How to Survive at the Academy Chapter 107

Student president election (8)

The student body president election is one of the most popular events among students at the beginning of the semester.

In particular, it was the time when Beros, the former student council president who served two consecutive years, had graduated. Although Beros had served his term relatively moderately and quietly, he was a good student president who finished his term without major accidents while coordinating the opinions between the faculty staff and students in his own way.

What kind of seat is the student council president at Sylvania Academy?

It is a position where you can exert practical influence on the operational policy of Sylvania, mobilize various student manpower including the heads of each department if you wish, and wield authority almost equivalent to that of the principal in case of emergency.

Also, its symbolism is never light. Once a student has had the experience of serving as student council president in Sylvania, even after graduating, there are many cases in which he is selected as a manager for various towers, important positions in the imperial family, and various cities with just that experience.

In the case of a person with a good lineage, it is an opportunity to enter the political world centering on the ecliptic, so it is a position that any student with high aspirations dreams of at least once.

The open space from the front of Obel Hall to the entrance of the student plaza was already filled with numerous students. The crowd is so large that the bachelor’s side separately dispatches safety personnel.

The podium on the first floor of Obel Hall was by no means small, but it was unclear whether his voice would reach the crowd at the back. Of course, amplification magic will be used, but it’s not perfect.

“That is all.”

– Waaaaaaa!

There were a total of four candidates for student body president. Among them, the two people who received the most attention were Lortel and Tanya.

The successor of the Ross Taylor family, who ran for the run with the support of Princess Penia, and the deputy head of Elte Firm, which practically controls the economic sphere of the bachelor’s life ward.

The confrontation between the two was watched with interest by both students and academic staff, but only now the results were seen to some extent.

– The next student president, Lortel!

– At this age, leadership that leads the top… I’m sure the student president will do just fine!

– There is no one more suitable for student council president than Lortel Kecheln…!

– You can feel the sincerity even in the promise…! Why would the person who represents Elte Co. want to be the student council president in the first place! It must be because there is a clear meaning!

– It’s worth trusting and pushing…! The next student council president is Lortel!

A thunderous roar erupted as Lortel gave her final bow and came down the podium. On the way down the podium, Lortel, who showed off her presence by waving her arms, finished her turn well by arranging the arrangement of a gorgeous dress full of lace.

Lortel has no intention of becoming student council president.

Those who knew that fact were, at most, only a few employees of Elte Firm.

However, if you look at Lortel’s current appearance as she exits with a smile amidst the cheers of the crowd… It wouldn’t be strange at all if she was elected as the student council president.

Lortel, who had lived her entire life as a merchant, couldn’t really give up her work at Elte Co. and focus on the student council president, but Lortel’s appearance now seemed to be putting all her energy into becoming the student council president.

Even the public response is the most overwhelming.

As the person in charge of Elte Corporation, he has proven his ability for a long time, and his selection of pledges, as if he knows the taste of the public, seems to scratch the itch.

In addition, public opinion among the seniors is quite good by appropriately releasing various political funds through the bachelor’s staff.

‘The higher the prestige, the more attention is attracted when falling.’

Lortel smiled with her eyes as she continued to wave her arms.

As much as Lortel’s activities were splendid, she also had many enemies. When he works with the public, he cannot always live with his allies.

In particular, if there were forces that could hold a grudge against Lortel… it would be the various business partners who inevitably nodded to the various demands pushed forward by Elte.

The most recent case to cite as an example would be the fact that we almost never delivered food ingredients to Laplace Bakery. The case was a problem with the reprehensible owner who tried to receive supplies first by placing an excessive order. It wasn’t a very pleasant thing.

To sum it up… Due to its position that Elte Trading Co., Ltd. is in charge of the commercial district of the living district, it has been tyrannical to its customers in the living district for various public reasons.

Usually, the cause was somehow justified, but to the victim, it didn’t matter that much.

Everyone would have a grudge against Lortel, but they would not have been able to express their dissatisfaction with Lortel’s growing prestige.

Lortel is a person who takes advantage of even such resentment.

‘I’m sure all the data has been turned around by now.’

After completely descending from the podium, Lortel took off the ornaments that were adorning her body one by one. Blue rose-shaped hairpins, earrings with dark red beads, and long laces. Every time I got rid of such vanities one by one, I finally felt like I was returning to being a merchant.

In front of the podium, secretary Rienna and puppet Dune were waiting politely. They were employees of Elte Corporation.

Lortel put the jewelry she had taken off into their hands roughly, and went into the first floor of Obel Hall with her hair down.

“Kadek and Knox?”

“Escaped as scheduled.”

“Okay. What about the materials that were leaked to the business partners?”

“I took the bait. It will probably be exposed during the election.”

