5. Send Her Back Before She Becomes the Heroine
5. Send Her Back Before She Becomes the Heroine
The Beatrice Repatriation Plan.
There were three distinct advantages to this scheme.
1. By sending the building-destroyer Beatrice back where she came from, I would preempt all future property damage.
2. In the process, I could extort additional bribes at speed.
3. Once Beatrice was gone, the Archmage's disciple would also lose her favorite target for provocation, halting further financial casualties there.
Sending one princess home netted me both the bribe money and an end to blinded lecturers and exploding lecture halls — a massive cost reduction on two fronts.
That was why I was determined to ship her off regardless of whether Beatrice had been a heroine or a companion in Dark Kingdom.
The linchpin of the plan, naturally, was the Chairwoman.
"Chairwoman."
"Go ahead."
"When I first brought Princess Beatrice's situation to your attention, you told me there was no cause for concern."
"I still hold that opinion."
This plan had not been thrown together on the spot. The same day I received her bribe, right after closing negotiations with the dwarves, I had gone straight to the Chairwoman's office to confer.
Since Beatrice had come here as a hostage and was unable to leave the academy, the only avenue for her return home was for the Chairwoman to step in personally.
At the time, the Chairwoman had heard the full story and told me there was nothing to worry about.
I had let it go back then because I was swamped with the entrance ceremony, negotiations with bribe candidates, and everything else. But now, with the moment of execution upon us, her confident assurances were suddenly making me uneasy.
"...I can trust you on this, right?"
"Finance Director, why do you doubt me? That stings a little."
"Maybe because the last time you assured me a huge sum of money was coming in, you turned out to be talking about futures trading——"
"That was different! Anyway, this time I mean it! I intend to speak to that Aken brat directly!"
"Aken? Don't tell me you mean His Highness Aken Delminos?"
That was the goddamn king.
I had said, metaphorically, that even the king would have to grovel before the Chairwoman, but I hadn't expected her to have an actual direct line to the man.
"King, my foot. In my eyes he's still a whelp."
"Is that connection robust enough to get Princess Beatrice repatriated?"
"I happen to know a very private secret of his. He'd sooner die than have it exposed, so he'll cooperate. And, frankly... the Fourth Princess of the Delphia Kingdom simply isn't worth that much to begin with. The border dispute isn't even that important."
"Mm."
Honestly, the Chairwoman was right.
Beatrice's value didn't stem solely from her status as the Fourth Princess — not originally. The reason she had been sent to Grandis Academy as a so-called "study-abroad" hostage in the first place was the border conflict between Delphia and our kingdom.
If that conflict were truly critical, there was no way Beatrice would be repatriated. She'd be kept as a hostage for leverage. But by the same token, if the conflict were truly critical, the Delphia Kingdom would never have sent her as a hostage to begin with.
In the end, as both Beatrice herself and the Chairwoman had confidently declared, this border dispute was not a serious matter. If it were, nobody would be talking about hostages — they'd be issuing a mobilization order and threatening war.
It was a minor squabble. Delphia was a small kingdom, so they'd bowed their heads quickly and offered the Fourth Princess as a hostage. Having done that much, our kingdom wasn't even monitoring Beatrice that closely. Provide a decent pretext, and they'd release her.
'The problem is that Beatrice made the first move.'
A kingdom-level decision to return her and a princess independently attempting to arrange her own escape were two completely different stories. The latter could easily be construed as contempt for our kingdom.
Like a prisoner on light charges with a lenient warden who gets treated favorably — until the moment the warden catches her trying to break out, and everything changes.
You could call it karmic that after the Chairwoman rejected her offer and caught her scheming, Beatrice ended up under strict surveillance.
At any rate, if the Chairwoman really did know a royal secret, then repatriating Beatrice should be feasible... probably. Hopefully.
"Well, if that's the case, there shouldn't be a problem. I'll leave it in your hands."
"Good! When shall I send word?"
"Right now."
"...Pardon?"
"Please consider that for every extra day Princess Beatrice remains at this academy, one additional lecture hall is blown to pieces."
"...I'll use the fastest means available."
I was of the opinion that the building-destroyer needed to be expelled as soon as humanly possible. The last of the five lecture halls Beatrice had wrecked so far had been destroyed just this morning.
Compared to the total collapse of the entrance exam grounds or the auditorium wall, a trashed lecture hall was the sort of disturbance other students caused too. But five of them in a single week was a different kind of story.
'The protagonist brat, the youngest knight, Beatrice, the Archmage's disciple...'
Were these really students? They were enemies of the state.
I found myself half-wondering if they were plants from the Carpenters' Guild, sent to generate repair revenue. With a sigh, I looked at the Chairwoman.
"How long until we receive a reply?"
"Every 8th Rank individual in the kingdom possesses a direct communication artifact linked to Aken. It shouldn't take more than an hour at the latest."
"Understood. Then I'll go see Princess Beatrice immediately. If there are no complications, I'll bring her here straight away, and you can make your pitch accordingly."
"I had to plead with Aken. It took some doing. The proposal was outrageously brazen, but since you are also my student, I made it happen. Something along those lines?"
