Not long after finishing my contact with the Deputy Director, I saw the secretary who had been standing beside the Principal come running over in a fluster. She then offered to guide me to where I'd be staying during my dispatch period and led me to the dormitory.
"The students' stares must have been uncomfortable for you. I apologize for not guiding you to your lodgings sooner."
The secretary bowed her head several times as she said this, but the underlying meaning felt somewhat different. An outsider of unknown identity wandering ceaselessly through the Academy—there must have been many people asking what was going on. It seemed the faculty, besieged by a stream of student complaints, had hastily sent the secretary.
"There's nothing to apologize for."
I gave that response and closed my mouth. Seeing as she'd come all the way to a place quite distant from the Main Building, she must have really searched hard. Unable to stop the Inspector's movements, caught between anxious and questioning students (many Blue Bloods among them) and their complaints—she must have been in quite a bind. We'd be seeing each other frequently from now on, so I felt a bit awkward, wondering if I'd been too inconsiderate.
'Have I been surrounded by too many idiots?'
Four years since I'd started my civil servant life through the Family Head's machinations. During those four years, various incidents had piled up, leading to my promotion to the unprecedented position of Inspection Department Director, and it had been two years of bickering with three sons of bitches.
I had reached a state where communication with normal people felt unfamiliar. Shouldn't this count as an occupational hazard? At least with black companies, you can report them to the government—but when the nation employing civil servants is itself a black country, where do you even complain...
With complicated feelings, I let out an internal sigh and quietly followed the secretary until I arrived at the lodgings where I'd be staying. Perhaps because it was a room used by Section Chief-level Inspectors, it was quite decent.
"It's a humble room for an Inspector of your rank to use, but there were no other rooms available at the moment. We'll find you another room as quickly as possible..."
"Ah, that won't be necessary. I like it."
I'd just thought it was fine, so what would that make me if she said that? I waved my hand at the secretary who was about to bow repeatedly, saying it was fine, and sent her back to the Main Building. Keeping her here would only make her continue watching my every move. How frightening would it be for an Inspector overturning the Academy to be a Director-level official?
But it's not like I wanted to come here, so if anyone's to blame, I wish they'd blame the Minister. That Minister fellow—he's definitely going to live long on the curses I've heaped on him alone. He'll achieve immortality.
I wonder if he'd drop dead if I started praising the Minister even now—with that thought, I sat down on the bed. Even though I'd already taken in the Academy with my own eyes and seen the protagonist Luize, only now did it truly hit me that I'd come to the Academy. Like how sitting on the barracks bed right after entering boot camp makes enlistment feel real. What a shitty feeling.
Anyway, from tomorrow on, I'll have to spend my Academy life as an Inspector. Have to spend it... but...
'Damn it.'
Thinking about what I need to do at the Academy makes my vision go dark. The fund investigation that was the Inspector's main duty is something that can be finished with a few reviews. In the first place, what could there be to Inspector work that takes at most a week to complete?
Moreover, the Academy, due to its importance, is thoroughly scrutinized even in peacetime, so there's nothing to shake down through inspection. It's not for nothing that legends circulate about previous Inspectors legally loafing around at the Academy instead of doing their regular work.
But that doesn't apply to me.
'Luize, Erich, Ainter, Ryutis, Later, Tanian.'
There's one spy with the same blood among them, but in any case, I need to monitor these six indefinitely. The problem is how to conduct that monitoring.
The Three Kingdoms' foreign ministries, who shed tears of anguish over the sudden enrollment announcements of their key personnel, desperately knocked on the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs' door to somehow protect their people.
They even made the unreasonable request of sending their own forces into Imperial territory, and the Empire naturally responded with 'Cut the bullshit.' An impossible task unless the entire Ministry of Foreign Affairs was collectively high on opium.
However, with the safety of royalty and prominent Saint Candidates at stake, the Three Kingdoms' foreign ministries went into overdrive. They persistently, desperately attempted to negotiate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry, feeling like someone getting ditched all weekend morning, eventually permitted a small number of forces to be stationed at the Academy on the condition that they submit a roster, and withdrew part of the Imperial Army.
Looking at the roster the Foreign Affairs Minister had prepared for me, there were even some Royal Knights and Holy Knights. It was no joke.
'Those bastards were only small in number.'
Their combat power was absolutely not something a small force could produce.
As a result, the Empire also seized the opportunity to pull out personnel and thoroughly replaced them with a small elite force. More thoroughly than the forces sent by the Three Kingdoms. In any case, the Empire's justification was that they had reduced numbers as the Three Kingdoms requested. What could they do about it? The Empire held all the cards.
Through this concession disguised as something else, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was able to favorably adjust parts of treaties they'd been pushing and pulling with the Three Kingdoms over. But this pisses me off. I'm the one being sold out, so why are those Foreign Affairs bastards the ones having a bonus party?
Anyway, what's important is that while they may be small in number, several forces from the Three Kingdoms are staying at the Academy. They must have noticed that this Inspector is different from previous ones, and they probably know that the Empire stuffed in excess forces beyond what was promised under the pretext of dispatching a regular Inspector.
