NOVEL NEXT Chapter 817
<817 – Newbie Accepted (16)>
Gift Academy Faculty Area.
Robert Elahim’s office.
“Seoguyeon’s main faction was annihilated by a foundation spy, and a peace treaty was signed with Velvet?”
Robert Elahim was taken aback by the administrative instructor’s words right after returning from the North and immediately going on another business trip to the Western military zone.
It wasn’t admiration or reflection that marveled at how he didn’t seem to tire from that long journey.
A professor with any conscience wouldn’t commit such a harsh workplace harassment as continuous business trips without a break from the start.
“Dark Princess. Heir of the Foundation Oknodie. A minor Great Evil has swallowed Seoguyeon whole overnight!”
“Professor… the atmosphere on-site was bleak. If it was a merger by force, it’s a relationship that will break down sooner or later, isn’t it? Isn’t that just a pointless worry?”
“The problem lies in the fact that there were no casualties. Would the Dark Princess who even killed the Director have spared their limbs if they weren’t her people?”
“Aha!”
Robert Elahim’s point was valid.
A ruler does not relinquish their power.
The more power is shared, the weaker it becomes, and those who cannot solidify their position die with a knife in their back.
It’s said that those who rise through the sword fall to it as well.
Sparing Creamfield Rozepasta’s life was an act that one couldn’t accomplish without having a trusting corner.
“Professor… even if Seoguyeon fell to Oknodie, what does it matter?”
“Are you really the instructor Robert Elahim who teaches [Emergency Response Strategies to Economic Crises]? Isn’t it necessary to prepare before a crisis arrives?”
“Well, even if you say prepare… Oknodie is merely a good student who protected everyone from the Director’s tyranny, right?”
Compared to a deranged professor who would captivate tentacle monsters from outer space in preparation for a sudden attack by giant tentacle monsters flying in the sky, Oknodie seemed much safer in the eyes of the instructor.
“Seoguyeon has fallen. The Saintess Alliance also acts like Oknodie’s limbs, so the Benevolent Deity sects seem to be out of the picture. The Southern Sacred City-State Federation also has quite a few cities leaning towards Oknodie due to the fantastic fire show and the Revolutionary Army’s invasion prevention. The North must be aware of this?”
“Yes… With the news of the Demon King’s Four Kings being assassinated, the common people and soldiers are showing tremendous goodwill. Northern Grand Duke Yuda and Northern Grand Duchess Irene are also pro-Oknodie figures. There’s even a movement to reclaim the borders up to the Human Limit area and recruit the Demon Realm Expedition for the first time in hundreds of years.”
“On top of that, at sea, the Archduchess of Arcadia who showed the prowess of an admiral, the candidate Pirate King Jigoku with a luxury flagship, and the subordinate Jigoku Pirate Group are supporting her.”
“Uh…?”
“Moreover, the terrorist organization Bikini Armor Group, the former life thief’s disciple, the second-in-command of the dark world following the Foundation, Dark Trading Company, Collection City, Kingdom of Troy, and even the Dark Empress Masugaki of the Holy Central Empire are all following her. Even the people of the Revolutionary Army and beast people are indirectly pledging loyalty to Oknodie under Revolutionary Army General Son Ohchun.”
Looking at all of this, pro-Oknodie forces already spread across the continent.
It would be faster to count the forces that weren’t friendly.
“Oknodie has established a foundation to exert influence over the world faster than the Director and is leaping between light and darkness. It means the Great Evil has completed its preparations to move while no one is realizing!”
“…!!”
The instructor trembled with fear.
How did she amass such a vast power in seemingly no time at all?
It appears Oknodie isn’t the one facing the world, but rather the world is going to follow Oknodie’s will.
Becoming Oknodie’s enemy.
That was no different than becoming humanity’s enemy.
“Furthermore, she’s promoting the establishment of a branch academy and has established friendly relations with the genetically modified green-skinned goblins. Now even experimental short-lived homunculi are demanding to be accepted as students with improved lifespans and a human rights promotion movement.”
“I-I’m scared. Professor, what on earth is Oknodie trying to do by continually expanding her influence?!”
“I don’t know. That’s why it’s even more certain. If we try to stop her after she moves into action, there will be nothing we can do. Unlike those who cannot even perceive the approaching crisis, we must ring the alarm to prepare the world for this unknown threat.”
“!!”
“We are the alarm of the world, and you are the vanguard.”
The instructor, on the verge of dying from continuous business trips, felt an incredible sense of mission swell up within him.
“Instructor.”
“If there’s something I must do, please give me your orders.”
