CHAPTER 127
CHAPTER 127
A Strange Board That Moves the World
The DuNaise Academy Board of Directors was convened.
While the academy had emptied its students for the Wizard Ball competition, Gibles, the academy’s gatekeeper, was thrown into a panic when a teleportation gate appeared in the plaza in front of the dormitories.
The first to emerge through the teleportation gate was a group of dwarves in uniforms.
They wore military attire and marched in an orderly formation, appearing through the gate as if advancing in ranks.
“We have come as directors of DuNaise Academy to attend the board meeting!”
When the leading dwarf raised and displayed a board card, the armors that had been moving to stop them came to a halt.
Even when Gibles tried to control the armors with his lantern of the gatekeeper, they could not approach beyond a certain distance.
As long as the directors attending the board meeting and their companions did not pose any threat to DuNaise Academy, their safety was guaranteed.
“What in the….”
“Ah. The board meeting?”
Behind Gibles, Professor Sadia had appeared at some point.
She frowned as she looked at the dwarves.
“You’ve brought quite a lot for just a board meeting. Quite the display for a single plastic card.”
At that moment, the teleportation gate flashed again, and another faction emerged.
This time, a group of mages dressed in robes and garments dyed in a soft blue appeared.
At their forefront stood a massive ogre wearing an ornate sky-blue robe, holding a puppet doll in his arms.
“We, the mages of the Blue Tower, have come to attend the DuNaise Academy Board of Directors.”
Next came the elves, and after them, the demons, each arriving accompanied by guards and mages.
“What in the world is this….”
Gibles was shocked by the overwhelming number of arrivals.
“Surprised since it’s been a while since a board meeting was held, aren’t you?
Come to think of it, there hasn’t been one since you became the gatekeeper here, has there?”
“There were some in my younger days….”
Back then, they had not all arrived in such overwhelming numbers.
“Good. There are no students in the dorms right now, correct?”
“Yes. Since they were granted permission to go observe the Wizard Ball match, they’ve all gone out.”
“Then even if a fight breaks out, no students will be harmed. Excellent.”
Sadia chuckled and patted Gibles on the shoulder.
The boardroom was located at the very top floor of the Dungeon Tower, the core of DuNaise Academy.
Those who had come to attend the board meeting were stopped here by Sadia.
“It’s fine that you’ve brought guards, but since we cannot lay a hand on the directors anyway… we’ll limit the number of people entering here. Only two per group.”
The dwarves protested.
“What is this? We must protect our Chairman!”
However, the elves quickly complied with Sadia’s instructions.
“As representatives of Her Majesty Chunja, the Queen of the Blooming Spring, we, Elf Minister of Magic ‘Jeomnye’ and Vice Minister ‘Bonggu,’ will attend the board meeting.”
“‘Jeomnye’—a guardian of great etiquette who marks a turning point.
‘Bonggu’—the ninth tail of the spirit beast governing abundance… I see. As expected, elves prefer names with an ancient and refined tone.”
“Kuh. As expected, those are splendid ancient names.”
Even the demons of Garmhau trembled at the elegance of the elves’ refined names.
“Yes. That is because we are the rightful successors of DuNaise Academy’s ancient civilization.”
“…That is something I cannot overlook. We are the true successors of ancient civilization. Chairman Franco of the Dwarf People’s Republic and Minister of Magic Salazar as well. We shall enter.”
The dwarves also selected two representatives. Remarkably, their Chairman himself had come in person.
“Then as for me… heh. Since I am a puppet, may I include one more?”
The puppet doll held in the ogre mage’s arms began to speak.
“Bryce Kelly. Stop pretending to be a puppet. We’re not going to eat you.”
“My predecessor was killed by your hands, Professor Sadia.”
“Oh, that? Wasn’t that a suicide? In any case, if being represented by a puppet is accepted, then a puppet counts as one person. If you want to include more, then come in without the puppet.”
“Understood. I, Bryce Kelly, and the ogre mage Sebastian who will control my puppet will enter. Also, please remember that I, Bryce Kelly, am the Guild Master of the Blue Tower, as well as the magical advisor to the Holy Eldar Empire and the Adventurers’ Guild.”
“As long as you do not cause trouble, no matter your identity, you will not be attacked.”
Next came the demons.
“We, Gimmel, National Chancellor of Garmhau, and First Prince Kais, will attend the board meeting.”
“We, General Bernhardt of Garmhau and my adjutant Ashram, will also attend.”
Though the demons were engaged in a war of succession among themselves, they entered the boardroom without any conflict.
“Now then, welcome to the board meeting.”
Inside the boardroom stood the head of the faculty council, Principal Ludwig, along with his aide Lakius.
Sadia remained outside, guarding the entrance instead of entering.
This was done in case anyone from the faculty insisted that only two representatives be allowed inside as well.
“Now then, let us begin the board meeting. First, Director Bernhardt has proposed holding the Arcane Olympiad. Who agrees with this proposal?”
As Ludwig asked, Bernhardt slammed the table.
“Wait!? Are we already voting? Before that, shouldn’t each director have a chance to be persuaded….”
“Persuasion has already been done. Tsk tsk. While the General of Garmhau was standing idle, the DuNaise Academy faculty council has already persuaded us and the elves.”
Chairman Franco of the dwarves said this with a grin.
“You’re quite naive, Duke Bernhardt. Even if the Arcane Olympiad were held, you wouldn’t obtain what you desire.”
“Hm.”
