Spy Classroom - Volume SS3 - Chapter 2.1

Flashback ②

Girls’ Night

“We’re going to have ourselves a girls’ night!” “Yaaay, girls’ night.”

Avian had begun treating Heat Haze Palace as a home away from home, and one late night when they were staying over, Thea and Pharma cheerfully informed the others of their plan. The sofas in the main hall were already adorned with drinks, snacks, and sweets, and the preparations for the party were all complete.

Lan and Qulle were standing by the couches as well, and they clapped their hands in excitement.

“““““Huh…?”””””

Lily, Sybilla, Monika, Grete, and Sara had been called over with little explanation, and they just looked perplexed. As for Erna and Annette, the two of them were already asleep.

Lan stared at them in confusion. “Hmm? The reactions from Lamplight are nigh on lethargic. Have they no interest in gossip and gab?”

“Allow me to explain.”

Thea stood up and pompously did exactly that.

“Now, Lamplight has a high percentage of women to begin with, and Teach is often absent. For us, nearly every night is basically girls’ night. But there’s a much bigger reason.”

She sighed heavily as she revealed the truth.

“The romance situation in Lamplight is a barren wasteland where not even the hardiest of plants can survive.”

“There’s gotta be a nicer way to put it!” Sybilla cried.

According to Thea, it wasn’t that the Lamplight girls were uninterested in romance per se, but their training and missions kept them so busy that none of them could work up the energy to go out and meet boys in the city. They did technically have Klaus there in the manor, but they all agreed that “Grete’s got dibs,” so none of them but Grete really viewed him as a legitimate romantic target.

The rest of the girls gave Thea the side-eye like they wanted to object. Some of them took umbrage with her summary.

“We aaare spies, after all,” Pharma said with a sad smile. “It’s mostly just one-night stands for us, too.”

At that point, Sara timidly piped up. She sounded embarrassed by her own question. “D-does anything ever happen between members of the team?”

“““Never.”””

“You all denied it at once?!”

Despite Avian having three girls and three guys, nothing had ever taken a turn for the amorous with them.

“’Twould be quite the problem if things ever got messy,” Lan said grimly. “Yeah, for suuure,” Pharma agreed. “The minute two people sleep together, the girl is whatever, see, but the guy always gets weirdly awkward. It’s the straaangest thing. He’ll spend all night whispering sweet nothings in your ear, but then the next morning, he’ll try to play it all cool and suave.”

“““““………?”””””

“You’re looking at me like I just grew a second head.”

The Lamplight girls didn’t have much in the way of romantic experience, and Pharma drawled out her disappointment when they tilted their heads in bewilderment. The mood had a habit of turning awkward when the conversation turned to romance, so they were right on the verge of changing the subject and talking about food or work like they usually did when suddenly…

“It’s not fair!” Qulle cried with her face bright red. “Why do I never get swept off my feet?! I want to have a relationship. Something sappy and romantic!”

In her hand was a half-empty bottle of wine. Nobody had even noticed her drink it. Her spirits lifted, she rose to her feet and hoisted the bottle into the air.

“It’s settled! I’m gonna go ask Mr. Klaus out on a date!”

“We’ve let her drink too much. Sister Qulle always gets like this when she’s intoxicated.”

“Grete, please put down the vase.”

Thea scrambled to pacify Grete as the latter silently lifted one of the hall’s decorative vases overhead. Things were liable to turn bloody. “I’m sure everything will be fine. This is Teach we’re talking about, remember?” Thea told her.

While that was going on, Qulle marched out of the main hall with her head held high and dashed up to the second floor.

Five minutes later, she returned with her shoulders slumped.

“How’d it go?” Pharma asked.

“He shot me down,” Qulle said with tears in her eyes.

Unsurprisingly, she’d failed. Klaus hadn’t given her the time of day.

As Lily, Sybilla, and Monika watched from the side, they all shared the same thought.

“““She’s plastered. This could be good.”””

One feature nearly all the Lamplight girls shared was that while they didn’t pursue matters of the heart themselves, they had a keen interest in other people’s romantic affairs. At heart, they were a band of rubberneckers.

“Hey, it was a valiant attempt.” “But hey, if at first you don’t succeed, y’know?” “Yeah, I’m rooting for you,” they irresponsibly cheered her on.

Qulle valiantly thrust her fist into the air. “All right! I’m gonna go give it a second shot!”

The next morning, she would come to regret her actions so much she nearly cried, but that was a fact that had yet to dawn on her.