The Shy Vice President
As I had told Card, I had business to attend to. That business was none other than the student council. Before long, I passed the martial arts department corridor and reached the central bridge, heading straight for the main building.
I won't be late. The main building housed both the faculty offices and the student council. Stepping inside, I looked around. Perhaps because it was lunchtime, the building was quite deserted. The professors were likely having their meals as well.
The student council room is... This way. Finding my bearings, I walked briskly down the hallway, and before long, the student council room came into view. *Knock, knock.* I tapped twice on the door.
"Come in." Hearing the voice from within, I pushed the door open. The first thing that met my gaze was a pair of vibrant green eyes. Her identity was the Calamity Dragon Girl, Nikita Cynthia. Today, she was as radiant and elegant as ever.
"Junior?" Perhaps she hadn't expected me to visit the student council room so soon. Nikita blinked, her eyes widening in surprise. A stack of documents and pens lay before her. Seeing her sacrifice her lunchtime to handle student council matters made me realize once again that she was a genius of sheer effort.
Nikita tilted her head. "Junior, we haven't started recruiting additional student council members yet. I think you might have come a bit too early."
"I'll go anywhere you are working, Senior Nikita." I offered the smooth-talking flattery without missing a beat. Perhaps because of the excessive praise I had showered her with just yesterday, she cleared her throat, trying to swallow her embarrassment.
"Junior, I appreciate the sentiment, but there are many things in the student council that you shouldn't see until you are officially recruited."
That made sense. Since so many noble students gathered here, the position of student representative carried immense power—far more than one might think. Consequently, many crucial matters were resolved right on the fine line of the student council's authority.
"Ah, that's fine. I didn't actually come to help with student council work today."
"Then?"
"I wanted to make a proposal to the student council."
Nikita tilted her head once more.
"Lately, in the Great Spirit Forest within the Ancient Dragon Mountains to the north, hasn't there been an incident where trees are turning into hard iron?"
"Yes. The spiritist students are in an absolute uproar over it."
Every single tree in the Great Spirit Forest was a precious vessel inhabited by spirits. When those trees suddenly turned into iron, the spirits inside vanished, causing massive losses for the spiritists. Since this was already a well-known story among the students, there was nothing strange about me knowing it.
"I'll resolve that issue, so could you grant me permission to visit the Great Spirit Forest?"
"You, Junior?"
Except for spiritists, anyone entering the Great Spirit Forest without permission would face disciplinary action. However, the student council could authorize entry under the pretext of investigating the issue. Still, this only made Nikita more puzzled.
"I'd be glad if it got resolved, but..."
In other words, why did I need to step up and solve it?
"I have personal reasons. It's also to prepare for the mock battle."
"Are you planning to contract with a spirit?"
"Something like that."
Nikita tapped the pen in her hand against the desk. The problem in the Great Spirit Forest was a massive headache for her as well. The biggest reason was the absence of the spiritology professor from the Special Studies department. The professor who originally managed the forest had been injured when a spirit went wild while helping a student form a contract with a high-ranking spirit. Because of that, the professor was currently recuperating, leaving no one suitable to handle the matter.
Consequently, an assistant professor of spiritology with only one year of teaching experience had tried to resolve the issue in the Great Spirit Forest in their own way, but seeing as it remained unresolved, things didn't seem to be going well. The forest was a thorn in the student council's side. While solving it would certainly be a favor, Nikita knew almost nothing about me. She was bound to feel a bit uneasy.
"If you're worried..."
"Ah, let me make this clear first: I don't particularly doubt you, Junior."
Nikita quickly corrected my assumption.
"You're offering to take on student council work. Interpreting that with bad intentions would be far too harsh."
Instead, she offered a faint smile and encouraged me. What is she, an angel? The heart that had been wounded by the contemptuous glares I received today felt like it was melting away.
"...May I recite a list of praises for you right now, filled with my utmost respect, Senior Nikita?"
"T-That won't be necessary."
