Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Solemn Faculty Meeting
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The professors' meeting had a solemn atmosphere.
Professors' meeting.
In the current Sky Island Academy, where the Sky Island Governor's Office had vanished and the board of directors had become a mere figurehead, this was the academy's powerful decision-making body.
The professors gathered around the table.
At the center of the table sat the mana awakening agent that the student council had barely managed to submit after much effort.
The professor who had analyzed the awakening agent spoke up.
"It looks like the work of the church."
"Hah."
"Really the church? It's been less than twenty years since the previous Craft Marquess exterminated them."
"Remnants, but it's definitely the church. No upstart could acquire this level of manufacturing expertise overnight. It's the church's technology."
Sighs rose here and there.
"Still, if they're just remnants, it shouldn't be a big problem, right? We won't have to stand watch every day or anything."
"They couldn't have recovered in the meantime. Spreading awakening agents might be a desperate measure to bolster their ranks with talent."
"Even remnants aside, shouldn't we at least consider a response?"
Amid the murmurs, one professor scowled.
He was the professor in charge of the practical combat exam when the Marquess's airship had crashed.
"What church? There is no church. You're all misreading the situation!"
His fist slammed against the table.
"Demons! Demons! What funds does a defunct church have to use sky whale fins in awakening agents!"
Not like they'd stripped some great house bare without leaving a single piece of furniture behind, after all.
"The filthy demons are finally showing their true colors! They've absorbed the church remnants and are up to their dirty tricks! I knew it! I knew this would happen!"
The expressions of some professors changed.
"Certainly..."
"Demons make more sense than the church."
"Professor Marius has a point."
Marius's eyes gleamed.
"We must search for demons on Sky Island immediately! Even among the academy's current students! We never should have allowed demons on Sky Island in the first place! The fundamentals are all wrong!"
"Isn't that a bit too extreme?"
One professor, chin in hand, opened his mouth with a disinterested gaze.
Marius scowled.
"What? Are you taking the demons' side now?"
"Sure, why not take the demons' side. Then what?"
So what if I am?
Their gazes clashed intensely.
A quiet war of nerves ensued.
A moment later, Professor Carlo, who had been reading the awakening agent analysis report, set it down.
"The meeting is getting heated. Everyone, calm down. What would the students think if they saw this?"
Marius exhaled and turned his head.
"I'm just worried. ...I did get emotional. My apologies."
"Yes, Professor Marius. I understand."
Carlo looked around at everyone.
"Opinions are divided. Since they're just remnants anyway, how about we table this matter and observe calmly?"
Gazes focused on him.
"Entrust the student council with cracking down on awakening agents in the surrounding shops and await their report."
The meeting continued and then concluded.
One task was passed on to the student council.
Ing.
After finishing the smuggling run, securing a construction company in the Demon Realm, and returning to the student council...
Pastel stared at the roughly completed dormitory construction schedule with a tearful face.
Dormitory Construction - Construction to begin during summer break.
Iing.
We can't kick out the perfectly fine students and start construction. The plan is to begin once most head home for summer break.
That makes perfect sense.
It makes too too perfect senseee.
Uwaaaah!
Pastel ruffled her hair.
My Demon King's legacy...!
The ruins exploration under the dormitory...!
The mana stone replication authority (hopefully) nom nom chomp chomp...!
Heruk.
Life is too hard, Pastel.
Is harsh reality this cold to a starving child?
『The first semester is always short. Summer break will come soon.』
That's true, buuut.
『If you want it that badly, why not check the library archives? With some luck, you might deduce the secret entrance to the dormitory basement.』
Ehh?
Spend time in the library where you can't even chat?
Top-of-the-class note-taker Pastel can't do thaaat~.
Pastel made a dumbstruck face. She did her best to pretend she hadn't heard.
Waaah, I have student council work to do.
I'm the vice president, general affairs director, planning director, publicity director, volunteer director, and guidance director, so I have way too much to do.
She flailed around on the student council sofa.
Flail flail.
Laze laze.
Heruk.
Work is too hard.
Life is too hard, Pastel...!
Uwaaaah!
Cold-hearted adult society crushes the starving child!
Ellie approached with dark circles under her eyes.
"Pastel, orders came down from the faculty meeting."
Pastel froze.
"Oh, I already saw that. The shop crackdown, right?"
Ellie gave her a strange look for a moment.
"Yeah."
"Pull a list of the surrounding shops, categorize by case, organize separately. And diagram them on a map for easy field use."
"Yeah."
Ellie left. She started working after consulting with Dustin.
Pastel resumed flailing.
Life is too hard, Pastel...!
Uwaaaah!
The faculty meeting's cold decision ruthlessly grinds the smuggling hopeful.
What is a poor smuggling hopeful to do here?
What dreams are there in cracking down on shops?
And yet, there were.
A short while later, a merchant visited the student council. He owned one of the shops targeted for crackdown.
Pastel, with her blank expression, sat down alone with him.
The merchant looked like he had a ton of guilty secrets. Sweating profusely, with trembling hands, he pulled a small box from his bag.
Then, with a swipe toward Pastel.
"Ahem. This is a token of appreciation from our shop to the student council."
The box clicked open.
Gold bars stacked neatly.
Heruk.
Pastel's mouth fell open.
Eueue.
The gold bars are greeting me!
Hello hello.
Eueue.
Nooong, gold bar friends.
Pastel writhed in the radiant glow of her friend.
Hueeuk.
Too powerful.
Then she rubbed her face with both hands.
But sorry, gold bar friends.
See you next time.
Pastel pushed the box back with a stern expression.
"Our student council does not accept bribes. The crackdown and investigation of awakening agents will proceed strictly according to procedure and regulations."
Drugs are a serious issue; no personal feelings allowed.
