How to Survive as the Academy Student Council President

“My help?”
When I said I needed her help, Beatrice tilted her head.
I added a more detailed explanation.
“That’s right. To obtain the blueprint for that core, we have to clear a dungeon—and for that, I need your magic.”
Beatrice’s origin attribute was fire, but she basically had aptitude for all elements.
It was thanks to this innate talent that she’d become a 5th-circle mage at such a young age.
And her elemental aptitude was essential for clearing this dungeon.
‘The five Gate Keepers guarding the Aether Dungeon.’
Each one possessed abilities symbolizing one of the five elements—fire, water, wood, metal, and earth—and could only be dealt with using magic of the opposing attribute.
To handle them, you’d normally have to bring five elemental-specialist mages of 5th circle or higher, one for each attribute, but among the academy’s students, finding even a single 5th-circle mage was extremely difficult.
At best, there might be one or two among the 3rd- and 4th-year seniors.
So that meant we would have to bring five mages at teaching assistant or professor level. Realistically, that was impossible.
But if we took Beatrice—a 5th-circle mage with aptitude for all elements—she alone would be enough. You couldn’t ask for better cost-performance than that.
‘Well… given her status as an imperial princess, it feels a bit weird to talk about cost-performance.’
That was the great thing about the academy.
It was a place where all kinds of people across the continent gathered to study.
Commoners or royals—here, they were just students. If necessary, you could even borrow the strength of a classmate who happened to be a princess.
When I mentioned the dungeon, Beatrice thought for a moment, then asked,
“Is this related to the Academy’s Seven Mysteries you mentioned last time?”
“Yes. An article came out about it this time. Did you see it?”
“I’m not very interested in such things, so I skipped it, but I know Yulina read it carefully.”
As Beatrice turned her gaze, Yulina scratched her head awkwardly and spoke to me.
“Yes, well, I read it closely to make sure that reporter didn’t write anything weird again. Unexpectedly, it was pretty fun.”
“Fun and then some.”
I had read Chloe’s article as well.
Chloe’s piece in the Union Daily had been given a large spread on the very last page.
Rather than a simple article, it took the form of a kind of serialized story. It began with an eerie photo of the abandoned old school building, followed by introductory descriptions and narration like the prologue of a novel.
She worked hard on it in many ways: inserting Sudoku puzzles in the middle of the article, including quiz-style explanations about passing through the Mouth of Truth, and weaving in stories related to the dungeon in an entertaining way.
Of course, with about fifty percent truth and fifty percent dramatization mixed together, there was no need to worry about information leaks.
Naturally, there was no mention of the gold bars we obtained as a dungeon-clear reward.
In any case, if even I, who’d personally explored the place, found it entertaining, that said it all.
Chloe’s writing skill combined with her original knowledge of archaeology had produced a synergistic effect.
Thanks to that, the students’ reaction was explosive.
Yulina must have been moved by the article as well, because she declared her intention to participate without much hesitation.
“Can you include me in the dungeon raid too?”
“Beatrice alone is enough. Besides, the more people we bring, the more annoying the profit distribution becomes.”
“Oh, come on, that’s petty. Fine, I won’t take any share, just let me come.”
Apparently unaware that the dungeon exploration reward would be gold bars worth hundreds of millions, Yulina coolly waived her share.
“In that case, sure. Beatrice will need someone to talk to anyway.”
So Yulina would simply be excluded from the reward distribution.
Once Yulina’s participation was decided, Bell—who had been listening quietly—also spoke up cautiously.
“C-can I come too?”
“Of course. You’ll be a big help.”
We could leave the wood-attribute Gate Keeper to Bell, and Beatrice could handle the other four elements.
When I readily accepted Bell’s participation, Yulina narrowed her eyes and asked,
“What’s with this difference in attitude? You told me no.”
“Bell is like a benefactor to me.”
Bell was the hope and light of half-baked mage Loen. Thanks to her Extreme Flame, a ray of hope had opened up for me—she was absolutely a benefactor.
I glared at Yulina and continued,
“You, on the other hand, owe me a favor and still slack off every day. I can’t treat you the same.”

“Ugh.”
Yulina couldn’t really argue with that, so she dropped the matter.
While we were talking, Melga also expressed his desire to join.
“Sounds fun. Any chance I could come too?”
“Hmmm.”
Normally, a dwarf technician wouldn’t be of great help in dungeon exploration. However—
‘If it’s the Aether Dungeon we’re tackling this time… he might be a little useful.’
Unlike the Spooky Dungeon, where ghosts appeared, the Aether Dungeon was plagued by guardian machines left behind by ancient dwarves.
Melga’s knowledge of Magi-Engineering might be useful in dealing with them.
“Heheh, I wanna come too.”
“I-I want to go as well.”
While I was considering it, Malgor and Murgan also applied to join the party.
But I couldn’t take all of them.
I slowly shook my head.
“Too many people is no good. Only one of you three can come.”
I wasn’t about to drag all three of these unpredictable lunatics into the party.
It would be best to bring the most normal of the three—Melga. He was the eldest, too.
Just then, Melga said,
“In times like this, it’s only right that I go. Keh-heh. You two stay holed up in the workshop.”
“Heheh, you’d better bring something back for us.”
“Y-you have to bring us a gift.”
