To the Incoming Student Council President
"To the incoming Student Council President."
Every second-year student turned around to look toward the third-years.
However.
Screeech!
The sound of a chair dragging came not from behind, but from the front.
Simon was rising from his seat.
"Huh?"
"Why is Simon going up?"
The second-year students reacted with confusion and surprise, but the third-years seated at the tables in the back maintained only an uncomfortable silence.
Byeolya, who had been skimming through the documents, looked up.
"Oh right, did you pick a vice president too? Come on up as well."
Scrape.
As if she'd been waiting for this, Meilin sprang up, her sky-blue hair fluttering. Feeling the stunned stares of Jamie and Claudia, she puffed out her chest and strode forward with all the confidence she could muster.
She had been waiting for this moment the entire time.
And she had been watching Serne's seat ever since she'd sat down here.
'How's that? I'm Kizen's vice president! The one Simon chose wasn't you—it was me!'
How Serne had gotten under her skin back at the Ivory Tower over the vacation.
Meilin basked in her soaring self-esteem as she looked at Serne, but—
"......"
Head tilted, she was fast asleep, snoring softly. Meilin's expression turned sour.
'Argh! She heard all of that! She's just pretending to sleep!'
"Meilin?"
Simon pointed ahead.
"The podium's over here."
Meilin snapped back to her senses in a flash and plastered on a lovely smile.
"Ah, right."
The two of them soon stepped up onto the podium. Byeolya thumped Simon on the shoulder.
"Wow~ our little cutie is Student Council President? Look at you, climbing the ranks!"
"It's nothing of the sort."
Simon bowed politely. Meilin, on the other hand, felt like her face was about to split from grinning so hard.
I'm standing here right now representing every female student in this school.
I'm the best!
"As you all know, the official Student Council inauguration will be held the day after tomorrow at the opening ceremony,"
Byeolya said.
Today was merely the second-year opening ceremony, she explained, and the formal appointment of a Student Council President would take place at the entrance ceremony—a major event on its own.
"Still, procedure's procedure, so we'll do what needs doing."
A brief ceremony conducted by the student representatives followed. Broadcast henchmen handed out the oath script and gave a quick rundown of how the proceedings would go.
While the explanations went back and forth, the second-years grew incredibly noisy.
"Simon's the Student Council President? As a second-year?"
"I figured Azel-senpai would obviously take the seat."
"But look at the back. Azel-senpai's not here."
"What on earth is going on?"
Grroooan.
And Rank 3, Hector, gripped his armrest with a stiff face.
'Damn it all, he's snatching up the Student Council President seat now too......!'
Rank 4, Merida Hugh Ikel—who should have been dozing off as always—had her eyes narrowed sharply.
'......The man Phantasos-oppa chose, passing over me.'
Rank 5, Aseraz Mikel, licked her lips with an intrigued look.
'A second-year as Student Council President. Doesn't that mean it's possible for me too?'
Rank 7, Elisa Celine of the Ghost Ship, scratched her head with a soul-drained expression.
'Uuuugh! This year I was absolutely determined to get on the Student Council President's radar! And now I have to grovel to that Simon brat? Absolutely not!'
As the second-years who'd witnessed Simon's rise to the presidency each nursed their own thoughts, the mood among the third-years was far from good.
"......Are we really just going to sit back and let this happen, Leonard?"
A man at the third-year tables spoke up with narrowed, hostile eyes. It was Will Douglas, ranked 12th overall.
"There's nothing we can do."
Sitting in front of him, a man with ordinary blond hair tinged with brown sighed.
Leonard Feyron.
A man ranked 4th among all third-years.
"This was an agreement between Azel and Phantasos-senpai. It's not our place to argue about it."
"No, what the—"
Will's face scrunched up fiercely.
"Azel can't even guarantee she'll come back at all. And Phantasos-senpai was only a figure of terror when he was above us—he's just a civilian now! What's there to be afraid of? We're the ones who own this school now!"
Leonard gave a faint laugh.
"True, you have a point there, Will."
"See?"
Across all 330 classes in Kizen's history, the number of times a second-year had become Student Council President could be counted on one hand.
