Volume 7 Chapter 2 The Principal’s Speech Is Long Enough—No Thanks to the Mayor’s or Anyone Else’s!
The gathered students at the opening ceremony were informed of the school name change, along with various minor adjustments.
The headmaster delegates to the vice-principal.
The integration into the Imperial Academy.
Small changes to the curriculum.
All of these were already written in the advance notice.
Amidst these minor changes, the biggest one was the abolition of the servant system, meaning Liz and Ellie would now be enrolled as students.
But it wasn't much different from before, since they were already like students.
After the announcement of these changes, there were no major surprises, and the ceremony progressed as usual.
Yes, everything was as per usual.
And then...
"Randy"
...Liz gently nudged Randy, who was dozing off in his seat, a boat gently rocking.
The spring sunshine and the fluffy chairs of the auditorium, combined with Vice-Principal Lucius's calm voice.
It all seemed to have a magical effect, lulling Randy to sleep.
"Hey, you're just closing your eyes, that's all."
As Randy still showed no signs of waking, Liz nudged him again, whispering, "Next is the greeting from the administrator."
"The admin...?"
Just as Randy was finally returning from dreamland, rubbing his eyes and turning his gaze to the stage, the lights around the auditorium went out, leaving only the stage where Lucius had been standing illuminated.
The students murmured in confusion, but the instructors seemed calm.
This must have been planned by the academy.
Amidst the growing commotion, a man stepped onto the stage, replacing Lucius.
A blond-haired, blue-eyed man, whose face was unfamiliar to Randy.
"Who is that...?"
In the auditorium, which was sometimes used for theater performances, with only the stage lit up and the man standing alone, it felt like they were being treated to a sort of play.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's begin with greetings. I am Gustav Rothheim."
The man's introduction caused a stir among the students.
"Who?"
"Don't you know?"
"That guy's an idiot," Ellie snorted with laughter.
Randy turned to Ellie, asking, "Then who is he?"
Liz also peeked at Ellie from the seat next to Randy.
"The administrator."
Ellie puffed up, but Randy's face went blank.
He turned to Liz next to him and asked, "Huh? Who?"
"Hey, don't ignore me──"
Ignoring the pesky Ellie behind him, Randy tilted his head again and repeated to Liz, "Who?"
"The Administrator?"
Liz titled her head with a puzzled look.
"Huh? No, I mean..."
"It's the Administrator."
"Indeed, the Administrator."
Startled by the sudden supportive fire from the back, Randy reflexively turned to Catherine and Cecilia with a questioning "Huh?"
There he saw Catherine and Cecilia, their faces calm as they looked down at the stage.
They were so brazenly facing forward that Randy felt awkward and turned back to the front.
Glancing sideways, even Liz and Ellie were seriously facing forward, listening to the talk about the Administrator.
"The Administrator..."
Randy muttered to himself, and at that moment, Liz and Ellie burst out laughing, their shoulders shaking.
"Liar"
"That's gotta be the Duke who betrayed the kingdom, right?"
The two of them were holding their stomachs with laughter, and when Randy glanced back at Cecilia and Catherine, they were both looking down, their shoulders trembling with suppressed laughter.
"You guys..."
As Randy was about to speak, he noticed the 'Administrator' on stage looking over in this direction.
With a hint of reprimand in his gaze, Randy clicked his tongue and sat back down in his chair.
"You can't hit the Administrator, you know."
"Indeed."
Hearing the still trembling voice from behind, Randy grumbled poorly through his nose, "Who's gonna," and returned his attention to the stage.
On stage, the ceremony continued with exaggerated gestures and a speech that seemed like a performance.
As Liz and Ellie had mentioned, the word "former Duke" did indeed come up in his speech.
Now he was the head of the Alexandria Autonomous Region, one of the trustees of the Imperial Academy, and also served as the de facto top of this branch, the Administrator.
"Guess the big-name management types are all fired up, huh?"
Randy sighed, and Ellie next to him teased, "You can say more," with a laugh, while Liz beside him blushed and said, "You mustn't..."
Just as Randy said, the title of 'Administrator' is just for show.
It's a label to make the transition from an independent academy to one under national control seem legitimate.
It's a sort of appeal to the students, and it's working──the grand speech, so obviously staged, has gathered the attention of every ear and eye in the crowd.
"Each of you gathered here are precious individuals who will soon bring glory to this empire──"
The passionate speech was heating up, and you could see the enthusiasm in some of the students' eyes.
"This is definitely better than the old king's greeting, right?"
"I wonder..."
"They're about the same."
"It's all empty words."
"It's just fluff."
Randy's lady legion, who had been following him closely, were now ruthlessly tearing apart Gustav's speech, criticizing it for being too abstract, for ending his sentences with a hint of uncertainty.
But after all this bashing, even Randy couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for Gustav.
"Being an administrator is tough..."
Randy muttered with a wry smile, wanting to share this thought, and turned his head back diagonally with a "Hey──"
Wayne should be sitting behind Ellie...
"Huh? The prince of the empire?"
"Ex."
"No way. Really?.. I'm not good with formal language, sorry."
"Livia's not great at it either, but it's her job, you know."
...In the dim light, Wayne's face had turned pale as he awkwardly tried to communicate with Julius.
This isn't going to work for a while, Randy thought, turning his attention back to the ladies.
Character Notes:
Alex - Affiliate of 'Spear of Shouhyou's' Denal branch. Delivered Emperor's letter instructing Neil to hire personnel. Well-structured and competent. Interaction reveals firm's awareness of settlement's needs and willingness to provide specialized personnel, including security and brewing experts.
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