Chapter 44
The invention club was assigned a room on the very top floor of the student union building. Being located on the fifth floor made it inconvenient to access, but since they were left with the remaining rooms, there was no choice.
The only good thing was that the clubroom was more spacious than expected. Even with five people, it didn’t feel crowded and was quite comfortable.
The sad part was that the five of them were the only members of the invention club.
“Why isn’t anyone else joining?”
Thomas, sitting on the sofa and swinging his legs, voiced his complaint. Next to him, Oliver, swinging his legs in the same way, nodded in agreement.
“Exactly. Everyone here is so nice, too.”
Felix casually remarked,
“There’s nothing special to gain from joining. The Swordsmanship students obviously won’t join, and the Magic students don’t seem particularly interested in inventions. Elena, you’re just an exception.”
“Then what about the Alchemy students? Isn’t invention originally one of Alchemy’s goals?”
All eyes turned to Thomas simultaneously. He scratched his curly hair awkwardly.
“Well, actually…”
“Actually?”
“They all said, ‘I’d rather quit school than be in the same club as a weirdo like you!’”
It seemed their faint suspicions were true. For some unknown reason, Thomas Edison had quite the reputation as an eccentric within his department.
Elena, who had already suspected as much, wasn’t particularly surprised. Felix, usually indifferent to others, and Cedric, who was kind to everyone, didn’t seem too affected by Thomas’s words either.
But Oliver was different. His eyes widened, and he looked shocked as he stammered out a question.
“Th-then… what does that mean for us?”
Cedric smirked mischievously and nudged Oliver’s side with his elbow.
“What do you think? It means we’re weirdos too.”
“Gasp…”
Oliver, who was two years younger than the others, was seventeen this year. Physically, he was as developed as an adult, meaning there wasn’t much difference in build between him and the rest of the group.
As a Swordsmanship student, Oliver was about the same height as Cedric and at least a head taller than Elena.
Yet, perhaps because he was younger, Oliver seemed endearingly cute.
Elena, her voice tinged with amusement, said,
“Don’t worry. I don’t know why those rumors are circulating, but Thomas isn’t as much of a weirdo as they say. Right?”
“Exactly! All I’ve done is cause a few explosions while conducting research.”
Hmm, correction. Maybe Thomas was more of an eccentric than she had initially thought.
Oliver’s face turned pale.
“Does that mean our clubroom might explode too?”
“No, I won’t be doing that kind of research here. If you’re worried, you don’t have to come to the clubroom. After all, I only asked you to put your name on the roster.”
“But…”
Oliver sighed deeply, looking upset at the suggestion.
“Since I joined this club, I want to participate in the activities! I didn’t just put my name on the list!”
Elena and Thomas exchanged glances. It seemed they were both thinking the same thing.
‘We’ve got ourselves an assistant.’
Felix, sitting in a chair and reading a book, interrupted their thoughts.
“I’m not going to help.”
Elena glared at him.
“What? Didn’t you join to work on inventions?”
“Who knows.”
From the beginning, Elena had found it suspicious, and now it seemed Felix had joined just to laze around.
“Sorry. I’d like to help, but I don’t really have any skills to offer. If there’s any heavy lifting, let me know, and I’ll help out.”
Cedric, sounding genuinely apologetic, spoke up. Elena shook her head.
“No, it’s fine. There won’t be much heavy lifting anyway. Our first project is going to be a talking doll.”
Oliver’s eyes widened.
“A talking doll? Dolls can talk?”
Thomas jumped off the sofa.
“Technically, it’s a doll with a sound feature.”
He pressed the belly of a teddy bear Elena had brought in.
“When you press it like this, it makes a sound.”
“What kind of sound?”
“That depends on what you want it to say. It could say, ‘Hug me,’ or ‘I like you.’”
Oliver snapped his fingers.
“It would be great if it could say something the gift-giver wants. No, wait! What if we made it so the giver could record their own message?”
This time, Elena clapped her hands.
“That’s a great idea! Oliver, you’ve got a talent for invention!”
Blushing, Oliver smiled shyly.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“No, really. The foundation of invention is a brilliant idea. That’s a genuinely good one.”
Thomas chimed in, agreeing with Elena. Thus, their first invention project became a doll that could record and play back voices.
Thomas, as an Alchemy student, took charge of the overall design and blueprint. Elena, as a Magic student, was responsible for creating the magical sound-recording device to be placed inside the doll.
And surprisingly, Oliver…
“Then I’ll handle repairing the doll! Functionality is important, but so is the doll’s appearance!”
…volunteered to tailor the doll to fit their invention.
“How? That won’t be easy.”
