2. The Protagonist Doesn't Hide His Power
2. The Protagonist Doesn't Hide His Power
The Chairwoman and the Chief Examination Officer both aimed icy stares at me.
They'd gotten the wrong idea. I hadn't suddenly become greedy over five times the tuition.
'Because even five times Grandis Academy's tuition is still dirt cheap.'
To put it simply, a fivefold increase barely brought it in line with what other private academies charged. Which meant there was no way in hell that charging the protagonist five times—or even ten times—the standard tuition was going to cover the cost of repairing the rank-measuring device and the wall.
The reason I'd changed my tune on the spot was this.
"Per academy regulations, any additional tuition payment exceeding a certain threshold requires the enrollment paperwork to be reissued. Ordinarily, the procedure is rather involved, but I can handle it personally."
"...Personally?"
"I may not look it, but I do hold the position of Finance Director."
If this guy weren't 6th Rank, I would've smacked him upside the head. Not that it would've done me any good—with that kind of rank gap, I'd be the one getting hurt.
Anyway, once I'd secured the protagonist's confirmation, I sent him right back out.
"Under normal circumstances, the regulations would require a re-examination, but that won't be necessary for Rus Spero. If you'll wait just a short while, you'll soon be a student of this academy."
"...Thank you."
"The honor is entirely ours, to be gaining such an outstanding talent."
"Right."
The protagonist gave an awkward bow of his head and departed. I assumed he'd wait with the other examinees.
The moment he was gone, I felt the weight of Ciel's stare. The Chief Examination Officer's gaze was considerably frostier than usual.
"Finance Director Adam, what exactly is the meaning of this?"
"What do you mean by 'the meaning of this'?"
"Rus Spero was guaranteed to pass regardless, even without paying additional tuition. I never imagined the academy's own Finance Director would stoop to holding an applicant's admission hostage over money."
"From the way you're putting it, one might think I'd sold the acceptance letter for cash."
"Am I wrong?"
"You are, in fact, entirely wrong, Chief Examination Officer."
Every exam at the academy, every sensitive result, every grade that could spawn endless controversy—it all fell under the Chief Examination Officer's jurisdiction, and that meant the person in that seat had a nearly fixed temperament.
A principled individual so strict that calling them "thorough" barely scratched the surface.
And simultaneously... someone with almost no friends or close acquaintances.
I'm not joking. The constant stream of bribery attempts and backdoor favor requests aimed at the academy's exam officers was the most powerful temptation of all. And exams were where every kind of incident and accident happened.
Therefore, the person leading the exam officers had to adhere absolutely to principle, and, the Chairwoman's long-held theory went, should also be someone with few friends or personal connections, the better to minimize the number of favor requests that came through personal or family ties.
'I'm not sure how effective that actually is.'
But that was how the Chairwoman had thought back when she first founded Grandis Academy, and so it had become tradition. The current Chief Examination Officer, Ciel, was both a rigid stickler for principle and a complete loner. I'd spotted her in the staff dining hall from time to time, and she always, without exception, ate alone.
Which was why she was so poor at grasping a "political" matter like this one. So how was I supposed to persuade someone like her?
'Simple.'
"Admissions examination regulations, Article 6, Row 14: Concerning the Limitation of an Examinee's Excessive Force."
"That..."
"According to regulation, an examinee who possesses 'excessive' force may be denied admission by the academy. I'm sure you're well aware of this, Chief Examination Officer."
"............"
The way to persuade a die-hard stickler for principle is to shove the principle right back in their face. It was an actual regulation, which meant even Ciel couldn't argue with it.
And this was likely the one regulation she loathed the most.
'Because this rule only came into existence after Grandis Academy was hailed as the best in the kingdom.'
Out of necessity? Hardly. It had been created to satisfy the whispered demands of the nobles who sent their children here.
The reasoning was simple. If an examinee with needlessly overwhelming strength ended up in the same year as their child, then their darling wouldn't be able to claim first place in the year.
Anyone who's spent time in the real world knows that the gap between first place and second in the year is like the gap between heaven and earth. Within the academy walls, it's just one place apart, but once you step out into society, only first place gets the spotlight.
'Like how if you ask who the fastest man in the world is, "Usain Bolt" springs to mind instantly, but if you ask who the second-fastest is, nobody knows.'
You could argue that obsessing over academy rankings is silly, but for those truly aiming for the top, it makes a world of difference.
Besides, a student who was already too strong wouldn't gain much from the academy to begin with. It would be one thing if the protagonist were aiming for a field mostly unrelated to combat, like Magic or Administration, but...
"I've heard that Rus Spero is applying for the Martial Arts Field."
"...That's correct."
"Had it been Magic or Administration, perhaps, but nearly every exam in the Martial Arts Field involves live sparring. What do you suppose will happen if we place Rus Spero among first-years who are only just beginning to learn?"
