CH 23

༺ Club Advisor (3) ༻

The day after the club observation ended.

In the morning, I had the Opal Black class do repeated hiking in the back mountain and headed to the cafeteria for lunchtime.

At first, I thought the cafeteria would serve military-style distributed meals, but it turned out to be a buffet-style restaurant where you could choose and serve the food you wanted.

The quality of the meals was incomparable to the military. To satisfy the picky taste of the aristocratic students, every meal was almost as luxurious as a decent feast, and even the fact that they didn’t skimp on the students’ meals was indeed the best academy in the empire.

I filled my plate with protein-based food and sat down. While eating silently alone, I heard an annoying sound coming from somewhere in the cafeteria.

“Instructor Lirya. You don’t really plan to eat in the student cafeteria, do you?”

“Ah, yes… Is there a problem?”

“Of course, it’s a problem! How can a person who’s an Instructor of the prestigious Philion Academy eat in the same space as the students? You’re not a commoner of unknown origin, are you, Instructor Lirya?”

“Uh, well… I guess…”

“Don’t worry. I knew this would happen, so I reserved a nice restaurant in Area 4. Now, let’s go.”

“No! No. I’m really fine. Please just go and eat without worrying about me.”

“Come on. You don’t have to feel burdened. It’s just a meal; it’s nothing to me. It’s not polite to refuse a noble’s meal request too much.”

It wasn’t loud enough for everyone to hear in the crowded cafeteria. It’s just that my ears were much more sensitive than others, and I had heard this voice a few times recently, so I couldn’t help but listen even if I didn’t want to.

I stopped eating my meal and looked in the direction of the sound, catching the eyes of the troubled-looking Instructor Lirya.

Upon noticing me sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, her face brightened as if she had met a savior.

“Ah, ah! That’s right! I actually have made a promise to eat with someone. I’m so sorry! Next time! Let’s go together next time if there’s a chance.”

“What? No, what’s that-“

Instructor Lirya hurriedly walked away from Instructor Akeron and approached me, not giving him any more chances.

“I’m sorry. Am I too late?”

Instructor Lirya asked with a soft smile.

Instead of asking what she was talking about, I just nodded once.

Having witnessed this scene, Instructor Akeron’s face turned red with disbelief, but he couldn’t approach and hesitated for a while before finally leaving his seat.

Once he left the cafeteria, I calmly continued my meal.

“Is it okay to eat with a commoner without any roots?”

“Hey, I’m a commoner too. Don’t worry about what Instructor Akeron said.”

“I just tried saying it. I don’t really care.”

I’ve seen more than one or two aristocrats like that.

I’ve encountered far more severe cases, so I already knew that ignoring them was the most effective way to deal with such situations.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Honestly, I am. But what can I do? Even if he’s like that, he’s a master of alchemy. His skills are proven, so I can’t just kick him out because of his bad personality.”

Lirya sighed deeply and pulled up a chair to sit down, holding her plate.

At the same time, her eyes widened in surprise.

“Um, Instructor Graham. Are you really going to eat all that by yourself?”

“…? Yes.”

Instructor Lirya’s gaze was directed at my plate, which was a bit late.

The plate piled high with a mountain of meat was already half-eaten.

“You’re going to finish all of that alone?”

“It’s still not enough.”

I couldn’t bring enough food to fully satisfy my hunger because the plate had its limits. At that, Instructor Lirya couldn’t hide her shocked expression as she looked at me.

“It seems like there’s enough food for at least 10 people.”

“It’s my belief to eat as much as possible when I can.”

Anyone who experiences extreme situations while struggling on the battlefield for about 20 years would naturally end up like this. I also naturally eat a lot.

I had already emptied about half of my plate, but Instructor Lirya’s plate had very little compared to mine. Was it because her body was small and she couldn’t eat more than that, or was it because her body was small due to eating less?

I decided to pretend not to see the milk in her plate.

Anyway, Instructor Akeron’s way of speaking to Instructor Lirya seemed quite different from how he treated ordinary citizens.

Noticing the meaning behind my gaze, Instructor Lirya seemed to realize my thoughts and spoke with a bitter smile.

“Did you think I was an ordinary citizen?”

“Aren’t you?”

“I am, legally.”

She must be a gentry. I nodded.

Gentry generally refers to the class of children of nobles who do not inherit titles.

Noble titles can only be inherited by one sibling, so the children who do not inherit the titles can maintain their noble status, but their children cannot inherit the noble status.

However, due to the atmosphere of treating the gentry as members of the family, it was highly likely that Lirya had grown up in a wealthy family like a noble.

“My great-grandfather was Earl Bennett. The current Earl Bennett is my uncle. But that doesn’t make me a noble, so please treat me casually. I really dislike that kind of treatment.”

I calmly cut the meat and replied.

“Alright.”

“Wow, your response is really quick. Well, Instructor Graham doesn’t seem to care whether someone is a noble or a commoner. He doesn’t even seem burdened when he has the princess as a student.”

“Instructors don’t feel burdened by their students.”

