Ch.2828. The True Nature of Negotiation

After asking for a moment, Karen and the Chancellor went outside.

As the heavy door closed, Darius and Deia, who had been standing like folding screens on either side of me, immediately turned and exclaimed.

“You weren’t planning to go?”

“What? Are you really not going?”

Seeing them, I felt my shoulders unconsciously relax.

It was quite a fitting chorus.

“Aren’t those conditions too excessive? And you said you’d settle at 150 million.”

Deia asked worriedly. She seemed more concerned about the possibility of me staying in Norsweden than about me not being reinstated.

“The demands are too big. I could accept private business trips, but privatization of research equipment and access to forbidden books in the Millennium Library…”

Darius also looked displeased, thinking the conditions were unreasonable. He seemed eager to send me away quickly, perhaps thinking I might become a threat to his position as family head if I stayed here.

“They have no choice but to accept.”

But they were saying this because they didn’t understand the situation well. The Academy is running out of time.

By my assessment, there probably haven’t been any deaths since they summoned the spiritmaster, but quite a few people must still be suffering.

It can’t be helped since they’ve properly provoked the evil spirits.

“Really, you’re going back to work?”

“Yes, I plan to.”

When I sighed and answered Deia’s anxious question, Darius beside me folded his arms and stroked his chin.

“I honestly never imagined a day would come when you’d receive such grand treatment. Two hundred million easily surpasses my personal assets.”

“You have personal assets? Isn’t all cash tied to the family?”

“Ahem.”

Deia immediately glared at her eldest brother. It seemed like the two of them would enter into separate negotiations after this one ended.

“Anyway, these people always have something hidden away.”

I slightly shrugged my shoulders at Deia who was glaring at me.

“I don’t.”

“Sure you don’t! Besides that, you learned dangerous things like spirit magic! Endangering the family.”

Since I had nothing to say about that, I kept my mouth shut, and Deia snorted in disbelief.

“Anyway, am I the only one who thinks about the family? Both of you just go somewhere else! Let me become the family head and take responsibility!”

“Ahem.”

Darius awkwardly averted his gaze, pretending not to hear, and I too gently closed my eyes, naturally ignoring my younger sister’s complaints.

Suddenly, I wondered if this is what family is like, causing the corner of my mouth to twitch slightly, but I quickly maintained my composure.

When a knock sounded from outside, Deia, who had been confronting Darius, immediately straightened her posture.

Darius also forced an uncomfortable expression.

It was agreed from the beginning to give the Academy the impression that we wouldn’t let me go.

After I told them to come in, the Chancellor and Karen once again took their places at the negotiation table.

The Chancellor, who had been pale-faced and sweating profusely until just now, seemed much calmer, as if he had cooled his head.

I thought Karen would speak, but the Chancellor nodded and answered first.

“We will accept your conditions. If you want a position other than just professor, we’ll give it to you. So please, reconsider returning.”

It was truly the right decision.

If he had tried to continue negotiating, I would have added one more condition after another.

Karen probably advised him that accepting quickly would minimize the damage.

“Our Academy needs you. Not for me, but for the students. That much is true. The young students in their prime need your help.”

“…”

“Please help protect a place where young children can grow.”

The Chancellor pleaded with a tearful voice. Though there were clearly various political reasons, what he ultimately chose when pushed to the wall was the students.

I pretended to contemplate for a moment.

I tapped my chin with my index finger. For the Chancellor, this moment must feel as heavy as gold.

After dragging it out as long as possible, I finally gave him the answer he wanted.

“Very well.”

“Ah!”

The Chancellor raised his head with a bright smile. True happiness was evident on his face.

“However, I’ll add one more condition. I don’t need another position; being a professor is enough. And I’d like to teach the first-year students this year.”

“Th-that’s not difficult at all!”

The Chancellor nodded vigorously, saying this condition was actually the easiest.

