Episode 128

Everything was for my beloved Astasia.

To be honest, I was not sure if saying it this way was a good strategy to persuade this woman.

‘Is she a human or blood elf, alchemist or something else? I can’t be sure what the best approach is since I don’t know which aspect of humanity is the focus.’

Rather than walking on a knife’s edge every moment, it’s better to talk to Hapsburg von Tersian.

When it came to him, I knew all the trivial details like his view on humans, preferences, and hobbies.

As for Vice-Chancellor Batory Erzebet, I lacked the basis for judgment.

So, a straightforward approach.

I planned to persuade her by showing her the sincerity of Grey Gibraltar that I showed to the Crown Prince.

“…Pft.”

And that persuasion.

“Hahaha!”

Seems to have worked, to some extent.

“Yes, yes. Director. It seems I was a bit too meddlesome a few days ago, seeing you come out sincerely like this.”

“If you know, please don’t interfere in such matters next time.”

“Got it. Hehe.”

As expected.

‘If it’s a performance filled with sincerity, even the Crown Prince can be fooled.’

My acting was not wrong.

“When a weird woman interrupts a meal with the girl I like—”

“Isn’t it ‘woman,’ not ‘weird’? Shouldn’t it be ‘sister’ instead?”

“How about calling me ‘older siste’ instead of ‘sister’? If it’s a private occasion.”

“Let’s arrange a private occasion next time.”

Whether it’s a sister or whatever, it’s best to recruit her if I could.

“For now, let’s continue discussing the education aspect. As for the details—”

“Let’s set aside the kingdom’s educational vision for now and lightly discuss the ‘clubs’ part we need to handle next week, shall we?”

“Sounds good.”

Be it graduate school, night school, rural volunteer activities, or enlightenment movements through them, ultimately, the root of it all would be the ‘club’ activities of the academy.

“The imperial academy has many clubs. Academic clubs, research clubs, cultural clubs… The most popular clubs are in the arts and physical education—sports, music, and art.”

Batory continued speaking excitedly.

“The problem is, if clubs are provided in a pre-made form, kingdom students will perceive them as part of the regular curriculum. While that’s a good plan, it doesn’t make them student autonomous organizations.”

“Putting it into the regular curriculum would be difficult. That’s not the ‘scholarship foundation’s’ domain.”

“You know well?”

“I also have experience running an orphanage.”

“Oh, that… I’ve heard rumors.”

Was it a rumor or a shadow?

She often makes subtle mistakes, but she tries to fix them from the beginning, so it doesn’t have much impact.

“In the end, what I think is best….”

“Is the magical engineering research club, right?”

“Yes. That’s right. Going deeper, I hope an alchemy club is established. If we go further from alchemy, maybe theories on ergonomics.”

“Ergonomics?”

Snap.

Batory snapped her fingers and laughed.

“Yes. Although no specific school has been established in the empire yet, I’m researching life. I’m looking for people who want to explore the essence of human life and its engineering principles with me.”

“…Not magical engineering that creates machines for human convenience?”

“That’s for getting funding. Personally, I’m interested in biology.”

“I see.”

Research on humans, huh.

Meeting someone I didn’t meet before returning and hearing new information feels fresh.

‘The area Hapsburg disregarded the most was the alchemical approach to human life.’

Should I call it alchemy, or—

“If I were to name it, I’d call it biotechnology—”

“That’s it!!!”

“…..”

“…Ah, ahem. I’m sorry. Did I get too excited? I couldn’t think of the right term, but let’s use that term from now on. Biotechnology. Hehe….”

There were many things to think about, but at least this one thing was certain.

This woman had the innate style of a researcher.

If the Crown Prince gave her time and budget to create some secret weapon, and she made a manual for anyone to create it, she’d be killed off as a tragic genius alchemist right away.

And usually, the best way to persuade such a researcher was…

“Biotechnology. Well, whatever the term, you can’t research it alone, so you’ll need several students to research with. As a director, I can’t do much, but there are some alchemy aspirants at the Gibraltar orphanage.”

“…Oh my?”

Manpower as one.

“You’ll need staff to support the club room. They can be utilized as research assistants.”

“Oh myyy?”

“If necessary, I can call them in. And if we’re going to gather academy students interested in alchemy, it’s important to throw the most certain bait.”

“The most certain…?”

“Money.”

Second, capital.

“The Gorge Foundation will support the club activities financially. For the students, it might be considered ‘free money,’ but if you think of it as an investment, it’s fine.”

“Will you support me just once, Director?”

“Let’s try it once first, and if it goes well, we’ll continue.”

Three.

“Education is something planned with a hundred years in mind. If clubs become the root and stepping stone, it will surely be of great help.”

Time.

Abundant manpower.

Overwhelming budget.

Infinite time.

“I think the resources put into technological development should not be evaluated for cost-effectiveness.”

“…Uh, uh.”

“Batory… Vice-Chancellor?”

“Oh, no. Just.”

Was it an illusion that I saw a faint blush on Batory’s typically pale white skin?

“Then, hehe, let’s listen to the plans for the… alchemy graduate school. Hehe. About the club.”

“It’s not about recruiting graduate students, it’s about club members.”

“Of course, it’s about graduate students. …Huh?”

“…….”

“No, club members. Do you really think I would treat club activity participants like graduate students, Director? You seem to not know much about graduate students. They are willing to dedicate their lives to the passion for learning and the pursuit of truth….”

At Orosol Academy, it was a rule for every student to live in the dormitory without exception.

The rule was to live communally in single rooms.

Even though it’s called a single room, the dormitory, which could be said to be a small house, was equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and a small bedroom.

