Chapter 97: Council Affairs Interlude
“Hooh~ so you’re a member now, Junior?” Alice asked, her tone tinged with curiosity.
“Basically,” I replied with a nod.
“That’s kind of unexpected… I heard Rose was going to invite someone in, but never in a million years would I have thought it would be you, Junior.”
“Do I look that unreliable?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Not exactly… But you don’t exactly look like the type to bother with troublesome things like this. After all, you’re quite the training freak, and honestly, the image of you handling papers wasn’t exactly vivid in my mind.”
Was she subtly calling me a meathead? Well, it wasn’t like she was wrong.
There was a typical stereotype in this world that knights were often seen as brawny and less inclined towards intellectual tasks, while mages were considered the smart ones.
Being a mage herself, the notion of a knight student like me joining the student council was quite rare.
Most knight students would rather train to strengthen themselves, because unlike mages who can acquire new spells and enhance them through knowledge and mana, knights or martial artists don’t have that privilege.
‘The only reason Celine joined them in the first place was because of the close connection she had with Dorothy’
“Well, everyone has their own surprises, right?” I said with a small grin.
“Hehe~ I guess so~” Alice replied, her demeanor softening as she smiled back.
“So, you and Miss Rose really are close, huh?” Alice remarked, her tone slightly teasing.
“Did you say something?” I asked, glancing up from my work.
“N-nothing,” she quickly replied, a hint of a blush coloring her cheeks. “Anyways, you sure are efficient at this. It’s quite a surprise,” she added, looking slightly taken aback by the speed at which I was going through the paperwork.
The task given to Alice, which had temporarily been passed down to me, wasn’t that hard to begin with.
Confirming and sorting out the competitor schedules wasn’t a difficult job; it just required a bit of organization.
All I had to do was compile the list of names into different sections and start the process of confirmation by enlisting them one by one into their respective grades.
The Grand Festival automatically applied the top ten students of each department to the competition, so sorting things out by grade and department was the easiest approach.
Alice had initially set it up, but it was full of mistakes. I made corrections, and to my relief, she didn’t complain much about the changes.
‘I guess she also realized her mistake. As expected of my favorite!’
Though I wished there were certain templates we could easily follow, writing these down one by one was becoming a hassle. Despite that, I pushed through, making sure everything was in order.
My knowledge of the game, which consequently means knowledge of the future of this world, really helped in sorting out proper matchups as well.
The Grand Festival wasn’t just an evaluation stage for the academy but an actual showcase of power and pride for the students who belonged here.
Visitors from all across the continent would come: diplomats from other countries, guild masters of famous adventurer guilds, scouting parties from knight orders, and even some royal scouts.
All of them were searching for talent they could acquire, so the fights—the main show of the event—had to be the most intense and exciting thing to watch as much as possible to ensure the visitors were entertained.
I decided to follow the game’s scenario fights but rearrange the times at which they happened.
Starting with the more mundane fights and building up to the most intense and thrilling ones would create a crescendo of excitement that would keep the audience engaged throughout the event.
Overall, there were around a hundred students participating in the matches. Though this number could change over time as some students might decide to withdraw, all these participants were currently registered.
As long as no complaints were made, the lineup would remain as planned.
‘I’m still surprised no personal challenge letter has been requested by Lucas yet,’ I thought, glancing over the finalized schedule.
Lucas had expressed his desire to fight me, so setting up a match between us in the early sections would be beneficial not just for him but for me as well.
If I faced him early and managed to have a good fight, even if I lost, it wouldn’t be as embarrassing. It would show my prowess and determination, setting a positive tone for my standing in the academy.
However, this presented a scheduling issue.
The second years currently matched with us would need to be reassigned to fight each other instead.
Given that most second years preferred fighting their own grade rather than risking humiliation by losing to a junior, I was confident they would welcome the change.
As long as they didn’t make any personal requests for changes, their matches were set in stone now.
The real challenge, however, lay in managing the special classes like the Theology Class, Necromancy and Dark Arts, and Psychic Class.
Dealing with eccentric people tend to become really annoying especially the Psychic Class who’s full of Esper’s….
These students often had unique abilities and skill sets that required careful consideration when matching opponents.
There’s no helping it.
‘I’ll leave sorting that part out to Alice’
Alice had a keen eye for details and would handle the intricacies of these special matches better than I could.
And besides, this was her job to begin with. The only reason I’m continuing to do it was because of my fondness for her, but if it goes on like this, I’ll probably become this council’s lackey in the future if I keep accepting everything, they give me without complaints.
“Here you go, Senior,” I said as I handed the stacks of papers and schedules back to Alice.
“You’re done already?” she asked, slightly surprised.
“Yes… with my part, that is. There are still some schedules needed for the special departments, but I’m sure you can take care of that part easily, right, Senior?”
