While Benya was happily running around the underground workshop while playing with Mem, Simon suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right. By the way, Knox," Simon said, looking toward him. "What about your other club? Have you already submitted the application to the staff?"
"Hmm..."
Knox scratched his cheek awkwardly before letting out a dry laugh.
"Well... actually, I don't think I have to do anything. Hehe..."
"Hmm?"
Simon tilted his head in confusion. Hearing that answer, everyone else also turned their attention toward Knox. At the same time, Mem quietly flew over before landing comfortably on top of Knox's head.
Seeing everyone's curious expressions, Knox simply shrugged.
"Because before I came here, Lorain suddenly said..." He straightened his back and confidently imitated Lorain's posture and tone. "'Don't worry, Knox! Leave everything to me!'"
Knox returned to his normal posture before grinning.
"That's exactly what she said. Hehe~"
"..."
The underground workshop suddenly became unusually quiet.
After staring at Knox for several seconds, Simon finally spoke. "...Is this the power of nepotism?"
"So scary..." Toto subconsciously murmured under his breath while looking at Knox with a complicated expression.
"Hahahaha!" Benya doubled over with laughter, nearly falling to the ground. "As expected of President Neftis' daughter and her successor! So decisive!"
Dio pinched the bridge of his nose before letting out a helpless sigh. "...I don't think that's something you can call 'decisive.'"
"Ahem." Knox coughed lightly before placing one hand on his chest.
"Anyway, I'll just trust Lorain!"
He nodded proudly as though that alone had already solved every possible problem.
"...Trust, your head!" Simon immediately shot him a deadpan look.
Knox simply answered with an innocent,
"Ehe~"
"..."
His shamelessly innocent response immediately killed whatever words everyone had been about to say.
For several seconds, nobody said another word.
Well, almost nobody.
"Hahahaha!"
Benya's laughter continued to echo through the room. At some point, she had somehow ended up hugging Mem against her chest, happily laughing away as though Knox's answer was the funniest thing she had heard all day.
Meanwhile, everyone else slowly turned their attention back toward Knox.
Seeing the innocent smile still plastered across his face, several veins visibly throbbed on their foreheads.
Somehow, they were beginning to feel an overwhelming urge to punch him.
***
After showing off his summons and officially joining the Mutant Club, Knox eventually left the clubroom and continued walking through Kizen's campus.
However, his thoughts were already occupied by something else.
The matter of creating his own club had been sitting in the back of his mind for a while now. There were plenty of possibilities he could choose from, but after considering what he actually wanted to do with his free time, Knox finally settled on something considerably more peaceful than what people might expect from him.
"Hmm... after thinking about it, I guess a Light Music Club would be nice." Knox nodded to himself before looking ahead. "I should probably look for Lorain now."
"Knox!!"
Before he could take more than a few steps, someone suddenly called his name from farther down the path. Knox turned toward the voice and immediately spotted Lorain running toward him while waving one hand in the air.
"Haha, speak of the devil~" Knox chuckled as she approached. "Lorain, I was just thinking about you, you know~"
Lorain immediately slammed on an imaginary emergency brake.
She stopped right in front of him, and the confident expression she had been wearing disappeared as a faint blush quickly spread across her face.
"Wh-What?!"
"Hmm?" Knox tilted his head at her reaction. "I said I was just thinking about you. More specifically, I was thinking about your proposal to help me create a new club, hehe."
The blush on Lorain's face quickly faded.
Her expression gradually settled into something calmer, although a small trace of disappointment somehow appeared alongside it. For a moment, she simply stared at Knox with a look that seemed to say, Of course that was what he meant...
"Sigh..."
"Lorain?" Knox tilted his head again, genuinely confused by the sudden sigh.
"It's nothing." Lorain quickly dismissed the matter before her usual energy returned. "Anyway, what a coincidence. I was actually looking for you too. Guess what? Your proposal to create a new club was accepted!"
"Ohh?"
"And that's not all." Lorain placed her hands on her hips, looking rather pleased with herself. "When I reported it, Vice President Jane somehow approved it personally. Moreover, the moment I explained that you were considering making it a music-related club, she immediately ordered her subordinates to prepare everything you might need."
Knox blinked. "Everything?"
