23. I Became the Finance Director of a Kingdom on the Brink of Civil War
23. I Became the Finance Director of a Kingdom on the Brink of Civil War
"Let me get this straight."
"............"
"........."
"You came here to meet the Student Council president, and an unidentified magic spell attacked you out of nowhere, so you responded. Is that what you're telling me? That's why Student Rus used sword aura and Student Chloe fired magic?"
"...Yes, Finance Director."
"That's... correct."
"Allen?"
"I did warn the two juniors, Senior."
The student council room now had a massive hole that let in a full gale rather than a draft.
I clicked my tongue at Allen, who was quick to draw a firm line absolving himself of blame.
I'd come to check things out, but I hadn't imagined those two would be the culprits.
'If only it had been Kassandra.'
It was a shame the disciplinary action fell through, but since the student council room itself had been obliterated, I could live with it. This room was basically Kassandra's personal quarters anyway.
The other members like Allen had their own space, so no one else was affected. The demolition work was impressively precise, damaging exactly this room and nothing else.
'Is this because of what happened at the entrance ceremony?'
Come to think of it, first the phantom-monster attack during the ceremony, and now this—what was Rus's obsession with destroying walls? Did she have some kind of demolition kink?
If this had been any other building, I'd already be raging.
"Student Rus, Student Chloe."
".........Yes."
"Yes..."
"Are either of you injured? A trip to the infirmary might be... awkward, so if that unidentified magic left you with any injuries, please tell me privately."
"...?"
"Um, Finance Director? The truth is, actually—"
"Ah, no need to worry. Accidentally blowing a hole in a wall is hardly a big deal. I have no intention of blaming either of you."
"!?"
Tadat!
"...Who is this? Doesn't seem like the Finance Director."
"The presence feels right. Are you trying to impersonate the real Finance Director? I'm sorry, but your intel on him is lacking!"
"............"
Were they out of their minds?
They were so ridiculous I was about to ask Allen for some backup.
"Who are you! Impersonating my senior within the academy! You've got nerve!"
"Allen, have you lost your mind too?"
"How dare you imitate my senior! Senior Adam is not a benevolent or compassionate person! He worries about wall repair costs before people's injuries. As Junior Chloe said, your research was insufficient!"
So I was being suspected just because I let the wall-destroying slide? These crazy bastards?
It was even more infuriating to see Rus and Chloe nodding in agreement with Allen's assessment.
"All three of you, cut the crap. For starters, this building qualifies for a repair discount from the Carpenters' Guild, and specifically the student council room is registered under Kassandra's personal name. So the academy isn't the one footing the repair bill."
"I apologize, Finance Director. We briefly misunderstood."
"I-I believed in the Finance Director!"
"Senior, you carried that joke a bit too far earlier."
Give me a damn break. I remember everything.
It's a good thing I'm not one to hold grudges—can you imagine if the Chairwoman had been on the receiving end of that? I merely recorded it in my mental ledger, with absolutely no hard feelings whatsoever. Really.
"But... registered under the president's personal name? Finance Director, aren't all academy buildings the Chairwoman's property?"
"They are, of course, but this room—or what used to be this room—is an annex the Student Council President Kassandra personally built. There wasn't a room here originally."
"What!?"
"This isn't uncommon. You can expand spaces like this if you get prior approval from the Academic Affairs Office and pay a set fee. If the entire building had collapsed, that would be a different story, but since only this annexed room was destroyed, the academy bears no liability."
"...Then, does that mean we..."
"Just work it out with Kassandra. I'll help you with that as well."
Now that I thought about it, these two had destroyed Kassandra's room, hadn't they? I promptly erased Rus and Chloe's names from my mental ledger. They were practically benefactors.
Allen, whose name still remained in the ledger, interjected.
"Uh, Senior Adam? There's no telling when President Kassandra will return, so..."
"Even that rotten junior of mine will show up fast once she hears her room got blasted. When she does, contact me and these two. If she tries to run, do your utmost to detain her."
"Yes!"
In truth, Kassandra had no reason to flee given that she was the victim, but that self-proclaimed Great Prophet bitch didn't operate on common sense. If she did, she wouldn't have pulled all that crap back when we were students.
I was grinding my teeth at the resurgence of my old dark history when Rus and Chloe sidled up to Allen and whispered.
