Ch.107107. The Exchange Meeting is a Bundle of Experience

The exchange program was not an event open to the general public like competitive matches or the Lion King’s Birthday celebration.

As the name “exchange program” suggested, its main purpose was harmony between academies, with the primary goal being to share and learn from each other’s cultures.

For this reason, rather than being a grand event open to outsiders, the exchange program was conducted as an internal event exclusively for academy cadets.

Traditionally, the exchange program rotated among the academies. While the hosting academy determined the overall framework, the basic structure remained similar.

The aim was to create a forum for exchange where cadets from invited academies could audit classes at the host academy and gain more experience.

On the surface, it appeared to be an inter-academy event with plausible intentions and objectives, but examining the reality revealed something quite different from such pure motives.

To be precise, the early exchange programs did flow with such intentions.

They provided a broader learning environment through exchanges with other academies rather than closed academy education.

However, as always happens, over time, the programs deviated from the original purpose.

When talented and passionate young people were gathered in one place, cadets from each academy established implicit rules and created a competitive structure.

In principle, this could be considered the right direction as it aligned with the reason the exchange program was created, but as political hands became involved, the nature of the exchange program changed.

Currently, the continent was in a situation like the calm before a storm.

Outstanding talents began to appear across the continent, and with the remarkable development of magical engineering, the development of war machines known as giant soldiers was progressing rapidly.

To put it bluntly, it wouldn’t be strange if war broke out at any moment.

But the era of going to war with swords and shields was gone.

Now there were giant soldiers, and using them in warfare consumed astronomical amounts of money.

And that wasn’t all.

Wars using giant soldiers, which embodied the culmination of magical engineering, always inflicted irreparable damage on both countries.

They devastated territories and created countless casualties.

Given these circumstances, the leaders of each country established various systems under the name of the Continental Peace Agreement. It was natural for them, as those with much to lose had much to give up.

But hasn’t human history always been a history of struggle?

Stagnant water was bound to overflow, and a compressed spring would inevitably spring back.

No matter how much the leaders of each country gathered to sign the Continental Peace Agreement and exert war deterrence, there were always those who wouldn’t comply.

These people were always more interested in what others had than what they themselves possessed, and they viewed the era of peace not as a blessing but as an opportunity.

But even they couldn’t wage war recklessly while countries were keeping each other in check with red eyes.

As much as they were greedy, they were always afraid of losing what they had.

So they turned their attention to the academy exchange programs.

They began to spy on these institutions, which were like the hearts of each country where talents were nurtured, to gauge their respective advantages.

Though they were currently inexperienced rookies, academies were where the talents of each country gathered. The judgment was that by observing those who would become the core of the empire or kingdom in the distant future, they could plan for what was to come.

As a result, duels became an indispensable part of the exchange programs, and for this exchange program hosted by Demeia Academy, duels were determined to be one of the most important schedules.

“This exchange program must absolutely highlight the overwhelming aspects of Demeia Academy. This is an exchange program where even the inheritors of the Four Seasons’ martial arts are participating. It’s a matter of not just the academy’s pride but the empire’s dignity.”

Talisman, who held the position of vice president of the student council, pushed up his glasses and spoke passionately. As a child of high nobility, he was a person who took great pride in being a citizen of the Infractus Empire, with imperial supremacist ideology ingrained to his very bones.

Considering that his family was a representative noble house of the well-known hardliners in the empire, his imperial supremacist ideology wasn’t incomprehensible.

Having grown up hearing from childhood that only the Infractus Empire could unify the continent, it was predictable how his values would be established.

“Vice President, we must not forget the essence of the exchange program and focus solely on competition. The exchange program is for harmony between academies. If we only desire victory, its meaning becomes diluted.”

The one who directly opposed Talisman’s opinion was Courtney, a child from a representative moderate noble family that stood diametrically opposed to Talisman’s family.

Unlike the hardliners who always spoke of continental unification, she opposed Talisman’s opinion by discussing the essence of the exchange program, befitting a child from a moderate family that opposed war.

“Courtney. Are you scared?”

“It seems you need to be more careful with your words, Vice President.”

