Book 4 Chapter 16
Chapter 90
"Oh my, I never knew the noble Lady Paige would be interested in such a lowly task as a committee member?"
"Hmph! That fox demon probably can't even go to the bathroom alone, can she? That's why she told you to assist with this!"
"What?! Fox demon?"
The fiery war of nerves between Lady Fenton and Lady Paige was what made the students heading to the meeting room murmur.
"What! Are you saying I'm wrong?!"
"You are! Completely wrong, you hear?!"
"If I say I'm right, I'm right!"
"I'm telling you, you're wrong! Apologize!"
"What! Are you giving me orders right now?!"
It was surprising enough that noble aristocrats voluntarily became committee members, but seeing them injecting venom into every single word, as if hostile to each other, was quite odd.
"Wow, that's Page, who transferred in as a first-year."
"She really is as pretty as the rumors say."
"Rumors? Didn't you see her during the final exams?"
The student council room was where the student council-led committee meeting was held.
The number of members was smaller than any other club, but the size of the room and facilities like desks and chairs were more luxurious than any other club.
Perhaps because one entire wall was glass, the student council room, with the brilliant summer sunlight streaming in, truly looked like the students' dream location.
"Does the student council monopolize a place like this?"
"I'm really envious."
The previously bustling student council room instantly fell silent the moment the door opened.
In a silence so eerie it was chilling, the current No. 1 student of <Delheit>, a handsome young man, led his junior executives into the room.
Everyone gazed at them with dazed eyes, as if mesmerized by the silently setting twilight. Their dignity itself was different from that of ordinary students.
"?"
Rain Ludwig and Krista Warden, the junior executives who followed behind, carrying piles of documents, made startled expressions.
They had spotted Kasena and Gertrude.
Rain and Krista exchanged glances, then simultaneously shrugged their shoulders as if they didn't understand. This greatly provoked the two girls.
"I am Balencidis, the student council president. I will now begin the Seasonal Festival Executive Committee meeting."
As soon as he finished speaking, Rain and Krista handed out minutes to the attendees.
The minutes listed the duties that committee members were to undertake through division of labor during the Seasonal Festival, and the tasks that each person assigned to a duty needed to perform.
Since it was a festival organized by the students themselves, everything from complex matters like accounting to simple matters like the festival schedule and club arrangements were recorded in the minutes.
"Elodie, Ranna, Sabelio. You three, as children of merchants, have frequently handled customers since you were young, haven't you?"
"Yes? Oh, yes."
"Excluding those belonging to clubs preparing large-scale events for this festival, you three are qualified to be guides."
Balencidis skillfully and efficiently managed the personnel assignments, a part that could easily become disorganized.
Because he selected and assigned personnel based only on simple yet core logic, there were more people who were convinced than those who opposed.
Should I say he had accumulated experience… No, was he frightfully adept at seeing through people's strengths and weaknesses? It was at that moment that Rain glanced at Balencidis with a glare.
"I don't understand why such an inefficiently large selection of personnel is needed, Student Council President Balencidis?"
It was a low voice, but perhaps due to the thorns in it, the meeting room fell silent.
An unknown tension instantly filled the meeting room.
The person who created such an atmosphere was a female student sitting in the center of the third-year seats in the right-hand guest section.
"Maya…"
Vice President Felix sighed, as if what was bound to happen had finally arrived.
She had parted her hair with a silver pin symbolizing her family, revealing a pristine white forehead, and beneath it, her exemplary features seemed to be hidden by sharp, blade-like glasses.
Kasena tilted her head, then poked Gertrude's side, demanding an explanation. Unable to overcome the difference in status, Gertrude replied.
"Maya Snark. She's one of the Ten Great Noble Families (십문세족), and the 3rd seat of the third-years."
Just as there were 16 layers beneath the Eight Great Schools, there were also 10 prestigious magic noble families established beneath the Five Great Houses.
For reference, Gertrude's Viscountcy of Fenton, Felix's Viscountcy of Drake, and Doran's (head of the Special Operations Department) Viscountcy of Slade also belonged here.
When Balencidis gave her a look as if to say, "Go on, say it again," Maya rose with composed aristocratic bearing.
