Ch.2222. Social Committee

There’s a story that when an academy student commits a wrongdoing, a disciplinary committee is convened. I really used to like this story.

The reason it’s in past tense is… well, it’s hard to say I like it now that I’m experiencing it firsthand.

In the center of the academy grounds stands the nearly abandoned student council building.

Unlike the other place—small, poorly maintained, and messy—located in a remote corner near the Rift, this building was filled with people for the first time in ages.

It was because a disciplinary committee had been called after Celia blew up the ceiling of the student cafeteria.

Since this incident involved the student cafeteria that everyone uses, they responded quite quickly.

Of course, the fact that the person involved was both an imperial princess and a student council member probably played a role, but still, convening a disciplinary committee in just an hour or two was quite unusual.

Anyway, that’s how five people ended up gathering here.

First, Celia Rubetia, the protagonist of this incident.

Student Council President Alkine Debaran, who would oversee the proceedings and deliver the verdict.

Student Council Vice President Diggers Zivchak, who seemed to have just tagged along.

Teacher Reina Trier, serving as the committee supervisor.

And finally… me, the Student Council Secretary.

What a petty lineup. What kind of disciplinary committee is this?

At this point, it might as well be called a student council regular meeting.

The atmosphere was indeed far from what you’d expect at a disciplinary committee.

“Ahaha! In all my time as an academy staff member, I’ve seen people destroy training grounds, but you’re the first to demolish a cafeteria! Truly impressive!”

“Please don’t tease me…”

If there was anything fortunate about this situation, it was that Celia wasn’t trying to blame me even after coming all this way.

By the way, the reason the Student Council handles this instead of a Disciplinary Department is simply because there isn’t one.

I guess the thinking is that if you have enough power to be in a disciplinary role, you might as well help the Student Council tackle the Rifts instead.

Anyway, with everyone being familiar faces, there wasn’t a hint of tension in the air.

Even Alkine, who usually takes these matters seriously, couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Then… I hereby commence the disciplinary committee regarding the destruction of academy property.”

After that, things proceeded rather boringly.

With everyone just going through the motions and speaking formally, it couldn’t possibly be interesting.

As the secretary, I took notes and organized everything, but despite the long and tedious proceedings, it all came down to a single sentence:

-While using offensive magic in the student cafeteria was a serious offense, no one was injured and there was no collateral damage, so taking this into consideration, Celia is sentenced to one week of community service within the academy.

Verdict delivered. Bang, bang, bang.

Even for an imperial princess, one week of community service seems like a lot. I thought they’d just make her write a reflection letter or something.

It seems they had to issue a visible punishment since there were quite a few witnesses.

Celia accepted the outcome without showing any displeasure.

“Ludion will be doing it with me, right?”

“Why would I serve your punishment with you?”

“Because you share some of the blame, Mr. Ludion.”

I thought she had accepted it… but as soon as the committee ended, she started with that again.

At this point, I’m starting to wonder if I actually did something wrong, but no matter how I think about it, I didn’t do anything.

When I firmly refused, she suddenly seemed upset.

“You help Lilith, but why won’t you help me?”

“That’s different. She’s developing herself, while you’re being punished for your own mistake.”

“Then how about this? I’ll help Lilith too, and you can use the energy you save to help me instead. How about it?”

Sigh, I’m speechless. She wasn’t originally this type of character, so how did she end up like this?

Though I guess it’s better than her original self who kept her mouth shut and refused to communicate with anyone.

I was starting to think maybe I should just help her since she’s asking so earnestly, unlike her usual sharp responses to anyone who approached her.

Plus, if Celia helps with Lilith’s training, there would be many benefits.

Even though Lilith is known as a combat specialist, she’s ultimately a Holy Maiden who primarily uses magic. Celia’s magical knowledge would definitely be beneficial to her.

The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to refuse. At this point, I was just looking for reasons to accept, but in such cases, what matters is that I found them.

“Fine, fine. I don’t have much to do anyway, so I’ll help you out.”

“Really?! Thank you, Ludion!”

Whoosh!

Celia threw herself at me in a hug… why is she using a cutscene that should be reserved for when we defeat the Demon King in the final chapter after an arduous battle?

I felt like something had gone seriously wrong, but with a beautiful woman embracing me, such concerns seemed rather unimportant.

Afterward, I headed to the now-ceilingless student cafeteria with Celia.

The others had either already eaten dinner or had other things to do.

I wasn’t particularly hungry since I had eaten a late lunch earlier, but I knew if I didn’t eat now, I’d definitely want something in the middle of the night, so I had no choice but to eat.

It’s not that I have anything against midnight snacks, but the concept barely exists at the academy.

The only place to eat here is the student cafeteria, and it doesn’t operate at night.

