Chapter 542: Episode 542
After the morning Jet-Black Dynamics class, an unexpected chase began.
"Hey, just let us talk to you for a second!"
"Our club’s business presentation...!"
Simon and the student council members ran frantically, fleeing from a mob of pursuing club students.
"What is this?!" Meirin shrieked, clutching at her fluttering sky-blue hair.
Kamibarez stared straight ahead, panting for breath, while Simon pushed them onward, glancing over his shoulder.
"Hahaha! This way!" Dick shouted cheerfully, leading them down an alley.
"They went between the buildings over there!"
"Get them!"
’Get them? Seriously?’ Simon thought, shaking his head.
With a patter of frantic footsteps, the student council members zipped through the narrow alley in the blink of an eye. The moment the club students followed them in...
The alley was empty. The student council members had vanished without a trace.
"What? Where did they go?"
"There’s nowhere to run..."
The students looked around, then up. They spotted a rope being stealthily pulled up to the third floor of an adjacent building.
"There they are! They went into the next building!"
"Third floor! Get them!"
With a great rumble, the entire mob of students poured through a first-floor window and into the building.
Once the alley fell silent...
’Rustle.’
The surface of the wall rippled like a blanket and peeled away, revealing the four student council members pressed flat against it.
"Hahaha! They fell right into my trap!" Dick crowed, rolling up a mat that was a perfect replica of the brick wall and stuffing it into his subspace.
Simon chuckled. "You prepared this in advance?"
"Of course! I knew this would happen, so I planned an escape route! I even brought the student council’s direct subordinates!"
From the now-raucous third-floor building, Mojo, a student council subordinate, could be seen snapping a salute. Dick playfully returned it.
"...Hey. You seem to be enjoying this a little too much," Meirin grumbled, dusting herself off.
"That’s amazing, Dick!" Kamibarez praised him with a gentle smile, causing Dick’s ego to swell.
"Alright! Let’s take this chance and get to the student council room."
---
The student council had countless duties. While Kizen headquarters and the professors handled major school decisions, the council’s authority was immense when it came to student welfare. School events like the entrance ceremony, the festival, Club Season, the student assembly, and external functions were all under their jurisdiction. This Club Season was no different.
It was lunchtime, but the atmosphere was far too tense for a casual trip to the cafeteria, so Simon’s group took refuge in the student council room.
"I’m sorry for making you run errands," Meirin said to the subordinates who had brought them lunch boxes from the cafeteria.
"Not at all. It’s our duty," one replied.
The four of them sat around a table, eating as they began their discussion.
"It’s Club Season, so everyone’s trying to get on our good side," Dick said, waving his fork.
Simon tapped Dick’s fork with his own. "Why?"
"Because we set the budget."
"How much are we talking about?"
"Hmm. This year, it’s about 10,000 gold."
Simon’s jaw dropped. "Th-they give that much?"
"That’s why the competition is so fierce. I told you, it’s a silent war." Dick twirled his fork and made a stabbing motion. "With so much money up for grabs, it’d be weird ’not’ to participate. Everyone’s trying to get a piece of the action, which is why all these bizarre, baseless clubs pop up and then vanish as soon as the season ends."
"Just like," Meirin began, her voice dripping with ice as she elegantly twirled pasta onto her fork, "how you created that stupid ‘Rochester Startup Support Association’ in your first year?"
’A-hem-hem-hem—’
Dick coughed, flustered. "Uh, ahem. There she goes with the slander again! Our members learned a thing or two about business. It was quite beneficial, I’ll have you know!"
"So, is that club still active? Dummy."
Stung by Meirin’s jab, Dick turned his head with a sheepish look. "W-well, how was I supposed to know I’d join the student council back then! You can hate our childish past, but don’t hate the person!"
"Then when you’re being scolded, shut your mouth. You’re just asking for it."
"Yes, ma’am."
Meirin sighed and dabbed her mouth with a handkerchief. She turned to Simon. "It’s basically like this, Simon. A lot of kids see clubs as a way to make money."
"Hmm." Simon crossed his arms, a troubled look on his face, as Kamibarez began to take minutes.
"More importantly, is it normal for them to be lobbying us so openly?" Meirin demanded, pointing out the window at the students already gathering below. "They’re all out of their minds. We need to change the system."
Kamibarez blinked. "How are you going to change it, Meirin?"
"We start with the distribution," Meirin declared, spreading her arms wide. "Does it make sense for a new business club to get more money than a sports club that’s been around for twenty years just because their project is bigger? We need to set strict criteria for new clubs and conduct detailed screenings."
Dick shook his head. "We’re taking booth applications this evening. When would we have time to screen them?"
"We can do it while we’re taking applications!"
"Then how will you distribute the budget?" Dick shot back.
