Chapter 777
Simon returned safely to the school through the teleportation magic circle.
After saying farewell to Hongpeng, Belya, and the rest of the group including the student council members, he rode his golem board and arrived at the Summonology dormitory.
“Ugh-cha.”
The sight of the dormitory, with its huge trees tangled around it. Now it felt as familiar as home. Simon opened the door with a leisurely step and walked inside.
‘Totally empty.’
Perhaps because it was still early, the dormitory lobby was quiet. Occasionally, passing dormitory staff greeted him, and Simon returned the greetings as he walked up the stairs.
Click!
When he opened the dorm room door, a short boy sitting on the bed widened his eyes and jumped up.
“Ah, Simon!”
“Toto! You’re here.”
His roommate, and fellow member of Team 10 in the Summonology Department, Toto Amoriya. It seemed he had just arrived as well, since his luggage was still packed.
“You haven’t changed a bit, Simon! Did you have a good vacation?”
“Yeah! Well, you know me.”
The two unpacked together, chatting about this and that.
Toto had spent his vacation working part-time in Langerstine. Securing funds was essential in order to keep up with the second semester. After all, Summonology was an incredibly expensive field of study.
“Actually, Eshu recommended some decent part-time jobs I could do in Langerstine.”
“Really?”
“Ah, when it comes to part-time jobs or gigs, Eshu really knows everything!”
Suddenly, he twisted his legs nervously and spoke as if making excuses. Simon asked,
“Then you two must have often run into each other while working.”
“S-sometimes! Really just sometimes! Our shifts were different!”
Toto was sweating profusely as he hurried to change the subject.
“How about you, Simon? How was your vacation?”
“Ah, I was helping my father with fief matters, and then I went to the grasslands….”
Thump! Thump!
Just as he was about to recount his long adventure in the grasslands, a strange sound suddenly came from outside the window. Startled, Toto yelped and jumped.
Turning his head, Simon saw Dick stuck to the dormitory window, his face pressed close against the glass making a silly expression. Then he fogged the window with his breath and wrote with his finger.
<It’s an emergency.>
It hadn’t even been long since Simon returned to school, and already new information was being delivered. When Simon opened the window, Dick slipped inside.
“Oh! Toto, long time no see!”
Dick waved at Toto, who had been his classmate in Class A during their first year. Toto returned the greeting awkwardly.
“What’s going on, Dick?”
“Ah, well, it’s about the student council.”
Sensing something important, Toto quickly stood up.
“S-should I give you guys some space?”
“Ah, no, it’s fine.”
Dick told Simon and Toto what he had witnessed.
Instead of going back to his dorm, he had gone straight to the student council building. He was curious about the conclusion the professors had reached regarding the second-semester student council, so he went to see for himself.
And there, Dick had seen underlings moving things out of the student council room.
“They were taking out documents, rearranging furniture. So this is….”
It was more or less what they had expected.
Simon, not looking particularly surprised, calmly grabbed his coat.
“I’ll go check it out.”
Leaving the room, Simon quickly descended the stairs and exited the dormitory.
But he didn’t need to go far.
“Ah.”
In front of the dormitory stood four men in neat suits.
“We’re from Keyzen Headquarters.”
One of them removed his sunglasses and looked at Simon.
“You’re Simon, correct? Could we have a word with you?”
* * *
Simon was led into a dazzlingly luxurious room.
‘So there was a place like this in the school.’
Simon casually glanced around. Across from him, a headquarters official set down his briefcase and took a seat.
Two underlings served coffee for them.
“I hope you had a pleasant vacation. Have you heard the news?”
“Not yet.”
“I see.”
The official offered Simon a cup of coffee, then lifted his own.
Simon didn’t refuse. After a short tea time, the official adjusted his tie and began.
“First of all… I regret to inform you of this.”
“The Student Council President for the second semester—”
Simon set down his cup.
“—seems to be Ballack.”
“……”
The official silently pulled documents from his briefcase and spread them neatly across the table.
“Let me explain step by step. The school currently considers the Student Council President’s seat vacant.”
