A New Special Cadet (5)
The Second Princess praised me…
She told me I was excellent…
On the carriage ride back to the academy, Kirlin was so happy she was nearly delirious. The most powerful figure in the Empire — the same woman who had been watching for any excuse to have her dismissed — had praised her. Of course she was over the moon. And not just once. Twice, in a row.
Last time, too, she had received high praise thanks to Dian, and this time he had handled everything as well. If Dian hadn't brought up the Imperial Security Office's internal evaluations and given her that push, none of this would have happened. She would probably still be poking around some literary contest that had nothing whatsoever to do with the Special Operations Academy.
All of this is Dian's doing. Ever since he arrived, my whole life has changed.
Dad shoved me into a principal's job I never wanted, and I spent every day terrified of being fired. Then Dian came, and everything went back to normal.
Dian is the savior of my life… I can't do this without him…
If that's how it is, then I have no choice but to try even harder to make him like me. He's so diligent and noble-minded that he'd find it vulgar if I threw myself at him, and he'd hate that. I need to conduct myself in a way that befits a principal.
The contest is already promised, so I just need to wait for word from the Second Princess. What else should I do?
Kirlin thought it over, then snapped her fingers.
The Second Princess said to make good use of the special cadet selection system. Should I hold another selection?
Last time we did it on a large scale, so this time I'll scale it down. And instead of all-purpose field operatives, I'll recruit White Agents — people who want administrative support positions. Field work is the core of what we do, but the people who support them from the rear matter a great deal too. That's why our academy has a Theory Department alongside the Combat Department.
If holding selections back-to-back feels like too much, I could just visit the principals of other schools and ask them to recommend graduates who might be interested in this kind of work.
That's it, Kirlin. Keep going like this. You're doing great.
Kirlin sat there feeling quite pleased with herself.
I heard it from Kirlin. The Second Princess would hold a contest for our academy, organized by the Imperial Security Office.
"You did an excellent job, Principal."
At my praise, Kirlin's dark complexion flushed even darker, and Ismera stared at her as if she could not believe what she was seeing. She had probably expected Kirlin to stammer in front of the Second Princess, get turned down, and come back empty-handed.
But Kirlin isn't the Kirlin she used to be. She's found a fair amount of confidence now.
"That leaves us about two months," Kirlin said. "They'll probably hold the contest just before summer break."
"And how, exactly, can you be so certain?"
"They won't apply active-duty agent evaluation standards to students as they are. They'll have to ease the criteria and the scoring sheets, and they'll need to find a new venue for security reasons. This isn't some neighborhood field day — it's being run by the Imperial Security Office. They're not going to slap it together."
Ismera seemed to find that reasonable enough, because she closed her mouth and didn't press further.
That elf. She nags constantly, but she's actually a very rational person.
"The real question, then, is how far the Security Office will set the contest's eligibility."
"It'll just be our academy, right?"
"No, Principal. It's not that simple."
When Kirlin tilted her head, I elaborated.
"The Empire has several other imperial academies besides ours. If you count the private and public ones, the number goes even higher."
"Right. So?"
"The Security Office will ease the standards for students, but the foundation is still the evaluation used for active-duty agents. Anyone who scores well in this contest could reasonably be hired straight after graduation without any trouble."
"Uh-huh."
"From the Security Office's perspective, if they're going to hold a contest anyway, wouldn't they want to take as many applicants as possible and sort the wheat from the chaff?"
"Ah?"
"Of course they wouldn't snatch someone up on the spot just for doing well. But they might offer bonus points at graduation, or run a special recruitment."
"Oh!"
Kirlin finally understood completely and let out a sound of genuine admiration.
"Do you have any basis for thinking the Security Office would do that?"
Unlike Kirlin, whose eyes were sparkling like a puppy's, Ismera found something to pick at again. But it was a fair objection. What I had offered was my own speculation, not an argument built on any clear evidence.
"I don't have any basis. But if I were the Second Princess, that's what I would have done."
"And if we proceed on that assumption, only for it to turn out the contest is limited to our academy after all? Then what do you intend to do?"
"That's not a big problem."
"And why is that?"
"Let's say we prepare for both my prediction and Professor Ismera's."
I held up two fingers.
"First, if the Security Office opens the contest empire-wide, as I expect. In that case, each academy would probably send representatives. Makes sense. There are too many academies to just take anyone who wants to enter. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
"Then what we need to do is internally select the person or team who will represent our academy. Which means we'd have to rank students through internal competition and evaluation."