Caught off guard, Meirin’s eyes darted around for a moment before she replied, "Right, the budget. They say Club Season is when the student council gets the most complaints, right? All that noise about who gets more and who gets less. So, we screen the clubs strictly, select only a few, and give them equal funding to shut down any complaints."
"I object!" Dick said, raising his hand. "And there we have it—the chronic problem of gently raised noble ladies."
Meirin’s face flushed. "Wh-what about me?!"
"If you give everyone an equal amount, does a club with three members get the same as a club with thirty? The thirty-member club won’t even be able to afford a single dinner together."
"That’s an extreme example, you dummy! Of course we’d make distinctions to that extent!"
"But you haven’t even decided on the criteria for those distinctions yet."
Simon turned to Dick. "Then what do you think, Dick?"
"As someone who’s worked in the field, I can tell you there’s a saying in administration." Dick shrugged. "Just... leave everything as it is."
"...You just made that up, didn’t you?"
"Ahem! Anyway, Kizen must have been doing it this way for a reason. I don’t think we need to stir things up."
Meirin pounded the table. "Hey! Are you saying that we, the student council, should turn a blind eye to problems we know exist?"
"They probably left it this way because it’s difficult to fix. And honestly... to be brutally honest." Dick rested his chin on his hand and grinned. "The fact that the entire student body is trying to get on our good side right now... isn’t it kind of nice?"
The other three stared at him, their expressions completely blank. Not expecting this reaction, Dick looked flustered.
"Kids we’re not even close to clinging to us, seniors forcibly trying to drag us away, stuffing bribes into our jackets and running off, and harassing us so we can’t even eat lunch in peace?" Meirin said sharply.
"I-it was burdensome," Kamibarez added, glancing around. "People were making unreasonable requests..."
"Even a third-year department head called for me," Simon said, scratching the back of his neck.
Dick, embarrassed, quickly changed the subject. "Ugh, fine, sorry for being the only attention seeker here! Let me rephrase." He pointed a finger at Simon’s student council president insignia. "Club Season is when our student council’s power is at its absolute peak!"
The others were silent.
"Hear me out! I’m not saying we should do this, but we ’could’ push the budget for clubs friendly to us and cut it for hostile ones. The third-years still think of us as placeholders, but this is our chance to make them sweat! Honestly, our student council isn’t in a completely stable position right now, is it?"
Meirin’s expression soured. "And for a petty reason like that, we should ignore countless problems? People who genuinely want to focus on their club activities are being harmed."
"That’s unfortunate, but we have to be realistic."
"That’s not being realistic, it’s turning a blind eye!"
Both of them turned to Simon simultaneously.
"What do you think, Simon?!"
Simon was quiet for a moment.
Sensing the gravity of the moment, Kamibarez gripped her notepad tightly. Simon clasped his hands, thought for a moment, and then spoke.
"Both of your opinions have merit. We can’t ignore these problems, and it’s true that Club Season is a source of power for us. However..." He looked at Dick. "Power is a double-edged sword, isn’t it?"
If one club gets more money and supports the student council, another will get less and hold a grudge. Making an ally often means making an enemy.
"If our position is precarious, it’s more important not to make any more enemies than it is to make new allies."
"Uh, yeah, that’s true," Dick conceded. "But what’s your plan? It’ll be hard to keep everyone happy."
Simon smiled. "We set clear criteria for budget distribution and release them to the entire student body."
The primary criterion would be the most obvious one: the number of members in a club. At the end of Club Season, the club with the most members gets the largest budget. And, taking Meirin’s point, instead of screening new clubs...
"We’ll require reports," Simon said. "Instead of handing out the entire budget at once, we’ll collect monthly performance reports. This will weed out those just trying to make a quick buck. The budget will be provided monthly, contingent on receiving those reports."
Kamibarez clapped her hands. "I think that’s a great idea!"
Dick crossed his arms. "Hmm. Won’t the clubs complain that we’re just giving them more work?"
"That’s ridiculous," Meirin scoffed. "Think about the effort they’re putting into lobbying us right now. Writing one report a month is a piece of cake when there’s money on the line."
"...Ugh, umm. Well, since money is on the line."
"And!" Meirin added, "The student council will conduct random on-site evaluations to ensure the reports are accurate!"
This time, Dick threw his hands up in an X. "Excuse me, Vice President! Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot by creating more work for ourselves!"
"Shut up! I’ll do it myself if I have to!"
A consensus was forming. Kamibarez neatly compiled their ideas into a formal proposal.
"It’s all done! To be ready for this evening, shouldn’t we get Professor Jane’s approval right away?"
"You’re right. Let’s go together..."
"There’s no need for that."
’Click!’
The student council room door opened. All four of them shot to their feet.
"Professor Jane!"
From her expression, it was clear she had heard everything. She entered the room, glanced over the proposal on the desk, and smiled.
"I was planning to give you that mission anyway. You’re better than most third-year student councils."