Chapter 125
I Became the Finance Director of a Kingdom on the Verge of Civil War – Part 1
『 Translator – Divinity 』
“So…”
“………”
“………”
“You’re saying that you came to meet the student council president, but a sudden magical attack occurred, and you had to defend yourselves? And that’s why Student Ruth used her Sword Qi and Student Chloe used magic?”
“…Yes, Finance Director.”
“That’s… correct.”
“Allen?”
“I clearly warned the two juniors, senior.”
In the student council room, where the wall was blown open and the wind was gushing through,
I clicked my tongue as I looked at Allen, who was firmly drawing a line, claiming he was not at fault.
I came here, but I never imagined the culprits would be those two.
‘It would have been nice if it were Cassandra.’
It was a shame that she was suspended, but it was still fine since the student council room was destroyed. After all, this room was practically Cassandra’s personal room.
The other student council members, including Allen, had their own separate spaces, so there was no damage to them. And their destructive skills were so precise that only this room was damaged.
‘Is this because of the experience at the entrance ceremony?’
Come to think of it, even during the illusion monster attack at the entrance ceremony, why did Ruth love destroying walls so much? Did she have a thing for walls?
If it were any other building, I would have already thrown a fit, but…
“Student Ruth, Student Chloe.”
“…Yes.”
“Yes…”
“Are you injured? It’s a bit… inconvenient to go to the infirmary, so if you’re hurt by that unknown magic, please let me know.”
“…?”
“F-Finance Director? Actually…”
“Ah, there’s no need to worry. It’s not a big deal to accidentally break a wall or two. I’m not blaming you two.”
“!?”
Dash!
“…Who is that? It doesn’t seem like the Finance Director.”
“The presence seems to be the same. Is he trying to imitate the real Finance Director? I apologize, but my research on him was insufficient!”
“………”
Are these guys crazy?
It was so absurd that I was about to ask Allen for help, but then…
“Who are you! How dare you impersonate senior in the academy!”
“Allen, are you crazy too?”
“To dare imitate senior… Senior Adam isn’t that kind or merciful! He cares more about the repair costs than the injured people. As Junior Chloe said, my research was insufficient!”
So they were doubting me because I said it was okay to overlook the broken wall? These crazy people?
I was even more pissed off that Ruth and Chloe were nodding in agreement with Allen.
“All three of you, cut the crap. This building is covered by the Carpentry Guild’s repair discount, and this student council room, especially, is under Cassandra’s name, so it’s not the academy that pays for the repairs.”
“I apologize, Finance Director. I misunderstood for a moment.”
“W-we believed in you, Finance Director!”
“Senior, your joke was a bit harsh.”
This was ridiculous. I’ll remember this.
It was fortunate that I didn’t hold grudges; what would I do if the Headmistress did this? I just recorded it in my mental notebook and felt nothing. Really.
“But what do you mean by the student council president’s name? Finance Director, don’t all the buildings in this academy belong to the Headmistress?”
“Of course they do, but this room… this place was personally expanded by Student Council President Cassandra. There was no room here originally.”
“What!?”
“This isn’t uncommon. If you get permission from the Academic Affairs Department and pay a certain fee, you can expand the space like this. If the building itself collapsed, it would be one thing, but since only this expanded room was destroyed, the academy has no responsibility.”
“…Then we also…”
“Just talk to Cassandra. I’ll even help you with that.”
Come to think of it, these guys destroyed Cassandra’s room, didn’t they? I immediately erased Ruth and Chloe’s names from my mental notebook. They were my benefactors, after all.
Allen, whose name still remained in the notebook, interrupted.
“U-um, Senior Adam? We don’t know when Student Council President Cassandra will be back…”
“Even that damn junior will come back soon if her room is destroyed. Contact me and these two when she returns. And if she tries to run away again, do your best to stop her.”
“Yes!”
Actually, there was no reason for Cassandra, the victim, to run away, but that self-proclaimed prophet wasn’t someone who acted according to common sense. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have done those things during our school days.