"That..."
"Even among graduates, it's exceptionally rare for anyone to reach 6th Rank. Rus Spero, who's already 6th Rank, will likely claim the top spot for all three years."
Would the knightly houses or noble families ever accept that? And more importantly, would that be a good thing from the perspective of the other students in the year?
If it were a level you could reach through training and effort, that would be one thing. It might ignite a sense of rivalry.
But 6th Rank was a level more than sufficient to command a knight order in any territory. What would you feel, being in the same year as a powerhouse like that? Wouldn't you just give up on competing altogether and be left with nothing but a sense of futility?
The pressure from the nobility had been one factor, but the Chairwoman had added that regulation precisely because she'd worried about that very outcome.
And Ciel—a commoner with no family name, who had climbed to 7th Rank through sheer effort alone—
"...I understand."
—would no doubt hate that regulation. No matter how you justified it, the fact remained that it was a rule that served the noble children.
But for heaven's sake, could people please let me finish talking?
"Which is precisely why we need a justification to persuade the nobles."
"......Pardon?"
"The justification being that we're charging him five times the standard tuition."
"Ah."
"Of course, we will also need to place some restrictions on Rus Spero's strength."
"That goes without saying."
Ciel's expression softened, just a tiny fraction—truly, ever so slightly. She finally seemed to grasp my meaning.
In other words, the fivefold tuition was the bare minimum of a justification. A pretext to show that we hadn't simply admitted Rus Spero without conditions.
If you thought about it, the fivefold tuition wasn't for my sake, but for Rus's.
Ciel appeared to have only just now realized that.
"That was... unexpected."
"Hm?"
"I've met you before, Finance Director Adam, but always in the context of official meetings. Seeing you handle a matter in a student's best interest firsthand has convinced me that the rumors about you are entirely unfounded."
"............"
Just what kind of rumors were circulating about me?
I stopped myself from asking, mostly because I was terrified something like "the Chairwoman's secret lover" was about to surface.
Still, earning a favorable impression from one of the Four Heavenly Kings who held real power was nothing but welcome.
"I look forward to working with you in the future, Finance Director Adam."
"Please, don't hesitate to call on me whenever you need me."
In other words, please don't call on me.
"I will."
You did understand that, right? You're not actually going to call on me at the drop of a hat, are you?
I'd only said it out of courtesy, but knowing I was dealing with a principled loner with zero social skills made me suddenly anxious.
...At any rate, after a handshake, Ciel departed to attend to her duties. The repair costs were ultimately my responsibility to authorize, but the re-examinations and the subsequent notification of results to the other applicants were all the Chief Examination Officer's domain.
Once only the Chairwoman and I remained in the examination hall, she, who had been quietly observing the whole exchange, sidled up next to me.
"I'm seeing you in a new light, Finance Director Adam. I never imagined you were acting for Rus Spero's sake."
"You didn't realize, Chairwoman?"
"I had a rough idea. I just thought that if it was our Finance Director, you might genuinely have been tempted by five times the tuition. You're the one who threatened to ship me off to a deep-sea fishing boat when I said we had no money, remember?"
"Futures trading."
"......I apologize for my insolence."
Why did everyone insist on casting me as some heartless villain? It was deeply unfair.
After being thoroughly torpedoed by a single word, the Chairwoman took a steadying breath and looked at me.
"But will five times the tuition really be enough? Even if it's merely a pretext, I can't see the nobles being satisfied by a mere fivefold increase."
"What are you talking about? Of course it won't do a thing."
"I thought as mu— Wait, what?"
What.
Hadn't she figured that out?
"As you said, Chairwoman, how could a measly fivefold increase ever suffice? Even if he'd paid fifty times the standard tuition, the nobles who sent their children to the Martial Arts Field would still foam at the mouth. Restrict his strength all you like—6th Rank is 6th Rank. If it were me being told to compete against a monster like that for three straight years, I'd be cussing up a storm."
"Then why did you...?"
"To persuade the Chief Examination Officer, of course. Whether we charge him five times or fifty times the tuition, as long as she's convinced, things will proceed smoothly."
"............"
"Fortunate for us that she's so oblivious to political matters."
"...Then what do you intend to do about the nobles' protests?"
"I'll handle it as I go. We simply negotiate with the nobles behind the scenes."
"But you already made it sound as though he'd been accepted. If negotiations break down..."
"At that point, I'll tell the Chief Examination Officer that we had no choice due to pressure from the nobility. And I'll apologize to Rus Spero as well."
From what I'd seen, the guy would probably be fine even if he skipped the academy arc entirely.
Hunting monsters or joining a knight order would serve him far better than hanging around the academy playing foil to some third-rate noble villain and doling out gratifying comeuppance.
The guy's growth was already complete, so why on earth would he bother going through a growth arc?
