Ch.267267 – The Dark Mastermind Behind the Foundation Scholarship Students (Or Not)

<267 – The Foundation Scholarship Students’ Mastermind (Or Not)>

On the way back.

Andersen honestly showed his curiosity.

“Is that sticker such a precious item?”

“Of course! Can you believe that you can write a simplified magic formula in such a small area and it automatically completes the formula and activates its effect?”

Even now, knights, the flowers of the battlefield, have skilled magicians painstakingly carving formulas into their heavy armor, trying to fit in as many formulas as possible.

This craftsmanship, which far exceeds the number and limit of mana formulas allowed per unit area, is essentially an upgraded version of my paper airplane with its overwhelming amount of mana formulas.

To be frank, it was the work of a senior with such amazing mana control skills that even I, a player, copied it from the beginning.

“If a senior has such remarkable skills, they must be in an upper grade, right?”

“Well, in terms of grade level, they’re technically 2.5 years in.”

“Just 2.5 years? That’s barely different from us. Does that mean they’re a current second-year student!?”

“To be precise, they’re a senior who completed the first semester of second year and is currently on leave.”

“Why would a senior with such incredible skills take a leave instead of advancing to third year? Or did they improve their skills because they took a leave?”

“Ah, please don’t dig too deep. We might end up entering DLC content territory.”

“DLC? That’s an unfamiliar term.”

“It basically means you shouldn’t know too much.”

“The Academy is vast, and the Foundation’s secrets are truly numerous.”

Andersen nodded and promised to keep my secret after all the help I’d given him today.

“The Foundation’s affairs are both your great shame and a burden you cannot shed. I could use it to corner you if I wanted, but having received your help, I have not the slightest intention of committing such an ungrateful act.”

“Then I’m grateful!”

But the senior we needed to be wary of wasn’t the sticker maker.

“Aaaah~hahahahaha~~!”

A laugh that spread throughout the entire forest.

A high and clear volume that made my whole body shiver instantly.

“This distinctive laughter… Could it be from earlier!?”

“Step back, Ddidda.”

There’s only one person at Gift Academy with such laughter.

“To think that first-years were collaborators with the on-leave students who fled the scene, even I, a student council member, couldn’t have anticipated this!”

“Ugh. Senior Mandela…”

“My, my. I helped you savor the joy of victory at the sports festival, yet you seem wary? That’s not exactly a welcoming expression. Or perhaps…”

A thorn appeared in the tone of Senior Mandela’s laughter-laced words, though she was nowhere to be seen.

“Are you sensing that you’ll be punished for being a ‘bad child’~~?”

* *

Mandela, the Marchioness, tugged on the rope that bound the on-leave seniors like dried fish and urged them on.

“Weakling seniors~ Is this really all of your infiltration tools~~?”

“We gave you everything! You’ve already taken all our possessions, how much more do you intend to torment us!”

“Oh~~? You’re not in a position to raise your voice, are you~~?”

The on-leave seniors tumbled left and right as she yanked the rope.

As they shed tears of shame at suffering such humiliation from a junior, a student council member from the On-Leave Student Enforcement Bureau chuckled and stopped her.

“That’s enough. Don’t push these seniors too hard when they’ve already shown their ugly side with neither talent nor effort. Judging by the <stickers> attached to the cart and the quality of the collected items, they seem to be a group with considerable organizational skills. If you provoke them too much, even an elite like you might get involved in something dangerous.”

Mandela Castella, who wielded absolute power over her peers, obediently followed the senior’s words.

The senior wearing glasses that appeared to be vision and mana-assisting devices, looking dull and unattractive.

Normally, she would have crushed anyone who tried to lord over her with just a one-year difference, but her opponent was no ordinary glasses-wearer.

The most skilled among the glasses faction, the only one to secure a position as a student council member!

From the moment he pushed up his glasses with his finger, creating a backlight as they caught the sunlight, he was clearly no ordinary person. The warning from Vutre Glass, the third-year student council member, carried that much pressure.

“But it’s strange~ No matter how I look at it, the strongest weapon these intruders had was the stickers, yet there are no more stickers among the confiscated items. There was definitely a magical reaction, but it suddenly cut off, which suggests they must have hidden them to avoid confiscation~?”

“Finding them is the job of our On-Leave Student Enforcement Bureau. You’ve fulfilled your part by helping with the arrest. Your skills, worthy of someone aiming for the student council presidency in two years, were indeed impressive, but don’t be greedy. Your job for today ends here.”