As I ground my teeth at the resurfacing dark history, Ruth and Chloe secretly approached Allen and asked,
“S-senior Allen? Why does the Finance Director seem to really dislike the student council president…?”
“You wouldn’t know, Junior Chloe. Senior Adam suffered a lot because of the president.”
“Suffered?”
“At the entrance ceremony, he declared in front of all the professors and students that the auditorium would collapse, but it didn’t. During the outdoor practice, he warned everyone about a monster attack, but nothing happened. And another time, he meticulously chased after a male student, suspecting him to be a Regressor, but it was a waste of time… Anyway, he was humiliated many times. And it was all because of the president whispering things to Senior Adam.”
“………”
“………”
“Once, he said he wouldn’t trust the president anymore, but she clung to his leg, saying this time it was real, begging him to believe her. Even I almost wavered, and Senior Adam, believing her that it would be real this time, even skipped the midterm exams and hid underground for 12 hours at the back gate because she said fanatics were coming.”
“…Did they not come?”
“Of course, no one came. Afterward, we had such a hard time stopping Senior Adam, who was rampaging and saying he would kill her…”
I can hear you all, you know.
Just remembering those embarrassing moments made me want to kick my blanket and fueled my murderous intent towards Cassandra. Destroying a single room wasn’t enough to quell this anger.
“You said there was an unknown magic. Student Chloe, was it magic that even you couldn’t recognize?”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
“Then it must be magic above Rank 6. And according to the academy regulations, magic above Rank 6 requires prior authorization within the academy grounds.”
You might ask if such a rule exists. It does. It was a rule created in the early days of the academy to prevent excessive experiments by professors since, naturally, there couldn’t be any Rank 6 student mages.
It’s a similar context to prohibiting the use of Ruth’s Sword Qi. Of course, since it was created so long ago, it’s a rule that has been mostly forgotten after decades, but…
Laws and regulations exist to be used at times like these.
“Since you violated the regulations, I’ll have to investigate this former student council room. It will be off-limits from now on.”
“Senior Adam? The president sleeps here, where will she stay in the meantime?”
“Don’t worry. There’s a separate room prepared.”
I could just put her in that room with the bed inside the office. I could keep an eye on her while working, and there’s no way she could escape since the Headmistress’s office is right next door.
Now that things have come to this, should I make Cassandra a Finance Department slave as well? But since I have a soft spot for her, let’s just treat her as half-equipment.
Anyway,
“Let’s go back now. However, since it was the student council room that was destroyed, there are many onlookers outside, so Student Ruth and Student Chloe, be careful not to be seen…”
“…Finance Director.”
“Student… Beatrice?”
What? Why are you suddenly here?
And how did you get up here?
“I clearly instructed the security guards to restrict access.”
“I’m sorry. I had really, really urgent news, so I used the Finance Director’s name. I’ll apologize for that later, but I need to talk to you now.”
Beatrice, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, was still in her work clothes as if she had just come from her part-time job, but her usually well-maintained blonde hair was disheveled.
As a princess of a nation, even as a hostage, she always kept herself tidy even while working part-time, so for her to not even care about that…
Especially since there were many things that came to mind when it came to Beatrice, I immediately agreed.
“Allen, take Student Ruth and Student Chloe and leave through the back door. Can we use another meeting room next door?”
“Anything for you, senior.”
He was easy to talk to at times like this. I half-erased Allen’s name from my mental notebook.
Ruth and Chloe clearly had something more to say. Of course, they didn’t just destroy the student council room for no reason. There was no way those two, who knew me well, would do that when Allen even gave them a warning.
There must have been a reason, but…
“Student Ruth and Student Chloe, I’ll call you to the office later. For now, please leave with Allen. If it’s revealed that you two were the culprits, strange rumors will spread.”
“…Yes.”
“I understand…”
They didn’t seem convinced at all, but Beatrice’s matter was more important now. It would be better to talk in the office with the Headmistress next to me, but…
‘She must have come here after realizing I wasn’t in the office.’
Otherwise, there was no way she would know I was here. The fact that she came all the way here instead of waiting in the office meant it was truly urgent.
