Donate It All to the Knight Faculty.

After the preliminary round of the Subjugation Festival ended, the wave of upheaval didn't sweep up only the students.

"Excuse me, a brief word, if I may!"

"Don't shove, now! Move aside!"

"Head of General Affairs, no. Just let me meet the Chancellor, a single moment of his time—!"

At that moment, merchants were busily prowling around the Magic Department building. They were the figures commonly called "whales" in commerce.

They hadn't visited the academy to enjoy the matches in the first place. Their interest lay in only one thing. A hero who could snowball their fortunes. Especially on the side of the knight students.

But an upheaval far too enormous had occurred in the preliminaries: first place going to the Magic Department.

They had eyes, so they saw—and having seen, a judgment naturally formed.

This is absolutely a venture worth betting on.

Whatever happens, better pave the road in advance.

In the end, what draws money is power.

It was still only the end of the preliminaries, but the fact that the Magic Department had displayed something tremendous could not be denied.

The Subjugation Festival preliminaries were the perfect stage to observe and judge that "power," and the result was this bedlam right here.

But just then.

"There is truly no need for all of you to be doing this."

A woman appeared and stole their gazes.

Hair as white as a snowfield, bobbed short as if it could cut at a touch, and a cold impression that looked as though she wouldn't shed a single drop of blood even if pricked by a needle.

She introduced herself directly.

"Head of the Marceline Trading Company. Dana Marceline."

At those words, everyone's brows furrowed. The Marceline Trading Company—it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was a name none of them had ever heard before.

But what followed was greatly at odds with their expectations.

"The Marceline Trading Company already holds exclusive distribution rights within the Magic Department. So, any commerce-related matters, please direct them through me."

"...?"

The eyes of those listening went round. Someone muttered urgently.
"You've already secured an exclusive? We came running the moment the preliminaries ended.... When on earth did you...?"

"Ah, I invested before the preliminaries."

Everyone was left dumbfounded. It was simply astonishing.

Until the preliminary matches, the Magic Department hadn't proven a single thing. What on earth could she have seen to invest in advance?

Marceline slowly nodded. Her attitude was as if she understood their feelings perfectly.
"You simply can't fathom it, can you?"

She lifted the corner of her mouth just slightly, as if even she herself found it a touch absurd.

"The remark that I don't seem human. I hear it quite often, you know."

Marceline.

Among the blood demons, she was called Maeve.

◈

Late in the evening, I headed to the Chancellor's office.

Conet, Chancellor of the Magic Department, had summoned me, and I was answering that summons.

Three days.

The main tournament began in a scant three days.

How to spend three days, and how the Magic Department could perform flawlessly in the main tournament. I was weighing both at once.

But major changes had already swept through the academy interior, and they were no longer content to leave me alone.

I felt it firsthand while walking down the corridor laid with crimson carpet.

A mage who was approaching from the opposite side faced me, flinched to a halt, and abruptly asked,

"Hey, is it going to rain tomorrow?"
"...."

The question was so profoundly nonsensical that I ignored it. The world is wide, and it's hardly strange for there to be many strange people.

But I ran into more people devoid of context. While waiting for a warp to reach the Chancellor's office floor,

Two female mages in front of me were chattering away.

"Something I feel every time I come here, this corridor's long—way too long. My legs are about to die."
"For real."

"Don't just say for real. You try changing it."

"What am I, Plan? Like saying it makes it happen."

Now my name was being passed around even by the mouths of people I'd never so much as exchanged a glance with. Their gazes landed on me.

"...."

After a brief silence, they jumped like frogs.

"Wh-wh-what!"
"Plan...! It's Plan!"

At that clamorous reaction, I unwittingly narrowed my eyes. I meant to ignore them, but their mouths were faster.

"E-excuse me! Can I ask just one thing?"
"...Make it short and simple."

"There's that mana resonance experiment at the Magic Tower tomorrow, right. So how does it go? Is it a success?"

Another question stripped of context. Not even asking my opinion. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠What she was questioning was the "outcome."

"Haah."

I let out a sigh without meaning to.

Already, a nuisance similar to my previous world was sprouting. Even though something like first place in the preliminaries was nothing more than children's make-believe compared to what I would go on to prove.

"Why are you asking me that."

"Anyone would ask you, wouldn't they? Haven't you checked Trivia? It's nothing but stories about you."

Trivia.

Come to think of it, I hadn't even opened that yet.

The notebook flashes blue once when there's an alert. But right now, so many messages were flooding in that the blue light was simply staying on continuously.

I opened Trivia.

[ I'll teach you how to make money. Next time a prediction opens up, bet your entire fortune on the Magic Department winning the Subjugation Festival. ]

[ Was the Magic Department meal today bad only for me, or what. ]
[ Get Plan to change it for you. ]

"They aren't listening... their ears are shut tight."

I clearly stated they should just nod their heads once and move on, yet not a single one of them had compliantly done so.

"Ah, Plan! Student Plan!"

Someone who had warped down came looking for me urgently. Small horn-rimmed glasses—it was Chancellor Conet's secretary.

"Everyone's been waiting with their necks craned. This way, quickly!"

◈

"Ah.... Student Plan, you've truly worked hard."

The Secretary dabbed her forehead with a handkerchief, adjusted her glasses, and gave me a beaming smile.

Her eyes were brimming with kindness. An attitude wholly opposite to how it had been before.

I took my seat and quietly asked in return,

"And the Chancellor is."

"Ah, he will be here shortly."

