Reviving a Bankrupt Academy: My Financial Battle

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Was it because she was targeted by that sword, or because her future self died by that sword?

The ominousness of the Dark Sword that the disguised Ruth was holding was deeply embedded in Chloe's memory.

Every time she recalled it, goosebumps ran down her spine.

But why was that ominous mana, even if it was a tiny amount, emanating from that female student?

'Could she be… in the same situation as me?'

The adult Chloe had said that those who died by the Dark Sword, like Chloe, would be plagued by unknown flashbacks or dreams.

And because of that, she met her future self after coming into contact with the Dark Sword.

Was that female student going through the same thing as Chloe? Did she die by the Dark Sword in the future and meet her future self after touching it?

Although it seemed like a plausible guess.

'That's not it.'

'What? How can you be so sure? That Ruth bastard could have manipulated that female student to change the future.'

'That's true, but her case is different. Just remember it and ignore her.'

'Does that make sense? She seems to be related to the Dark Sword, and you're telling me to ignore her?'

'Honestly, she's not someone you should know about at your current level. And more importantly…'

Smirk.

Although it was sudden, Chloe saw the adult Chloe smile, even if just slightly, for the first time, despite having had many conversations with her for a month.

It wasn't a friendly smile, but a mocking one, but…

For some reason.

That smile was filled with…

'They're probably the most troubled ones on the continent right now.'

…exhilaration, as if she found it amusing.

***

I returned to the dormitory and immediately fell asleep as soon as I got off work.

It had been a while since I slept without doing my usual business administration studies. But I thought I just closed my eyes for a moment, so why was it already time to go to work?

Anyway, with just one day left until the festival, even my dormitory, located in a remote alley, was filled with the noisy voices of students and the sounds of construction.

'I have to… go to work.'

With a sigh, I finished my preparations and left the dormitory.

Normally, I would go straight to the office, but instead, I headed to a different place. I had someone to meet.

To be precise, I had to go myself because that damn junior kept ignoring my calls.

'It took a whole month just to get in touch with her.'

Grandis Academy had many large buildings due to its scale, but the place I was heading to was the tallest and largest among them.

It wasn't built that way from the beginning. That damn junior arbitrarily expanded it after becoming the student council president.

I couldn't stop her back then because I had just joined the academy, before becoming the Finance Director. Damn it.

And since she finished the expansion in just one week, I can't even tear it down now. If it was still under construction, I would have definitely stopped it.

Swallowing the rising irritation and sigh, I entered the entrance of the massive building.

"Move that over there! To the Astronomy Club!"

"Hey, what's with the area allocated to our club for the festival!? We proved our achievements!"

"Achievements are evaluated relatively, not absolutely. And if you had complaints, why didn't you say something earlier instead of doing this the day before the festival?"

"You damn Flame Magic Lovers Club bastards! Why do you take the largest space at every festival?!"

"Then should we unleash flame magic in a narrow space?"

"…Don't you have the option of not unleashing it?"

The inside of the building was as noisy as the place where the faculty worked. There were sophisticated conversations, people processing various tasks, and many moving busily.

However, the difference was that all of them were students, not faculty members.

This building was where all the clubs of Grandis Academy gathered.

Of course, each club was additionally assigned other spaces or buildings, but the headquarters and core of the clubs were all in this building.

And on the top floor of this building was…

"I'm trying to go to the student council room."

"Uh, judging by your badge, you're a faculty member, right? Even if you are, you can't enter the student council room without permission…"

"I apologize for the late introduction. I'm Adam Keynes, the Finance Director."

"Ah, you're a department head! Then you're an exception. I'll contact the president right away, so please go right up!"

The student council.

As the student said, even faculty members couldn't enter the student council room as they pleased without a prior appointment. However, department heads were an exception.

The student simply greeted me and immediately focused on his work, as if he only thought that I was a high-ranking person as the Finance Director.

It was strange for Lisha, Beatrice, and Chloe to know my face; this was normal. There was no way a student would know the face of the Finance Director, even if they knew the Head of Student Affairs or the Head of Academic Affairs.

Only those with social influence, like the children of high-ranking nobles or promising talents, treated me with respect. Rather, ordinary students treated me as an ordinary faculty member. It was a strange feeling.

And all these thoughts and feelings were just escapism.

The closer I got to the student council room, the more my stress increased, inversely proportional to the distance. I was trying to escape reality as much as possible.

Thud.

As soon as the magic platform I was riding reached the top floor, a huge and magnificent door greeted me.

It was a very, very annoying door.

"Wait, we don't have any appointments today, who are you… Oh? Senior Adam?"

"Allen, it's been a while. Is that bastard inside?"

"The president is inside."

There was a familiar junior at the door. A male student named Allen.

He was the most normal among the juniors I knew, and he was also the student council's accountant.

Allen, who was carrying a stack of documents, saw my face and sighed, as if he understood everything, and bowed.

"First of all, I apologize."

