While Simon was still staring blankly at the shabby clubroom, Benya cheerfully spread her arms toward the entrance.
"What are you waiting for? Come on in!"
Before Simon could even react, Knox had already stepped past her with a relaxed smile.
"Thanks for having us~"
Without the slightest hesitation, he walked inside as naturally as though he were entering his own house.
Simon followed shortly behind.
The interior of the clubroom was far older and more worn than he had expected. Before coming to Kizen, he had often heard stories about the academy's clubs, describing them as grand, magnificent, and overflowing with resources. Compared to those rumors, however, the room before him looked almost disappointingly ordinary.
Even so, the longer Simon looked around, the less he minded.
The old furniture, the faded walls, and the slightly messy atmosphere somehow gave the room a sense of warmth. Rather than feeling neglected, it reminded him of a hideout that had been used for years by people who genuinely enjoyed gathering there.
Meanwhile, Knox had already made himself comfortable on a nearby chair.
He quietly looked around the room with obvious interest before the corner of his mouth curved into a satisfied smile. Personally, he quite liked this kind of atmosphere. It felt like a secret base, cozy and lived-in, making it surprisingly easy to relax.
"...You're here?"
A sleepy voice suddenly broke the silence.
The second-year student lying across the sofa lazily brushed a hand through his messy hair before slowly sitting up. Thick dark circles hung beneath his eyes, making him look as though he hadn't had a proper night's sleep in days.
Simon recognized him immediately.
He was the same senior who had handed him the Mutant flyer before he and Knox headed toward this building.
"What are you doing, Dio?" Benya asked, placing both hands on her hips. "Today's the last day for recruitment!"
"...I'm sleepy." Dio answered with a yawn. "Besides, hardly anyone comes even if I hand out flyers."
"That's not true!"
Benya immediately pointed at Knox and Simon with a proud look on her face.
"See? We actually got some new members!"
Only then did Dio shift his gaze toward the first-year student standing near the entrance.
"...Uh, you're..."
"Nice to see you again, Senior," Simon greeted politely while showing the flyer Dio had given him earlier. "Thanks for this."
"See?" Benya puffed out her chest triumphantly. "And not only him! I even brought another junior with me."
She laughed cheerfully as she gave Knox's shoulder a few playful pats.
Only after hearing that did Dio finally turn his attention toward the person standing beside Simon.
The moment he saw Knox's face, his entire body froze. His expression stiffened so completely that he almost looked like a statue. To anyone else, such a reaction might have seemed exaggerated.
But at the same time, it was also perfectly understandable.
After all, the first-year standing before him was none other than Knox Aznable, the student who had thrown the entire academy into an uproar after utterly crushing a second-year in a public duel.
No, calling it an overwhelming victory almost didn't do it justice. It had been a completely one-sided beating.
Completely oblivious to Dio's frozen expression, Benya clapped her hands together as another idea popped into her head.
"You guys stay here for a bit!" she said excitedly. "I'm going back to the first-year district to recruit a few more people!"
"...Just stay here," Dio replied weakly, sounding as though he had already given up.
"I'll be back!"
Benya waved energetically before rushing out of the clubroom without listening to a single word Dio had just said.
She rushed out, slamming the clubroom door behind her. Dio let out a small sigh and looked at Knox and Simon.
The room instantly became much quieter after the energetic second-year disappeared, leaving only Knox, Simon, and Dio staring at one another.
"...Make yourselves comfortable," Dio said with a completely defeated expression.
"Sorry?" Simon blinked in confusion.
Without answering, Dio simply lay back down on the sofa. "...There'll be an interview later, so until then... mmnh... mmnh..."
Before Simon could ask another question, the second-year had already drifted back to sleep.
"..."
Simon stared at him for a moment before quietly scratching his cheek.
...These people are kind of weird.
As he turned his head, he noticed Knox had already wandered deeper into the clubroom, looking around with obvious curiosity.
Might as well have a look around too.