And such a person loitering around and monitoring their key personnel? Ah, even I couldn't stand that. The head of security might come running to grab me by the collar.
'And the numbers have definitely decreased...'
While transforming into a small elite force resulted in almost no loss of combat power, the fact remains that numbers have decreased. No matter how superhuman, they only have one body. Unless cloning techniques exist, situations they can't cover may arise.
Fortunately, the existing Academy stationed forces were in an excess state, so even with this withdrawal, they're maintaining a decent setup. The only problem is that I also need to monitor the cracks that appeared due to the sudden reduction.
"This is bullshit."
The summary is complete. I vaguely knew it was a bullshit job, but it's specifically confirmed to be a bullshit job.
A sigh escaped me naturally. Still, with the Empire and Three Kingdoms' forces and the Academy faculty present, unless some lunatics appear who are determined to dive-bomb the Academy, problems with the Academy itself won't erupt. In the end, the problem circles back around to the miraculous Six-Member Group.
...Honestly, Erich ranks the lowest among those six, so couldn't I just think of it as a Five-Member Group? He's my younger sibling, but what can I do about the plain facts?
Ultimately, naturally approaching the five is the critical issue. But as things stand, there's no means to approach them while breaking through the Three Kingdoms' suspicion. At least during classes, security loosens, but as an Inspector, I have no justification to approach students during class either.
Student inspection? Student, I'm the Inspector—mind if I check your wallet? Oh, am I fucking insane?
I have no choice. For now, I'll just have to watch from a distance and seize any opportunity that comes. Having reached a conclusion that was essentially a postponement, I leaned back against the bed. Won't some legitimate reason to approach them come up?
***
The second week of the new semester. The time when freshmen must choose and join one of the countless clubs that exist at the Academy. Of course, since the student body was predominantly composed of blue bloods, club membership centered more on building close networks than simple interest.
Even under the pretext of being club seniors, one could connect with graduated nobles, making clubs another social gathering place within the massive social gathering place called the Academy.
For Luize, who genuinely loved people, such complicated considerations weren't even on her radar. The idea of students from different years and different classes gathering in one place to enjoy the same hobby was something that suited her perfectly. Ever since she had coincidentally heard about clubs from her father, Luize had been eagerly anticipating them.
However, was it heaven's mischief, wanting to play a trick on such a Luize? Upon learning that it was possible not just to join a club but to establish a new one, Luize tried to create a club only to hit a wall. Establishing a club required three students and someone to serve as an advisor. Luize had thought gathering a mere three people would be easy, but she failed.
When she invited her friends, including Irina, she was met with responses that they had already joined other clubs. No matter how much they liked Luize, as nobles they couldn't abandon clubs that served a social function. Of course, if it were something Luize desperately needed, they would have considered it, but it was just a club, wasn't it?
"Luize. Let's just join a different club."
The one person who had accepted Luize's invitation. At Erich's words, Luize lowered her head gloomily. If only she hadn't known that establishing a new club was possible, she wouldn't have been this disappointed.
"But... I wanted to make a baking club..."
A faint moisture gathered in her sky-clear blue pupils. Watching her, Erich felt sorry, but what could he do? He couldn't write 'E' and 'rich' separately on the club membership roster, could he? And heaven, as if satisfied with having teased her this much, sent down a hammer to break through the wall.
"Lady Luize. Have you found your club members?"
A noble young man with brilliant golden hair and purple eyes symbolizing the Imperial Family. The Third Prince, Ainter—the one Karl had gritted his teeth avoiding this morning—approached Luize.
"Ah, Your Highness!"
"We greet Your Highness."
As Luize and Erich hastily stood and paid their respects, Ainter smiled and waved them off.
"Please don't. Isn't this the Academy, where everyone learns on equal footing?"
Of course, nominally the Academy's students were equal, but that was a dead-letter clause on par with the Academy's absolute neutrality. Academy life lasted three years, but life after graduation lasted decades... Regardless, Ainter glanced at the club establishment application form and, seeing a roster with only two names written on it, smiled.
"Fortunately, with me that makes exactly three."
"Pardon...?"
At those words, Luize's eyes widened briefly, and Erich also looked at Ainter in surprise. Unfazed by their stares, Ainter took his pen and wrote his own name directly on the club establishment application form.
Only then did Luize break into a bright smile, and Ainter smiled with satisfaction at the sight of her happiness. Third Prince Ainter was merely the second victim to fall under the spell of the catnip named Luize.
And so, the girl with charming pink hair, Luize, ran off clutching the club establishment application form with a beaming smile. Having overcome the most difficult hurdle of filling the membership requirement, all she needed now was to find a faculty advisor.
'I'll find one right away!'
Thankfully, there were many teachers who doted on her. Among all those people, she would surely find someone willing to serve as advisor in no time. Luize believed this wholeheartedly. She was already too busy imagining herself enjoying the confectionery she loved so much and sharing homemade treats with her friends.