30. Recruitment Period and Strange Group [3] – part 1

Today, I survived an intense soul dress class, and was in the last period of homeroom.

Leia-sensei, who stood on the podium, gave a simple parting greet and message.

「-Fumu, that’s all for today… Which reminds me, next week is the『Club Budget War』. Participating students, try to do your best!」

「「「Yes!」」」

「Well, goodbye. See you tomorrow!」

After sensei left the classroom,

「…Club Budget War?」

Everyone seemed to know, but…

I didn’t know much about Thousand Blade Academy or Five Academy, so I didn’t know anything about it.

(……Was it written on the pamphlet?)

While thinking about such a thing, when I was packing up,

「Allen, it’s finally here… the Club Budget War!」

「I’m getting fired up!」

Ria and Rose approached me excitedly.

「……I don’t really know about this Club Budget War thing.」

「Eh, really!?」

「It’s one of Five Academy’s specialties, you know?」

「S-Specialty huh… Sorry, but can you please explain in detail?」

Ria nodded and gave me a detailed explanation.

「It is obligatory for clubs with more than 10 members to participate in the Club Budget War – it’s a real war!」

W-War huh, such exaggeration…

I thought so inwardly, but I listened to the continuation of the explanation without interrupting them.

「Each club selects three of their best members and aims for the pinnacle of the academy – a large amount of club budget! The match format is of course a one-on-one serious sword match! 」

「I-I see…」

In other words, the club budget war seems to be a serious battle over the『club budget』which is the activity fund.

「Look at this.」

Saying that, Rose took out a bundle of paper that read『Guideline for Implementation of Club Budget War』.

Detailed rules about the club budget war and the magnification of the club budget given for each rank were written there.

According to this, the clubs below the sixteenth place get an even budget amount each.

Best Eight is four times that amount, and the fourth place is eight times.

The third place is 16 times, and the second place is 32 times… The first place is 64 times.

「It’s 64 times the difference between the 16th place and the 1st place… Certainly, that is a large amount.」

「Well, if a large club like the swordsmanship club is placed less than 16th place… it would be hell.」

「Well, I suppose…」

If the swordsmanship club with that many members falls below the 16th place…

Equipment such as wooden swords and armor.

Consumables such as therapeutics and bandages.

Expenses such as when going on an expedition.

It would be impossible to cover all of them with such a low club budget.

「And so… At least one first-year student must be part of the three man team by all means. I mean, it’s not an exaggeration to say that all the recruitment to this day are for this budget war!」

「I see… So, that’s why senpais were so desperate…」

I finally understood slightly why they were so tizzy during recruitment.

Then, when I was reading through the guidelines for the implementation of the club budget war, I found two rules I was worried about.

『In the match where the first year student participates, the use of the soul dress is prohibited』 huh….

It seems that even the first year students who haven’t manifested their soul dress yet, or have not been able to control it, have been given a chance.

And this time, unlike the Big Five Holy Festival, it does not seem to be a『winning-through formula』.

It is the same as the Big Five Holy Festival to the point where it divides the members into – Vanguard, Center, General.

However, the vanguard who won in the first round cannot fight the opponent in the next round.

The vanguards will only fight once, and the next center match will be played by each others centers.

It is a simple and clear rule that the club which wins two out of the total three matches, wins.

「Of course, we are aiming to be the overall champion!」

「It’s better to have a lot of club budget!」

「…But, do we need that much budget? We are the practice-swing club…」

The only thing necessary for practice-swing club activity is… a healthy body.

To be honest, I don’t think we need so much budget.

Or more precisely, I doubt if we need any budget at all.

「It would be more convenient to have a lot of club budget. For instance…… Yes, you can buy the right to use the practice ground!」

「Right to use practice ground…?」

「Yeah, you can negotiate with the swimming club and the swordsmanship club and have them rent the pool or gymnasium in exchange for a certain amount of club budget!」

「Hee, that’s convenient.」

It seems that there are more uses for club budget than I thought.

「Then, let’s decide the participants immediately!」

Then we tried to talk to the other club members – classmates in Class A.

However, many of the Class A, including Tessa, had already been registered as a participant in another club.

(Well, it’s only natural if I think about it normally…)

The class division of Thousand Blade Academy is divided from Class A to Class F in order of highest grades.

And, the club budget war must have at least one first-year student participate by all means.

In addition, if soul dress is not allowed in the first-year players match – it was natural to choose a student of Class A who received the highest evaluation in terms of pure swordsmanship.

As a result, the participants of practice-swing club were decided to be me, Ria and Rose.

「It feels like the usual.」

「Fufu, let’s do our best to win the overall competition!」

「We will definitely win.」

■

A week later, the Club Budget War was finally held.

The venue is the Underground Training Ground.

A square stage placed in the center.

In addition, the audience seats were set up so as to surround it.

It was the place where I exchanged swords with Ria on the first day of enrolling into the academy.

The audience seat was packed with students, and the whole venue was filled with tremendous enthusiasm.

(However… I didn’t think we would get this far.)

First match against Mountaineering Club.

Second match against Cheerleading Club.

Third match against Arm Wrestling Club.

Fourth match against Judo Club.

Pushing through the rest of the clubs, we advanced to the finals.

「Fufu, Practice-Swing Club is making great progress!」

「A natural outcome!」

「A-As expected of both of you.」

Up until now, I haven’t fought in any of the matches.

Because the vanguard Ria, and the center Rose, won the first two rounds without fail and continued to win straight.

(No one would have imagined a team consisting of three first-year players.)

Soul dress was not allowed in a match against first-year student.

The senpais, whose soul dress were sealed by this rule, couldn’t carry out the match as they planned, and fell one after another against Ria and Rose.

「Now! Well then, we’re starting the final match! I’m sure you already know, but I’m going to introduce you to the『Special Rules』for the final match!」

A female student who was in charge of the Club Budget War live commentating, began explaining in a loud voice.

「Up until now, by winning two consecutive matches with just the vanguard and center – did not require for a General match to be held. However! Only in this finals, even if the victory or defeat is decided in the previous two matches, the General match will be held! We would like to ask the Generals to contend with their peak swordsmanship, which will be an example for all students!」

This was the announcement before the start of the Club Budget War final.

「Then, let’s move on to the introduction of each club immediately! A strange group who keep swinging the sword in one corner of the schoolyard! The dark horse of the Club Budget War which boasts a number of 30 members immediately after its founding! It is the entrance of the Practice-Swing Club!」

…Does it warrant being called a『strange group』just for swinging the sword?

While thinking about that, I went up to the stage with Ria and Rose.

「The Vanguard is contestant Ria-Vesteria! The Center is contestant Rose-Valencia! And finally, the General is club head, contestant Allen-Rodore!」

And then,

「Good luck! Allen, Ria, Rose!」

「Don’t lose! You have our support!」

「You have to win after coming this far!」

Enthusiastic cheering was sent by everyone in Class A who gathered in the audience seat.

「And they will be facing against, the underground rulers of Thousand Blade Academy! The Executives of Student Council! The Vanguard is Secretary Lilim-Tsuorine! Center is the Accountant Ferris-Magdalot! And the General, of course, our student council president – Sie-Arcstria! …Well, that vice-president is currently away from the country due to a punishment game, so that person will miss the Club Budget War!」

All of the opponents were surprisingly female students.

(But the vice-president was away from the country due to a punishment game?)

Just what kind of a game they played…?

「Well, that’s it! First round – we will start the vanguard match!」

Thus, the battle between the Practice-Swing Club and the Student Council Executives began.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep