Student Council Office

I sat by myself on a velvet couch, which was way more comfortable than it had any right to be. The tea was warm and soothing, and the confectionery was top-notch as well. I had no complaints about it.

Well.

That was assuming I ignored the extremely loud problem in the room.

“Have you ever read the academy rules?! It was written right there!”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know that was a thing!”

“It is absolutely a thing! And even if you didn’t read it, common sense should tell you not to damage academy property!”

“But I really wanted to show it to—”

“—I know! You’ve said that ten times already, and it still doesn’t make it any better!”

Ah.

What a wonderful tea this was.

I took another slow sip while Ricent’s soul continued getting purified several meters away from me.

“Did you brew this tea yourself, dear President?”

She nodded. “I did. But… could you not call me that? It’s kind of embarrassing to hear you say it.”

“It’s your title, isn’t it?”

I was just glad that even nobles like the feisty secretary there still called her president. At least she wasn’t being discriminated against in her own office.

I took another sip. The aroma was smooth, calming, and quite effective at making me forget there was an active execution happening a few meters away.

“Still,” I said, lowering the cup, “this is genuinely good tea.”

“Thank you for the flattery.”

“You say that as if I’m lying. Seriously, this is good.”

Not as good as Leila’s, but who could beat her anyway?

Clara carefully placed her cup onto the saucer with a soft clink before straightening her posture.

“I’m really sorry Talia dragged you into this,” she said apologetically. “This… wasn’t exactly how I pictured your first visit to the student council office to be like.”

“It’s alright. I feel like this is the best way for me to get acquainted with this room anyway.”

Better than getting called in to be disciplined. This felt like a quick, small reunion of friends instead.

I honestly thought I was screwed when I was dragged along Ricent’s comeuppance by the secretary, Talia. I tried explaining myself several times, but every attempt got shot down by the secretary’s terrifying glare before I could even finish a sentence.

Thankfully, Clara was in today, and she was a lot more reasonable to reason with, which led to our current situation.

I was absolved of involvement, and Ricent was taking the full brunt of the blame.

I felt bad for him, but he honestly needed to learn things the hard way. I mean, what kind of person would rip a notice paper in front of a faculty member? If he wasn’t disciplined properly anytime soon, I wouldn’t just be dragged under a bus, I’d be a mere paste on the road.

Sad to say, I had to agree with the feisty secretary on this one.

Before long, even Talia ran out of fuel. There was only so much of Ricent’s innocence one could take, and it seemed it finally got to her. She let out a huge, defeated sigh.

“Seriously. If he weren’t so favored by the academy, I would’ve…”

Ricent is favored by the academy?

Ah.

So that’s why the academy never pressed charges against him about the wall.

“I expect a written apology to be sent to my desk by tonight,” Talia added coldly, “And if I catch you tearing down anything again, I’ll personally staple you to the announcement board as a replacement. Got it?”

“Y-Yes, Ma’am!”

“Don’t call me ma’am! Ugh, just go!”

Ricent turned and then practically fled the room.

The moment the door shut behind him, silence finally descended upon the office.

Well then. Time to finally make use of that tournament information and start training.

I pushed myself off the couch—

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Feyt?”

I paused and turned back toward Clara.

“What is it?”

“Could you stay for a moment?” she asked softly. “I need to talk to you… in private.”

I saw Clara eyeing Talia, who seemed to understand her intentions as she immediately grabbed her bag and left the room without another word.

I stood frozen by the couch.

…Why though.

…

“I... heard about the incident.”

“Incident?”

“You know, the one where they accused you of… that.”

“Ah, that.” I sank back into the couch.

To be honest, I’ve been trying to keep it off my mind. I had my fair share of Feyt-the-discipline-loving-attendant rumors, and Feyt-the-panty-stealer gossip, which was mostly spread as a joke, still felt worse to hear echoing down the hall.

I suppose as a Student Council President, the report must’ve gotten through to her at some point. Though with how basically everyone won’t stop talking about it, she would’ve heard about it regardless.

“I can’t believe they would accuse you of such a thing. It’s disgusting,” she remarked, her tone sharp.

“It’s not a big deal, really.” I chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck. “Besides, Lady Carine came and helped explain things before things got too far.”

Even though it reached the hands of a director.

“But that still doesn’t make it forgivable.” Her eyes narrowed. I sensed the same silent fury she showed when she found me with a bruise on my head. “Thankfully, Director Randolph made the right decision in disciplining them.”

With how much fury she was showcasing here, she must be the type to uphold justice above all, huh? I can see why she became the Student Council President now.

But, placing worry on something that had already passed its course… wasn’t too healthy.

“Had Director Randolph sided with them… had the report been taken at face value… you wouldn’t even be sitting here right now. You could’ve been suspended, fined, or even expelled.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t.” I shrugged. “Seriously, there’s nothing to worry about. Lady Carine’s connections helped me a lot.”

