"Mo Bai..."
After giving his name, Mo Bai's mouth twitched.
Everything about the guy in front of him was over the top, from the way he spoke to the way he moved.
But since he'd called Mo Bai a junior...
"Are you an upperclassman?"
It wouldn't hurt to get to know the Academy through him.
Besides, whatever Rover and Lynae were about to do had nothing to do with him now.
He really did want nothing more than a quiet life.
Given the choice between fighting the Remnant Star Society and joining a club, he'd definitely join a club.
"That's right. Second year. I'm your upperclassman. And how did I know you were new? Freshmen usually react exactly like you did when they first eat at the Cafeteria."
At that, Mo Bai remembered the face he'd made when he ate the Cafeteria food.
So that was how he spotted freshmen? It was a pretty distinctive reaction, to be fair.
"You introduced yourself as a club president. You're not here to recruit me, are you?"
Mo Bai recalled some of the club recruitment tactics he'd seen online.
They acted one way to your face and another behind your back. They were all charm while recruiting, then cold as ice during interviews. Yeah, it sounded like trouble.
"No, no. I just want to borrow something—borrow your Resonance Ability for a bit."
As Moqu spoke, he looked again at the White Divine Dog beside Mo Bai.
"Then... let's talk while we walk." Mo Bai stood up.
He couldn't take the looks the other students were giving them anymore.
They might start thinking he was the same sort of person as Moqu. That wouldn't do, so he hurried to suggest they talk somewhere else.
"Sure, no problem!"
Moqu gave him a thumbs-up and led him toward the classroom building. On the way out, he also snagged a few bags of food.
As they walked, Moqu talked at length about the Academy.
Mo Bai, meanwhile, noticed that an awful lot of people turned to look at them.
"Heh. Noticed it, have you, junior?"
Moqu had clearly noticed too, and wore the look of someone who knew exactly why.
To Mo Bai, he just looked unbearably smug.
"So, will my well-informed upperclassman tell me why everyone keeps turning to look?" Mo Bai asked with a straight face, playing along.
Had this guy actually done something impressive at school?
"Isn't it obvious? Your senior here is brilliant, brave, and a model student. Naturally, everyone's drawn to—"
"Keep bragging and I'll knock another ten points off my opinion of you."
Mo Bai's next words shut Moqu up. He froze mid-pose.
Whatever illusion Mo Bai had briefly entertained about him vanished.
"Ahem. See those Tunneler Swarm Creatures by the landscaping?"
Moqu finally began explaining things properly.
Mo Bai followed his pointing finger toward the planted strip beside them.
A mechanical elk stood there.
"Apart from a few native species that evolved in unusual ways out in the wild, Lahai Luo's animals are all these metal-clad Tunneler Swarm Creatures."
Mo Bai nodded as he listened.
Lynae had told him about Tacet Swarm Creatures. Supposedly, they came from parts shed by the giant robot known as the Tunneler.
Now he had a fair idea why people were looking their way.
Strictly speaking, they weren't looking at him or Moqu. They were looking at the White Divine Dog he'd summoned beside him.
At an Academy with nothing but metal animals and terrible food, a big fluffy dog was bound to draw the students' attention.
Mo Bai patted the White Divine Dog's head, then followed Moqu into the Drama Club.
It was really just a borrowed classroom.
The club members had dressed it up with flashy decorations, though. Mo Bai spotted balloons hanging on the wall as soon as he entered.
"So what do you want to use my ability for?"
Mo Bai couldn't be bothered explaining sorcerers or Cursed Energy to him, so he simply used Moqu's own terms.
Moqu had told him a few useful things on the way, including how the Academy's buildings were laid out and where resources could be found outside it.
The experienced upperclassman had proved useful. After accepting his help, Mo Bai wasn't going to turn him down outright. He'd hear what Moqu wanted first.
"It's the Drama Club, so I want to borrow your ability to put on a show that'll turn heads!" Moqu declared, waving his arms.
"So you want to use the fact that my ability lets me make things appear out of thin air?"
Mo Bai figured Moqu must have seen him summon the Divine Dogs.
"Exactly! You can summon more than that big dog, can't you?" Moqu asked excitedly.
Mo Bai was about to summon Nue to demonstrate, but then he thought of something else.
Tap, tap.
He walked up to the teacher's desk, picked up one of the bags of food Moqu had swiped earlier, and tossed it at his feet.
Splash.
There was a sound like water splashing, and the bag vanished into Mo Bai's shadow.
"That's incredible!" Moqu exclaimed.
If Mo Bai could put something in, Moqu assumed he could take it back out.
That meant the big dog wouldn't be the only thing Mo Bai could produce for a performance.
"Just so you know, what I can store depends on its weight. There's no way I could put an entire house in there," Mo Bai explained.
He had only just tested this ability himself.
It worked much like sinking into his own shadow. And since the chalk he'd put inside wasn't alive, he didn't have to worry about it drowning.
"By the way, if you're putting on a play, where is everyone?" Mo Bai asked, looking around.
He could see costumes and props for a play in the corner, but the two of them were the only people in the classroom.
Where were the other club members? Shouldn't classes be over by now?
Unless...
Another possibility suddenly occurred to Mo Bai.
One that suited this remarkable guy all too well...
"Heh. I'm from Rinascita, you know." Moqu suddenly grinned.
"I've seen Carnival parties with my own eyes many times. Even on my own, I can put on a performance that feels like a whole troupe!"
Moqu spread his arms like a star actor basking in the spotlight!
In reality, the classroom had no spotlight. It didn't even have more than two people in it.
"You mean you're trying to get me to join when you're the only member, and you think the performance will be a success?" Mo Bai asked bluntly.
"Yes."
He's beyond saving...
Looking at the upperclassman nodding in front of him, Mo Bai figured the best he could hope for was to watch the whole thing turn into a joke.
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