Student Council
“C-Crisis! P-Prince!”
A student, seemingly from the magic department, rushed into the student council room.
From their reaction, I instinctively understood.
This is about Olivia.
“What’s going on? Did Olivia break something in the magic department again?”
“Yes.”
“Even Olivia can lie?.”
Wait, did Olivia not know how to use magic? Or did she? Thinking back, I realized I didn’t know the details.
The Ashtar family isn’t at the level of the Logran family, but they are the foremost family in the Empire.
There’s a reason why dukes inherit their titles; it’s not without cause.
The Ashtar domain produces outstanding officials and masters responsible for the Empire’s administration.
‘Of course, their magic wouldn’t be lacking either.’
“She knows how to use it. She knocked out all the students with her crossbow.”
So, Olivia was really hiding her strength?
“Sigh.”
There’s no answer.
That girl was truly hiding her power.
Aslan stood up suddenly.
“Are you planning to go find Olivia?”
Yuria asked cautiously.
Honestly, I need to go and give her a warning.
What Olivia is doing now is clearly disrupting the student council and could effectively paralyze the second-year class.
The problem is whether that girl is someone who can be reasoned with.
—“If you don’t like it, you should have won.”
She might say something like that again.
I had no idea how to approach the changed Olivia.
“No. I shouldn’t go.”
“Excuse me?”
If I go, it could tarnish the prince’s reputation even more.
“Isn’t that right? If I go again and say if you don’t like it, you should have won, won’t she say something like that?”
“Ah.”
Moreover, the academy is a place of equality.
Whether you’re royalty or not, it’s equal and fair.
Of course, the same goes for the nobles.
Nobles are not obliged to listen to the commands of royalty.
Even if we went outside the academy grounds, it would already be a fight among nobles risking their honor, so I can’t tell Olivia to withdraw from the bet.
The nobles probably wouldn’t want that either.
‘If Olivia threw a tantrum and withdrew for no reason, that would be the case.’
In that case, there’s only one answer.
Olivia is the daughter of the Ashtar family.
If I tell the duke, he will persuade Olivia.
“I should just contact Duke Ashtar.”
This isn’t just because of a friendship with the nobles.
If the second-year class’s academy life is paralyzed here, it would severely impact students who need to receive elite education for a whole year.
There could be dropouts from the Empire’s top academy.
This is a significant loss for the nation.
“Yes. I will use a communication magic tool.”
“How about Lily? Which department did she enter this time?”
“Lily entered the general studies and theology departments.”
General studies and theology.
Both are essential for Lily.
Having grown up as a bastard for so long, she needs to learn manners and etiquette to avoid being looked down upon by the nobles.
“I wonder if I should have gone there too.”
“The prince has already completed the Empire’s compulsory education in the royal palace, so you must learn about politics through the student council.”
“Well, that’s true.”
The student council of Athlina Academy is not just an ordinary student council.
The lineage of the students is notable, and since most are the children of politicians, the crown prince is essentially the student council president and the emperor of this small empire known as the academy.
In other words, through the student council, he manages the students and selects future vassals, thereby engaging in politics.
Aslan likes Lily but is someone who clearly distinguishes between personal feelings and duty.
The reason he wants to go to the same department as Lily is simple.
Olivia.
Now that she has even broken off her engagement and suddenly displays another side, there’s no guarantee that Olivia, who has shattered the magic engineering and swordsmanship departments, won’t take the theology and general studies courses.
If both departments are shattered again, what about Lily?
Lily, who has just begun to emerge as a noble and is trying to enter high society, would be bullied by Olivia.
“Is there a need to worry about Lady Olivia? She lacks divine power, so she cannot use magic that relies on it.”
Rohas from the Prasheon family, the current Minister of State, said that.
Yes. I know that. It’s true that Olivia lacks divine power.
However, nonsensical things are happening right now.
Originally, it’s said that the Ashtar family has many secrets unknown to the royal family.
The duke might know something.
“Did anyone really expect her to be good at swordsmanship?”
“That’s true.”
No one could have anticipated Olivia’s swordsmanship skills.
Honestly, Aslan still doesn’t know. He hasn’t seen it firsthand.
However, it’s clear that what happened to Ryla was true, and seeing the swordsmanship professor leave early confirms it.
“What about magic? Olivia’s mana circuit is indeed large, but using that much power is difficult. Can we be sure she lacks divine power?”
But he can’t just openly ask Olivia.
If he asked and she truly went on a rampage, it would be unmanageable.
“Ah.”
“The most dangerous person in the academy right now is Olivia. It has become even worse than before.”
“Could it be some kind of protest?”
A protest? Now that I think about it, having her engagement broken off, isn’t her position in the Ashtar family precarious?
That duke.
Even if he’s re-engaged to Lily and has re-established ties with the royal family, he wouldn’t look kindly on a daughter who has been broken off.
There must be something going on.
“Even though the engagement was broken, she doesn’t want to be discarded by the duke’s family?”
