“Fufu, you must have seen something unsightly. Are you unharmed, Loen?”The Chairman removed his guard uniform and smiled warmly.I let out a breath of relief at his appearance and slowly nodded.“…Yes, you came just in time. I wasn’t injured.”“Then that’s fortunate. It seems I wasn’t too late. Or perhaps even without me, you would’ve taken care of it yourself?”The Chairman glanced at the headless corpse of the giant brute and shrugged.“But Loen, you don’t seem very surprised even after witnessing my magic?”Swoosh—With a mere glance, the Chairman lifted Kiriel and her party, who were lying far off in the bushes, into the air.Telekinetic control at a level ordinary academy professors couldn’t even imitate.The rumors claiming he’d reached his position through nothing but scheming and social maneuvering couldn’t have been further from the truth.Watching his near-divine manipulation of mana, I nodded slowly.“Yes. You can’t obtain the Chairman’s seat of the Union through mere money or connections. I suspected you were hiding some power.”“Hmm? You should know that the Chairman’s position is just an empty title, shouldn’t you?”“Of course. I just assume it’s the same reason I became a mere figurehead of the Student Council.”“……”At my meaningful remark, the Chairman simply answered with a gentle smile.After that silent reply, he continued.“Well, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that both of us are working hard to build a better world.”Tick—The Chairman snapped his fingers, and the grotesque corpse of the giant turned to dust.Watching him clean up the aftermath, I asked carefully,“Chairman, have you ever met Carmilla before?”The day after I received Carmilla’s warning, when I went to the Chairman’s office, he had already predicted it and sent a message to me through Watson.In other words, he had already known of Carmilla’s movements.When I asked, the Chairman merely shrugged.“I’m not sure what you mean. Perhaps it’s my age, but my memory’s been a bit hazy lately.”“……”When I stared silently without looking away, the Chairman, as if giving up on diverting the conversation, added,“Last night, a bat was hovering near the Union’s front gate, so I shooed it off. It kept making noise—bang, bang—very annoying, you see. Hah hah.”The Chairman smiled lightly.That was answer enough.He clapped his hands once, shifting the mood.“Now, let’s tidy up. I’ll handle the rest here, so please, Loen, return for now.”“It’s difficult to leave yet. There’s something I need to find.”“Something? Are you perhaps referring to this?”The Chairman waved his hand, and a black crystal floated up from the ground and drifted toward me.A Dark Magic Stone—the material required for the hatching of the Spirit of Darkness.“Will you give it to me?”“I don’t see why not. But do take care of the aftermath. We wouldn’t want rumors, would we?”“Of course. If anyone asks, I’ll say I disposed of it properly under your supervision.”“Haha.”Scratching his head awkwardly, the Chairman went on.“Ah, and this is my gift. I found it on the way here.”He reached into his pocket and handed me a golden slip of paper.It was the S-rank treasure-hunt note—the one with the “Date with Freya” prize.“……”It shouldn’t have been easy to find. Where had he gotten it? And why?Frowning, I looked at the slip he’d handed me.“Isn’t this illegal?”The Chairman smiled broadly.“If no one knows, it’s legal. Isn’t that right?”He took my hand and pressed the golden slip into my palm by force.“For reference, this was in the seventeenth mailbox under the main hall’s stage. The mana processing was so elaborate that even I almost missed it. Fufu, Freya really is a mysterious one—who knows whether she wanted it found or not?”***Voltimir Territory. Near the Black Forest.“Loen? I think he went toward the Black Forest earlier.”At Jeremy’s question, one of the nearby students who had been searching pointed deeper into the woods.“Thank you for your help.”“Ah, but please be careful. I thought I heard screams coming from that way earlier.”“I’ll keep that in mind.”Jeremy and Freya took the student’s warning to heart and resumed walking.As they entered deeper into the forest, Freya suddenly asked,“Senior Jeremy, do you really believe he’s involved in the missing Dark Magic Stone?”Caught off guard, Jeremy replied vaguely.“…The recovery of Dark Magic Stones has a dual nature. On one hand, it removes the risk of them spreading to the public. On the other, the process of retrieval, handling, and storage afterward creates new complications. And we never know how the one who recovered it might use it.”“Are you suggesting Loen intends to use the Dark Magic Stone for something?”“That’s not what I meant exactly. But considering his actions so far, we can’t rule out the possibility.”Jeremy recalled a few days ago—when he’d ordered the Shadows to raid a merchant guild’s warehouse and destroy its contents.And during that process, the Dark Magic Stone had vanished, and contact with the Shadows had been lost.It wasn’t something he could overlook. It was certain Loen or someone connected to him had intervened.‘If not Loen, there’s no one capable of erasing the Shadows so cleanly and taking the Dark Magic Stone as well.’Of course, it was a complete misjudgment, but unaware of Carmilla’s unexpected interference, Jeremy couldn’t have known better.From his perspective, Loen had annihilated his Shadows and stolen the very stone he’d entrusted to them.Therefore, he had no choice but to eliminate Loen as quickly as possible.And the method he conceived was to link the disappearance of the Dark Magic Stone to Loen—using it as leverage to pressure him.He would spread the rumor that his own stone had gone missing and use the ensuing investigation to turn suspicion toward Loen.Given their reputations, it was obvious who public opinion would favor.A crisis could also be the best opportunity. If he played this right, he could erase all his past failures in one move.In fact, it could become a chance to pin everything on Loen.‘…There’s no direct link left between me and the Shadows anyway.’They were trained never to speak, no matter the torture, so the raid could never be traced back to him.That left only two things—the “fact” that his recovered Dark Magic Stone had gone missing, and the “result” that it had somehow ended up in Loen’s hands.All he had to do was fill in the gaps between them.Today’s action was part of that effort.As he pondered, Freya spoke.“What will you do when you find Loen?”