“If it were that easy, I wouldn’t have had any trouble…”

Instructor Lirya sighed deeply and then suddenly seemed to remember something and asked me.

“Right, I meant to ask you this from the beginning. Did you enjoy visiting the clubs yesterday? Have you decided on a club to advise?”

Ah, that’s right…

I felt my expression harden involuntarily and shook my head.

“I think I need to think about it a bit more.”

“What? Why? Did the students not welcome you?”

I was welcomed, but it was too intense, which was the problem.

The swimming club and the other clubs I visited afterwards were mostly similar.

Whether they gave me a provocative romance script claiming that I needed acting guidance, bombarded me with personal questions that were difficult to answer under the pretext of interview practice, or attempted physical contact under the guise of correcting posture.

At that point, I was mentally exhausted and couldn’t bring myself to visit other clubs, so I returned to Opal Black dormitory earlier than planned.

“It seems that clubs with many people aren’t right for me. I’ll try to find a smaller club.”

“Um, that’s possible. You still have time, so think about it carefully. By the way, I heard that Instructor Akeron was turned down by every club he visited and eventually became an advisor to the occult club.”

“Is that so?”

The occult club… Just hearing the name made it sound like an ominous place.

I wasn’t particularly interested in what they did in that club.

***

Students in Opal Black Class were gradually deciding on their clubs.

Schultz was the first to join the chess club, while Batar surprisingly turned out to be quite skilled in sculpture and joined the art club after receiving an invitation from the club president.

Saladin seemed uninterested in clubs from the beginning and ended up not joining any.

Gwyn was receiving love calls from all sorts of sports clubs but hadn’t made a definite decision yet, and Titania showed interest in horticulture, perhaps due to her elf heritage.

The remaining three female students would probably decide on their clubs soon.

On that very day, when I was thinking about it, Marian visited my room late in the evening.

In her hand was a paper labeled ‘New Club Establishment Application Form.’

“Opal Black Class Student Council?”

“Yes. The other four major classes each have a student council, but Opal Black is a newly established class and doesn’t have one. Can you believe there’s a class without a student council, Instructor?”

“So you want to create a student council.”

“If there isn’t one, we should make one. It’s only natural, right?”

A student council with only eight members in the class.

I almost laughed, but Marian’s point was valid. Even with only eight members, a class is still a class. There was no harm in preparing a student council in advance, considering the possibility that the number of students could increase later.

I checked the names written on the document.

President Marian von Kalshtein, Vice President Elizabeth von Galatea, Treasurer Oznia Hebring, Secretary Titania El Illendrin…

“You’re the president?”

“…I know what you’re thinking, Instructor, but Elizabeth said she wouldn’t take the position of president. So, I had no choice but to do it.”

“I was just asking.”

After all, if Elizabeth refused to be president, the only remaining person was Marian.

In my opinion, neither Oznia nor Titania seemed suitable for the role of student council president. Titania had shown interest in the horticulture club, and it seemed she had successfully persuaded them.

“Gwyn is left out, even though Schultz and Batar already decided on their clubs.”

“Since it’s a new student council, I think we should operate with only female members in the beginning. Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable for Gwyn to be the only one among the female students?”

What does she mean?

For a moment, I thought it was a joke, but Marian’s expression was very serious.

Ah, she must not know. It’s only been a few days since the semester started, and she hasn’t noticed yet.

I thought she might not know unless the person herself told her.

People who didn’t know Gwyn well could misunderstand her because she wore pants for comfort rather than skirts, always used a private shower room when showering, and deliberately used masculine speech.

I decided to tell Marian the truth.

“Marian. Gwyn is a girl.”

“…What? Gwyn is a girl?”

“Yes. You really didn’t know?”

Marian’s expression turned to shock. At first, she tried to deny it like she had heard a mean-spirited joke, but after seeing my serious face, she realized it wasn’t a joke and quickly became embarrassed.

“I… I had no idea… Really? It’s not a joke?”

“It seems she didn’t tell you. Gwyn Tris is indeed a girl.”

“My goodness…”

Marian covered her mouth with both hands in shock.

Marian, realizing the shocking truth, held her head, groaned, and felt dizzy. Finally, she managed to regain her composure and said,

“I see. I understand. I’ll think about inviting Gwyn to the student council slowly… But that’s not the important issue right now.”

Marian pointed to the blank space on the paper labeled ‘Club Advisor,’ pulling up her red lips into a smile.

“So, who will be the advisor for the student council? We need someone who can guide and support us.”

She looked at me with a hopeful expression, and I realized that I was being asked to take on the role of the advisor for the Opal Black Class Student Council. It seemed that the responsibility for guiding this newly established student council would now fall upon my shoulders.

“Will you take it on, Instructor Eon?”

“……”

Since becoming a Instructor, one has to take charge of at least one club as an advisor.

A newly established student council needs an advisor. And there’s only one Instructor for the Opal Black Class.

There’s no reason or justification to refuse.

“Alright. I’ll take it on.”

Marian’s proposal was irresistible.

As a result, I became the advisor in charge of the Opal Black Class student council, consisting only of female students.