Their gazes locked in mid-air.

As children from families with politically opposite positions, the relationship between the two wasn’t particularly good.

Starting with these two, the student council executives, divided into factions, began to focus on disparaging each other rather than the meeting.

Is it going to be like this again?

Seraphina felt a headache coming on.

As the exchange program date approached, the conflict between the two factions began to exceed reasonable limits. Initially, the two factions had been mindful of Seraphina, the princess and student council president, but when she didn’t intervene, they began to tear at each other like fish in water.

For a third party who wasn’t a student council executive, the atmosphere was so heated that they might question whether the student council should be allowed to continue.

But all of this was intentional on Seraphina’s part.

It was a strategy to instigate conflict between the two factions, drain their power, and run the student council according to her taste.

It was deliberate neglect, considering the future when she would inherit the throne and the current student council members would succeed to their titles.

However, they’re crossing the line right before the event.

Seraphina’s expression gradually disappeared from her face.

Even though their fight was intended by Seraphina, she always had to hold the reins.

Even though she had intended it to prevent them from engaging in political machinations, if they failed to recognize their master, wouldn’t it be putting the cart before the horse?

At this point, it would be right for her to intervene, as always.

“Senior members, please calm down.”

Seraphina’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.

It was a skillful interruption that targeted the exact moment she was about to step in.

She looked at the person who had just spoken, wondering what bold individual had used such a tactic.

Ian Tigris Linebarrel.

The prodigy of the Linebarrel family.

“Yes, Ian. What do you think? Do you believe our Demeia Academy should grovel before these academies with no foundation?”

Talisman glared at Ian and shot back. Ian, who had recently joined the student council, had a fairly sociable personality and got along well with others.

Especially since his family was the Linebarrel family, famous for being wealthy even within the empire, Talisman had maintained a fairly close relationship with him and expected Ian to take his side.

“Yes, Ian. I’m curious about your thoughts. You’d have different ideas from the brute of a vice president who only knows violence, right?”

Courtney was not much different from Talisman. She also maintained a fairly close relationship with Ian and, like Talisman, firmly believed that Ian would take her side.

“First, I think both seniors’ thoughts are correct.”

“That’s not the answer I want.”

“I agree. Do you think these views can coexist?”

Talisman and Courtney rarely agreed on anything.

It was nice to say that both opinions were valid, but upon closer examination, it was no different from choosing nothing at all.

Hardliners and moderates.

The two factions didn’t view neutrals favorably because they had different political lines.

It was due to the anxiety that they might change their minds and cross over to the opposing faction at any time.

Whether Ian knew this or not, he nodded with a smile that everyone found refreshing.

“First, Senior Courtney is right that the exchange program is a place of harmony. The purpose of holding the exchange program is ostensibly for academy harmony, so we shouldn’t forget that point.”

“As I thought, Ian would agree with my opinion.”

“Are you serious, Ian?”

Courtney’s beaming face contrasted with Talisman’s deeply furrowed one.

Ian shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

“That’s how it is on the surface. We don’t need to show all our intentions to the other side.”

“Go on.”

Talisman’s expression softened slightly. He seemed to have caught some hint from Ian’s words.

“But as Senior Talisman said, we can’t just lose. This time is an exceptional situation where all the inheritors of the Four Seasons’ martial arts are attending. Moreover, our academy has an inheritor of the Four Seasons’ martial arts.”

Ian’s gaze turned to one spot.

Naturally, the gazes of the student council executives also turned there, where Seraphina was observing the meeting with an expressionless face.

“The reason we need an overwhelming victory is for that reason. Our defeat would tarnish the reputation of Demeia Academy and, by extension, the empire. However, it shouldn’t be crude. If we’re confident we’re the best, we should have the dignity to match.”

There was a strange persuasiveness to Ian’s words.

It wasn’t that he had eloquent speech, but his pleasant tone and handsome appearance added strength to his words.

Even Seraphina, who had initially been displeased, was somewhat swayed by Ian’s rhetoric.

“An elegant victory. Isn’t that the most valuable thing we should achieve in this exchange program?”

“An elegant victory… A phrase befitting the dignity of the empire.”

