How to Survive as the Academy Student Council President

“A challenge letter, huh. I suppose it’s about time to prepare.”
Thud-.
I picked up one of the letters, looked it over back and forth, then tossed it back onto the pile.
Then, gazing at the letters addressed to me, I sank into thought.
Midterm season was finally drawing to a close. Now it was time to prepare for the upcoming Competition Battle season.
These letters that had arrived for me were none other than challenge letters. In other words, a declaration that they wanted to designate me as their opponent for the Competition Battle.
Even if they beat someone like me, it wouldn’t help their Competition Battle ranking in the slightest.
‘What do they even gain from beating someone buried at the very bottom of the rankings?’
Unless your rank is already fairly high, even if you defeat me, it won’t significantly affect your results.
And yet, the very fact that they sent challenge letters to me meant—
‘They’re more interested in the other scraps that come with it than in the Competition Battle ranking itself.’
People who’ve always wanted to pound me into the ground, or those who want to step on me once while my stock is high and ride the wave of fame.
There are probably also students who, out of pure curiosity, sent challenge letters saying they want to see my true capabilities at least once.
In any case—
The tall pile of challenge letters on my desk was proof that there were a lot of people itching to fight me.
Ciel, quietly staring at the pile of letters, asked,
“Will you accept the challenges?”
“There’s no need. If I respond to every trivial thing like this one by one, they’ll just keep pestering me in the future.”
Accepting their challenges doesn’t benefit me in any particular way.
All it does is carry risks, like exposing my hand or getting injured.
Unlike the opponents who are matched randomly according to rank fluctuations, these are people who’ve been openly targeting me since before the season even begins, which makes them all the more dangerous.
“To waste challenge letters on something this pointless. How stupid.”
I roughly shoved the pile of challenge letters aside.
No matter how many challenge letters they send, if I reject them, that’s the end of it.
Of course, that right of refusal is only available because my rank is low.
Under the Competition Battle rules, a lower-ranked student can refuse a challenge letter sent by a higher-ranked student.
But the reverse does not apply.
For example, if I’m ranked 100th, I can refuse a challenge from 50th place, but I must accept ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) a challenge from 200th place.
There are other regulations as well, such as grace periods and the minimum rank difference required to send a challenge letter, but I’ll skip the detailed explanation.
“Still, it might be worth looking through them once, in case there’s a worthwhile opponent among them. In any case, if you’re going to break into the top ten, you need to accumulate various combat experiences, don’t you?”
“That’s true. But after looking at it closely, I realized I don’t have to get into the top ten this season specifically.”
After carefully reading through the rulebook that stipulates the conditions for maintaining the Student Council Presidency, I confirmed that my average rank after taking office simply has to be within the top ten.
Which means there’s no need to push myself too hard right from the start.
Even though my growth in ability has been quite rapid, it’s still too much to try for the top ten right away.
This season, I’ll just climb to a reasonable rank.
Still, to comfortably keep my average rank in check, it would be best to raise it to at least within the top 100.
“Come to think of it, Ciel, didn’t you get any challenge letters?”
Ciel’s Competition Battle rank is exactly 100th.
Of course, that doesn’t mean her skill level is only at 100th.
If Ciel displayed her full capabilities, she could easily enter the top ten.
She’s simply acting as a gatekeeper because she judged there was no need to go any higher.
Not that her role as gatekeeper is to block other students from climbing, but… at the very least, every student who encountered Ciel in a random match ended up returning in a shattered state.
Ciel said,
“As a matter of fact, there were plenty of challenge letters stuffed into my shoe locker.”
“I guess they’re bored with life. Are you planning on showing leniency?”
Ciel, usually so expressionless, smiled broadly as she answered.
“Once they challenge me, I will not forgive them.”
From that smile, I felt an inexplicable chill.
It seems she’s been relieving the stress she receives from Loen through physical activities like fighting or exercise…

Feeling a twinge of fear, I asked,
Since there was a chance I could accidentally run into Ciel while climbing the Competition Battle rankings—
“This is just me worrying, but… I’m an exception, right?”
