Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Student Council President Election Calling the Storm (4)
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— Unity!! Unity!! Unity!! Unity!!
— Everyone, cast a red vote for Number 2, Comrade Adella!!
— Burn down the Chairman's statue at the front gate! All knowledge is useless!
— Unity!! Unity!! Unity!! Unity!!
Yeah, this felt seriously fucked up.
Students wearing red headbands near the canteen, shouting bizarre revolutionary slogans. Banners strung up all over the academy and the picket signs they carried featured Adella's face blown up poster-sized.
I'd just rejected Adella's date invitation at our last meal together, and feeling a bit guilty, I'd given her some Earth-inspired advice to jog her memory. Somehow, things had spiraled way out of control.
These guys were nobles themselves—why the hell were they chanting about revolution? I couldn't wrap my head around whatever thought process led to that.
Maybe Adella's eloquence was surprisingly top-notch.
"KyaAaAaAh!!! Mister Owner!!"
The Chairman burst into the canteen with her head on fire. Behind her came Adella's followers—the election committee—charging in with sickles and hammers.
"Drag out the filthy upper class!"
"Awaken, Canteen Owner!!"
"Distribute the capitalist's land!!"
A terrifying mob trying to smash their way into the canteen. But thankfully, Liv's ideological barrier I'd prepared for this shone through. They just circled outside like idiots.
"Where is it!!"
"Over there?"
A few skilled mages pierced the barrier and got close, but they fled in terror at the sight of the two iron hounds snarling like they wanted to rip them apart.
This defense system, originally Goliath's exclusive, boasted top-tier physical resistance and was loaded with lethal magic up to 4th circle.
Black smoke rising over the academy grounds. The world where Adella had declared her candidacy for student council president was pure chaos.
"O-O-Owner! The sword I bought last time! Where is it!?"
"I told you not to buy that one, so you didn't."
"Quick, swing anything around! If this keeps up, my Pharenchia Academy... Waaah!"
They say the human heart has a triangle. A sharp-pointed triangle of conscience pricking at a corner of your mind.
Even I, whose sense of guilt had worn down to nothing, couldn't help but feel a tiny pang now that things had come to this.
Lehel stared at her crumbling academy with the look of someone who'd seen a gate rip open on her first day in office.
"It's all over now..."
"What are the guards doing?"
"They're leading the charge to smash the academy."
"Why them?"
"They lost all their money gambling last time, so I mixed sand into their pay..."
Maybe it'd be better to just hand her over to the protesters. No wonder Roshiar's soldiers had marched in bloodlessly.
Smelling the scent of burning rat jerky, I put out the fire on the Chairman's head. She seemed to be the only one who'd remembered the school rules and evacuated to the canteen. Impressive.
"What do we do!? What do we do about all this!?"
"What do you mean 'what'? If it bugs you, win the vote. What the hell is the princess doing?"
"I don't know!"
Naturally, resentment toward the incompetent leader bubbled up. Wasn't this all Erzebet's fault for not stopping Adella from building this much momentum?
A royal who couldn't even get support from the Roshiar family, letting some random girl rampage freely through the campus.
I'd assumed Erzebet would win easily, but I was disappointed in her popularity.
"Are they setting up a guillotine or something?"
"No, not that far... Uh. Hold on."
Lehel winked one eye as if checking something, then flopped down on the spot.
"Hiiik! Front gate! The front gate...!"
Looks like it was on its way.
"Hwaaaang! Save me, Owner!!"
"Wait, weren't you the Reincarnation Duke or whatever?"
"If you get your head chopped off and keep living, are you even human? You're a monster!"
That's an interesting take. By that logic, I was still human, at least.
Anyway, looks like Lehel wasn't immortal. What a waste of the Reincarnation Duke title.
'No way she got caught already...'
Honestly, Erzebet seemed more at risk than Lehel. She was Adella's top obstacle, and a perfect royal for the guillotine.
The problem was, we'd had zero real contact, so I had no clue where she was or what she was up to...
"Piy—!"
"Huh?"
Then, a familiar bird cry came from outside the window. Looking up, I saw a brilliantly colored bird dodging spears and a hail of arrows as it flew toward us.
"Piy—! Piy—!"
Desperately signaling its owner's location.
"Stay here and guard. I'll be right back."
"Huh? G-Go together!"
"No, stay put."
I shook off Lehel grabbing my pant leg and headed outside. Then I chased after the iridescent bird flying toward its master.
How had it come to this? That was all that filled Erzebet's mind.
At first, she'd been sure she'd win. No matter what tricks Adella pulled, nothing seemed capable of threatening her position.
But surprisingly, plenty of students at the academy were fond of Adella Sylvestra de Roshiar. She was famous in a whole different way than a royal like herself.
After the opinion poll ended, things got even worse.
Erzebet had given a long interview to a student from the broadcasting club she was friendly with, showing her face in the campus newspaper.
Letters of support poured in from Pharenchia's regional papers and even Penheim's national outlets, cheering her candidacy.
