Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Student Council (2)
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The new semester had begun, and the Student Council, now bolstered by its new members, resumed its activities.
In the end, only two freshmen had joined: Elena and Lucia.
We had extended an invitation to Amelie Saintro, Elena's friend and the daughter of Baron Saintro, but she politely declined, saying she had already committed to working as a librarian.
"Amelie? Yeah, she's the librarian type. That's how her fateful encounter with Theodor starts, so just leave it be."
"Got it. But what about that important research the Saintro family mentioned? Aren't you going to say anything about it?"
"You'll find out when the time comes, so don't worry too much. Oh, but it might be fine to secretly provide some funding support from behind the scenes."
"...Alright, I'll talk to Father about it for now."
There were still many mysteries surrounding the Saintro family, but if Elena was going to that extent to protect them, there had to be a solid reason.
I sent a private message to Father asking him to approve any funding requests from the Saintro barony if they came, and surprisingly, he agreed easily.
'Probably because of all the achievements I've racked up lately.'
In truth, it was nothing more than using Elena's knowledge to root out corrupt nobles.
In any case, since she told me not to worry about it, I decided to leave Lady Saintro alone. She wasn't joining the Student Council anyway.
Returning to Student Council matters, things ran smoothly with Elena and Lucia on board.
Lucia was a commoner, so she still had much to learn... but Elena's mind was sharp enough to dive straight into practical work without issue.
"Um, Lady Elena...! Could I ask you one question...?"
"What is it, Lucia?"
"The total sum here doesn't match the individual subtotals..."
"When something doesn't add up, just sum the last digits of each item. Compare that total to the individual subtotal—if there's a difference, it means you've missed or double-counted an item..."
She wasn't just quick with basic calculations; her practical sense was impeccable too. Not only Lucia, but even Lisia Grabel, who was in her second year, often came to Elena with questions.
"This one gives a multiple of 11, but that one doesn't, so it looks like an item was skipped or duplicated somewhere. It's not a multiple of 10, so just find the duplicate, Lisia."
-Nod.
"...But aren't you going back to your seat?"
-Shake shake.
"If you like it here, stay. His Highness Orpheus seems to be running late today anyway."
-Nod nod.
...Honestly, I was a little jealous. Seeing her so easily claim the seat right next to Elena, a spot even I couldn't approach casually.
Lady Grabel and Lady Saintro were like that, and now even the new addition, Lucia.
She had this subtle magnetism that drew in other girls. Or, as she claimed, since she'd been a man in her past life, maybe it was the opposite sex she attracted.
'If she weren't a girl, she might have stirred up the Academy in a whole different way.'
Lost in such idle thoughts, the semester flew by until the first-semester Mock Evaluation Battle was upon us.
Setting up the matchups between students was Student Council work, so these days were fulfilling beyond measure.
"Lady Elena, for flame and frost attributes, what level should we balance the duel levels at?"
"Flame is stronger at the same level, so bump frost up by about two levels."
"...Earth and nature magic are always tricky. Nature always wins when those two clash."
"For those affinities, I recommend matching only the top and bottom tiers against each other, and pairing mid-level students with other attributes, young Viscount Esbaren. It's an evaluation battle, but students need to properly gauge their own skills too."
"......"
-Slide.
"Lisia? Oh, you want me to review this?"
-Nod.
"...It's pretty good overall. Just cross the third and seventh matchups like this. No other changes needed."
-Nod nod.
...I was clearly the Student Council president.
But at some point, whenever a question arose, everyone went straight to Elena first. It spoke to her competence, of course.
"Your fiancée's got you swamped, huh, Cedric."
"It's fine. More importantly, have you finished your work and taken a break, Brother?"
"Later, later. I've done about half, so I'll rest a bit."
"You said that last time too, and I ended up doing half for you."
"That's why I bought you those cookies from outside the Academy."
At this point, only Orpheus could get the First Prince to work for a single bag of cookies.
The cookies he gave me were delicious, and Elena enjoyed them too, so it wasn't a total loss.
"No help next time. Back to your seat, Brother."
"So heartless~. Dumped by my fiancée, abandoned by my brother—no one to rely on~."
Uttering more nonsense, he returned to his seat and quietly yawned while tackling his remaining tasks.