Personally, I'd love to search for awakening agents and nom nom them too.
The merchant nodded.
"Of course! We'll comply fully with the awakening agent crackdown! It's for the students' safety, after all! But that's not it."
Ing?
The merchant sweated bullets. He desperately hoped she'd catch on.
But realizing his opponent was an innocent girl, he finally confessed.
"Just a tiny bit of tax evasion, hahaha!"
Tax evasion?
A hearty laugh echoed.
"A very very tiny issue! Hahaha!"
Tax evasion, huh.
Heruk.
A memory flashed.
The arduous journey to save the starving child.
Meeting pirates, meeting thugs, and all sorts of harsh journeys.
Is this merchant also working to save a starving child?
Heruk.
Pastel's eyes went wide.
She looked down at the gold bar friends.
Are you actually for the starving child (me) too?
Heruk.
Sorry, friends.
I doubted your kind hearts.
Pastel's naughty hands swiftly pocketed the gold bar box.
Her righteous mouth muttered quickly.
"The student council promises to focus on the awakening agent crackdown. We won't notice anything else or take on other tasks."
"Of course! Our shop will comply fully too! Hahaha!"
The merchant beamed.
Pastel's mouth corners grinned wide.
Hehe.
『You...』
Iing, must be hearing things?
Guess I misheard.
Various merchants began visiting the student council.
In Sky Island, infamous for high real estate prices, the shop owners' power was formidable.
Boxes piled up steadily.
Gold bars and coins gleaming.
Eueue.
Pastel gasped.
"Uwaaaang!"
Gold bars, gold bars.
Gold coins, gold coins.
How much tax evasion did these people do?
Innocent Pastel, who has zero connection to tax evasion, has no idea.
Heehee.
Gotta convert it all to smuggled goods.
Oh yeah!
A certain dingy shop building.
Merchants flocked in.
"We can't just hand over our money like this! This is the academy's ruthless oppression of the shops!"
A merchant shouted from the podium.
"Right! Right! It's an infringement on shop rights!"
The honest tax evaders cheered in agreement.
In contrast to the fervent atmosphere, merchants at one table engaged in serious discussion.
A seasoned-looking merchant grimaced.
"Tch, the rumors were true about Craft. Flexibly accepting bribes and causing half of us to defect. We got picked apart defenselessly."
"Wasn't the Marquess supposed to be an innocent girl? I clearly saw her proudly displaying the glow-in-the-dark dragon at the festival."
One merchant despaired.
The seasoned merchant chuckled dryly.
"You fool. The glow-in-the-dark dragon was irrelevant from the start. It didn't matter if it failed."
Craft's schemes are consistent across generations.
Thorough image management in peacetime, revealing their true dark nature when it counts—a dual strategy.
The image varied by family head.
"This time it's the innocent girl. We all fall for that facade every time, but now we know: Crafts are two-faced."
"Hah."
Another merchant slammed the table.
"We were tricked! Tricked!"
"Exactly. Image management in unimportant areas. What Marquess would sincerely showcase something embarrassing like the glow-in-the-dark dragon? It had to be her dark intentions!"
The seasoned merchant was confident.
"Hah! You're right! No way she'd do something that embarrassing sincerely!"
A skinny merchant slapped his thigh.
"Then we're in big trouble. How do we oppose the Crafts, who are the empire's best at intrigue?"
The seasoned merchant smiled.
"We show our power. A duel trial! Challenge the Marquess to an arm-wrestling duel over shop rights infringement, and win."
The merchants buzzed in surprise.
Duel trial.
Legally, duel outcomes hold no weight nowadays.
But honorably, it's another matter. Refusing to accept defeat is highly dishonorable. Especially for the loser if their title is high.
"From our discreet investigation."
The merchant smiled slyly.
"Her Excellency got top marks in written exams but zero in combat!"
"Really?!"
The merchants were shocked.
The seasoned merchant laughed.
"No way we lose a duel!"
The merchants murmured.
This could work.
We're guaranteed to win!
One merchant looked uneasy.
"But is it really okay? Pointing a blade is near lèse-majesté."
The merchants paused. Unease spread.
The seasoned merchant smiled.
"Heh, I considered that too."
"Ooh, as expected! Tell us the plan!"
"While investigating Her Excellency, I overheard students gossiping. Couldn't catch details, but key words for sure!"
"What were they?"
The seasoned merchant clenched his fist.
"Arm-wrestling duel! No blades needed!"
"Ooh! You're a genius!"
"The shop alliance's mastermind!"
"Surpassing Craft in scheming!"
The merchants fell into ecstasy.
A short while later.
The Marquess arrived in response to the surrounding shops alliance's invitation.
The shop representative stepped forward.
"Marquess, we formally challenge you to a duel trial: arm-wrestling."
"Heruk!"
The pink girl's eyes went wide.
"How did you know I'm just a brainy kid?!"
Uwaaaah!
The seasoned merchant proudly summoned a mercenary.
A burly mercenary flexed his massive muscles. Bronze skin bulged.
Bulge bulge.
Uwaaaah!
Targeting the brainy kid's weakness in this brutal death game...!
The mercenary and girl took seats at the table.
Uwaaaah!
"The shop alliance swears to accept the results..."
Blah blah procedures.
And the duel begins!
The girl squeezed her eyes shut and...
"Urraaaah!"
This is the brainy kid's best effort!
The table creaked.
"Aaaah!"
The mercenary rolled amid table debris.
Silence fell.
One merchant sweated profusely.
A moment later, behind the shops, the merchants gathered as if by promise. The seasoned one rolled on the ground, getting kicked.
"You doddering fool!"
"Ack! Ack! Don't do this! I was just fooled by Craft's intel op!"