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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Great Spirit Forest
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As I told Card, I had something to take care of.
That business was none other than the Student Council.
Before I knew it, I had passed the Martial Arts hallway and arrived at the central bridge.
From there, I headed straight for the main building.
'I won't be late.'
The main building, where professors and the Student Council were located.
Stepping inside, I looked around.
Perhaps because it was lunchtime, the main building was quite quiet.
The professors must be eating as well.
'The Student Council office is...'
This way.
I set my direction, walked straight down the hallway, and after a moment, the Student Council office came into view.
Knock-knock.
I knocked twice.
"Come in."
Hearing the voice from inside, I pushed the door open.
And the eyes that met mine were a vivid green.
Her identity was the Disaster Dragoness.
Nikita Cynthia.
Today, as always, her noble appearance shone brightly.
"Junior?"
Perhaps she hadn't expected me to visit the Student Council office so soon.
Nikita blinked, her eyes wide.
Documents and pens were laid out before her.
Seeing her handle Student Council matters even during her lunch break,
I was once again reminded that she was a prodigy of diligence.
Nikita tilted her head.
"Junior, we're not recruiting additional Student Council members yet. I wonder if you've come a bit too early."
"If Senior Nikita is working there, then I must go wherever it is."
I said something flattering without batting an eye.
Perhaps because I'd showered her with excessive compliments just yesterday,
she swallowed her embarrassment and cleared her throat.
"Junior, I appreciate the sentiment, but there are many Student Council matters that shouldn't be seen until one is officially selected."
That made sense.
Given how many noble students gathered there,
the position of student representative held power far greater than one might imagine.
Thus, there were many important issues that were resolved by the Student Council, often treading a fine line.
"Oh, it's fine. I didn't actually come to help with Student Council work today."
"Then?"
"I wanted to make a proposal to the Student Council."
Nikita tilted her head once more.
"Isn't there a recent incident in the Great Spirit Forest, within the Northern Region's Ancient Dragon Mountain Range, where trees are turning into hard iron?"
"That's right. The spirit-user students are quite upset about it."
Every tree in the Great Spirit Forest was a precious tree, imbued with spirits.
When such trees suddenly turned to iron, the spirits within them vanished, causing significant losses for the spirit users.
This was already a well-known story among the students,
so it wasn't strange for me to know about it.
"I can solve that. Could you grant me permission to visit the Great Spirit Forest?"
"You, Junior?"
Entering the Great Spirit Forest without permission, excluding spirit users, resulted in disciplinary action.
However, the Student Council was allowed entry under the pretext of problem verification.
But Nikita found this even more puzzling.
"It would be great if you could solve it, but..."
She was wondering if there was any need for me to go out of my way to solve it.
"I have a personal reason. It's also for my mock battle preparation."
"Are you planning to contract with a spirit or something?"
"Something similar, yes."
Nikita tapped the pen she held against the desk.
Nikita had also been struggling with the problem in the Great Spirit Forest.
The main reason was the absence of the Spiritology professor from the Department of Special Studies.
The professor who originally managed the forest had been injured while helping a student with a high-level spirit contract, as the spirit went wild and used its power.
Because of that, the professor was currently recuperating.
So there was no one suitable to resolve the issue.
Due to this, an associate professor of Spiritology, with only one year of teaching experience, had tried to resolve the Great Spirit Forest problem on their own.
But seeing as the problem hadn't been resolved yet, it seemed they weren't having much success.
The Great Spirit Forest was a headache for the Student Council too.
Resolving it would certainly be appreciated,
but Nikita knew almost nothing about me.
She must have felt a bit uneasy.
"If anything..."
"Oh, let me say this beforehand, I'm not particularly suspicious of you, Junior."
Nikita corrected my assumption.
"You're offering to take on Student Council work. It would be too harsh to interpret that with bad intentions."
Instead, she offered a faint smile and encouraged me.
What was this? Was she an angel?
My heart, wounded by the scornful gazes I'd endured today, felt like it was melting away.
"...May I recite my praises for Senior Nikita, filled with my immediate respect?"
"Th-that won't be necessary."
Nikita quickly cut me off.
What a shame.
I was going to scold her with compliments.
