Volume 7 Chapter 28 They Say An Important Person Is Here! But All I Can Say Is Oh, Really？
Gustav, who had shown up at the academy, walked down the hallway with confident steps. He greeted students as he passed, but he wasn't in a hurry. He was taking his time on purpose, slowly making his way to the branch principal's office.
It was all a show—to announce that he was here and stir the pot more. He wanted to fuel the rumors that Dario's group had been spreading and also make sure people saw just how powerful he looked. And it was working. As soon as some students saw him, they whispered to each other, "Hey, isn't that the guy we heard about earlier──"
Seeing things unfold exactly how he'd hoped, Gustav knocked on the door to the branch principal's office. He knocked three times—exactly three. After hearing a voice from inside telling him to come in, Gustav replied, "Excuse me," and opened the door.
The first thing Gustav saw was Lucius, the branch principal, looking surprised.
"If I could get this old man to make that face, then coming here was worth it."
With a satisfied smile, Gustav stepped into the room. Behind him, a large man followed in. Lucius quickly fixed his expression and motioned to the sofa.
"Administrator Rothheim... what brings you here today?"
His words were polite, but behind his tilted glasses, his sharp eyes glinted. The pressure in that gaze made Gustav instinctively brace himself.
"You haven't changed a bit since back then."
"I've been an old man since before you were out of diapers."
Lucius's tone grew casual, but Gustav didn't react. He just smiled and replied, "Indeed."
"So, what do you want?"
"I have a few questions about the upcoming student council election, next Monday──"
Gustav didn't look away from Lucius as he spoke. He brought up concerns about the current list of student council recommendations.
"Dario Weissman. Edgar Alexandros. Their recommendations make sense. If you check their grades and the teachers who backed them, it adds up."
While lounging on the sofa, Gustav took some documents from the large man and handed them to Lucius. Inside were the names and subjects of the recommending teachers for Dario and Edgar, along with their grades and classroom behavior records.
"But the problem is the last one. Randolph Victor──"
The documents Gustav received this time showed the names of Gardo and Burk, Randy's recommenders, along with his so-called combat training results.
Well—"results" was a stretch. Randy hadn't taken combat training at all, so the field was just left blank. Compared to the other two, it stood out in a weird way.
Gustav didn't need to bring papers. Lucius already knew this stuff. But showing it in black and white was the whole point—to press on Randy's recommendation directly.
"I understand what you're trying to say... but there's no way the two Arnathes instructors recommended him just out of sympathy."
Lucius let out a sigh. Gustav clicked his tongue and looked annoyed, "I don't get it."
"If you're from the same era, you should know each other well."
"Old man, it's been years. People change. Just because I knew them doesn't mean they're the same now."
Lucius sighed again, hearing Gustav's stubborn reply. "Indeed. Years have passed."
Gustav chuckled at what Lucius was really saying: You've changed too.
"To the point where the old man's going senile."
"Maybe so."
Gustav shrugged, clearly annoyed that Lucius didn't take the bait.
Gustav Rothheim—no, back then, Gustav Alexandros—had attended the old academy, the predecessor of this institution, along with Gardo and Burk.
In short, all three of them had once been Lucius's students.
"I also got a handwritten letter from those twins. Their reason? 'He's stronger than us.'"
"And that's... not good enough?"
Lucius tilted his head, confused. Gustav shook his head in disbelief.
"I'm not buying that so easily."
"I've also heard the Victor family did well during the last war."
Gustav's face soured, like he'd tasted something rotten. But he kept talking.
"But that's just the Knights' story."
"In a family that worships martial strength, it's weird that the legitimate son didn't help defend their land. Doesn't that feel off, compared to the twins' story?"
Gustav grinned, watching Lucius sigh again.
"I heard the family policy was to keep children out of it. Isn't that right?"
Of course, there was no way to explain that Randy and Liz had secretly been reviving some ancient mage during the war with Lucius behind the scenes.
Even if he said it out loud, no one would believe the part about a fake god being born from the war's collective trauma.
So instead, he just went with the official Victor family policy...
"They didn't need to be involved. You could say it was a judgment call."
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