Nikita hurriedly stopped me. What a shame. I was planning to punish her with compliments.
Looking slightly overwhelmed, Nikita covered her forehead, which was visible through her parted hair. "What I'm worried about is safety. The Great Spirit Forest dislikes outsiders. You could be in danger, Junior."
"That's true enough."
I didn't deny it. Spirits absolutely detested humans with weak spirit sensitivity. To put it bluntly, Vikaman, the character I possessed, had terrible compatibility with spirits. Furthermore, spirits harbored an extreme hatred for mages who violated the laws of nature. Even if he was a fallen noble, Vikaman was still part of the magic department. The sensitive spirits would instantly pick up on the trace of mana engraved in the magic flowing through his body.
"Then let's do this."
Nikita proposed a new idea. "There is a spiritist among the student council members. I'll introduce you to them, so go and resolve it together."
Support from the student council. For me, this was highly welcome.
"Thank you, Senior."
I bowed deeply. At that, Nikita smiled and waved her hand. "You're the one helping us, so I should be the one thanking you."
Though she had an elegant and aloof appearance, perhaps because of the compliment bombardment I unleashed yesterday, Nikita smiled quite often. As expected, people look best when they smile.
"Ah, speaking of which, I haven't had lunch yet."
I rummaged through my shoulder bag and pulled out the sandwiches I had brought. "Would you like to have lunch together? I packed a generous amount, so it should be more than enough for two."
Nikita's gaze fell on the sandwiches. Having been busy with urgent matters, she hadn't been able to go to the cafeteria and thus hadn't eaten lunch yet. She always ate late, or skipped it entirely when she was busy. Seeing that there was nothing in the student council room today, she had likely planned to skip it again—even though she had sent the president and the other members off to eat.
She stared blankly at the sandwiches in my hand for a moment, then looked down at her pen. "If you're busy, it's fine. The sandwiches won't get cold."
Hearing my words, she finally put down her pen and stood up. It seemed the clamor of her cute junior had worked. "I was thinking of brewing some tea. How does that sound?"
"That sounds perfect."
A precious cup of tea brewed by the vice president herself. I had to savor every drop. And so, I had lunch with Nikita. Along the way, I just complimented her. She got embarrassed, but I did it simply because I wanted to.
The northern region, the Ancient Dragon Mountains. Arriving in front of the entrance to the Great Spirit Forest, I checked the time. According to Nikita, this should be the right time.
The incident where the trees of the Great Spirit Forest turned into hard iron. To resolve this, Nikita had assigned a student council spiritist to accompany me. Come to think of it... Was there a spiritist in the student council?
Having repeated the game multiple times, I knew the student council's situation inside out. That was why the existence of a spiritist member puzzled me. Well, the official history has changed, after all.
Now that the most important protagonist, Lucas, was dead, nothing that happened would be surprising. Preparing for the fallout was entirely up to me.
*Pitter-patter!* Right on cue, hurried footsteps reached my ears. It seemed the student council member Nikita sent had arrived. Wondering who on earth it could be, I raised my head. What met my eyes was short brown hair and a pair of large glasses.
"U-Ugh, I-I'm so sorry! I'm late!" A boy with a rather petite build, though not quite as small as me. The moment he saw me, he bowed deeply in apology. I looked at the name tag pinned to his chest. A yellow name tag. A first-year. My name tag was blue, indicating a second-year. Third-years wore red name tags.
I never expected this guy to be part of the student council. My complicated gaze drifted back to the boy. And with good reason—I knew him. The second semester of the second year. The boycott movement against the student council that begins in Act 4, Chapter 1. It was an event that occurred after Nikita became the Calamity Dragon Girl in Act 3.
Nikita, who went on a rampage using the power of the Ancient Dragon, ultimately died at the hands of the protagonist, Lucas. The death of Nikita, the vice president, shook the entire student council to its core. In the process, a large number of students who harbored resentment toward the student council's authority staged a massive boycott.