Short conversations with secretaries. Lortel, who had heard only the necessary reports, looked toward the plaza from the entrance of Obel Hall.

The huge crowd was chanting Lortel’s name as one, but Lortel’s expression was cold.

she already knew Public support is like seawater, it comes in like a tide and at times it is swept away like an ebb tide as if it never happened.

In the data released by Elte Trading Co. to its business partners, there is a record of the company’s embezzlement of funds led by Lortel. Of course, Lortel herself created the data.

In the first place, since Lortel considers Elte Corporation and himself as one body, there is no reason to embezzle the company’s funds.

Just the important thing is, he just needed a scratch to pull himself out.

There was no way that the business partners who had a grudge against Lortel would pass up such a good opportunity. In order to damage Lortel, who has built a competent and moral image… the situation of embezzlement and its immorality will be exposed to the world.

As long as the reporter’s anonymity was guaranteed to some extent, the customers who would attack Lortel’s back would be widespread.

Such an embezzlement case is a really fatal scandal for the student body president position, which requires integrity.

It will be an opportunity for Lortel, which has been widely supported by the public, to fall in an instant.

If so, it is certain that all the spotlight will be on Tanya, another candidate who stood at the opposite end of Lortel. The contrast effect will be the most dramatic.

There is a strange catharsis in the fall of the gentleman.

The moment when a person who seemed to rule the world falls in vain is the time when all public eyes gather.

If you can seize the moment and use it as an opportunity to show Tanya’s strength… Lortel is happy to turn the public on her enemies.

Because that’s the most money.

“Assistant Lortel Hoeju. Are you really okay with this plan?”

Suddenly, Rienna’s secretary asked Lortel. It was an off topic question.

Lortel lived her entire life as a villain. He is not a person who hesitates to play a villain.

Notoriety and disgrace will follow, but to Lortel they are nothing but parts of the body.

Lortel is not the type to show off her presence while basking in the light on stage. Usually it is standing behind the curtain.

That is why it is important to carefully choose who will stand on the stage.

“oh.”

There were four candidates in this student council election. However, the two candidates ahead of Lortel did not have much meaning because they were weak in power and had little interest.

However, the next person to step on the podium was the one who was in the public eye in many ways.

“You seem nervous, Tanya.”

Tanya, who will be on the podium after Lortel, stood in front of Lortel, her mouth tight. His hands gripping the hem of his skirt trembled.

I have to pass by Lortel, go up on that podium, and declare my candidacy.

In a place where the whole crowd is chanting Lortel’s name, he must convince the public while raising the weight of the accusation of instigating murder and averting suspicion.

It’s almost an act of torture. It was something that Tanya, no one else, had to handle on her own.

“I am…”

Tanya’s next words surprised Lortel a bit.

“I… didn’t kill Brother Ed.”

He looked straight into Lortel’s eyes and spoke with a firm attitude.

Almost two weeks after Ed went into seclusion.

He jumped out of the royal residence, had a fight with the academic investigators who doubted him, tried to prove his innocence, and even prepared for the student council president election.

It is exhausting, both physically and mentally. However, there was quite a bit of vitality in the pulpit attitude.

Looking at Lortel, I can no longer see her trembling and dying figure.

It is an image of standing upright and speaking only the truth as it is.

After Tanya finished talking like that, she passed Lortel and made her way to the podium.

*

A terrifying silence prevailed.

The crowd of students gathered in the plaza was really huge, but not a single word was exchanged.

Compared to just a moment ago, when it was filled with shouts of Lortel’s name… I wonder if it’s the same scene.

If you stand right on the podium and look down, you can see every aspect of the students.

1st year senior Wade and 4th year senior Dyke are standing in the front row, catching the eyes of the students.

In addition to that, in the corner of the crowd, Clevius can be seen with all the bandages undone, as if the wound had already healed, and Elvira’s face can be seen beside him.

At the far end, Sword Saint Taily was watching with his arms crossed, and his companion, Ayla, was also looking at him with his head leaning on his shoulder.

Other than that, Onyx, the master of flight magic, Anis, the chief assistant, Claude, the alchemist of calamity, Joseph, the youngest researcher in the Mage Tower, Dorothy, the reagent conversion expert, Adele, the romantic bard, Tracyana, the master of elemental magic…

A place full of talented people, like a castle in Sylvania, that makes you wonder what it means to recite them one by one.

Standing straight in front of him, Tanya opened her mouth.

“Hello. I’m Tanya Rosteiler, running for student president this year.”

Even the weak candidates who had come before Lortel gave me applause when I greeted them like that.

But the crowd was completely silent. Still, there were a couple of applause from places for a while, but most of the crowd didn’t even applaud, let alone make a slight movement… Even the claps that did exist stopped in an instant.

