CHAPTER 144
CHAPTER 144
Nationalizing the School Meals?
As soon as the instructor was attacked in town, the factions that had dispatched audit students from various regions began sending escort forces to Black Cow Village, using the incident as a pretext.
However, the timing was far too quick.
It was only last night that the attack had occurred, yet somehow, troops were already disembarking from a scheduled vessel arriving in Black Cow this very morning.
If they intended to use the instructor attack as justification, they should at least have matched the dates. Sending troops via a regular vessel was absurd.
Naturally, the academy opposed the stationing of military forces, but these groups did not back down.
In particular, Prince Kais’s faction absolutely refused to withdraw.
They argued stubbornly that since the prince’s life could be in danger, there was no way they could pull back their escort forces.
Moreover, the people of Black Cow Village themselves welcomed them.
Since these were not troops meant for conscription, plunder, or forced labor, but rather ones bringing money to spend, there was no reason to refuse.
Furthermore, the board members aligned with the academy, including elves and dwarves, supported the troop deployment. In the end, the Nibles instructor attack incident resulted in elite forces entering Black Cow Village.
A faculty meeting was held for the first time in a while in Principal Ludwig’s office.
Watching the raindrops fall against the window, Ludwig let out a sigh.
“They’re contributing to the local economy. Elite personnel bringing money and stationing themselves in Black Cow Village.”
“It’s too blatant. How about ordering the village to raise prices? Since they don’t seem to care about expenses anyway, we should charge them heavily.”
Sadia made that suggestion.
“That’s a good idea.”
Professor Magram agreed, but Rakius and Ludwig seemed to consider it not worth responding to.
“They attacked an instructor even while the academy is monitoring things. Judging by how quickly troops have arrived, there must be someone within their board behind this. However, if the board members truly tried to seize control of the academy by ambushing an instructor, the academy’s system, the oath binding us, would not remain passive.”
“There are many loopholes in that, Rakius.”
Professor Sadia shook her head.
“Even if an instructor is directly attacked, as long as the attacker does not enter the academy afterward, hostility is not detected. And cases like someone whose consciousness is fragmented and frequently causes accidents due to conditional intent are also not detectable.”
“Oh. And who would that be? Now I’m curious.”
Magram smiled innocently as he asked Sadia.
“You think I don’t know what you’re up to, Magram?”
“Well, now. Didn’t Instructor Nibles have many enemies to begin with? I, for one, had a good relationship with him.”
“I sincerely thank you that he was not killed and was rescued. It proves that even a predetermined fate of death can be avoided.”
“You say that as if Nibles was originally meant to die.”
Sadia gave Magram a sharp look.
“If the audit students are a concern, why not expel them at the board meeting? Even if troops are stationed, they cannot forcibly invade the academy. However, issues may arise for servants outside or students when they go out. Fortunately, the next board meeting chair is the principal’s turn, isn’t it?”
Buremhyde proposed using the board meeting to expel the audit students.
However, Rakius objected.
“There is still one card that has not yet attended the board.”
“The Emperor… you mean.”
“Yes. Although the Emperor possesses a board card, he has not yet attended a board meeting. However, when the next meeting is convened, he may attend with his card. As you know, once the principal finishes presenting the topic at this meeting, the next chair will be….”
“It will be the Emperor’s turn.”
The Duenaise Academy board followed a rotating system of chairperson-led proposals, with each meeting assigning the chair in sequence.
To prevent the Emperor from becoming chair and proposing something unusual, Ludwig had deliberately refrained from convening the board meeting.
“Still, once the regular board meeting is held, the next turn will be the Emperor anyway. Isn’t it better to take the hit early….”
“No. The Emperor is currently actively trying to collect more board cards. Therefore, we must train the students as much as possible before that. We can protect ourselves, but the students are not yet at that level.”
Rakius opposed Buremhyde’s opinion and made the following proposal:
“Let us open the academy dungeon and also open combat magic classes.”
“Opposed. That is exactly what the audit students would love. Why do you think they came here? Isn’t it to investigate the academy dungeon? And now you want to open it? Are we doing them a favor?”
Buremhyde objected. However, Magram supported the idea.
“I am in favor. We must raise the students’ capabilities quickly to build their capacity to respond. Compared to leisurely teaching through normal classes, it seems more advantageous to let them experience real situations in dungeons sooner. A mage who has experienced the Chaos Realm and one who has not are worlds apart.”
“…Hmph.”
Sadia glanced at Magram.
“I can see through your scheme clearly… but sending students into dungeons early has long been my personal wish.”
Sadia enjoyed human drama born from life-and-death situations.