“Of course not. The world of competition is merciless.”
“……”
Ciel was openly declaring that she wouldn’t go easy on even me and would crush me head-on.
All I could do was pray I wouldn’t encounter her while climbing the Competition Battle ranks.
***
The next day.
I went into the lab to check whether the artifact for Intermediate Alchemy advancement and potion production were progressing smoothly, then headed straight to Eredor Territory.
It was to sit for the exam in my last major course, Introduction to Intermediate Magic.
When I entered the classroom, I could feel the students’ chatter was noticeably louder than usual.
‘It’s pretty noisy.’
At first, I assumed they were just sharing information before the exam or hyping themselves up over the expected difficulty, but after listening more closely, I realized that wasn’t the only topic.
— Did you hear? Meyer sent a challenge letter.
— To whom?
— Who else! To Loen, obviously.
Some students were whispering about the challenge letter sent to me.
With midterms almost over, it seemed the soon-to-begin Competition Battle season had become the main topic of conversation.
I let their chatter wash over me and took a seat in the back.
‘Meyer, huh.’
The challenge letter sent by someone named Meyer… I suppose it must be mixed in among that pile.
As I took out writing tools from my bag and set them in place, I briefly recalled the setting of The Saga of Mirielin.
In Cassandra, the Magic Empire that forms the backbone of Eredor, there exist seven families that are the origin of the Mage Towers.
First, Elemental Studies, which handles the five fundamental elements that compose the world and their transformations. The Cassandra Imperial Family.
Next, Magi-Engineering, the cutting edge of human technology, which fuses magic and engineering. The Grand Ducal House of McDowell.
Alchemy, which seeks the elevation of the soul through the fusion and transformation of matter. The Marquess House of Paracelsus.
Ancient Studies, which investigates traditions, origins, ancient relics, and runes. The Count House of Müller.
Summoning Studies, which commands divine beasts and summoned creatures from other realms. The Count House of Lorbaker.
Astronomy, which explores the laws of the heavens and borrows the power of the stars to pursue truth. The Ducal House of Astraia.
Barrier Studies, which establishes the generation and structure of magic circles and explores the disconnection and flow of space-time. The Count House of Westcott.
These seven magical houses are the predecessors of the empire’s Seven Mage Towers.
Although the Cassandra Imperial Family is the central axis of the seven houses and the largest shareholder of the Seven Mage Towers, they cannot ignore the influence of the other six houses.
The Meyer who sent me a challenge letter was a scion of the Grand Ducal House of McDowell—one of those seven.
By status, he was in no way inferior to me.
Meyer McDowell belongs to the Meister Academy, but I know he also takes Introduction to Intermediate Magic.
He’s not in Class 1 like me, but Class 4, if I recall correctly? Their lecture time and curriculum differ slightly.
In any case, for the student council president of the Meister Academy himself to send me a challenge letter—
I’d tossed the challenge letters into a box without even skimming them because there were so many.
Surprising, if surprising… but considering how many messes Loen has left scattered around, he could have sent it out of personal grudge.
While I was thinking this over, Bell came over to my seat and pointed at the other students as she asked,
“Loen, did you get those challenge-letter things they’re talking about?”
“Yeah, but there were so many I haven’t checked them yet. I didn’t even realize Meyer’s was among them.”
“I see. Then will you accept Meyer’s challenge?”
Bell asked, her red eyes shining.
If it were a challenge from some random riffraff, that’d be one thing, but if it’s Meyer’s, it might be worth accepting.
Given our matchup, it wouldn’t be difficult for me to win.
After thinking for a moment, I spoke.
“There’s no reason I can’t accept it.”
“……!”
With my declaration, the classroom immediately rippled with murmurs.
They began saying the match between me and Meyer had been set and started speculating on who would win.
Some of them got so into it that they began listing the people expected to perform well in this Competition Battle.
