Chapter 16: Calligraphy Club, Get Them!

Before setting out, Qingshan Li had one very important question.

"Does the Calligraphy Club have many members?" he asked.

"Numbers aren't the key; for ratings, what matters are willpower, action, and skill," Mikami Ai answered in a corrective tone.

"I'm worried we'll get beaten."

"Really?" Mikami Ai sounded slightly surprised.

"Anyway, I do have this worry," Qingshan Li said.

Mikami Ai's elegant little face showed a look of serious thought, then she said: "In that case, today we'll gather intelligence first."

"Material collection?"

"Correct."

"Give a conclusion only when material collection reaches 100%?"

"Although all your other stats are F, your Intelligence is A," Mikami Ai said.

"My other stats aren't F, nor do I have any F, and my Intelligence isn't A, only B," Qingshan Li explained.

Without waiting for her to speak, he continued, "I have one more question—how's your calligraphy?"

"If I say I'm not as good as them, we won't go?"

"If your skill isn't as good as theirs, and you still shamelessly grade them, it'll be embarrassing."

"Not going and grading is what's embarrassing."

Couldn't you just not grade—Qingshan Li swallowed those words back.

He took out his mobile phone to check the time; there were twenty minutes until school ended, and if he dawdled a bit, he should be able to finish school right when the conflict broke out.

Then he could use "school's out" as an excuse, and hang up a "truce for today" sign.

The two left the Athens Philosophy Research Club—abbreviated as the Yaken Club.

The Calligraphy Club was on the first floor of the Club Building; the three characters "Calligraphy Club" on the gate were extraordinary, with the signature of this generation's club president.

Mikami Ai took out her fancy latest-model mobile phone and photographed those three characters.

"How's the writing?" Qingshan Li personally thought it was not bad, so he was curious about her opinion.

"Close to B."

"That's pretty good too."

C is the human average level, which is an extremely broad range.

The Calligraphy Club president's skill being close to B, converted to academic qualifications, is at least at the level of a third- or fourth-year student at Tokyo University.

Quite a good level.

Of course, this is Mikami Ai's evaluation, and whether it's accurate is a question.

Mikami Ai suddenly said: "Grading a club should be divided into five categories, namely—club president level, club average level, cultural festival, competition, and potential."

It's getting more and more reasonable.

"Isn't attendance considered?" Qingshan Li asked.

"Boring," Mikami Ai said, not knowing what she was evaluating, "I don't have time to check their attendance rate."

"A club without a competition would surely be at a disadvantage in the 'competition' data, like our Yaken Club."

"Don't worry, I'll give an 'A' for 'potential.'" Saying this, Mikami Ai knocked on the door of the Calligraphy Club.

In a sense, potential really was an 'A', too incredible, capable of doing anything!

The door was opened.

A girl wearing a first-year colored butterfly bow looked curiously at the two: "Senior, senior student, what's the matter?"

"We are members of the Athens Philosophy Research Club; our club was just established, and we want to borrow the Calligraphy Club's place and equipment to write our club's name and recruitment advertisements," Mikami Ai said.

"Please wait a moment."

The high school freshman girl disappeared; after a while, the door opened fully, and the smell of ink came rushing in.

"Please enter."

The two walked in and looked around.

Mikami Ai's gaze was like that of a landlord assessing damage, while Qingshan Li was like a museum visitor.

The furnishings were relatively simple, with several clotheslines, all covered with calligraphy.

Several tables covered with paper, with several books placed in the center of each table.

To collect material, Qingshan Li specifically glanced at the book titles.

There were "History of Japanese Calligraphy," "New History of Chinese Calligraphy," "New History of Japanese Calligraphy," "On Calligraphy Art";

there were also "Study of Model Books Centered on Wang Xizhi," "Complete Collection of Calligraphy," "Complete Collection of Chinese Calligraphy";

and "Appreciation of Calligraphy Through the Ages" published by Uchiyama Bookstore, "Comparison of Chinese and Japanese Calligraphy Art" by Yamamoto Bookstore, and "Shang Yi Calligraphy Style" by Dongfang Bookstore.

These books were old enough to be artworks themselves.

The Calligraphy Club members were copying Ono no Tofu's "Shisei Daishi Shigo Chokusho."