Many professors coveted this year’s first-year class, known as the golden cohort, but this kind of condition was well within the Chancellor’s authority.

I stood up and extended my hand for a handshake, and the Chancellor hurried over and grasped it.

“Let’s write up the contract.”

“Oh my! Thank you!”

Everything went quickly after that.

The contract conditions could be modified quickly, and I had already confirmed the detailed clauses.

The Chancellor, trembling as he looked at the contract, was filled with a sense of accomplishment for having achieved something significant.

Karen, who had been keeping quiet, stepped forward and said:

“Could you depart immediately? The Academy’s situation is quite serious.”

“Th-that’s right. Even now, the Academy’s students are suffering.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t give the answer they wanted to their desperate voices.

“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible. I still have things to do in Norsweden.”

I hadn’t yet held Emily’s funeral. Since I intended to accompany the girl on her final journey, I couldn’t leave.

“Th-that’s…”

“You two should depart first. At most, I’ll be able to leave in about two days.”

At those words, the Chancellor swallowed his protest, and Karen, thinking he couldn’t ask for more, wore a troubled expression.

It meant the Academy’s situation was so serious that they wanted to bring me back as soon as possible.

So I offered some reassuring words to the two of them.

“There’s no need to worry. My personal maid has already arrived at the Academy and should be preparing for the resolution in advance.”

“…She’s already arrived?”

Karen made a dumbfounded expression.

“What do you mean? Norsweden is quite far from Robern Academy, so it’s impossible to arrive so quickly.”

“C-could it be that you can use warp magic?!”

The Chancellor interrupted while Karen was speaking. Even Karen turned to look at Deus with wide eyes after hearing those words.

Could it be that the Verdi family had mages capable of implementing warp magic at a practical level?

But as if such expectations were burdensome, Darius and Deia subtly turned away and avoided eye contact.

They seemed embarrassed, as if some uncomfortable secret had been exposed, but I answered nonchalantly.

“No, I sent her ahead in advance.”

“What?”

The two of them gaped with their mouths open. Everything that needed to be revealed had already been revealed, and all cards had been laid on the table.

The game was over.

A magician doesn’t need to explain his tricks, and a gambler doesn’t need to show his cards to an opponent who has called.

But since I had achieved a satisfactory result today.

I decided to reveal the true nature of this negotiation table to the two of them.

“I sent my maid ahead several days before you two arrived. For the normalization of the Academy.”

The Chancellor still looked like he didn’t quite understand, but Karen was different.

He let out a hollow laugh, slapped his forehead, and said it was absurd.

“You, you were planning to return to the Academy from the very beginning?”

Without bothering to answer, I just nodded gently.

The Academy was also a very important place for me.

It was the time when the protagonist’s group would enroll, and it was a place where I could naturally help their growth. Especially since the position of professor had tremendous merit for me.

I intended to return to the Academy no matter what, if possible.

“Ha, haha.”

Karen wore an expression of having been completely fooled. They thought they were in an overwhelmingly superior position, but in reality, the situation was quite manageable.

A sense of emptiness was visibly seeping from his face.

* * *

“Phew, is it the city air? *sniff sniff* It oddly reminds me of the Republic, making me feel unpleasant.”

The white-haired maid, Findenai, who unloaded her luggage from the carriage, sniffed around and looked at her surroundings.

It felt somewhat nostalgic to be so close to the kingdom’s center after spending time in Norsweden.

Bang bang!

“Thank you for your hard work, get back safely.”

After patting the carriage, the coachman waved goodbye to Findenai and cracked the reins to drive the horses.

As the carriage departed, Findenai, with her luggage slung over her shoulder, grinned while looking at Robern, known as the finest academy in the Griffin Kingdom.

“Wow, look at this place. Even I would be excited to study here.”

Her revealing maid uniform was catching the eyes of people around her, but Findenai, already accustomed to such gazes, walked confidently toward the academy’s main gate.