Nikita, looking dazed, covered her forehead peeking out from between her hair.
"What I'm concerned about is your safety. The Great Spirit Forest dislikes outsiders. You might be in danger, Junior."
"That's certainly true."
I didn't particularly deny it.
Spirits intensely dislike humans with low spirit affinity.
The Bikarman I possessed, to put it crudely, had a terrible compatibility with spirits.
Moreover, spirits utterly detested mages who violated the laws of nature.
Even if he was a poor fit, Bikarman was still affiliated with the Arcane Arts.
The sensitive spirits would immediately detect the aura of magic inscribed in the mana flowing through his body.
"Then let's do this."
Nikita offered a new suggestion.
"There's a spirit user among the Student Council members. I'll introduce you to them. Go and try to solve it together."
Support from the Student Council, surprisingly.
For me, this was very welcome news.
"Thank you, Senior."
I bowed deeply.
Nikita smiled and waved her hand.
"I should be the one thanking you for helping."
Her face usually exuded nobility, but perhaps because I'd launched a compliment barrage yesterday,
Nikita subtly smiled quite often.
Indeed, people look best when they smile.
"Oh, speaking of which, I haven't had lunch yet."
I rummaged through the bag slung over my shoulder and pulled out the sandwich I'd brought.
"How about we have lunch together? I brought quite a generous amount, enough for two people."
Nikita's gaze landed on the sandwich.
Nikita hadn't had lunch yet, as she hadn't been able to go to the dining hall due to urgent matters.
She always ate late lunches, or skipped them entirely when things were urgent.
Seeing as there was nothing in the Student Council office today, she must have planned to skip it this time too.
Even though she sent the President and other Student Council members to eat.
She gazed at the sandwich in my hand for a moment, then looked at her pen.
"It's fine if you're busy. The sandwich won't get cold."
Hearing my words, she soon put down her pen and stood up.
It seemed the cute junior's plea had worked.
"I was thinking of having some tea together. What do you say?"
"That would be wonderful."
Precious tea, brewed personally by the Vice President.
I should savor it.
And so, I had lunch with Nikita.
In the middle of it, I simply complimented Nikita.
Nikita was embarrassed, but...
I just wanted to do it, so I did.
***
North, Ancient Dragon Mountain Range.
Arriving before the entrance to the Great Spirit Forest in the Ancient Dragon Mountain Range, I checked the time.
'According to Nikita, this should be the right time.'
The incident where trees in the Great Spirit Forest were turning into hard iron.
To resolve this, Nikita had assigned me a spirit user from the Student Council.
Now that I think about it.
'Was there a spirit user in the Student Council?'
Even I, who had repeated countless playthroughs, knew the Student Council's situation inside and out.
Therefore, the existence of a spirit user as a Student Council member was questionable.
'Well, the canon has changed.'
With Lucas, the most important protagonist, dead,
nothing that happened would be strange.
Preparing for this was entirely my responsibility.
Thump-thump-thump!
Just then, hurried footsteps reached my ears.
It seemed the Student Council member Nikita had sent had arrived.
The moment I raised my head, wondering who it could be.
What met my eyes was short brown hair and large glasses.
"Aargh, s-sorry! I'm late!"
A boy with a considerably small build, though not as small as me.
As soon as he saw me, he immediately bowed his head deeply.
I looked at the name tag pinned to his chest.
A yellow name tag.
First year.
My name tag was blue, for a second year.
Third years had red name tags.
'I never knew this guy was part of the Student Council.'
My subtle gaze turned to the boy once more.
That's because I knew about this guy.
Second year, second semester.
The boycott commotion against the Student Council that began in Act 4, Scene 1.
It was an event that occurred after Nikita became the Disaster Dragoness in Act 3.
Nikita, who had caused a rampage using the Ancient Dragon's power, eventually died at the hands of the protagonist, Lucas.
Due to the death of Nikita, the Vice President, the entire Student Council was shaken,
and in this process, a large number of students who had always harbored dissatisfaction with the Student Council's power initiated a boycott.
'Though in reality, it was a means for the final villainess, Third Princess Iris Hysyrion, to monopolize the Student Council.'
To become Student Council President in her third year and completely bring the Student Council under her control,
Iris had incited the students from behind the scenes.
