After pushing through unfamiliar administrative procedures and countless unidentified rumors making the rounds, the Special Department was finally complete.
“I believe in you, Chairman.”
“...Is that so.”
“Yes! This decision, too, must have been made because you have a grand purpose. If you ever call on me, I will devote this entire body in service...”
“Enough. Let us move on.”
The first thing I did afterward was wave a hand and cut off Gess Alep, the student whose burdensome eyes were gleaming.
The glorious first cohort assigned to the Special Department consisted of those involved in the “Emma Novician and Six Others’ Unauthorized Duel” incident.
Naturally, Gess Alep had to transfer to the Special Department as well. I had called him because I had orders for him and wanted to at least tell him that the Special Department was not as trashy as the rumors claimed....
“I believe in you, Chairman! It is absolutely not because of the letter of recommendation from Ludicher Theatre Academy!”
Even after I told him that we should change the subject, he was still saying things like that.
The fact that he would not shut up made me wonder whether that bastard thought I was an easy mark, but fortunately, the status window denied that suspicion.
[ Gess Alep ]
[ Traits / Weak Against the Strong, Strong Against the Weak; Born Actor ]
[ Special Notes / He is burning with enthusiasm. Due to the penalty of the Trait - Weak Against the Strong, Strong Against the Weak, he cannot betray. ]
I could not bring myself to say anything after learning that he was neither mocking nor defying me, but sincerely meant every word.
I once again marveled at the ability of Appraiser’s Eye, the original chairman’s sole ability and my greatest weapon, then composed my expression.
“I called you today partly because of the Special Department, but mainly because I have something else to say.”
“Yes, just give your order! I am already faithfully keeping watch over the students you mentioned before—”
“I want to borrow the power of House of Baron Alep.”
“—Pardon??”
I slowly explained my situation to Gess, whose expression had gone blank in an instant.
My greatest problem right now was that I knew absolutely nothing about how the marquess’s household was organized.
Even if I wanted to use the influence of House of the Marquess of Calyps, I did not even know whom I should contact.
Naturally, resolving that situation required getting in touch through the secretary... but the secretary was the very person suspected of being connected to the mastermind.
It was not as though I could put a cat in charge of a fish shop and ask a secretary connected to the mastermind to deliver a letter saying, “Please investigate the mastermind.”
In the end, the only card I could play was Gess Alep.
He was the third son of House of Baron Alep, a house supported by House of the Marquess of Calyps. It had a suitable amount of influence, but was not particularly distinguished, so few people paid it much attention.
“So... you are saying that I should hire someone suitable in my name to investigate the secretary, and also investigate the current circumstances of those whom you... um, harassed and expelled, Chairman?”
I nodded, took a small pouch from the drawer, and handed it to Gess.
“In addition, I would like you to deliver this money to a person I designate. Of course, anonymously.”
“Uh....”
After his dumbfounded expression became a blank one, the face of Gess Alep, the prepared actor, finally filled with resolve.
“Understood! Leave it to me! I will do it very discreetly, without my father or anyone else finding out!”
I could only give Gess Alep an inscrutable look as he changed expressions in an instant and bent at the waist at a convincingly trustworthy angle.
He had looked foolish just moments ago, yet he was already making me want to trust him... Perhaps he really did have the makings of an actor.
Phew....
Shaking my head as though to clear away useless thoughts, I sighed while half slumped over.
I had only met one student, yet I was already this tired.
Thinking about how difficult it would be once there were more students made me want to give up on everything already, but then I remembered that educating the Special Department’s students was not my responsibility.
‘Professors. I need to bring in capable professors.’
If I taught the students myself, would I be a chairman or a professor?
My role was only to identify the students’ talents, relay them to the professors, and provide various support from behind the scenes.
The actual education was, in name and reality, the professors’ responsibility.
There was only one small drawback: merely adequate professors would not be able to teach talented students and geniuses. I needed capable professors....
