Karl's Smooth Sailing - 2
When I opened the door to the Student Council room, I was greeted by a sight I hadn't seen in a while: the officers seated in a circle, deep in a meeting.
It wasn't the first time, but every time it happened I felt a twinge of guilt. It always seemed as if I were barging in right when they were at their busiest. And when seven pairs of eyes locked onto me all at once, I couldn't help but flinch.
"Audit Department Chief."
Once the president confirmed that the visitor interrupting their meeting was me, he quickly arranged his face into a smile and rose from his seat.
"We're sorry to greet such an honored guest looking like this."
"No, I'm the one who should apologize for interrupting."
Hearing the president insist it was somehow their fault only made me more embarrassed. Anyone with eyes could see this was my doing. For him to say that almost felt like he was rubbing it in.
But his expression looked completely sincere, which was even scarier. If I pushed any further, I half expected him to apologize for his own cheek being in the way if I slapped him.
"Not at all. The fault is ours for gathering even though we knew the Audit Department Chief was coming."
"That's right. We were shortsighted."
The other officers rose one after another and began echoing the president's words.
These little bastards.
I almost let out a hollow laugh at the sight of all six of them moving as one.
They had been like this ever since receiving the recommendation letters. Before, the dominant feeling had been fear of me; after I handed those letters out, they had turned into followers. In a way it made sense—I had taken responsibility for their future careers, after all.
I would have done the same.
A professor who, instead of shanghaiing fresh graduates into graduate school, steers them into proper jobs. Anyone would praise a man like that with tears in their eyes.
I'm sorry.
Watching them look so purely happy stirred a small guilt. How long would it take before these kids started resenting me?
Right now I probably looked like a hero who had plugged them into jobs with free passes and no exams. Once civil service life ground them down, though, I would look like the devil who had shoved them straight into hell.
The guilt didn't last long. Even without me, these kids would have become civil servants. I had simply made the process a little easier.
What they gain is certain, at least.
And the Empire granted wealth and honor in proportion to how thoroughly it worked its civil servants. It wasn't completely one-sided exploitation.
The only problem was that there was never any time left to enjoy that wealth and honor. Fuck. My own assets kept piling up with nothing to spend them on.
"Anyway, everyone sit down. You must have been busy with the meeting, so you still have work to do."
I waved my hand, forcing down the bitter feeling, and only then did they take their seats one by one. They listened well, at least.
I looked over the officers with a strange sense of satisfaction until my eyes met Margeta's. She offered a gentle smile and lightly waved, and I smiled back.
Originally Margeta had restrained herself whenever there were too many eyes around, but now she no longer cared who saw. As if to say: I'm doing what I need to do, so what's the problem?
Cool.
That confident side of her was sometimes admirable. I, by contrast, was never honest enough and just dithered.
"Actually, the meeting just ended."
While I had been silent, exchanging glances with Margeta, the president carefully spoke up.
Bullshit. Anyone could see the atmosphere had not been that of a meeting wrapping up.
"We'll be taking our leave now."
But before I could get a word out, the president was already leading the other officers out the door.
What are you doing leaving too?
This is your office. What even is a Student Council room without the Student Council President?
I blankly watched the six of them hurry out. The last male student politely bowed at the waist and closed the door behind him.
Who was that again? The Discipline Head?
"The Discipline Head has been very grateful to Karl lately."
I nodded at Margeta's quiet tip. Ah, so it was the Discipline Head. Glad my memory was still serviceable.
That aside—grateful? To me?
"Is that so? I wrote recommendation letters for everyone, though."
If I had only done it for the Discipline Head, gratitude would make sense, but hadn't I handed them out to the whole group? The fact that she specifically mentioned only the Discipline Head suggested there was some other reason.
Nothing particular came to mind, though. It wasn't as if I were close with each officer individually.
"Olivia joined the Student Council, after all."
Hearing that, something clicked. Originally the Discipline Head had put quite an effort into recruiting Olivia into the Discipline Committee.
Of course, Olivia was the type who stuck to Amelia like a buy-one-get-one deal, so he had failed. Only after I took both of them in at once had the Discipline Head finally achieved his dream.
A collector, huh.
The type who couldn't rest easy until he got his hands on talent he had once set his sights on.
I hadn't expected to run into that type at the Academy too. He would probably revitalize whatever department he ended up in once he became a reasonably high-ranking civil servant.
"If he's grateful, I take it the two of them are getting along well."
"Of course. They're doing very well."
And since the topic had come up, I asked after the impoverished sisters and received a positive answer.
Good. Glad they were doing well. It had been genuinely shocking watching them gnaw on turnips.
"Hey, Karl."
"Yes?"
I turned at the voice that broke my thoughts and found Margeta staring intently at me.
"There's no one here right now."
It took a moment to understand what she meant.
"Good morning to you too, Mar."