Suddenly raising her head and looking ahead, Tanya took a breath and swallowed it.

Each of the heavy gazes seems to choke one’s breath. Thanks to the prestige of the Roth Taylor family, he is not being directly booed, but the hundreds and thousands of cold eyes seem to be asking Tanya.

What kind of presidential election would a murderer run for? Did you covet the power of the student council that much?

It wouldn’t be strange to see that horrifying sight as a lifelong trauma, depending on one’s personality.

“Huh, yup…”

For an instant, Tanya’s breath stopped, but somehow it didn’t show.

Tanya continued to speak with the mental strength of a solid rock.

“I… stood on this podium—”

For a while, Tanya’s words continued.

However, even after 5 minutes and 10 minutes pass, the public is completely silent.

It is the exact opposite of the previous attitude of applauding whenever the flow of speech was interrupted or a primary conclusion was reached.

Somehow the conversation continues, but Tanya feels it enough. Now this silence is an unspoken pressure on Tanya.

Moderate and go down. no one supports you No matter how much I am a candidate supported by Princess Penia and a descendant of a noble ducal family… I don’t think he is a talented person who can assume the position of student council president.

Tanya gritted her teeth and continued to speak, but in the end, the public did not react.

I was forced to hold back the tears. If you show a swaying figure here, everything is really over.

You can stand right in front of this only when you put a steel plate on your face until the end and act as if nothing happened.

Tanya kept talking about concrete plans for the actual restoration of various student facilities, practical improvements to the academic financial structure, expansion of the scholarship system, and improvement of student treatment… but no one listened.

So, the speech time came to an end.

“Then… so far…”

– Murderer!

What kind of courage are you? No, rather, it was more correct to see him as having no courage.

Hiding among the crowd and relying on anonymity, a voice screaming at Tanya resounds.

The cry… had a weak but sure effect, like a drop of poison in food.

A feeling of oppression, as if choking, stopped Tanya from breathing. Still, Tanya miraculously managed to shake her head.

But the next word doesn’t come out. My legs are shaking and I want to sit down right now.

– Please explain the murder teacher charges!

– There are rumors that it is related to the Roth Taylor family’s internal conflict. Are you denying it as well?

– If you look at the information in the student newsletter… it’s like…

– In this situation, is running for student president an appropriate course of action…?

– I don’t know…! But even if you’re like me, if you wear a Ross Taylor business card and enter Sylvania, you’ll want to aim for the student council president seat…!

– That’s right. Once you win, it’s a jackpot…!

– No, you still don’t say a word about the murder-instructor charges…?

Soon, the buzzing sound started to grow little by little.

There are people who whisper in their ears, and there are people who are talking quietly… but just hearing some of them in their ears makes Tanya’s eyes shake greatly.

At this point, Tanya’s retching came up. She could no longer stand upright, so she braced her staggering body by gripping the podium.

Actually, it was reckless.

Standing on the podium in this situation is itself stupid. Still, I didn’t want to run away any longer.

The only thing Tanya Rosteiler did when she entered Sylvania with such vigor was to be surprised, swung around, and run away. It’s a life I’ve been living with my head down all my life, only looking at opportunities, but when the opportunity came, I felt so pitiful to see myself trembling.

“Then… Thank you… for listening…”

Tanya, who managed to throw a closing remark, caught her spirit in the world that seemed to be spinning. She didn’t want to look as unsightly as she did on this podium.

Even if I could finish everything and go back to my room and squeeze my tears while clutching my pillow, I had to remain a strong person in front of these crowds.

– Kwadangtang!

However, do things in the world always turn out like my heart?

In the end, he couldn’t overcome the mental pressure and sat down on the floor without being able to go down the podium.

It was as if he had tripped over a rock and fell over… Weak laughter flowed through the crowd.

– Puke Hup!

– Kkeuk!

-Ooh, don’t laugh…! I’m laughing too…!

Leaving the noisy crowd behind, Tanya hugged her face. He shouldn’t have been in tears at least.

Still, grief gnawed at his heart bit by bit. Should I say I’ve reached my limit?

It was about the time when I thought I had done enough.

—The turning point in life, as always, came suddenly, without warning, like a gust of wind.

– Aaaaaaagh!

The wind blew. It wasn’t the calm wind of late spring, but a huge gale.

– Kyaaaaaaagh!

– What, what… suddenly…!

Banners decorated near the podium fluttered in the gusting wind, and all the students clung to each other’s bodies.

There were students who occasionally stumbled, and there were also those who managed to get their eyesight by grabbing their fluttering hair somehow.

When the wind, which had been raging for a long time, died down, all the gathered crowd held their breath. Even the security officers who were supposed to control the situation stuck out their tongues.