That was why the minds of Will and several other third-years were twisted with anxiety.
A second-year as Student Council President! What will the seniors think of our class? They might be laughing at us, sneering about how starved we are for talent.
"You need to think this through, Leonard. Our class is a sandwich—squeezed from above and below."
Will lowered his posture like a bear and pressed his case.
"Look at the class above us first. Phantasos, the greatest Student Council President in history, and his family had it locked down tight. And what about the class below us? From what I've seen, it's even worse! That's the generation where Nephthys's daughter and the Ivory Tower's successor enrolled at the same time!"
"And on top of that,"
Leonard picked up where he left off.
"we're the class that went through the Saintess incident in the first semester and the Blood Sky Cult incident in the second, and got plastered all over the media thanks to the BMATs."
"Exactly! So what hit product do we have to show off to the outside world? Damn it, is there anyone besides Azel?!"
Will launched into an impassioned rant.
"And that Azel is tied up on a mission."
"......"
"And the presidency went to a second-year. If it had been Lorraine or Serne, fine, I'd get it—looks like the adults got involved for political reasons. But no, it's neither a giant-halfblood nor from the Moore family—it's some nobody who popped out of nowhere, that Simon whatever-his-name kid! What are people going to think of our class?"
Leonard stayed silent, but his feelings seemed complicated as he ruffled his bangs.
Just then, Byeolya's voice rang out through the amplification crystal orb.
"All students, rise! You third-years in the back too, get up."
Screech.
Scrape.
Everyone rose from their seats. Simon and Meilin, standing on the podium, spread their palms open and called out in ringing voices.
"We swear."
"We swear."
Every student present raised their hands and repeated in unison—"We swear!"
"First, we—"
For Will—and likewise for no small number of third-years—this very moment was a humiliation.
The students leading the oath on everyone's behalf were second-years.
"Leonard."
Will spoke quietly, his hand still raised.
"Look at the state we're in. We have to take that Student Council President seat."
"......"
"We take it now, and when Azel comes back, we just hand it back, right? Before they brand us as spineless in the eyes of the outside world......!"
"It's not time for that yet."
Leonard shook his head, his gaze drifting far away toward the Deadly Poison Department table. He could see a male student with large horns on his head, his hand spread open in the oath.
"Balak, ranked 2nd, is staying quiet too. Let's watch how things unfold for now."
"......Ugh."
Soon Simon and Meilin lowered their hands, finishing the oath. Will lowered his as well, his ferocious glare boring into their backs.
Once the ceremony was over, Simon and Meilin returned to their seats.
"Good work out there!"
"You both looked amazing!"
Dick and Camibarez greeted them warmly. The moment the two sat down, heads began turning from every direction.
"Simon! Simon! Simon! What happened? Are you seriously the Student Council President?"
"You snatched that seat right out from under Azel-senpai! Incredible!"
"Hey, Meilin! Why didn't you tell us?!"
Before either of them could answer, Byeolya bellowed, "You there, quiet down!"
"Help a gal out and wrap this up quick so I can clock off, would you, you rascals?"
Once the surroundings quieted again, Byeolya looked at her list.
"Alright. Now, we'll be bringing the professors who will oversee each department of the second year up to the stage!"
Finally, the main event had arrived.
Kizen fundamentally employed a system in which the professors from a student's first year followed the class up through the upper years, teaching the same students throughout.
In other words, professors with specialized expertise provided a highly customized education service, built upon a deep understanding of each individual student.
That made the 'Department Head Professor'—the professor responsible for the entire body of second-year students in a department—extremely important. It was easiest to think of it as the first-year 'Class Homeroom Professor' system evolving into the 'Department Head Professor' system.
"The very first one is, let's see."
The corner of her mouth curled upward.
"The Summoning Department!"
Tension spread across the students' faces. Simon in particular was so wound up that he was practically praying.
'Please, please, please......!'
With a first year of 1,000 students, the professors were split between the front class and the back class, and it was standard practice for whichever professor had the better results to carry on into the second year.
"The subject that is the very root and foundation of necromancy, yes? The professor who will head our Summoning Department is—"
Byeolya looked at the list and raised her voice with a wide grin.