“Y-yeah…” Alice seemed to want to say something but covered her mouth instead. I guess she’s aware of the emotion called shame, huh?
Honestly, I just came here with the intention to observe for a little bit, get to know Dorothy, and have my first impressions of each member.
‘To find out whether they were worth saving or not…’
But now, I don’t think I can get a proper assessment after all this work.
These guys—no, rather Dorothy—will surely drag all these people down to the ground in the future.
Once the second semester commences and elections are at an all-time high for the presidency candidate, her clash of ideals with Snow would lead to her ultimate downfall. With Lucas by Snow’s side, her win was guaranteed during that arc.
The only hope for Dorothy to even survive and retain her position was to ally herself with Clara, who was also another candidate.
‘But that won’t happen.’
Clara was just a proxy for Snow to balance out the votes. She would immediately join Snow’s side once the voting time is near.
Although I haven’t seen Snow lately, I can guess she’s making her own preparations to appeal to the masses so that when the time comes, she will have their support.
This situation will prompt Dorothy to commit something illegal, like kidnapping Janica as a hostage or even stealing votes.
These desperate actions ultimately led to her being expelled.
No matter how you see it, Dorothy’s bad end was bound to happen.
Looking at her now, Dorothy was a capable leader—smart, cool, and even calculative if you ignored her goofy actions.
She was very similar to Alice in a sense. So why? Why, in the face of an absolute end that would surely ruin her life, did she drive on to keep fighting in whatever way possible? Is becoming the student council president that important to her?
What was the reason behind her sudden change in dynamic? She was clearly a good person; that much I could tell.
‘So, what prompted her to take such drastic actions in the future?’
In the game, her entire reasoning was solely skipped over and explained as nothing more than a jealous ex-president who wanted to retain her power.
But I don’t think that’s the case here. Whatever it was, there must be a reason why she did all that.
And depending on her reason, I might need to interfere with what Snow has planned and what Rose expects of me.
Dorothy was a valuable character with many uses in my future battle against Liyana.
Dorothy’s tenacity and drive suggested a deeper motivation.
Perhaps it was more than just a desire for power.
Maybe it was about protecting something—or someone—important to her.
Maybe there was a vision she had for the academy, a vision that she believed only she could bring to life.
Well, whatever it was, all I had to do was wait for now and observe as best as I could. After all, the main scenario must continue its natural flow.
“Okay, that’s enough for now, guys. Good job!” Dorothy cheered. “We did a lot of work today. We can finish everything else tomorrow. Oh, Amy, you need to finish at least half more of that before you can go, okay? And Celine, please clean up your mess. and Alice, stay with me for a bit.”
I nodded at her words and stood up. I didn’t know how long I had been lost in thought, but time really did move fast without you realizing it.
“Rose, Riley, you two juniors can go back now. Hehe, thanks for the help. Riley, even though it was your first time, you were really great. Good job. Honestly, you were much more useful and efficient than Alice, even after all these years of helping out the student council.”
“Pres!” Alice shouted in anger; her ears red with embarrassment.
“We will be going now, President. Senior Alice, Senior Celine, and Miss Amy, great work, everyone,” Rose calmly said as she stood up from her chair.
“Bye bye!”
Waving goodbye to us as we walked out the door, I nodded slightly at the president before going out.
As we stepped into the hallway, I couldn’t help but glance back at the room we had just left.
“That was quite the experience, huh?” Rose commented, her voice light with amusement. “You handled yourself well in there, Riley.”
Handled myself well? I didn’t really think that was the case, though.
President Dorothy was basically the one keeping the flow of the conversation going.
If Senior Alice hadn’t arrived, I would’ve been stuck in Dorothy’s enthusiasm.
At the end of the day, Rose didn’t really do much in there aside from brewing tea and listening to everyone talk and banter.
She just kept observing. Is that how she usually plays out in these situations?
“I’m sure by now you have an idea of what our enemy is like,” Rose said, her tone shifting slightly.
“Enemy, huh?” Even I was still having doubts on that part.
“Do you really want to stab the president in the back?”
“Stabbing in the back is a bit of a harsh word, no? I’m merely assessing my enemy,” she replied, then turned around and looked at me. “With my partner, that is~ I know you’re still confused about all this… but don’t worry nobody’s going to get harmed… so for now I just want you to trust me okay~?” Her golden eyes brimmed with energy when she said that.
Nodding at her words she smiled…. it was the first fake smile she gave me….
…
As I got back to the dorms, I immediately slumped down on my bed. At the end of the day, I never got Rose’s reasoning for doing all this.
What was her true objective?
My mind was swirling with questions.
Rose’s motives were unclear, and her calm demeanor didn’t reveal much.
‘Tomorrow…. I should probably make my own moves as well’
