The Birth Of A Fake Principal

The day after the “Leak Eight Kingdom Royal Pioneer Academy Educational Outcomes Presentation.”

The principal returned from the royal castle to the academy via a transfer magic circle, looking haggard and drained.

“The presentation… ended in a complete failure, de aru…”

He staggered back to the principal’s office, only to find someone sitting in the principal’s chair.

That person had their back turned, gazing out the window.

“W-Who are you, de aru?”

When the figure turned around without making a sound, the principal let out a small gasp.

“Acting Vice Principal Yesman!? What are you doing there, de aru!? That seat is where I—the principal—sit, de aru!”

Yesman usually bowed and scraped like a toy bird pecking rice whenever he was in front of the principal, but today he was different.

He lounged back in the leather chair as if he were the superior and said,

“No. This is not where you sit, Acting Principal Nekodran.”

“N-No, it can’t be…!?”

“A notice came from the Board of Education, zamasu. You are being demoted by two ranks, zamasu.”

“N-n… nigyaaaaaaaーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!?!?”

There were far too many reasons that came to mind, and the principal could do nothing but scream.

After writhing for a while as if being buried alive, he snapped upright again like someone clawing his way out of a grave.

“B-But until a new principal arrives, I am still the principal, de aru! So move out of that seat, de aru!”

“Are you sure you want to say that to me right now, zamasu? I have received another proposal of compromise from the Board of Education, zamasu. A way to prevent the two-rank demotion, you see…!”

Nekodran instantly threw his pride into the trash.

“Nigya!? Then you should’ve said so sooner, de aru! I-I suppose it’s fine if you sit in that chair a little, de aru! After all, you are the future principal, de aru!”

As Nekodran rubbed his hands together, Yesman rejected him again with another no.

“No! The reason this fiasco happened in the first place is because you didn’t bring me to the presentation, zamasu! Promise me this, zamasu! From now on, when there is any public event that might become a chance for a rank-up, you will always bring me along as well!”

“O-Okay, okay! Fine, de aru! From next time on, I’ll bring you properly, de aru!”

“Then sign this contract, zamasu.”

Yesman tapped a parchment on the desk, packed tight with text.

“A contract, de aru!? That’s overkill for a simple promise, de aru! You and I have a relationship built on trust, de aru!”

“No! In my family, we have a rule like this, zamasu: ‘Bald, fat, nose hair—never trust a person who has all three,’ zamasu…! Come on, sign it, zamasu!”

Feeling thoroughly insulted, Nekodran still signed the contract with a reluctant hand.

And the “compromise proposal” Yesman revealed was…

“You will pay for the repairs to the Magic Board you broke at the presentation out of your own pocket, zamasu! If you do that, they’ll limit it to a one-rank demotion, the Board of Education says, zamasu!”

“Oh!? So it can be solved with money, de aru!? That’s far better than a two-rank demotion, de aru! If I become an acting principal, my salary will drop drastically, de aru! So how much do I pay, de aru? Ten million Ender, de aru?”

“No! One hundred million Ender, zamasu!”

“O-One hundred million!? That’s absurdly expensive, de aru!”

“No! That Magic Board is a rare item—there are only a handful in this entire kingdom, zamasu! They say repairs cost about that much, zamasu!”

“There’s no way I can pay one hundred million, de aru! Even if I emptied my entire fortune, fifty million is my limit, de aru!”

“Is that so? Then enjoy your two-rank demotion, zamasu.”

“N-No waaaaaaayーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーっ!?!”

Nekodran finally understood why Yesman was being so strangely aggressive today.

It was because he already knew Nekodran couldn’t pay one hundred million.

With a two-rank demotion, Nekodran would fall from S-rank all the way down to A+.

He would drop from the “top-tier group” into the same “upper-tier group” as Yesman.

That meant there was no longer any real choice.

If he became an acting principal, he wouldn’t be able to face his clan.

And the principal had only just built a new mansion.

Even standing on his head, he couldn’t scrape together one hundred million…!

—N… no. There was, de aru!

A trump card… buried treasure…!

As if he’d heard the call of an evil god, Nekodran burst out of the principal’s office.

He left the school building and dove into a deserted warehouse at the edge of the courtyard.

Inside was that damned offering box…!

Nekodran couldn’t resist—he dove straight into it.

Like someone striking it rich with a lucky pendant, he drowned himself in an ocean of paper stacks called Slave Tickets.

“Bahahahaha! I can just cash these in through the black market, de aru! It’s illegal to leak students’ Slave Tickets to the outside world, de aru, but I can’t worry about that anymore, de aru! Even if the students who paid get ordered around by outsiders, I don’t care, de aru! The greatest loss this academy could suffer is me no longer being principal, de aru! Baaahahahahahahahahaーーーー!!”

He didn’t know.

His thin hair, and the thin roof above it.

That beyond the two layers of “thin,” in the blue sky overhead, lightning like a heavenly net was spreading wide.

…DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーn!!

The Lightning of Judgment, once again…!

It was only natural.

Calling it “stealing offerings” didn’t begin to cover how vile it was.

The Slave Tickets worth 46,315,300 Ender inside the offering box turned to ash.

The principal, charred black, was carried to the infirmary and barely clung to life.

At an exploration academy, it was extremely rare for the vice principal—who normally didn’t teach—to get sent to the infirmary.

And for the principal, who had even fewer chances than the vice principal, to be sent there as well was unprecedented.

Nekodran was stripped of any room to choose and was demoted by two ranks.

An impossible situation had come to pass: both top administrators of the academy were now “acting” officials…!