Chapter 102: Extracurricular Activities (1)

After the midterm evaluation ended, the week of extracurricular activities arrived.

Extracurricular activities.

It was one of the educational systems that cadets at the Academy couldn’t avoid.

Participating in extracurricular activities earned you Merit Points.

These Merit Points could later be combined with academic credits, so cadets aiming for prestigious postings—like the Central Knights—had no choice but to take these activities seriously.

Moreover, extracurricular activities were an opportunity for cadets to build their reputation.

While everyone’s reasons for enrolling in the Academy differed, all cadets shared a common desire to make their names known across the Frey Empire.

Perhaps that was why.

During the extracurricular activity period, villages, cities, or organizations in need would send heartfelt requests for aid to the Academy.

The Academy would filter and categorize these requests, forwarding them to the cadets, who would then form teams with like-minded peers or seniors to carry out the missions.

Naturally, since the Merit Points awarded varied by mission type, choosing which mission to take and which teammates to work with was a critical decision.

In a way, it was a rare chance for cadets, who lived practically confined within the Academy, to breathe the outside air after a long time.

That’s why the cadets, especially the 890th class, were already buzzing with excitement about this topic.

“I’m really looking forward to it. What kind of requests will come in? I hope it’s not something dangerous.”

“Why? I’d prefer it to be moderately dangerous. That’s what makes it thrilling!”

“Hey, wake up. We’re first-years, and it’s our first extracurricular activity, so the higher-ups will filter out anything too intense. It’ll mostly be physical labor, I bet.”

The biggest concerns were, of course, the type of mission and the team.

Among them, the team was especially important.

Extracurricular activities spanned several days.

Imagine being teamed up with someone whose personality was the complete opposite and whose coordination was off—that made it easy to understand why the “team” was such a critical factor in extracurricular activities.

It also directly affected the mission’s success rate, making it essentially the beginning and end of the process.

The professor in charge of forming these crucial teams was none other than the Martial Arts Department advisor, Chaser Idna.

“Ugh, what’s all this?”

So, when Chaser arrived at his office after finishing the day’s work, he could only laugh awkwardly.

A pile of gift boxes was stacked in front of his door.

It wasn’t his birthday, nor was it a day to honor mentors, so the meaning of these gifts was clear.

‘Please make my team a good one.’

With a wry smile, Chaser gathered the gift boxes and went inside, haphazardly shoving them into a corner.

It was unfortunate for the cadets, but he planned to assign teams randomly through a lottery.

Simple is best. It’s fair and equitable, Chaser thought.

“Life’s all about luck, after all.”

That was his mindset until the door burst open and two women walked into his office.

Seeing the two women enter without knocking, Chaser started to scowl but then tilted his head.

“Hm? Ronica? What’s this? Yuria’s here too?”

Ronica wasn’t looking at him.

“Wow, you got a lot.”

She was smiling at the mountain of gift boxes.

“Oh, these? They’re, uh, a sign of the cadets’ respect for me…”

“Cut the crap. Who in the world respects a playboy like you?”

Chaser’s mouth snapped shut into a straight line.

‘Why bring that up here?’

His eyes were practically screaming.

Ignoring him, Ronica continued her barrage.

“Must be nice. While some of us are slaving away under the scorching sun, others are sitting comfortably, unwrapping gifts. I’m jealous of your life, Professor Chaser.”

Chaser could only muster an awkward chuckle.

“Haha… Anyway, what’s up? And with Yuria, no less. Is there a class today?”

By the dean’s special order, the two advisors were conducting special training for Yuria’s Magic Swordsman development twice a week.

“No, that’s tomorrow.”

“Then?”

Why are you here bothering me?

Ignoring Chaser’s pointed look, Ronica asked,“Have you formed the extracurricular activity teams?”

That’s when Chaser realized why Ronica Jasmine had come to see him.

Extracurricular activity teams.

Lately, Ronica had been teaching Yuria and had become utterly enamored with her exceptional talent, acting almost like a doting older sister.

So it was obvious.

‘She wants me to put her in a specific team.’

But Chaser was a man who had never broken a promise to himself in his life—a fair and upright person.

No way.

He couldn’t give special treatment to just one person.

Not even for Yuria.

…Or so he thought.

“You know you owe me, right?”

Today, that promise was about to be broken.

