Chapter 350: The Beginning Of The End [XII]
It had been about a week since my last visit to the Student Council’s office.
And after dealing with the aftermath of organizing the Seraphic Division base, and miscellaneous stuff, I was finally back to the academy...
Standing right before the doors that had a plaque saying:
[Student’s Council Office]
The heavy oak doors still looked the sa, polished, spotless, and way too fancy for what was basically a workplace.
I pushed them open with one hand.
Creak...
Inside, the sa faint sll of tea and parchnt floated in the air.
The sunlight poured through the tall windows, shining over the golden desk in the middle, Lunara’s desk.
But this ti, it wasn’t just her.
There were six people sitting around the long table.
So were chatting, so reading through docunts, and one was... sleeping with their face buried in their arms.
The mont I stepped in, all eyes turned to .
"Oh, you’re finally here," Lunara said softly, setting her teacup down.
She TRIED to smile a little, her wings faintly folding behind her as she stood up.
"Perfect timing. We were just about to begin."
"Yeah, sorry," I muttered, scratching the back of my neck.
"Had so... things to take care of."
"Pfft..." Themis chuckled quietly from her seat, tapping the table with her pen. "You an you just overslept again."
I shot her a look.
"I didn’t."
"You did."
"...Maybe."
That earned a few snickers around the room.
Lunara cleared her throat, trying to maintain her "smile".
"Alright, everyone. I believe so of you have yet to properly et. Since Aestrea will be working with us from now on, we’ll go around for a short introduction."
She turned first to Themis, who leaned back in her chair, legs crossed, that usual calm grin on her face.
"This is Themis. She’s our Vice President and handles most of the council’s organization. You already know her, a she’s the one who... convinced you to join us."
"’Convinced,’ huh?" I muttered.
Themis shrugged.
"I prefer ’persuaded.’"
"Right."
Lunara shook her head before turning to the next person, a tall young man with silver hair and a serious face, his uniform crisp and perfectly ironed.
"This is Elijah, our Treasurer," she said. "He manages the funding, budgets, and general supplies for all student organizations."
Elijah nodded politely. "Nice to et you, Student Aestrea. I’ve heard a lot about you from Themis. You’re quite... the efficient one."
"Yeah," I replied simply.
"Guess so."
Next, Lunara gestured to a girl with red hair tied in a ssy ponytail, who had been twirling a pen in her fingers while smirking at .
"And this is Harper," Lunara said. "Our Combat Coordinator. She handles field operations and defense formations during academy events."
"Yo," Harper said, raising her hand lazily. "Didn’t think I’d see the guy who destroyed a football star sitting in a council seat."
"Didn’t think I’d join either," I replied.
She grinned wider.
"Fair enough."
Lunara then moved on to the next one, soone who looked half-asleep but waved drowsily when her na was called.
"This is Iris. She’s in charge of communication and information gathering. Don’t mind her attitude... she barely sleeps."
Iris mumbled sothing like:
"Mmm... work never ends..."
Before her head dropped again.
Next to her sat a smaller girl with pure white hair and bright green eyes, who instantly sat up straight when she noticed
looking.
"This one is Elya, our Secretary," Lunara said. "She takes notes, organizes our reports, and handles the official paperwork for the academy."
Elya nodded quickly. "I-it’s an honor to et you, Sir Aestrea! I read all your combat reports! They were very... impressive."
"Thanks," I said, trying not to sound awkward.
Finally, Lunara turned toward the last mber, a man wearing half a mask that covered his right eye, with a faint smirk on his lips.
His aura was fucking strange... but his left eye was strangely sharp.
"This is Varen," Lunara said, "our Security Officer. He supervises the academy’s defense enchantnts and... disciplinary actions."
Varen tilted his head slightly. "So this is the infamous Aestrea, huh? I expected soone taller."
I blinked.
"...I expected soone less talkative."
He snorted.
"Touché."
Lunara sighed and tried to smile again, shaking her head. "Alright, now that everyone knows each other, let’s get to work."
She sat down gracefully, folding her wings again, her expression turning serious.
"The academy is entering its mid-term evaluation phase," she continued. "We’ll be overseeing faction relations, ensuring the rules are followed, and preventing any internal conflicts."
Themis looked over at .
"That’s where you co in. You’ll handle the more... physical side of things. Patrols, inspections, and... well, dealing with anyone who thinks the rules don’t apply to them."
"So basically, I’m the enforcer," I said.
"Exactly." Themis grinned.
"Oh, you’ll like it. It’s basically legal violence," Harper leaned forward, grinning.
"That’s not the right way to say it," Elijah muttered.
"It’s the fun way to say it."
Lunara sighed again, but her voice remained soft.
"Let’s stay professional, please."
Then, after a little bit of idle chatting, we finally got to work.
Papers, folders, and magical projectors were instantly spread across the table like a storm of bureaucracy.
Lunara passed
a small stack of docunts, each stamped with the academy’s crest.
"These are the current pending requests from various departnts," she said. "Mostly minor things, but they still need approval from the council."
I flipped open the first file.