‘...The problem is that professors like that will never obediently follow me.’
The chairman’s reputation was notoriously bad, and on the surface, the Special Department was known as a gathering place for troublemakers.
No professor in their right mind would transfer to such a department full of traps.
“Should I choose from among my lackeys? They have stuffed themselves with rewards all this time, so they would not be able to refuse an order... No, there cannot be any capable ones among those bastards.”
Just as I was about to sink into thought over which professor I should bring in, someone roughly threw open the chairman’s office door.
BANG.
The first thing that entered my field of view was a mage wearing a purple robe.
The mage, standing in an awkward posture, hurriedly apologized to me with a face gone pale.
“Ah, ah, I am sorry, I am sorry...!! I tried to open it gently, but I am not used to controlling telekinesis, so...!”
At that moment, two concerns came to me at once.
Should I punish the mage who dared throw open the chairman’s office door without even knocking?
Or should I be surprised that she had used telekinesis, something even most mages found difficult to use, merely to turn a doorknob?
Of course, those concerns became meaningless before her introduction.
“I-I am Professor Nia Filoni of the Magic Department...! I came because President Pionia instructed me to transfer to the Special Department...”
[ Trait - Appraiser’s Eye reveals the target’s information. ]
[ Nia Filoni ]
[ Trait / Creator of Another World ]
[ Special Notes / Terrified. ]
Simple... which made it all the more frightening.
[ Creator of Another World ]
[ At least there, things will go as I desire. ]
The mage before me was a monster.
When I opened the Trait Shop and drew Noble Bloodline, I had been extremely disappointed.
Of course, after going through the Disciplinary Committee, I now knew that Noble Bloodline was an essential Trait that let a modern person like me at least pass for a noble, but I had not known that at the time.
In any case, one of the Traits I had wanted then was Nia Filoni’s sole Trait, Creator of Another World.
It was the only Trait she possessed, but its effect was by no means something that could be ignored.
Another World.
An immense Trait that let a mere human create an independent world of their own.
Even the talent for magic that came as an additional effect barely registered beside such an incredible ability.
‘And a mage with such an incredible Trait is coming to the Special Department as an instructor...?’
I looked at Nia Filoni without hiding my suspicious expression.
She had clearly said that she came to the Special Department on the president’s orders. At this point, she was not even trying to hide what that meant.
“The president is overstepping her bounds.”
“I-I am sorry...! I will apologize on her behalf....”
As Nia repeatedly bowed her head, I answered firmly.
“No. This is not something that will end with me accepting your apology.”
Right, I remembered now.
Nia Filoni. An archmage from the original work whom its author had officially acknowledged.
Ordinarily, she was a Grade 5 mage, but within limited situations and restricted spaces, she could display power on the level of Grade 7—or perhaps even Grade 8, Emerald.
Sending the president’s confidante to the Special Department as a professor, without even hiding that she had been ordered to come, was practically President Pionia openly putting me on notice.
I am watching you—
Whether judged by noble title or official position, it was a clear overreach.
I had enough justification to inflict considerable damage on the president if I harbored even the slightest ill will, but....
“Nia Filoni. You are the professor in charge of illusion magic, correct?”
“Y-yes. If possible, please call me Professor Nia... I do not particularly like the Filoni surname....”
“Understood. Professor Nia, you are the professor in charge of illusion magic, correct?”
“Yes... I am the faculty advisor for the Illusion Magic Program. At Calyps Academy, programs do not carry much significance compared to the departments....”
Right. The monster before me was, in any case, the youngest professor and a Grade 5 mage who held the title Silver.
She was also a temporary Grade 8 mage who could rise to Emerald in restricted situations, possessing the absurdly powerful Trait called Creator of Another World.
Though she was timid and weak-willed, there was no professor better suited for a Special Department that everyone would avoid.
Therefore, rather than using this matter as justification to attack the president, I chose to appoint Nia Filoni as a professor in the Special Department.