Now she got it on the first try.
I shot the slowly maturing Chairwoman a gratified look and added a postscript.
"Furthermore, extracting the bribe is my role, so you needn't mention it. You are a person of incorruptible integrity; I am a man who likes money and bribes. We must keep these roles sharply defined."
"...I shall bear that in mind."
I had my own qualms about playing this part, but with the academy teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, I had no time to indulge personal scruples.
'And now I'm looking at surcharges to get all those lecture halls repaired as fast as possible...'
Ah.
I really needed a smoke.
The throbbing in my head and the pit of my stomach had become familiar by now. Goddamn stress.
Even if everything went smoothly and I managed to repatriate Beatrice today, I knew full well that the other financial destroyers were still here.
I could only exhale my frustration in another sigh.
*
...I went and had that smoke.
If Laura had been there, I might have unloaded some gripes, but it was still working hours. So I just stood by myself, quietly spitting out profanities between drags.
'Already burned through a whole pack.'
Given the state of our finances, I ought to be cutting even cigarette costs, but I simply couldn't quit this one thing.
Without it, I felt like I might genuinely lose my mind. Tonight was guaranteed overtime again. The memory of what "clocking out" felt like was starting to fade.
Anyway, where was I going to get more of these? They were a "special-order product," different from ordinary tobacco, and not easy to purchase.
'The last time I bought them, I was told I wouldn't be able to get more for quite a while.'
I'd planned to conserve them as much as possible after hearing that. Then the protagonist brat showed up, and I smoked the whole lot in a week.
Processing the repair bills for the exam grounds, the entrance ceremony auditorium, the lecture halls, and everything else while staring at the balance sheet — I couldn't get through it without one.
Maybe I should expel not just Beatrice but every last one of those menaces from the academy. Should I cancel the protagonist's enrollment right now?
I was seriously mulling over original plot trajectories and other such concerns when my feet came to a halt.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"A duel! They've always been at each other's throats, but this time it looks real!"
"In the middle of the street? Are they insane? This is gonna be great! Let's hurry!"
"...What?"
My destination had been the royal-exclusive dormitory where Beatrice was staying.
Occasionally, royal heirs with low succession rankings came to Grandis Academy to dodge purges or build connections, so the academy maintained a separate dormitory just for royalty.
But it wasn't as if our kingdom's royals enrolled every year, and common sense dictated that foreign royals or imperial descendants wouldn't attend another nation's academy, so the building stood empty more often than not.
At present, however, Beatrice — our sole royal student — was supposed to be using it alone.
So what in the world was this crowd?
"A duel?"
Even if they were dueling, they were doing it in the street, right in front of the royal dormitory?
I was already irritated, and this was making my temper spike for no reason.
The students had swarmed so thickly that I couldn't even see the lunatics supposedly conducting the duel.
And a 1st Rank weakling like me had no confidence about forcing his way through that mob.
"Guard Corps. Identify yourself."
"Huh? What?"
"Finance Director Adam Caines. Identify yourself."
"F-Finance Director, sir...! I'm Lowell, 3rd Guard Corps, 1st Company, 2nd Platoon! My apologies for not recognizing you!"
"I didn't know who you were either, so no need to apologize. I'm about to disperse these students — help me out."
"Yes, sir!"
I grabbed a nearby Guard Corps patrolman more or less at random. Judging by his build, he looked reliable.
As with last time, an unusual number of Guard Corps members seemed not to know my face, but it couldn't be helped.
People who regularly showed their faces — the Chief Examination Officer, the Student Affairs Director, the Head of Academic Affairs — sure, maybe. But how would rank-and-file guards know the Finance Director? Back when I was in the military, I couldn't recognize staff officers without their insignia either.
Together with Lowell, who fell into disciplined step in an instant, I moved back toward the crowd. Even in that short time, the number of students had swelled further.
"I'm counting on you."
"Yes, sir! Students! Clear the way!"
"Th-that's the Guard Corps."
"Who's the guy behind him...? Is that a faculty badge?"
"Hey, just move!"
The Guard Corps wore distinctive uniforms and carried standard-issue weapons, so students recognized them instantly. Unlike me — who required a badge inspection to identify as faculty — they were refreshingly straightforward.
As Lowell advanced, using his bulk to lead the way, a narrow path opened through the near-solid wall of bodies. No student wanted to block a Guard Corps officer's path and earn disciplinary action.
Once I made my way through.
"Surely you weren't thinking of backing down? Princess?"
"...You dare."
"That lofty bloodline of yours might have helped in your tiny little kingdom, but we're on foreign soil here, remember? You'd better get accustomed to this kind of treatment."
"Even so, the total absence of basic respect is merely laughable."
"Is it? I'm not particularly outmatched by you, so why should I bother with respect?"
"You're not even imperial, yet you strut about full of confidence simply because you belong to the Empire. The Archmage is your master, not your parent."
"Like being a concubine's daughter?"
"You."
"What, are you mad? If you're mad, then come at me. The location's perfect — right in front of your dormitory, where I can make you weep...!!"