The neat handwriting almost hurt my eyes.
[Request No. 1478
Permission to extend practice hours for the Combat Division by two hours per day.
Reason: "We’re preparing for the Inter-Academy Tournant."]
I sighed quietly.
"Two hours more, huh?"
’If I’m not wrong, the combat division already trains for twelve hours a day, having two hours of rest, and to eat. If it increases by two hours... the instructor’s ti will also be lessened, so it’s probably better to reject it.’
Themis leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand.
"They always use the tournant as an excuse to train until they pass out. The Nursing Gods are already complaining."
"So what do you usually do?" I asked, scanning through the request again.
"Usually?" she said.
"We reject it. But if you think otherwise, we can review it."
I paused.
’...One hour should still be possible, still? The instructors shouldn’t mind, as from what I’ve seen, they spent a lot of ti hanging around the academy.’
"...Let them extend it by one hour instead of two. If they want to push harder, fine, but they should take responsibility for exhaustion injuries."
Elijah raised an eyebrow.
"That’s surprisingly reasonable."
"Surprisingly?" I asked.
He smirked a little.
"I just expected soone with your reputation to say sothing like ’let them fight until they drop.’"
"Yeah, well," I said, signing the approval, "I’m not a sadist. Not outside the battlefield, anyway."
That sohow earned a few chuckles around the table. Even Iris lifted her head long enough to grin sleepily.
The next file was from the Research Division.
[Request No. 1483
Permission to use two eighth-tier spirit cores for experintal enchantnts.]
I frowned slightly.
"Two cores? That’s a lot of wasted divine energy."
"We already checked, and they don’t have authorization from the Arcane Resources Departnt yet. This was probably sent in advance." Elya nodded quickly.
"So they’re trying to jump the line."
"Pretty much," Themis said, flipping her pen.
"Happens all the ti."
I closed the folder.
"Reject it, then. They can get approval the right way like everyone else."
"You’re strict but fair. I see why Themis wanted you here, " Harper grinned lightly,
Themis shrugged at her words.
I continued reading through more papers, complaints about stolen equipnt, noise at night, damaged training areas, and so students getting caught using illegal enchantnts.
Each ti, I gave my thoughts, and we debated the decision like it actually mattered.
At one point, Iris yawned so hard she nearly fell off her chair.
"Can we not go through another stack? My brain’s already lting."
"You can rest, Iris," Lunara said kindly.
"No, no," Iris said, half-asleep.
"I’m useful... sotis..."
I looked at her with a light smile before speaking:
"If you fall asleep mid-sentence, I’ll take over your reports."
"Go ahead," she mumbled, head already on the table again.
The others laughed quietly.
After a few hours, the pile in front of
was smaller, and I felt the faint burn behind my eyes.Paperwork was worse than war.
Still, I wasn’t about to complain. Compared to blood and screams, the quiet sound of pens scratching was a blessing.
When I finally looked up, Themis was watching .
"You’re doing fine," she said casually. "Better than I expected, actually. Especially after hearing all of those crazy rumours about you..."
I blinked.
"What did you actually expect?"
"Soone who’d storm in, sign half the forms without reading them, and leave."
"Tempting," I admitted.
"But you’d probably hunt
down if I did."
"Correct," she replied with a small smirk.
Lunara stood up then, stretching her wings slightly. "Alright, I think that’s enough for today. We’ve covered all the urgent matters."
’...Why did she let out her wings today?’
I was quite curious, but of course, I didn’t bother asking.
"Finally."
I leaned back, letting out a long breath.
"You survived your first real eting, Junior. Proud of you." Harper chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah," I said, glancing down at the table. "Honestly... It’s not bad. Feels weirdly peaceful doing this."
Elijah adjusted his glasses. "You get used to it. The work isn’t glorious, but it keeps the academy from collapsing."
"I can see that," I said quietly.
"Order keeps everything from falling apart."
For a mont, they all went silent.
"I’m glad you think that way. We need more people who understand the balance between strength and reason," Lunara added, "smiling.
[Lunara’s Affection
5!]
I t her eyes for a second, then looked away.
Complints weren’t really my thing.
"Anyway, good work, everyone. Sa ti tomorrow," Themis stood up, grabbing her cloak.
As the others began packing up, Harper ca over and clapped
on the shoulder. "Not bad, Junior! You actually fit in here!"
I raised an eyebrow.
"You sound surprised."
"I am," she said with a grin.
"But in a good way."
Elya smiled shyly from behind her stack of papers.
"You were really patient with everyone today, Sir Aestrea. Most new mbers don’t even last this long."
I nodded lightly, watching as everyone left the room.
I lingered behind for a bit, cleaning up the loose pages, feeling that the room was extrely empty except for the ticking sound of the wall clock.
Honestly, this was probably the best opportunity to search for any docunts related to the actual information that I need.
But I’m not dumb enough to do this on the first day of "work".
Besides, I got a favorable impression from the other mbers, so it should be good enough for today.
I left the student council office.
I must say that it’s fucking good not having classes...
However... an enforcer, huh?
That will be quite fun...
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