Chapter 103: Extracurricular Activities (2)

A few days ago.

I was skimming through the list of extracurricular activities.

Transport, VIP protection, search, exploration and investigation, civilian support, beast extermination, villain subjugation, and so on.

Among these categories, one stood out particularly brightly.

‘Search.’

I opened the mission brief attached to the search category, and everything inside seemed to glow faintly, as if highlighted with a fluorescent pen.

This was why I became the team leader for the extracurricular activities and chose ‘search’ as our mission.

‘[Gaius’s Insight] is pointing me here. Of course, I have to go.’

I had never lost out by trusting [Gaius’s Insight].

There must be a reason this time too.

‘By the way, Roenberg City…’

To compare it with the original story, I spread out the mission brief and racked my memory.

The city of Roenberg, the stage for the ‘search’ mission.

The requester was a man living there, asking for help in finding his missing child.

It was a simple request.

Honestly, I wondered how such a minor issue had made its way to the Academy.

But upon closer reading, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

“The city guard isn’t investigating?”

Even after filing a missing person report, the city guard wasn’t doing their job, according to him.

So, he had no choice but to ask us for help.

“So, it’s an easy job.”

Finding a runaway kid wasn’t difficult or dangerous.

I didn’t know why the city guard wasn’t doing their job properly, but if we went and requested their cooperation, they’d likely help.

“And if they don’t, we have Karina Zain.”

Using her name would force them to comply, whether they wanted to or not.

If we scoured the city guard and Roenberg thoroughly, I figured we’d wrap it up in less than a day.

In the original story, this ‘search’ mission was successfully completed in under two days.

‘But why did [Gaius’s Insight] pick this one?’

There was definitely something there, but no matter how much I recalled the original story, nothing came to mind.

“Well, I’ll find out when I get there.”

It was tomorrow.

* * *

Yuria was caught in a serious dilemma.

‘What should I wear?’

She opened her wardrobe.

There were no clothes to wear.

Well, there were clothes.

But they were plain and functional, meant for practical purposes only, far from anything meant for dressing up.

That was only natural.

Yuria had no interest in socializing.

Naturally, she had no interest in dolling herself up, and her usual attitude toward fashion was to let it go to the dogs.

But……

A reason to dress up had emerged.

Extracurricular activity week.

Thinking about the place where her team would carry out their mission, Yuria regretted not paying attention to clothes until now.

‘Yuria, why don’t you ever dress up? Relying on your face and just wearing whatever? Sure, your proportions make anything look good, but try putting in some effort!’

She wished she’d listened when Rachel said that.

Looking in the mirror, Yuria made a grim face.

The reason she was making such a fuss was Ronica Jasmine, who had thoroughly fanned the flames.

That evening, after Gerard became the team leader and the mission was decided.

While receiving special training from Ronica and Chaser, the two advisors, the topic of extracurricular activities came up.

“What? Roenberg!? Gerard picked that place?”

“Yes. Well, he didn’t pick Roenberg, he picked ‘search.’”

Ronica shook her head.

“No, Gerard picked Roenberg. Roenberg!”

She was strongly convinced and emphasized it.

“Because! It’s the empire’s top resort city! For a team of your level to pick ‘search’ makes no sense. Honestly, it’s an excuse to have fun!”

A deep furrow formed between Yuria’s pale brows.

Really?

She listened closely to Ronica’s words.

“Think about it, Yuria. Who’s Gerard? A guy obsessed with grades and Merit Points, right?”

That was true.

Well… not obsessed, but.

He did care a lot about grades.

“But a guy like that picks search, not villain subjugation or beast extermination? That doesn’t add up. Right, Professor Chaser?”

“Yeah, it’s odd. With Gerard’s personality, he’d naturally go for something with high Merit Points. Choosing to search with that team is strange.”

“See!”

Yuria’s brows furrowed harder.

Listening to the two professors, it really seemed that way.

But extracurricular activities were meant to help others in need.

She’d heard a brief explanation about the mission.

‘It’s about helping a father in Roenberg who lost his child.’

But to think that sincere intent was actually a pretext for fun?

It felt too impure for a volunteer’s heart.

It didn’t seem right, so Yuria shared her thoughts with the two professors.

Ronica burst out laughing.

“Oh, Yuria. Isn’t Gerard human? He’d even want to take a break, no?”

“Still.”

“Think simply. It’s not some grand case, right? Just finding a missing kid. With the city guard’s cooperation, it’ll be done in two days. After finishing the mission, the rest is free time, so how he spends it is up to him, isn’t it? No need to feel burdened.”

Yuria shook her head.

Gerard was human and it was natural for a human to want a break.

‘If he were an ordinary person.’

Gerard wasn’t ordinary.

From what she’d seen, he was someone who only ever charged forward like a madman, never thinking of rest.

“I know the real reason Gerard chose to search.”

That’s when Chaser cut in.

Yuria’s eyes turned to him.

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Hm. Coming from a playboy, it’s not very credible.”

“Ahem! Let’s not go there… Just listen.”

Chaser continued with a serious face.

“Your team has Karina Zain and Rachel besides you, right?”

