than expected.

“Headmaster Nelson gave us such a great gift, we can’t just sit still. Let’s work hard on club activities.”

At my words, everyone nodded and sent me eyes full of enthusiasm.

Now that we were suddenly going to do club activities that weren’t planned, I was wondering what to do first. I brought the portable chalkboard and organized my thoughts, then picked up the chalk and wrote in large letters on the chalkboard.

-Treasure Hunt Hidden in the Academy-

“Treasure hunt?!”

Aria, who saw the words written on the chalkboard, stood up from her seat with eyes that seemed to be burning with something.

“Whoa, calm down and listen to the explanation first.”

At my words, Aria immediately sat down in her seat and stared at me intently with burdensome eyes.

“Our Messiah Club’s first official activity will be, ‘Treasure Hunt’.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than Aria raised her hand and asked.

“What is it! What’s the treasure! Don’t tell me it’s something like Headmaster Nelson’s cherished artifact…?!”

Seeing Aria talking to herself and getting excited on her own, I denied it immediately, worried that she might misunderstand.

“No, it’s not something like that.”

Ignoring Aria’s pout, I looked at the members.

In fact, it wasn’t a treasure hunt, but a search for a corrupt artifact that the Demon King’s follower might have left in the academy.

When I thought about it, there was no need for me to find it alone, and I thought it would be easy to finish if I received help from the members as a club activity.

Since I couldn’t talk about the Demon King’s follower, I explained it by mixing truth and lies appropriately.

“Everyone remembers the black magician’s academy raid, right?”

“Of course, I remember.”

When Lacar answered, the members all nodded together.

“It seems that the black magician dropped the artifact he had during the raid somewhere in the academy.”

“What?!”

Suddenly, Kane shouted loudly and stood up from her seat.

“Then we should tell the security knights to find the artifact right away! What if a student like us touches it and gets hurt!”

At Kane’s sharp point, I swallowed hard and hurriedly made an excuse.

“No, it’s not certain that he dropped the artifact, it’s just an assumption. So, the Headmaster didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and entrusted us with a simple search. If we just find the artifact, the professors will take care of it.”

At my excuse, Kane and the members nodded as if they understood.

When Kane, who had been making a fuss, sat down, I drew a simple map of the academy on the chalkboard.

“I’m thinking of dividing the academy into zones and having the members search each zone, what do you think?”

“Great, I’m confident in treasure hunts!”

Aria smiled wickedly, her eyes shining.

“Do you know what it looks like?”

At Lacar’s question, I shook my head. In fact, I don’t know what it looks like either because it wasn’t described in the novel.

“Isn’t it just something that looks like it belongs to a black magician at first glance? There’s a higher chance that it doesn’t exist, so you don’t have to feel pressured to find it.”

When I said that, everyone nodded as if they understood.

“Then Kane, Lacar, and Luna, take charge of the basement of the main building. Focus on the window frames, behind the doors, and places where people’s hands or eyes don’t reach.”

While assigning each search area, I suddenly heard a knock.

Knock knock knock-

Lacar got up from his seat and opened the door, but the person who knocked was not visible.

“What is it…?”

While Lacar was puzzled, Luna suddenly shouted in a surprised voice.

“Be, below…!”

At Luna’s words, everyone lowered their gaze below Lacar, and there was a raccoon holding a box.

“A, a thief raccoon?!”

At Kane’s shout, the raccoon quickly shook its head and lifted the box.

“Is it telling us to take it…?”

When Lacar carefully accepted the box, the raccoon disappeared, making scurrying footsteps, as if it had finished its mission.

Lacar, who closed the door and brought the box, put it on the table and opened the box in front of everyone.

Inside the box were badges with each of their names and the club name Messiah written on them. Lacar handed out the badges according to the names and handed me the paper at the bottom of the box.

– Wearing the badge allows you to enter anywhere in the school, and even borrow books from the forbidden area. I expect you to cause me some trouble. Nelson –

As I read the paper written by Nelson himself aloud so that the members could hear, I once again felt deep gratitude to Nelson in my heart.

Because Nelson was the person who gave me the warmest warmth in this world after Roel.

“Th, this is amazing. The magic engraved on this badge allows you to bypass the grade restrictions in the forbidden area…!”

Feeling uneasy at the sight of Aria looking at the badge with slightly strange eyes, I said.

“Don’t open it to check what’s inside and break it, handle it carefully.”

Whether she came to her senses at my warning, Aria made a blank expression and smiled sheepishly.

As we all put on the badges on our chests, I felt a strange feeling as if the real club life had begun.

Whether I was the only one who thought so, the members also looked at each other and smiled silently.

“Okay, shall we start the Messiah Club activities?”

When I clapped my hands and said that, everyone stood up from their seats and raised their fists high in the sky.

“Let’s go! Treasure! Treasure!”

“If we find it, there will be a separate reward, right? This time, a separate alchemy lab in the club room….”

“Everyone be careful. It’s a black magician’s item.”

“I, I’ll try my best to find it!”

Even though I tried to hold it back at the sight of the members showing various reactions, I couldn’t help but raise the corners of my mouth.