Simon had become the “second-year Student Council President” as Aizel’s proxy during his long-term dispatch. When Aizel returned, the two were to settle the presidency with a duel, as stipulated by the former Student Council President, Phantasus.
The Grerion family, entrusted by Phantasus, personally intervened to declare an “honorable duel”. In such a duel, there is no champion or challenger. Both step down to the level of regular students and fight under equal conditions, with the winner becoming president.
But Ballack interrupted, rendering the duel invalid, and under school rules, the Keyzen student council presidency was now vacant. The decision-making authority reverted to the faculty, and that’s where the conflict began.
The debate was simple.
Who should be made Student Council President?
—Since Student Aizel has left, it is proper procedure to officially recognize the acting president and continue. Suddenly appointing Ballack makes no sense.
This was the stance of the second-year professors.
—The presidency is vacant. It doesn’t matter who held it last semester. What matters is who is most suited for it now.
This was the stance of the third-year professors.
Neither side could yield. The second-year professors had greater renown and prestige, but the third-years had their careers and positions on the line, making them desperate.
—This is Keyzen! The meritocratic Keyzen! The strongest and most capable student should take the top seat! Just because a second-year briefly served as acting president doesn’t mean he should keep it!
—No matter how important ability is, character and integrity are basic human values. Appointing a student under disciplinary action as president is a disgrace to the school’s honor.
—That’s why we sent him on a punitive mission!
In truth, even for the third-year professors, sending Ballack on a punitive mission was both a gamble and a last stand.
Punitive missions were tasks typically handled by Crow-level operatives, involving inevitable clashes with the Holy Federation’s priests.
Even Aizel had taken more than four months to complete such a long-term mission, one rated equal to or harder than his. If Ballack failed to complete it during the vacation, there would be no debate, and the presidency would fall to Simon.
But during Ballack’s punitive mission, a “big issue” exploded.
“…Ballack defeated an Arch Paladin?”
Hearing the official’s explanation, Simon’s jaw dropped.
“Yes, during the battle, Ballack killed eleven Federation warriors and even brought down the Arch Paladin who commanded them.”
This was truly an incredible achievement.
The news spread instantly throughout Roke Island, and it became the turning point that completely overturned campus opinion about Ballack, who had been criticized for his character flaws.
—Ballack has already surpassed Aizel! He must be compared to Phantasus, who was once called the greatest of all time!
—A genius among geniuses who defeated an Arch Paladin at the age of nineteen, and yet you want to keep a second-year in the president’s seat?
In the end, the foundation of Keyzen was strict meritocracy. Public opinion began to lean toward Ballack, and even the Council of Elders, which had been indifferent to the issue, whispered their influence into the faculty meeting and expressed their wish for Ballack. And most of all,
“It seems the VVIP has made a decision.”
At the words of the headquarters official, Simon fell into thought.
He couldn’t be certain who that title referred to.
‘If it’s Lady Neftis.’
If it were she, who was never swayed by power or public opinion, then there must be a reason for such a conclusion. For some reason, Simon felt strangely at ease.
“In the end, it seems the Student Council President for the second semester will be Student Ballack. However—”
The official laced his fingers together, his voice firm.
“The faculty meeting has concluded that Student Simon, as the former acting president, must be properly compensated.”
With public opinion turning against them, the second-year faculty seemed to have extracted as much as they could.
“Compensated… how?”
“First, while it is difficult for you to remain president right now, the student council presidency for next year, the 331st class of Keyzen, will be reserved for Student Simon Follentia.”
At the very least, the presidency for the following year was guaranteed.
The headquarters official explained that this decision had already been concluded at the faculty meeting, and that discussions with Ballack had also been finalized.
“And second.”
Now came the real matter.
Simon sharpened his focus.
“Setting aside all else, in the end Ballack became president because he was evaluated as stronger than you, Simon.”
“That’s true.”
“But, if you disagree with that evaluation—”
His eyes glinted.
“—and can prove that you are superior to Ballack, then the story changes.”
What on earth?