"Isn't the number of personnel assigned to promotion, guidance, and preparation abnormally high? Do you intend to have each and every student compete?"
Then Felix intervened, as if mediating.
"The number of selected personnel is the same as tradition, though?"
"I don't understand why we must follow tradition exactly."
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"The magic of us <Delheit> students is not meant to be shown to those without worth. It would degrade the prestige of the Empire's foremost academy."
Those without worth? Prestige?
Then, almost simultaneously, a faint, cold sneer, akin to both anger and scorn, formed on the lips of two people before vanishing.
Balencidis and Rain Ludwig.
Of course, neither of them had any way of knowing that.
"If we select only those who will be shown, for example, VIPs such as the Archwizards of the Magic Tower or the heads of major departments in the Magic Alliance, we can minimize such unnecessary personnel selections."
"…?!"
"Connections with such individuals would also be a greater help to the future of students who couldn't appeal during the final exams."
Some students, mulling over her words, exchanged glances with tempted looks.
"It is a rule that <Delheit>'s Seasonal Festival is open to everyone entering and exiting the city."
Student Council Treasurer Triwis spoke with his characteristic emotionless, inorganic expression.
"In the case of the VIPs you mentioned, only those with official affiliations are carefully selected and invited."
Then, a male student, who had been sitting next to Maya in a defiant posture, continuously filing his nails since the meeting began, spoke up.
"Hey, if you just exclude half of those 'everyone,' couldn't you invite at least four or five times more VIPs?"
Lowinbelt Canwer.
He was the successor of a noble family belonging to the Ten Great Noble Families, just like the Snark family.
"That… I don't understand why you're so fixated on VIPs."
"It is to set <Delheit> straight and in its proper form, now that I am a third-year."
Maya Snark continued her explanation.
"Thousands of spectators who visit <Delheit> during the festival… how many of them truly know the value of magic?"
"The value of magic?"
"Magic is a power and an art enjoyed only by the upper class. Naturally, only those who have received an education as dignified as our <Delheit> students can recognize its value, talent, and effort."
Gertrude, who had connections with most noble families, her eyes gleamed with interest, not because of those words, but because of the composition of the committee members.
'All the members of the Ten Great Noble Families from the second and third years are here… and talented minor nobles too.'
That means the people present here have united under a single intention to attend this meeting. Hmm…
"It's just a waste of time to hold a magic festival for those who can only describe magic as 'flashy,' 'grand,' or 'cool'."
Maya, having declared this, subtly glanced at the descendants of powerful families as if seeking their agreement.
Secretary Sandra Keppel was yawning as if bored, as always (this person has no interest whatsoever in anything she doesn't find entertaining), and Krista had a confused expression.
One couldn't discern Rain Ludwig's emotions from his expression, but Maya decided to drive in the wedge here for certain.
"If the student council cannot do it, then please entrust the public relations to us. We will try to invite over a hundred influential figures from the magic world."
"…!"
"This will undoubtedly be a great opportunity for students who haven't yet made connections in the magic world."
Whether swayed by Maya's words so far, the students who had been concentrating on her impassioned speech were instantly divided in their reactions.
"Isn't that a good idea?"
"No, even so…"
"You won't be able to leave an impression during the next final exams, so this seems really good, doesn't it?"
While the children of nobles and some wealthy commoners nodded in agreement, the commoners narrowed their eyes, showing strong resentment.
'This isn't good…'
Felix pressed his hand to his forehead.
From the very start, the executive committee was on the verge of splitting in half.
It was then that Balencidis, who had been silent, finally spoke.
"What is magic to you, Maya Snark? Is it power to reign over others? Strength to dominate?"
"It can be seen as an indicator of prestige."
"Hmph."
"What's so funny?"
"The world is stagnant because the way of thinking of you who reign in the name of nobility is so one-dimensional. It's not progressing."
A third-year student next to Maya flared up and stood, but Maya calmly raised a hand to quiet him.
"Let's hear it. What is magic to the esteemed student council president?"
"Magic is opportunity."
"Opportunity?"
"It gives opportunity to those who have nothing. Not by throwing bread to the hungry, but by giving them the chance to acquire bread, the chance for those who are destined to be weak, helpless, hungry, and sick their entire lives to at least live a life worthy of a human being. Another name for that opportunity is magic."
