Reviving a Bankrupt Academy: My Financial Battle

Let me start by saying that I had no choice.

I really had no choice. I was a student at the academy back then.

"So you mean you sold off the artifacts you'd been collecting?"

"I'd been selling them off for years. But then there was a huge crisis about four years ago…"

Four years ago? Was that when I was in my first year? It gives me the chills to think the academy almost went bankrupt without my knowing. Is this what they mean by "ignorance is bliss"?

Anyway, even the king knew about the Headmistress's penchant for collecting and gave her an artifact last time. She must have had a lot of artifacts to make it through that crisis four years ago.

Actually, by the time I became Finance Director, the Headmistress had hardly any artifacts left. Even if there were, I would have sold them all off anyway.

"And the sacred treasure of the Wish Cult was among them, wasn't it?"

"Yes…"

It's not that she didn't know she was selling it. She was simply in such dire straits that she had to sell even that valuable item.

If it weren't for the dwarves, she wouldn't have been able to get rid of so many artifacts so quickly. If she had tried to sell them elsewhere, rumors would have spread that the Headmistress was selling artifacts because she was strapped for cash.

And as for buying them back from the dwarves…

"Let me ask, those artifacts…"

"They've probably been used up by now."

"Probably…"

Why would the dwarves go to such lengths as to buy up artifacts, even at the cost of undermining their own race? It was all to rebuild their city.

And the way to rebuild the city was to feed artifacts to the 'artifact-eating artifact.'

I've never seen it myself, but the Headmistress, who has been to the dwarven city, asserted that it was a viable method, so it must be real.

Naturally, that means the sacred treasure, and everything else, has long since been disassembled. They simply cannot be retrieved physically.

In other words, the sacred treasure that the Wish Cult is so desperately searching for has already vanished from the world.

Now, if it were a genuine sacred treasure, like those of the Church, that had become a 'conceptual existence,' it might be a different story. But while it was called a sacred treasure, it was more of an artifact with great symbolic significance to the Wish Cult than something truly sacred.

If this fact were to become known, the Wish Cult would become hostile towards the Headmistress… No, they wouldn't. They've already clashed with the Headmistress. They are already hostile.

"Wish Cult, Wish Cult."

"Isn't that the end of the story you told me? Is there anything more?"

"No, that's all. In fact, there were many who attacked the academy in its early days. I just thought of the Wish Cult as one of them, nothing special."

The Headmistress, laughing as if embarrassed, was the one who crushed the entire Wish Cult detachment.

She had said that in the early days of Grandis Academy, it was attacked by all sorts of groups. The enemies and karma she had accumulated as the Mad Dragon, the Human Slaughterer, came back to haunt her.

For them, the only way to get revenge on the Headmistress was to utterly destroy the academy she had built.

She had founded the academy with a dream, but she knew nothing about how to run it, so the operation itself was chaotic. If things had gone wrong, Grandis Academy could have crumbled.

The Headmistress solved the problem in a very simple way.

"And honestly, they weren't that strong."

"…I heard it was a detachment that included even a Rank 7."

"That Archbishop guy? Honestly, he was a bit lacking for a Rank 7. If the Wish Cult was so strong, they would have challenged the Church directly. Why would they hide while being called heretics and cultists? They were more like thieves trying to steal during a time of chaos."

"Thieves."

"There's no way they could win against me in a head-on fight."

There was no arrogance or conceit in the Headmistress's calm words. It was simply a statement of fact.

The Headmistress is one of the few Rank 8s who has fought and killed another Rank 8. By the time one reaches Rank 8, they are treated with great respect by all sorts of powers, so few are willing to fight another Rank 8. She is even among the very few who have an official record of slaying a Rank 8 monster.

'Considering that a single Rank 8 monster destroyed a holy nation, that's quite impressive.'

Of course, the Mountain King, who destroyed the holy nation, was rumored to be practically Rank 9, exceptionally powerful, and, true to its name, commanded an army of monsters.

Compared to that, the monster that the Headmistress killed with the Margrave was relatively weak, as it had just reached Rank 8.

Anyway, it seems she was called the "Mad Dragon" and the "Human Slaughterer" because of her past deeds.

All those who targeted the academy in its early days… were simply killed by the Headmistress.

Unlike now, when she hesitates to use violence, back then, she was still close to her prime. I heard she protected all the academy students with her aura while she rampaged.

It was a method that would be unthinkable now. The current Headmistress strives to avoid violence as much as possible. She does this not to remain the "Human Slaughterer" of the past, but to truly become just the 'Headmistress of the academy.'

So, what was the conclusion?

"In other words, we need to lure out the Wish Cult without the sacred treasure."

"That's right."

"And incite them to commit acts of terrorism, even though they are wary of us because we annihilated their detachment, including the Archbishop, in the past."

"Th-that's right."

"And even control the timing and scale of the damage to our liking."

"…Is that even possible?"

"It's not a question of whether it's possible or not. It has to be done."

If they had the sacred treasure, things would be much easier, but without it, they had to manipulate the Wish Cult with lies.

The problem was, the cult didn't want to commit suicide either. They wouldn't attack Grandis Academy unless they were absolutely certain it would work.

Well then…

"We have no choice but to prepare various methods."

"Oh…!"

"The position of Finance Director isn't just for show."

They had to prepare literally "all sorts of methods."

