The Student Council and the Hero's News
The student council room fell into chaos the moment the door burst open.
Student Council
“Y-Your Highness! This is terrible!”
A student who looked like he belonged to the Magic Department came sprinting into the room. The moment I saw his face, I knew instinctively.
This was about Olivia.
“What is it this time? Did Olivia destroy the Magic Department too?”
“Yes.”
“...? But Olivia can’t even use magic—”
I stopped mid-sentence.
Wait. Did I actually think Olivia couldn’t use magic? Or did I know she could? Come to think of it, I had no clear idea. The Ashtar family wasn’t on the level of the Logran family, but they were still the Empire’s foremost ducal house. There was a reason the title of duke was passed down through the generations. The Ashtar territories produced the Empire’s finest administrators and brilliant commanders. Naturally, their mastery of magic wouldn’t fall short.
“She does know how. She knocked out the students with Mana Bullets.”
So she really had been hiding her power all this time?
“Sigh.”
There was no point denying it anymore. That woman had genuinely been concealing her strength.
Aslan shot up from his seat.
“Are you going to see her, Your Highness?” Yuria asked cautiously.
To be honest, someone needed to warn her. What Olivia was doing right now was clearly interfering with the student council’s duties, and it could effectively paralyze the entire second-year class at Attelina Academy. The real question was whether that woman would listen to words at all.
—And let’s be real. If you’re upset, you should’ve won. She might spit out that obnoxious line again.
I had no idea how to approach the completely changed Olivia.
“No. I won’t go.”
“Pardon?”
If I went now, it would only damage the prince’s reputation.
“Think about it. If I show up again, won’t she just say, ‘If you’re upset, you should’ve won’? Besides, this academy treats everyone as equals. Imperial family or not, everyone is on the same level. Nobles don’t have to obey the imperial family’s orders here. And even if we step outside the academy grounds, the fight was already waged in the name of noble honor. I can’t just demand she withdraw the bet. The other nobles wouldn’t want that either. At that point, I’d have to claim Olivia changed her mind for no reason.”
That left only one answer.
Olivia was the daughter of the Ashtar ducal family. If I spoke to the duke, he could persuade her.
“Just contact Duke Ashtar instead.”
This wasn’t simply because of personal connections among the nobility. If the second-year students’ academy life was paralyzed, the elite students who still had a full year of specialized training ahead of them would be ruined. The Empire’s top academy might even start producing dropouts. That would be a massive national loss.
“Understood. I’ll use the communication artifact.”
“What about Lily? Which departments did she choose again?”
“Lady Lily has enrolled in the General Education course and the Theology Department.”
General education and theology. Both were exactly what Lily needed. Having grown up as an illegitimate child outside the family, she required proper etiquette training so she wouldn’t be ridiculed among nobles.
“Maybe I should have taken those classes too.”
“Your Highness already completed the Empire’s mandatory imperial education at the palace. Your role is to learn politics in advance through the student council.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
The student council of Attelina Academy was no ordinary student council. Given the students’ bloodlines—most of them children of politicians—the imperial prince, as council president, was essentially the emperor of this miniature empire known as the academy. In other words, he managed the students, selected and groomed future vassals, and practiced politics through the council.
Aslan liked Lily, but he was someone who clearly separated public and private matters. There was only one reason he wanted to be in the same classes as her.
Olivia.
After breaking off the engagement and suddenly revealing a completely different side of herself, she had already demolished the Magic Engineering Department—shortened to Magic Department—and the Swordsmanship Department. There was no guarantee she wouldn’t do the same to Theology and General Education. If those two departments were also destroyed, what would happen to Lily? She had only just begun establishing herself as a noble and was about to enter high society. Being tormented by Olivia would be disastrous.
“Is there really any need to worry about Lady Olivia? She possesses no divine power, so she cannot use magic that relies on holy energy,” said Rohas of the Fracion family, son of the current Imperial Minister of Administration.
Yes. That much was certain. Olivia had no divine power. But with all these impossible things happening right now, could they really be sure?
They said the Ashtar family kept countless secrets even the imperial family didn’t know. Maybe the duke was aware of something.
“Honestly, did any of you expect her to be that skilled with a sword?”
“That’s…”
No one had predicted Olivia’s swordsmanship talent. To be frank, Aslan still didn’t fully understand it because he hadn’t seen it himself. But the fact that Raylor had been beaten was undeniable, and the swordsmanship professor leaving work early was as good as confirmation.
“And what about magic? It’s true her mana circuits are large, but using that much power is difficult. Can you really say for certain she has no divine power?”
Still, he couldn’t just ask Olivia directly. If he did and she decided to go on another rampage, there would be no stopping her.
“Ah.”
“Right now, the most dangerous person in the academy is Olivia. And she’s become even more dangerous than before.”
“Could this be some kind of protest?”
A protest? Now that he thought about it, after the broken engagement, her position within the Ashtar family must have become precarious. That was the same duke they were talking about. Even though he had re-engaged Lily to reconnect with the imperial family, there was no way he would look kindly on a daughter who had been cast aside. Something must have passed between them.