She could not resist the idea of placing students into dungeons where their lives would be at risk. Even knowing it was part of Magram’s plan, she could not oppose it.
“What about Baroness Vulem?”
“Me? Ah, I… hmm.”
Baroness Vulem fell into thought.
“First, I would like to prioritize the safety of the students. Right now, the crown prince and heirs of great imperial families are gathered here….”
“Precisely for that safety, dungeon access and combat magic training are necessary.”
“Could we start with combat magic training first and leave the dungeon for later? The original curriculum had three weeks of combat magic training before opening the dungeon. Is there a need to limit it to only three weeks?”
Originally, the academy curriculum consisted of about three weeks of combat magic training followed by dungeon access.
Now they were proposing to move things earlier, but Baroness Vulem suggested there was no need to restrict training to just three weeks.
More time would allow better preparation.
“That is true. Experiencing the Chaos Realm does help magical development, but the students are keeping up well even with the accelerated pace.”
Deputy Director Deneuve agreed.
“Let us proceed with combat magic training.”
“Then who will teach combat magic? Instructor Nibles was scheduled to handle it this year.”
Buremhyde raised the question. Originally, Buremhyde himself had taught combat magic, but his standards were too high and deemed unsuitable.
Many of the professors were monsters in magic, so they failed to understand the struggles of ordinary students.
“Shall we promote one of the assistants?”
“In that case… I would like to recommend this assistant from Professor Rakius’s office.”
“Hmm. Professor Magram, what about your side?”
“My assistants are needed for my research.”
“Your research, you mean.”
Magram was researching wish magic.
Though commonly translated as wish magic, in the ancient language it was called “Hyunsil Jaegoosung,” a powerful magic that distorts and reconstructs reality.
His assistants were so immersed in that research that, unless the academy forced them otherwise, they would never leave the lab.
“Professor Rakius, your opinion?”
“No objections.”
“I object. Magram is definitely up to something.”
Sadia voiced her opposition, but did not propose an alternative.
Her intent was merely to record that there was a dissenting voice in the meeting.
“Whether there is a scheme or not, I approve. I’m not fond of meetings anyway.”
Buremhyde also agreed with Magram.
“Then it is settled. Let us include combat magic training in the timetable. This semester’s schedule will continue to change.”
Principal Ludwig concluded the faculty meeting.
“Ah, Lady Idnia.”
The first to speak was Karl, the dorm leader of Boreas.
“About the cooking in the kitchen, would it be possible to process our dorm’s ingredients in the same way?”
“Hmm. Increasing the number of diners will require more effort, but it is possible in terms of labor. However, the cost of ingredients is quite high, so I would need to charge a fee.”
“How much would that be?”
“About this much.”
Idnia showed the calculated cost.
One shilling per person. Not a small amount.
“Is that per meal?”
Karl asked, and Idnia felt her heart sink.
‘Did I price it too high?’
So she quickly adjusted her proposal.
“No, that is for three meals a day… though it’s not final. The ingredients may change again.”
“Oh, I see? That’s quite reasonable. Let’s proceed with the deal immediately!”
It turned out Karl was surprised because it was too cheap.
‘Oxbach is wealthy after all. He doesn’t look as refined as Lorenzo or Rudolf, so I sometimes forget, but the elector families are all rich except my own.’
Idnia looked at Karl and asked.
“Setting aside Prince Karl, is this acceptable? Can all dorm members afford this cost?”
Karl himself was wealthy, but among academy students, weren’t there many who had barely managed to pay tuition?
Karl shrugged.
“Oh, it’s fine. We’ll charge a small fee for our training hall as well. If we let students from other dorms use it, there would be overcrowding anyway, so this works better. We’ll fund public expenses through that, and if there’s a shortfall, I’ll personally provide guarantees.”
“Ah, I see.”
Although the dorms had formed an alliance, their facilities were limited in space.
Even one dorm could barely accommodate its own students, so additional students would cause overcrowding.
Charging usage fees would control demand.
Karl, who seemed the most strict, also arrived at the conclusion of charging fees and funding operations publicly, proving he was no fool.
In that sense, Idnia’s choice of a kitchen capable of scaling to more users stood out as particularly insightful.
‘I’m going to make a huge profit from this. Though maybe I should have charged more.’
Idnia had proposed one shilling per day. Since a typical city laborer earned about two shillings a day, this was half a day’s wages for food.
Given that ingredients were already covered by tuition, charging one shilling per day was quite steep, yet Karl seemed unconcerned.
With 47 students in Boreas, at one shilling per person, that would bring in 47 shillings per day.
‘This might even exceed my father’s pension… maybe his pension is too small.’