In the center of the ring of students, two female students stood locked in confrontation.
The yellow bracelets marking them as freshmen of the Magic Department. And the unnerving mana swirling around both of them.
...Beatrice and Chloe.
The Fourth Princess of the Delphia Kingdom, and the Archmage's disciple who had decided to provoke her.
Their exchange had apparently been vicious; the two looked ready to collide at any moment.
"Finance Director, please stay behind me. I'll keep you safe."
"Don't worry, just follow me."
"Finance Director! At 1st Rank, stepping forward like that is——!!"
Yes, I was 1st Rank. So what? I had my own means of self-defense.
But there didn't seem to be any need to bring those "means" out here. Considering the cost, I didn't want to use them unless my life was genuinely in danger anyway.
In any case, as Beatrice and Chloe's mana surged, I walked straight toward them and opened my mouth.
"Ladies. What exactly are you doing here?"
"...Finance Director?"
"What are you—— Wait."
The students encircling us murmured as they watched me approach the pair, but none of them knew who I was. These two, however, were different.
One I had already met, and the other couldn't help but know me by my position. If I stepped in, they would obviously stop fighting.
Beatrice, wearing a flustered expression, and Chloe, looking only half-certain, both turned to look at me at the same time.
"Both of you, suppress your mana."
"But——"
"Do you want to receive disciplinary action right here?"
"............."
Not only professors, but department-head-level staff could impose disciplinary measures on students when there was just cause. And naturally, receiving a disciplinary sanction in front of an audience of students this large would generate no end of gossip.
Beatrice, looking faintly dissatisfied, stabilized her mana. Chloe, apparently deciding I was who I appeared to be, quietly followed suit.
A complete change from the shouting and provocation of a moment ago.
But that was only natural. Insults and fights among students were one thing — doing it in front of a faculty member was a different category of madness.
"Finance Director Adam... is that correct?"
"It is. Student Chloe."
Chloe approached me and spoke politely, in respectful speech quite unlike before.
I'd heard she was extremely arrogant, but apparently that arrogance was reserved for fellow students. In front of a faculty member who could actually discipline her, she was remarkably courteous.
As the disciple of the Empire's Archmage — the Magic Tower Lord — receiving a disciplinary record for some disgraceful incident would smear her master's name as well. She had good reason to be polite.
Chloe offered me a gentle smile.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Chloe Pisti, of the Empire's Magic Tower."
"Finance Director Adam Caines. Student Chloe, can you tell me what exactly this situation is?"
"Of course. It's a perfectly proper and lawful duel."
A duel?
This really was a duel? Not just a street brawl?
"Student Beatrice. Is that true?"
"............."
"Student Beatrice?"
"...It is."
Unlike when the two of us met privately, in a setting like this Beatrice had to use formal speech with me as well.
That wasn't always the case, of course. Depending on the atmosphere and context, I divided my address to her between "Princess" and "Student."
Right now, I needed to take a firm line, so I addressed her as "Student." She wasn't going to hold a grudge over that, I hoped.
In any case, a duel, for real.
"Do you have a duel permit?"
"Yes. We received approval from the Student Affairs Director."
"...Confirmed."
An official duel permit issued by the academy. It bore the Student Affairs Director's seal and had been issued just ten minutes ago.
Fine. So that much was in order.
Then why the hell were they doing it here?
"I've confirmed that this is an official and lawful duel. However, this particular duel——"
"My deepest apologies, Finance Director, but..."
"What is it?"
"I believe that, under academy regulations, a duel officially approved by the academy cannot be forcibly halted by anyone except the Chairwoman or the designated faculty referee."
"............."
"I am currently exercising a legitimate right. Even the Finance Director cannot arbitrarily stop this duel."
Chloe had directly refuted me, but her intent wasn't to antagonize me or drive me away.
Even while rebutting me, she kept her burning glare fixed on Beatrice.
I didn't know the specifics, but Chloe seemed to harbor intense animosity and hatred toward Beatrice. Whatever she'd just said to me, it was probably just because she wanted to hurry up and fight her.
So what?
"Duel Regulations, Article 7. An academy-approved duel shall be conducted within the academy's own dueling arena, training grounds, or, under the supervision and with the permission of a referee, at an alternative designated location."
"Ah..."
"Who told you to stop fighting? I'm telling you not to fight here."
Whether you two dueled or not was none of my business. Likewise, I wasn't particularly curious about why Chloe hated Beatrice.
But if you were going to duel, do it in the dueling arena. Why did they think we spent all that money building it?
You're both mages, for crying out loud. If you start flinging spells around here and the surrounding buildings collapse, that's all money. Repair bills. Since the damage would result from a duel conducted in violation of regulations, I could sue for compensation, but going through that kind of tedious process was far worse than simply preventing the buildings from collapsing in the first place.
...In any case, it looked like I wouldn't be able to discuss Beatrice's repatriation until this duel was settled.
Might as well let them fight and get it over with.
"The referee slot for this duel is still blank. I will serve as referee. Let's proceed to the dueling arena immediately."
"......Yes."
"Yes...."