“Well, I have three older sisters. Growing up, I used to make dolls with them. Believe it or not, I’m the best at sewing among my siblings.”
And so, their first project began.
The group gathered in the clubroom after school on weekdays to work on the “talking doll.”
Naturally, Elena, Oliver, and Thomas threw themselves into the project.
Although Cedric had been told he didn’t need to show up, he visited the clubroom daily to watch their progress.
Surprisingly, Felix also showed up every day. Though he didn’t seem interested in inventions or the club, he would sit on the sofa and read a book.
Elena wondered why he didn’t just stay in his room or go to the library if all he wanted to do was read, but since he wasn’t a disturbance, she let it slide.
About a week passed like this.
Elena’s bold claim to Cedric and Oliver that they only needed to put their names on the roster was soon proven false, as the two were required to participate in a club event.
The event was none other than the Freshmen Welcome Party.
This was an event that all new members of both new and existing clubs were required to attend. It was less of a welcome party and more of an initiation ritual.
After hearing about the infamous welcome party from Alice, Elena felt guilty toward Cedric and Oliver.
“Sorry, Cedric, Oliver. I didn’t think about the Freshmen Welcome Party.”
Fortunately, the two didn’t seem too bothered. In fact, Oliver seemed a little excited.
“It’s fine, Senior! Since it’s a club event, it should be better than the Swordsmanship Department’s welcome party, right?”
What kind of welcome party did the Swordsmanship Department have?
Elena couldn’t help but narrow her eyes at Cedric.
For once, Cedric avoided her gaze and laughed awkwardly.
He changed the subject.
“I don’t mind. I was prepared to participate in events when I decided to join the club.”
“Well, that’s a relief…”
But Elena couldn’t shake her unease.
The Freshmen Welcome Party didn’t have a fixed format.
Last year, participants were tasked with borrowing a professor’s precious item. The year before, they had to drink a concoction made of various foods, an ordeal that turned into a test of loyalty.
Students who had participated in the welcome party often spoke of it with dread.
The tasks varied, but they all shared a common trait: they were difficult and unpleasant.
‘I hope it’s something easy this year.’
Borrowing a professor’s item would be fine, but she wanted to avoid drinking a strange mixture of liquids.
As if reading her thoughts, Oliver clenched his fists and declared,
“If they make us drink weird stuff this year, don’t worry! Cedric and I will handle it all, so you won’t have to drink anything, Senior!”
Well, that would depend on Cedric’s opinion too. Elena looked at him awkwardly, and he nodded.
“Oliver’s right. If it’s something tough, we’ll take care of it. You don’t have to worry.”
“Thanks.”
While she wasn’t entirely confident in Oliver, she trusted Cedric.
With a mix of worry and dread, the day of the welcome party finally arrived.
One peculiar detail was that the club president had scheduled the event for 8 p.m. on a weekend.
“Why did they schedule it for this time?”
“Exactly. What were they thinking?”
“If they’re going to do it, they should just get it over with.”
“Whatever it is, it sounds fun!”
Those were the opinions of Oliver, Cedric, Felix, and Thomas, respectively.
Listening to their comments, Elena suddenly remembered something. Something that came to mind when thinking about the night. Something that had stirred up the academy not long ago.
“It must be a courage test.”
“A courage test?”
“Yeah. Remember the rumors about ghosts in the library?”
Felix clicked his tongue.
“You believe that?”
“I don’t, but the rumors were widespread. They might use that as the basis for a courage test.”
“That makes sense, considering the time.”
Cedric agreed, but Felix looked displeased.
Regardless of his reaction, the group headed to the athletic field. Despite arriving early, a good number of people were already there.
Elena waved at Alice and Penny in the distance. Cedric and Oliver also greeted their classmates.
Meanwhile, Thomas and Felix stood idly, though many students glanced at them.
Felix received looks of surprise, while Thomas—and by extension, their group—received looks of pity.
‘It seems Thomas Edison’s infamous reputation is real.’
Unfortunately, in a bad way.
Elena still didn’t understand why Thomas was so poorly regarded in the Alchemy Department. While he was overly cheerful, he was genuinely kind-hearted.
-Elly, good luck.
-You too, Alice!
Elena exchanged words with Alice using lip movements from afar when the club president stepped onto the podium.
The unfamiliar face suggested he was from a different department. Judging by Thomas shaking his head, he was likely from the Alchemy Department.
“Welcome, existing members and new members of the clubs. We’ve prepared today’s Freshmen Welcome Party to ensure a better club experience for all new members.”
A better experience, my foot. They just wanted to mess with people.
Elena was grumbling internally when the next words snapped her to attention.
“This year’s Freshmen Welcome Party theme is a ‘Courage Test.’”
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