16 Anthology Club's Hidden Purpose

Voltaire looked at his watch before nodding.

"We still have time, go and eat your lunch while we explain things. Moonlight, you should also eat as well. Compared to your seniors who can go exempted right off the bat, you two cannot skip just yet," Voltaire suggested.

"Then, I will be leaving. I already know what you guys will discuss anyways and I don't have a lunchbox like him, I will be eating in the cafeteria," she waves goodbye and left the room.

"Haha, don't worry about her. She is like that to everyone but you don't have to worry about her. I believe she will warm up eventually," Raigaki gives a thumbs up in my direction.

"She is a shy girl. She is still not used to new people so don't worry about her in the meantime. You will have plenty of time to interact with her especially now that both of you are now part of the same club," Rain added.

Voltaire clapped his hands a bit to catch the attention of everyone. "Alright, let's stop the chit-chat. We are here to give a run down to our newbie here on what this club's tasks are. Yaya, can you please?"

"Yeppers..." Yaya raised her phone in the air and click something.

A holographic screen appeared in front of us and contained a few photos. I recognized a few of those places as they are right just in front of the school buildings.

"As you can see, the Sakura High is not safe from the invasion of Qlipoth and some phenomena have already slipped through our radars a few times. It's troublesome and annoying as we keep on dealing with them again and again," Voltaire started.

"Although we are magicians of this particular school, that doesn't mean there are no magicians in other schools as well. All magicians are scattered all over and divided depending on their locations. In Tokyo, we have a lot of schools to handle and this is one of the schools that we take care of. The other schools have the same amount of magicians in them as well but not as much," Rain explained further.

"Is that right? But then, why choose a school? Shouldn't handling this kind of stuff would be a better thing if you guys take over the police?" Kazuma suggested.

"We do have some people in the police but it's for the matters where the situation needed the intervention of the police, for example, a crime scene where the original perpetrator was a Qlipoth creature. That's where the police come in and give their explanations and stuff about the troubles caused by the Qlipoth. However, police have limited access and freedom compared to students and us teachers."

Kazuma immediately understood Rena's words. Police do not have the same freedom as students as well as teachers. Compared to an authoritative figure like the police, students like Kazuma can easily slip through multiple areas that police cannot go through or are troublesome. Students can wander around without the need to stay on the job. And they can easily blend into the crowd, making them perfect assets in Qlipoth hunting.

"The Anthology club gathers information all over the place and all around Tokyo to compile information regarding the Qlipoth encounters that occurred all over. Because some Qlipoth manifests the same way again and again, information about them is appreciated, and compiling their stories, origin, and perhaps what they did can give us a glimpse of what could happen if they are left alone. Not only that but we also gather rumors, legends, and even ghost stories here and publish them to the public to read."

"Wait, doesn't that spill the beans?" Kazuma frowned.

"Not necessarily. The usual thing we do is bend the stories from their actual truths and take advantage of them to tell a story. Our main purpose of doing this is not for spreading the word of the Qlipoth's existence but to let the people know these stories, fear them, and avoid them as much as they can."

"Horror stories create curiosity to the people but once they confirmed it is true, then the situation changes and that will be enough for civilians to view them as danger. Spreading this info is the best kind of imprint to ensure the civilians are not affected or involved as much as we can. Some kind of precautionary message, in other terms."

Kazuma understood what they meant. Precautionary tales are not just there to tell stories but to also tell some lessons that readers can immediately comprehend. And since some stories are fun to read and listen to, most of the information on the story will remain in the mind of the reader and once they experience something similar to what happened in the story, they will know what to do or they will just escape, lowering casualties and victims in the process.

And since it was just usually horror stories compiled, many will not believe in its authenticity and the story will be just a product from the mind of the readers, not knowing that the story they have read are actually real incidents with twisted narratives to easily fit the current situation. A pretty clever way to keep people away from all of this trouble.

"But there will always be troublemakers and daring people who would want to see them in person and prove the story is not real," Kazuma immediately found a way to question.

"Indeed, there are people like that and that cannot be avoided. Unfortunately, that is not something that can be avoided. This is why, destroying the Qlipoth as soon as possible is necessary or there will be casualties," Voltaire added.

While the group is speaking, Yaya who is just chilling with her phone stood up.

"Alerting everyone. A Qlipoth sighting is detected near here. It seems to be a minor Qlipoth but they are dangerous enough if left alone. Malkuth Magicians and higher can partake in this chance to deal with it. Depending on how dangerous it is, the reward will be given once the matter is resolved."

Kazuma is alerted. After all, it is a Malkuth danger level Qlipoth, plus, there is a reward. If he solves this problem, doesn't that mean another payout?

"Based on your face, I can see that you wanted to take on this target, yes?" Voltaire grinned.

"That's good then. Enthusiastic Malkuth trainees are always welcome indeed. It reduces the workload a lot for us, and it even preserves the peace and safety of the places the Qlipoth appears in."

"Well, I needed money, so I also wanted to get the fullest out of the missions available."

"Money huh? That's a good motivation indeed. However, don't forget that this is not a game. If you think the Qlipoth is harder than you thought it would be, don't hesitate to escape or leave. Other magicians can deal with that matter. You only have a single life after all and you won't respawn," Yaya gives a reminder to Kazuma.

"Anyways, it's still a good thing you wanted to immediately take the job. Do the quest later after class. Remember to keep things a secret. In fact, we should also send Moonlight just to be safe and to also gather some essence as well. It's a good thing to also let you see the extraction of essences as well so that you can do it yourself in the future as well."

And with that timing, the bell rings signifying the end of the lunch. Kazuma finishes off his lunch and everyone else stood up to leave.

"Good luck later, Kazuma. And once again, welcome as part of the Kabbalah."

Kazuma is nervous and excited. Now that he is acknowledged as part of the magicians, perhaps it is time for him to rake in some money.