There were already dozens of clubs related to magic. So, I tried my best to make sure that my club didn't share similarities with the existing magic clubs. I could probably make up something with my specialty, which involved 'magic circle manipulation' for my club.
"…..sorry, Shushu. I can't do magic. Also, I already signed up for the horticulture club, so….I can't join."
Hestia said she didn't have a choice.
"A club? I already applied and turned in my paper."
Hylli had, boringly, chosen the swordsmanship club to suit his focus.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm already the Beauty and Makeup club president. Shushu, why don't you join my club? I can make you into a goddess!"
Hazel asked me to join.
Then I ran out of friends.
"…..!"
I despaired. How could I have such a small friend group?! I tugged my hair as I held onto my club application. What do I do? I couldn't give up on the club payments like this. If it continued on like this, I would have had to beg a random passerby student to join my club. But most of them would have said that they weren't interested in magic and have denied my request. The students who were interested in magic would have already submitted their club applications way before. Everyone would join a well-known, major club instead of applying for a no-name magic circle manipulation club. Moreover, the magic circle manipulation I focused on was based off the knowledge I had from my past life, so there wouldn't be anybody who could understand it, either.
If it was simply a case of joining an existing club, I could keep thinking about it for two or three more days, but to create a club, the deadline was today. Otherwise, apparently we would be randomly entered into a club.
And the worst part of it was that all the students in my class were already gone. It was club activity time. Everyone had left to either look for a club, or had left to their chosen clubs. I sat all alone in the classroom, sad about the fact that I had no friends to embark on this journey with.
I didn't want to have to do this, but I had a final option.
I could get the video file of the three traffic light boys from Hylli, and threaten them…..
"Shushu, where's Shushu?"
I was mulling over my dangerous plan, then held my breath as I heard something outside.
When I stayed quiet, the voice became louder and clearer.
"Has anyone seen Shushu?"
They were calling for me. But it was a voice I had never heard before. It was a boy's voice, even. The only boy I was close to in this life was the prince's, but the prince hadn't gone through puberty yet so his voice was still high.
The voice that was calling my name was in the middle of puberty. His voice was scratchy. If I wanted to be nice about it, it was a husky voice, and if I had to describe it otherwise, it was somebody's voice the day after karaoke.
"Hmm. Shushu is apparently in swordsmanship, so maybe they're in that area."
The boy calling my name came up to the classroom, then seemed to turn around, muttering to himself. I wanted to see who was speaking, so I stood up.
"Shushu isn't in the swordsmanship club."
I could see a blond ponytail in front of the classroom. When I responded, he stopped walking and turned around.
"Oh. Then where are they?"
I stared at the boy who was looking for me. I'd never seen this boy before.
My first impression of him was, honestly, that he was very good looking. But he had inner double eyelids with long eyes, and they were tilted upwards, making him look pretty aggressive. His sleepy, teary green eyes blinked slowly, staring at me. This unknown boy had a lollipop in his mouth as he spoke.
Before I responded to his question, I asked for his name.
"Who are you? Do you have any business with Shushu?"
The boy shook his head at my question.
"I don't really have any business. I was just curious how they looked."
What a weird kid. Why was he curious about how I looked? When I gave him a suspicious look, he spoke slowly.
"You look like their classmate. When you see Shushu, tell them that Cory DuBois was here for them."
Calling himself Cory, the boy said why he came and turned around, waving. My jaw dropped to the floor as I looked at the boy who called himself Cory DuBois.
He was that Cory DuBois?
The son of the DuBois marquis family, that Cory DuBois. He was another important character in the novel.
Cory was an iffy main male character. They loved the main character, but they had never actively seeked out their love. In the novel, he was the least passionate of the main characters in terms of their love for Hestia. Seemingly. This was only outwardly, of course. This character never properly ate a meal and focused solely on their magic, and seemed to be less passionate than the others. In truth, they cared the most about Hestia in the novel.
Cory and Hestia first met in the library. He hadn't fallen in love at first sight at Hestia, but he had seen Hestia come in to the library for flower-related books from time to time, and had slowly fallen in love with her. I only knew this much because I had seen it in my dreams.
But now, I didn't need that kind of information.
The only information I needed at this moment was that he was skilled at magic. And seeing him roaming around right now, it looked like he wasn't in a club, too.
"Excuse me, sir Cory."
I hurriedly called after Cory.
Cory trudged away, then paused and turned around when he heard his name. It was a 'say what you want and hurry' kind of face.
Wow, what an angry face. He was just staring, but it looked like he was glaring at me.
I internally awed at the novel's description: he really did have a face of a villain.
