Vol 3 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1: Arthur

The 9th day of the seventh month, the year 3305 of the World Calendar

The Roxcheanuk Confederation—also known as Roxche—composed the eastern half of the only continent in the world

Roxche’s capital was known sie of this area was the 4th Capital Secondary School And on that ca that housed the school’s newspaper club

The newspaper club boasted the most luxurious room in the entire school

The clubroom was about half the size of a classroom, was furnished with sofas, tables, chairs, and desks, and had a kitchen with a hot plate There was even an adjacent darkroom

A cool northerly breeze wafted in through the openand shook the lace curtains that people with an eye for textiles would recognize as astronomically expensive The sky was a clear blue that day

Sitting all alone on the sofa in the large rooirl with red hair Jenny Jones, the president of the newspaper club

“Looks like I’ll be busy for quite a while” She said, downing her tea in one go

Five empty teacups were on the coffee table between the two sofas A sixth joined them

“Let’s get started!”

Jenny sat up and leapt clear over the coffee table Sitting at a desk, she pulled out a brand-new notebook from the shelf With a fountain pen she wrote, ‘3305 Newspaper Club Activities’ on the cover Then she opened it to a page with grids

In neat handwriting she began to make her plans

‘Suht of club activities Hold at vacation home and drill spirit of journalism into members Teach members to use camera and darkroom To do ASAP’

‘Ca: Separate event from suht make himself very useful Take note’

‘Regular publication: Goal for fall term is 2 issues a ht work for a separate corner on Bezelese lessons’

‘Photography exhibit: Put raphy club pay for insultingto assimilate them into newspaper club’

‘School festival: Participate at all costs Six h, but the est club in school?’

‘Police: Alreed to cooperate with Theodore Hartnett, but it doesn’t really ot to tell us his real name Oh well’

Jenny’s fountain pen stopped She grinned

“Heh”

She pushed back her chair and took to her feet

“I’et all this done!”

Jenny strode over to the telephone, grabbed the receiver, and turned the dial

A moment later

“Hi, it’sif the vacation ho uests, including me” Jenny chattered into the receiver

Just as the president of the new-and-improved newspaper club took action—

“It is I, the Black Knight! In darkness do I live; in darkness do I kill!”

A boy in school-issue sweats swept forward inside a large gymnasium on the same campus

It was the third day of the drama club’s practice camp, which also involved the orchestra club and the chorus club

The gye of campus was enveloped in a cool breeze

There was a line of tape running down the center of the gye, upon which several dra

One of them, however, was not a member of the drama club

He had long, light brown hair and handso, who could easily pass for a girl in looks alone

“I shall strike down all who stand in my way!” He cried, his slender ar hair cascaded across his back

In front of the stage were drama club members in sweats with scripts in hand Behind them were members of the orchestra club, clad in uniforht were the four chorus club members, also in uniform and also seated

“He’s so cool!”

Most of the students there were girls; and most were captivated by Nick’s perforht, heads turned When he ain

But in the orchestra was one of the feeren’t enraptured

She was a bespectacled girl with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail

“So beautiful it’s a curse” She said under her breath as she recalled their conversation the previous day Her violin rested on her lap

“Did you say so, Nat?” Asked a classmate next to her

Natalia Steinbeck turned to her friend with a look so plain it was almost cold

“I did I ondering as prettier—ht?”

“Pfft!”

The girl burst into laughter So did Natalia

In one of the chairs to the right of the orchestra was another girl atching, but not captivated by Nick’s performance

She had a fair cotails

“Yes He was again cool yesterday” She said to her senior-classmen

She was responding to their endless praises for Nick by referring to the performance he had showcased in the basement the previous day

“Hm? He sure is”

But the senior-classmen did not think too otten ‘today’ and ‘yesterday’ mixed up

The pigtailed girl was frodoms of Bezel-Iltoa—also known as Sou Be-Il—which took up the western half of the continent Her naiven name

“It is a very wonderful thing to knowmy club activities”

Her senior-class in part to the newspaper club, which she had just joined, but thedid not carry across completely

“It is a wonderful thing” Meg repeated to herself

Two boys watched Meg froymnasium

Two boys ere not part of the drama, orchestra, or chorus clubs

One of thereen T-shi+rt underneath He was short in stature but muscular and fit His blonde hair was cropped short, and he had sky-blue eyes In addition, his cheek was still swollen from the previous day

“Soirlfriend You’ll be the happiest couple in the world Prepare yourself, Seron” He boasted to the other boy while no one else was in earshot

“I… well… sure, but…”

The other boy was also in school-issue sweats He had black hair and grey eyes

The boy named Seron Maxwell replied nervously

“Please, Larry Just make sure you don’t blurt out how I feel about her out of the blue”

Larry Hepburn grinned

“I won’t Don’t worry about it, buddy That’s your job, no tays about it And now that you’re both in the newspaper club, you’ll have more chances than ever!”