“She was dumped, but she doesn’t want to be abandoned by the ducal family?”
“Isn’t that likely?”
No, even that didn’t quite add up. The way Olivia was flaunting her power now made it seem like she had wanted the engagement broken from the very beginning. If so, didn’t that mean she had predicted the current situation? She had hidden her true nature all this time. There was no telling what else she might have done.
“No, no matter how you look at it, that doesn’t sound like Olivia. I can’t imagine her acting that way. For now, ask the duke to persuade her.”
“Understood.”
“And tell Lily as well.”
He couldn’t bear to watch Lily suffer because of that insane ex-fiancée. Before that happened, convincing the duke and keeping Lily as far away from Olivia as possible seemed like the best solution.
While working as a librarian, I spent the day reflecting on what I had done.
I had completely wrecked both the Swordsmanship and Magic departments.
“I basically destroyed the core majors.”
With Swordsmanship and Magic gone, the number of future imperial officers and military leaders would drop significantly. Next up were probably the Divine Power and Archery departments. If I destroyed those two as well, the priests and nuns would all disappear too. Since those departments had a lot of commoners, I’d have to think about it more carefully.
What about Archery then? It was highly likely that military families dominated that department too. Should I take them out as well?
Anyway, the Empire had a huge population. The Kingdom had only barely begun holding its own against the Demon King’s army around the time the hero appeared. The Empire was different. With overwhelming productivity and wealth, they built fortresses at every point of engagement with the Demon King’s forces and covered them with cannons. They didn’t even need to send troops from the capital—the sheer number of soldiers produced by the provinces was enough to hold back the Demon King’s army.
In short, it was all thanks to their overwhelming material superiority and weapons.
The Four Heavenly Kings had attempted to invade the Empire several times. After all, conquering it would give them an enormous supply of human slaves. Back then, the Demon King was still alive, so the Four Heavenly Kings were relatively united. Now the Demon King was dead, and the fact that the Four Heavenly Kings were still around was unexpected, but historical records couldn’t always be taken at face value. Even when fighting the hero’s party, the Four Heavenly Kings often showed disagreements despite their unity. Now that the Demon King was gone, those guys were probably all moving independently. The hero’s party was still around, but they didn’t have the strength to attack the Empire.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
When Plene, who had grown a bit closer to me, asked, I brushed it off. Still, something kept bothering me. Whether the Four Heavenly Kings had attacked the Kingdom. Seeing no particular reaction from the Empire, it was possible something had happened there.
“Is it because of what happened in the Magic Department today? Are you worried after all?”
“Not at all.”
Why would I worry about those idiots?
“By the way, Plene, is there a particular reason you’re so determined to learn magic?”
“Ah, yes. I want to earn money, of course.”
That was the main reason commoners clung to Attelina Academy.
“Well, even joining the Magic Tower or becoming a low-ranking court mage pays quite well. But just graduating from Attelina Academy should be enough to get you a clerical job anywhere, right?”
If the tuition was covered, the diploma alone opened doors everywhere.
“Ahaha. You worry more than I expected. It’s true that many mages come from noble families, but when it comes to passion, I’m confident I surpass anyone in the world!”
Passion is great and all, but the problem is that you’re an idiot. Your mana circuits aren’t even that big, and your brain is so empty that when you look at a book, you just see letters and blank space. That’s the level we’re talking about. I can’t keep teaching you forever. And there aren’t any other nobles willing to teach this blockhead besides me.
“Yeah. Do your best.”
I had no desire to indulge her stupidity.
[“Chirp chirp!”]
Why was that guy making sparrow noises?
“Oh my, what a cute little sparrow. It seems to have taken a liking to you, Lady Ashtar.”
“So it seems.”
“But why does the sparrow have a man’s voice…?”
Yeah, exactly. His acting is terrible.
“Right? It’s a very strange sparrow. I’ll let it out for a bit and come back.”
“Okay.”
I grabbed the sparrow and stepped outside the library. It probably meant he had finished investigating.
“Did you find anything?”
📍 Source: Kingdom border city
🎁 Details: Fresh intel on the hero
“Yes! I’ve obtained some very fresh information about the hero!”
“Fresh information, huh? What is it?”
Did that guy do something weird while I was gone? Or did he add another woman to his party? He was more than capable of that. If I wasn’t around, he probably replaced me with a new girl. After returning in triumph for killing the Demon King, there must have been plenty of talk.
“Pector of Despair, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, has invaded Berta Fortress in the Kingdom.”
Pector of Despair. So that simple-minded brute attacked the Kingdom. Without the hero’s party, the Kingdom must be struggling.
“Did he clash with the hero?”
“Yes. The Kingdom sent a request for support to the hero’s party, who were in a border city.”
“They must have fought. What happened to the hero’s party?”
“They barely managed to repel Pector.”
Huh? Repel, not kill? That wording sounded off. Don’t tell me they couldn’t finish him off.
“Repel? They didn’t kill him?”
“Correct. They simply drove back his army. Half the fortress was destroyed and is currently under repair.”
“Those idiots.”
It was obvious. Without me there, they must have sacrificed the soldiers at Berta Fortress. What else could they do without me?