I Became a Veteran Heroine in a Harem Story

“The assigned members should move to their respective squad leaders. Unless there are special circumstances, there won’t be any changes.”

The final part of the ceremony was the meeting between the appointed squad leaders and the students under them. After the high-ranking officials had already left, the students changed formation once again according to the instructions of their supervising instructors.

Those assigned to the selected squad leaders gathered in front of them.

‘It is a hassle, though.’

Managing others is, in truth, an extremely tiring and worrisome task. In exchange for having control over them, I also had the responsibility to take care of them.

I had no intention of abandoning that responsibility.

So it was unavoidable. This was a task I had to do anyway to achieve what I wanted, and it would continue even if I left the Academy.

Rather than complaining, it was better to do a decent job and earn bonus points.

“You may or may not know each other, but after today, you’ll become very close.”

The instructors looked at the students standing nervously in front of their squad leaders with smiles.

Collective responsibility, group living. These were essential lessons for those who wanted to gather talented individuals and make them work mandatorily.

‘Why do they look so scared?’

I inwardly sighed at the reactions of the students standing in front of me. Two boys and two girls, all belonging to the Spear Arts Department.

I didn’t know their names. We had never been properly introduced, and I hadn’t particularly tried to remember them.

However, the expressions of these people who were essentially meeting me for the first time were quite a sight. The way they trembled and desperately tried to avoid eye contact clearly showed they were internally screaming that they were in big trouble.

“Our squad will remain here after the ceremony.”

As the instructors said, we would be frequently involved with each other from now on, so I figured I should at least know their names. But why were they squeezing their eyes shut with expressions that said “here it comes”?

“What I have to say is the same as what I said earlier up front. If you follow the established regulations, you won’t be caught by anyone.”

While others gathered to break the ice and chat, I kept my new teammates in the auditorium and told them what I needed to say.

“Is, is that really all?”

“As you know, the Academy’s main rules aren’t many. And they’re very obvious rules. Don’t be late, maintain dignity, obey superiors… it’s strange not to be able to follow such things.”

The male student with curly black hair, who had introduced himself as Dennis Belkar during the earlier introduction time, was the first to speak up while checking my reaction.

I don’t know what strange misunderstanding they had, but I had no intention of forcibly squeezing my peers like a wringer. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Academy prioritized individual achievement over group achievement.

“Following the school rules is natural, but, um, what about the rules set by the seniors? Oops.”

“What rules did the seniors set?”

“Well… like freshmen have to yield in line, or carry luggage, or, um, only wear black socks…”

Then, a girl with black pigtails named Isabel Grise spoke up cautiously.

This girl, even smaller in stature than Lunara, unconsciously spoke to me formally, then covered her mouth, and finally finished her sentence in a defeated voice.

“Sock color restrictions, hair restrictions, everyday makeup restrictions, personal errands—all these are irregularities not written in the rules.”

“But if we don’t follow them, we get punished. They say it’s tradition.”

“I’ll try to fix that.”

In a place where barbaric initiation rituals involving punishment and beating remained as so-called “traditions,” there must be more such practices.

As soon as I became the Year Representative, I had a new task: eliminating all the irregularities passed down under the name of tradition.

If there had been no way to address it, I wouldn’t have bothered to step up, but I already had a record of facing such issues head-on and eliminating one irregularity.

‘What a convenient world this is.’

An era of turmoil where strength is needed. Ultimately, power becomes more important than status, origin, and position, and that’s why they worship and crave power. I planned to thoroughly exploit the system created as a result.

“You, you’re not going to…?”

“I don’t want to go as far as dueling again either. It’s troublesome. Let’s hope I can persuade them well with words.”

When I said I would try to solve these issues, all squad members were surprised, their eyes widening.

Thanks to having already proven myself once, their eyes showed more interest and trust than disbelief.

“This is the Year Council room.”

‘Wasn’t the central building of the dormitory a storage area?’

That evening, after dinner, I was guided by the dorm supervisor to a building. As a result, the purpose of the medium-sized, antique-styled one-story building in the center of the first-year boys’ and girls’ dormitories—which were separated by a quite large garden—was finally revealed.

The building that was neither too big nor too small, embedded in the middle of the garden, was none other than for the first-year Year Council.

“Now this building is yours. There are established things, but you can operate many things autonomously. Of course, that’s only while you wear that armband.”

The dorm supervisor glanced at me as she spoke. The reason why she, who had been looking at me with disapproval from the beginning, deliberately added those words was obvious.

‘The Year Representative can be replaced at any time.’

Neither the Year Representative nor the squad leader positions were permanent. Positions won by strength could someday be taken away by strength.

The Year Representative was always a challenged position, and one had to overcome those challenges to maintain it.

I heard that the second-year had already changed their Year Representative three times.

“Then I have one request. Please go and call the people I summon here.”

“Hmph. Fine. As you command, Representative.”

The rights that came with the position were clear. I gave the dorm supervisor a note with people’s names and requested that she call them here.

Those listed on the note were the 10 members of the Year Council I had personally selected.

It’s now free time after the day’s schedule has ended, but what can I do? Once you wear the armband, you have to give up some freedom.

‘While other students can be left alone, the Year Council members are the faces of the class, so they can’t be completely free.’

As I watched the dorm supervisor walk away grumbling, I turned my head to examine the interior.

There were exactly two rooms. The conference hall, which occupied most of the area, and the Year Representative’s office at the innermost part.

Walking there and opening the door, I smirked at the room filled with antique furniture. It was similar to a chairman’s office you might see in a drama.

“This could be fun.”

I picked up the magical nameplate that already had my name clearly engraved on it and smiled.

Come to think of it, I had rarely experienced something like this in my past lives.

Before the possessions began, I was just an ordinary college student learning from others and following instructions. In my first possession, I was an extra struggling to keep up with others, and then later became a loner fighting alone after losing all my companions.

“I heard you called. I think I know what it’s about.”

“Yes. Looking forward to working with you.”

I put down the nameplate and turned around at the presence approaching from behind.

‘Sigh.’

Seeing that grinning face, I couldn’t help but sigh despite my words of looking forward to working together.

This was because he was the only unpredictable variable in my otherwise smoothly progressing new life.

“I selected only the most outstanding individuals to form this council, and now that the Year Council is complete, we have work to do whether we like it or not. You can understand what we need to do basically by reading the code of conduct.”

Shortly after Erich arrived, I addressed the 10 students gathered in the conference hall. They, including Erich, were all looking at me with different expressions.

There was a mixture of friendly gazes, cautious gazes, and fearful gazes.

“As you know, the Year Council is an honorable position that belongs to the Student Council. It’s an official position recognized outside the Academy as well, and counts as career experience. Of course, some may not want to do it. If you speak now, I’ll replace you with someone else.”

I announced at this meeting that if they didn’t want to do it, they should leave. It’s easier to just send them away than to try to persuade and accommodate them.

Of course, as I said, the benefits of being in the Year Council are substantial, so the majority would do it even if they didn’t like it. Knowing this, I could push harder.

“If you want to stay and work, I’ll assume you’ll actively cooperate with what we’re going to do. And if you agreed but don’t cooperate, I’ll discipline you using my authority.”

“Um, what are you planning to do?”

“Many of our peers are suffering from the irregularities committed by seniors under the name of tradition. I plan to fix that first.”

In response to Erich, who slightly opened his mouth, I dropped a bombshell statement from day one.

‘Why is he surprised?’

While I could understand the others’ reactions, it was Erich’s gaping mouth that really bothered me.

He was clearly the one who had been causing trouble since the beginning of school, so why was he surprised now?