I'd come responding to the Chancellor's summons, yet everyone except Conet was already seated.

What was more, there were a great many of them. The Secretary, professors, a reporter, someone I'd never seen before.... I'd anticipated a private audience with Conet, but this was effectively a large-scale conference.

"St-Student Plan!"

A woman with orange-tinged hair looked at me. Sepia, deputy head of the Merhen Daily Editing Department.

The Secretary adjusted her glasses and spoke.
"The deputy head of the Merhen Daily Editing Department, Sepia, is also present."

"Of course. You couldn't be more right. When something like this happens, there's absolutely no way I could miss it!"

Sepia, not remotely calmed, continued.

"First of all, Student Plan. Are you roughly aware of the current public sentiment?"

I nodded.

There was no way I couldn't know. I'd spoken without the slightest hesitation and proven it without the slightest margin of error. What public opinion would latch on afterward was obvious even without looking.

"We considered issuing a special report about Student Plan ourselves... but there was no need. It's already pandemonium!"

Sepia spread out an extremely large sheet of paper in the air. Perhaps she was very nervous, because the paper only unfurled fully after she snapped her fingers three times.

A moment later, a lengthy post transcribed itself into type.

The volume was substantial, but the content was simple. From the time I entered the academy onward, the course of my actions was laid out in a very clear, coherent summary.

'...The method of organization feels oddly familiar.'

Starting from the grade reassessment test, then the time I gave an explanation in place of a professor, the process of changing the exam criteria, being selected as a representative....

As an aside, it even noted which papers I'd shown an interest in. That much only Becky should have known.

"This is the print-only article, but what's important are the reactions!"

At Sepia's exclamation, the record scroll this time transcribed the students' reactions into type.

[ Whoa, so he was extraordinary right from the start ]

[ But the Magic Department students couldn't spectate the matches directly. Wasn't first place just a fluke? ]

[ Luck to that degree is skill, you moron ]

[ I really want to see the main Subjugation Festival soon...! ]

There were almost no negative reactions. Sepia, gazing at the record scroll, wore an expression as if she were looking upon rapture itself.

"And Student Plan's name isn't being mentioned only in connection with the Subjugation Festival. Like a kind of fashion, it's being steadily mentioned even in everyday posts."

"And this... this will be an immense amount of money!"

A man of considerable age cut in, unable to hide his excitement.

Belatedly abashed, he cleared his throat and introduced himself.

"Ho ho ho.... My apologies. I got a bit carried away with delight. I am the Head of General Affairs."

He snapped his fingers and intervened in the record scroll. A great volume of names stretched out from top to bottom.

"These are the merchant associations hoping for exchange with the Magic Department. Excluding the Marceline Trading Company, all of them came rolling in after the preliminaries."

The man, who handled the Magic Department's accounts, wore the expression of someone who'd discovered a lump of gold.

"It's no exaggeration to say every single one of them came with their eyes on Student Plan alone. As the student's popularity grows, money naturally chases after it from behind."

At the Head of General Affairs' words, the Secretary nodded vigorously.
"The stage has expanded, many people are taking interest, you've proven it, and Student Plan's conduct has consistently been that way. We will actively support you in this main tournament as well."

At the Secretary's words, I quietly rubbed my chin.
"Active support, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠say.... In what manner."

"Let us expand the stage together at the department level. Student Plan's position, this time, becomes the position of the entire Magic Department."

Presumptuous.

I nearly let it slip out without thinking. Because I don't consider the Magic Department's standing to be above my own.

But I held back.

Because the fact that I was aiming to raise the Magic Department's prestige was also plainly true.

Sepia, buoyant, continued.
"We never expected anything remotely on this scale, so the Editing Department is in complete chaos. Ah, in a delighted sense, of course!"

The Head of General Affairs smiled and picked up her words.
"We'll be in your care when covering Student Plan. If things proceed like this, we'll be able to bring in multiple new facilities inside the Magic Department."

"There's no need to even talk about doing a good job or not. Right now, just writing it down exactly as it is and sending it out still produces an incredibly hot reaction. So...."

Everyone's gaze turned toward me. Sepia, her face brimming with anticipation, tied off her sentence.

"...Student Plan, just keep doing exactly what you're doing now!"

The Secretary beside her also pushed her glasses up and made a request of me in an exceedingly courteous tone.

"Ah, and would it be possible to request just a few more exclusive interviews as well. Your aspirations for the Subjugation Festival, your plans.... It will return as an immense benefit to the Magic Department."

As the Secretary snapped her fingers, items were inscribed onto the record scroll. Gold coins, potted plants.... Most were gifts.
"Look. Several merchant associations who wished to establish ties simply left gifts behind and returned."

I answered without a moment's hesitation.

"Refuse them. Furthermore, I will not accept anyone's help."

The Secretary's words broke off, and silence settled in.

"How the gifted goods are used will also be determined by me."

I don't mean to say that everyone having begun to muster enthusiasm is at all a bad thing.

The problem, rather, is that I cannot reach the goal I want by this kind of method.

And this time too, as I always have, I know the way to reach the goal I want.
"Donate it all to the Knight Department."

"...!"

Everyone's expressions went blank at once.

I will pour my heart into ensuring this Subjugation Festival ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠does not end as something on the level of, "We did our best and won."

Therefore, I nonchalantly continued.

"Make sure to add the word 'pitiful' as well."

Not even the sound of breathing could be heard in the Chancellor's office.

One day until my luncheon with Scarlett.

...I'm curious about the expression she'll wear.