【Campus Mystery, Main Ability is Beauty: 91.3%】

【National Competition: 13%】

The Calligraphy Club had seven members in total, each with one table.

"Miyu, give them your spot," the Calligraphy Club president said.

"Yes." The girl who opened the door slightly tidied her desktop, "Senior, senior student, please."

"Thank you." Mikami Ai sat down.

The Calligraphy Club members had long lost interest in practicing calligraphy; the male members looked at Mikami Ai, and the female members looked at Qingshan Li behind Mikami Ai.

But when Mikami Ai picked up the writing brush, everyone looked at her.

"Have you practiced calligraphy?" the Calligraphy Club President asked curiously.

"Shut up." Mikami Ai showed no mercy, like a porcelain plate left in a cold storage room overnight.

The club members immediately grew dissatisfied toward their own club president.

Qingshan Li stood behind her; he didn't understand calligraphy, but he could sense the extraordinary nature of Mikami Ai's brush-holding and her focused expression.

When the brush touched the paper and the first stroke was written, everyone's spirit seemed to be drawn into the black ink.

In the air, a strange current wandered, and the onlookers' skin tingled slightly.

A hint of terror appeared on the Calligraphy Club President's face.

"That's enough," Mikami Ai said, and the current in the air disappeared.

The Athens Philosophy Research Club, all written in Chinese characters, seemed to emit a black light.

For a moment, Qingshan Li thought these characters had life.

In a short time, still no one spoke.

Mikami Ai took a light breath, raised her brush again, and began writing the recruitment advertisement for the Athens Philosophy Club.

After writing these two sheets, the two of them took their leave and departed.

"Classmate Mikami, are you really not considering joining the Calligraphy Club?"

"With your level, you will surely win big at the Calligraphy Exhibition and the Sasakawa Cup!"

The Calligraphy Club President spoke in honorifics, chasing them all the way to the corridor.

Qingshan Li had once imagined being chased to the corridor, but in his imagination, the Calligraphy Club President should have been saying "Trash, die!" while summoning shikigami with a brush.

Only at the stairwell corner did Mikami Ai remain silent the whole time, and the Calligraphy Club President gave up.

Qingshan Li looked back once; the Calligraphy Club President seemed like a believer abandoned by the Buddha, having lost all spirit.

They went up another floor.

Mikami Ai stood in place.

"What's wrong?" Qingshan Li looked up at her from five steps below. "Regretting? Want to join the Calligraphy Club?"

Mikami Ai turned back and smiled brilliantly: "No need to be beaten, how wonderful, Classmate Aoyama."

She was smug.

She was showing off.

She was mocking him!

Qingshan Li took a deep breath and clapped: "Classmate Mikami, your calligraphy is as beautiful as you are, flawless."

Mikami Ai was slightly surprised.

"Even an F-man has some redeeming qualities, huh," she said.

【Campus Mystery, Main Ability is Beauty: 91.6%】

【Campus Romance Daily Life: 67%】

"It's already been said there's no F rank, and soon I'll become ALLA."

"Then let's first raise combat power to A; without a bodyguard, going to the Sports Clubs, I can't help but worry—they're a bunch of violent people."

The Sports Clubs didn't provoke you; you provoked them.

The class bell rang.

The two listened quietly for a second, then continued walking upstairs.

"Post the name and poster, then we're done," Mikami Ai said.

"Okay."

"Classmate Aoyama, you're standing so far from me—do you want to use the stairs to peek under my skirt?"

"My eyesight is F."

"Your cunning is A."

"Thank you."

"Please come up and walk with me; when going upstairs, having a man behind me, as a woman, I feel unsafe," Mikami Ai said.

Qingshan Li looked closely—no, thought closely.

Mikami Ai covered her skirt hem.

Indeed.

He took five steps up and walked with Mikami Ai.

The two silhouettes disappeared into the stairwell, only faint voices drifting down.

"Classmate Aoyama, shout 'Club President-sama' for me to hear," the voice said with a hint of teasing.

"Just now walking behind, I saw a little bit, Club President-sama Mikami Ai," said with reverence.

"You're disgusting." The distance between them, whether physical or psychological, should have been widened.

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(Chapter End)