“Huh? Did I? I don’t recall…”

“Trying to play dumb? A month ago, you ditched our dinner plans to sneak off with another woman and got caught. You gave me a wish for that, remember?”

Chaser slapped his forehead.

‘Oh no! That’s right!’

He hurriedly said,“…Haha, Ronica? I’ll make it up to you some other way, something much grander than this. How about that, huh?”

“Grander or whatever, I don’t need it. Just do this for me.”

“No, just hear me out…”

“You’re not gonna do it? Oh, so the wish was a lie too? Wow, you really are a liar every time you open your mouth. Or maybe I just don’t mean that much to you.”

Chaser’s eyes twitched.

A perfect checkmate.

There seemed to be no way out.

No choice then.

He’d have to blame the past version of himself for giving her that wish.

‘Why the hell did I give her something like that, you idiot!’

Of course, he should’ve been more remorseful about ditching Ronica in the first place, but regardless, with no escape, Chaser decided to compromise with himself.

Fine. Just for Yuria.

“Alright.”

“See, you should’ve done that from the start. Look, Yuria, I told you he’d do it.”

Seeing Ronica’s victorious smile, Chaser sighed inwardly.

It was clear who had convinced Yuria to come here.

“Acting all high and mighty? You’ve ditched me for other women more than ten times. Probably more if you count the times you didn’t get caught, you damn playboy.”

“Haha, Ro-Ronica? I said I’d do it. Yuria’s here, so let’s drop that topic.”

“Oh? Feeling embarrassed in front of a professor’s title?”

“Ahem. Yuria? Hurry up and tell me. Who do you want to team up with?”

Yuria, who had been looking at him with pity, shook her head.

“It’s fine, really…”

“No, no! Yuria, it’s okay to speak freely. I’ll make it happen. No, please let me make it happen. Okay?”

Chaser’s mind was filled with the sole desire to get rid of this damn wish as quickly as possible.

“Um, then I’d like to team up with Senior Gerard.”

“Gerard? Okay. Got it. I’ll put you two together. Definitely.”

Chaser looked at Ronica.

“Satisfied?”

“Don’t flake out on me today too, alright?”

“Huh? Today?”

“…You forgot?”

“N-No way! I didn’t forget! See you later. Haha.”

Ronica, eyeing him suspiciously, left the office with Yuria.

Drained, Chaser stared blankly at the spot they’d left.

Then he moved quickly.

There was no time for this.

He had to rush to the Central Knights Headquarters to tell the receptionist, Tina, that he couldn’t make it tonight.

That’s when it happened.

The door burst open again.

No knock, as expected.

Could it be them again?

No.

“What, are you planning to flee the country or something?”

A worse devil stood there.

The head of the Psychology Department, Allen Desico.

“N-No, it’s just… What brings you here, Department Head?”

“What brings me? Am I not allowed to come?”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Allen, snapping curtly, pushed past Chaser and strode confidently into the office, with Karina following behind with a haughty expression.

Allen sat down on the prime spot on the sofa as if it were only natural.

Then he bluntly asked,“Teams. You formed them?”

Chaser’s expression turned dumb.

No way.

And that “no way” was exactly right.

“You haven’t, right? Then put Karina with that damn bastard, Gerard, on the same team.”

“G-Gerard?”

“What. Can’t you do it?”

Chaser shook his head.

“That… might be a bit difficult.”

Allen’s eyebrows arched into a scowl.

But his mouth was grinning ear to ear.

“Heh. What was that? Did I hear wrong?”

“…”

“I think I heard wrong, so I’ll ask one more time. Just so you know, there won’t be a mistake this time, so think carefully and answer properly. What happens next, you won’t be able to handle alone. Got it?”

“…”

“Put Karina and that Gerard bastard on a team.”

Allen Desico. A devil who always got what he set his mind to.

The venom in his fleeting glance was genuine.

In the Academy, only other department heads, the Vice-Dean, and the Dean could stop him.

The deliberation didn’t last long.

Chaser nodded.

“You bastard. Acting coy when you were gonna do it anyway.”

“Thank you, Professor Chaser. The Zain Family won’t forget this.”

“Wow, lucky you. Making the Zain Family owe you? That’s impressive.”

Allen smirked and patted Chaser’s shoulder.

‘This thug.’

Chaser forced a smile.

“Anyway, I trust you’ll handle it well. We’re off.”

Having finished their business, the two left.

