Just as I had received a parliamentary nomination when pancreatic cancer came for me.
Every crisis in this world could be an irreplaceable opportunity if viewed from a different perspective.
That was why, even now, when I was one wrong move away from losing my scholarship, it was also, from a different perspective, an opportunity to resolve the question of where I would go after graduating from the academy.
"Lloyd Schultz, in a sense, you are quite an extraordinary student."
Truth be told, no amount of changing perspectives would alter the fact that I had not yet done anything all that wrong.
Q1. Did I tell even a single lie during my interview for the Imperial Patronage Association scholarship?
→ No.
Q2. Did I pocket even a single bronze coin from the Imperial Patronage Association—or any other patronage association?
→ Nope.
Q3. Had I violated the condition for receiving an Imperial Patronage Association scholarship: obtaining a civil-service job after graduating from the academy?
→ Yeah, I had not even enrolled yet.
Q4. Was there even a rule in the Imperial Patronage Association's regulations that said, "Do not receive sponsorship from multiple patronage associations at the same time"?
→ Surely not...! Honestly, I was not sure about this one.
If this had been a hearing, I could have easily parried most of the questioning like that.
Wow! A scholarship six-timer!
Look at that...... A scholarship student taking out a bank loan!
What?! An invitation to dinner from the chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association!
Game over, 3 to 1.
This was the sort of unfair screwjob that even the National Recognition Association would recognize.
"Still, it seems you have enough shame to know better."
Even so, Wegner was firmly under the mistaken impression that he had seized the high ground.
As the Chosen One of the Ansan constituency, I could not permit such a disgraceful display.
"Unfortunately."
"Hm?"
Member of Parliament Style: First Form.
"I see this situation somewhat differently."
My opinion is different, though?
Chapter 01 - Damn, Possessors Need Money
Q. State the proper thing for the chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association to say to someone who, while holding an Imperial Patronage Association scholarship, had the audacity to enter into duplicate sponsorship contracts with other patronage associations and take out a massive loan of 100 gold from the Capital Head Office of the Imperial Bank using sponsorship decision notices as collateral.
A. Dunno?
Wegner's vision went dark!
For the moment, he had summoned Lloyd.
After his only daughter asked him to look into the matter, he had assigned someone to investigate. The result was that Lloyd was receiving scholarships from not one but five other patronage associations.
They had even caught him brazenly taking out a loan against them.
How could he possibly overlook that as chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association?
This was no longer merely a matter of whether to select someone as a scholarship recipient. It had entered the realm of whether or not it was a crime.
'That is why I summoned him, but......'
Summoning Lloyd in a burst of righteous indignation had been all well and good.
But what heated up quickly also cooled quickly.
During the time it took for Lloyd to arrive at his estate, the cool head that had elevated Wegner to chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association and Court Count spun furiously.
'Has Lloyd done anything legally wrong......?'
An Imperial Patronage Association scholarship recipient entering into sponsorship contracts with other patronage associations?
Setting aside, 'How dare this bastard......,' it was somewhat ambiguous to take issue with it immediately.
The conditions attached to scholarships from the Imperial Patronage Association and the other patronage associations were all much the same. Become an Imperial civil servant after graduating from the academy, or come to one's own territory.
Therefore, unless Lloyd somehow became two people—Llo/yd—he could not become an Imperial civil servant while simultaneously taking a job in another territory.
Four years from now, he could happily chew it, tear it apart, and savor it to his heart's content.
That was, four years from now.
'Astonishingly, that means there is nothing I can take issue with right now.'
Most scholarship recipients. In fact, apart from Lloyd, no one had ever collected scholarships from multiple patronage associations at once.
Become flush with money now, then get fucked four years later.
vs
Graduate from the academy without money trouble, even if not luxuriously, and get a stable job.
Only maniacs who found life insufficiently thrilling would choose the former.
That was why the Imperial Patronage Association had no regulation that could address it in the first place.
It was like a ranch that had not seen even a wolf's shadow for the past thirty years not bothering to install wolf traps.
'I would wager that no patronage association—not just ours—has any regulation to prevent it.'
A chill that had forgotten the season suddenly ran down Wegner's spine.
'Could it be that Lloyd noticed this blind spot and......?!'
Four years from now, there would surely be a problem, financially or physically, but it was not a problem right now.
Setting aside the very minor fact that people only had one life, his method was exceptionally mature political conduct.
It was difficult to believe it was the sort of vibe an academy applicant could display.
By extension of that line of thought, the loan he received was not a problem at all, either.
Offering as collateral a sponsorship decision notice he had fairly earned through his own ability, and recognizing its value as collateral.