– What, what is that…!

– Ugh… Ugh…!!

– Don’t you have to run away…?

A wolf the size of a house, bigger than a huge podium, stood tall in front of Obel Hall.

It appeared suddenly as if it had leaped through space, but it was only a being manifested by borrowing Yenika’s sensitivity.

– Whoa!

The wolf’s howl echoed magnificently all the way to the student plaza. Riding on its back was a boy wearing a robe… along with a familiar face to everyone, Jenika Failover.

– That, that’s…!

– Senior Wind Spirit! It’s a high-ranking wind spirit…!!

– I’ve seen him manifest during the class placement test…!

Some students recognized the shape of the wolf.

They were the freshmen who witnessed the shape Ed had summoned from the top of the mountain. I took it out because I wanted you to recognize it in the first place.

The fact that he appeared with this wind spirit is the most direct proof that the identity of this boy is not being impersonated or played by someone. This is because there are not many people who can handle high-ranking wind spirits, even in this school.

Tanya had also seen the spirit manifest. At the Altar of Change, this is the image of the spirit that my older brother, Ed Roth Taylor, was handling.

A boy wearing a robe steps up to the podium. As Tanya sat down, she looked up and could clearly see the blond boy’s face hidden under the grove hat.

She tried to say something, but Tanya’s voice wouldn’t come out. Even if you try to speak somehow, all the words are blocked around your chest, perhaps because of the emotions that rise up.

“Ah… uh…”

At the sudden and unreal sight, I wondered if I was hallucinating, but…

“You went through so much trouble because of me, Tanya. I’m really… sorry.”

I was convinced when that calm, subdued voice flowed into my ears.

“There are not many things to explain… but let’s solve the situation first.”

Ed got down on one knee and gave Tanya a gentle pat on the back.

Wasn’t he the man who had lived his entire life hating him? He is a man who has only tarnished the name of Ross Taylor ever since, and has been regarded only as a subject to be condemned.

When I saw that face again and felt a hand patting my back, I was about to burst into tears.

Ed stood up and put down his robe hat. When that face was revealed to the whole world… All the people who had gathered let out a sound of astonishment.

– That, that… That person…

– It’s Ed Roth Taylor…! Clearly… right…

– I also took elementology class, so I know… Really… It’s Ed Roth Taylor, who was said to be dead in the newsletter…!

– Impersonation…? Isn’t that an impersonation…?!

– you idiot…! Look at that high-ranking spirit…! How common are people who can handle things like that?!

Standing in front of the chaotic crowd, Ed straightened the podium.

After Ed makes a few clearing noises, the silence returns in an instant. Everyone listens to him, and the atmosphere in the audience is overwhelmed in an instant.

What is the first line you will utter?

First of all, is the explanation for the fact that you are alive? However, it cannot be simply explained or explained in any way. That’s something to do slowly.

In the first place, this is the place to declare running for student council president. So, is it right to tell a story that fits the spot now?

Above all, what needs to be dealt with right now… is public sentiment towards Tanya, who has been destroyed.

The only person who can do it most straightforwardly and clearly is… Ed Rosteeler himself.

“Hello, this is Ed Rosteyler.”

His influence may be insignificant when looking at the students as a whole… but it is reaching all over the heads of each department. And getting the faculty chiefs well is the key to this student president election.

“I wasn’t even killed by Tanya Rosteiler, and in the first place, I support Tanya more than anyone else.”

Lucy Meiril, head of all sophomores, and Jenika Failover, all seniors of all three years, would listen to him if he persuaded them.

Not only that, Clevius, the head of the 2nd year combat department, also acknowledges him, and Ziggs, the deputy head of the Ministry of Magic, and Elvira, the head of the alchemy department, are also in a position to acknowledge his ability.

As for Joseph and Wade, the head of the 1st year Ministry of Magic… I’ve heard of that skill, so how much the support of Ed Rosteiler means… It just hurts to explain more.

With only the support of Princess Penia, it is possible to solidify the candidate’s position. If his support is added here… the weight will go over.

However, for Tanya, before such political gains and losses…

“Please, I’m always cheering for you as a family so that Tanya’s will can be conveyed well.”

Sitting on the podium, sweeping his face over and over again… Looking at Ed’s back… I just run out of breath.

What rises is the memory of climbing the dukedom’s garden together in the distant past.

Maybe it was because the back of her holding Tanya’s arm, who was out of breath from exhaustion on the uphill road, overlapped again.

Although we are already living in a time far away from that distant past… Memories of that time constantly whispered to Tanya. If it’s been hard, there will definitely come a time when you will be rewarded.

The morning is so bright because the night is long, the time will surely come when I will put an end to the darkness of my life.

Every night, Tanya had lived by whispering that to herself.