TN: Thank Clone Trooper on kofi for this chapter. Part 1

“I’ve found out the club Arte will be joining.”

Just before lunchtime ended, Yu Siwoo heard a voice calling out to him.

Amelia was hurriedly approaching.

“…Which one?”

“Arte is going to join whatever club you’re joining.”

“What?”

“I don’t know the reason. But she seems quite interested in you, just like you said.”

Yu Siwoo’s expression became gloomy.

What on earth did he do wrong for this to happen?

Did he sell out his country in a past life or something?

“So I’ll ask…which club do you want to join?”

“Let’s see. How about the fencing club, something ordinary?”

“Fencing, huh? That’s not too…”

…Strange.

He felt like the world was distorted for a moment.

Yu Siwoo sensed that something had changed.

But what exactly?

He thought something changed, but it could have just been his imagination.

Despite definitely not being attacked, it felt like his intuition was ringing out.

Yu Siwoo decided to chalk it up to his mood.

Has he been under a lot of stress lately?

“No, instead of fencing, what about an exploration club?”

“…Exploration?”

“Yeah. Her goal is to find a secret room hidden in the academy…So an exploration club that can roam the academy would be perfect.”

“That sounds good. Let’s go with that then.”

“Okay. Then I’ll tell Arte.”

There’s no helping it.

To keep an eye on her, it’s best  if we’re in the same club.

“We don’t need to find Arte… She’ll show up soon enough  if we wait.”

“You sound confident.”

“You experienced it yourself. It seems like she’s watching us somehow. At the very least, we can assume she has us under surveillance.”

“Hmm…”

“She was too tense when alone, but it’s fine now. She’s gotten used to it.”

Amelia’s conjecture couldn’t be refuted.

Despite being unseen, she had abruptly appeared while they were talking.

Just as she said, when we waited a bit, sure enough–

Not even ten minutes later, she showed up.

“Oh, you two. What are you doing here?”

“Ah, nothing much. We were just thinking about which club to join.”

“Hmm…Where are you going to then?”

“Same as you. We decided on the exploration club.”

Arte’s lips curved into a smile.

She seemed pleased.

“That’s great. I was thinking of joining that one. It seems we will be in the same club!”

Arte had told Amelia she planned to join whatever club Yu Siwoo joined.

So that was a lie.

Amelia thought Arte was just toying with her.

But there’s no other way.

Without evidence, the teachers will likely dismiss what we say as nonsense.

But can we really just leave her be?

An artifact that could overturn the world might get leaked.

That’s something they had to prevent.

They came to this academy aiming to become a hero who protects people, after all.

This exploration club that gives us an excuse to roam the academy is perfect.

They needed to find the secret room without Arte noticing.

‘Having her monitor me is an unavoidable cost, I suppose.’

At least it’s fortunate that Amelia is around to share the situation with.

He might have lost his mind from the burden  if he were alone.

“Shall we go submit our club entry requests then!”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

***

“Three new members?!”

The presumed senior girl was considerably excited.

Was having three new members really that delightful?

“Senior, where are the other members?”

“Well, that is…”

She hesitated, unable to answer my question.

Alright, I get the picture.

“Don’t worry too much. We’ll join the club even  if there’s no one else.”

“Huh? How did you know?!”

“Fufu, it’s a secret.”

“Amazing! Amazing! Tell me!”

[Maybe a bit too classic of a setup?]

It really is a classic.

A club on the verge of being disbanded due to a lack of members.

The protagonist and friends join it.

Thanks to the protagonist’s exploits, the club’s status rapidly rises from its low to new heights.

It’s a cliche you see everywhere.

But I can’t exactly say, “Oh, I saw that in a novel~”

I played it off with some mystique, and the club president’s reaction was great.

She seems delighted. Is this why people with good reactions are so popular?

“Ah, ah, wait. …Um, sorry, but our club has a little tradition!”

“A tradition?”

“Yup. When new members join, the old members hide a piece of paper in the clubroom and have them find it… It’s all for fun. It’s fine  if you don’t want to.”

“Sounds fun. I’ll do it. What about you two?”

Yu Siwoo and Amelia nodded, seeming interested.

I guess this is the setup the Author included for additional content.

