Rising Against Fate

"That's nonsense..."

"Did he just really say that?"

The hall became noisy as the audience started gossiping. It was only then that Asa realized the impact her question caused. She was smart but inexperienced. And that inexperience was displayed through that directly worded question. In private meetings, these kinds of questions could be considered excellent, but in a venue like this, it could easily cause an outrage.

Luckily, no one dared to step up in the presence of the student council members.

"Everyone, be quiet! We are in the middle of the presentation."

With those words from Kenji, the gossip died down and the whole hall fell silent. The eyes of the audience that were wandering around fell back to the stage. After the brief moment of silence, Kenji looked towards the stage.

"Please continue."

It was a wise decision because giving more attention to that matter would escalate the situation even more.

After hearing those words from Kenji, Kat changed the slide to the next part of the presentation.

"So, here is the list of activities that the club will be performing. It's just a rough one, so can change depending on need."

After Kat's introduction of the topic, Razak started explaining the slide.

"Basically, the main activities will be focused on how a magician can utilize the mana efficiently. The club's activities may not look as systematic as others, but it will give members room to focus on individual skills. There will be a meeting to summarize the research finding once a week. And that is the only compulsory club activity."

"HA! This sounds like an excuse to slack off to me. Without compulsory club activities, members will never be active in clubs."

Right after Razak finished his explanation, Akane made her comment. It was a fair concern considering the fact that compulsory club activities came into practice because members slacked off. If everyone was responsible, there wouldn't even be a need to have that.

"Yes, we figured that would be the case. And because of that, we are making the membership tighter. Only those who are able to show commitment can become a club member."

This was a good strategy that could kill two birds with one stone. Firstly, it would limit the club membership so that it wouldn't be too crowded. That way they could focus on what they wanted to do. With more members, there was more chance of argument about activities. Secondly, it would prevent those who just want to join for slacking off from joining.

"Does anyone have any questions about the parts that we discussed until now?"

Everyone, at this point, was expecting a few hands to be raised from the student council. But surprisingly, nobody raised their hands.

Everything described until now was simple, but that didn't mean there weren't any rooms for questions. It was just that if the questions themselves weren't concrete, it could make the neutrality of the student council questionable.

"Looks like there are none. We will now move to the final part."

Hearing Razak, Kat changed the slide to the next part and introduced the topic.

"This is the resources and budget that we will be needing."

This slide was the list of resources and the budget allocated for the task. It was simple statistics that people could understand just by looking at it.

"This is all the resources and budget we will be needing for the club. This includes equipment, lab resources, cost of the necessary materials, and the cost of organizing club events."

"But that's… You don't need any budget except during the events?"

Asami was shocked when she saw the budget management. There was no room for criticism whatsoever. Instead, it was commendable how everything was arranged with consideration.

"Yes, I requested the labs to donate some of their resources to club which they agreed to. We could also use the old equipment stored in the storehouse. For that, the student council just needs to send a request to the administration. Other than that, all we will need is the club room and the event budget that every club gets."

After Razak's explanation, Asami became silent. But the crowd started gossiping again.

"Who would even join the club without good resources."

"As I thought, they are just not serious."

"The dude is just trying to act cool."

This was nothing unexpected considering how everything was presented. But these gossips were mostly coming from second and third years who had already experienced how clubs at the academy worked. The first years looked unsure about which side to take at this point: the seniors or the presenters.

"With this, the presentation ends. If you have any questions about the presentation, now is the time."

Everyone's eyes were focused on the student council members, specifically on Kenji. But unlike what most people in the audience expected, Kenji just looked amused by the presentation. He was just looking at Razak as if he saw something interesting in him.

There was a moment of silence. When it looked like no further questions would be asked, Kenji broke the silence.

"So, let's see who agrees with the idea and who doesn't. Everyone, please present your opinion on the club."

"I see no problem with the idea. As a fellow first year, I find it a pretty creative approach."

Asa, as the youngest member, was the first one to present her opinion. Following her, it was Itsuki's turn.

"Sounds nothing abnormal. Just a simple club that's not traditional. I approve."

After Itsuki, it was Asumi's turn to present her opinion.

"I-I think it will be alright. The financial part is really well-thought. Maintaining it under the current budget will be easy."

She had decided her words way before her turn came. So, it came off in a little hasty tone like something that was being read right from a paper.

"Yeah, right? The management of activities is also well done. It's not flawless but better than most of our existing clubs."

Right after Asami concluded her sentence, Kaito made the comment.

Until this point, everyone's opinion was positive. But now, they had two big hurdles right in front of them.

"I do not approve. We already have all the clubs that we need. Adding more is unnecessary."