"Good morning, Karl."
Still, I hugged her the moment I understood, so it was fine.
Anyway, having seen Margeta smiling with such a happy expression first thing in the morning, I thought I could have a pleasant day.
I have a feeling it's going to be a not-so-pleasant day.
Why that expression, Audit Department Chief?
"It's nothing. Just a bad memory that came up for a moment."
When the Intelligence Department Chief contacted me through the communication crystal, I briefly considered stuffing it back into my pocket. If it wasn't me requesting first but the Intelligence Chief reaching out on his own, it wouldn't be ordinary business.
Strange. Today I had clearly received the buff of Margeta's smile... or not? Whether I got a buff or not, things always blew up eventually, didn't they?
Apart from my confusion, the Intelligence Department Chief continued in his usual dry tone.
The Five Pillars have settled the chaos. There will be no more chance of the dove faction falling from power again.
"That's good news."
Positive news, for now.
No matter how spectacularly the hawk faction that drove out the doves had self-destructed, the doves had still fallen once. They might suddenly fall into internal strife over questions of responsibility, or a new faction that was neither dove nor hawk might rise.
But the Five Pillars had overcome that dynamic development and successfully revived themselves. Plus, having been hit hard once, they would probably restrain their external activities from now on.
The Five Pillars are definitely done.
From the moment the royal assassination attempt was exposed, the chance of the Five Pillars wrecking the Academy had been practically zero, but still—you never knew. With this, even that "what if" was gone.
Instead, another side is getting noisy.
Letting out a small sigh, the Intelligence Department Chief spoke as if thoroughly fed up. Just as one side quieted down, the other started going wild. News so wonderful I wanted to ascend to heaven, right?
Of course I felt the same. This wasn't a joke. What the hell was this.
"Which side?"
The Red Wave.
I'm going crazy.
The answer I had hoped not to hear. Of the five groups, the ones left standing were the 5th Empire and the Red Wave. Being the ones that had lasted until the end, their levels of lunacy pierced the heavens.
And if you asked which of the two was more insane, ninety-nine out of a hundred people would pick the latter. Red Wave or red tide—anyway, those bright-red reactionaries.
"Did they have another pipe dream? They'd been quiet for a while."
Tell me about it.
This time we sighed simultaneously. Even the 5th Empire seemed relatively sensible compared to the Red Wave. That was how thoroughly the Red Wave was a group filled with true madness.
Originally the 5th Empire were the ones claiming that Armein should become the new empire succeeding the Kpelleofen Empire. They were merely making their arguments within the continental order of the "Mandate of Heaven" and the "Sole Empire." The problem was that their claims were unrealistic and nothing but pure aggro.
The Red Wave, by contrast, had no respect for order whatsoever. They denied the class system that spread across the continent and sought to soak the earth with the blue blood of monarchs and nobles. Even the 5th Empire would probably get angry and retort if someone asked them, "Are you Red Wave or something?"
As the Audit Department Chief knows, the Red Wave is a cell organization, so suppression is difficult. Even if you catch one, it ends there.
At least, according to the Intelligence Chief, those small cells had been caught in droves, allowing them to grasp that something was afoot.
"You don't know the exact purpose?"
There are guesses. Luckily, a branch that was just suppressed had received instructions right before the raid. Good timing.
The timing had certainly been good. A little later and they would have burned the instructions. Earlier and they would have been crushed before receiving them.
Let's make a blue lake. That was their purpose.
"A blue lake?"
Probably targeting the Imperial Palace, the administration, or the Academy. Uneducated ones trying half-baked metaphors end up like this.
I unconsciously agreed with the Intelligence Chief's contempt-filled words. It was far too blatant a metaphor. If that was the case, why bother writing it in code?
Just like the Red Wave.
Their delusion of being red-blooded themselves, of killing and killing nobles until they made a lake of blue blood. These bastards, being a "wave," never compared nobles to the sea.
Anyway, if they were talking about a lake, a large number of nobles would have to die, and such places were, as the Intelligence Chief said, the Imperial Palace, the imperial administration, or the Academy—one of the three.
And there was a high chance it was the Academy. Damn it.
I was going to wait until more detailed information came out, but since the place where the Audit Department Chief is is also a candidate, I told you in advance.
"Thank you for the consideration."
After that I exchanged a few more pleasantries and hung up. Red Wave, Red Wave...
First semester: Third Glory. Vacation: Twilight Cult. Second semester: Red Wave.
Somehow one comes every season.
Of course I didn't count the Five Pillars, who had self-destructed among themselves. Still, seeing them arrive this regularly was amazing in its own way.
Maybe they came so honestly because they didn't want me to get confused if they showed up irregularly. How thoughtful of these sons of bitches.
If this counts as smooth sailing, then I guess it is.
Anyway, at least there were no unexpected variables.