As we wrapped up like that, the first-years' matchups were nearly complete—except for the two I'd set aside with 'special mana.'
「Elena Rozier」
「Lucia」
"......"
Dark Magic and Light Magic.
Among the freshmen, these two were the only ones wielding those affinities. Elena also handled Frost Magic, of course.
Based on entrance exam scores, they were evenly matched. Assuming Elena had 'intentionally' marked the wrong answers correctly.
'Looks like I have no choice but to pair these two.'
No matter how friendly the evaluation battle was meant to be, once it turned serious, pride would be on the line.
Forcing them to fight could sour things between Elena and Lucia, disrupting Student Council operations.
"Elena. Take a look at this."
"Yes, Your Highness Prince Cedric."
I tried to ignore how she called Lady Grabel and Lucia by name but always tacked on 'Prince' for me, and showed her the final bracket.
"With this bracket, it looks like you'll be up against Lucia. What do you think?"
"What, that's it? Just pair us up."
"...You're okay with that?"
"It's no big deal—it was like that in the original story anyway. With only one Dark Magic user and one Light Magic user in the first-years, it's obvious."
"But if it strains things between you and Lucia..."
"Won't happen. Neither of us is the type to sulk over something like this. Besides, everyone from other years will want to see it too—me versus Lucia."
"...True enough."
...With her permission, there was no reason to hesitate.
I filled in the final bracket with Elena and Lucia's names.
"Lady Elena, what were you two talking about just now?"
"Nothing important. Just that we'll be facing off in this mock battle."
"Y-Yes?! M-Me against you, Lady Elena?!"
...Nothing bad will happen. Probably.
The Arbel Kingdom Academy's first-semester mock duel tournament.
"Winner: Cedric Arbel!"
"Waaaaah!"
"Kyaaa~!! Your Highness~!!"
As the cheers erupted from the other students the moment the duel ended, I quietly exited the arena.
Once again, I felt that duels against peers my age held no thrill.
'Even matching against my weakness attribute had no effect.'
Maybe an earth mage would have been better than a water mage. Though I doubted I'd lose either way.
Even with Light Magic restricted for balance, it ended far too easily.
'Only a duel with Elena feels worthwhile...'
Before entering the Academy, we'd sparred plenty in the palace training grounds.
Early on, I won most of the time, but after she began proper training and a few years passed, our skills evened out.
Unlike her, who already handled dual affinities, I could only use Flame Magic back then.
'Wonder how it'd go if we sparred now.'
With Light Magic added to my arsenal, I'd have the edge over back then, but Elena hadn't been idle either.
I'd seriously considered facing her in this mock battle. Among current Academy students, she was likely the only one who could keep up with me in a fight.
Of course, doing so would spark rumors—from discord between us to a second-year like me losing face against a first-year, or accusations of throwing the match if I lost. So I held back.
Ever since Elena taught me about 'approval ratings,' I'd been even more cautious.
"Next up: first-year duel! Entering first, the Dark Magic and Frost Magic wielder, Lady Elena Rozier!"
...It's starting.
The announcer's voice echoed from the arena just as I reached the Student Council seats.
The other members, having finished their duels, were already there—everyone except Elena and Lucia.
"This should be good. I heard Lady Rozier held her own against you back at the palace, Cedric?"
"Is that true, Your Highness?"
"...That was before I entered the Academy. We haven't sparred since."
"If I could've entered the main palace, I'd have seen it~. But that was when you were prepping in the annex for Academy enrollment."
"Do you really want to see your brother fight his fiancée that badly, Brother?"
"It's not about seeing you fight your fiancée—it's Lady Rozier's skill, on par with yours~. Student duels always hold back to gauge each other, right? But Lady Rozier gets serious in those moments. You too, Cedric~."
"......"
"It'd be fun to see who wins if you both went all out. With healing mages on standby, losing an arm or leg wouldn't be the end of the world..."
"?!?!"
-Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
"Ow, ow ow!! Sorry, Lisia!! I won't say bad things anymore!!"
...I'd sensed him crossing lines earlier, and now he was getting his due.
Silently thanking Lady Grabel for doing what I wanted to, I looked down at Elena and Lucia facing off in the arena.
"Begin!"