Since it’s an exploration club, finding hidden objects is a relevant skill or something like that.

The protagonist instantly finds the hidden object, performs a “Gahaah!” motion, and gets praise.

Naturally, they also get to showcase their skills as well.

So, I readily agreed.

The president looked really excited, so I figured skipping it would be rude, even  if it’s optional.

It’s a small price to progress the plot.

[Heh, a treasure hunt! Sounds fun.]

Wait, what?

Was it not that kind of setup?

“Ah, could you all close your eyes for a bit? I need to hide the paper.”

[…? Reader, why the expression?]

I must have scrunched my face in disbelief, prompting the Author’s remark.

I suppose they don’t have any deeper intent behind this.

My mistake was expecting too much from the Author.

“…Done. Alright, now find it!”

Yu Siwoo and Amelia opened their eyes and began scanning the room.
The smugly grinning president seemed confident it wouldn’t be found easily.

“Heh, this will be quite tricky to find!”

“Hmm, I don’t see anything out of place…”

After glancing around the clubroom, Yu Siwoo and Amelia sensed it would be harder than expected and started seriously searching.

Come to think of it, why is this place so spacious?

“The clubroom is pretty big?”

“…There used to be more members.”

[Hmm, a cliche setup. I like it.]

Instead of planning some narrative twist, they’re just establishing settings.

Vexing.

“…I can’t find it. What about you, Yu Siwoo?”

“Sorry, no luck for me either.”

[His intuition can only currently sense physical threats! Naturally, he can’t find it!]

What are they doing?

Isn’t this exactly when you’re supposed to highlight the protagonist?

“Can’t find it, huh…”

The previously excited president hung her head dejectedly.

She seemed disappointed.

…Ah jeez, this is hard to watch.

I can’t just leave it be.

“Hmm, it seems your training is lacking.”

“…Huh?”

“Here, here, and here. Quite easy, no?”

“Wooow! Amazing! Amazing! How did you do that?!”

“Fufu, it’s a secret.”

I let out some thread from my fingerless gloves and instantly retrieved the papers the president had hidden.

One was under the mustache of a statue of unclear purpose.
Another was wedged between the tightly packed bookshelves.
Finally, one under the president’s  shoe.

Three in total.
Let’s see what’s written on them.

“…’Welcome to club?'”

“Hehe, it’s a nice activity, right?”

I see.

I wondered what kind of setup the exploration club would have, and this is it…

[So that’s the setup…]

“I didn’t expect there to be something like this.”

[Things I don’t explicitly set tend to form their own reasonable setups. If left alone, they solidify like that. Well, I suppose this is fine, too.]

“So, was it fun?”

“Yes, it was fun.”

Leaving the overly excited and joyful president behind, I approached Yu Siwoo and Amelia.

“…? You two, why the gloomy expressions?”

“How did you find them so quickly?”

“Pardon?”

“Those tiny slips of paper, how did you spot them so instantly…?”

“Ah, is that what you’re asking about?”

Hmm, it wasn’t that difficult of a trick, really.

Extremely simple and easy, but a trick only I can do.

“It’s a secret. Fufu.”

I didn’t feel like telling them, though.

Well, of course not.

Since my eyes look closed from the illusion threads, I can’t exactly say I saw the president hiding them, can I?

With her celebrating over there, how could I tell the truth?

Would she burst into tears?

***

“To find those so easily…”

“I guess I’ll have to call off the hidden  camera operation…”

“What?!”

Yu Siwoo was startled.

“Why are you so surprised? We have no choice  if we want evidence.”

“B-But that’s a crime…”

“What, it’s fine. As long as we don’t get caught? And we can’t be picky about methods when there’s danger.”

“…”

“Don’t worry. I said we’re calling it off, didn’t I? She’d spot it immediately  if she’s that good at finding things.”

She’s not wrong.

If Amelia is right that Arte has dangerous intentions, they must stop her by any means necessary.

It seems she really isn’t going to hold back on methods.

“How else can we get evidence? …Kidnapping? No, she probably has ‘close friends’ around. Wiretapping? Hmm…”

Yu Siwoo could feel beads of cold sweat rolling down his cheek.

‘I thought Arte was the only dangerous person.’

He was surrounded on both sides.