第２４６掘：だから、無駄 (Part1)
**Chapter 246: Because It’s Useless**
**Side: Popuri Lancer – Principal of Lancer Magic Academy**
“Ahhh—mm.”
*Crunch, crunch…*
Right now, I am stuffing my mouth with my most prized hard candies and grinding them to bits.
Normally, I would never do something so uncouth. After all, even for someone in my position as Principal, sweets—especially high-quality ones—are not cheap. While there are certainly budget candies out there, what I’m eating now is my private reserve. They are masterpieces, crafted with painstaking devotion by a master confectioner.
A single one of these candies costs as much as an iron sword. That should give you an idea of just how expensive they are.
“Popuri-sama, isn't it a waste to crunch them like that?”
The one speaking to me as I pulverized my luxury sweets was Lara. She is an elf and serves as the Vice Principal of this Magic Academy.
In this continent, demi-humans are admittedly treated poorly, but that isn't a universal rule. By nature, demi-humans possess capabilities in various fields that far exceed those of humans. Because of this, there have been demi-humans who maintained friendly relations with humans since ancient times.
Of course, being demi-humans, they often receive noble titles and are utilized as special operations units primarily to ensure their own protection. From the state’s perspective, this is convenient; it allows them to manage the demi-human population while treating them as a viable military asset.
Lara herself is a noble from some country or another. Because she was exceptionally gifted in magic, I scouted her when she first arrived at the Academy to serve as my right hand.
“…Be quiet. It’s fine. If I don’t do this, I feel like I’m going to blow everything in the vicinity to kingdom come.”
I felt a prickle of irritation at Lara’s preachy tone.
Damn it, what is with those men…?
*Crunch.*
I remembered. It happened this afternoon, while I was leisurely licking a cheap candy. Samantha, one of our students, had visited the Principal’s office.
*“Hehe, I suppose I should get around to announcing the transfer students and making preparations soon~”*
At the time, I thought I still had plenty of time, so I hadn't breathed a word about the transfer students to anyone. That was my mistake…
There was a knock at the door. I accepted Samantha’s entry while I continued preparing documents. She is the daughter of a Duke from the Kingdom of Roday and possesses a fine talent for magic; she’s easily among the top ten students in this Academy.
“What is it? Applying for a duel?”
This Academy is a meritocracy. While we have a separate department for theoretical research, those who actually wield magic are evaluated on how well they can use it in combat—in other words, their value as a military asset. Therefore, unlike the Research Department, the Magic Department determines rankings and grades through practical exams and a dueling system.
Samantha is quite the combat enthusiast, a promising rookie who can even handle chantless casting. That’s why I assumed she was there to file a duel application.
“No. There were suspicious individuals in front of the Academy, so I drove them away… however…”
“Ah, good work. I don’t expect there to be any issues, but I’ll hear your report.”
Because this is a meritocracy, even an average student here is stronger than a mediocre soldier. Thus, it’s not uncommon for someone like Samantha to find and chase off suspicious people on their own.
The reason I say “not uncommon” is because this is a gathering place for those with magical talent; our collective combat power is said to be equal to a national army. Anyone trying to infiltrate such a place is either incredibly overconfident or a total idiot. Consequently, while we do have general security guards, they are few in number—mostly just for show.
It’s not like they’d accidentally turn away a high-ranking official. High-ranking officials look the part, and if they’re refused entry, they’ll cause a scene immediately, so it’s easy to tell. Since she said she “drove them away,” I figured they were just fools.
“They appeared to be mercenaries. Two black-haired men. They looked young.”
“Hmm. They were probably here to recruit comrades who can use magic. If they could pull a student from here, it would be a massive boost to their strength and give them some prestige.”
“Yes, I thought so as well. When I deployed my magic and prompted a duel, they backed off quite easily.”
“Haha, you’re a mean one, Samantha-chan. There aren’t many who can beat you. Anyway, thanks for the report. It doesn't sound like a problem, so you may go.”
“Ah, excuse me. There was one suspicious point. For some reason, those two claimed to be transfer students. Since I hadn't heard anything about that, I sent them away on my own authority, but they handed me a letter and asked me to deliver it to the Principal.”
“Wha—!?”
What did you say!?
The transfer students from Zilba and Enaria are here already!? And why would they come looking like two scruffy nobodies!?
No, stay calm. There’s no way those were actually the transfer students. First, let’s look at the letter.
“Here it is.”
The letter Samantha handed me was wrapped in plain white paper. When I broke the seal, a letter bearing the wax seals of both Zilba and Enaria slid out.
This is bad!?
I hurriedly scanned the contents and realized the truth.
I’d been set up. At this rate, the Academy would be the one solely at fault. Who even uses a tactic like this!?
“Um, is there a problem?”
“Samantha-chan, tell me everything you know about those two!!”
“Eh?”
I explained the gravity of the situation to Samantha. I tried to resolve things peacefully using a "double-layered operation" involving both myself and the lovely Samantha to ensure it didn't turn into a major international incident… but the two men we found were completely beyond the pale.
Or rather, they played me like a fiddle.
They turned the very plan I used to settle things quietly against me, plunging the Academy into an even more disadvantageous position.
Well, I did get my revenge at the very end, though.
“However, I have received reports that the Principal came back crying fake tears again. You didn't try to force through another unreasonable demand, did you? Please stop; cleaning up after you is exhausting.”
Lara glared at me as she spoke.