It was not difficult to tell which department each committee member belonged to.
Those from the Magic Department wore robes enchanted with protective magic against magical backlash or accidents that might occur during research.
Those from the Knight Department, capable of protecting and reinforcing their bodies with mana, wore simple tunics that did not hinder movement.
Though there were slight differences in design and color from person to person, most remained within conventional styles. Thus, despite the Grand Conference Room’s immense size, the committee had no difficulty finding the Chairman—who, at this moment, was to be called the Committee Chair—wearing a formal jet-black frock coat.
‘...What got into him?’
‘He was never someone who dressed so formally.’
Most committee members knew the Chairman’s true nature well.
‘At the regular meeting three years and six months ago, he suddenly proposed cutting the subsidies.’
‘Afterward, he reduced the budgets paid to the laboratories of professors who opposed the subsidy cuts.’
‘Then he shut down the laboratories entirely and forcibly drove out the professors and students.’
The Chairman, Sita Calyps, was a petty person.
On the surface, he wrapped himself in nobility like any other high-ranking noble. But he was not someone who understood that ‘nobility’ was something created by being mindful of the time, place, and situation.
Everyone at the prestigious Calyps Academy knew that fact well. They had tried not to provoke the Chairman’s personality, which was more cramped than the roughly sixteen-square-meter dorm rooms where students lived.
Yes, that was why.
‘The Chairman... looks like a Chairman. For the first time.’
The Chairman’s coat was uncomfortable both while being put on and after being worn, a garment made for etiquette.
The reason its color had been set to black was to convey strictness and weight—to express the gravity of the situation.
It was attire perfectly suited to the current situation, in which punishment would be imposed upon numerous students.
For the first time, the Chairman had considered the time, place, and situation before displaying his title and dignity. That was why the committee members had felt that he looked like a Chairman for the first time.
But it was still too early.
‘...Even so, it will only last a moment.’
‘Perhaps the secretary advised him to dress this way.’
‘People do not change. He will surely only become an obstacle at this meeting as well.’
The committee members reproached themselves for the momentary wavering in which they had thought the Chairman’s jet-black frock coat made him seem chairman-like.
They had seen too much and experienced too much to regard a single day’s whim as change.
After suffering more hardships than they could count, the one premise shared by the committee members was immutability.
‘The Chairman will not change.’
That damned wastrel would never change.
Unless a god from heaven swapped out his soul, absolutely never!
‘Just how much scorn has he lived under....’
I wore a relaxed expression, but inwardly, I could only lament.
I knew well that the Chairman in the original story was a wastrel villain whose only redeeming quality was his appearance. But I had not known that the academy’s members looked down on him this much.
‘Half of them are looking down on me with their eyes, the other half with their gestures. Is the Chancellor the only one who is even wary of me?’
I had gone out of my way to wear a coat that was uncomfortable and unfamiliar.
To succeed at the quest, I needed to show a ‘chairman-like’ appearance. But I also had my own plans, so I wanted to show a slight change through this matter.
Yet the only person wary of the Chairman’s change was the Chancellor.
The other committee members appeared momentarily intrigued before shaking their heads with expressions that said, ‘Come on,’ or, ‘No way.’
An ironic situation where only the person I least wanted to be wary of me was wary.
I could only sigh and look for the one good point.
‘Avoiding suspicion will not be difficult. A change of this degree cannot even dilute the wastrel behavior the original Chairman accumulated.’
The original Chairman had piled up karma as high as a mountain. A slight change in behavior would not make anyone worry that I was not the Chairman—or, more precisely, start saying something like, ‘The Chairman has reformed.’
Feeling a little more at ease, I crossed my arms and watched the meeting continue.
“I believe an appropriate level of punishment should be imposed upon the 117 students who stood by during the ‘Emma Novician and Six Unauthorized Duels’ incident.”
“As I said earlier, imposing discipline merely because they watched is an excessive response. Punishing at the academy something that is permitted under imperial law will face fierce backlash.”
“I do not mean to ignore imperial law, but the academy has its own rules. To hope that students receiving discipline will not object in the first place is absurd.”
“That is true. Rather, we need to use this opportunity to impress upon them that no matter how small the matter, and no matter how many students are involved, the academy will not waver.”
“The academy exists for the students above all else....”
“Even so, once we bend the rules, further problems will....”
As the meeting dragged on with rebuttal after rebuttal, I glanced toward Chancellor Pionia.
Perhaps sensing my gaze, the Chancellor lightly tapped the table and spoke.
“I have listened well to the arguments of the committee members. I judge that both sides have put forth sufficiently reasonable claims. Let us proceed with a vote to decide whether the 117 students will be disciplined.”
“I am in favor. We must establish a proper precedent to avoid problems in the future.”