"Professor Aaron Deia!"
WAAAAAAAH!
Amid an outpouring of fervent cheers, Aaron was making his way up to the podium from behind the curtain.
He hadn't changed a bit.
Lifeless, shaggy bedhead and a jaw rasped with stubble. Arriving in shorts that held not a single shred of formality and dragging his slippers along, Aaron gave the students a perfunctory wave of his hand, then took his seat at the professor's chair arranged on the podium.
"Hey now, you can't sit down already! You have to say a few words!"
When Byeolya gestured frantically at the henchmen, they brought the amplification crystal orb over to Aaron with a somewhat bewildered air.
Aaron accepted it with a tired expression.
"This wasn't part of the proceedings, as I recall."
"Aww~ boring! I was told to run the emcee gig however I like, wasn't I? Just say what you're told to say, would ya?"
Having been handed the emcee role, Byeolya seemed to have decided to do whatever she pleased.
Aaron let out a light sigh, then rose from his seat with the amplification crystal orb in hand.
Everyone held their breath, waiting for Aaron's words.
"There's nothing grand to say. I have one thing to tell you: if you don't have the resolve, don't set foot in this field."
Simon blinked.
That's something I've heard plenty of times before, somewhere.
"You're all second-years now, so you know how brutal the Summoning Department is. Whining, complaining, beating yourselves up—I can't stand to watch that garbage anymore. I am not your babysitter. That's all."
With those words, Aaron set down the amplification crystal orb and took his seat.
The back-class students buzzed in some confusion, but the front-class students simply smiled quietly. Simon was no different.
'Same as ever, Professor Aaron!'
One after another, the head professors of the other departments were announced.
For the Spirit Studies Department, a middle-aged professor named 'Stacy Sezan', who taught the back class after edging out the front class's Umbra, was selected. From Simon's standpoint, it was a little disappointing.
The outcome for Hemomancy was a given. With Walter Hahn—that is, Shylaz Bisavar—dead in the recent Blood Sky Cult incident, the back-class professor, 'Preston Patton', had been elevated to head the second year. He was a tall, elderly man.
The Deadly Poison Department saw no surprises either.
"Hahaha! I'm your head professor, you rascals! Looking forward to working with you!!"
She'd come from the Grassland and weathered her share of trouble, including the boycott incident, but in the end Byeolya—armed with two powerful weapons, the Dark Poison System and the immunity curriculum—had earned the students' recognition and risen to become the second-year Deadly Poison head professor.
Simon thought it was the natural result.
A little ways off, he could see Claudia Menzies clapping with tears brimming in her eyes.
"Next up, Magic Combat!"
Byeolya glanced through her papers and smirked.
"Ah, is this one too obvious even to announce?"
Her signature: 100% outdoor classes that took nature itself as a training partner.
Logging near the top of class satisfaction ratings almost every year—grueling coursework, to be sure, but all the more rewarding for it, with results to match—she was one of Kizen's star professors, the only one whose popularity could rival Bahil of Curse Studies.
Hong-Peng Thun Sokum Marlrat was walking onto the podium.
"Hello there, everyone!"
As she waved both hands with a beaming smile, second-years and third-years alike let out a huge cheer.
"I'm jo so happy to get to train with you all again thij year!"
She raised her voice.
"A necromancer needj balance between refinement and the body. When one jide collapjej, the other will eventually collapse right along with it. Beyond our Magic Combat majorj, I've aljo opened a jecond-year intermediate Magic Combat elective that non-majorj can take too!"
She clasped her hands together and smiled sweetly.
"I'd really love it if you came and took it."
Her gaze, however, was fixed on Simon, seated in his chair.
WAAAAAAAH!
To the loudest roar and storm of applause yet, Hong-Peng went to her seat and sat down.
"Good work, you disrespectful little sister of mine."
Byeolya snickered and turned her head.
"Now, next is Curse Studies, so...... hmm."
As she read the documents, her expression stiffened slightly. Then she spoke in a rather heavy voice.
"There is one announcement regarding the Curse Studies Department."