Episode 198.1
(EP-198.1)Things #2
198 – Student Things #2
Was there a time when I explained about the outstanding instructors and professors at Ark?
Well, now would be a good time to tell you about the thousands of students hailing from all over the world.
Holy Relics found in every corner of the world.
Chosen warriors.
Or the promising candidates.
All gathered at Ark.
In other words, it was just like Gwanak University was the stage for the All-Star Game where the best players gathered.
Ark could be considered a melting pot for warriors and talents from villages, towns and cities around the world.
Although the Ark professors, assistants, and instructors selected outstanding elites through rigorous processes, it was still difficult to control such diverse and talented students.
And thus, the Single Digit Rankers were formed.
Outstanding elite warriors ranging from Rank 1 to Rank 9.
They were given various legal rights, including the authority to immediately discipline unruly students.
In a sense, the student council empowered students to govern themselves.
The organizational chart included the president—elected once a year, as well as the vice president, general affairs, accountant, secretary, Ministry of Culture, academics, etc…
And the second rank in Ark, Aira, who was at the top, was also naturally a member of the student council.
But since I had never seen Aira engaged in such activities before, I never had the chance to know what her position was, etc. I was too busy to pay attention to it.
Now I understood a little bit.
The privileges of the Single Digit Rankers came from the obligations of the student council. Aira never showed any indication, thus I needed to know.
“Aira-nim, I heard that you’re in the student council. Is that true?”
“… Student Council?”
Seated elegantly in her spacious room and sipping tea, Aira’s brow narrowed in confusion.
“I don’t recall ever placing parchment in such a messy place. I am a Queen. I have the right and duty to belong to no one but the royal family of Angmar~.”
‘I see.’ Aira herself didn’t seem to know such a thing. Had there been any communication from the church or the student council?
“Come to think of it, people from the student council did come by. But they were too noisy while I was napping, so I sent them away.”
“Do you know what they wanted?”
“Well, I suppose they did ask me to help with something. The pile of papers and letters are over there in the corner if you want to read them.”
Aira pointed to a small bird cage, which was packed with various letters, instead of birds.
“There are a lot of letters…”
“It’s not the Queen’s job to read such~.”
Chwareureu-.
The letters spilled out as I opened the cage door.
The types of letters ranged from those bearing the seal of the Angmar royal family, to those stamped with a cross, which was Ark’s seal.
Since they were letters sent to the Queen, they were naturally important. But what caught my eye was a black letter with an eight-legged spider.
A black letter with a spider design…
As far as I knew, this was the symbol of Aira’s guards.
I was curious about what they might have sent to Aira, but refrained from arbitrarily opening it, as it could be a grave offense.
Just then.
Aira snapped her finger.
“Perhaps this is the letter they sent.”
Swish, flutter.
From the pile of letters, one piece of paper floated into the air. It looked like the document that the student council gave to Aira.
Opening it up, there were various greetings and what seemed to be a letter of appointment to Aira. And as Elga had mentioned, Aira was in the accounting department.
That was right.
Accounting.
It involved managing budgets, records, and financial flows in various ways. However, as Aira read through it, her expression soured as if she was unhappy about it.
“Accounting. Isn’t it the same as a finance minister, scrutinizing ledgers and regulating the flow of money? Why didn’t the student council appoint me the role of Queen?”
“There is no position of Queen in the student council.”
“Then I will instruct them to make one from now on.”
“…….”
Aira’s authority was extrajudicial.
This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
Even Belmott, who was originally Angmar’s treasurer, had his title changed to Minister of Finance, because Aira didn’t like the word “treasurer”.
As for me, I held the bizzare title of Entertainment Officer, which Aira created on a whim.
“Theo, go and instruct the student council to create the position of Queen immediately. How dare they treat me like Belmott. This is unacceptable!”
“I will make sure to convey that message…”
Judging by her reaction, it was difficult for Aira to work in the student council. Should we try to appeal to the students’ sentiments in another way?
Given Aira’s beauty and charm, there were many ways to approach the students. In politics, exceptional looks could be a kind of cheat code.
“Come to think of it.”
Aira’s question pulled me out of my thoughts.
“Does Aira-nim want anything?”
“They’re going to conduct a preliminary vote soon, right? Serazade, I can already picture that face crying in defeat. How delightful~.”
Huhuhu— Aira chucked.
A preliminary vote. I’d indeed heard of such a thing.
* * *
A few days later, when the results came out, Aira’s hair was standing up in anger.
It was as if each strand were spider legs, stretching out in all directions.
Knowing that Aira was truly furious, I quickly tried to calm her down.
“You did well in 2nd place, Aira-nim. You did well in 2nd place. 2nd out of 10 is still very good.”
“Something is wrong here… And why are you saying it twice?”
Aira was incredulous about the results. Elga, who was sitting with her, said.
“But how can there be twice the difference in votes between first and second place? Hey, Aira. Get it together. How could you lose so thoroughly to that little girl, Serazade? It’s ridiculous.”
“… What did you say?”
Aira glared at Elga as if she were truly angry at her sarcastic remarks.
Even though they were relatives, this was making me really anxious. It felt too dangerous to poke at an angry Aira like that. Plus, there was also a quarter nymph inside Elga’s stomach.
Fortunately, Aira’s hair gradually settled down.
“… Indeed, it’s ridiculous. Something is definitely wrong here! This can’t just happen out of the blue. Who are the ones responsible for this article?”
At Aira’s question, I quickly looked through the newspaper.
“The Election Management Department and the Nymph Newspaper Department.”
“These guys must have tampered with it. Otherwise, there’s no way such nonsense would happen. That Serazade b¡tch must have pulled a fast one!”
“…….”
Edited by: faker