“So?”

“That Gerard bastard. Seems like he’s got feelings for one of them.”

Ronica’s eyes widened to the point of tearing at that moment.

“What!? Is that true? Who said that?”

“Someone trustworthy. Baron Tesda.”

Chaser grinned.

Baron Tesda.

As the head of Student Affairs, he was the one who received all the Academy’s news the fastest and easiest.

Ronica shouted in excitement.

“Oh my gosh! Then it’s legit! Those two are as close as father and son, spilling their deepest worries!”

“Heh. That’s the kind of relationship I have with the Baron.”

Ronica slapped Chaser’s shoulder, making a fuss.

Watching this, Yuria’s eyes trembled slightly.

The misunderstanding was snowballing.

Yuria’s expression, lost in thought, had stiffened completely.

‘Senior has feelings for one of us?’

She had spent the most time with him.

It could be her, but she knew.

It wasn’t her.

Gerard had never treated her as more than a junior.

He always kept a line.

“Yuria, what about you?”

Ronica suddenly asked.

“Huh? Sorry, what?”

“What, you know! What if Gerard has feelings for you? You’ve spent the most time with him out of the three. If he likes you, how do you feel? Huh? Huh?”

“Uh, well… I haven’t thought about it…”

Yuria’s voice trailed off, her neck turning red as a beet.

It was a lie.

“Kya! So cute! Look, Professor Chaser, her face is red!”

“Youthful.”

Chaser smiled warmly.

“It’s gonna be great there. A beautiful night sky that pulls you in. Dancing to soft melodies, watching fireworks, climbing a hill to see the stars pour down—you won’t even notice time passing.”

“…….”

“Do you have something to wear, Yuria?”

And so, back to the present, in Yuria’s dorm.

…It absolutely, absolutely wasn’t because she had someone in mind or was hoping for a specific situation.

“It’s just to help someone in need.”

But contrary to her words, she went shopping the next day.

The reason: shopping and Ronica Jasmine went with her.

* * *

I headed to the airship platform.

A train would take a full day, and portals weren’t permitted except in special circumstances like wartime.

So, we chose an airship to travel to Roenberg.

Arriving at the platform, I saw Karina Zain standing in a corner with her legs crossed.

As expected, her striking physique stood out even from a distance.

But what was it?

Karina looked different from usual.

Her superior physique and elegant beauty were the same.

Yes, definitely the same… but why did she seem different today?

Did she change her makeup?

‘Maybe it’s because I’m seeing her outside the Academy for the first time.’

Standing in front of her, I felt oddly nervous.

It’d be embarrassing if she noticed.

I greeted her as casually as possible.

“Hey. You’re early?”

“…….”

“Why’d you get so dressed up? Got someone to impress?”

There was no answer.

When I looked, Karina, arms crossed, was eyeing me up and down.

And then she said,“What’s that?”

Her expression was quite annoyed.

Well, when had we ever been thrilled to see each other’s faces?

But I didn’t think our relationship was so bad that she’d pick a fight from the get-go on the first day of extracurricular activities.

We’d built some begrudging camaraderie through shared crises.

“What’s got you so grumpy now?”

“No, you came like that?”

Now I noticed she was displeased with my preparation.

For the record, I came empty-handed, without a bag or any belongings.

“Yeah, I came like this?”

“It might be a trip of several days, and that’s all you brought?”

“They’ll have everything I need there.”

“……Ha.”

Karina irritably swept her hair up, as if disappointed by my expectations.

Only then did I notice the huge suitcase behind her.

I burst out laughing.

“Hey, hey! What’s that? You moving or something? Why drag a huge suitcase when you could just put it in Subspace…”

Before I finished, Karina opened her Subspace and tossed the suitcase in.

Then, glaring at me with murderous eyes, she said,

“Don’t talk to me. I’m in a terrible mood, bad enough to want to crash this airship.”

I shut my mouth immediately.

“What was I even thinking… Ha… I’m such an idiot. An idiot.”

For once, she was right.

Maybe the sun will rise in the west tomorrow.

……No.

Today? For a moment, I felt confused.

Because a bright glow was suddenly rising from the distance.

The source of the light, parting the crowd and approaching us, was none other than Yuria.

Having shed her usual dark, drab clothes, she wore a white lace dress and red shoes, looking like a goddess descended to this world.

So, I couldn’t help but stare at her with my mouth agape.

It was only natural—male instinct.

I was still staring blankly when she reached me.

But──,

“What’s that?”

The goddess threw the same question at me as Karina had.

“……Huh?”

“What’s that?”

Her expression was somehow cold and then I noticed.

Behind her was a leather bag even bigger than Karina’s suitcase.

“…….”

The goddess had turned into a grim reaper.

“Hey? You’re not gonna nag her for moving somewhere?”

Karina snickered at me from the side.

But I couldn’t say anything back.

It was instinct.

I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I had that chilling feeling of having messed up.

In times like this, a man instinctively knows it’s best to stay quiet.

“Hey, Senior? What’s that?”

Damn it.

What the hell did I do wrong?

Someone, please give me the answer.

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