Malgor and Murgan grumbled, but they didn’t insist.
With that, the dungeon raid party began to take shape: me, Ciel, Chloe, Bell, Yulina, Beatrice, and Melga.
There were a lot of mages, so the party balance wasn’t ideal, but each member’s abilities were outstanding, so it wouldn’t be a problem.
“Looks like the party composition is more or less decided.”
“……I never actually said I was going.”
At Beatrice’s remark, I spread my hands.
“Are you going to pass up the chance to strengthen the Union’s forces and improve public safety by upgrading the golems? Not to mention, a next-generation core will have endless potential uses. You’re curious too, aren’t you?”
Mages were the sort who couldn’t stand not knowing something. Beatrice, in particular, had that tendency.
Given that we were talking about the blueprint for a next-generation core from the lost golden age of technology, there was no way she could not be interested.
Beatrice clicked her tongue briefly and quietly averted her eyes from me.
“……Tch.”
I could take that as silent consent.
If you’re going to accept anyway, why play hard to get?
At any rate, with Beatrice also joining the party, there was nothing holding us back.
‘On top of that, her inclusion will make the expedition even more of a hot topic.’
Chloe’s article had already drawn plenty of attention, and now Beatrice was joining the raid, adding star power on top of that.
It was only natural to expect that interest in the Academy’s Seven Mysteries would rise even further.
At this point, I was already curious about what [Trait] I would gain next.
I wrapped up the conversation.
“Let’s put the dungeon exploration matter on hold for now. Since we’re here, I should go see Meyer’s face at least once.”
He had boldly sent me a challenge letter, so it was only right I respond.
***
After meeting with the dwarf brothers—
I headed to the Meister Academy’s main building with the group.
“Loen?”
“What brings you here?”
At first, it looked like the Disciplinary Committee members guarding the entrance were going to block my way.
“Move. Do you even know who I came with?”
When I jerked my chin toward Beatrice behind me, their attitudes changed completely.
“Ah, Lady Beatrice.”
“You may go through.”
They immediately stepped [N O V E L I G H T] aside on both sides to clear the way.
Beatrice glared at me and warned,
“Do not go around using my name.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
“……Who said we were friends?”
Beatrice shot me a sharp look, then turned her head and encouraged the Disciplinary Committee members guarding the main gate.
“Thank you. Keep up the good work.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The students saluted Beatrice.
If I’d come alone, I would have ended up arguing at the entrance, but since I was with Beatrice, we had a free pass everywhere.
With no further obstacles, we soon arrived at the reception room and sat around a wide sofa.
I crossed my legs and looked around the luxurious reception room.
Meyer’s reception room was even more lavish than my Student Council Office.
Shining marble and gold-themed interior design.
Bookshelves lined the walls together with various machines and devices that fused Magi-Engineering and magic.
On top of that, there were things like a bronze globe floating in midair and a desk mobile flitting about restlessly on his desk.
“He really poured money into this place.”
Sip-.
At least the tea served to guests was decent.
I’d spent my entire life drinking nothing but cheap teabag green tea without ever appreciating the aroma, but after drinking so much tea here, I’d started to tell the differences in flavor.
As we sat around the sofa and waited for a bit, a boy appeared.
His overall impression was oily. Curly blond hair, blue eyes, and even a mole under his left eye.
Meyer McDowell, legitimate heir of the Iron-Blood Grand Duke Otto McDowell.
The moment he entered, he bowed to Beatrice.
“It has been a while, Your Highness.”
“Yes, Sir McDowell.”
“Oh-ho, Lady Yulina is here as well. As beautiful as ever, I see.”
“……”
Yulina bowed stiffly, looking somewhat displeased. It seemed the two of them didn’t get along very well.
After greeting the two of them, Meyer turned his gaze to Bell.
“And this lady is?”
“Ah, hello. My name is Bell.”
Bell rose and bowed her head, and Meyer tilted his head as he looked at her.
“May I ask which house’s lady you are?”
“Oh, I’m a commoner.”
“Is that so? A pleasure to meet you.”
Meyer shrugged and turned his eyes away from Bell.
As a high-ranking imperial noble, he didn’t behave openly rude toward Bell, a commoner, unlike other nobles. Of course, he wasn’t particularly friendly either.
Then Meyer turned his head and spoke to me.
“You must be Loen. I can’t say I’m pleased to see you.”
From the way he addressed me so casually, it seemed we were at least acquainted.
“Have we met before?”
At my question, Meyer frowned deeply.
“Did you… hurt your head or something?”
“Yes, my memory’s a bit spotty.”
Meyer sat down comfortably in his chair and nodded.
“Well, that happens. I heard you’ve spent a lot of time in the infirmary. At any rate, I assume you came all the way here because of the Competition Battle.”
“That’s right. Why did you designate me as your opponent?”
“If you want the details, I wrote them in the challenge letter.”
As he looked at me in puzzlement, I replied boldly,
“I didn’t read it. I only found out this morning that you sent me a challenge letter. There were too many of them. How was I supposed to find yours in that mountain?”
“……”
Meyer’s expression grew displeased as he spoke.
“Since you haven’t read it, I’ll tell you myself, Loen. The reason I designated you as my Competition Battle opponent is none other than the judgment of our ‘Noble Alliance.’”