"Pretty much." Lorain nodded. "Musical instruments, equipment, and whatever else might be useful for a music club. She even told them to prepare everything from classical instruments to the more modern, technologically advanced ones."
For a moment, Knox said nothing.
He hadn't even officially decided on the Light Music Club until a few seconds ago, yet somehow, Jane had already prepared for almost exactly that possibility.
...That's suspiciously efficient.
Before Knox could think any further about it, Lorain suddenly grabbed his arm.
"Anyway, let's go! I'll show you our clubroom!"
"Wait, Lorain, I can walk by myse—"
Knox didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence. By then, Lorain was already happily dragging him away.
Knox could only allow himself to be pulled along as Lorain led him farther across the academy grounds. Compared to the areas occupied by many of Kizen's more active clubs, their destination gradually became quieter, with fewer students passing through as they moved farther away from the busier parts of campus.
The location was somewhat secluded, although it wasn't particularly difficult to reach. According to Lorain, there was also a good reason why a perfectly usable clubroom had been left in such an isolated part of the academy.
"This place belonged to another club before it disbanded," Lorain explained as she continued pulling Knox along. "It used to be some kind of Broadcasting Club. Since they needed somewhere quiet, the clubroom is a little secluded."
"Broadcasting Club?" That immediately caught Knox's attention.
"Yeah. They used to broadcast things throughout Kizen from here. News, gossip, announcements, interesting stories, and all kinds of information." Lorain glanced back at him. "Some of the broadcasting equipment is apparently still inside too."
Knox raised an eyebrow at that, his curiosity slightly piqued.
"Huh? A club like that actually sounds pretty fun." Knox allowed Lorain to continue dragging him while his curiosity visibly grew. "But how did something like that end up disbanding? Forget about whether it's entertaining or not, wouldn't a club like that have at least some influence in Kizen?"
Lorain looked back at him as he continued.
"I mean, they had equipment capable of broadcasting throughout the entire academy, right? There's no way Kizen would let a bunch of students operate something like that without permission." Knox gave a small laugh. "Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if Nefthis herself was the one who authorized the club in the first place."
"You're not wrong. They did have official permission," Lorain replied. "But that was also part of the problem."
Knox gave her a questioning look, prompting Lorain to explain as they continued toward the old clubroom.
"The requirements for joining were apparently really strict. They couldn't just accept anyone, especially when the members could broadcast information across Kizen." Lorain shrugged slightly. "And as the years passed, their senior members graduated one after another, leaving fewer juniors behind to replace them."
That alone had already put the club in a difficult position, but according to Lorain, things only became worse afterward.
Some of the remaining members eventually found that keeping up with Kizen's classes while handling the club at the same time was too demanding, while others ended up being expelled from the academy entirely.
"So their numbers just kept dropping," Lorain continued. "Eventually, there wasn't anyone left to keep the club running. Since nobody else wanted to rebuild it afterward, Kizen had no choice but to officially disband the club."
"Hmm..."
Knox glanced toward the increasingly quiet surroundings as he considered everything Lorain had just told him.
An abandoned Broadcasting Club with equipment capable of reaching the entirety of Kizen.
And now that clubroom was about to become his. A small smile slowly appeared on his face.
Interesting!
By the time they reached their destination, Lorain was still dragging Knox along by the arm.
Naturally, the sight attracted more than a few curious looks from the students they passed. Some simply watched the pair go by, while others whispered among themselves with knowing smiles.
"Youth~"
Knox's eyebrow twitched slightly when he heard that particular comment, but before he could figure out who had said it, Lorain had already pulled him toward the entrance of their new clubroom.
"We're here!"
Lorain grabbed the handle and threw the door open with far more enthusiasm than necessary.
BAAM!
The door slammed against the wall with a loud bang.
Unfortunately, the impact disturbed something that seemed to have been peacefully resting inside for a very, very long time
Puff!
A thick cloud of dust immediately burst out of the room, giving neither Knox nor Lorain enough time to react before it hit them directly in the face.
"..."
"..."
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
They simply stood there in complete silence, their faces now covered in a thin layer of dust.
The excitement Lorain had shown only moments earlier disappeared beneath a thin layer of dust covering her hair and clothes, while Knox slowly looked from himself toward the equally unfortunate girl beside him.
Eventually, he released a long sigh. "Looks like before we can enjoy the clubroom, we should clean this place first."