If you really want something to eat, you could go outside the academy to explore the night market, but… that would violate school rules.

While I’m willing to ignore rules when necessary, breaking them just because I’m hungry? Not worth considering.

So it’s best to avoid getting hungry at night.

For that reason, we arrived at the student cafeteria, where a board was set up in front of the entrance.

It read “Our cafeteria is open for business even without a ceiling!” alongside a cute character that looked exactly like Celia—clearly targeted at her.

I wondered who had the guts to take a shot at the imperial princess, but then I remembered who manages the student cafeteria and thought, “That figures.”

Anyway, I had to tease her about this.

I immediately called Celia over and pointed at the board.

“Hey, Celia. Look at this cute drawing. Isn’t that you?”

“You think I’m cute? Hehe, thank you.”

“Wow, now you can’t even understand what I’m saying properly.”

She really seems different. What happened to the hearing prodigy who could supposedly catch even the sound of ants crawling?

I’m starting to think the original content and setting information are becoming meaningless.

Giving up on teasing Celia, I entered the cafeteria, which was bustling with people gathered for dinner.

It was too noisy to hear what everyone was saying, but they were probably discussing why the ceiling had disappeared.

I was worried it might be dark since the ceiling lights had vanished along with the ceiling, but some talented friends who knew light attribute magic had somehow taken care of that with light spells.

Thanks to them, we could enjoy a delicious meal while gazing at the sky in a pleasant atmosphere.

Celia said she wasn’t very hungry and left most of her food, but I hated to see it go to waste, so I ate it all.

Geez, if she was going to leave everything, why did she even come along?

After realizing that even the most highly-rated food becomes tiresome when forced down, we headed back to the dormitories.

The sun had already set, but it wasn’t too dark thanks to lighting fixtures installed throughout the area.

Celia, walking beside me, casually spoke up.

“You must have been busy today.”

She had heard about what happened at the student council—or more precisely, I had mentioned it to her during dinner.

“You have no idea. I think I’ll fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow.”

The entrance ceremony, watching the battle royale organized by Reina, agreeing to help with Lilith’s training, saving the student council from near destruction, going to eat and then Celia blowing up the ceiling resulting in a disciplinary committee… hmm, that is quite a lot to experience in one day. No wonder I was exhausted.

“You definitely look tired. But you shouldn’t just go to sleep, right? You should wash up properly first.”

“That’s too much trouble. Isn’t there some magic that can take care of this?”

“There is related magic, but even though it theoretically makes you clean, it still leaves you feeling uncomfortable, so I recommend just washing up normally.”

Well, that’s interesting. I wasn’t even surprised by new information anymore.

I figured they probably didn’t implement magic that helps with daily life since it wasn’t necessary for the main storyline.

Anyway, if it still leaves you feeling uncomfortable, I’m not interested. I’ll just wash up properly and feel refreshed.

As we continued chatting about trivial matters, we soon reached the point where we needed to part ways.

The men’s and women’s dormitories were located in completely different areas, so we had to split up.

I glanced at Celia to say goodbye, but for some reason, she didn’t seem inclined to leave my side.

We had just passed the path to the women’s dormitory. What’s going on?

Just as I was wondering about this, Celia called my name.

“Ludion.”

The lighting fixtures were placed in awkward positions, making it a bit dark, so I couldn’t see her face clearly.

However, I could tell she wasn’t looking directly at me.

I wondered what she was going to say with such a dramatic setup, but her words turned out to be rather anticlimactic.

“Tomorrow… no, from now on, would you like to walk back together like this?”

It’s just walking together and heading back together when our schedules align, what’s the big deal?

We’ll naturally end up walking back together anyway since we’ll be attending the same lectures and I’ll be helping with her community service, so why even ask?

“I was planning to do that anyway.”

“…Again with that casual response… Sigh, never mind. See you tomorrow, Ludion.”

My casual answer elicited a peculiar reaction from her, but it seemed positive, so I decided not to worry about it.

Watching Celia’s retreating figure under the dim sky gave me a sense that the day had truly ended.

‘Despite all the difficulties, everything turned out fine in the end.’

That thought made me smile involuntarily.

Still, I hope tomorrow—no, the near future—would be uneventful. This is too exhausting.

…Is that even possible now that I’m involved with the main characters?

Well, if it can’t be helped, that’s just unfortunate.

After returning to the dormitory, I washed up first.

The desire to collapse onto the bed immediately was overwhelming, but Celia’s words came to mind, so I couldn’t.

After somehow managing to wash up and lying down on the bed, my eyes closed before I could think about anything else.

And then came the next morning. When I opened my eyes, my room seemed wider.

“What the hell?”

Looking closer, I realized it wasn’t that my room had expanded—the wall had disappeared, connecting my room with the one next door.

What the heck? Give me back my wall.