“Head to the city where Professor Weird rescued the scholarship student formerly known as [Golden Magical Girl]. We will find clues to stop the Dark Princess’s era from there.”
“May I take on such an important task?”
“Don’t say something stupid. I’m assigning it to you precisely because of that.”
The bumbling instructor, thinking he’d become less than human if he pulled this stunt again, realized he had willingly stepped into a trip again after leaving the academy.
While inheriting only praise from the professors, the instructor was a sad creature that swelled with pride, only to suffer dire consequences repeatedly.
*
The collaboration for the unification of student council candidates with Senior Velvet was a success.
“I, Velvet Belle, hereby withdraw from the student council president candidacy and declare my support for the Oknodie candidate. I hope everyone who cast a precious vote for Seoguyeon views their support for Oknodie as support for me as well.”
The campus was engulfed in shock.
“Oknodie? That kid is just a second-year!”
“Not to mention they’ve advanced to the third year.”
“Even so, how can a second-year be the student council president!”
“How is someone who has killed two of the Three Great Evils, taken down the Demon King’s Four Kings, caused the Benevolent Deity to fall into evil, and befriended the Empire’s Dark Empress get dismissed so easily?”
“D-Don’t say it like that! Even if I have achieved nothing, I’ve spent longer at the academy than that second-year, so I might have some superiority over Oknodie, right? It’s too much to trample on my shabby pride!!”
“…Has this foolish kid properly grasped self-objectivity, or not?”
“Ugh…! You don’t know the slimy emotions of an inferior student who has to survive in a perilous academy without the noble faction and its shameless pride being crushed! What do you know about this stingy feeling!”
Seeing a classmate who ran away crying, a third-year student looked dumbfounded as their junior said to them.
“Leave them alone. That one received a letter this morning at home, saying they were to return to the Empire and study Dark magical engineering after receiving a response to devote themselves to the teachings of the Dark Empress.”
“That’s a seriously distressing letter.”
“It came from our house too, want to see?”
“No need.”
Regardless of the commotion inside and outside the academy, it seemed that the student council president would practically be decided by Oknodie’s wishes.
Now, the students’ interest turned to who Oknodie would put forward as the figurehead.
“Since she loves to play, wouldn’t she not want to handle troublesome things like being student council president?”
“She needs to look out for her faction’s members too.”
“Don’t those huge powers usually delegate to the most trusted?”
“Who’s the second-in-command of Oknodie’s faction?”
“Jiang often goes around claiming he’s Oknodie’s best friend.”
As Jiang happened to pass nearby, he wore a smug expression under his fox mask.
“To more easily manipulate the Saintess Alliance, wouldn’t they empower the Saintess, Nepher-tem?”
“M-Me?!”
Suddenly getting all the attention, Nepher-tem waved her hands with a pout.
“No, I didn’t hear anything at all!”
“…Senior. Is that true?”
“Eek, where did this kid come from!”
Just pointing her finger at her waist made Jiang’s fierce atmosphere feel like she had been stabbed by a sharp memory, and Nepher-tem nodded in a daze.
“Then it’s definitely Arcadia? Oknodie has been following her a lot at her tea party. They even call each other by nicknames.”
Regrettably for Jiang, Arcadia wasn’t to be found at the Academy for her extra classes.
“Ah, the announcement is up!”
“Oknodie has announced her candidate!”
“Who is it? Who’s it gonna be?”
The student chosen to announce the candidates for the Organization that Plays with Oknodie was Irene.
It wasn’t because Irene was particularly close to Oknodie but rather because she was the smartest among the students who went for supplemental classes and returned quickly.
“I was there too…”
Jiang felt betrayed, but given Oknodie’s tendency to leave the brain-work to the smart ones, there was nothing to be done.
“Oknodie’s selected candidate is [Jezel].”
“Eh? What? Me?”
Jezel, who was joyfully watching the unfolding scene next to Jiang, exclaimed in surprise.
Baaang!
Jiang’s glare grew increasingly sharp, but Jezle, who was unexpectedly chosen for the student council president candidacy, was just as bewildered.
“No, I didn’t hear anything. Can I really be pushed as a candidate without any consultation with the parties involved?”
“As an aside, this is a message from Oknodie to Jezle. She finds thinking troublesome, so can you take over?”
“W-What kind of ridiculous trick is this?! To dump such an unwelcome position like student council president on someone!”
“The transmission is complete; the announcement is concluded.”
As Jezle attempted to catch Irene, who bowed her head and started to leave, students surrounded Jezle like clouds, and protests went unheard.
The next day, Jezle became the student council president with the largest number of votes in the academy’s history, exceeding 380,000 votes.