Chapter 54: It’s Rather Unusual For the New Character to Come Along

I went to cla.s.s and continued my club visits after school.

I really don’t have any interests.

I would feel sorry for the gardening club if I entered with such an att.i.tude. Besides it would also be rude to Keito.

Thus……my options are starting to run out.

「Are you still hesitating?」

「I want to join one……」

「You’re not really being forced to so isn’t it fine if you don’t join?」

Un, that is true.
But even though I said I wanted to eliminate as many common points with the game, I also wanted to experience the feeling of joining a club…..in that case I should really hurry up and decide already.

「What? Maria-san is hesitant about which club to join!?」

「……Sashia-sama, gokigen’yo」

Sashia has appeared.
I tried my best to minimize interactions, but as expected the person sitting next to me is strong. Due to daily group activities the amount of mandatory interactions increased, by the time I noticed he was calling me Maria-san……even though I firmly persist in calling him Sashia!

「Sasha, don’t just suddenly jump into the conversation, it surprised me」

「Sorry, sorry, since I’m sitting next to you all I ended up overhearing」

As expected, he’s popular. He’s already friends with mostly everyone in cla.s.s, of course Eru and Primera are among them.
I hope I’m not counted as one of them, at the very least just view me as a cla.s.smate.

「Has Sasha-kun already decided on which club to join?」

「Yes, I’m joining the soccer club」

Un, it was the same in the high school division. Mariabell even went to cheer him on many times. Although she didn’t really contribute much besides making squealing noises. Ah, but the club budget did increase.

「More than that, Maria-san! If you are in doubt, how about joining the soccer club!?」

「……I am a girl」

The soccer club of this school is supposedly male only.
What? Does this boy mean I look like a male?

「I know! I don’t mean as a player, but I was wondering if you would join as a manager」

「Ah, you mean that」

Manager……a position many girls would yearn for. If this were your typical cliche shoujo manga the love interest would be the ace player.

Besides, if you ask me I don’t think a n.o.ble’s daughter would fit the role of manager.
A pampered daughter of n.o.bility would be unlikely able to do many ch.o.r.es.

「……I don’t think I will be suitable for the position」

Aside from that I don’t have a good premonition from being in the same club as Sashia.

「Ah, the work is just keeping score and check of equipment so it should be simple I think? You won’t have to do any cleaning or the likes」

Then is there really any need for a manager?

「You’ll also be talking to the student council regarding the club budget」

……Anyhow, it’s still a manager all the same, it’s not the “helping with club activities” type of manager but rather “the s...o...b..z management” type of manager instead I believe? Considering that it might possibly be a reasonable line of work for both commoners and n.o.ble daughters.
Aside from that I wouldn’t have to play the sport. But the duties of manager remain unchanged.

I sometimes forget it, but this is a magic academy. All club activities are conducted with wands. Of course, the practice wands have limiter magic placed on them so there is no danger……especially with sports club there are many stray shots during the games.

It was awfully scary. Since it was the high school division attributes had already been decided and fireb.a.l.l.s were flying around.

If I become a manager wouldn’t I be over the fence? There is no reason to deal with such terrors.

「I’m sorry, but sports club……」

It would be difficult to outright deny him, so I tried deceiving him. Because my reason for not joining the club would be because he is a capture target. I am scared of stray magic spells, would also not work since it would be rejected as soon as he says “it’ll be fine” even though there wouldn’t be any basis for that.
So I wanted to change the topic……but as soon as I thought that, I saw a figure approaching us.

「Sasha, I’m sorry for interrupting but do you mind if I have a word?」

Nice timing! Very nice! Please take the nuisance!

「Mariabell-sama has a visitor」

「Eh…..me?」

Not Sashia? She had spoken to Sashia first even though she had business with me, you can easily measure the difference in popularity between him and me!
I’m still only in middle school, but my villainess face is steadily reaching completion……although I suppose for a girl their growth period would be during middle school.

「The person is waiting at the staircase」

「I understand, thank you」

I said thank you and even smiled but she began bowing her head and immediately retreated backwards.

I’m not trying to befriend everyone in the cla.s.s! Those are my thoughts…..but at the very least I want to be considered a cla.s.smate.
Well I’ll think about it next time. I can also consult Primera and Eru about it.

「Sashia-sama, I apologize but……」

「Un, go on ahead!」

「I will not be back until cla.s.sー」

「No worries!」

「Understood, I will be going then」

Sashia, Primera, and Eru waved as I left the cla.s.sroom.
The area at the staircase is literally a landing spot. Normally one would wait at the door, but in the case of uppercla.s.smen or anyone not from the same grade they would gather quite the public attention. Once when Keito came to visit me in cla.s.s I also moved to the landing spot since he stood out.

Was it Keito? But my cla.s.smates know about Keito, so why would he be referred to as a “visitor”……?
As I was questioning this while walking through the long corridor, I found my answer when I saw a person smiling while waving to me at the staircase landing spot.

「Maria-chan! Sorry for calling you out like this」

「Cataliareus-sama?」

As usual her smile was dazzlingly and very cool……but also something seemed out of place. I was expecting Keito so I was a bit surprised.

After meeting her by chance on the first day of club tours in the hallway and later on in the dining hall, before I knew it she started calling me Maria-chan.
She wasn’t a capture target or a person related to them, she was someone I had no prior knowledge about from the game. So I didn’t really have any other choice but to view her as a nice and beautiful uppercla.s.smen.

「Catalia is fine, Cataliareus is too long right?」

「But you’re a third year uppercla.s.smen of mine」

「But that uppercla.s.smen said it’s fine, right?」

「……Yes, Catalia-sama」

There is a certain compelling force of a smile of an ikemen. Although Catalia-sama is a girl.
But even so she was still very cute. It’s rather sad to say this of myself, but Mariabell also has a rather cute face.

「Ano in that case……did you need something from me?」

「Ahh, sorry, the conversation diverted」

I thought that it was something urgent because she came all the way to my cla.s.s, but with this atmosphere it seems not……?
Rather I wasn’t expecting Catalia-sama to have any business with me.

「Maria-chan, have you already decided on a club?」

「No, I’m still deciding……」

Rather than saying I was still deciding, it feels no matter where I go there will be a dead end.

「So there isn’t any club you want to join?」

「Yes……in the end I couldn’t decide upon which club to join」

In my case, I just want to “join” a club so it isn’t strange that I haven’t decided upon one yet. I was hoping with all the various sorts of clubs there would at least be one that would interest me but that sort of optimism has long been shattered.

I was sighing in my mind, but on the contrary Catalia-sama smiled.
Before I could even question her behavior, Catalia-sama grabbed my hand and drew close to me, her face was very near mine. Her face was very beautiful even at a close distance.

「In that case, how about joining the student council?」

「……What? 」