In the eyes of nobles, it felt like ‘this is decent enough to live in,’ but from the general societal perspective, it’s considered a place ‘good enough for a commoner couple to live in.’

The dormitory, built in the architectural style of the empire’s corridor apartments, was well-received by new students’ parents, and the students each enjoyed their freedom in their own space.

After the first week, the first weekend approached.

Some were studying in their rooms, some were exploring the academy, and some were borrowing books from the academy library, looking around the academy facilities here and there.

Meanwhile, new announcements were posted on the first floor of each dormitory where everyone could see them.

“What’s a club?”

Noir hurriedly called Wednesday-45 to his room.

“It refers to a social gathering where people with similar hobbies form a small group.”

Wednesday, wearing a maid uniform instead of the academy uniform, organized all the scattered clothes in the room and put the laundry in the large tub on the terrace outside the living room.

“Uh? What’s that?”

“This is a magical washing machine called the Magic Box. It’s a washing machine brought in from the empire.”

“Washing machine…?”

“You haven’t read the instruction manual, have you? You roughly put the clothes in, add this powdered soap, and press the magic stone button, then it starts washing by itself.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“…….”

Wednesday suppressed something boiling inside.

“Young master, we’ve been using this in the Gibraltar territory since last year.”

“I don’t do the laundry, so.”

“You should know. Orosol Academy is fundamentally designed for students to handle all their daily needs.”

“Can’t you do it for me?”

Wednesday was momentarily speechless at Noir’s attitude, as if it was the most natural thing.

“Young master, I can be expelled at any time.”

“…….”

“What would Master Grey think if he saw the state of this room?”

“Th-That can’t happen.”

Noir hastily pulled out a thick booklet he had stashed in the corner by his bed.

The paper book, titled [Orosol Academy Student Dormitory Life Guide ver 1.0.097], contained all the usage methods for the magical tools that could be used inside the dormitory space and the dormitory life rules.

“Let’s see. Washing machine, bathroom… Oh, so this was a refrigerator? I thought it blew cold air to cool my body.”

“Young master, I’ll teach you one by one later, but now you need to focus on the club.”

Wednesday snatched the life guide and closed it.

“This is definitely an organization Master Grey created.”

“My, my brother…?”

“Yes. Each person must join at least one club. Club activities are free, and each club is provided with 3 million gold per semester for activity support. Additional support is given to clubs that show excellent activities each semester. These are the main rules.”

“So, what should I do?”

“…….”

“Is figuring out how to make good use of this club also a test? Ugh….”

Noir clutched his head.

“It’s already hard enough to remember the names of the nobles who keep sticking to me, and now this club thing….”

“Noir, young master, think of it comfortably.”

“Comfortably…?”

“Master Grey does not expect much from you.”

“That, that’s true. After all, I’m just my brother’s smokescreen and shadow….”

“Pull yourself together!”

Slaaap.

“Uh, ugh….!”

“Don’t say such weak things!”

Wednesday grabbed Noir’s cheeks firmly with both hands.

“Wherever and whenever, you must act confidently. You must act with the determination that ‘I will stand in the position of the Margrave,’ then Master Grey will think, ‘That’s my brother indeed.’”

“Re-Really?”

“Of course. Master Grey sincerely wishes for you to take over his position as the successor, Master Noir.”

“He- He said that?”

“No. This is just my assumption.”

“If it’s just your assumption, then we don’t know if it’s true or not. You- You don’t know. How terrifying my brother is. He…”

Noir instinctively clutched his own throat with his hand.

“…….”

“…I don’t know what happened between you two. But Master Grey wants you to thrive, as the future of Gibraltar.”

“…….”

“If you want to be acknowledged, utilize this club. Create your own club. You become the club president, and I will handle the troublesome administrative tasks as the vice president.”

“Wh-What kind of club…?”

“It’s simple. It’s a club to enjoy hobbies, but in the end, it’s also a social gathering. Master Noir, do what you do best.”

“What I do best…?”

Noir pointed to the sword neatly placed on the stand on his desk.

“I’m good at swordsmanship!”

“Yes. Then let’s create a fencing club. Fortunately, I’m at least at the level of a junior knight, so we have enough justification.”

“Is it really okay…? If I create a fencing club, wouldn’t it just be about violence…?”

“Of course, of course. Club formation is free.”

Wednesday took out the club formation application she had brought in advance.

“Let’s go around and recruit club members during tomorrow morning’s lecture.”

If you created a club, you got money.

For the new students from noble families, it’s just a small amount, but because they were nobles, they all knew well the characteristics of such money.

In any case, ‘free money’ was a loss if you didn’t take it.

“Can we just create it and not participate in the activities?”

“Activity report? Can’t we just have someone write it up casually?”

“I don’t know. Should we create a snack club and go around eating snacks? Haha. Call it an academic research club for experiencing the traditional culture of the kingdom or something.”

“I heard Noir Gibraltar created a ‘fencing club’? What’s that? Haha, is he trying to make weapons with the club activity funds?”

“While training in fencing, he’s probably planning to go eat meat with the academy’s money. Hey, should we go eat meat with the school’s money too?”

In the span of a week, while the freshmen who had gotten somewhat acquainted were discussing what kind of clubs they should create,

Long before the time to submit the club application forms,

One club had already been formed, and a paper was quietly placed in the club application box.

Gorge Exploration Club.

Main Activity Plan:

Research and investigation of Gibraltar Gorge, which divides the continent.

Planned to explore Gibraltar Gorge and write exploration reports once or twice a month on weekends.

Club Member List:

Astasia von Tersian (President).

….

Approval:

Cooperation: Grey Gibraltar.

Review: Batory Erzebet.

Approval: Winchester Morgania.