“P-President... Could I go back even now...?”
Of course, seeing that professor huddled in a corner, clutching a crystal ball and whispering, made a strange frustration rise within me.
‘Be patient....’
Nia Filoni was more than enough as the Special Department’s magic instructor.
What remained was finding a knight instructor who would transfer from the Knight Department to teach students such as Emma.
And the search for a knight instructor ran into an obstacle from the very beginning.
“I am sorry.”
The secretary bowed deeply.
I hid the dizzying dismay threatening to spread across my face and asked again.
“...There is truly not a single one?”
“Yes. I sent circulars and visited them in person, but there was no professor willing to take charge of the Special Department’s knight instruction.”
There was no professor willing to become the Special Department’s knight instructor.
That was an extremely serious problem.
The Special Department only had Gess and Emma as students, but both belonged to the Knight Department originally.
Which meant that what the Special Department needed right now was not a mage, but a knight.
No matter how great a mage Nia Filoni was, there was no way around that.
“......”
“Since you decided to establish the Special Department, inquiries have been continually coming in from outside. Every one of them is asking when the Special Department will begin.”
Only three days had passed since the Disciplinary Committee ended, yet pressure had already begun to arrive.
Groups dissatisfied that their affiliated students had received discipline had begun to suspect that I was merely making impressive-sounding promises before sweeping the matter under the rug.
‘Should I simply send letters under the name of House of the Marquess of Calyps?’
Personally, I was focused on the role of chairman rather than that of marquess, but the title of marquess attached to me did not simply disappear.
If I wanted, I could show the power of House of the Marquess of Calyps to the groups that had sent inquiries at any time.
Of course, the retainers running the household on behalf of the marquess tied to the academy would go mad, but I could not give up my peace for the sake of retainers whose faces I did not even know.
Besides, using the marquess’s house in that manner was something I could do without the secretary’s help.
“We have also received word from the House of the Marquess of Calyps. Several houses, including House of Baron Alep, have inquired about what happened with the unauthorized duel and its disciplinary action.”
“It has already reached them as well?”
They called them inquiries, but in truth, they were likely closer to protests.
Even if baronial and viscount houses gathered together, they were only a mouthful to a marquess’s house. However, once such official inquiries arrived, the retainers would refuse to intervene in this incident.
How could I be so certain?
“This is a letter jointly signed by the fifty-seven retainers who run House of the Marquess of Calyps on your behalf. To summarize its contents... it says, ‘Please do not cause trouble this time.’”
They had already made the first move.
The chairman had exploited the House of the Marquess of Calyps so thoroughly that its retainers had sent a letter begging him to please let this one slide.
The chairman would have steadfastly carried out his intentions even after receiving such a letter, but I had the soft sensibilities of a modern man. Since I lacked that kind of resolve, I gave up on using the marquess’s house.
‘Right. I just need to find a professor somehow. Then the Special Department can begin immediately, and I can disregard the protests.’
In the end, my choice was to bring in anyone whose weakness I held.
“Lackeys. Is there not a useful professor among them?”
Come to think of it, using the lackeys might not be such a bad approach.
Being called a lackey basically meant that they had cooperated with the chairman and stuffed themselves with rewards.
If they had any sense, would they not move as I wanted them to?
“They all possess basic ability, since they passed the appointment examination. However, most of them have character problems, so I dare say there is no professor you would want, Chairman.”
That was assuming there were any useful professors among them.
“......”
I sank into a deep, sticky silence like a swamp.
President Pionia, who openly intended to watch me. Outside groups, too weak on their own, furtively forming alliances to protest. And finally, the second Quest glittering at my side....
[ ◆ Avoid the First Danger. (25%) ]
[ Reward: Sita Calyps’s Notebook ]
[ Penalty: Remove Trait - Appraiser’s Eye ]
It had appeared at the perfect time and shoved me forward.
“...Damn it.”
That goddamn Quest was always the problem.