"I'll be honest. The Shushu you're looking for is right here."
I pointed at myself and spoke. Cory looked surprised, then walked over towards me.
"…..you're Shushu?"
"To be exact, I'm Shuraina West. Shushu is my nickname."
Cory shoved his hands in his pockets and looked me up and down. It was an investigative gaze.
"I thought you were a boy and thought that nicknames really didn't have gender, but you were a girl."
Cory added that he thought I was a 'huge, muscular sword wielding boy'.
"Anyway, what did you need from me?"
"Oh, just. Hestia said that Shushu was her type, so I got curious."
"…..?"
…..what? Why am I Hestia's type?
Moreover, hearing him say that made me think that he and Hestia had spoke to each other before. When did you guys even meet?
It seemed that the novel had progressed without me realizing it. Did you guys already meet in the library? I'm asking if you both looked at each other through a bookcase, looking for books on the opposite sides. Our baby prince barely could say hi with me next to him and you already did all that?
I felt bad for the prince. Anyway, it looked like the story had progressed earlier than expected. They weren't even supposed to meet yet. With how fast things were progressing, it wouldn't be weird if they married when they were in high school.
"Then, it was fun talking to you Shushu. I'll be leaving now."
Cory smirked, then said that he would leave. He really didn't give me a moment to think. I rushed to grab him.
"Wait, sir Cory."
"Why, what. Cory what."
He pouted when I kept calling after him.
This was the third time I had stopped him from leaving. I was kind of scared because of how scary his default face was, but seeing him respond without issue each and every time made me realize that he wasn't as bad as he looked.
"Have you joined a club yet?"
Cory shook his head at my words.
"No, I'm just about to go around and see. Why, do you want to go together?"
He held out his hand as he said that. Surprised at how welcoming Cory was, I shook my head. That wasn't my objective.
"To be honest, I wanted to recommend an incredible club to you."
All of the male main characters in the novel were all assholes and blockheads, so I was kind of nervous.
I had somehow pulled off my friendship with the prince with my blackmail material, but I didn't really know what kind of person Cory was yet.
He seemed nice, despite his face….he had a bit of a doubtful personality in the novel.
Anyway, it was smooth sailing until now. He was honestly hearing me out instead of calling bullshit.
"I've heard that you're very interested in magic."
Although it wasn't really interest but a straight-up obsession. If you took out magic and Hestia from Cory's boring life, he might as well gone back to his mother's womb.
Cory nodded.
"It's my major."
"Then what do you think of the 'magic circle manipulation' club that will be forming soon?"
I held out my application form towards him.
"Magic circle….manipulation club?"
It looked like he had never heard of this particular focus. He frowned. He looked a lot more terrifying when he frowned.
"Yes, it's taking in the basic magic concepts and formulae and modifying magic circles."
Cory kept quiet for a moment. It looked like he was sincerely considering it.
"It really does sound interesting….."
Was I seeing hope? I internally begged him a million times.
"Sorry. I want to join a club with lots of people."
....it was a failure. I thought I was a bit too prideful. I tried my best to remain calm.
"The less people there are, the more freedom you get."
"I don't want to have a big role. I just want a club to waste time. The more people there are, the less they'll be able to focus on individual members."
I thought he had a social objective for joining a large club, but it just seemed that he was lazy and didn't want any responsibilities.
Well, it was hard to be a social butterfly with that face. Unless he had a bunch of people he could push around.
And looking closer, his necktie was haphazardly tied and the buttons on his button-down were all buttoned wrong. The blazer he wore over his shirt was half off and half on his body.
I could approximate his personality and decided to be up front.
"I'm creating a club for club funds, so I'm not adding too much meaning to a club. You just have to help me with the member count."
Cory smirked at my words.
"Wow. You also have some real shady reasons."
But contrary to my hopes, he refuesed.
"Sorry, but I still won't join."
He really was set on his goals. He didn't even hesitate with that last response.
I stood in front him, quietly thinking. A teacher with an armful of copies saw the two us and came over, then spoke to Cory in a stern voice.
"Student Cory, don't be too mean to Shuraina."
"Huh?"
Did Cory do something to me? Didn't he just politely refuse? When I looked at Cory in confusion, he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, as if used the the whole situation.
"Man, seriously. I didn't do anything."
Cory spoke to the teacher's retreating form. I was doubting the whole situation.
"Did…you just get misunderstood because you look scary?"
"Yeah, but well. It happens a lot."
"Can you look at me and smile just once?"
He hesitated for a bit, then mumbled.
"...you're gonna regret it."