“Ooooh~~hohohoho~~! I, Mandela Castella, always welcome student council work that earns me lots of points. Please call on me anytime, Senior Glass!”

Though she smiled in front of Senior Glass and handed the rope over to another third-year, Mandela’s face after completing her student council duties revealed an undisguisable sadistic curiosity.

“Hmm~ This is strange no matter how I think about it. One man under <Enchantment> somehow broke free from the status effect, and the magical reaction disappeared.”

Her footsteps, which had been circling near the scene, suddenly stopped.

Wet ground.

When she touched the soil with her hand, a viscous, sticky liquid clung between her fingers.

“Bingo♪”

When she activated her detection magic, liquids similar to what she had just touched were spotted at regular intervals on the ground.

At the end of this trail must be hiding the interesting on-leave senior who broke the enchantment and escaped.

So what was this liquid?

“Pupu~. Did they spill slime jelly fluid or something~?”

What a messy senior.

I must scold them.

Of course, since the official student council work is over, I’ll have the spoils all to myself.

Her steps tracking the traces became more cheerful.

Chatter chatter.

Her tracking slowed as she heard a girl’s voice speaking loudly and happily.

Mandela was surprised.

The shortest person in the Academy.

The 133cm first-year.

That Ddidda who defeated three of the Four Heavenly Kings of the second year at the sports festival was at the end of the trail.

“The Foundation’s affairs are both your great shame and a burden you cannot shed. I could use it to corner you if I wanted, but having received your help, I have not the slightest intention of committing such an ungrateful act.”

Another companion was speaking to Ddidda.

A noble male student with splendid blonde hair and an air of dignity.

She remembered seeing him.

During the sports festival, when first-years faced off against third-years, he was the foolish male student who stupidly fell into the trap of another student council powerhouse, Senior Velvet.

She had thought he would surely become a slave to the student council during summer vacation and hadn’t paid him any mind, but to think Ddidda would make contact with him first.

Mandela realized.

Among the carefree first-years, only Ddidda was looking at the bigger picture.

“I see. So that’s how it was?”

The smile on Mandela’s face grew brighter.

As soon as she realized the truth, she revealed her presence.

“To think that first-years were collaborators with the on-leave students who fled the scene, even I, a student council member, couldn’t have anticipated this!”

“Ugh. Senior Mandela…”

“My, my. I helped you savor the joy of victory at the sports festival, yet you seem wary? That’s not exactly a welcoming expression. Or perhaps… Are you sensing that you’ll be punished for being a ‘bad child’~~?”

“We’re just innocent victims who got caught up in this!”

“Lies won’t work. You might be able to deceive the male student who came with you, but you’re far from capable of deceiving me?”

In her mind, she already saw the truth.

“The disappearance of mana reaction at the scene and the loss of the most valuable magical tool. If it was the intervention of the top scholarship student to help the Foundation’s scholarship students, I can understand.”

“Gasp… Was that really what happened, Ddidda!?”

“Stupid young master. How could you fall for such an obvious fishing attempt?”

“Ugh. I’m sorry.”

“This is why you’re Tier 4, with such poor awareness.”

Andersen received an incomprehensible scolding.

Seeing his face tinged with guilt, her conviction grew stronger.

“You came here today with two purposes. One was to let the Foundation’s on-leave students know they haven’t been abandoned, and to provide support and instructions.”

“What?”

“I didn’t report this to Senior Glass, but I, Mandela Castella, have already grasped the truth. That they are Foundation scholarship students!”

“How did you figure that out?”

“If you label suspicious students at the Academy as Foundation scholarship students, nine out of ten times they are Foundation scholarship students!”

An outrageous logical fallacy.

Ddidda, identified as an associate, answered confidently.

“That’s not true!”

“Really?”

“…I don’t think so?”

The fact that she trailed off with a face suggesting something was off already confirmed Mandela’s suspicions.

“The other purpose was to dominate Andersen before the student council could take him. Judging by his fidgeting, a considerable level of gaslighting has already succeeded. I’ve completely figured out your intention to strengthen class cohesion and prevent seniors from taking away a powerful first-year talent!”

“You’re not listening to a word I say,” complained Ddidda shamelessly, pretending to be an innocent victim.

If she wouldn’t admit it, that was fine.

“I could turn a blind eye specially.”

“Really?”

“After I fully enjoy the skills that support the cunning of the first-year mastermind, who acts innocent while steadily advancing the Foundation’s plans behind the scenes!”

The top student of the first year and the top student of the second year.

Their unexpected off-the-record confrontation began suddenly.