In reality, it was a scheme orchestrated by the Ultimate Villainess, the Third Princess Iris Haishirion, to monopolize the student council. To rise to the position of student council president in her third year and bring the council entirely under her control, Iris had instigated the students from the shadows. Unaware of this, the students boycotted, claiming Nikita had dragged the student council's name through the mud.
One of the central figures of that boycott was the first-year spiritist representative, Poara Silin. The clumsy boy standing right in front of me.
Him? In the student council? Naturally, in all my countless playthroughs of the game, Poara had never been a member of the student council. Eventually, the boycotting students escalated the situation. As a result, they occupied the student council room and even staged an armed protest, which Lucas barely managed to stop. Right after, Poara broke his own glasses and said:
The image of him spitting out those words filled with hatred was still vivid in my mind. Back then, he truly loathed the student council.
"U-Um, S-Senior? Is something wrong?" Perhaps because I was staring too intently, Poara shrank back. Although I had only recently transferred, I was still his senior. Such a gaze must have been intimidating.
"Just... I thought your glasses were crooked."
"Ah, I-I must have run too fast!" Poara hurriedly adjusted his glasses. Looking at him again, he really did have a clumsy air about him.
"You're Poara Silin, right?"
"Ah, yes, that's correct, Senior!"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hanon Airey. I'm in charge of the Great Spirit Forest investigation this time."
"Nice to meet you too!" Poara was energetic. Instead of the gloominess in my memories, his face was full of brightness. That only made the sense of dissonance stronger.
"Poara, do you happen to dislike the student council? Or is there something about it you don't like?"
"Huh? Oh, no! On the contrary, I've always admired Jerion Academy's student council!" Poara replied in surprise, as if wondering what I meant. "Even though I'm just a temporary member right now, I can't tell you how happy I am to be part of the student council!"
"A temporary member?"
"Ah, because of a previous incident, there was a vacancy in the student council, so even though I'm a first-year, I somehow became a temporary member. Hehe."
The previous incident. That was definitely Lucas's incident. There was one student council member in Lucas's party.
Lucas's party had been wiped out. As a result, a student council member they had nurtured since their first year was lost. With the seniors graduating soon, the student they had invested so much in never returned. It must have been a difficult situation for the student council. So, they had hurriedly recruited a temporary replacement from the incoming first-years.
Now I see why she accepted my proposal so readily when I mentioned the student council. The student council was also struggling with a severe labor shortage. And right on cue, Poara had been recruited as an additional member.
Could it be that the reason Poara turned dark and led the boycott in the original timeline... was because he failed to become the student council member he so desperately wanted to be? When you can't have the thing you love most, it's natural to end up hating it out of spite. Poara must have liked the student council at first. But when the vice president became the Calamity Dragon Girl and dragged the student council's name through the mud, his love-hate relationship probably crossed the line and warped into pure hatred.
What should I do? As mentioned before, Poara was a key figure in the student council boycott. If he was already part of the student council, the momentum of the boycott would naturally weaken. If Poara was taken out of the equation, the official history would deviate. I couldn't guarantee how much of an impact that would have.
Though the official history has already been twisted since the moment Lucas died. This was a world after the bad ending. Since the official history was already heavily distorted, it was only natural for things to creak and groan. The death of the protagonist had that much of an impact on the world. However, the boycott incident was a necessary event in the official history. The Flame Butterfly Chapter was a well-made game. If the event itself didn't occur, the scenario would instantly fall apart. And the result of that would be the destruction of the world. If we couldn't stop Akjon in the final ending, the world was finished. I had no intention of dying along with the world. That was why, despite Lucas's absence, I was desperately trying to steer the scenario back onto the track of the official history. Even if I had to patch up the rest, the flow of the scenario had to remain true to the official history.
I'll just have to piece it together somehow later. There were plenty of ways. If worst came to worst, I could even lead the boycott myself.
"Right. I'll be joining the student council soon too, so I look forward to working with you."
"Yes, sir!" Poara replied energetically. I hoped he would reply just as energetically when I asked for his help with the boycott later.