episode_0002

Private Grandis Academy.

Compared to other academies in the kingdom, it has a very short history, but as one of the few private academies, it boasts the best environment and level of education.

It is also famous for being the place where a martial artist, one of only four in the kingdom, became the chairman and raised the company with the fortune he had accumulated throughout his life after experiencing all kinds of wars.

Top-notch faculty, a mountain of scholarships, top-notch research equipment that is hard to find even in a hegemonic empire, and welfare facilities such as a swimming pool and gym.

Even the chairman himself was born into a poor family and was unable to properly attend the academy, so the tuition was extremely low so that even poor students could attend.

A place that students cannot help but flock to, and especially for the common people, it is a place that can turn their lives around.

However, in one conference room of Grandis Academy, a war-like atmosphere was in the air.

“… … … … … .”

“… … … Hmm.”

“Hoo… … … … .”

Grandis Academy is largely divided into three fields: magic, martial arts, and administration.

Even within it, it is divided into various majors and schools of thought, but broadly speaking, that is what it is.

Professors who are usually in the same field but fight and growl at each other due to their vested interests.

This time, they worked together to divide the air in the huge conference room into three.

A representative from each field sat on three prepared chairs, and behind them, almost all the professors from that field sat down.

“Oh, it’s been a year since I’ve seen you. Professor Rooster.”

” Professor Elfinvisor? You’re the representative again this year, following last year. Just because you’re a martial artist doesn’t mean your brain is all muscle, right? ”

“Those who study magic or something gloomily dare.”

“Don’t you both get tired of it every year? I don’t think the professors of martial arts and magic would have decided to have you fight by the collars here.”

“At this time of year, it’s the loudest topic, but it’s so hard to act arrogant.”

“Professor Ariel, didn’t the administrative representative change in one day last year? It wouldn’t change again before the meeting started, right?”

“… … … Tsk.”

It was a very childish pun for someone with the ability to be a professor at Grandis Academy to make.

It was a necessary step for them, as it was quite effective in dampening the spirits of other areas before the upcoming ‘meeting’.

Even if you are a bit childish and shameless, you should never be pushed back. The one with the loudest voice in a meeting doesn’t always win, but if you have a quiet voice, it’s hard to even get a chance, let alone win.

Therefore, they were closer to fighting cocks than true leaders or representatives of a field.

Those elected because they are the loudest, most shameless, and most argumentative.

And the reason why professors from the three fields go this far is.

Druk.

“Is everyone here? The Chairman is out of the office due to unavoidable circumstances, so we will skip the opening remarks and go straight to the meeting.”

“You said something unavoidable happened?”

“Went to the east coast for a while.”

“Are you on vacation?”

“Well, it’s not a big problem.”

Suddenly, the faculty members who had been noisily cheering at the news that the chairman had gone on vacation to the east coast soon became quiet.

This meeting is a very important meeting that only takes place once a year. It could be problematic if the chairman does not attend such a meeting.

The professors only looked at the one man standing in the center of the conference room.

Of all those gathered in this conference room, I am the youngest, have the least experience, and have the lowest rank.

As was the case at last year’s meeting, the chairman is a capable person who gives full authority.

Adam Keynes, Grandis Academy’s Treasurer.

Until last year, Adam was just considered a bum who had caught the chairman’s eye and had risen to fame by luck.

In this conference room, I stood in a clear position of superiority.

The fighting cocks of the three fields who had been keeping an eye on each other also focused their attention on Adam with nervous expressions.

Adam Keynes, who received the attention of all the professors at the Grandis Academy.

“Then, from now on.”

“Let us begin this year’s sector-specific budget planning meeting.”

War was declared.

*

The magical Rooster, the martial Elfin Visor, and the administrative Ariel.

The fighting cocks elected this year immediately raised their beaks and talons and charged at each other.

“Last year, the magic side took over 50% of the budget! Please give in this year!”

“What are you talking about! Isn’t that because Professor Circe, a life magic specialist, published a paper on improving healing potions! The results were so good that even the royal family was giving us an award, so we should allocate a budget that suits us!”