Had I once said that the position of Finance Director was three parts gain and seven parts loss? I still thought so. That's why I was working like this every day, popping stimulants.

But no matter how small, a gain is a gain.

I was going to do everything I could, just like I always had.

"Since you've made up your mind, Headmistress, I'll contact the Wish Cult right away."

"Wait, Finance Director. You're going to go in person? To this Milia spy?"

"Yes."

"A-are you crazy!? She's a Rank 3 mage! It's too dangerous for the Finance Director to go in person…!!"

It would be dangerous. Regardless of the opponent being Rank 3, I was the weakest, Rank 1.

But so what?

"Finance Director! I know your efforts better than anyone! So you don't always have to put yourself in danger—"

"What are you talking about?"

"…Huh?"

"You'll protect me, won't you?"

"...…"

Well, yeah. She was always protecting me with her aura, wasn't she? That's why I could go to the students' duels without worrying about getting caught in the crossfire.

And besides, I still had a trump card, so it was fine. It would be worth the insanely high price.

With a Rank 8 protecting me, what danger could there be? If the opponent were Rank 7, it might be a different story, but against a Rank 3, protecting me from a distance would be more than enough.

This was a very natural thought for me, but…

For some reason, the Headmistress just stood there blankly after hearing my words.

"…Cunning…"

"Headmistress?"

"Ah, it's nothing. You're right. With me protecting you, what's there to worry about?"

I thought she said something just now, but I couldn't hear her because she only moved her lips slightly.

The protagonist, Chloe, Beatrice, and the other students seemed to understand even with this, but I couldn't. Was this Rank 1 discrimination? This is so unfair.

"I will protect you, I promise. I will protect you from everything that comes your way."

The Headmistress murmured these words with a dazed expression and gently caressed my cheek with her soft hand.

"Instead of that, how about protecting the finances? Or the academy from bankruptcy?"

"…Hmm."

"And this kind of behavior is too… inappropriate."

"?"

Every time she did this, she seemed so much like a grandmother that my heart softened.

Before my parents divorced, my grandmother often took care of me. It brought back memories.

…Come to think of it, the Headmistress was much older than my grandmother. So what was she to me? Great-grandmother? Or great-great-grandmother?

I put those pointless thoughts aside.

"Anyway, I'll go now. I've already thought of a way."

"Finance Director."

"Don't worry. I'm just going to make contact with Milia today. I can't reveal all my intentions from the start."

I had to gently coax the Wish Cult into carrying out the attack, deeply involve myself in the process, and do all of this as the Finance Director.

From the cult's perspective, they wouldn't even consider an attack unless someone of high rank, like the Finance Director, was closely cooperating with them. Hiding my identity would be a disadvantage.

Naturally, I also had to prevent the cult from disclosing our collaboration, and there were all sorts of other problems. That's why the Headmistress was so hesitant.

It would be great if it succeeded.

But it was no exaggeration to say that if it failed, it was all over.

'But if the academy is going bankrupt anyway…'

I had to gather every last possibility and take on this challenge. No, it wasn't a challenge. I had to succeed without fail.

In case of emergency, I could use the 'Headmistress' card, so it wouldn't come to the worst-case scenario. I had also thought of various countermeasures regarding the vanished sacred treasure.

Leaving the Headmistress's worried gaze behind, I left her office.

I still had lingering doubts about whether this was the right thing to do…

'Let's go.'

I had decided to do this, and the Headmistress gave her permission. So I would do it.

I glanced over the student record filled with information about Milia and started walking. There were no classes at this time, nor was it time for any other activities.

The spy of the Wish Cult.

It was time to meet Milia.

***

Grandis Academy's Administration Department.

Relatively smaller in scale compared to the Magic or Martial Arts departments, but with the largest number of students.

This was only natural, as it didn't require training grounds, gyms, or practice rooms like the other departments. Instead, it had multiple libraries and study rooms, which took up less space.

However, that didn't guarantee peace and quiet in the Administration Department.

"The group project deadline is tomorrow, and where are these guys?!"

"Looking for a party to kill the professor! Five assignments are due at the same time! I don't only take your class!"

"This defense… how am I going to do it…?"

"The graduation thesis is bullshit. Why do professors always bring up theses from graduated seniors and ask why we can't do as well?"

"Exactly. Especially this, senior Adam? What's with his thesis…? It has no academic value, but I'm tired of hearing how it's possible to write like this with just creativity."

In fact, excluding explosions, collapses, cuts, impacts, and other such sounds, this was the noisiest place if only voices were considered.

A Grandis Academy diploma itself didn't guarantee a successful life. But graduating with top marks did.

For commoners or those lacking ability at Rank 1 or 2, it was a shortcut to success.

The Administration Department was always filled with hellish competition and academics. Ironically, that was why it also had the most dopamine-inducing places like secret gambling dens and exam cheat sheet auctions. As humans, they had to relieve stress somewhere.

That's why the story of a certain senior who studied in the library for a whole week, even when two female students invited him to the festival, had become a legend. Considering that one of those female students was the student council president, it must have been quite a feat.

Anyway, it was a much fiercer and more desperate arena of competition than Magic or Martial Arts.

And in a certain faculty room there.

"I'll do it."

"…Excuse me?"

"I'll do it! Please let me carry out the attack!"

The weary Finance Director was taken aback by the desperate response of a certain female student.