The moment my other self’s name left my mouth, Clara fell strangely quiet.

“So Carine was the first one to help you…” she murmured softly.

Hm?

Something about her tone felt… off.

Not angry.

But not exactly sad either.

I blinked. “Clara?”

Her shoulders stiffened slightly before she quickly shook her head.

“It’s nothing.” She forced a faint smile. “I’m just… relieved things worked out.”

That was very obviously not nothing.

Still, pressing further felt like stepping onto a landmine while blindfolded, so I wisely chose not to.

“Ah right,” she said, interrupting the tensing atmosphere with the clasp of her hands. “The tournament!”

My ears instinctively perked up.

“As the president, I have reviewed the rules in detail. If you like, I can help share some of them with you?”

“Would I?” I said, starry-eyed.

—

The tournament this time would take place in different locations. The preliminary rounds at least. They would either take place in the several private training chambers scattered in the academy, some of the training grounds, and so on. It wasn’t an elimination game where if you lose, you’re out. Rather, it was a point-based one.

Win a duel, and you’ll get a point. Only those who won three or more points could move on to the next phase, which would finally take place in the arena.

This meant that even if I encountered a hidden prodigy and ended up kissing the ground in one punch, I wouldn’t be out of the game just yet.

There, it was the classic elimination game. If you lose, there weren’t any losers bracket. You’re just out. So once you reach that phase, it was all for nothing.

This tournament would go on for several days. The only one that would actually have an audience would obviously be the second phase.

As for the rules of the match itself.

First, mages were excluded. In fact, magic users probably wouldn’t be allowed in tournaments again for quite a while, especially after what Ricent had done to the arena walls.

Second, all matches would be one-on-one duels. Participants were free to choose any weapon they liked, so long as it was academy-issued to keep things fair. That meant I sadly couldn’t use Mother’s gift for the tournament. A shame.

Third, victory could be claimed by any of the following:

- Landing a solid, decisive hit.

- Disarming the opponent.

- Immobilizing them through grappling or restraint.

- Knocking them to the ground.

Overall, it was pretty similar to the sparring rules Instructor Liz used in class, including the usual restrictions like no strikes below the belt.

“So aside from the preliminary format, it’s basically just a normal tournament, huh?”

Clara nodded. “From what I read, there weren’t any preliminaries last year. Every match was held in the arena, but they changed it this time to help with pacing and crowd management.”

“I see… Thank you for this, Clara! That’ll help me a ton!”

Now I knew I needed to prepare myself to fight more than just a few opponents. With how the prelims were formatted, there was a chance I would be fighting more than half a dozen students in each body before I even set foot in the arena.

“I’m glad I could help,” she said with a serene smile. Then I noticed her fingers tighten around her own hand. “Actually, Feyt…”

“Yeah?”

“Are you… looking to win the tournament?”

“Win?” I stopped to ponder, but then, I shook my head. “I don’t know if I’ll win or not, but I will definitely try my best.”

The Third Prince’s request of me wasn’t to win the tournament after all. Just for me to “try my best”. Of course, to suit his agenda of bragging to his snobbish friends in the palace about me, I needed to get Carine to the second phase at the very least.

“I see…” Clara muttered. “Then… would you like my help?”

“Your help?” I parroted. “What kind of help?”

She scratched her cheeks lightly. “Well… I could stand by near you to heal when needed. I can even help recover stamina using magic now!”

I widened my eyes. “You can do that?”

She nodded with a small puff of pride. “I’m still learning, too, you know? I’m bound to start figuring out new spells to try with my Light Magic!"

Recovering stamina with a spell.

That sounded dangerously close to cheating.

There was a good chance the preliminary matches would be scheduled back-to-back, too, so having someone refill my stamina in between rounds would be absurdly useful.

But…

“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary."

Her eyes widened immediately, fingers clutching at her blouse. “W-Why?”

“I promised I’d come to you if I got hurt, right?” I said. “But if I start running to you over every tiny scratch, I feel like I won’t be able to hold my head high anymore. So… I’ll pass.”

Clara still looked uneasy. “Are you… sure you don’t need my help?”

I scratched my cheek awkwardly before adding, “Listen, if I get seriously injured, I’ll definitely come find you. I promise that at least.”

“I see…”

Slowly, but surely, Clara’s smile returned. “Then, I wish you the best at the tournament. If you need any help at all, come to me immediately, got it?”

I gave a vigorous nod. “Thanks! I’ll keep it in mind!”

With that, I finally rose from the couch. I made my way to the door and grabbed the handle. Before leaving, though, I turned one last time to Clara.

“See you later, President Clara!”

She was taken aback but quickly waved her hand frantically awkwardly. “S-See you!”

With that, I finally left the office, closing the door behind me with a satisfying click.

I got some solid info thanks to this accidental meeting. Don’t know if I should thank Ricent or not, though.