Those were entirely Lloyd's and the Imperial Bank's rights.
If he, as chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association, tried to trip Lloyd up over that, there was even a chance it would be interpreted as overstepping his authority.
'......Bad thoughts branch out far too quickly. It must simply be the arrogance of an immature student.'
While Wegner exchanged a fierce legal shadowboxing match with the Lloyd of his imagination.
Lloyd arrived.
The worst scholarship recipient of all time, who had even insulted the nonexistent Imperial Patronage Association regulations.
Had he planned all of this?
Or was this merely the end result of an impulsive act, like a mayfly drawn toward glittering gold coins?
- ......I am Wegner, chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association and a Court Count.
Hiding an apprehension that was close to anticipation, Wegner introduced himself.
An ordinary scholarship student would normally be overwhelmed by the weight of the title chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association.
And even if they somehow endured that, once the pressure of a Court Count was added as well, they would struggle to speak properly.
- Oh, no, not at all. My name is Lloyd Schultz.
Yet Lloyd brushed aside Wegner's two consecutive probing pitches with an attitude that was far too light.
It could only be called a brazen ease that even gave the impression of saying, 'My, my. Is this all you have?'
At that point, Wegner could be certain.
'This bastard....... He knew exactly what he was doing.'
The scholarship recipient who had received duplicate sponsorships before his eyes had planned everything from the beginning and acted accordingly.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain that relaxed attitude.
- Do you know why I asked to see you today?
That was why he pressed a little harder.
Regardless of whether it was legally a problem.
As chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association, sacking one scholarship recipient on the charge of being offensive was easy enough.
- I wonder?
Then Lloyd answered with an even more offensive shamelessness.
It could even be read as confidence that, if Wegner wanted to interrogate him, he should first state his business.
Wegner was dumbfounded, yet felt a familiar sensation.
It was exceedingly similar to the attitude displayed by Imperial civil servants at the end of their careers, running wild above illegality and loopholes.
Those who, just before retirement, had nothing left to fear and stuffed their pockets as much as possible for 'after retirement.'
'They say his parents have spent a long time as Imperial civil servants.......'
Perhaps they had taught Lloyd about the blind spots of laws and regulations.
Ordinarily, Wegner would have stopped around this point.
The Wegner who had risen to Court Count under a paranoid Emperor, while also serving as the chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association that managed enormous scholarships, would have, at least.
After all, there was no way to proceed.
Not only was there no regulation under which he could punish Lloyd right now, but if he stripped Lloyd of his scholarship status solely because he found him offensive, the other patronage associations would certainly laugh with delight.
Anyone who knew how to play with laws and regulations before even entering the academy was, needless to say, exactly the sort of talent the NCMG specialized in acquiring.
And if the Imperial Patronage Association robbed such a person of his scholarship status while going on about how offensive he was?
A Dark-Evolved Lloyd, free to give the Empire a resounding 'go fuck yourselves' after it cast him aside, would be born in an instant.
It was already easy to see the future in which the NCMG who acquired him performed a legal tap dance against the Empire.
Therefore, the best course here would be to smile good-naturedly and retreat with, 'What an adorable prank to pull. Do not do that again next time, all right?'
While he was at it, it would have been a jackpot if he could get Lloyd to stamp a promise saying, 'I will overlook it this time, so you must become a civil servant once you graduate, all right?'
However.
- Lloyd Schultz, at 10:47 this morning, starting with the patronage association of the Duke of Sachsen......
'Daughter-doting Wegner' was a steam locomotive that knew no compromise.
- He was selected as a scholarship recipient by the patronage associations of Frank, Rheinland, the Red Tower, and the Blue Tower......
When a company president asks, 'How is our company?'
- He then proceeded to the Capital Head Office of the Imperial Bank, where he took out a loan using a total of six sponsorship decision notices as collateral......
Wegner was like a new employee who, unable to read the room, answered, 'I like it because the work is so easy.'
- What is the proper action for the chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association to take after receiving this information?
He poured out words that would be of no help whatsoever—and would instead only hurt him—with the force of Red Tower flame magic.
Why?
'Marta is interested in a slippery bastard like that?!'
Of course it rubbed him the wrong way.
His one and only daughter, Marta.
Marta Inglebert, a daughter as pure as a single marigold blooming in this harsh world!
At a dinner with a father-in-law as lofty as the sky, Lloyd Schultz did not lose even a shred of composure.
- How about encouraging the Empire's promising talent, who has accurately grasped his own value and possesses bold initiative, and enjoying a pleasant dinner?
Instead, he even gently pointed out Wegner's mistake, as though advising, 'That is enough.......'