Simon stared at him, question marks filling his eyes, and the official slid a sheet of paper across the table.
“The school has decided to grant you a ‘right of challenge’.”
Right of challenge?
Simon quickly scanned the contents with his eyes.
“If you believe you can defeat Ballack, you may drag him down and reclaim the presidency at any time. Student Ballack is obliged to accept your challenge. If he refuses, the presidency automatically passes to you.”
So that was it.
In the end, it was all about strength, and if you were dissatisfied with the evaluation, you were to seize it with your own power.
“Do I set the date myself?”
“Yes.”
The right to challenge Ballack whenever he wished. Simon lowered his gaze to his leg.
His right leg still throbbed. Injured as he was now, the result of fighting Ballack would be obvious. He needed more time.
‘With terms like these, it’s not bad at all.’
If he had continued to hold the presidency, he would have been constantly on edge, worrying about when Ballack might challenge him.
Stepping down and becoming the challenger instead felt far more comfortable. It was easier to calmly prepare for the challenge step by step.
First, fully recover from his injury, then attend Belya’s classes to raise his resistance system to a high level, and finally, complete the Bone Dragon.
If he could prepare everything and then defeat Ballack, it would mean more than just inheriting the presidency from Phantasus. He would seize it by his own power.
‘It’s not impossible.’
He truly felt it wasn’t impossible. Seeing the change in Simon’s eyes, the official nodded and rose to his feet.
“Because Student Ballack created such a major issue with his mission, the arrangement turned out this way to save the third-year faculty’s face, and it has become troublesome that you, Student Simon, must once again prove yourself. For that, I apologize.”
“No need.”
Simon also rose with a light smile.
“After all, he defeated an Arch Paladin, didn’t he? If I were faculty, I’d have made the same decision.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
The two clasped hands in a light handshake.
The official pulled up his suit jacket.
“Personally, I would rather support you over Ballack, who is surrounded by controversy. If you wish to exercise your right of challenge, please inform a Keyzen staff member at any time.”
* * *
The next morning, the opening ceremony.
Keyzen was in an uproar. Students who had just returned to school, who should have been exchanging stories from their vacation, were all buzzing about only one topic.
—Simon stepped down, and the third-year Ballack became president.
—From now on, it’s Ballack’s era!
Returning to school, the ‘Student Council President’ had suddenly changed. All the students were talking about this issue.
—Feels like pulling out a rotten tooth? This should’ve happened long ago.
—At least now the third-years can save face.
The third-years, overall, reacted as if it were natural and refreshing.
But the first- and second-years didn’t see it that way.
Murmur murmur murmur!
The long-awaited ‘joint opening ceremony’, with the entire student body gathered.
An event that should have been cheerful was instead filled with extreme hostility.
—Why the hell are those bastards looking down on us like that?
A third-year, like the sky above them, walked by with a golden badge, and the first-years, who should have bent their waists in greeting, muttered with eyes full of hostility.
—Hey, just leave it. If we mess with first-years, we’ll get in trouble.
—Tsk. Still feels unpleasant.
The third-years grumbled and entered the auditorium.
The moment they stepped inside, murmurs like explosions erupted from all around.
The adults had done their calculations and made a pragmatic decision. They chose Ballack over Simon, the second-year, because he was judged to have greater ability and achievement.
Of course, perhaps that choice was rational from an organizational standpoint.
—But why? Why Senior Simon Follentia? He did nothing wrong!
—This is unfair!
But to the students, it was a decision utterly disconnected from their perception.
To the first-years, Simon was a hero, one of the most respected seniors. For him to suddenly step down and for Ballack to take the presidency? No matter how they looked at it, they couldn’t accept it.
The second-years felt no different.
—These third-years really are insecure. They just swallowed up the presidency.
—I don’t see Simon Follentia through rose-colored glasses, but… wrong is wrong.
Many of the second-years had never even exchanged a word with Simon, but he was still their peer.
When they heard that Simon had been stripped of the presidency, a boiling anger welled up inside.
And that anger, from the joint opening ceremony onward, erupted.
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