Unaware of this, the students had boycotted, claiming Nikita had tarnished the Student Council's name.
One of the central figures of that boycott.
First-year spirit user representative, Poara Silin.
This clumsy-looking boy right before my eyes.
'He's in the Student Council?'
Naturally, in countless game playthroughs until now, Poara had never been affiliated with the Student Council.
Ultimately, the boycotting students escalated matters significantly.
As a result, when they occupied the Student Council office and even staged a forceful demonstration, Lucas barely managed to stop them.
Soon after, Poara broke his glasses and declared:
"A Student Council that ignores student voices should be abolished! I will erase it from this world!"
The sight of him uttering those hate-filled lines was still vivid in my memory.
Back then, he hated the Student Council.
"Uh, S-Senior, what's wrong?"
Was it because I was staring too intently?
Poara flinched.
Although I had only recently transferred, from Poara's perspective, I was his senior.
Such a gaze must have been burdensome.
"Nothing, just thought your glasses were askew."
"Oh, I-I must have run here too quickly!"
Poara quickly adjusted his glasses.
Even looking again, he still had that clumsy vibe.
"You're Poara Silin, right?"
"Ah, yes, that's right, Senior!"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hanon Airey. I'm in charge of the Great Spirit Forest investigation this time."
"Nice to meet you too!"
Poara was energetic.
Instead of the gloominess in my memory, his face was full of brightness.
That made him feel even more out of place.
"Poara, don't you hate the Student Council or anything? Is there anything you dislike about it?"
"Huh? Oh, no. On the contrary, I've always admired the Jerion Academy Student Council!"
Poara replied with a surprised expression, as if wondering what I was talking about.
"Even though I'm only a provisional member right now, you have no idea how happy I am to be part of the Student Council!"
"Provisional member, you say."
"Ah, because of a past incident, a vacancy opened up in the Student Council, so even though I'm a first year, I somehow became a provisional member. Hehe."
Past incident.
That was clearly Lucas's incident.
'Lucas's party had one Student Council member.'
Lucas's party was annihilated.
As a result, one Student Council member, who had been fostered since their first year, was lost.
To make matters worse, seniors were graduating, and a student they had carefully nurtured couldn't return.
The Student Council must have been in a difficult position.
So they hurriedly selected a provisional member from the current first-year students.
'I see why she readily accepted when I brought up the Student Council matter.'
The Student Council was also struggling with a shortage of manpower.
And just then, Poara was selected as an additional member.
'Could it be that Poara turned dark and even led the boycott because...'
he couldn't become the Student Council member he yearned to be?
If you can't obtain what you love most in the end,
it's often the case that, due to a rebellious psychology, it turns into what you hate most.
Poara must have liked the Student Council at first, too.
Then, when the Vice President became the Disaster Dragoness and even tarnished the Student Council's name,
his love-hate relationship must have eventually crossed the line and morphed into hatred.
'What should I do?'
As mentioned earlier, Poara was a key figure in the Student Council boycott.
If he was affiliated with the Student Council, then naturally the boycott's power would weaken.
If Poara was out, the direction of the canon would be skewed.
I couldn't guarantee how much of an impact that would have.
'Though the canon was already twisted from the moment Lucas died.'
This world was the one after the bad ending.
It was only natural for the canon, having been twisted so much, to creak and falter.
The death of the protagonist had that much of an impact on the world.
However, the boycott incident was a necessary event for the canon.
The 'Flame Butterfly' arc was a well-made game.
If the incident itself didn't occur, the scenario would instantly fall apart.
And the result of that would be the world's destruction.
If the Archfiend couldn't be stopped in the final ending, the world would be doomed.
I had no intention of dying with the world.
Therefore, despite Lucas's absence, I intended to stubbornly push the scenario back onto the path of the canon.
Even if I had to patch up the rest, at the very least, the flow of the scenario had to remain canon.
'I'll just have to make it fit somehow later.'
There were plenty of ways.
If worst came to worst, I could even lead the boycott myself.
"Alright, I'll be joining the Student Council soon too, so please take care of me."
"Yes, Senior!"
Poara replied energetically.
I hoped he'd reply just as energetically when I asked for his help with the boycott later.