Chaser stared blankly at the spot they’d occupied, then let out a hollow laugh.

Fine.

He’d done it for Yuria, so what’s one more with Karina?

The first time’s always the hardest; the second is easier.

“By the way, that Gerard bastard. What the hell is he doing to get those two wanting to be on his team? So damn troublesome.”

Grumbling, Chaser snapped to attention and checked the time.

“Crap! I’m gonna be late. They wouldn’t come back, would they…”

Bang!

Seeing Department Head Pirion Lil and Ivan, Chaser asked,“…Gerard, by any chance?”

“How’d you know?”

“I’ll do it.”

“Quick. I like that.”

“Haha. No big deal.”

“Thank you, Professor Chaser.”

Fortunately, no more visitors came after them, and Chaser managed to meet Tina in time to postpone their dinner plans.

But he didn’t know.

At that very moment, a sneaky cat burglar had slipped into his office and added her name to Gerard’s team list in his drawer.

That cat burglar’s name was Rachel.

* * *

Free period at the Lodge Café.

I sat at the largest table on the balcony, pressing my forehead hard.

Ugh.

My head was starting to hurt.

Why? Because of the kids in front of me.

First, to my right.

Yuria sat there, maintaining her expressionless face.

But I’d become an expert at reading the subtle changes in Yuria’s expressions.

I could tell her current mood in less than a second.

Yuria’s current mood: extremely displeased.

The reason was the girl sitting across from her—on my left.

I turned my head that way.

Karina Zain sat there, arms crossed.

“You’ve been staring at me like that for a while. What? Am I too pretty?”

I wanted to ask her back.

Why are you sitting there?

“Stop it. Senior Gerard is here.”

By the way, the one who spoke calmly yet firmly was Ivan.

How did he end up here?

And next to him.

“Kyahaha!”

Rachel was there.

Why was she here?

As far as I knew, she really disliked Gerard.

Anyway.

What kind of absurd combination was this?

How did the team end up like this?

Right.

The five of us gathered at this table were the team set to go out for the extracurricular activity week next week.

Team 1 out of 10 teams.

A dream team, first in name, skill, and fame.

The reason? I had no idea.

As far as I knew, teams were supposed to be formed randomly.

But looking at this scene, it was hard to believe this team was formed purely by luck…

‘Hey, Gerard. I resented you for the first time yesterday.’

…Oh. So that’s why Professor Chaser said that in passing yesterday?

I was starting to get a sense of what happened.

He must’ve gone through a lot. Poor guy.

Watching two girls still locked in a staring contest, a guy sighing at the sight, and a sly fox laughing cheerfully while rolling her eyes, my forehead started throbbing again.

Ugh.

At this rate, we wouldn’t even start the meeting before breaking up.

“Both of you, stop it. Let’s pick a team leader first. Time’s running out.”

Both girls turned to look at me at the same time.

“You do it, Senior.”

“You do it.”

And the staring contest resumed.

Sparks flew in the empty air with a crackle.

It felt like we could just proceed without them.

“What about the rest?”

“I’m fine with Senior.”

“Me too! Me too!”

And so, I became the team leader responsible for our team’s extracurricular activities.

That was actually fine.

No matter who the members were, I’d planned to take the leader role anyway.

Feeling a bit relieved that these were my teammates, I looked at the paper in front of me.

Next was choosing the mission our team would tackle.

The missions were aid requests from cities, organizations, or individuals, categorized by type.

The document listed missions of appropriate difficulty for first-years, sorted by category.

The categories were transport, VIP protection, search, exploration and investigation, civilian support, beast extermination, and villain subjugation.

The hardest category was villain subjugation, while the easiest was civilian support, which involved providing labor at the site.

I had something in mind but asked just in case.

“What should we…”

“Do whatever you want, Senior.”

“Do whatever you want.”

Crackle!

“Just decide, Senior.”

“Kyahaha!”

If you’re gonna act like this, why did you even show up?

After that pointless meeting, I went to the Student Affairs Office to get our team’s chosen mission confirmed.

Sure enough, when I showed Baron Tesda the mission I’d picked, he looked at me with disbelief.

“You’re really going with this?”

“Yes.”

“No, with that impressive lineup, you’re choosing ‘search’ instead of ‘villain subjugation’ or ‘beast extermination’? Why?”

Because there’s something I need to get in the city where the search mission takes place.