“Isn’t that the case?”
No, that’s not entirely right.
There’s a problem with that.
Olivia, who is using her power like that now, seems to have hoped for the broken engagement from the beginning.
Does that mean she anticipated the current situation?
Olivia, who has hidden her true self until now.
I wonder what she has done.
“Hey, no matter how you look at it, that doesn’t seem right. I don’t think that suits Olivia’s personality. For now, persuade the Duke about Olivia.”
“Understood.”
“Also, let Lily know.”
I can’t bear to see Lily suffer because of that insane ex-fiancé.
Before that, convincing the Duke and distancing Lily as much as possible is one way to go.
As the librarian, I reflected on my day.
I shattered the swordsmanship and magic departments.
“I practically wrecked the core majors.”
Since I destroyed the swordsmanship and magic departments, the number of future Imperial officers and military personnel is bound to decrease.
Next are the divine powers and archery departments, right?
If I take those two down, the priests and nuns will also leave.
This side has many commoners, so I’ll have to think it through.
So, what about the archery department?
There’s a high probability that military families occupy this one too.
Should I take that out as well?
After all, the Empire has a large population.
The kingdom, which barely survived against the Demon King’s army only when it started producing heroes and managed to fend off the demonic creatures, is different from the Empire.
With overwhelming production capacity and wealth, they constructed fortresses and lined them with cannons wherever battles with the Demon King occurred.
There’s no need to send troops from the center; the sheer number of soldiers produced locally can stop the Demon King’s army.
In short, it’s thanks to the abundance of weapons produced.
The Four Heavenly Kings have attempted to invade the Empire several times.
‘If they consume the Empire, they would gain a vast number of human slaves.’
Back then, the Demon King was still alive, and the unity among the Four Heavenly Kings wasn’t too bad.
Now, the Demon King is dead, and it’s unexpected that the Four Heavenly Kings are still alive, but we can’t always consider historical records to be fact.
Even when they fought against the hero party, I often saw divisions of opinion among the Four Heavenly Kings, even if they were united.
Now that the Demon King is dead, those guys are probably acting independently.
The hero party remains, and they lack the strength to attack the Empire.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“Oh, just a bit.”
I brushed off Plene’s question, having grown a bit closer to her.
I can’t help but worry.
I wonder if the Four Heavenly Kings attacked the kingdom.
Seeing that there’s no significant reaction from the Empire, something might have happened with the kingdom.
“Is it because of the magic department today? Are you worried after all?”
“No.”
Why would I worry about them?
“By the way, do you have a specific reason for wanting to learn magic, Plene?”
“Oh, yes. I want to earn money.”
That’s why commoners cling to the Atlerina Academy in the end.
“Well, even getting a low-level position at the Magic Tower or as a court magician can pay well. But just graduating from Atelina Academy can allow you to find an office job anywhere, you know?”
As long as the tuition issue is resolved, a diploma alone can get you a job anywhere.
“Ahaha, you seem unexpectedly concerned. Of course, there are many nobles among the magicians, but I can say that my passion surpasses anyone else’s!”
Having great passion is good, but the problem is that you’re a complete idiot.
“Your mana circuits aren’t even large, and you’re utterly ignorant. You can’t even tell what’s text and what’s a blank space in a book. I can’t teach you forever.”
Besides, there’s no other noble willing to teach this blockhead besides me.
“Yes. Work hard.”
I don’t want to indulge in your foolish behavior.
“Chirp!”
Why is that little guy making sparrow sounds?
“Oh my, what a cute little sparrow. It’s attached to Ashtar!”
“True.”
“But why is it making a male voice?”
Yeah, right? The acting is terrible.
“I agree. What a strange sparrow. I’ll just let it go for a moment.”
“Okay.”
I caught the sparrow and took it outside the library.
It probably means it’s done with some investigation.
“Did you gather information?”
“Yes, I have some fresh news about the hero!”
“Fresh news, huh? What is it?”
Did that little guy do something strange while I was gone?
Or did he recruit more girls?
That little guy is capable of that.
‘If I’m not around, he’d probably fill the void with new girls. If there had been some announcement about him being promoted for defeating the Demon King, I would have heard about it.’
“The Four Heavenly King, Pector of Despair, has invaded the Kingdom’s Berta Fortress.”
Pector of Despair.
That simple-minded guy has attacked the kingdom.
Without the hero party, the kingdom must be struggling.
“Did they clash with the hero?”
“Yes. The kingdom requested support from the hero party stationed at the border city.”
They must have had a fight. What happened to the hero party?
“They barely repelled Pector.”
Huh? They didn’t kill him, just repelled him? Something seems off.
Could it be that they couldn’t capture him?
“Did they fail to capture him?” Repelling sounds strange.
“Yes. They simply repelled the army. The fortress is half destroyed and currently under repair.”
“Those crazy idiots.”
It’s obvious they sacrificed the soldiers at Berta Fortress while I was gone.
What can they do without me?