“I certainly overlooked that point.”

Talisman and Courtney, who had been at each other’s throats, agreed with Ian’s words.

The idea that an ugly victory lacks dignity resonated with Talisman, who held imperial supremacist ideology, and the notion that an elegant victory was necessary to maintain dignity struck a chord with Courtney.

“I think it would be good to follow Ian’s opinion this time… What do you all think?”

“I also agree with the vice president. Is there anyone who objects?”

No one raised their hand. Since the two de facto leaders of the factions had agreed, the rest followed smoothly.

Meanwhile, Seraphina, who had stepped back to observe the meeting, genuinely admired Ian’s skill.

Despite not having been in the student council for long, he had already won over key personnel and was manipulating them according to his intentions without major friction.

The most frightening aspect was that the others didn’t realize they were being guided according to his intentions.

This was possible because he appropriately accepted and praised the opinions put forward by others while hiding his original purpose.

Ian Tigris Linebarrel…

He was once at the top of Seraphina’s recruitment list, given her strong desire for talent.

Indeed, during the entrance mock battle, she had decided to recruit him, actively accepting the opinions of the intelligence department.

If Seraphina hadn’t met the irregular Gilbert that day, she would certainly have drawn him into her faction.

But that day, Seraphina encountered the extraordinary individual named Gilbert.

He, who was known to have never piloted a giant soldier before, was actually piloting one for the first time on the day of the entrance mock battle.

Such a person demonstrated incredible three-dimensional maneuvers, took first place in the entrance mock battle, and boldly declared he would become the inheritor of the Winter Sword.

When she questioned his motives, he said he would give up even the right to inherit the count’s title to become the empire’s sword.

He eventually gained the recognition of the Sword Saint and became the inheritor of the Winter Sword, as well as her disciple.

And that wasn’t all.

In the guerrilla incident and attack incident that nearly became a stain on Demeia Academy, which had never been infiltrated before, he admirably fulfilled his duty as the empire’s sword.

He protected the empire’s citizens and ultimately preserved the empire’s honor.

That was why.

That was why Seraphina turned her attention from the talent named Ian to the talent named Gilbert.

Seraphina couldn’t help but feel regretful that she hadn’t been able to completely draw Gilbert into her faction.

Whenever she subtly probed him, he skillfully evaded.

In that respect, he was exactly like his father, who maintained neutrality.

Like that iron-blooded count who said his loyalty was directed solely toward the empire.

Of course, Seraphina wasn’t one to give up there. Her desire for talent was beyond what ordinary people imagined.

-Knock! Knock!

“Enter.”

Seraphina, who had been lost in thought, snapped back to reality at the urgent knocking sound.

It seemed she had been thinking too deeply about Gilbert.

As soon as the host of the meeting, Seraphina, gave permission, the meeting room door opened.

It was a cadet from the student council.

“I’ve committed rudeness by interrupting your meeting, but I thought you should know this urgently!”

The voice of the cadet, who knelt on one knee before Seraphina and bowed his head, was very urgent.

Could there be some problem?

Seraphina urged him on.

“It’s alright. So what is it that I need to know?”

“Right now, a cadet is accepting random duel requests.”

“I don’t think that’s something to make such a fuss about. Hasn’t there been someone who’s done such an eccentric thing before?”

“It’s different from when Cadet Brynhild did it. At that time, Brynhild received duel requests regardless of her intention, but this time, that’s not the case. The cadet has directly declared that he will accept all duel requests from cadets of other academies participating in the exchange program!”

“I’m not sure whether to call it arrogant or bold. I can’t gauge it.”

What is this about?

Seraphina couldn’t predict what kind of situation this would lead to.

If the cadet who pulled such an eccentric stunt showed a good performance, it would have a promotional effect, but if the opposite happened, the situation would become awkward.

“So how is the situation?”

“Well… despite having already had quite a few duels, he hasn’t lost even once.”

“That’s good news to hear. So who is this cadet?”

“Gilbert… Gilbert Lion Heart!”

Seraphina unconsciously smiled at the familiar name.

It seemed her disciple was up to something quite interesting.