Of course, he found that far too offensive.
Amazingly, even here, he could still stop.
With Lloyd's statement as the last word.
The dining table had grown silent like the calm before a typhoon, but it was still before the storm came.
If Wegner had succeeded in controlling himself and accepted Lloyd's peaceful gesture.
Whether from the resentment that there was nothing he could do under the law or regulations, the wounded pride of being played by a scholarship recipient, or an ill will with no easily identifiable cause.
Then tonight's dinner would have ended in a warm atmosphere.
However, the chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association's pride was boundless, and fathers with daughters repeated the same mistakes.
- Still, it seems you have enough shame to know better.
In the end, Wegner refused to interpret Lloyd's silence correctly.
Instead, he clung to the illusion that his authority had worked.
An illusion that, honestly, even he knew was half wrong.
- I see this situation somewhat differently.
In the end, Lloyd launched a counterattack.
A snake that swam freely through the gray zone of regulations had declared that it would now begin hunting with logic in earnest.
'......Damn it! I should have just pretended not to notice.'
Only then did Wegner become a man who could think of nothing but, 'If only I had......,' but time already passed could not be turned back.
Even if he regretted it from only ten seconds ago.
***
"Shall I return it?"
I took the 'Imperial Patronage Association Sponsorship Decision Notice' from my breast pocket and held it out to Wegner.
With an exceedingly elegant slide, absolutely not an arrogant or insolent gesture.
"I have been wondering whether I received a kindness greater than I deserve."
This was the bare minimum safety device.
<Jjam Academy> was, without doubt, a class society. If he, a Court Count, merely puffed out a breath, my head could be lopped off.
"As the chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association has said."
"......Your Excellency. You will address me as Your Excellency, Court Count."
"Ah, yes. As Your Excellency has said, although I am a scholarship recipient of the Imperial Patronage Association, I am 'going to' receive scholarships from other patronage associations as well."
"......"
But I had no intention of yielding the advantage I had once seized.
This advantage had fallen into my hands thanks to Wegner's mistake.
"Therefore, if Your Excellency wishes it, I will return my status as a scholarship recipient of the Imperial Patronage Association even now."
Judging from the fact that he remained silent at my statement, it seemed he vaguely felt it too.
'You came after me too rashly.'
A member of parliament was not someone constrained by the law. He was the one who made it.
As a Yeouido legal loach who had dodged even the laws already in place, there was no way I would be constrained when I had not done a single thing wrong.
It was not as though I had won my scholarship status in a game of Go-Stop.
Much less had I forged the loan documents.
The promise to take a civil-service job after graduating still had a cooldown of four full years.
And I had not received even one coin from the Imperial Patronage Association.
Therefore, I was innocence itself right now. As honest as an Arena Death Knight.
'If he wanted to take issue with it, he should have produced a regulation about duplicate scholarships.'
Since Wegner had not done so, it seemed my prediction was correct: there was probably no such regulation at all.
Laws and regulations were originally like this.
They could only be fixed after someone showed up and danced through the gray zone.
If you tried to prevent it in advance by squeezing people so hard they could not breathe, you would only end up like Prohibition.
Still, it was an overly strict judgment made with hindsight to blame Wegner.
It would have been stranger if he, chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association and a Court Count, had come thoroughly prepared simply to twist the wrist of a scholarship student.
Unless I was something like 'the boyfriend his one and only cherished daughter suddenly brought to a family dinner.'
The only issue was employment after graduation, but even if he tried to take issue with that, it would not matter much.
"Do you truly want me to do that?"
All I had to do was pull a, 'Haa.... Should I just defect?' on the Imperial Patronage Association.
Anyone who sang the E○Will and Edu○ songs at someone who had not even enrolled yet, much less graduated, would only cultivate a dislike of Imperial civil-service positions.
No one knew that better than Wegner, chairman of the Imperial Patronage Association.
"......Let us eat first."
He strategically acknowledged defeat.
"Before that."
That was why it began now.
"I would like to hear a definite promise from Your Excellency."
"......Regarding what?"
Strategic or otherwise.
Acknowledging defeat in politics was a declaration of surrender no different from saying, 'Whatever you demand, I will give it to you!'
Even if they truly died, even if they would rather sell out their ancestors and their political party.
The Yeouido Spartans I had seen would never admit they were wrong.
To me, it was at once a very fresh and.
"A definite promise from Your Excellency that my relationships with the Imperial Patronage Association, the other patronage associations in the capital, and the Imperial Bank will not become a problem in the future."
"......"
A very appetizing piece of prey.
Hehehe, fresh meat.......