I couldn’t say that, so I just shrugged.

“They told me to do whatever I want.”

“Who?”

“The team.”

“Hey, when they say do whatever you want, you don’t actually do it. You know better than anyone that each category comes with different Merit Points.”

At that moment, a bespectacled staff member eavesdropping nearby suddenly jumped into our conversation.

“Geez, Baron, you sound like such a bachelor sometimes.”

“What, you punk?”

“You really don’t get it? The big picture, our alpha among alphas, Gerard, is painting?”

Big picture.

I was indeed planning something, but how did this guy know?

I looked at the bespectacled staff member with suspicion and he grinned slyly at me.

“You little rascal. I may look young, but I’m older than you. You think I can’t see through your schemes?”

I stared at him, dumbfounded, as he spoke loudly for everyone in the Student Affairs Office to hear.

“Alright, everyone, think about it. Where’s the city that sent the aid request? And who’s on Gerard’s team? Combine those two, and the answer’s obvious!”

“The city’s Roenberg, and the members are Yuria, Rachel, Karina, Ivan…”

“If you take Ivan out?”

“Hm. Without Ivan…”

Baron Tesda’s eyes suddenly widened.

“No way?”

“Heh. Now you get it.”

The bespectacled staff member’s smile deepened.

“Roenberg! What kind of place is that? A cultural hub with highly developed commerce, full of sights, food, and the dazzling Fireworks Festival that lights up the night—a city of festivities and passion where love blossoms!”

“Exactly.”

“Yes! And by chance, three of his team members are the Academy’s renowned beauty trio, the Eureka! You can’t call yourself a man if you miss this opportunity, right?”

The bespectacled staff member’s voice carried a deep conviction.

Perhaps that’s why. Other staff members chimed in, impressed by his eloquence.

[Oh, that’s a solid theory!]

[There was such a deep meaning! I had no idea!]

Some even gave me thumbs-up, looking at me with newfound respect, though I had no idea what kind of misunderstanding was happening.

“…So that Ivan guy got in the way without reading the room, huh?”

Even Baron Tesda, whom I trusted, started muttering nonsense.

What’s with the “again”?

“Genius types tend to be a bit clueless in that department.”

“Hm. But what’s Eureka, Faver?”

“Oh, that? It’s a term I just coined for the Academy’s top three beauties. Yuria, Rachel, Karina. Put them together, and you get Eureka.”

“…Eureka. Hmm?”

“How’s that? Rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it? Feels like you’ve just discovered something!”

Oh? I think I discovered something too.

Namely, Faver’s future. He’s gonna get a punch from me soon.

Sigh. I’ll let it slide today since he’s wearing glasses.

“So, what are you gonna do?”

Baron Tesda signed the mission document without hesitation.

Handing it back, he said,“Right. Now I get it. You really did do whatever you wanted, Gerard.”

“…”

“Your heart, I respect and support it. Succeed in the mission—and in everything else too.”

Uh, thanks.

Very much appreciated.

“Oh, by the way, I have a question, Baron.”

“Ask away. What’s on your mind?”

“Which team’s doing ‘villain subjugation’?”

‘Villain subjugation’ was the key event for Chapter 3.

“For now, Teams 3, 6, and 7 applied, but I’m leaning toward Team 3.”

Team 3 had Gwyn Gaiard and his friend Hannes Kasa. Excluding our Team 1, they had the highest combined entrance exam and midterm evaluation scores.

That’s probably a good thing.

They might struggle a bit, but they had enough strength to clear it.

Plus, since Chapter 3 was a service chapter, it offered plenty of growth opportunities.

It wouldn’t be bad for Gwyn to hog those benefits this time.

“But why ask about that out of the blue?”

“Just curious.”

“Just curious?”

“Yeah. I’ll head out now.”

Leaving behind Baron Tesda, who looked at me with disappointed eyes as if he’d expected more, I walked out of the Student Affairs Office.

After a few steps, I had to stop in my tracks.

Eureka─!

Eureka─!

A familiar word echoed to the tune of a humming work song.

The unidentified labor song from the Student Affairs Office rang through the first-floor hallway of the main building for a while, and passersby glanced at the office, humming the word themselves.

“What are they saying? What? Eureka?”

“Isn’t it a song? What song is it, though? It’s oddly catchy. Eureka! Eureka! Pfft.”

I briefly considered going back and setting the place on fire.

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