How to Survive as the Academy Student Council President

“Terms… you say?”
Rize asked my proposal cautiously.
“Yes. This is a contract. I help you, and in return you move for me. Will you hear it?”
Rize hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
She was in no position to be picky anyway, and there was no harm in listening to the contract terms.
With Rize’s consent, I recited the conditions of the contract.
“First, from now on you will be my exclusive appraiser.”
“Huh? Then I won’t be able to take other customers?”
“Didn’t you say all your regulars stopped coming anyway? It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Even so, that’s….”
Hearing me tell her to sever ties with other customers, Rize looked a little reluctant.
So I offered a compromise. This was my original intent anyway.
“You find that hard to accept, huh? Then make my business inquiries your top priority. Will that do?”
Rize accepted my proposal without hesitation.
“Yes, I understand!”
“Good.”
I can appraise artifacts myself if I need to.
I know game item effects well enough, and if necessary I can analyze them through the system.
What mattered was that I would hold the right of first refusal on every item Rize handled from now on.
“Next. Besides artifact appraisal, start the magic-tool trading business in earnest.”
“Me… run a magic-tool trading business?”
“Yes. You’ve been trading a couple of pieces a month through dealers up until now. I want you to expand the business properly.”
Rize had started as a magic-tool appraiser but gradually expanded the business to trading.
As a result, she grew into a “special merchant” who handled valuable «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» and unique artifacts.
Originally I, the protagonist, would have helped Rize achieve that, but I had late to take that role.
Now she ran a shabby stall in the corner of an alley, but later Rize would become a magic-tool merchant who dominated the underworld.
“A special shop owner who dominates the underworld.”
For an alchemist like me—specialized in strengthening artifacts and granting abilities—she was a talent I had to recruit.
Through her I could obtain the artifacts and items I wanted easily and cheaply in the future.
“With your talent, you will succeed. Maybe you could even build an organization inside the underworld.”
“I don’t hope for that much….”
“Even if you don’t, it will happen someday.”
That was the fate of a named like Rize.
When I spoke firmly, Rize nodded as if she understood.
“All right. I’ll try it. Then what help will you give me, Loen-nim?”
Rize’s eyes sparkled as she asked.
This was the contract.
Not only would Rize work for me, but I would also help her.
I took two artifacts from my coat and placed them on the table.
Click-.
“First, I’ll give you Sara’s ring and Svelrun’s necklace. Sell them and use the proceeds as capital for your business.”
They were luxury items I didn’t need, but they would fetch a good price.
Together they would be worth roughly 200 million Krone.
Rize, the appraiser, widened her eyes when she saw the value of the artifacts.
She had no immediate buyers, but if she tried to sell them she could manage somehow.
“And until the sales money comes in, use this. It should cover interest, protection fees, and living expenses for a while. I’ll also send regular sponsorship on top of this.”
I took a check for about 30 million Krone—money ready to use—and placed it on the counter.

It was a painful outlay given my current liquidity, but it would return tens or hundreds of times over later.
“Well? Will you accept?”
When I offered a large sum, Rize hastily waved her hand and refused.
“U-um… I can’t accept such a large amount.”
I pressed her by pointing to her present situation.
“You can’t accept it? Then do you plan to live chased by debt collectors for the rest of your life? You’ll be worrying from tomorrow on.”
I narrowed my eyes and indicated the stall.
Today she was safe thanks to me, but there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again tomorrow.
In fact, it was more likely they would return tomorrow with more men seeking revenge and make a bigger scene.
She should pack up and move the shop or run away now.
Given these circumstances, the best she could do was accept my offer.
“Opportunities like this are rare, Rize. Think again.”
“…….”
Under my pressure Rize quietly bit her lower lip.
Most people would accept my offer in such a situation.
No one refuses a rope thrown down when they’re about to fall off a cliff.
And yet—
“I still can’t. I’m sorry. I’ll manage my own work somehow.”
After thinking it over, she politely declined my offer.
Apparently she thought she could not take more help after already receiving my favor.
Then I had to play the last card.
“Then consider it repaying me for saving you before. Still no?”