Seron stood stiffly, deep in thought

“What’s wrong?”

Seron aze, awestruck

“I… I’uy in the world The God of Fortune is looking down on me, I know it I must be the happiest person in this entire school”

It was Larry’s turn to fall silent He looked up at the ceiling, then at the floor Then he looked back at Seron

“…Seron Maxwell Are you happy with that?”

“Yeah Before the camica”

“Right… but if you let yourself be satisfied here, you’re not gonna ress”

“But I can relish this feeling for the tih to be happy”

“I… I see…” Larry nodded dubiously, looking away “Man, I really want to step in” He said to hiht…”

Next to the e stood a boy who carefully scrutinized Nick’s performance

“He’squite an impact… I’d better do my best too”

He was a bespectacled boy in school-issue sweats embroidered with the name ‘Sears’ He was a fifth-year student, which ymnasium Arthur Sears, the president of the drama club

He was tall and fit His black hair was parted down the middle and almost went down to his eyebrows

Arthur’s square-rilasses distorted his face because they had very thick lenses He looked like an honest youngat a bank But he also seemed a little soft-spoken

“You’re irl next to him

She was also in school-issue sweats Hers were embroidered with the name ‘Ulericks’

Fellow fifth-year student Sophia Ulericks was the vice-president of the draht brown hair held back with a headband She was freckled, and unlike Arthur see

Both were holding scripts

The play they were to put on was a classic tale of good versus evil It was a well-known story in Roxche

The story took place in the Middle Ages In the tale, a young king disguised himself and left on a journey with several friends in order to broaden his horizons Along the way, he encountered a corrupt and greedy lord and rescued the peasants who suffered under his rule

Nick’s character, the Black Knight, was hired by the lord He was a skilled ht for the thrill of battle

The Black Knight gave the king and his friends no end of trouble, but eventually he fought a one-on-one gun duel with the king and was grievously injured He realized the king’s true identity then, but revealed it to no one and disappeared

The tale had been adapted into radio drae plays many tiht was a particularly popular character because he ulti’s allies

In this perfor, and Sophia played a irl who appealed to the young king about the peasants’ plight

Nick’s perforaze of the students

“Only in battle does my soul breathe and ht else I aht but victory! You are brave to raise your blade at e your valor And with that same veneration, I shall send you to the depths of hell You’d best have an epitaph prepared, for I aht!” Nick finished, his perforerence

“Excellent! Great show, Nick That tone was perfect!” Cheered an equally resounding voice

The voice belonged to a woman in her thirties, dressed in a set of non-school-issue sweats Her long black hair was tied back in a ponytail She was Leni Krantz, the supervisor of the drama club

“Just a few things before we ers, try and ood And about the last part, when you strike your pose… give yourself half a beat between ‘for I’ and ‘ah emphasis on his identity I want you to seriously try to rival the leadingaround a rolled-up script She was evenup for the previous day’s missed practice

Nick nodded earnestly “I understand, Ms Krantz Shall I try again?”

“Not right now Just keep it inand the village girl in the sunset! King, village girl, you two are up We’ll go without music this time”

“Let’s go, Sophia” Arthur said, handing his script to a female student Sophia did the same

They took center stage after Nick stepped off With deep breaths they prepared theallant look rose to Arthur’s eyes, and Sophia suddenly seemed more frail

“All right Let’s begin!”

Sophia was looking up at Arthur with her hands clasped over her chest, as though in prayer He was the first to speak

“I know that he is a dangerous foe, my lady”

Then it was Sophia’s turn

“But I can’t let you get hurt on our account—” She cut herself off “Sorry, that was the wrong line”

“It’s ‘the villagers and I are grateful’” Arthur said, returning to his usual soft-spoken self

“I expect better fro us a run for ourback there” Ms Krantz pointed out

Sophia bowed deeply

“Right, ma’am! I’ll do better this time!”