Rain's eyes suddenly widened.
Because Balencidis's conviction was so exactly the same as the conviction deeply held within his master's heart.
- Come, follow me.
If the Headmistress had held the same thoughts as Maya, the name Archmage Rin would never have appeared in history books.
Rin might have wandered the slums as a child and starved to death. Crucially, she would never have met Lista, Friede, or Kiess.
Magic was indeed the world of freedom that allowed even an orphan to become an Archmage. Rin truly loved this saying by Emitsa Page:
"The truth shall set you free."
How could a mere black mage who sold his soul to the abyss…
This is awkward.
Balencidis is an untrustworthy black mage and a foe to be wary of, so I have no desire to defend him…
"And the Seasonal Festival is a time to convey that dream to those who do not yet know magic. I have no intention of meticulously selecting and inviting only VIPs."
Balencidis's impassioned speech was so powerful that even the nobles of the Ten Great Noble Families showed signs of faltering when he finished speaking.
"If you insist on holding such foolish beliefs, then we have no choice."
Maya Snark irritably pushed up her glasses, as if such a sentiment was beneath her.
"Surely, only clubs can participate individually in the Seasonal Festival, right?"
"?"
"From this moment on, we will disband all clubs that hold opinions contrary to ours. Through magic duels, legitimately."
Even Balencidis, the student council president, seemed flustered by that tactic, raising both eyebrows.
Wasn't this a threat cleverly exploiting <Delheit>'s club rules?
When Kasena Paige quietly whispered if such a thing was possible, Gertrude sighed.
"It's possible. As <Delheit> proclaims meritocracy, you can take away the positions of other clubs through skill."
"What kind of nonsense is that?!"
"It was originally a method created for healthy self-correction, but it seems there was also a way to misuse it like that. I learned a very good thing from Maya unnie."
Gertrude muttered with a hint of disdain, but in fact, the wickedness of this method didn't end there.
"As you know, there's a school rule that the student council cannot forcibly lead the Seasonal Festival. Isn't that right, Felix?"
"Maya, surely you're not…!"
"And so, during the festival period, we cannot intervene in disputes between clubs at all."
Maya approached with a victorious smile, placed both hands on the president's desk, and leaned her body toward Balencidis, who was sitting behind it.
"You decide what to do. Whether you'll prevent the commoner students you cherish so much from even participating in the festival, or if you'll let them at least have a chance to join the upper class."
For a moment, a silence fell as if the world had stopped.
No one spoke.
Everyone simply held their breath, watching the conclusion of this war of nerves, the outcome of which was uncertain—no, nearly 90% decided…
"…"
"…"
"…"
Breaking that chilling silence was a voice filled with pure curiosity.
"By rule, only student council executives can't get involved in disputes between clubs, is that it? And if you're not a student council executive, you can get involved?"
At that question, the oppressive silence in the room broke, and a stir arose simultaneously.
It was Rain, Rain Ludwig.
Perhaps thinking it was supporting fire to end the situation, Maya Snark politely nodded.
"That is correct, Young Master Ludwig."
As soon as that answer came, clang, clang, clang… the sound of metal rolling on the floor brought a silence that severed the flow of time into the stirring room.
A silence in which only the clock on the student council room wall let out a groan, marking the passage of time.
Everyone, with dumbfounded expressions, simply alternated their gazes between the metal object rolling on the floor and Rain, who had casually thrown it.
"Then I'll just quit."
Bouncing across the student council floor like trash, spinning, hitting Maya's foot, stopping its rotation, and falling limply was the emblem.
A symbol of excellence coveted not only by <Delheit> students but by all mages who failed to gain admission to <Delheit>.
Indeed, it embodied the students' dreams and ideals, for which they endured endless competition and survival of the fittest just to obtain that small piece of metal.
"I'm quitting, the student council."
It was the <Delheit> Student Council badge.
At first, no one could understand its meaning. It far surpassed the realm of common sense that their brains could accept.
Until Rain stood face-to-face with Maya Snark and so clearly declared war.
"Do you all wield magic so well? Let's see that esteemed skill of yours."