"Um, Senior Allen? Why does it seem like the Finance Director really, really dislikes the Student Council President...?"
"Junior Chloe wouldn't know. Senior Adam, well... he's been through a lot at her hands."
"Been through a lot?"
"He once declared in front of all the professors and students at the entrance ceremony that the auditorium would collapse—and it didn't. Another time during outdoor training, he went around warning everyone that monsters were coming—and there were no problems at all. Then there was the time he meticulously stalked a male student, convinced he was a regressor—and of course hit a dead end...
Anyway, he suffered quite a few humiliations. And each time, it was the President who'd whispered those 'tips' to Senior Adam."
"............"
"............."
"One time, after swearing he'd never trust her again, Senior Adam was clinging to her trouser leg, practically begging her, saying this time it was real, please believe him. Even I was starting to feel sympathy. Senior Adam believed her too—this time it had to be true—and threw caution to the wind, even abandoning his midterm preparations, to go to the back gate where she'd said cultists were invading. He hid underground for twelve hours."
"...They didn't come?"
"Of course no one came. Afterwards, Senior Adam was raging about killing her. Senior Laura and I had a hell of a time holding him back..."
I can hear you, you bastards.
Every single one of those cringe-inducing memories, the kind that still make me kick the blankets at night, surfaced, sending my bloodlust for Kassandra soaring. Having one room destroyed wasn't nearly enough to ease this grudge.
"You said there was an unidentified magic spell. Student Chloe, was it a spell you couldn't recognize even upon seeing it?"
"Huh? Oh, yes."
"Then that means it was a spell of 6th Rank or higher. And according to academy regulations, any magic of 6th Rank or above cast on campus requires prior authorization."
Does such a regulation exist? It does. It was made in the academy's earliest days. Since no student could possibly be a 6th Rank mage, it was obviously designed to prevent excessive experiments by professors.
It's in the same vein as the rule prohibiting Rus's sword aura. Though, given how old it is, after several decades it's a nearly forgotten rule.
But laws, and school regulations, exist precisely for moments like this.
"Since a regulation was violated, this former student council room will have to be investigated. I'm cordoning it off."
"Senior Adam? The President sleeps here. Where is she supposed to stay until then—"
"Don't worry. There's a separate room provided."
We could just shove her in that room with the bed inside my office. If work stress gets to me, I can take it out on her. And with the Chairwoman's office right next door, there's no way she could escape.
Now that it's come to this, should I make Kassandra a Finance Department slave too? Even so, we do have a grudging history. Let's treat her as about one-half equipment.
Anyway.
"Let's head back for now. However, since it was the student council room that got blown up, there were a lot of onlookers outside. Student Rus and Student Chloe, see to it you slip away unnoticed."
"...Finance Director."
"Beatrice... Student?"
What the—. Why are you showing up here all of a sudden?
More importantly, how did you get up here?
"I clearly issued an order through the Guard Corps that no one was to come up."
"I'm sorry. The news was truly, truly urgent, so I used the Finance Director's name. I'll apologize in any way you require later, but right now, we need to talk."
Beatrice, whom I hadn't seen in a while, was still in her work clothes, as if she'd just come from her part-time job. But her usually well-kept golden hair was disheveled.
She was a princess of a kingdom, and even though she was a hostage in name, she always kept herself composed, even when working. For her to be this unkempt meant something serious had happened.
Especially since matters concerning Beatrice set off multiple alarm bells for me, I nodded immediately.
"Allen, take Student Rus and Student Chloe out the back door. We can use the conference room next door, can't we?"
"If you wish it, Senior, of course."
At least he's reasonable at times like this. I half-erased Allen's name from my mental ledger.
Rus and Chloe looked as though they had something more they wanted to say. It was obvious. They probably hadn't blown up the student council room for no reason. Allen had even warned them, and with how well they knew me, they wouldn't have acted without cause.
There had to be circumstances, but—
"Student Rus and Student Chloe, I'll summon you both to my office later. For now, follow Allen out. If word gets out that you two are the culprits, strange rumors will start flying."
".........Yes."
"I under...stand."
They clearly weren't convinced, but Beatrice's matter took priority. Ideally, we'd go talk in my office, with the Chairwoman right next door for backup.
'She must have gone to my office first and found out I was here.'