"For what?"

"The president must have caused another incident. And to think she even made you, a busy senior, come here in person… Sigh."

"Tsk, you're going through a lot, Allen."

"Not at all. More importantly, senior, thank you for what you did at the entrance ceremony. Thanks to you, we were able to significantly supplement our budget."

"We help each other out."

The information that a phantom monster would attack during the entrance ceremony and that their response was part of the exam. I entrusted the distribution of that information to the student council.

I wouldn't have been able to effectively sell the information to over 2,000 freshmen alone. More importantly, it would be unacceptable for a faculty member to sell information to students, but everyone overlooked it if a senior sold 'past exam questions' to a junior.

The student council took their share, and I received the promised payment, so it was a mutually beneficial deal.

Well, this was also possible because all the juniors I knew were part of the student council. I wouldn't be able to use such a trick once they graduated.

Anyway, after receiving Allen's gratitude, I opened the door and entered.

[Silence]

The quick-witted Allen hurriedly cast a soundproofing spell on the student council room.

"Haa…"

I took a deep breath—

"Cassandra!! Come out now!!!!"

—And shouted with all my might.

A voice filled with anger, fury, stress, and irritation.

Although the student council room was spacious, it was still a room. If I opened the door and entered, I would immediately see the student council president, so why did I shout?

The answer was, of course, because I had to.

"Y-yes, yes, yes!"

Whoosh!

Unlike the typical image of a student council room, as soon as I opened the door, I saw a jungle filled with lush trees.

It was something that shouldn't exist, common sense dictated. The endless expanse of trees and the sky within a room was incredibly awkward.

Without being fazed by the scene that defied common sense, I shouted, and a female student flew out from between the trees.

Yes, flew out.

"Ahh—"

She was holding onto a vine with one hand and covering her mouth with the other, shouting.

More importantly, what she was wearing was barely enough to be called clothes, just some leather.

"Ha!"

The female student, who landed in front of me after a splendid aerial maneuver and somersault.

Approached me with a cheerful smile, wearing an eyepatch.

"Senior Adam! It's been a long time! How long has it been? About 30 years!?"

"It's been a month, Cassandra."

"Huh? Senior Adam, you seem angry. Who made you so angry?"

"You did, junior."

"What? Me?"

"We were supposed to talk about Ruth Spero joining the student council a month ago."

"Uh…"

"If you had just replied with a single word saying it was okay, I would have taken care of it immediately. But there was no reply."

For the first week, I assumed that she, as the student council president, would be busy with the festival.

The next week, I was pissed and immediately contacted the student council room, but they said that the entire student council had suddenly gone on a week-long vacation.

I went there in person for the entire week after that, but they were always absent.

And the week after that, I was too busy with work to even leave the office, let alone visit the student council room.

After a month, I was finally able to meet this damn junior.

"You dragged it out for a whole month over a single reply, something that wouldn't even take a few minutes."

"Wow! Isn't this time magic?"

"Then I guess it's okay not to give you time to make excuses because of that time magic, right?"

"Uh, well… I apologize, Senior Adam."

"Does apologizing end your academy life? A self-imposed vacation, being absent, what the hell have you been doing?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? You already have a guess, don't you, senior?"

Thud.

A luxurious table and a soft leather chair appeared in the middle of the jungle. Cassandra sat down first, and I followed suit.

And in an instant, a teapot appeared in Cassandra's hand. The teacups appeared as soon as I turned my head.

No, wait.

The jungle, which had felt hot and humid, had returned to the appearance of a normal room, and…

Similarly, Cassandra, who was only wearing leather, changed into an elegant outfit.

"I just went to have my fortune told!"

"That again?"

"You seem very skeptical. But senior, you'll be surprised if you hear the fortune!"

"Just tell me."

"Surprisingly! There are two Regressors near you! And one of them is a real Regressor, while the other is a bit ambiguous, but regressed through an unconventional method! How about it, isn't it amazing?"

Two Regressors, people who came from the future to the past, are near me?

At those shocking words, I…

"Is that it?"

"What?"

"So you're done with your excuses? I'm going to hit you now."

"S-senior! Aren't you surprised!? They're Regressors!"

"Regressors, my ass."

Do you think I would fall for that again?

There was a reason why I always called Cassandra "junior" or "you brat." It was because my academy life became hardcore after this girl enrolled as my junior.

"Do you remember? When you first entered as a freshman?"

"You were a second-year then, senior. Ah, I miss those days."

"You said to me, whom you met for the first time, that you were actually a prophet who could see the future through fortune-telling, and that there would be an earthquake at the upcoming entrance ceremony, putting everyone in great danger. But no one would listen to a freshman, so you asked me for help."

I was quite serious back then. I even felt a sense of mission that I came to for a reason.

Since I was trusted as an honor student, I desperately persuaded the professors that it was for everyone's sake and postponed the entrance ceremony by a day.

…But nothing happened.