"That's not wrong."
"Good. Now Professor Ismera's prediction."
I folded one finger.
"If it's only our academy? Then we don't need to select representatives. We just take volunteers and send them. Right?"
"That's right."
"But if we prepare according to Professor Ismera's prediction, and then the Security Office suddenly tells us to send academy representatives?"
"We'd have to scramble to hold an internal evaluation."
Kirlin cut in, and Ismera shot her a brief glare.
"Exactly. Now the reverse. If we prepare according to my prediction, and the Security Office says it's just our academy?"
"We just send the students we already picked through the internal evaluation."
"That's right, Principal."
"So if we prepare according to Dian's prediction, we cover both cases?" Kirlin said, glancing at Ismera. "I agree with Dian. The contest is the contest, but an internal evaluation would also let us check the kids' levels before break, and we could use that to plan the second-semester curriculum."
Oh, Kirlin. You've come a long way. Or maybe this is who she always was.
"What do you think, Professor Ismera?"
But Professor Ismera didn't answer. She had her eyes lowered, chewing on her lip. She looked furiously angry.
"Professor Ismera. Are you okay?"
When Kirlin cautiously tapped her shoulder with a fingertip, Ismera's head snapped up. The rage-filled expression from a moment ago was gone, replaced by a perfectly calm face.
"Very well. I find the Combat Chief Professor's assessment entirely correct. A hundred times over. Let us proceed accordingly."
But her voice was so icy that Kirlin had to hurriedly wrap up the meeting.
"Hahh…"
Once Ismera left first, Kirlin let out a long sigh, then looked at me and beamed.
"Dian."
"What is it?"
"Want me to buy you cake?"
"Sure. Let's go."
At the dessert café, Kirlin ordered an entire cake.
"Is someone else joining us?"
"No?"
"Then why order a whole cake?"
"If two people are going to eat, you need at least this much."
"Hmm. Well…"
I snuck a glance at Kirlin's figure through her cloak, but she didn't seem to have put on any weight. Dark elves probably had a high basal metabolic rate as a racial trait, so they could eat a great deal without issue. Gaining weight from eating too much was a human problem.
"Dian. I had a thought," Kirlin said, devouring cake.
"What is it?"
"I'm thinking of recruiting more special cadets."
She then told me what had come up in her conversation with the Second Princess. Additional special cadet recruitment. Not a bad idea, but doing it back-to-back might be a bit much.
"So this time I want to do it privately. I'll ask other academy principals to recommend some of their graduates."
"That's not a bad idea. Try the Imperial Public Academy."
"The Public Academy? Why? There are plenty of other good schools."
"That's exactly why you should go there."
Most other academies were either private schools backed by the Noble Council, or like ours, academies with a specialized purpose. Their graduates generally already had their career paths guaranteed, and seniors and juniors looked out for each other. The Public Academy, on the other hand, sat a step lower in prestige, so some graduates struggled to find a proper career afterward.
That didn't mean the quality of their graduates was low. There were excellent students who ended up there not because they couldn't study, but because they had no money, no backing, and humble origins. If we carefully picked the kids without connections who wanted to make it into the Imperial Palace, it would be a win for us. In stock terms, it was like buying undervalued blue chips at the bottom.
"So I can go ahead?"
"Go ahead. There's no extra cost involved, so even if the recruitment doesn't pan out, you won't take a loss."
"Alright then. Since Dian gave permission…"
What are you talking about? You're the principal — why are you asking me for permission?
I was about to say something, but then I saw her smiling with whipped cream on her lip, and I just smiled instead.
Meanwhile, Ismera.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!!"
She slammed her fist against the desk, pouring out her rage. The reason she was furious was none other than Dian. It wasn't that she simply disliked him. She was angry precisely because he had been right.
Why didn't I think of that first?
Why is that idle layabout looking further ahead than I am?!
I have a High Master's Degree. I'm on a completely different level from some human who just swung a sword on a battlefield.
So why?!
Why does it always turn out like this?
"Why, why, why?!"
After slamming her fist down again and again, Ismera finally crumpled, sinking into a squat on the floor.
I worked so hard. After the forest burned down and I fled to the human city, I really did work so hard…
So why can't I surpass that man… Why…
He came in on the Imperial Palace's backing and just loafs around doing nothing…
Why is he always one step ahead of me…
Curled in on herself, Ismera's shoulders began to shake as she started to sob.