A solid strategy to reclaim the lost public opinion. But even that crumbled under one punch from Adella.
A single small photo in the corner of the paper. But the ripple effect was enormous.
For some reason, the third-years—graduating seniors who'd never cared about student council elections—declared absolute support for Adella Sylvestra.
Thanks to their fanatical backing, like they'd been threatened with murder, Adella's support on campus skyrocketed.
Even William Greenwood, eldest son of the esteemed Clove Earl family and the most respected among the third-years, went so far as to submit an op-ed to the paper.
[When I first met her, the girlish (?) grace and gentle eloquence embodied in that young lady made it instantly clear at a glance that the fame of the North Sea's flower was no empty (?) exaggeration.]
[Even to my somewhat rude invitation born of blinded eyes, the noble daughter of Roshiar promised future meetings without a hint of displeasure. I wish her infinite (?) glory.]
Thus, the royalist faction centered on great nobles supporting her clashed with Adella's North Sea faction—now rechristened the revolutionary faction—in a fierce standoff.
Erzebet, utterly crushed in the first speech, let out a deep sigh before the empty head table in the student council room she might never sit at again.
"If... if I don't win..."
She'd become a massive laughingstock. A princess of the realm tripping at the entry-level hurdle of joining the academy's student council was a clear political failure.
But she had only one chance left. Current polls rampant across the academy showed she absolutely couldn't beat Adella.
The speech Adella had prepared—what she'd dismissed as empty fluff—was a masterpiece she could never produce herself. No renowned author could craft words that shook people so profoundly.
'I have to overcome this somehow...'
As she steeled her weakening resolve, a familiar voice reached Erzebet's ear.
— Here?
— Piy—.
The man who entered through the door was the last one she wanted to see in this situation.
"What, moping alone and shedding tears of defeat?"
"Who's crying? What's your business, Louis?"
"The business is yours, Princess. Can't even beat Adella?"
Even her colder-than-usual response didn't make him leave; he just leaned against the door. A lukewarm attitude, like he was giving her a chance.
Only then did Erzebet realize why Louis was here.
'That man... has some way to turn this around.'
Yes. For reasons unknown, the one Adella Sylvestra respected and followed more than anyone was Louis. He must have some means to control her.
He knew better than anyone that Adella becoming president would be bad. That's why he'd come.
Erzebet's mind raced. She forced away her gloomy expression, donned a cool mask, and placed Piy on her shoulder.
As a royal, she had one option left.
Even cornered on a cliff's edge, she maintained composure.
"If Adella wins, there'll be no peace in Pharenchia."
"Maybe. But is it any different with you, Princess?"
"If I take this seat... at least the canteen's safety is guaranteed."
By revealing her own vulnerability, she planted trust in him.
"Isn't it?"
"Well, you've got a point..."
"Of course, I have no intention of keeping quiet in the future either."
If needed, use everything. Her golden hair that drew gold, and the eyes his gaze lingered on. Whisper sweetly, as if granting what he desires.
"What do you want in return for helping me, Louis?"
"......"
"What do you want?"
Her eyelids trembled, but Erzebet lightly stepped in front of him.
She felt his cold black eyes scan her face, shrinking her involuntarily.
"Well then..."
Finally, his mouth opened.
"Show me some aegyo."
"Pardon?"
I'd unintentionally pushed Adella's back, but I didn't want to see her actually win.
From a big-picture view, Erzebet holding power was the right call.
Honestly, I feared the peace of humanity I'd risked my life for might shatter. Unleashed, Adella was that dangerous.
"Wh-Wh-What... did you just say?"
But that was that—this couldn't be free. If I was helping a princess who'd been unfriendly till now, it was only right to mix in a spoonful of self-interest.
However, the outcome of our secret meeting should be framed as my unilateral favor, not some noble or royal transaction.
I didn't want equal footing with the princess. Because from the start, when I'd slapped the king in Tesalon, we weren't that kind of pair.
"I said show some aegyo. Cutely."
"A-Aegyo...?"
"Yeah. If it pleases me, I'll take responsibility and make sure Adella loses. Promise."
Not a title. Not money. Even after trying to leverage her own charms, Erzebet's fluster was obvious.
"H-How could I do something like that in front of you...!"
"Don't want to? Oh, look, the guillotine's here."
"Wh-Why would you want my aegyo of all things...!"
"Hm... 'Cause it'd be cute?"
Seeing the prickly girl from our first meeting to now so humiliated was pure joy for me.
Erzebet trembled all over in humiliation.
— Capture the princess!!
— Open the door!!!
No time to agonize. Finally, she seemed to decide.
"J-Just... once."
"Depends on the performance."
I was genuinely looking forward to what she'd pull off. Boring mages and nobles who never did talent shows even on MTs—could Erzebet really satisfy me with something cute?
She set down the colorful bird always perched on her shoulder. Biting her lip, cheeks flushing red, she drew close enough for breaths to mingle.
"Haa...!"
At last, Erzebet—grabbing my collar, eyes squeezed shut—produced the aegyo I'd demanded from her lips.
"Piyiii——!"