With nothing else to do while waiting for the interview, Simon began exploring the room as well. Meanwhile, Knox continued examining every corner of the clubroom, and the farther he walked inside, the more his impression of the place began to change.
From the outside, the clubroom looked old and poorly maintained. Inside, however, it felt less like a place for students to relax and more like a proper workshop dedicated to undead research.
Shelves lined the walls, packed with all kinds of undead-related materials that rivaled the inventory of a professional necromancer's shop. Worktables were covered with scattered blueprints, while knives, scissors, carving tools, and carefully polished bones lay neatly arranged beside them, showing clear signs that they were used on a regular basis.
The deeper inside the room, the more impressive the facilities became. Several pieces of equipment occupied the back section, including an automatic binding machine powered by mana stones and even a refrigeration unit designed to preserve biological materials.
Seeing all of it, Knox couldn't help but smile to himself.
Looks really can be deceiving.
From the outside, the clubroom gave off the impression of being old, shabby, and somewhat underfunded. Yet hidden behind that unassuming appearance was equipment expensive enough to rival many professional research laboratories.
As expected of the future successor of the Vanilla Group!
Knock. Knock.
The sound of someone knocking echoed through the clubroom. With Dio already fast asleep on the sofa, Simon naturally walked over and answered the door.
"Yes, come in."
Click.
The door slowly opened, revealing a cold-looking male student wearing glasses. Beneath his academy jacket, he wore a black hoodie with the hood pulled over his head, causing his bangs to cast a shadow over his eyes and giving him a rather distant, unapproachable impression.
A first-year.
Judging from the badge on his chest and the way he curiously looked around the room, Simon quickly came to that conclusion.
"The seniors said they'll be starting in a little while," Simon said politely. "They told us to just make ourselves comfortable until then."
The boy simply gave a small nod before casually sitting down on the sofa as though he had been there countless times before. A moment later, he reached into his subspace pocket, pulled out a book, and quietly began reading without saying another word.
Unable to hide his curiosity, Simon glanced at the cover.
...What kind of book is that?
While Simon was still wondering what sort of person would voluntarily read something like that, another knock sounded from the entrance.
"Yes, come in."
The door creaked open once more, and this time a short boy cautiously peeked inside. The moment he spotted Simon, his eyes immediately lit up.
"Ah! Simon!"
"Toto!"
The newcomer was Toto Amori, another student aspiring to join the Summoning Department, just like Simon.
The nervous expression he'd been wearing disappeared almost instantly, replaced by a relieved smile.
"Simon! You're joining this club too?"
"Huh? Oh, not yet." Simon shook his head with a smile. "I'm just here to take a look first."
The two naturally began chatting while the bespectacled boy remained completely absorbed in his book, showing no interest whatsoever in their conversation.
"I actually came here because I wanted to meet a certain senior," Toto said excitedly.
"A certain senior?" Simon asked.
Toto immediately lowered his voice, as though he were about to reveal some incredible secret.
"I heard a rumor, the president of this club is actually..."
"A second-year, Special Admission No. 5, and a member of the Student Council, Benya Vanilla."
The sentence wasn't spoken by Toto.
Instead, both Simon and Toto instinctively turned toward the sofa. At some point, the bespectacled student had lowered his book and calmly finished the sentence for him.
Hearing the familiar surname, Simon's eyes widened.
"Wait... Vanilla? As in The Vanilla Group?"
"The granddaughter of the chairman of the Vanilla Group."
A fourth voice suddenly joined the conversation. Everyone turned toward the back of the room.
At some point, Knox had already finished looking around the workshop and casually walked back over, stopping beside the shelves with his hands tucked into his pockets.
"The president of this club is the granddaughter of the chairman of the Vanilla Group, Benya Vanilla," he said with a relaxed smile before looking at Simon. "Simon... how did you not notice her surname? She literally introduced herself as Benya Vanilla before we even came here~"
"..."
"..."
The room suddenly became quiet.
Just as Dio had frozen earlier after recognizing Knox, the bespectacled boy and Toto now wore almost identical expressions. Both of them stood there stiffly, looking as though they had turned into statues.