'And above all, even if this fails, there's zero risk to me.'
What about the fact that I'd be contradicting myself to Ciel? I'd already laid the groundwork earlier. "Pressure from the nobility." I'd mix in some appropriately tearful acting, and Ciel would direct all her anger at the nobles for forcing Rus Spero's admission to be rescinded. She wouldn't hold a grudge against me.
The root problem was that the protagonist was simply too strong. If he'd just done the standard thing and hidden his strength, he could've coasted through without issue, but no—he had to go and not hide his strength from the very first entrance exam. Isn't the "secretly overpowered protagonist who hides his strength" trope practically a universal rule?
If only he'd read a single academy web novel, he would've been fine, but now things had gotten complicated.
"Finance Director..."
"Why are you looking at me like that? That's only if negotiations break down and the worst-case scenario comes to pass. I'll give it my best shot first, so please don't worry."
"Finance Director...!"
"Now, I must go negotiate immediately, so I'll leave the paperwork to you. My share included, naturally."
"......What?"
"I'm entrusting it to you with full confidence, Chairwoman."
I flashed a smile at the Chairwoman, who looked as though she'd just lost all meaning in life.
Then I turned on my heel and set off to find my negotiating partner.
That's what she gets for playing hooky.
*
The position of Finance Director, no matter how I looked at it, was about 30% benefit and 70% liability. When the institution you were saddled with was an academy scheduled to go bankrupt in three years, the benefit shrank to maybe 10%.
Every day since last year, I'd made a habit of fingering the resignation letter in my breast pocket, but the job did have a few perks.
"Finance Director Adam Caines, Lady Risha has finished her preparations."
"May I go straight in?"
"Of course. The Claudia Family sincerely welcomes your visit."
The private dormitories within Grandis Academy, each assigned to a specific noble house. A place that housed not only the attending student but also the entourage that came with them: servants, cooks, grooms, and the rest.
Functionally a villa, it was a privilege reserved only for the wealthiest of nobles. Even the land tax we collected from these quarters was quite sweet.
And the house I'd come to visit was among the handful that possessed such an exclusive dormitory.
I made my way through the ostentatiously furnished corridor, basking in the servants' exceedingly courteous reception, and headed for the inner parlor.
After a few knocks and a word of permission, I opened the door and stepped inside.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Finance Director Adam Caines. I am Risha of the Claudia Family."
"Finance Director Adam Caines. Thank you for receiving me despite the sudden visit. This is truly the hospitality expected of Margrave Claudia, the Shield of the Kingdom."
"You flatter me. How could we not extend every courtesy when the renowned Finance Director of the academy pays us a visit?"
A noble young lady with flowing golden hair tied in a ponytail greeted me with a gentle smile, her hands covered in calluses.
This, too, was a reception I was afforded thanks to my title of Finance Director.
Risha Claudia.
The Margrave's cherished youngest daughter, whom the Martial Arts Field professors had mentioned during the budget planning meeting.
And at the same time—
"So, what business brings the Finance Director here so abruptly...?"
"As the Lady Risha, renowned not only for her spearmanship but also for her wisdom, will have already surmised..."
To Risha, who looked vaguely uneasy, as if she'd sensed something coming,
I erased my smile and spoke.
"Per academy regulations, Rus Spero's admission is to be denied."
"......"
Flustered.
At those words, Risha Claudia, who had been about to lift her teacup, visibly flinched.
But I had no intention of stopping there.
"However, as you also well know, the condition stipulated by that regulation..."
"...applies specifically to examinees possessing 'excessive' force, does it not?"
"A regulation deliberately worded to be vague. Precisely for moments like this."
The fact that it didn't specify a clear Rank and instead used the subjective term "excessive" meant it could be wielded as one pleased.
For the benefit of a great house like Margrave Claudia's.
"So I will ask you directly, Lady Risha."
"...Please, speak."
"In exchange for our academy approving Rus Spero's admission, would you be willing to block the protests that will inevitably arise from the other nobles?"
"............"
"What do you say?"
A rule originally intended to shield nobles from having to share a year with powerhouses like Rus Spero—and here I was suggesting we break it.
A proposal asking the Claudia Family to exert its influence in order to admit an irregular powerhouse. A proposal that, by its very nature, violated the entire purpose for which the regulation had been created.
At first blush, it was a preposterous request that had no chance of being granted.
"Would you grant me a moment to consider?"
"By all means."
But Risha Claudia had no choice but to think it over carefully.
From her perspective, with the protagonist absent, she would have been forced to compete against the far stronger 'youngest knight' anyway.
'Better to lose to a sudden "irregular" alongside that youngest knight...'
...than to lose while competing directly against him. By ensuring they both lost to the same outsider, the sting of her own defeat would be diluted.
In other words, she'd prefer the lesser of two evils.