Amidst the growing buzz—
Creak-.
The door at the front of the classroom opened, and Martelgia and Wayne stepped up onto the platform.
“All right, everyone, focus. Please take your seats~ We’ll now begin the midterm exam for Introduction to Intermediate Magic~”
***
Forty-five minutes after the exam began.
I quietly rose from my seat and handed my test paper to Teaching Assistant Wayne.
Receiving my exam sheet, she adjusted her glasses and said,
“Once you submit, you cannot make any further corrections. Is that all right?”
“Yes.”
I nodded and walked straight out of the classroom.
If I had to pick the most pleasant moment during exam season, it would be this one.
The moment when you submit your answer sheet early, before the time limit ends, and stroll out of the classroom at ease.
With this, I had finished all of the major-course exams I had registered for.
The midterm exam for Introduction to Intermediate Magic was mostly problems at about the level of high school mathematics, combined with the magical principles of The Saga of Mirielin.
This time, it wasn’t too difficult, but at this rate, if the difficulty keeps climbing, it might become somewhat difficult to maintain an A grade.
Of course, if I sat at a desk and studied all day, I wouldn’t have trouble keeping up with the material, but I simply don’t have the time for that.
‘I’ve got a lot to do besides studying.’
Given the circumstances, it’s about time I prepared to obtain one of the academy’s three great artifacts, [Sage’s Glasses], which I had set as a goal at the start of the semester.
Conveniently, I was also on the verge of meeting the quest unlock conditions of Intelligence stat 50 and [Intermediate or higher trait level].
When I stepped outside after finishing the exam, I saw Beatrice sitting alone in the small rest area attached to the classroom.
She was the first student to finish the exam.
She had finished about ten minutes earlier than I did, and that was probably after thoroughly checking her answers and going over everything at a leisurely pace.
Seeing her sitting there, it seemed she was waiting for Yulina to finish.
Rustle-.
Noticing my presence, Beatrice, who had been reading a book, turned her head and looked at me.
She had an expression of considerable surprise.
Beatrice raised one eyebrow at me, then immediately frowned.
“You came out quite early. Don’t tell me you just guessed on the latter questions?”
“Of course not. I sincerely worked through to the end. I can expect a decent score.”
“……I do acknowledge that your grades have been improving recently, but to think you’d finish before Yulina.”
“I did feel her gaze on my back as I came out. I just hope she didn’t rush and make careless mistakes.”
When I submitted my test paper, I thought I might have felt Yulina’s gaze from the front row.
I sat down one seat away from Beatrice.
She glanced sideways at me for a moment, then fixed her eyes back on her book.
Curious what she was reading, I peered over, only to see page after page crammed with formulas that looked like some alien language, and I recoiled.
How long has it been since the exam ended, and she’s already looking at stuff like that?
I deliberately spoke loud enough for Beatrice, quietly reading her book, to hear.
“Since exams are over, I’m planning to visit the Meister Academy.”
“……”
Beatrice showed no reaction at first, then, with a sigh, she asked,
“The Meister Academy—because of Meyer McDowell’s challenge letter, I take it?”
“That’s not the only reason. As you know, the general atmosphere in and around the academy has been unsettled lately, so I heard you’re focusing your efforts on reinforcing the security forces.”
“So you knew.”
“I saw that the list of additional dispatch requests you submitted included the De Valis knight order.”
The De Valis family’s knights, hardened by real combat, are among the finest forces on the continent.
No telling when they’ll actually be stationed in the Union, but their presence will certainly make the Union a bit safer.
Beatrice said,
“Yes, the De Valis knights are reliable. Up until now, for the sake of fairness, we’ve been pulling knights from each house and kingdom, organizing them into seven rotating groups in charge of security, but after this incident, I felt the need for change. I realized we need to bolster our absolute strength.”
To her words, I responded with the nuance that she’d given me the perfect opening.
“Exactly. And on that note, I have something that could help with that reinforcement. Since exams are over, would you like to visit the Meister Academy with me?”