Otherwise, there's no way she'd know where to find me. The fact that she rushed here instead of waiting meant time was truly of the essence.
And I had a rough idea of what it was about.
Click.
After sending off Allen, Rus, and Chloe, I entered the adjacent conference room, activated the pre-installed soundproofing magic, and took a seat.
Only then did Beatrice steady her ragged breathing.
"...You've probably guessed why I'm acting this way. Since you met my elder brother at the last ball."
"Has something happened in the Delphia Kingdom?"
"Grand Duke Wiguk has finally made his move. The political situation was unstable, but if he'd simply remained quiet, it might have passed without incident... It seems he's determined to start a civil war."
A civil war in the Delphia Kingdom.
I'd heard it from the Margrave, from Crown Prince Zeke, and recently from the Surveyor who came to the rock salt mine, as well as from Finance Officer Marcus.
A major event heralded by countless signs.
The royal family had tried to curry favor with the Chairwoman by conducting that damn financial audit, all to intervene in that civil war. And hadn't Crown Prince Zeke asked me to ensure the Chairwoman wouldn't move, and to keep Beatrice safe at the academy?
I definitely didn't accept that proposal just because the bribe from Crown Prince Zeke was substantial.
And for that very reason.
"Your Highness, I apologize, but I made a pact with Crown Prince Zeke. He asked that you remain at the academy and stay uninvolved in the civil war."
"............"
"The royal family will likely try to use you as a pretext to intervene in the civil war, but the Chairwoman and I will stop them. So, painful as it may be, the best course is for you to stay safely here at the academy."
Wasn't that precisely what Crown Prince Zeke bribed me for? If there hadn't been a bribe, I might have been moved by their deep sibling bond and refused the request. But I'd taken the payment, so it was time to earn it.
A demand from King Aken Delminos and the royal family regarding Beatrice? They needed the Chairwoman's cooperation to secure their rear while they dispatched troops to the Delphia Kingdom. If the Chairwoman flatly refused to hand over Beatrice, the royal family would have no choice.
They'd find some other convenient pretext to join the war anyway. It was a cruel thing to say to Beatrice, but there was, objectively speaking, nothing she could do right now.
"I've also heard about this civil war. That the Delphia Kingdom's sole 8th Rank, Grand Duke Wiguk, may have turned traitor."
"...You are well-informed."
"It's a conflict between Crown Prince Zeke's faction and Grand Duke Wiguk's faction, is it not? It will be a brutal war. It's only natural that His Highness the Crown Prince is concerned for your safety."
He probably judged that he couldn't drag in a younger sister who had just cured her chronic illness and was still growing.
He'd even bribed me with that request. Talented as she was, Beatrice was still developing, and there was nothing she could do even if she returned to the Delphia Kingdom.
She'd be of some use since she was, imperfect as it was, above 5th Rank. But as an older brother who prioritized his sister's safety, what would he think if she voluntarily came to the battlefield to help?
He'd cut off the bribe money to me immediately. And if he won the civil war, that fury would undoubtedly be directed at me for breaking my promise.
That meant a mortal threat, not to mention having to pay a blood-draining penalty fee.
"I won't tell you to simply ignore the civil war. But if you attempt to return to your homeland, I will have no choice but to stop you, even if it means borrowing the Chairwoman's power."
"...Finance Director."
"You may resent me if you wish. But my stance will not change."
It was a shame about the bribe money Beatrice had been giving me, but Crown Prince Zeke's bribe was much larger.
If this made Beatrice so disappointed in me that she stopped paying? I'd just ask Crown Prince Zeke for an equivalent raise.
More importantly, to be completely frank—to Beatrice, this was about her homeland and family, but to me, it was someone else's business, which made it that much easier to be cold.
I was sorry to her, but it couldn't be he—
"Then, in exchange, I have just one request."
"I'll grant you anything, as long as it's not leaving the academy or returning home."
Truthfully, this was immensely cruel to Beatrice, so I was prepared to accommodate her as much as possible. If the situations were reversed, it'd be like a terrorist attack or massacre breaking out at the academy while I was stuck in the Empire.
There was no way I could stay detached. So when Beatrice spoke in a subdued voice, I quietly nodded.
"Please get engaged to me."
"Understo... What?"
Wait.
What did she just say?