Lorain opened her mouth to answer, only to stop when two familiar figures suddenly materialized beside Knox.
They were the same Death Knights he had openly summoned earlier at the Mutant Club. Knox gave them a simple order to stand guard outside the clubroom, and both undead immediately moved to either side of the entrance.
Once they were in position, Knox stepped inside with Lorain and closed the door behind them.
"Hm?"
Lorain glanced toward him curiously, but before she could ask why he had suddenly become so cautious, Knox lowered his gaze toward the shadow beneath his feet.
"Arise."
His shadow immediately spread across the floor.
The darkness widened beneath him like spilled ink, stretching farther across the dusty clubroom before several shapes began rising from within it. Armored hands appeared first, followed by helmets, weapons, and entire bodies as one Shadow after another silently emerged into the room.
Their appearances varied considerably.
Several resembled knights, while others possessed forms that couldn't possibly be mistaken for ordinary humans. Yet despite suddenly being surrounded by summons belonging to the mysterious 8th Legion, Lorain showed no trace of surprise.
After all, she had known Knox's true identity as the Shadow Monarch and Commander of the 8th Legion long before either of them entered Kizen.
In fact, her expression brightened when she noticed two particularly familiar figures among them.
"Igris, Beru! Long time no see."
Igris turned toward her and gave a respectful greeting.
"Indeed. It has been some time, Miss Lorain."
Beru's reaction was considerably louder.
"Ohhh! Miss Lorain! Long time no see!"
Lorain laughed at the familiar contrast between them, and a brief conversation followed as Beru enthusiastically greeted her while Igris remained as composed as ever.
Knox allowed them to talk for a while before eventually clapping his hands together and drawing everyone's attention back to the considerably less exciting reason he had summoned them.
"Alright, everyone. As much as I'd love to let you enjoy your reunion, there's something I need your help with."
Several pairs of glowing eyes immediately turned toward their Monarch.
Knox gestured around the abandoned clubroom.
Dust covered practically every surface, from the old furniture to the broadcasting equipment left behind by the previous club. Cobwebs occupied several corners of the ceiling, and judging from the state of the floor alone, nobody had properly cleaned the place for quite some time.
"We're cleaning!"
There was a brief silence before Igris placed one hand against his chest and bowed.
"Understood, my liege!"
The other knight-type Shadows quickly followed his example, accepting their Monarch's command without the slightest complaint. Beru looked equally enthusiastic, although considering the task in question, perhaps too enthusiastic.
Soon enough, the abandoned clubroom witnessed a scene that probably hadn't occurred anywhere else in Kizen's long history.
Several imposing knights moved throughout the room, but instead of swords and shields, their hands now held brooms, dusters, cloths, and other cleaning tools. Aprons had somehow found their way over their armor as well, creating a bizarre contrast with the intimidating figures wearing them.
Igris was especially difficult to take seriously.
The distinguished knight who normally carried himself with the dignity expected of one of the Shadow Monarch's strongest servants was now carefully wiping dust from the old broadcasting equipment, an apron tied neatly around his armored waist.
Nearby, several other Shadow Knights swept the floor with the discipline of soldiers carrying out an important military operation.
Then there was Beru.
The insect-like Shadow had somehow acquired not only an apron but also a bandana tied around his head. He happily moved between different parts of the clubroom with cleaning tools in hand, humming to himself while attacking stubborn patches of dust with enough enthusiasm to make
Knox wonder whether he had accidentally discovered Beru's hidden calling.
Lorain stared at the scene for a moment. Then she covered her mouth, barely holding back her laughter. Even Knox had to admit that the sight was ridiculous.
If an ordinary person somehow walked into the room right now, they would probably have an easier time believing that a harmless slime could become a Demon King than believing these intimidating beings, suspected to belong to the mysterious 8th Legion, were currently wearing aprons and enthusiastically cleaning a school clubroom.
Somewhere beyond the boundaries of this world, a certain blue slime suddenly sneezed.
"Achoo!"
————————————Character Voicelines · Lorain: About Beru Enjoying Cleaning
Lorain: "Beru, why do you look like you're actually enjoying cleaning?"
Beru: "Yes, Miss Lorain! Because whether I'm cleaning up dust or cleaning up enemies, it's all the same to me!"
Lorain: "(－_ლ)"