“If you look at it that way, it seems like the budget should only be allocated to the life magic major. After all, Professor Circe did well, but it’s not like the entire magic field did well, right?”

“Elfinvisor! Don’t muddle the point! Professor Circe is also in the magic field!”

“This year, the youngest daughter of the Northern Marquis is scheduled to enter school. The Marquis is a famous military family, so shouldn’t they allocate more budget?”

“Are you trying to take away the budget using students as an excuse now!?”

“Professor Ariel, I think you are being too sensitive. Why, since most of the students admitted to the administrative department are commoners, do you think they won’t get a budget for this kind of story?”

“How can a person like Professor!”

“If anyone heard, they would think I discriminated against the commoners! The youngest daughter of the Count of Changwon will not enter alone! Several escorts will enter together, and the vassals will report on the youngest daughter’s educational status! Don’t you know that each and every one of them is an honor to the Academy!”

“It must be a prestige in the martial arts field!”

Oh, the coffee tastes good.

As I sit at the center of the conference room, watching the cockfight, the bitter coffee goes down smoothly.

Anyway, at the beginning of the budget planning meeting, there are only unproductive words exchanged. Based on last year’s experience, it is best to just watch quietly.

Except for the leading professors in their fields, the other professors are expected to remain silent. There are easily over a hundred professors gathered here, so if each of them were to speak up, it would turn into a brawl instead of a meeting.

Of course, it is not right to remain silent all the time. Any professor would want to make a statement when they hear the words “budget planning” this year.

The more research funds and grants, the better. The professor who says it is okay if his research funds are reduced is only a traitor who is about to change jobs.

Even new professors who are usually timid or not used to this kind of atmosphere were waiting for their time, holding the materials they had prepared separately in their hands.

After the customary cockfighting was over.

Because that’s when it really begins.

“Considering that most of the budget for the martial arts field is spent on purchasing training equipment and medical expenses, it is not a budget but a subsidy───”

“──Enough. I’ve heard enough arguments from all three sides.”

Even though my voice wasn’t that loud, the representatives who had been shouting so loud that their throats were hoarse shut their mouths when I raised my voice.

They also know that budget allocation is not determined by such bickering. But there is a reason why they call themselves fighting cocks.

I thought about it for a moment.

“This time, we will hear stories in the following order: administrative, martial arts, and magic.”

“Okay… … !!”

“Tsk, that’s too bad.”

“… … No.”

The order in which the fighting cocks listen to the stories is decided. It is purely based on who has the loudest voice and the loudest guts.

The idea that the order doesn’t matter since we’re all going to hear it anyway is just an amateur’s opinion. Keep in mind, all of those gathered here are professors from the highest academy in the kingdom.

And I will explain my research and plans to get more budget allocated.

I’m not joking, I’m saying that you have to listen to and judge all the specialized fields of magic, martial arts, and administration by yourself.

Physics, chemistry, genetic engineering, algebra, statistics, business, education, etc.

Imagine going to a scientific conference right now and having to listen to all the papers and research presentations and rank them. Obviously, it would be advantageous to publish quickly.

Especially in the field of magic, which had a lot of technical terms, I desperately wanted to be first. After hearing the self-promotions of over a hundred professors, talking about technical terms and specialized knowledge was like budgetary suicide to me.

Anyway, since the fighting cock, or rather the representative, couldn’t do his job, he quietly dragged Professor Rooster into the magic field and punished him, and Professor Ariel, who was smiling brightly, started talking from the administrative field.

“My current research is on the basic structure and construction plan of the floating city. Since the royal family has recently shown an intention to expand the size of the eastern coastal city, it has considerable practicality───”

“This is a paper on improved road construction methods. As you can see on page 124───”

“Proposal for a new document format that can be applied at the Kingdom level───”

“Okay, I understand.”

It is relatively easy to hear about research in the field of administration. It is not because the field of study is easy.

This was because most professors in the field of public administration came from a working background and knew well how to convey information to superiors who had no specialized knowledge and did not even want to know.