I still couldn't forget the look the professors gave me when they said, "Just in case?"

I still couldn't forget that dark history.

"Is that all? I believed you many times after that. That a terrorist group would attack during the midterm exams, that monsters would rampage during the outdoor practice, that the food delivered today was poisoned, so we had to do something about it."

"Well, uh…"

"I believed all of that, and I did something about it, but in the end, it was all lies. And what did you say when you read my fortune? Tell me yourself."

"…Senior, you are destined to destroy the world. You will drive countless people into despair, lead them to death, and burn the world."

"That's bullshit."

Only after being tricked by this damn junior several times did I realize that she was a phony prophet.

Even the mention of a Regressor was a repertoire I had heard countless times. Before that, it was a possessor, and before that, a reincarnator? The painful memory of chasing after a Regressor who didn't even believe in her surfaced.

Ah, well, sometimes those 'prophecies' she made turned out to be true. Every time that happened, Cassandra acted so haughty that I remembered it.

But honestly, if you make ten prophecies a day, wouldn't one of them be correct?

The reason I still maintained a relationship with this junior, despite my countless dark histories stemming from her, was that she was a good kid besides being a fake prophet.

More importantly.

"Senior, calm down! Calm down!"

"…Haa."

[Heart of Steel]

…Cassandra was a Rank 6 mage who could use illusion magic and even mental stabilization magic. Yes, I endured and stayed close to her, hoping to make her a connection after graduation.

But now I have a job? And I'm even the Finance Director? And I have the Headmistress, a Rank 8, as my backer, not just a Rank 6?

So now I can treat this junior harshly. I'm only going easy on her because of the two years we spent bickering.

Anyway,

Smack!

"Ouch! That hurts, senior…"

"Stop exaggerating. My hand hurts more from hitting you."

"You're really weak, senior."

"Shut up."

I flicked her forehead because I was annoyed that she dragged this out for a month, but even if she was a mage, at Rank 6, her physical abilities were far superior to mine, a lowly Rank 1.

My hand is tingling.

She might say it hurts, but it probably felt like a mosquito bite to her. If only I wasn't Rank 1.

Anyway, I did hit her, and thanks to the mental stabilization magic, my stress was somewhat relieved.

"So, Ruth Spero will be joining the student council. You can decide his position."

"Ruth Spero is that Rank 6 freshman, right? It was chaotic back then, it's all a memory now!"

"You were Rank 4 when you enrolled, you brat."

Well, it was indeed chaotic since she went from Rank 4 to Rank 6 in three years. But she was a half-baked Rank 6.

Even so, she was indeed the strongest student in the academy along with the protagonist, so I let it slide. It was pointless to argue about it now.

"Anyway, I understand your request, senior! Leave that Ruth something to me!"

I'm leaving you to the protagonist.

If I told her the truth, she would put on a fake act and ask why I was being so harsh, so let's just go with the flow.

"Then I'll be going now."

"Huh? You're leaving already? Let's hang out a bit longer! Wasn't the Jungle Princess game we were playing fun?"

"That's why I'm going. Please stop doing that."

"Why? It's the ideal notebook you wrote yourself, senior!"

"It's not an ideal notebook, it's my graduation thesis, you crazy bitch."

I submitted "On the History and Creative Works That Can Be Made Based on a Fictional World Without Mana" as my graduation thesis for the administration department and burned it all as soon as I got my grades, so where did she even steal it from?

It was just a paper I wrote based on Earth's history and the novels I knew, so it had no academic value, but I was told that it was very creative.

A world without mana was the same as a fictional world without air, compared to Earth. It was evaluated as being truly imaginative, like a science fiction novel.

I thought it was a good topic back then, but why is it so embarrassing to see it now?

"Anyway, I'm really leaving now. Answer my calls quickly next time."

"S-senior!"

"What now?"

"Remember! You are destined to burn the world! Whoosh! Boom!"

This is driving me crazy.

How can I shut that mouth of hers?

"Hey, if I'm truly destined to destroy and burn the world, shouldn't you stop me here and now? Hmm?"

"That's okay!"

"Why?"

"I saw my future, and I was perfectly fine even in the world destroyed by you, senior! It's fine as long as I'm safe!"

"Allen, did you hear that? I'm going to run away, so please educate that junior properly."

"Just tell her to die, senior. More importantly, there's a message for you."

"A message? For me? Why do you have it?"

"It seems like the Headmistress sent it after realizing you were here. She said I should never open it and just show it to you…"

An urgent message from the Headmistress? Why would she do that when I'm going to the office right now?

With a sense of suspicion, I received the well-sealed letter from Allen.

[Finance Director, I'll just say one thing.

The plan went awry. The hair loss agent is leaking from Professor Circe's lab right now!]

"…What?"

No, wait a minute. The hair loss agent is leaking now?

We were supposed to set it off on the second day of the festival.

But now? Even a day before the festival starts?

'Damn it.'

What in the world happened…?