“Yes. I’ll repay the favor you did me another way, Loen-nim. Somehow.”
“…….”
Rize answered composedly, her silver eyes shining.
Even mentioning the favor I had done for her earlier to persuade her hadn’t worked.
I smiled inwardly as she stubbornly refused.
Foolish, pointless obstinacy.
But her reaction actually reassured me.
In a world without a protagonist, Rize hadn’t changed at all.
I looked at her and offered a begrudging compliment.
“You’re stupid. Truly stupid. Whoever taught you must have had a hard time.”
“That’s… too mean.”
I gave a wry smile and said to her.
“But that side of you is good. You grew up properly.”
“……Yes?”
I already expected she wouldn’t accept my offer.
It was a test I set for her.
I wanted to see how a character like Rize would have changed in a world without a protagonist.
But she passed the test unchanged, just as I had known she would.
In fact, the mere fact she had stubbornly continued her business until now said a lot.
An ordinary person would have given in to the Red Hound gang, or abandoned her master’s legacy and run away.
Whether this was uprightness or foolishly spurning opportunity, I didn’t know.
'Anyway.'
Since she refused the fish I was offering, I had to help her learn to catch one herself.
Unlike other students who were protected within the Union, the young Rize had to survive in this dangerous place on her own.
It might be meddlesome, but it was something I had to do.
“All right, Rize. You are now my external recruit number one.”
“?”
There were many acquaintances and colleagues inside the academy—Ciel among them—but this was the first comrade I welcomed outside.
A milestone, indeed.
I said to her with a little excitement.
“Follow me.”
I turned and motioned for Rize to come.
“Uh… where are we going?”
“I’m getting you a job.”
“A job? Where?”
Smiling at Rize’s innocent question, I said,
“The Panopticon.”
The great force that dominated this underworld.
“!”
She stared wide-eyed, then I added one last line to her.
“It’s a big corporation.”
***
The bustling downtown of the underground city was crowded with people.
Emerging from an alley, Rize and I pushed through the crowd and strode down the main street.
Rize seemed unused to so many people and kept looking around with wonder in her eyes.
We kept walking along the avenue until a massive marble building appeared before us.
Amid the half-ruined buildings of the underground city, it stood with an imposing dignity—the Panopticon’s western branch.
In the game it served as one of the major warp points in the underground city.
Its exterior was exactly as I remembered from the game.
“I-it’s really here.”
Rize, trembling behind me, looked frightened by the imposing building.
To Rize, a mere small citizen, stepping into the tiger’s den by herself would feel like walking into the lair of the mafia.
“Loen-nim, it’s not too late to go back, okay?”
She tugged at my sleeve in resistance, but I spoke firmly.
“Shut up. Stay close behind me. If you do that, you won’t be in danger.”
“……I don’t know anymore.”
When we climbed the steps together with Rize looking resigned, two guards standing in front of the main gate blocked our path.
“What business do you have here?”
Instead of answering, I scanned the guards from head to toe.
“…….”
They carried large halberds and wore black armor covering their whole bodies.
On the chest of that armor was painted the Panopticon’s symbol—the Red All-Seeing Eye.
It suggested there was nowhere in this underground city beyond the Panopticon’s gaze.
Sizing up their gear, I roughly estimated their capabilities.
They did not possess artifacts with high magic resistance, and their halberds and armor were merely ordinary equipment.
'This level is more than manageable.'
First, I needed to subdue these two guards and call out the person in charge.
It would be difficult to meet the Panopticon western branch head by proper channels, so I planned to cause a commotion.
'Of course, if I revealed my identity now, I could enter the building easily… but—'
It would be hard to leave a strong impression on the person in charge or gain psychological superiority. Permission and recognition are entirely different.
I organized my thoughts and calmly addressed the guards blocking the way.
“I came to see your master.”
“State your business more clearly.”
Despite the guards’ polite reply, I provoked them.
“I do not speak to underlings. Go fetch your superior.”
“…….”
My arrogant, aggressive tone clearly showed on the guards’ faces the hostility rising.
Exactly what I wanted.