And I had a rough idea of what it was.
Click.
After sending Allen, Ruth, and Chloe away, I entered the meeting room next door, activated the soundproofing magic that was installed beforehand, and sat down.
Beatrice finally calmed her breathing.
“…You probably have a hunch about why I’m here. You met my brother at the ball.”
“Did something happen in the Delphia Kingdom?”
“The Duke of Wei finally made his move. Even though the situation was unstable, we could have overcome it if he had remained silent… It seems he’s determined to start a civil war.”
The Delphia Kingdom’s civil war.
I had heard about it from the Margrave, Crown Prince Zeke, the Surveyor who visited the rock salt mine, and even eavesdropped on it from Auditor Marcus.
A major event with countless foreshadowing.
The royal family was trying to get on the Headmistress’s good side, even going through with the damn audit, to intervene in the civil war. And Crown Prince Zeke asked me to prevent the Headmistress from being involved and to keep Beatrice safe at the academy.
It wasn’t because of the large bribe from Crown Prince Zeke that I readily accepted his proposal.
And because of that…
“Princess, I apologize, but I made a promise with Crown Prince Zeke. To keep you at the academy and prevent you from getting involved in the civil war.”
“………”
“The royal family will likely try to use you as an excuse to intervene in the civil war, but the Headmistress and I will prevent that. So, as painful as it may be, it’s best for you to stay safe at the academy.”
Crown Prince Zeke had also given me a bribe, asking for that very thing. If it weren’t for the bribe, I would have been moved by the deep sibling love and refused the request, but since I had already received it, it was time to work.
King Akendelminos and the royal family demanding Beatrice? The royal family was in a position where they needed the Headmistress’s power to secure their rear while they dispatched troops to the Delphia Kingdom. If the Headmistress flatly refused to hand over Beatrice, there was nothing the royal family could do.
They would probably find another excuse to intervene in the civil war. It was cruel to say this to Beatrice, but realistically, there was nothing she could do.
“I’ve also heard about the civil war. That the only Rank 8 of the Delphia Kingdom, the Duke of Wei, might have betrayed them.”
“…You’re well-informed.”
“Isn’t the civil war a conflict between Crown Prince Zeke’s faction and the Duke of Wei’s faction? It will be a brutal war, and it’s only natural for the Crown Prince to be concerned about your safety.”
Perhaps it was because he couldn’t involve his younger sister, who had just overcome her chronic illness and was still growing.
He had even bribed me with a large sum of money to ask for this favor, and although she was talented, there was nothing Beatrice could do if she returned to the Delphia Kingdom now.
She was an incomplete but still Rank 5, so she would be helpful, but he was a brother who wished for his sister’s safety. What would he think if his sister volunteered to join the battlefield?
He would immediately cut off the bribes he was giving me, and if he won the civil war, his anger would be directed at me for not keeping his promise.
Then, not only would my life be in danger, but I would also have to pay a hefty penalty.
“I’m not telling you to completely ignore the civil war. But if you try to return to your home country, I’ll have no choice but to stop you, even if it means using the Headmistress’s power.”
“…Finance Director.”
“You can resent me if you want. But my stance won’t change.”
I felt bad about the bribes Beatrice was giving me, but the bribes from Crown Prince Zeke were much larger.
What if Beatrice was disappointed in me and stopped giving me bribes? I could just ask Crown Prince Zeke for more.
More importantly, to be completely honest, this was her homeland and her family, but to me, it was someone else’s business, so I could be even more ruthless.
It was unfortunate for her, but it couldn’t be helped—
“Then, I have one request.”
“Anything but leaving the academy or returning to your home country.”
Honestly, this was a very cruel situation for Beatrice, so I wanted to be as considerate as possible. If I thought about it the other way around, it was like a terrorist attack or a massacre happening at the academy while I was in the Empire.
I couldn’t be indifferent. So I quietly nodded at Beatrice’s somber voice.
“Please get engaged to me.”
“Alright… What?”
Wait.
What did she just say?