“However, we can give you an opportunity. If you present better conditions than those proposed by the DuNaise Academy faculty council.”
The elf minister Jeomnye openly urged the demons to make a counteroffer.
“They likely won’t. Their goal was probably to force the faculty council to spend resources.”
Bryce Kelly, the puppet controlled by the ogre mage of the Blue Tower, added his comment.
Everyone present here was seasoned in politics, and they had all already seen through General Bernhardt’s exaggerated behavior as intentional.
By proposing the Arcane Olympiad, the faculty council would be moved into action, allowing them to buy off the elves and dwarves. That alone would achieve Bernhardt’s primary objective.
By exhausting the faculty council’s cards in advance to pass what they truly wanted, they could then feign outrage and act offended. It was nothing more than a poor performance.
“Then may I make a proposal? I would like to change the board membership system to a named system and establish an oath so that named directors cannot be harmed by anyone associated with DuNaise Academy. Let us move away from barbaric methods and appoint and dismiss directors through the board so we may keep pace with a civilized age.”
Bryce Kelly, Guild Master of the Blue Tower, sought to guarantee the safety of directors.
Currently, one is recognized as a director of DuNaise Academy upon entering its domain with a board card.
In other words, if someone were attacked outside, killed, and their board card taken, their position as director of DuNaise Academy could be stolen.
If converted to a named director system, those appointed as directors by the board would retain their status even outside DuNaise Academy’s territory… and would no longer be killable by those associated with DuNaise Academy.
Given that his predecessor had been killed by Professor Sadia, he seemed particularly sensitive about guaranteeing the safety of directors.
However…
“Rejected.”
“Rejected.”
“Rejected…”
The other directors all opposed it.
“What do you mean? This isn’t something I’m proposing just for my own benefit. Do you all truly intend to continue settling matters in blood over a single card?”
“Wouldn’t it be more interesting if the board composition changed frequently?”
Kais, the First Prince of the demons, spoke as if death was of no concern to him, treating it like someone else’s problem.
“If that worries you, then give it to us. We dwarves will make good use of it.”
Chairman Franco of the dwarves shamelessly held out his hand and demanded the board card.
“That cannot be. My card is not mine alone; it also represents the authority of the Holy Eldar Empire, the Adventurers’ Guild, and various other groups.”
“Very well. Then we shall consider that proposal rejected and proceed to review the financial statements.”
Ludwig presented the academy’s financial statements to the board and reported on its performance.
“Since distributing profits would only be blocked by the faculty council anyway, we’re not interested in that… I will propose this instead. Considering the recent decline in the quality of DuNaise Academy graduates and the stagnation of magical academia as a whole, I propose an exchange auditing system for DuNaise Academy.”
Bryce Kelly of the Blue Tower offered a new proposal.
Upon hearing it, Ludwig let out a thoughtful sigh.
“Classes have already begun, so that may be….”
“We can provide sufficient funding.”
Surprisingly, Elf Minister Jeomnye voiced her support for Bryce Kelly.
She was not alone.
“Ultimately, what you’re worried about is outsiders attempting to conquer the academy’s dungeon. There may even be more board cards to be obtained inside. We support this as well.”
Chairman Franco of the dwarves also supported Bryce Kelly.
What about the demons, divided by disputes over succession?
“We support it.”
“I also support it.”
Unexpectedly, even the demons, who should have been at odds with each other, expressed their support.
Arcane Olympiad was just a smokescreen.
Ludwig suspected that these parties had coordinated in advance before the faculty council had even acted.
The DuNaise Academy faculty council was composed of immensely powerful mages, but they were all prisoners, unable to freely leave the outside world. Naturally, they were vulnerable to schemes formed outside.
To counter this, Ludwig monitored the world in various ways, but no matter how extensive the surveillance, blind spots inevitably existed in remote observation—and these people had exploited them.
“Understood. Then regarding the costs and detailed methods….”
“We have already prepared documents. Please review this proposal.”
Bryce Kelly of the Blue Tower presented the proposal.
“This… is Franz’s intention.”
Ludwig realized that behind this series of moves lay the will of Franz Rosenbaum der Kalliesta, Emperor of the Holy Eldar Empire.
The opening of DuNaise Academy to auditing students proceeded without delay.
As if preparations had already been made, mages from the Blue Tower were the first to enter DuNaise Academy.
“…Those are modified hanbok?”
Idnia was surprised as she watched about ten mages enter the campus. Their attire resembled refined hanbok.
Percifier, from the Adventurers’ Guild, looked at them in shock.
“No way… those are… Ancient Robes!?”
“What kind of people are they, Percifier?”
“They’re instructors of the Adventurers’ Guild in magic. They are also lecturers for the Mage Guild. While magical ability is important, these are garments only permitted to those loyal to the Mage Guild. Ugh… are those people coming in as auditing students?”
The magic taught by the dispatched mages of the Blue Tower to the Adventurers’ Guild and Mage Guild was thoroughly rote memorization.
It simply allowed anyone with mana to use magic through memorization, but it had no future potential—effectively turning humans into magical tools. It was a harsh and limited system of education.
However, as a guild, those who taught magic were required to pursue more than that.
For them, the auditing student system was something they desperately needed, regardless of whether Emperor Franz or the demons had any schemes behind it.
“Tch. Can people from the Blue Tower just walk in like this? I endured a brutal entrance exam war to get here!”
Percifier was outraged.
He had worked hard to enter a prestigious academy, so it was only natural he would feel indignant seeing others slip in through the back door using power and influence.