The know-how from experience was really easy to listen to. Above all, I studied to become a civil servant, although I am no match for the professors. I had some knowledge.

First of all, the administrative field doesn’t require much budget overall. At least compared to the martial arts and magic fields, it’s like a fairy itself. I really like it.

After listening to the whole story with a truly satisfied heart, I turned my head towards the martial arts field.

“A recently developed training sword is very useful. It detects a magical layer forming around a body of level 3 or higher and automatically kills the blade. Buy this in bulk───”

“Construction of a training room for new training methods and swordsmanship development───”

“I will prepare special equipment for the smooth education of the youngest daughter of the Northern Count, as I mentioned earlier───”

“What… … Okay, I understand.”

The martial arts field was not really a place for research. It was more about sparring than sitting at a desk and thinking about new swordsmanship techniques.

That’s why most of the budget allocated to the martial arts field is focused on purchasing new weapons, expanding the training room, and preparing healing potions for quick recovery.

To be honest, it was a field I didn’t really like. Since I was fighting all the time, the cost of repairing the training grounds was fixed every month. It would be better to develop a sword technique that would make gold coins appear out of thin air when you swing your sword.

… … Well, I’m just complaining internally, but that’s about it. The budget for the martial arts field was also within the expected range. I just grumble because it eats up more money than the administrative field.

After hearing the general story of the martial arts field, I looked back at the last field.

To be precise, money-eating hippopotamus cubs.

“Purchase the latest magical devices developed by the Empire to develop new magical reagents───”

“Purchase of magic stone samples for comparative experiments on artificial magic stones that can engrave magic circles───”

“Etherium Ore is required for basic magic research───”

“… … … … .”

If I were the CEO, I would have flipped over the desk and said, “Hey, you little shits.”

What? The latest magic device? A sample of magic stone? Etherium ore?

I guarantee you that just those three things you’ve heard would be enough to feed an average family for 30 years.

Even these guys are so sensitive to the latest trends that they demand too much. Didn’t the professor who demanded the latest magic equipment right away say he would buy research equipment for the development of magic reagents last year? Did he change that?

I guess he noticed that I was feeling uneasy, so he explained the technical terms and knowledge in an easy-to-understand manner, but that didn’t reduce the required budget.

Even though Grandis Academy was able to become the best in the kingdom thanks to the field of magic, isn’t this a bit too much?

Before I became the Finance Minister, I was addicted to the Chairman who was just handing out the budget.

Even at that time, the crisis of bankruptcy must have been looming, but the chairman who pretended there was no problem and spent the budget was amazing.

“Is it over?”

Naturally, the words are blunt. There was a professor who got angry for a moment, but if I give you everything you want, you guys who are about to lose your job will go bankrupt this year, not in three years.

In the end, I am the one who decides on the budget, and if I get angry here, it is the professors who will suffer. As long as the chairman fully supports me, I will not step down from the position of finance director.

When there was no more talk, we were about to roughly conclude the budget allocation.

One professor raised his hand.

“Yes, please speak.”

“… … This is Professor Circe. I would like to tell the Finance Minister about this research project. ”

“Please tell me.”

If it’s Professor Circe, is she the professor who majored in life magic and did something like improving healing potions?

Even though he was a great scholar, the reputation was not good because he was a devout believer and donated all of his research to the church.

The reason Circe is still able to keep her professorship despite her actions is because the fact has not been officially announced and the chairman has taken it into consideration after much thought.

Of course, that’s the chairman’s story, and I’m different. The reason the chairman was tolerant is probably because, apart from that one little antics, she’s an excellent educator and scholar.

However, even if the healing potion was made in the church, if the academy had only received 10% of the profits, the bankruptcy after 3 years could have increased to bankruptcy after 6 years.

That’s why I was watching for an opportunity. An opportunity to definitely put that budget thief professor on a leash.

Anyway, since he was a professor recognized in the field of magic even at a young age, I looked at him as if telling him to say something.

“Research on a magic reagent that can restore damaged hair and cause hair to grow back in scalp tissue where hair has been permanently lost───”

“Pass.”

Magic field.

60 percent of the total budget has been finalized.