“I’ll decide then. I can’t accuse him without proof. I’ll continue my investigation gradually.”Now that things had gone this far, he needed to locate Loen quickly and conduct a search and seizure—before Loen could hide or use the stone he’d supposedly taken.‘And this treasure-hunt event is the perfect opportunity to hide or use such a stone.’Moreover, if he could catch Loen red-handed while accompanying Freya, it would be the best possible outcome.Even if he didn’t find Loen here, it didn’t matter much.Wandering the forest aimlessly wouldn’t solve anything anyway.What mattered was that the Discipline Leader of Ishtal himself was taking this matter seriously and ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) acting in person.And that Freya and others were witnessing it firsthand.‘The point is to shape public opinion.’Once the atmosphere and situation were set, no one would side with Loen.The academy was full of people waiting for his downfall. Jeremy just had to add a little tailwind.As they wandered the forest under the pretext of “searching for Loen,”“Oh? Miss Freya and Mr. Jeremy, isn’t it?”They ran into the Chairman—at a most unexpected place.Freya’s eyes widened.“Chairman, what brings you here?”Meeting him at the border of Ishtal and Voltimir, in the Black Forest, was unexpected.The Chairman stroked his mustache and smiled.“Oh, nothing serious. I just came out for a moment to catch some pests that might harm the students.”“……?”Of course, there were insects in a forest.The Chairman asked,“But what brings the two of you here? You must be busy with the Sports Festival. Are you on a secret date out here? Ah, youth.”Freya answered firmly,“Of course not. We were tracking Loen.”“Loen, you say? Let’s hear the reason.”Before Freya could reply, Jeremy stepped in first.“It concerns the recovery of a Dark Magic Stone.”“Hmm. A Dark Magic Stone, you say. Interesting.”The Chairman stroked his chin for a moment, then fixed Jeremy with a cold gaze.“Just a passing thought—but surely no one attacked anywhere last night? No property was lost in the process? And… no one is trying to pin the blame on someone else, are they?”“…!”Jeremy froze, feeling his mind go blank and the blood drain from his body.Then the Chairman burst into hearty laughter.“Ah, just an idle guess—don’t take it the wrong way. Hahaha. If not, then that’s fine.”Jeremy clenched his teeth silently at the Chairman’s kindly smiling face.“……”Beneath that genial smile, the Chairman was hiding something.The way he had confronted him so directly—it was clear he knew something. Perhaps even the entire story.He was pressing Jeremy as if aware of the undeniable link between him and the Shadows.The Chairman’s gaze glimmered faintly as he looked straight at him.“It would be best for you two to return. Then we’ll consider ‘this matter’ closed.”***The commotion in the Black Forest was quietly resolved under the Chairman’s orders.The unconscious Kiriel and her aides were taken to the infirmary for treatment, while the students who had encountered the gremlins were assigned attendants for therapy and mental counseling.Meanwhile, the Sports Festival continued smoothly—as if the battle against the demonkin had never happened.Freya’s eagerly prepared treasure-hunt event concluded successfully.When the time limit ended, the long-awaited prize drawing began.Evening had fallen, and under the bright lights illuminating the vast sports field, tens of thousands of students filled the stands, waiting for the drawing.I was also present for it, though…“Hmm.”At the moment, my stats were halved due to [Overload]’s side effects.Just standing and walking made my head spin and my legs tremble.With all strength drained from my body, I slumped limply like a dried squid in a corner of the VIP section.As I sat blankly, the announcer’s booming voice echoed.“Now~ this treasure-hunt drawing will be hosted personally by President Freya! Everyone, attention please~!”On the temporary stage set in the center of the field, Freya stood beside a large spinning wheel and a raffle box.The announcer continued.“Every treasure-hunt note includes a ‘raffle ticket’! As the President draws numbers, the students matching those numbers will come forward to receive their prizes!”Each time Freya drew a number from the box, the announcer called out in a loud voice.“Now then—122! 217! 83!”“Me! Me!”As numbers were called, students ran up one by one onto the stage.“Yes~ Student 122, congratulations on your first win! You’ll receive a one-million-point gift certificate usable within Ishtal and a training dagger personally inscribed by President Freya! Please treasure it! If it shows up on the resale market, the President will be very sad~”“Waaaah!”More names followed. Students came up one after another to claim prizes.The academy had prepared souvenirs, dolls, festival merchandise, and more.From the B-rank prizes onward, the spinning wheel replaced the raffle box, offering even rarer rewards.The mood grew livelier as time passed.The value of prizes rose, and so did the excitement among students.When Freya herself presented the seven limited A-rank support artifacts, the energy peaked.Then came the final stage of the drawing.“Now, the last one! The long-awaited S-rank prize! Has anyone found the S-rank treasure note?!”The announcer raised his voice, searching for the student who had discovered the note.The main prize of the treasure-hunt event—the date ticket with Freya.The vast field buzzed as everyone speculated who might have found it.“Is no one here~? Please come forward~”But even after a long wait, no one appeared. The atmosphere began to shift.With the ticket holder absent, murmurs spread through the crowd.Why isn’t anyone coming up?Maybe no one found it?Maybe it never existed.Yeah, it was unbelievable anyway. A date with the President?Guess they faked it for publicity.Still, this is lame. Rigged events? Seriously?As public opinion soured, the organizers grew flustered.“Ahaha, it seems no one found the ticket~ The prize must’ve been too well hidden, right, President?”Even Freya hadn’t expected such a reaction; her expression stiffened with embarrassment.She took the microphone, ready to explain—but before she could speak,“……”After a brief thought, I stood up and walked out of the VIP section.Tap, tap—I tapped the mic twice to draw attention and raised the slip in my hand high.“Here it is. The date ticket with Freya.”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.