She looked up and aze

“Don’t push yourself too hard, Sophia You’re a much better actor than I am”

Sophia was silent

“What is it?”

“No, nothing… I’m okay now”

After that, Arthur and Sophia ran through the very long scene without

“Excellent! I knew you could do it!”

Practice went on, and they soon reached the climax of the story

The orchestra’s perforymnasium as the draantly weave across the stage

They went through the scene where the king’s coht lost the duel and departed And finally, the scene where the king said his goodbyes to the villagers

The chorus club’s haunting voices danced with thea perfect tone for the finale

In thes to ventilate the gye kettles of water for the thirsty students

“Yep I’m definitely sleepy What about you, Seron?”

“Me too I think I’ll sleep well tonight”

Having been questioned into the night at the Sou Be-Il embassy the previous day, Larry and Seron occasionally yawned loudly out of earshot

The sun began to tilt, and eventually bea sunlight against the floor

“Great show, everyone! That’s all for today” Ms Krantz announced the end of practice “Sorry I kept you so long We’ll be working hard toue!”

The orchestra club took their instruments to their usual haunt, music room 1 The chorus club went to music room 2

Nick was busy cleaning up props, and Seron and Larry were oodbye to Natalia and Meg

“Oh They’re leaving” Larry groaned mid-mop when he spotted the chorus club leave

But Seron sounded surprisingly calht There’s always tomorrow”

Afterthe sweat-stained floor and the s, Seron and Larry stood behind Nick and the other drama club members

“Thank you, Ms Krantz!”

Day 3 of the practice camp came to an end

The sky was clear that evening The dra in a haphazard line to the dor on the other side of ca the term, but there was no one around now

Because practice had ended so late, the cafeteria was already open

“I’onna taste better than usual, I can feel it” Larry said, holding four empty kettles in his arms

“Yeah I wonder what they’re serving now” Seron nodded, pushi+ng a cart full of s

“I’m quite excited for dinner So far, the dormitory cafeteria has lived up to its reputation” Nick added, holding his script

A pair of eyes atching them

The eyes belonged to a freckled fifth-year student wearing a headband

“I’etables—”

Seron noticed the gaze just a few meters ahead, and looked at the fifth-year—Sophia

“…”

“What’s up, Seron?”

“No, it’s nothing”

But all he saas light brown, back-length hair

Seron and the others went straight to the cafeteria

The cafeteria was large enough to seat hundreds of students at once Long tables were lined up in orderly rows in the rectangular space, which was large enough to serve as a banquet hall in a hotel There were two serving counters, but one was closed for the summer

For dinner, students had a choice between the etables

“Yes! They’re bothhimself a thick slice of meatloaf and a veritable mountain of pot-au-feu

Seron elected for the pot-au-feu, and Nick the meatloaf The boys each collected a cup of tea, bread, and fruit and took their seats

Many of the girls were bri to sit near Seron and Nick But—

“Done! Let’s eat!”

Larry’s loud voice reminded thery forks stabbed into chunks of meat and potatoes

Seron was none the wiser

“Yeah Let’s eat”

Nick, though more perceptive, did not point it out

“Yes Dinner looks delicious”

After dinner, the drama club dispersed for the day

Some played pool or foosball in the dormitory common room Some called their families from the phone booths in the lobby Some returned to their rooms Some delved into their scripts in preparation for the next day And others went straight to the baths to wash off their sweat

Outside, it was a typical su The sky beyond the five-story aparte

“Bath, Larry?”

“Nah Let’s let the food digest a bit before we go”

Seron and Larry did not head straight for the baths, instead deciding to take a short break in their room

“Then I’ll join you at the baths later I need some time to prepare”

They said goodbye to Nick, as staying on another floor, and returned to their room

Seron and Larry’s rooreat view of the field The sun was slowly setting over the s of the Capital District

Because the rooular ones It was furnished with two dressers, two desks and chairs, and two beds ooden frames There was also a sofa that could be converted into yet another bed

Seron’s belongings included a large leather suitcase and a paper shopping bag froht Larry had brought in a green Confederation Ar with a backpack

Larry took a seat on the sofa

“That was great I’ht asleep if I lie do”

Seron took off his sweatshi+rt and hung it up neatly