“I remain opposed. Punishing them merely because they watched is an excessively inflexible conclusion, is it not?”
The committee members stated their opinions in turn.
The vote began from one end of the table and proceeded without missing a single committee member’s opinion.
But when it came around to my turn, it was different.
“““.........”””
The meeting room fell silent, as though all the earlier commotion had been a lie.
Amid the strange sensation that everyone’s eyes were fixed upon my mouth, I slowly shook my head.
‘There is no need to interfere so early.’
There was no need to expend my strength already.
Much discussion would still be needed before the Disciplinary Committee reached its conclusion. I only had to shape it as I wanted just before the final decision was made.
At my clear expression that I had no intention of participating in the vote, several committee members let out sighs of relief that quietly filled the silent room.
“Th-Then, since the votes in favor are a majority, the 117 students who stood by during the ‘Emma Novician and Six Unauthorized Duels’ incident will be subject to disciplinary action.”
The facilitator, wearing an expression of forced calm, continued.
“Normally, the principle would be to impose punishments such as campus service or suspension from attendance. However, considering the large number of students involved, we will receive recommendations regarding the severity of their punishment....”
After the brief silence was forgotten, the meeting resumed.
Several votes were repeated, and my turn came several times as well. Each time, I shook my head to indicate that I had no intention of participating.
‘Gess was dealt with quickly, so even if there were complaints, they passed over it more or less. But Emma is different.’
The reason I had attended this Disciplinary Committee was to erase Emma’s punishment.
Emma had been framed as a cheater by a professor, then threatened by her classmates and forced into duels. It was far too unfair for her to receive a punishment as well.
However, Emma was still one of the duel’s parties. If I argued that her punishment should be removed, I would surely face enormous opposition.
‘A simple method will not be enough.’
I quietly waited for my turn while devising a way to save Emma. At last, the words I had been waiting for tickled my ears.
“...By vote, the 117 students’ discipline has been decided as forty hours of campus service and a ten percent reduction in the quantity of their standard supply allotment. Next is the matter of punishing Emma Novician, one of the duel’s parties.”
To be honest, it was impossible for Emma to receive no punishment at all.
She was one of the parties who had directly participated in the duels, just like Gess Alep, and she did not even have backing like the House of Baron Alep.
‘Of course, it would be different if the wastrel Chairman stepped in.’
With my heart beating a little faster, I watched several committee members speak.
“Considering the testimony of many students and Emma Novician’s usual conduct, these unauthorized duels do not appear to have taken place according to her wishes. Above all, continuing to duel six people in succession does not seem like a normal situation.”
“I agree. Although she was said to have cheated on the second-semester final examination, considering her grades before then and the evaluations of her classmates, this duel situation is suspicious.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hasty speculation is forbidden, but I believe it is more natural to conclude that Gess Alep forced the duels upon her.”
Fortunately, the situation was not unfolding badly.
Most of the committee members already knew Emma Novician as someone who attended classes diligently and cared for her friends.
However, what I had overlooked was something with influence even stronger than the image of ‘diligent Emma Novician.’
For example... the influence of the ‘wastrel Chairman.’
“So what are you proposing? Surely you do not mean that because she is a diligent student and appears to have been threatened, we should exempt her from punishment?”
A committee member suddenly interrupted with an irritable shout.
Before I could even grasp the rapidly changing situation, voices of agreement burst out from every direction.
“That is right! Everyone talks as though Emma Novician is some tragic victim, but that girl is a troublemaker who cheated during the final examination! There is more than enough chance that everything she has shown us until now was an act!”
“Th-That is impossible....”
“Why is it impossible? There are always two or three wrongdoings hidden behind one mistake! I believe Emma Novician’s grades from her first year need to be reviewed as well!”
“Hear, hear! We must conduct a proper review before imposing a severe punishment!”
Several committee members suddenly began insisting that Emma Novician should receive severe discipline.
Thanks to the roster I had received from the secretary, I recognized who they were. I forgot even that I had to act like the Chairman, and my face twisted fiercely.
‘Professor Giltier of the Knight Department, Professor Fraus, Assistant Professor Pachi of the Magic Department... Damn it.’
Not a single one of them was anything other than one of the Chairman’s lackeys.
In other words... garbage who had helped bully students.
When the Chairman singled out a student and gave an order, they were the garbage who created concrete plans to make that order a reality and sometimes acted personally—garbage like Professor Tuvan.
“I believe all of Emma Novician’s actions since enrolling at Calyps Academy should be reinvestigated, after which we should impose a fair and impartial punishment!”
“Professor Fraus speaks truly! We must reveal the evil truth Emma Novician hides behind the shield of goodness!”
Watching them praise one another, saying, ‘You are right,’ and, ‘So are you,’ made me want to bite my tongue.
The Chairman had created this damned situation, but cleaning it up was my responsibility.